Their long excursions were,
however, generally deferred until after dinner, as they were then
free until suppertime -- and even if they did not return after that
hour Mrs. Vickars did not chide them unduly, being an easygoing
woman, and always ready to make excuses for them.
There were plenty of fish in the river; and the boys knew the
pools they loved best, and often returned with their baskets well
filled. There were otters on its banks, too; but, though they
sometimes chased these pretty creatures, Tan and Turk, their two
dogs, knew as well as their masters that they had but small chance
of catching them. Sometimes they would take a boat at the bridge
and drop down the stream for miles, and once or twice had even
gone down to Bricklesey at the mouth of the river. This, however,
was an expedition that they never performed alone, making it each
time in charge of Master Lirriper, who owned a flat barge, and took
produce down to Bricklesey, there to be transhipped into coasters
bound for London. He had a married daughter there, and it was at
her house the boys had slept when they went there; for the journey
down and up again was too long to be performed in a single day.
But this was not the only distant expedition they had made, for they
had once gone down the Stour as far as Harwich with their father
when he was called thither on business.
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