The Island School — page 324: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE GOOSE grew clearer to the ear. chine without. “The fools,” muttered Morse, “‘have gone out in the daylight and got caught.” It was too true. Stealing up near enough to the open air, so as to see without being seen, the two friends looked down But they came from the and beheld Mr. Farrell and his two assistants in the | custody of half a score of the enemy, busily engaged in binding their arms. At the feet of the captured, crestfallen men lay some tubers and other vegetables, showing that arash visit to the farm had led to their cEe into the hands of the enemy. The game they were attempting to play was that of complete ignorance of the nature of the warfare going on, and all people concerned therein. “My friends,’ Mr. Farrell was loudly declaring, “there is no need for any of this violent treatment, We are three men recently wrecked upon this island, harmless men in every way.” “Why bind us,” urged Storeby, “ when we are will- ing to go quietly °” “Tt doesn’t matter,” moaned Turner. “I felt this morning that something was going to happen.” ‘This is rather serious,” said Morse. “ Why could not the fools lie close ?” “Because they are fools!” bitterly replied Jim; “there they go! Those fellows did not seem to under- stand what they said.” ‘“‘Probably they do not. Now that they are gone, we will first have a peep at my goose, and then con- sider what ought to be done in the face of the capture of Farrell and the others.” ‘Talks as sensible as ever, bar the goose,’ muttered Jim. CHAPTER CXLVIITI. TERE GOOSE IN CAPTIVITY.—THAT UNHAPPY BIRD HEARS NOISES AND SEES VISIONS. OW, there had been one thing about the disappearance of Chorker that made HS it a thing apart from es Se , the vanishing of the 1 eee schoolmaster. Nobody, to all appearance, paid the least attention to it. Jim, in fact, did not miss him, which may be Pi dite for by the fact of Chorker employing his time in the kitchen. Nor was he thougaot of by the others, owing to the recent whirl of excrting events. Wy ff ttLLL TIAL OS ° as, Dore o Baa, Of ret LL A ay Pa 4 (TOD Fe eoee: ae i, eussatse . My, ! Mi My parce = asus e vswee wera a2e 7, aa! @? ees S IN CAPTIVITY. 271 Romeo, of course, knew where he was, and on being questioned by Macbeth and Hamlet, he said, “He s’posed that MarseJim had got him onsome job,” which satisfiedthem. They took little account of Chorker, and were just as well pleased to be without his assist- ance as with it. Now Chorker was the goose Morse had on his mind when he exhibited so much unwonted jocularity. With the aid of some phosphorescent spirit he had made himself, as far as his face and one hand went, a sufficiently terrible spectre to cause Chorker to faint away, and while he was in an insensible condition he trussed that worthy and left him alone. A few hours afterwards he returned, and heard him cackling in a curious kind of way over the wrongs and mysteries of his life. Finding himself bound hand and foot, he suspected the purely natural origin of the grim spectre he had seen, and wrath took the place of fear. “ But how the juice did he, whosomever itis, find me out?” was the chief comment in his mind, as he dwelt upon the affair. He could not tell that it was entirely owing to Turner having talked of seeing a ghost. Morse, sus- pecting that it was some living person, kept his eyes open as he wandered back, seeing nothing, but hearing something in the form of a suppressed snort, ised Chorker was wont to indulge in. | He was at all times much given to snorting, and it cost him a mighty effort to subdue the habit in the CAVE. Morse made no pretence of hearmg anything, but having returned to the castle, and satistied himself that Chorker was missing, decided it was he, and laid a trap for him. On the night Chorker came to the laboratory Morse was already below, and lay close against the wall as the other crept by. Anticipating Chorker’s coming thither, hehad taken carenot leave anything dangerous about in his workshop above. His original intention was to scare him as he waited near the entrance to the cave, but Chorker’s losing his way upset this arrangement. Morse, however, followed him, guided by the sound of his footsteps, | and the result we know. “ Jim,” whispered Morse, suddenly laying a hand upon his arm, “listen to the bird cackling.” Jim listened, and as Chorker was still some distance off, his splutterimg comments upon his position, being unintelligible, sounded uncommonly like cackling. “ Strange !” said the wondering Jim. “ Eixcuse my having a little joke all to myself for a time,” said Morse. “ It’s Chorker !” And then he told Jim all about it, which led that worthy youth to confound himself for being a bit of a donkey. nN @ 00 (E(0) cs (@{ 0) mn 4