A man whose person was unknown to her had followed her, sheanswered; he began by begging, and went on to threats of robbery,which he was on the point of carrying into execution, and wouldhave executed, but for Joe"s timely aid. The hesitation andconfusion with which she said this, Joe attributed to the frightshe had sustained, and no suspicion of the truth occurred to himfor a moment.
"Stop when the words are on your lips." A hundred times thatnight, and very often afterwards, when the disclosure was risingto her tongue, Dolly thought of that, and repressed it. A deeplyrooted dread of the man; the conviction that his ferocious nature,once roused, would stop at nothing; and the strong assurance thatif she impeached him, the full measure of his wrath and vengeancewould be wreaked on Joe, who had preserved her; these wereconsiderations she had not the courage to overcome, and inducementsto secrecy too powerful for her to surmount.
Joe, for his part, was a great deal too happy to inquire verycuriously into the matter; and Dolly being yet too tremulous towalk without assistance, they went forward very slowly, and in hismind very pleasantly, until the Maypole lights were near at hand,twinkling their cheerful welcome, when Dolly stopped suddenly andwith a half scream exclaimed,"The letter!"
"What letter?" cried Joe.
"That I was carrying--I had it in my hand. My bracelet too," shesaid, clasping her wrist. "I have lost them both."
"Do you mean just now?" said Joe.
"Either I dropped them then, or they were taken from me," answeredDolly, vainly searching her pocket and rustling her dress. "Theyare gone, both gone. What an unhappy girl I am!" With these wordspoor Dolly, who to do her justice was quite as sorry for the lossof the letter as for her bracelet, fell a-crying again, andbemoaned her fate most movingly.
Joe tried to comfort her with the assurance that directly he hadhoused her in the Maypole, he would return to the spot with alantern (for it was now quite dark) and make strict search for themissing articles, which there was great probability of his finding,as it was not likely that anybody had passed that way since, andshe was not conscious that they had been forcibly taken from her.
Dolly thanked him very heartily for this offer, though with nogreat hope of his quest being successful; and so with manylamentations on her side, and many hopeful words on his, and muchweakness on the part of Dolly and much tender supporting on thepart of Joe, they reached the Maypole bar at last, where thelocksmith and his wife and old John were yet keeping high festival.
Mr Willet received the intelligence of Dolly"s trouble with thatsurprising presence of mind and readiness of speech for which hewas so eminently distinguished above all other men. Mrs Vardenexpressed her sympathy for her daughter"s distress by scolding herroundly for being so late; and the honest locksmith divided himselfbetween condoling with and kissing Dolly, and shaking handsheartily with Joe, whom he could not sufficiently praise or thank.
In reference to this latter point, old John was far from agreeingwith his friend; for besides that he by no means approved of anadventurous spirit in the abstract, it occurred to him that if hisson and heir had been seriously damaged in a scuffle, theconsequences would assuredly have been expensive and inconvenient,and might perhaps have proved detrimental to the Maypole business.
Wherefore, and because he looked with no favourable eye upon younggirls, but rather considered that they and the whole female sexwere a kind of nonsensical mistake on the part of Nature, he tookoccasion to retire and shake his head in private at the boiler;inspired by which silent oracle, he was moved to give Joe variousstealthy nudges with his elbow, as a parental reproof and gentleadmonition to mind his own business and not make a fool of himself.
Joe, however, took down the lantern and lighted it; and arminghimself with a stout stick, asked whether Hugh was in the stable.
"He"s lying asleep before the kitchen fire, sir," said Mr Willet.
"What do you want him for?"
"I want him to come with me to look after this bracelet andletter," answered Joe. "Halloa there! Hugh!"
Dolly turned pale as death, and felt as if she must faintforthwith. After a few moments, Hugh came staggering in,stretching himself and yawning according to custom, and presentingevery appearance of having been roused from a sound nap.
"Here, sleepy-head," said Joe, giving him the lantern. "Carrythis, and bring the dog, and that small cudgel of yours. And woebetide the fellow if we come upon him."
"What fellow?" growled Hugh, rubbing his eyes and shaking himself.
"What fellow?" returned Joe, who was in a state of great valour andbustle; "a fellow you ought to know of and be more alive about.
It"s well for the like of you, lazy giant that you are, to besnoring your time away in chimney-corners, when honest men"sdaughters can"t cross even our quiet meadows at nightfall withoutbeing set upon by footpads, and frightened out of their preciouslives."
"They never rob me," cried Hugh with a laugh. "I have got nothingto lose. But I"d as lief knock them at head as any other men. Howmany are there?"
"Only one," said Dolly faintly, for everybody looked at her.
"And what was he like, mistress?" said Hugh with a glance at youngWillet, so slight and momentary that the scowl it conveyed was loston all but her. "About my height?"
"Not--not so tall," Dolly replied, scarce knowing what she said.
"His dress," said Hugh, looking at her keenly, "like--like any ofours now? I know all the people hereabouts, and maybe could give aguess at the man, if I had anything to guide me."