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nd rushes about with fire hoses looking for the fire, and it takes a while before they find out that there never was a fire at all.
But one day Vane is set upon by two gipsy boys, and beaten nearly to death. Nobody knows who did the deed, as Vane is for a long while unconscious. Eventually he comes round, and things become a little bit clearer, but exactly how I will not reveal here.
The typography of the book we used was not very good, and there were a number of spelling inconsistencies. For instance "gipsy" is sometimes spelt "gipsey" and sometimes "gypsy". And the unfortunate Mr Deering is sometimes spelt "Dearing" and sometimes "Dereing". I hope we have ironed these things out, as well as making the hyphenation more consistent throughout the book.
Read it, or listen to it--you'll enjoy it.
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THE WEATHERCOCK, BEING THE ADVENTURES OF A BOY WITH A BIAS, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
CHAPTER ONE.
TOADSTOOLS!
"Oh, I say, here's a game! What's he up to now?"
"Hi! Vane! Old weathercock! Hold hard!"
"Do you hear? Which way does the wind blow?"
Three salutations shouted at a lad of about sixteen, who had just shown himself at the edge of a wood on the sunny slope of the Southwolds, one glorious September morning, when the spider-webs were still glittering with iridescent colours, as if every tiny strand were strung with diamonds, emeralds and amethysts, and the thick green moss that clothed the nut stubbs was one glorious sheen of topaz, sapphire and gold. Down in the valley the mist still hung in thick patches, but the sun's rays were piercing it in many directions, and there was every promise of a hot day, such as would make the shade of the great forest with its acorn-laden oaks welcome, and the whole place tempting to one who cared to fill pocket or basket with t