登陆注册
14718000000019

第19章 THE LULL(2)

"We can't," said Vera decidedly, "we haven't any boats and we're cut off by a raging torrent from any human habitation. My aunt particularly hoped you would keep to your room and not add to the confusion, but she thought it would be so kind of you if you would take in Hartlepool's Wonder, the gamecock, you know, for the night. You see, there are eight other gamecocks, and they fight like furies if they get together, so we're putting one in each bedroom. The fowl-houses are all flooded out, you know. And then I thought perhaps you wouldn't mind taking in this wee piggie; he's rather a little love, but he has a vile temper. He gets that from his mother - not that I like to say things against her when she's lying dead and drowned in her stye, poor thing. What he really wants is a man's firm hand to keep him in order. I'd try and grapple with him myself, only I've got my chow in my room, you know, and he goes for pigs wherever he finds them.""Couldn't the pig go in the bathroom?" asked Latimer faintly, wishing that he had taken up as determined a stand on the subject of bedroom swine as the chow had.

"The bathroom?" Vera laughed shrilly. "It'll be full of Boy Scouts till morning if the hot water holds out.""Boy Scouts?"

"Yes, thirty of them came to rescue us while the water was only waist-high; then it rose another three feet or so and we had to rescue them. We're giving them hot baths in batches and drying their clothes in the hot-air cupboard, but, of course, drenched clothes don't dry in a minute, and the corridor and staircase are beginning to look like a bit of coast scenery by Tuke. Two of the boys are wearing your Melton overcoat; I hope you don't mind.""It's a new overcoat," said Latimer, with every indication of minding dreadfully.

"You'll take every care of Hartlepool's Wonder, won't you?" said Vera. "His mother took three firsts at Birmingham, and he was second in the cockerel class last year at Gloucester. He'll probably roost on the rail at the bottom of your bed. I wonder if he'd feel more at home if some of his wives were up here with him? The hens are all in the pantry, and I think I could pick out Hartlepool Helen; she's his favourite."Latimer showed a belated firmness on the subject of Hartlepool Helen, and Vera withdrew without pressing the point, having first settled the gamecock on his extemporised perch and taken an affectionate farewell of the pigling. Latimer undressed and got into bed with all due speed, judging that the pig would abate its inquisitorial restlessness once the light was turned out.

As a substitute for a cosy, straw-bedded sty the room offered, at first inspection, few attractions, but the disconsolate animal suddenly discovered an appliance in which the most luxuriously contrived piggeries were notably deficient. The sharp edge of the underneath part of the bed was pitched at exactly the right elevation to permit the pigling to scrape himself ecstatically backwards and forwards, with an artistic humping of the back at the crucial moment and an accompanying gurgle of long-drawn delight. The gamecock, who may have fancied that he was being rocked in the branches of a pine-tree, bore the motion with greater fortitude than Latimer was able to command. A series of slaps directed at the pig's body were accepted more as an additional and pleasing irritant than as a criticism of conduct or a hint to desist; evidently something more than a man's firm hand was needed to deal with the case. Latimer slipped out of bed in search of a weapon of dissuasion. There was sufficient light in the room to enable the pig to detect this manoeuvre, and the vile temper, inherited from the drowned mother, found full play. Latimer bounded back into bed, and his conqueror, after a few threatening snorts and champings of its jaws, resumed its massage operations with renewed zeal. During the long wakeful hours which ensued Latimer tried to distract his mind from his own immediate troubles by dwelling with decent sympathy on the second housemaid's bereavement, but he found himself more often wondering how many Boy Scouts were sharing his Melton overcoat. The role of Saint Martin malgre lui was not one which appealed to him.

Towards dawn the pigling fell into a happy slumber, and Latimer might have followed its example, but at about the same time Stupor Hartlepooli gave a rousing crow, clattered down to the floor and forthwith commenced a spirited combat with his reflection in the wardrobe mirror. Remembering that the bird was more or less under his care Latimer performed Hague Tribunal offices by draping a bath-towel over the provocative mirror, but the ensuing peace was local and short-lived. The deflected energies of the gamecock found new outlet in a sudden and sustained attack on the sleeping and temporarily inoffensive pigling, and the duel which followed was desperate and embittered beyond any possibility of effective intervention. The feathered combatant had the advantage of being able, when hard pressed, to take refuge on the bed, and freely availed himself of this circumstance; the pigling never quite succeeded in hurling himself on to the same eminence, but it was not from want of trying.

Neither side could claim any decisive success, and the struggle had been practically fought to a standstill by the time that the maid appeared with the early morning tea.

"Lor, sir," she exclaimed in undisguised astonishment, "do you want those animals in your room?"WANT!

The pigling, as though aware that it might have outstayed its welcome, dashed out at the door, and the gamecock followed it at a more dignified pace.

"If Miss Vera's dog sees that pig - !" exclaimed the maid, and hurried off to avert such a catastrophe.

A cold suspicion was stealing over Latimer's mind;he went to the window and drew up the blind. A light, drizzling rain was falling, but there was not the faintest trace of any inundation.

Some half-hour later he met Vera on the way to the breakfast-room.

"I should not like to think of you as a deliberate liar," he observed coldly, "but one occasionally has to do things one does not like.""At any rate I kept your mind from dwelling on politics all the night," said Vera.

Which was, of course, perfectly true.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 我想看看天明

    我想看看天明

    我可以让你母亲恢复健康,还可以给你力量,但是你得答应我三个条件。第一,你不可以笑,只要有一丝的笑容,你就会体验到脑袋炸裂的痛;第二,你不可以爱,如果爱上一个人,你将尝到心脏撕裂的折磨;第三,你不可以哭,眼泪会把你变成我,变成——撒旦。
  • 兰瑟

    兰瑟

    英雄之所以被称之为英雄是因为世界可以抛弃英雄而英雄却永远不弃这世界
  • 院灵,千灵怨影

    院灵,千灵怨影

    一名医院普通药剂师,偶遇灵异事件。谁知,一切的偶然,实则命中注定。。。
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 次元反派

    次元反派

    我只是发现了,这个世界的违和感,然后在以最为平常的一部穿越小说的方向进行推理,没想到,我就变成了人人叫打的过街老鼠!聪明一点有错啊!我是宅男很对不起啊!
  • 真心话与大冒险

    真心话与大冒险

    --你玩过真心话大冒险吗?--你选的是真心话还是大冒险呢?--一段难忘的经历,一些难忘的人,就在那个夏天,那相伴走过的高三,我们从未忘记,依旧如初。【良心作者捂脸求收藏】
  • 网游之美女团长

    网游之美女团长

    妹妹喜欢玩网游咋办?必须得陪着保护好啊。妹妹的朋友呢?呃,一起带着吧。娇小可爱的胆小战士,文静内向的怕火法师,迷迷糊糊的呆萌牧师,彪悍霸气的女王骑士,古灵精怪的捣蛋术士…….妹妹的朋友越来越多。“老妹啊…..”于飞无奈的看着自己妹妹,妹妹水灵灵的大眼睛看着自己,那楚楚可怜的样子,实在让于飞难以拒绝,一咬牙:“好吧,把团组起来,我来当团长。”在开荒这个以男人为尊的世界里,于飞承受着狼友同胞既羡慕又鄙视的眼神,带着一群美女艰苦奋斗着…..PS:缅怀一下,陪我们度过大学时代的魔兽世界,如有雷同,勿喷哦,看书记得自备零食。
  • 军魂永驻

    军魂永驻

    【火爆新书】一群和平年代却历经战争的军人,他们在用鲜血捍卫着祖国的安宁,这是一段在他们看来普通的时光,然而却又是一段惊心动魄的历程,属于真正猎人的生活,在这里将全部为您解密。
  • 神级幻想家

    神级幻想家

    一脸蒙比的马逸:什么gui?主神?我都快逆袭走上人生巅峰了好不!为什么要让我穿越,呜呜呜,我不要做任务,我要回家!呜呜呜~主神:doit,ordie.马逸:...好吧,你赢了......这是个逗比的惊奇之旅,论如何正确打开生化危机等一系列电影......主神?!你似不似搞错了!!我要回家,呜呜呜~.....谁说游戏一定要这样玩?我偏不!
  • 龙族之旅

    龙族之旅

    二十二到了《龙族》到世界,然后,该干嘛干嘛。