"
"Did I not?" said the youth. "Aye, I was with my father, though only
as a boy apart on a hill."
The reminiscences that were exchanged astonished Steadfast beyond
measure, and really made him doubt whether what had previously passed
had not been all a dream. The language was so like Jephthah's own
too, all except that one word "fair" applied to Emlyn; and Patience,
Rusha, and the Pierces were entirely without a suspicion, that their
guest was other than he seemed. How much must have been picked out
of little Ben, without the child's knowing it, to make such acting
possible?
And how was the woodward, who was so much delighted with the visitor,
to be shaken off? Stead stood silent, puzzled, anxious, and
wondering what to do next, a very heavy and awkward host, so that
even Patience wondered what made him so shy.
Suddenly, however, a whistle, and the sharp yap of a dog was heard
across the stream. Nanny Pierce exclaimed, "There are those rascal
lads after the rabbits again!" and the gamekeeper's instinct awoke.
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