“Two to one!” cried Anne, “and he so small; you would never be so cowardly.”

“As if he were like an honest fellow,” said Charley.  “A goblin like that has his odds against a dozen of us.”

“I’d teach him, if I could but catch him,” cried Sedley.

“I told you,” said Anne, “that he would be good if you would let him alone and not plague him.”

“Now, Anne,” said Charles, as he sat putting on his stockings, “how could I stand being cast off for that hobgoblin, that looks as if he had been cut out of a root of yew with a blunt knife, and all crooked!  I that always was your sweetheart, to see you consorting with a mis-shapen squinting Whig of a Nonconformist like that.”

“Nonconformist!  I’ll Nonconform him indeed,” added Sedley.  “I wish I had the wringing of his neck.”

“Now is not that hard!” said Anne; “a poor lad who has been very sick, and that every one baits and spurns.”

“Serve him right,” said Sedley; “he shall have more of the same sauce!”

“I think he has cast his spell on Anne,” added Charles, “or how can she stand up for him?”

“My mamma bade me be kind to him.”

“Kind!  I would as lief be kind to a toad!” put in Lucy.

“To see you kind to him makes me sick,” exclaimed Charles.  “You see what comes of it.”

“It did not come of my kindness, but of your unkindness,” reasoned Anne.

“I told you so,” said Charles.  “You would have been best pleased if we had been carried out to sea and drowned!”

Anne burst into tears and disavowed any such intention, and Charles was protesting that he would only forgive her on condition of her never showing any kindness to Peregrine again, when a sudden shower of sand and pebbles descended, one of them hitting Sedley pretty sharply on the ear.  The boys sprang up with a howl of imprecation and vengeance, but no one was to be seen, only ‘Ho! ho! ho!’ resounded from the battlements.  Off they rushed headlong, but the nearest door was in a square tower a good way off, and when they reached it the door defied their efforts of frantic rage, whilst another shower descended on them from above, accompanied by the usual shout.  But while they were dashing off in quest of another entrance they were met by a servant sent to summon them to return home.  Coach and horses were at the door, and Lady Archfield was in haste to get them away, declaring that she should not think their lives safe near that fiendish monster.  Considering that Sedley was nearly twice as big as Peregrine, and Charles a strong well-grown lad, this was a tribute to his preternatural powers.

Very unwillingly they went, and if Lady Archfield had not kept a strict watch from her coach window, they would certainly have turned back to revenge the pranks played on them.  The last view of them showed Sedley turning round shaking his whip and clenching his teeth in defiance.  Mrs. Woodford was greatly concerned, especially as Peregrine could not be found and did not appear at supper.