"More shame for you, sir, to want to get a poor man out of his
place."
"Look here, my man," said Jock with London sharpness and impudence,
"if you want to bully us into tipping you, it's no go. We've only
got one copper between us, and nothing else but our knives; and if we
had, we wouldn't do such a sneaking thing!"
"I never meant no such thing, sir," said the keeper; "only in case
Mr. Barnes should hear of our good nature."
"Come along, Robin," said Jock; "if we are had up, we'll let 'em know
how Leggings wanted us to buy off!"
Wherewith Jock made a rush, Rob plunged after him into the brambles,
and they never halted till they had tumbled over the park wall, and
lay in a breathless heap on the other side. The adventure was the
fruitful cause of mirth at the Folly, but not a word was breathed of
it at Kencroft.
A few other lads did actually pay toll to the keepers, and some
penniless ones were brought before the magistrates and fined for
trespass, "because they could not afford it," as Caroline said, and
to the Colonel's great disgust she sent two sovereigns by Allen to
pay their fines and set them free.
"It was my own money," she said, in self-defence, "earned by my
models of fungi."
The Colonel thought it an unsatisfactory justification, and told her
that she would lay up trouble for herself by thus encouraging
insubordination.
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