Part 25 (1/2)

Having reached his own room, he examined his trophy of victory. It was an old coat, partly covered with mud. He went through the pockets, and what he found in one gave him much satisfaction. It was a piece of paper with a few brief instructions scrawled upon it, as follows:

”Get Keezer and be on hand to-night. Bring your sticks with you. Meet me at the bridge at eight sharp. Ben.”

Douglas smiled grimly to himself as he read this brief note. He knew now that Ben had been somewhere around. No doubt he had been peering through the window and watching him talking to the professor and his daughters. How he longed to get a rap at the cowardly cur. The pick-handle would not be necessary; oh, no, his fists would be sufficient. But Ben knew enough to keep out of the way and let others do his dirty work.

Douglas said nothing about the night affair to the Jukes, as he was not in a talkative mood. His head was quite sore where he had been struck, and he wondered about the man who had received the force of the pick-handle. But he could not remain silent long, for Jake was bubbling over with excitement when he returned from the store whither he had gone for a barrel of flour. Dinner was waiting him, and he had no time to speak until he had stabled the horses and washed himself.

”Say, John,” he began as soon as he had taken his seat at the table, ”what were ye up to last night?”

”So you have been hearing something, have you?” Douglas enquired.

”Sure I have. Why, the hull place is buzzin' with the news, an' Si's as mad as blazes. Guess he's goin' to have ye arrested right off.”

”Have me arrested!” Douglas exclaimed in surprise. ”Why, what for?”

”Fer waylayin' Billy Keezer an' Tom Oakes last night, an' breakin'

their heads with a stick. They're all used up, an' Tom swears that you stole his coat.”

Douglas leaned back in his chair and laughed so heartily that Jake and his wife looked at him in astonishment.

”So Billy and Tom are sick, are they?” he chuckled. ”Well, I hope they have learned a lesson and will mind their own affairs after this.”

He then told the story of the fight the night before, and when he had finished he went to his room and brought down the captured coat, and read the note he had found in the pocket.

”Great punkins!” Jake exclaimed, as he hit the table with his fist and made the dishes rattle. ”I'm mighty glad ye've got that letter. It's sure proof that Ben was back of the hull affair. And so ye knocked 'em both out with the pick-handle, did ye? Bully fer you! I wish ye'd got a tap at Ben while ye was about it.”

”Did you see Billy and Tom?” Douglas asked.

”No. They're in bed. The doctor's been to see 'em, so I learned.”

”And Si is going to have me arrested, eh?”

”So I heard. He was rampin' around like a lion.”

”I wish he would,” Douglas quietly remarked. ”It would clear the air somewhat, and give me a chance to say something. But Si will never come out in the open like that, mark my word. He and Ben are back of that attack last night, if I'm not greatly mistaken, and they would not dare to face an investigation.”

”You're right there,” Mrs. Jukes replied. ”They'll do nothing now but just wait for another chance. You had better be careful how you wander around alone at night, especially near the professor's place.”

”Why?” Douglas asked, noting the twinkle in her eyes.

”Ben'll be getting jealous, that's all. He'll have another grudge against you, if you're not careful.”

Douglas realised that what Mrs. Jukes said was quite true. Ben must have been watching through the window the night he was at the professor's house, and no doubt jealousy had been added to his hatred.

But he did not care, for a new feeling had now taken possession of him.

His heart burned within him when he thought of Ben meeting Nell and making love to her. He brooded over this all the afternoon as he worked in the field. Nell, with her simplicity and charm of manner, was ever before him. He could not get her out of his mind, and at times he found himself looking across the field in the direction of her home.

Suddenly there came to him the realisation that Nell Strong was the one woman in the whole world he wanted. His heart cried out for her, and the idea of her becoming the wife of Ben Stubbles was almost more than he could endure. For the first time in his life he was in love, and with a beautiful woman, who in some unaccountable manner was bound to a man who was his most bitter enemy. Ben must not have her, he told himself over and over again that afternoon. But what was he to do? He himself was merely a farmhand in Nell's eyes, and he had not the least reason to believe that she cared anything for him. Ben, on the other hand, was the son of the most influential man in the parish, and had been making love to her for come time.

Had any one told Douglas a month ago that he would be deep in love after he had been in Rixton a couple of weeks, he would have laughed him to scorn. His idea of wandering from place to place and living just for self had suddenly taken flight. To him life seemed desolate apart from Nell Strong. He could not understand the feeling, and he did not try to a.n.a.lyse it. It was something he had never before experienced. He knew that it had come mysteriously and subtly, and was now possessing his entire being.