"I can hear you very well as it is."
"Don't go for to be too sartin, now; ye see I've got a tidy voice, I have, which I aren't noways afeared o' usin'!"
"So it would appear!" nodded Barnabas.
"You're quite sure as ye can 'ear me, then?"
"Quite."
"Werry good then, if you are sure as you can 'ear me I'd like to ax 'ee a question, though, mark me, I'll shout it, ah! an' willin'; if so be you're minded, say the word!"
But, before Barnabas could reply, another man appeared, being also clad in velveteens and carrying a long barrelled gun.
"Wot be doin', Jarge?" he inquired of Stentor, in a surly tone, "wot be wastin' time for"
"W'y, lookee, I be about to ax this 'ere deaf chap a question, though ready, ah! an' willin' to shout it, if so be 'e gives the word."
"Stow yer gab, Jarge," retorted Surly, more surly than ever, "you be a sight too fond o' usin' that theer voice o' your'n!" saying which he turned to Barnabas:
"Did ye see ever a desprit, poachin' wagabone run down this 'ere lane, sir?" he inquired.
"No," answered Barnabas.
"Well, did ye see ever a thievin' wastrel run oop this 'ere lane?" demanded Stentor.
"No," answered Barnabas.
"But we seen 'im run this way," demurred Surly.
"Ah!—he must ha' run oop or down this 'ere lane," said Stentor.
"He did neither," said Barnabas.
"Why, then p'r'aps you be stone blind as well as stone deaf?" suggested Stentor.
"Neither one nor the other," answered Barnabas, "and now, since I have answered all your questions, suppose you go and look somewhere else?"
"Look, is it?—look wheer—d'ye mean—?"
"I mean—go."
"Go!" repeated Stentor, round of eye, "then s'pose you tell us—wheer!"
"Anywhere you like, only—be off!"
"Now you can claw me!" exclaimed Stentor with an injured air, nodding to his gun, seeing his companion had already hurried off, "you can grab and duck me if this don't beat all!—you can burn an' blister me if ever I met a deaf cove as was so ongrateful as this 'ere deaf cove,—me 'avin' used this yer v'ice o' mine for 'is be'oof an' likewise benefit; v'ices like mine is a gift as was bestowed for deaf 'uns like 'im;—I've met deaf 'uns afore, yes,—but such a ongrateful deaf 'un as 'im,—no. All I 'opes is as 'e gets deafer an' deafer, as deaf as a stock, as a stone, as a—dead sow,—that's all I 'opes!"
Having said which, Stentor nodded to his gun again, glanced at
Barnabas again, and strode off, muttering, after his companion.
Hereupon Barnabas once more opened his book; yet he was quite aware that the fugitive had thrust his head out of the ditch, and having glanced swiftly about, was now regarding him out of the corners of his eyes.
"Why do you stare at me?" he demanded suddenly.
"I was wondering why you took the trouble and risk of shielding such a thing as I am," answered the fugitive.
"Hum!" said Barnabas, "upon my soul,—I don't know."
"No," said the man, with the ghostly smile upon his lips again,
"I thought not."
Now, as he looked at the man, Barnabas saw that his cheeks, beneath their stubble, were hollow and pinched, as though by the cruel hands of want and suffering. And yet in despite of all this and of the grizzled hair at his temples, the face was not old, moreover there was a merry twinkle in the eye, and a humorous curve to the wide-lipped mouth that appealed to Barnabas.
"And you are a poacher, you say?"
"Yes, sir, and that is bad, I confess, but, what is worse, I was, until I took to poaching, an honest man without a shred of character."
"How so?"
"I was discharged—under a cloud that was never dispelled."
"To be sure, you don't look like an ordinary poacher."
"That is because I am an extraordinary one."
"You mean?"
