CHAPTER XIV .sx LOST ON THE MOORS .sx HAVE I conveyed the impression that the moors are always genial , always beautiful , with a welcoming smile for those who love those who love them a smile that never fails ?sx It is not so .sx The moors have their moods :sx they can be treacherous as the sirens :sx their very beauty sometimes lures their lovers to disaster :sx they can be savage , cruel , heartless .sx Every moor-man has tales to tell of their falseness , but they fall on the ears of inexperienced lovers as the idle words of jealous detractors .sx It was so with with Phyllis and Mary .sx We heard and did not heed .sx It was particularly hard to credit the moors with evil intentions in this month of August when they are beautiful beyond my powers of description .sx Phyllis and Mary succumbed to their charm one evening when the landscape mirrored the glories of the sunset like a placid lake , and they informed me that at last they were ready for the long ramble I was always urging upon them .sx We arranged it for the following day , and when morning duties were finished we set off .sx None had troubled her head about routes , but I had a vague notion of finding a pretty little reservoir and cluster of houses which Maria Higgins had told me I ought to see " a reyt bonnie spot , 'idden away in a ollow .sx " Her directions had been indefinite , but she was so sure that we could not miss the place that I never troubled to seek further guidance , even though we encountered Ben Goodenough at the very beginning of the journey and might have had it from him .sx That may have been because Ben was a prophet of evil for whom none of us that morning had any use .sx I confess my fault .sx It was natural enough for the girls to be impatient with the man , but I ought to have had more sense .sx Alas !sx even elderly folk are too often intolerant of the Jeremiahs who offer unwelcome counsel .sx In our judgment the weather conditions were ideal .sx In spite of the fact that there was scarcely a cloud in the sky , the air was not overpoweringly hot as it had been for some days past , and we welcomed the light gossamer veil that hung like a luminous sunshade overhead .sx " You'll want your waterproofs if you're going far , " said Ben , with a wise look at our packages and at the sky .sx I'm afraid I replied " Nonsense !sx " ; at any rate , the farmer turned away , tossing a rejoinder over his shoulder as he went :sx " Please yourselves ; but I'm telling you !sx " .sx " The big man has a little soul , " said Phyllis ; " he envies us , my dears , and therefore lays his curses on the weather .sx " " Peace , child !sx " said Mary ; " the man's name is Jonah , and he is to be thrown overboard .sx " I could not dismiss Ben so lightly , partly because I knew he ought to know , and partly because I thought he had treated us too curtly .sx His father would have made me listen , and would not have been huffed so easily .sx We forgot him before long , and his gloomy prognostications .sx too , in the joy of the new sensations we were always receiving .sx Phyllis and Mary were anxious to keep their emotions well in hand , but there were times when they forgot themselves and lost control .sx It was not simply that the moors were at their best everything was at its best , or at any rate at its richest .sx As a matter of fact , a little of time's rust had begun to settle on the tiny florets of the heather but that only gave a warmer tint to the purple and made the picture more attractive .sx The uplands glowed with colour , varied and yet beautifully blended , with the artistry that seems like magic to us humans ; but when we stumbled by accident upon the bonnie little spot " 'idden away in the 'ollow , " I think we all held our breath and gasped .sx " Isn't it just too lovely for words ?sx " ejaculated Phyllis at length .sx We saved our words , yet now as I write I wish words would come to enable me to make others see what we saw , and saw so suddenly a cameo in nut-brown and sober green :sx a little lake , reflecting in minutest detail the trees that sheltered it and the grass that fringed it :sx an oasis in the wilderness of ling every leaf , every blade , every stone clean-cut , crisply defined ; and over all this wonderful , too early , but not too beautiful , glow of autumn .sx We lunched there , even though it seemed like a profanation , like lunching in a cathedral , and when we had lunched we found the cluster of houses and were satisfied with a glance .sx Beyond the houses far away , it is true , and yet in the picture was the vale of industry , with its factories and its smoke-pall and other suggestions of the workaday world we had left for a while ; and with one consent we turned our backs on it and set our faces again to the moors .sx We covered quite a good distance in the next two hours and had forgotten Jonah , and were wandering aimlessly along a track that seemed to lead in the direction of an eminence which Mary was certain would afford a view of a road " the sort of road that takes you somewhere , " as she put it when Phyllis remarked that the sky wasn't very promising .sx There was a note of uneasiness in her voice , though she tried to hide it with a laugh ; and when I looked up and round about and noted that the flimsy sunshade had given place to a grey umbrella that was as big as the whole arch of the sky , I began to think more meanly of myself and more respectfully of Ben Goodenough .sx " Just so !sx " said Mary .sx Nobody had said anything , but no doubt our eyes had spoken there are times when eyes are really loquacious .sx " Is it to be a quick march homewards or a tower of refuge ?sx My vote is for the tower .sx " " Where is home , and where is the tower ?sx " I asked , and Mary laughed .sx " You are the expert , " she said .sx " Phyllis and I are the conducted tourists .sx Lead , Mrs. Cook , and we follow !sx " .sx This was all very well , but in what direction was I to lead ?sx There was nothing for it but to seek the eminence and hope for the best .sx Long before we reached it rain was falling in a steady drizzle that made us uncomfortably conscious of its power to penetrate our summer clothing .sx When at length we stood on the top of the hill , which , after all , was merely a billow on the ocean of moor , all that we saw was a huge curtain of mist that was being drawn by invisible fingers from west to east , and which in a very few moments completely enveloped us .sx " Poor old Jonah !sx " said Mary .sx " We ought to have thrown him overboard , after all ; but it's we who are going to do the ` wailing ' stunt if this continues .sx " " Well , we won't blubber , " said Phyllis ; and after that laugh there was no other for what looked like an eternity .sx None of us absolutely lost heart , and it can hardly be said that we lost our way , because we hadn't one to lose .sx In fine weather you have only to keep on keeping on and you are sure to strike a path sooner or later that will bring you to a farm , or a milestone , or a signpost , even if you don't run across a keeper , who can generally be relied upon to tell you the quickest way home and to see that you take it .sx A keeper had been our bogy-man ever since we left the broad moorland road , but if only one had turned up now , though he had straddled across the path like Apollyon and been every bit as menacing , we should have greeted him with joy .sx If we did not lose heart , Phyllis lost one of her shoes in a bog and that hampered us more than .sx ever .sx Try as we would , we could not find the shoe , which was sucked down into the green slime that .sx threatened to suck us with it .sx It was remarkable how quickly the whole moor seemed to become a swamp , .sx and it was equally remarkable how every semblance of a track disappeared as soon as we began to follow .sx it .sx To add to our discomfort , the mist thickened and was so horribly wet that we were all speedily soaked to the skin , which caused Phyllis to remark that for the first time in her life she knew what it was to be a sponge .sx " It strikes me , " said Mary , " you're going to know what it's like to be one of three wraiths that will haunt these moors .sx I vote we shout ' Help !sx ' before we lose our voices for ever .sx " We shouted , one after the other and all together ; and it was like shouting with our faces against a wall , for the sound seemed to come back and choke us .sx .. Phyllis struggled on bravely , with a foot-glove improvised out of handkerchiefs and nameless articles of apparel of which we divested ourselves .sx Each of us was of opinion that we had covered eight or ten miles since the mist came , and none of us had any idea of the truth that we were wandering round and round a small area of swamp all the time .sx We must have diverged at length , for we struck a stretch of firm ground .sx " Oh , for a lodge in this vast wilderness !sx " sighed .sx Phyllis ; but Mary exclaimed :sx " I can go one better than that :sx ` Oh for a man with heart , head , hand , Whatever they call him , what care I , .sx Aristocrat , democrat , autocrat ' .sx I'm going to shout again .sx " This time there was an answer the bark of a dog :sx a bark that was an enquiry :sx the most welcome noise I ever heard in my life .sx Mary renewed her effort , and also whistled an accomplishment which I have usually discouraged .sx The dog barked again and we pressed forward in the direction of the sound .sx Another minute , and in the thick of the mist a black object took shape , after the fashion of the Cheshire Cat in Alice , and developed into a sheep-dog which approached us slowly and suspiciously with growls and barks that were not too friendly .sx Friend or foe , we welcomed it all of us :sx and also welcomed its master when he grew out of the mist .sx and stood before us , a thick-set old man , wearing a much-worn soft felt hat , whose brim was turned down all round and nearly covered his ears .sx He stooped a little , but he seemed muscular and powerful in spite of the weight of years which was bending his back , and as he came slouching forward he cursed the dog , which slouched behind him and remained there .sx Then he peered into our faces in a way that indicated short-sightedness and ill-manners .sx No matter :sx even if he were another Heathcliff one who " little recks to find the way to heaven by doing deeds of hospitality " he was still a saviour , and none of us was disposed to be critical of his deficiences .sx " Ye seem to be in a fine pickle , anyway , " he observed when his eyes had taken in our condition .sx " Folks with a bit o' sense 'ud know better than to go traipsing over t' moors on a day like this .sx Then when they get theirselves into a mess other folks has to make out for 'em .sx " I was too wet and tired as well as too relieved to be indignant , but I could not possibly have been as sweet-tempered as Mary .sx " Now that's awfully nice of you , " she said .sx " We're wet to the skin , and we're cold and hungry , and we're just dying for someone to make out for us .sx When you've fallen among bogs it's nice to find the Inn of the Good Samaritan .sx " All she got in reply for this conciliatory speech was a scowling stare and a grudging invitation .sx