"
"Then you know who did it?"
"I do and I don't, Sir. But take a look round, if you please."
The Parson looked up and down and across the river; and, sure,
enough, whichever way he turned, his eyes fell on splashes of
whitewash and little flags fluttering. They seemed to stretch right
away from Porthnavas down to the river's mouth; and though he
couldn't see it from where he stood, even Mawnan church-tower had
been given a lick of the brush.
"But," said the Parson, fairly puzzled, "all this can only have
happened in broad daylight, and you must have caught the fellow at
it, whoever he is."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say I caught him," answered my
grandfather, modest-like; "but I came upon him a little above Bosahan
in the act of setting up one of his flags, and I asked him, in the
King's name, what he meant by it."
"And what did he answer?"
My grandfather looked over his shoulder. "I couldn't, Sir, not for a
pocketful of crowns, and your good lady, so to speak, within
hearing."
"Nonsense, man! She's not within a hundred yards."
"Well, then, Sir, he up and hoped the devil would fly away with me,
and from that he went on to say--" But here my grandfather came to a
dead halt.
Pages:
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271