Fast as he ran the children had reached the
piggery before he could overtake them, and he arrived just in time to see
Olivia, wondering but unprotesting, hauled and pushed up to the roof of
the nearest sty. They were old buildings in some need of repair, and the
rickety roof would certainly not have borne Octavian's weight if he had
attempted to follow his daughter and her captors on their new vantage
ground.
"What are you going to do with her?" he panted. There was no mistaking
the grim trend of mischief in those flushed by sternly composed young
faces.
"Hang her in chains over a slow fire," said one of the boys. Evidently
they had been reading English history.
"Frow her down the pigs will d'vour her, every bit 'cept the palms of her
hands," said the other boy. It was also evident that they had studied
Biblical history.
The last proposal was the one which most alarmed Octavian, since it might
be carried into effect at a moment's notice; there had been cases, he
remembered, of pigs eating babies.
"You surely wouldn't treat my poor little Olivia in that way?" he
pleaded.
"You killed our little cat," came in stern reminder from three throats.
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