Page:Possession (Roche, February 1923).pdf/286



Derek was now afraid to leave Buckskin alone. His cold was so bad that he kept to the house almost continually, but when he did go to the barn or the stables he would carry the child on his arm. In fact, the child was seldom out of his thoughts. He would light a candle in the night and hold it near the little sleeping face, to assure himself that those terrible contortions had not again disfigured it. Word came from Yeoland that Lottie's children were ill of the measles, so he could not look for her for several weeks.

To make matters worse, he had trouble with his sheep and cattle, which had fallen sick from eating mouldy silage. If he had been about as usual he would have prevented its being fed to them. But Bill Rain thought that whatever animals could be made to eat was good for them. His own taste in food was peculiar. He begged from Derek all the left-over bacon rinds. These he frizzled in a pan till they were crisp and hard. He carried them in his pocket and produced them at all hours to crunch between his black broken teeth. "Say, Mr. Vale," he would affirm, "I've got the strongest teeth in the country, exceptin' just my uncle John Blackbird. He can lift a chair in his." And he would take another mouthful of rind.

So he thought nothing of feeding mouldy silage to the stock. The silage had been ensiled in a dry, rather ripe condition and was woody and loose, perhaps because it had not been tramped or settled solid. It moulded badly, and two sheep died, and several cows were very sick. Derek had the veterinary, but he was glad when Hobbs appeared one day hopping on a crutch, and ready, as always, to give advice.

Hobbs carried a bunch of daffodils from the Durras greenhouse for Mrs. Vale. He looked downcast when Derek