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Gregory.
"You soon forgot them talks we had, bor, all about the
coming age of socialism and how the powers of the state was
going to wither away. Directly we get a bit of trouble, you want
to call in the authorities. There's no harm here a few savage
dogs like my old Cuff can't handle, and I don't say as I ent
going to get a couple of dogs, but you'm a fule if you reckon I'm
getting the authorities down here. Fine old socialist you turn
out to be!"
"You have no room to talk about that!" Gregory exclaimed.
"Why didn't you let Grubby come here? If you were a socialist,
you'd treat the men as you treat yourself. Instead, you leave him
out in the ditch. I wanted him to hear this discussion."
The farmer leant threateningly across the table at him.
"Oh, you did, did you? Since when was this your farm? And
Grubby can come and go as he likes when it's his, so put that in
your pipe and smoke it, bor! Who do you just think you are?" He
moved closer to Gregory, apparently happy to work off his fears
as anger. "You're trying to scare us all off this here little old bit
of ground, ent you? Well, the Grendons ent a scaring sort, see!
Now I'll tell you something. See that shotgun there on the wall?
That be loaded. And if you ent off this farm by midday, that
shotgun ont be on that wall no more. It'll be here, bor, right
here in my two hands, and I'll be letting you have it right where
you'll feel it most."
"You can't do that. Father," Nancy said. "You know Greg-
ory is a friend of ours."
"For God's sake, Joseph," Gregory said, "see where your
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enemy lies. Bert, tell Mr. Grendon what we saw on the pond, go
on!"
Neckland was far from keen to be dragged into this
argument. He scratched his head, drew a red-and-white
spotted kerchief from round his neck to wipe his face, and
muttered, "We saw a sort of ripple on the water, but I didn't see
nothing really, Master Gregory. I mean, it could have been the
wind, couldn't it?"
"Now you be warned, Gregory," the farmer repeated. "You
be off my land by noon by the sun, and that mare of yours, or I
ont answer for it." He marched out into the pale sunshine, and
Neckland followed.
Nancy and Gregory stood staring at each other. He took her
hands, and they were cold.
"You believe what I was saying, Nancy?"
"Is that why the food did at one point taste bad to us, and
then soon tasted well enough again?"
"It can only have been that at that time your systems were
not fully adjusted to the poison. Now they are. You're being fed
up, Nancy, just like the livestockI'm sure of it! I fear for you,
darling love, I fear so much. What are we to do? Come back to
Cottersall with me! Mrs. Fenn has another fine little drawing
room upstairs that I'm sure she would rent."
"Now you're talking nonsense, Greg! How can I? What
would people say? No, you go away for now and let the
tempest of Father's wrath abate, and if you could come back
tomorrow, you will find he will be milder for sure, because I
plan to wait on him tonight and talk to him about you. Why,
he's half daft with grief and doesn't know what he says."
"All right, my darling. But stay inside as much as you can.
The Aurigans have not come indoors yet, as far as we know,
and it may be safer here. And lock all the doors and put the
shutters over the windows before you go to bed. And get your
father to take that shotgun of his upstairs with him."
The evenings were lengthening with confidence towards
summer now, and Bruce Fox arrived home before sunset. As he
jumped from his bicycle this evening, he found his friend
Gregory impatiently awaiting him.
They went indoors together, and while Fox ate a large tea,
Gregory told him what had been happening at the farm that
day.
"You're in trouble," Fox said. "Look, tomorrow's Sunday. I'll
skip church and come out with you. You need help."
"Joseph may shoot me. He'll be certain to if I bring along a
stranger. You can help me tonight by telling me where I can
purchase a young dog straightaway to protect Nancy."
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"Nonsense, I'm coming with you. I can't bear hearing all this
at secondhand anyhow. We'll pick up a pup in any eventthe
blacksmith has a litter to be rid of. Have you got any plan of
action?"
"Plan? No, not really."
"You must have a plan. Grendon doesn't scare too easily,
does he?"
"I imagine he's scared well enough. Nancy says he's scared.
He just isn't imaginative enough to see what he can do but
carry on working as hard as possible."
"Look, I know these farmers. They won't believe anything
till you rub their noses in it. What we must do is show him an
Aurigan."
"Oh, splendid, Bruce! And how do you catch one?"
"You trap one."
"Don't forget they're invisiblehey, Bruce, yes, by Jove,
you're right! I've the very idea! Look, we've nothing more to
worry about if we can trap one. We can trap the lot, however
many there are, and we can kill the little horrors when we have
trapped them."
Fox grinned over the top of a chunk of cherry cake. "We're
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