Chapter 9 Chapter 8: Someone is found where no one is

As soon as the unfortunate little boy left the fire, clutching the coin tightly in his hand, as if it would strengthen his courage, he started to run home.There was certainly no danger in leaving a child home alone in this part of Eden Moor.It was not more than three-eighths of a mile to get home, and his father's cottage, and another thatched cottage a few paces beyond, formed part of the little village of Misty Hills, the first of its kind. The three, or remaining house, was Captain Veil's and Eustacia's, and this house, far from the other two cottages, was, so to speak, a solitary place on these sparsely populated hills. Of all the houses, it was the loneliest one.

He ran as hard as he could until he was out of breath, and then felt more emboldened, and went forward with easy steps, singing in an old voice a ditty about a sailor and a A ditty where fairies bury gold.While singing, he stopped; in a hollow in front of him, there was a light flickering, and at the same time a cloud of dust rose, accompanied by a crackling sound. The child was only afraid of unusual sights and sounds, but not the bleak sounds of the moor, because that was what he was used to hearing.From time to time on the path he walked, a clump of bramble bushes appeared, which was a little startling, because they made a gloomy rustling sound, and after dark, their shadows were often terrifying, like bouncing Jumping maniacs, barking giants, and hideous cripples.Tonight, there was nothing unusual about bright light, but the fire light he had seen before was completely different from the fire light in front of him.More prudence than terror, the boy turned back, he did not want to pass by the flame, he wanted to call Eustacia.Miss Veil asked her servant to accompany him home.

When the child climbed to the top of the embankment again, he found that the bonfire on the earth embankment was still burning, but the flame was smaller than before.He saw at once that Eustacia was not alone by the fire alone, but that there were two figures there, and the other was a man.The boy cautiously stooped and crawled forward under the embankment to see what was going on. He felt that his case was too small for him to be rash enough to alarm someone like Eustacia. A beautiful lady. After hiding under the embankment and listening to the above speech for a few minutes, he showed confusion and suspicion, and began to retreat quietly as he had just come.In short, he felt no need to interrupt her conversation with Wilderf. Obviously, he didn't want to upset her, and he couldn't bear the consequences.

For a poor kid.It's a real dilemma.When he returned to a safe place where he would not be discovered, he stopped. After some consideration, he finally decided that it might be less dangerous to face the scene of the valley.So he let out a heavy sigh, and walked down the hillside again, walking along the previous path. The fire was gone, and so was the rising dust, which he hoped would never appear again.He resolutely walked forward, but he was not frightened at all, until he was only a few steps away from a sand mining site, and he heard a slight sound in front of him, and he couldn't help but stop.But he didn't stop for a while, because he could hear the sound of two animals chewing.

It's two moor horses, he exclaimed, and I never knew they'd come so far.Two wild horses were right in front of the path he was on, but the boy didn't mind much about it; for he had been used to running under horses since he was a boy.However, when he got closer, the child was a little surprised, because he found that the two wild horses did not run away, and that each horse was stumbled so as not to go too far at will, which showed that the two horses were not wild horses but It's a tame horse.At this time, he had already seen clearly the situation in the sand quarry. This sand quarry was located on the side of the hillside and had a flat entrance.In the innermost corner of the battlefield, the square outline of the rear of a carriage can be seen impressively.A ray of light shot out from the car, casting a moving figure on the vertical sand wall at the innermost end of the sand field directly facing the carriage.

The boy concluded that it was a gypsy carriage, and that his fear of this wandering people was not painful but merely curious.As far as he and his family are concerned, there are only four more mud walls a few inches thick, otherwise they are not much different from gypsies.He respectfully kept a certain distance from the battlefield, walked around, walked up the slope, and came to the top of the battlefield, in order to see who the figure in the carriage was from the open door of the carriage. The sight in front of him startled the boy.Beside a small stove in the carriage sat a man, red from head to toe, who turned out to be the young man who had been Thomasy's friend.He was mending a sock, which was red like his own.What's more, it was the pipe he was smoking while mending the socks, and the pipe and stick were also red.

At this moment, a wilderness horse grazing in the shadows outside began to shake off the trip wires tied to its feet, making a clattering sound.Hearing the sound, the red soil dealer put down his socks, lit the lantern hanging beside him, and stepped out of the carriage.As he stuck the candle into the lantern, he held it up in front of his face, and the light illuminated the whites of his eyes and the white teeth, which, in contrast to the flush all over him, would have amazed a child. .The child immediately understood that he had broken into someone's den, and felt uneasy.Originally, it was known that there were uglier people than gypsies on the Eden Wasteland, and the red clay dealer was one of them.

I wish that was a gypsy!he muttered to himself.The red clay dealer was walking back from the horse at this moment.Because he was afraid of being seen, the child suddenly became nervous, and this time his whereabouts were exposed.Thick layers of heather and grass mud grew on the walls of the sandpit, hanging down and covering the edge of the pit wall. The child stepped on the real hard slope, and the heather collapsed, and he walked from the gray to the ground. It tumbled down the steep wall of sand and landed right at the man's feet. The red clay dealer turned on his lantern and shone it on the boy lying flat on the ground.

Who are you?he asks. Johnny.Nasaqi, sir! What are you doing up there? I don't know either. I think, are you looking at me? Yes, sir. why do you want to see me Because I'm coming home from Miss Veil's campfire. Are you in pain? No. Oops, you fell and your hands are bleeding.Come quickly to my wagon and I'll bandage you. Excuse me, let me look for my sixpence first. How did you get it? I helped Miss Vee look after the fire, she gave it to me. The coin was found, and the red clay dealer got into the cart, followed by the child, hardly daring to breathe. The red clay dealer took a rag from a small bag of mending materials, tore off a strip, which, like all his belongings, was red, and with it he bound up the child's wounds.

My eyes are foggy and I can't see clearly. Excuse me, sir. Can I sit down?the child asked. Of course, poor little guy.This blow is enough for you, and you will be dizzy from the fall.Just sit on that bag. The red clay dealer bandaged the wound, and the child said, Now, I think it's time to go home, sir. You are a little scared of me.do you know what i do The child looked up and down his flushed body in fear, and finally replied, yes. Well, what is it for? Red clay dealer!he said in a trembling voice. Yes, this is what I do.But I'm not the only one doing this.You children always think there is only one cuckoo, one fox, one giant, one devil, and one red-clay-monger.But actually there are many.

real?You won't take me away in a bag, will you, sir?I've heard it said that red clay dealers sometimes do that. nonsense.What red clay dealers do is sell red clay.Did you see those bags in the back of my cart?They're not all loaded with red clay for pretend kids. Are you born a red clay dealer? No, I did it later.If I don't do this job anymore, I will be as white as you, that is to say, sooner or later, I will not be able to turn white at first, I am afraid it will take six months, because the red clay powder has penetrated into my skin and cannot be washed off for a while. .Now, you'll never be afraid of a red-clay dealer again, will you? Yes, never again.Willie.Orchard said he saw a red ghost here the other day. Could it be you? I was here the other day. You made that gray light I saw just now? Oh yes, it was me slapping some bags of red clay.You lit a bright bonfire over there, didn't you?I saw it.Why is Miss Veil so eager to light a bonfire that she gives you sixpence to keep it? I don't know either.I'm so tired, but she wants me to stay there and tend the fire and keep it burning so hot while she keeps running down the Rainhill road. How long have you watched it? Until a frog jumped into the pond. The red clay dealer suddenly stopped chatting casually like before.a frog?He asked rhetorically, no frog would jump into the pond in this season. Yes, I hear you. Really? real.She told me first to listen, so I did.People say she is clever, maybe she used magic to attract them. What next? Then I came here, and I was afraid, and turned back; but I didn't want to talk to her, because there was a gentleman there, so I came back here again. A gentleman!Man, what was she saying to him? She told him she thought he didn't marry another woman because his favorite was still his old friend, and things like that. And what did the gentleman say to her, little one? He only said that he really liked her very much, and how he came to see her at Rainhill in the middle of the night. ha!The red-clay peddler cried out, and slapped the wagon sideways with his hand, so that the whole wagon shook.Here lies the secret! The child jumped up from the stool suddenly. Don't be afraid, man, said the red-clad businessman, suddenly very mild.I forgot you were here.That's just one of the red-claymongers' queer moments of rage; but they don't hurt anybody.What did the lady say afterwards? I didn't pay attention.Excuse me, Mr. Red Claypot, may I go home now? Hey, of course.I will walk with you for a while. He led the child out of the quarry and on the way back to his mother's hut.After the little figure had disappeared into the darkness, the red-clay-monger turned back, sat down by the fire again, and went on with his mending.