Excerpt from The First Round It is possible that she had heard an answer to her signal, for she descended the hillside quickly, her strong shoes crunching amongst the stones of the path, and occasionally sticking in the wet earth and emerging with an uncanny gurgle. She did not seem depressed by the difficulty of her way, but sang softly to herself as she went. Before she had gone far, however, a sudden deluge of rain began to drive heavily across the face of the hill, and the big drops pattered on her yellow garment like arrows on the armour of some hero of Old wars. The valley was blotted out in an instant 3 she glanced around her, and knew, though she could not see it, that she was near a hovel which was almost in ruins. She tucked her pigtail inside the mackintosh and ran like a Chamois towards shelter.
The hovel had been built, for purposes long since, forgotten, in a disused gravel pit, and leant against the scarped side of the hill with the weary languor Of extreme antiquity. The little girl reached the quarry in a very short time, and was making for the draughty entrance to the building when, rather to her astonishment, she discovered that She was not the sole intruder in that usually lonely place. A boy about her own age was walking solemnly to and fro amongst the plentiful pools of rain which lay on the muddy ground.
The little girl was in no way embarrassed by his presence, but stood well in the shelter of the doorway and shook her mackintosh. Then, without speaking, she watched the dim figure of the boy, who continued his absurd goose-step in the slime without taking the least notice of her. Perhaps this ungallant treatment roused her curiosity for at length when he was near her, she remarked briefly, You 'll get wet.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The hovel had been built, for purposes long since, forgotten, in a disused gravel pit, and leant against the scarped side of the hill with the weary languor Of extreme antiquity. The little girl reached the quarry in a very short time, and was making for the draughty entrance to the building when, rather to her astonishment, she discovered that She was not the sole intruder in that usually lonely place. A boy about her own age was walking solemnly to and fro amongst the plentiful pools of rain which lay on the muddy ground.
The little girl was in no way embarrassed by his presence, but stood well in the shelter of the doorway and shook her mackintosh. Then, without speaking, she watched the dim figure of the boy, who continued his absurd goose-step in the slime without taking the least notice of her. Perhaps this ungallant treatment roused her curiosity for at length when he was near her, she remarked briefly, You 'll get wet.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Share This Book: