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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10101-0.txt b/10101-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..237a107 --- /dev/null +++ b/10101-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3933 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10101 *** + +[Illustration: ] + +A LITTLE BOY LOST + + +By W. H. Hudson + +Illustrated by A. D. M'Cormick + + + + +CONTENTS + +_CHAPTER_ + +I THE HOME ON THE GREAT PLAIN, + +II THE SPOONBILL AND THE CLOUD, + +III CHASING A FLYING FIGURE, + +IV MARTIN IS FOUND BY A DEAF OLD MAN, + +V THE PEOPLE OF THE MIRAGE, + +VI MARTIN MEETS WITH SAVAGES, + +VII ALONE IN THE GREAT FOREST, + +VIII THE FLOWER AND THE SERPENT, + +IX THE BLACK PEOPLE OF THE SKY, + +X A TROOP OF WILD HORSES, + +XI THE LADY OF THE HILLS, + +XII THE LITTLE PEOPLE UNDERGROUND, + +XIII THE GREAT BLUE WATER, + +XIV THE WONDERS OF THE HILLS, + +XV MARTIN'S EYES ARE OPENED, + +XVI THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST, + +XVII THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA, + +XVIII MARTIN PLAYS WITH THE WAVES, + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +THE HOME ON THE GREAT PLAIN + +Some like to be one thing, some another. There is so much to be done, +so many different things to do, so many trades! Shepherds, soldiers, +sailors, ploughmen, carters--one could go on all day naming without +getting to the end of them. For myself, boy and man, I have been +many things, working for a living, and sometimes doing things just +for pleasure; but somehow, whatever I did, it never seemed quite the +right and proper thing to do--it never quite satisfied me. I always +wanted to do something else--I wanted to be a carpenter. It seemed +to me that to stand among wood-shavings and sawdust, making things +at a bench with bright beautiful tools out of nice-smelling wood, +was the cleanest, healthiest, prettiest work that any man can do. +Now all this has nothing, or very little, to do with my story: I +only spoke of it because I had to begin somehow, and it struck me +that I would make a start that way. And for another reason, too. +_His father was a carpenter_. I mean Martin's father--Martin, the +Little Boy Lost. His father's name was John, and he was a very good +man and a good carpenter, and he loved to do his carpentering better +than anything else; in fact as much as I should have loved it if I +had been taught that trade. He lived in a seaside town, named +Southampton, where there is a great harbour, where he saw great +ships coming and going to and from all parts of the world. Now, no +strong, brave man can live in a place like that, seeing the ships +and often talking to the people who voyaged in them about the +distant lands where they had been, without wishing to go and see +those distant countries for himself. When it is winter in England, +and it rains and rains, and the east wind blows, and it is grey and +cold and the trees are bare, who does not think how nice it would be +to fly away like the summer birds to some distant country where the +sky is always blue and the sun shines bright and warm every day? And +so it came to pass that John, at last, when he was an old man, sold +his shop, and went abroad. They went to a country many thousands of +miles away--for you must know that Mrs. John went too; and when the +sea voyage ended, they travelled many days and weeks in a wagon +until they came to the place where they wanted to live; and there, +in that lonely country, they built a house, and made a garden, and +planted an orchard. It was a desert, and they had no neighbours, but +they were happy enough because they had as much land as they wanted, +and the weather was always bright and beautiful; John, too, had his +carpenter's tools to work with when he felt inclined; and, best of +all, they had little Martin to love and think about. + +But how about Martin himself? You might think that with no other +child to prattle to and play with or even to see, it was too lonely +a home for him. Not a bit of it! No child could have been happier. +He did not want for company; his playfellows were the dogs and cats +and chickens, and any creature in and about the house. But most of +all he loved the little shy creatures that lived in the sunshine +among the flowers--the small birds and butterflies, and little +beasties and creeping things he was accustomed to see outside the +gate among the tall, wild sunflowers. There were acres of these +plants, and they were taller than Martin, and covered with flowers +no bigger than marigolds, and here among the sunflowers he used to +spend most of the day, as happy as possible. + +He had other amusements too. Whenever John went to his carpenter's +shop--for the old man still dearly loved his carpentering--Martin +would run in to keep him company. One thing he liked to do was to +pick up the longest wood-shavings, to wind them round his neck and +arms and legs, and then he would laugh and dance with delight, happy +as a young Indian in his ornaments. + +A wood-shaving may seem a poor plaything to a child with all the +toyshops in London to pick and choose from, but it is really very +curious and pretty. Bright and smooth to the touch, pencilled with +delicate wavy lines, while in its spiral shape it reminds one of +winding plants, and tendrils by means of which vines and creepers +support themselves, and flowers with curling petals, and curled +leaves and sea-shells and many other pretty natural objects. + +One day Martin ran into the house looking very flushed and joyous, +holding up his pinafore with something heavy in it. + +"What have you got now?" cried his father and mother in a breath, +getting up to peep at his treasure, for Martin was always fetching +in the most curious out-of-the-way things to show them. + +"My pretty shaving," said Martin proudly. + +[Illustration: ] + +When they looked they were amazed and horrified to see a spotted +green snake coiled comfortably up in the pinafore. It didn't appear +to like being looked at by them, for it raised its curious +heart-shaped head and flicked its little red, forked tongue at them. + +His mother gave a great scream, and dropped the jug she had in her +hand upon the floor, while John rushed off to get a big stick. +"Drop it, Martin--drop the wicked snake before it stings you, and +I'll soon kill it." + +Martin stared, surprised at the fuss they were making; then, still +tightly holding the ends of his pinafore, he turned and ran out of +the room and away as fast as he could go. Away went his father after +him, stick in hand, and out of the gate into the thicket of tall wild +sunflowers where Martin had vanished from sight. After hunting about +for some time, he found the little run-away sitting on the ground +among the weeds. + +"Where's the snake?" he cried. + +"Gone!" said Martin, waving his little hand around. "I let it go and +you mustn't look for it." + +John picked the child up in his arms and marched back to the room +and popped him down on the floor, then gave him a good scolding. +"It's a mercy the poisonous thing didn't sting you," he said. +"You're a naughty little boy to play with snakes, because they're +dangerous bad things, and you die if they bite you. And now you must +go straight to bed; that's the only punishment that has any effect +on such a harebrained little butterfly." + +Martin, puckering up his face for a cry, crept away to his little +room. It was very hard to have to go to bed in the daytime when he +was not sleepy, and when the birds and butterflies were out in the +sunshine having such a good time. + +"It's not a bit of use scolding him--I found that out long ago," +said Mrs. John, shaking her head. "Do you know, John, I can't help +thinking sometimes that he's not our child at all." + +"Whose child do you think he is, then?" said John, who had a cup of +water in his hand, for the chase after Martin had made him hot, and +he wanted cooling. + +"I don't know--but I once had a very curious dream." + +"People often do have curious dreams," said wise old John. + +"But this was a very curious one, and I remember saying to myself, +if this doesn't mean something that is going to happen, then dreams +don't count for much." + +"No more they do," said John. + +"It was in England, just when we were getting ready for the voyage, +and it was autumn, when the birds were leaving us. I dreamed that I +went out alone and walked by the sea, and stood watching a great +number of swallows flying by and out over the sea--flying away to +some distant land. By-and-by I noticed one bird coming down lower +and lower as if he wanted to alight, and I watched it, and it came +down straight to me, and at last flew right into my bosom. I put my +hand on it, and looking close saw that it was a martin, all pure +white on its throat and breast, and with a white patch on its back. +Then I woke up, and it was because of that dream that I named our +child Martin instead of John as you wished to do. Now, when I watch +swallows flying about, coming and going round the house, I sometimes +think that Martin came to us like that one in the dream, and that +some day he will fly away from us. When he gets bigger, I mean." + +"When he gets littler," you mean, said John with a laugh. "No, no, +he's too big for a swallow--a Michaelmas goose would be nothing to +him for size. But here I am listening to your silly dreams instead of +watering the melons and cucumbers!" And out he went to his garden, +but in a minute he put his head in at the door and said, "You may go +and tell him to get up if you like. Poor little fellow! Only make him +promise not to go chumming with spotted snakes any more, and not to +bring them into the house, because somehow they disagree with me." + +[Illustration: ] + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +THE SPOONBILL AND THE CLOUD + +As Martin grew in years and strength, his age being now about seven, +his rambles began to extend beyond the waste grounds outside of the +fenced orchard and gate. These waste grounds were a wilderness of +weeds: here were the sunflowers that Martin liked best; the wild +cock's-comb, flaunting great crimson tufts; the yellow flowering +mustard, taller than the tallest man; giant thistle, and wild +pumpkin with spotted leaves; the huge hairy fox-gloves with yellow +bells; feathery fennel, and the big grey-green thorn-apples, with +prickly burs full of bright red seed, and long white wax-like flowers, +that bloomed only in the evening. He could never get high enough on +anything to see over the tops of these plants; but at last he found +his way through them, and discovered on their further side a wide +grassy plain with scarcely a tree on it, stretching away into the +blue distance. On this vast plain he gazed with wonderment and +delight. Behind the orchard and weedy waste the ground sloped down +to a stream of running water, full of tall rushes with dark green +polished stems, and yellow water-lilies. All along the moist banks +grew other flowers that were never seen in the dry ground above--the +blue star, and scarlet and white verbenas; and sweet-peas of all +colours; and the delicate red vinegar flower, and angel's hair, and +the small fragrant lilies called Mary's-tears, and tall scattered +flags, flaunting their yellow blossoms high above the meadow grass. + +Every day Martin ran down to the stream to gather flowers and shells; +for many curious water-snails were found there with brown +purple-striped shells; and he also liked to watch the small birds +that build their nests in the rushes. + +There were three of these small birds that did not appear to know +that Martin loved them; for no sooner would he present himself at +the stream than forth they would flutter in a great state of mind. +One, the prettiest, was a tiny, green-backed little creature, with a +crimson crest and a velvet-black band across a bright yellow breast: +this one had a soft, low, complaining voice, clear as a silver bell. +The second was a brisk little grey and black fellow, with a loud, +indignant chuck, and a broad tail which he incessantly opened and +shut, like a Spanish lady playing with her fan. + +The third was a shy, mysterious little brown bird, peering out of +the clustering leaves, and making a sound like the soft ticking of a +clock. They were like three little men, an Italian, a Dutchman, and +a Hindoo, talking together, each in his own language, and yet well +able to understand each other. Martin could not make out what they +said, but suspected that they were talking about him; and he feared +that their remarks were not always of a friendly nature. + +At length he made the discovery that the water of the stream was +perpetually running away. If he dropped a leaf on the surface it +would hasten down stream, and toss about and fret impatiently +against anything that stood in its way, until, making its escape, it +would quickly hurry out of sight. Whither did this rippling, running +water go? He was anxious to find out. At length, losing all fear and +fired with the sight of many new and pretty things he found while +following it, he ran along the banks until, miles from home, he came +to a great lake he could hardly see across, it was so broad. It was +a wonderful place, full of birds; not small, fretful creatures +flitting in and out of the rushes, but great majestic birds that +took very little notice of him. Far out on the blue surface of the +water floated numbers of wild fowl, and chief among them for grace +and beauty was the swan, pure white with black head and neck and +crimson bill. There also were stately flamingoes, stalking along +knee-deep in the water, which was shallow; and nearer to the shore +were flocks of rose-coloured spoonbills and solitary big grey herons +standing motionless; also groups of white egrets, and a great +multitude of glossy ibises, with dark green and purple plumage and +long sickle-like beaks. + +The sight of this water with its beds of rushes and tall flowering +reeds, and its great company of birds, filled Martin with delight; +and other joys were soon to follow. Throwing off his shoes, he +dashed with a shout into the water, frightening a number of ibises; +up they flew, each bird uttering a cry repeated many times, that +sounded just like his old father's laugh when he laughed loud and +heartily. Then what was Martin's amazement to hear his own shout and +this chorus of bird ha, ha, ha's, repeated by hundreds of voices all +over the lake. At first he thought that the other birds were mocking +the ibises; but presently he shouted again, and again his shouts +were repeated by dozens of voices. This delighted him so much that +he spent the whole day shouting himself hoarse at the waterside. + +When he related his wonderful experience at home, and heard from his +father that the sounds he had heard were only echoes from the beds +of rushes, he was not a bit wiser than before, so that the echoes +remained to him a continual wonder and source of never-failing +pleasure. + +Every day he would take some noisy instrument to the lake to startle +the echoes; a whistle his father made him served for a time; after +that he marched up and down the banks, rattling a tin canister with +pebbles in it; then he got a large frying-pan from the kitchen, and +beat on it with a stick every day for about a fortnight. When he +grew tired of all these sounds, and began casting about for some new +thing to wake the echoes with, he all at once remembered his +father's gun--just what he wanted, for it was the noisiest thing in +the world. Watching his opportunity, he got secretly into the room +where it was kept loaded, and succeeded in carrying it out of the +house without being seen; then, full of joyful anticipations, he ran +as fast as the heavy gun would let him to his favourite haunt. + +When he arrived at the lake three or four spoonbills--those beautiful, +tall, rose-coloured birds--were standing on the bank, quietly dozing +in the hot sunshine. They did not fly away at his approach, for the +birds were now so accustomed to Martin and his harmless noises that +they took very little notice of him. He knelt on one knee and +pointed the gun at them. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Now, birdies, you don't know what a fright I'm going to give +you--off you go!" he cried, and pulled the trigger. + +The roar of the loud report travelled all over the wide lake, +creating a great commotion among the feathered people, and they rose +up with a general scream into the air. + +All this was of no benefit to Martin, the recoil of the gun having +sent him flying over, his heels in the air; and before he recovered +himself the echoes were silent, and all the frightened birds were +settling on the water again. But there, just before him, lay one of +the spoonbills, beating its great rose-coloured wings against the +ground. + +Martin ran to it, full of keen distress, but was powerless to help; +its life's blood was fast running away from the shot wounds it had +received in its side, staining the grass with crimson. Presently it +closed its beautiful ruby-coloured eyes and the quivering wings grew +still. + +Then Martin sat down on the grass by its side and began to cry, Oh, +that great bird, half as tall as himself, and so many times more +lovely and strong and beautiful in its life--he had killed it, and +it would never fly again! He raised it up very tenderly in his arms +and kissed it--kissed its pale green head and rosy wings; then out +of his arms it tumbled back again on to the grass. + +"Oh, poor bird," he cried suddenly, "open your wings and fly away!" + +But it was dead. + +Then Martin got up and stared all round him at the wide landscape, +and everything looked strange and dim and sorrowful. A shadow passed +over the lake, and a murmur came up out of the rushes that was like +a voice saying something that he could not understand. A great cry +of pain rose from his heart and died to a whisper on his lips; he +was awed into silence. Sinking down upon the grass again, he hid his +face against the rosy-breasted bird and began to sob. How warm the +dead bird felt against his cheek--oh, so warm--and it could not live +and fly about with the others. + +At length he sat up and knew the reason of that change that had come +over the earth. A dark cloud had sprung up in the south-west, far +off as yet, and near the horizon; but its fringe already touched and +obscured the low-hanging sun, and a shadow flew far and vast before +it. Over the lake flew that great shadow: the waters looked cold and +still, reflecting as in a polished glass the motionless rushes, the +glassy bank, and Martin, sitting on it, still clasping in his arms +the dead rose-coloured bird. + +Swifter and vaster, following close upon the flying shadow, came the +mighty cloud, changing from black to slaty grey; and then, as the +sun broke forth again under its lower edge, it was all flushed with +a brilliant rose colour. But what a marvellous thing it was, when +the cloud covered a third of the wide heavens, almost touching the +horizon on either side with its wing-like extremities; Martin, +gazing steadily at it, saw that in its form it was like an immense +spoonbill flying through the air! He would gladly have run away then +to hide himself from its sight, but he dared not stir, for it was +now directly above him; so, lying down on the grass and hiding his +face against the dead bird, he waited in fear and trembling. + +[Illustration: ] + +He heard the rushing sound of the mighty wings: the wind they +created smote on the waters in a hurricane, so that the reeds were +beaten flat on the surface, and a great cry of terror went up from +all the wild birds. It passed, and when Martin raised his bowed head +and looked again, the sun, just about to touch the horizon with its +great red globe, shone out, shedding a rich radiance over the earth +and water; while far off, on the opposite side of the heavens, the +great cloud-bird was rapidly fading out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +CHASING A FLYING FIGURE + +After what had happened Martin could never visit the waterside and +look at the great birds wading and swimming there without a feeling +that was like a sudden coldness in the blood of his veins. The rosy +spoonbill he had killed and cried over and the great bird-cloud that +had frightened him were never forgotten. He grew tired of shouting +to the echoes: he discovered that there were even more wonderful +things than the marsh echoes in the world, and that the world was +bigger than he had thought it. When spring with its moist verdure +and frail, sweet-smelling flowers had gone; when the great plain +began to turn to a rusty-brown colour, and the dry hard earth was +full of cracks, and the days grew longer and the heat greater, there +came an appearance of water that quivered and glittered and danced +before his wondering sight, and would lead him miles from home every +day in his vain efforts to find out what it was. He could talk of +nothing else, and asked endless questions about it, and they told +him that this strange thing was nothing but the Mirage, but of +course that was not telling him enough, so that he was left to +puzzle his little boy-brains over this new mystery, just as they had +puzzled before over the mystery of the echoes. Now this Mirage was a +glittering whiteness that looked just like water, always shining and +dancing before him and all round him, on the dry level plain where +there was no water. It was never quiet, but perpetually quivering +and running into wavelets that threw up crests and jets of sprays as +from a fountain, and showers of brilliant drops that flashed like +molten silver in the sunlight before they broke and vanished, only +to be renewed again. It appeared every day when the sun was high and +the air hot, and it was often called _The False Water_. And false it +was, since it always flew before him as he ran, so that although he +often seemed to be getting nearer to it he could never quite +overtake it. But Martin had a very determined spirit for a small boy, +and although this appearance of water mocked his efforts a hundred +times every day with its vanishing brightness and beauty, he would +not give up the pursuit. + +Now one day when there was not a cloud on the great hot whitey-blue +sky, nor a breath of air stirring, when it was all silent, for not +even a grass-hopper creaked in the dead, yellow, motionless grass, +the whole level earth began to shine and sparkle like a lake of +silvery water, as Martin had never seen it shine before. He had +wandered far away from home--never had he been so far--and still he +ran and ran and ran, and still that whiteness quivered and glittered +and flew on before him; and ever it looked more temptingly near, +urging him to fresh exertions. At length, tired out and overcome +with heat, he sat down to rest, and feeling very much hurt at the +way he had been deceived and led on, he shed one little tear. There +was no mistake about that tear; he felt it running like a small +spider down his cheek, and finally he saw it fall. It fell on to a +blade of yellow grass and ran down the blade, then stopped so as to +gather itself into a little round drop before touching the ground. +Just then, out of the roots of the grass beneath it, crept a tiny +dusty black beetle and began drinking the drop, waving its little +horns up and down like donkey's ears, apparently very much pleased +at its good fortune in finding water and having a good drink in such +a dry, thirsty place. Probably it took the tear for a drop of rain +just fallen out of the sky. + +"You _are_ a funny little thing!" exclaimed Martin, feeling now less +like crying than laughing. + +The wee beetle, satisfied and refreshed, climbed up the grass-blade, +and when it reached the tip lifted its dusty black wing-cases just +enough to throw out a pair of fine gauzy wings that had been neatly +folded up beneath them, and flew away. + +[Illustration: ] + +Martin, following its flight, had his eyes quite dazzled by the +intense glitter of the False Water, which now seemed to be only a +few yards from him: but the strangest thing was that in it there +appeared a form--a bright beautiful form that vanished when he gazed +steadily at it. Again he got up and began running harder than ever +after the flying mocking Mirage, and every time he stopped he +fancied that he could see the figure again, sometimes like a pale +blue shadow on the brightness; sometimes shining with its own +excessive light, and sometimes only seen in outline, like a figure +graved on glass, and always vanishing when looked at steadily. +Perhaps that white water-like glitter of the Mirage was like a +looking-glass, and he was only chasing his own reflection. I cannot +say, but there it was, always before him, a face as of a beautiful +boy, with tumbled hair and laughing lips, its figure clothed in a +fluttering dress of lights and shadows. It also seemed to beckon to +him with its hand, and encourage him to run on after it with its +bright merry glances. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length when it was past the hour of noon, Martin sat down under a +small bush that gave just shade enough to cover him and none to spare. +It was only a little spot of shade like an island in a sea of heat +and brightness. He was too hot and tired to run more, too tired even +to keep his eyes open, and so, propping his back against the stem of +the small bush, he closed his tired hot eyes. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +MARTIN IS FOUND BY A DEAF OLD MAN + +Martin kept his eyes shut for only about a minute, as he thought; +but he must have been asleep some time, for when he opened them the +False Water had vanished, and the sun, looking very large and crimson, +was just about to set. He started up, feeling very thirsty and +hungry and bewildered; for he was far, far from home, and lost on +the great plain. Presently he spied a man coming towards him on +horseback. A very funny-looking old man he proved to be, with a face +wrinkled and tanned by sun and wind, until it resembled a piece of +ancient shoe-leather left lying for years on some neglected spot of +ground. A Brazil nut is not darker nor more wrinkled than was the +old man's face. His long matted beard and hair had once been white, +but the sun out of doors and the smoke in his smoky hut had given +them a yellowish tinge, so that they looked like dry dead grass. He +wore big jack-boots, patched all over, and full of cracks and holes; +and a great pea-jacket, rusty and ragged, fastened with horn buttons +big as saucers. His old brimless hat looked like a dilapidated +tea-cosy on his head, and to prevent it from being carried off by +the wind it was kept on with an old flannel shirtsleeve tied under +his chin. His saddle, too, like his clothes, was old and full of +rents, with wisps of hair and straw-stuffing sticking out in various +places, and his feet were thrust into a pair of big stirrups made of +pieces of wood and rusty iron tied together with string and wire. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Boy, what may you being a doing of here?" bawled this old man at +the top of his voice: for he was as deaf as a post, and like a good +many deaf people thought it necessary to speak very loud to make +himself heard. + +"Playing," answered Martin innocently. But he could not make the old +man hear until he stood up on tip-toe and shouted out his answer as +loud as he could. + +"Playing," exclaimed the old man. "Well, I never in all my life! +When there ain't a house 'cepting my own for leagues and leagues, +and he says he's playing! What may you be now?" he shouted again. + +"A little boy," screamed Martin. + +"I knowed that afore I axed," said the other. Then he slapped his +legs and held up his hands with astonishment, and at last began to +chuckle. "Will you come home along o' me?" he shouted. + +"Will you give me something to eat?" asked Martin in return. + +"Haw, haw, haw," guffawed the old fellow. It was a tremendous laugh, +so loud and hollow, it astonished and almost frightened Martin to +hear it. "Well I never!" he said. "He ain't no fool, neither. Now, +old Jacob, just you take your time and think a bit afore you makes +your answer to that." + +This curious old man, whose name was Jacob, had lived so long by +himself that he always thought out loud--louder than other people +talk: for, being deaf, he could not hear himself, and never had a +suspicion that he could be heard by others. + +"He's lost, that's what he is," continued old Jacob aloud to himself. +"And what's more, he's been and gone and forgot all about his own +home, and all he wants is summat to eat. I'll take him and keep him, +that's what I'll do: for he's a stray lamb, and belongs to him that +finds him, like any other lamb I finds. I'll make him believe I'm +his old dad; for he's little and will believe most anything you +tells him. I'll learn him to do things about the house--to boil the +kettle, and cook the wittels, and gather the firewood, and mend the +clothes, and do the washing, and draw the water, and milk the cow, +and dig the potatoes, and mind the sheep and--and--and that's what +I'll learn him. Then, Jacob, you can sit down and smoke your pipe, +'cos you'll have some one to do your work for you." + +Martin stood quietly listening to all this, not quite understanding +the old man's kind intentions. Then old Jacob, promising to give him +something to eat, pulled him up on to his horse, and started home at +a gallop. + +Soon they arrived at a mud hovel, thatched with rushes, the roof +sloping down so low that one could almost step on to it; it was +surrounded with a ditch, and had a potato patch and a sheep enclosure; +for old Jacob was a shepherd, and had a flock of sheep. There were +several big dogs, and when Martin got down from the horse, they +began jumping round him, barking with delight, as if they knew him, +half-smothering him with their rough caresses. Jacob led him into +the hut, which looked extremely dirty and neglected, and had only +one room. In the corners against the walls were piles of sheep-skins +that had a strong and rather unpleasant smell: the thatch above was +covered with dusty cobwebs, hanging like old rags, and the clay +floor was littered with bones, sticks, and other rubbish. The only +nice thing to see was a teakettle singing and steaming away merrily +on the fire in the grate. Old Jacob set about preparing the evening +meal; and soon they sat down at a small deal table to a supper of +cold mutton and potatoes, and tea which did not taste very nice, as +it was sweetened with moist black sugar. Martin was too hungry to +turn up his nose at anything, and while he ate and drank the old man +chuckled and talked aloud to himself about his good fortune in +finding the little boy to do his work for him. After supper he +cleared the table, and put two mugs of tea on it, and then got out +his clay pipe and tobacco. + +"Now, little boy," he cried, "let's have a jolly evening together. +Your very good health, little boy," and here he jingled his mug +against Martin's, and took a sip of tea. + +"Would you like to hear a song, little boy?" he said, after +finishing his pipe. + +"No," said Martin, who was getting sleepy; but Jacob took no to mean +yes, and so he stood up on his legs and sang this song:-- + + + "My name is Jacob, that's my name; + And tho' I'm old, the old man's game-- + The air it is so good, d'ye see: + And on the plain my flock I keep, + And sing all day to please my sheep, + And never lose them like Bo-Peep, + Becos the ways of them are known to me." + + "When winter comes and winds do blow, + Unto my sheep so good I go-- + I'm always good to them, d'ye see-- + Ho, sheep, say I, both ram, both ewe, + I've sung you songs all summer through, + Now lend to me a skin or two, + To keep the cold and wet from out o' me." + + +This song, accompanied with loud raps on the table, was bellowed +forth in a dreadfully discordant voice; and very soon all the dogs +rushed into the room and began to bark and howl most dismally, which +seemed to please the old man greatly, for to him it was a kind of +applause. But the noise was too much for Martin; so he stopped up +his ears, and only removed his fingers from them when the +performance was over. After the song the old man offered to dance, +for he had not yet had amusement enough. + +"Boy, can you play on this?" he shouted, holding up a frying-pan and +a big stick to beat it with. Of course Martin could play on _that_ +instrument: he had often enough played on one like it to startle the +echoes on the lake, in other days. And so, when he had been lifted +on to the table, he took the frying-pan by the handle, and began +vigorously beating on it with the stick. He did not mind the noise +now since he was helping to make it. Meanwhile old Jacob began +flinging his arms and legs about in all directions, looking like a +scarecrow made to tumble about by means of springs and wires. He +pounded the clay floor with his ponderous old boots until the room +was filled with a cloud of dust; then in his excitement he kicked +over chairs, pots, kettles, and whatever came in his way, while he +kept on revolving round the table in a kind of crazy fandango. +Martin thought it fine fun, and screamed with laughter, and beat his +gong louder than ever; then to make matters worse old Jacob at +intervals uttered whoops and yells, which the dogs answered with +long howls from the door, until the din was something tremendous. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length they both grew tired, and then after resting and sipping +some more cold tea, prepared to go to bed. Some sheep-skins were +piled up in a corner for Martin to sleep on, and old Jacob covered +him with a horse-rug, and tucked him in very carefully. Then the kind +old man withdrew to his own bed on the opposite side of the room. + +About midnight Martin was wakened by loud horrible noises in the room, +and started up on bed trembling with fear. The sounds came from the +old man's nose, and resembled a succession of blasts on a ram's horn, +which, on account of its roughness and twisted shape, makes a very +bad trumpet. As soon as Martin discovered the cause of the noise he +crept out of bed and tried to waken the old snorer by shouting at him, +tugging at his arms and legs, and finally pulling his beard. He +refused to wake. Then Martin had a bright idea, and groping his way +to the bucket of cold water standing beside the fire-place, he +managed to raise it up in his arms, and poured it over the sleeper. +The snoring changed to a series of loud choking snorts, then ceased. +Martin, well pleased at the success of his experiment, was about to +return to his bed when old Jacob struggled up to a sitting posture. + +"Hullo, wake up, little boy!" he shouted. "My bed's all full o' +water--goodness knows where it comes from." + +"I poured it over you to wake you up. Don't you know you were making +a noise with your nose?" cried Martin at the top of his voice. + +"You--you--you throwed it over me! You--O you most wicked little +villain you! You throwed it over me, did you!" and here he poured +out such a torrent of abusive words that Martin was horrified and +cried out, "O what a naughty, wicked, bad old man you are!" + +It was too dark for old Jacob to see him, but he knew his way about +the room, and taking up the wet rug that served him for covering he +groped his way to Martin's bed and began pounding it with the rug, +thinking the naughty little boy was there. + +"You little rascal you--I hope you like that!--and that!--and that!" +he shouted, pounding away. "I'll learn you to throw water over your +poor old dad! And such a--a affectionate father as I've been too, +giving him sich nice wittels--and--and singing and dancing to him to +teach him music. Perhaps you'd like a little more, you takes it so +quietly? Well, then, take that!--and that!--and that! Why, how's +this--the young warmint ain't here arter all! Well, I'm blowed if +that don't beat everythink! What did he go and chuck that water over +me for? What a walloping I'll give him in the morning when it's light! +and now, boy, you may go and sleep on my bed, 'cos it's wet, d'ye see; +and I'll sleep on yourn, 'cos it's dry." + +Then he got into Martin's bed, and muttered and grumbled himself to +sleep. Martin came out from under the table, and after dressing +himself with great secrecy crept to the door to make his escape. It +was locked and the key taken away. But he was determined to make his +escape somehow, and not wait to be whipped; so, by and by, he drew +the little deal table close against the wall, and getting on to it +began picking the rushes one by one out of the lower part of the +thatch. After working for half-an-hour, like a mouse eating his way +out of a soft wooden box, he began to see the light coming through +the hole, and in another half hour it was large enough for him to +creep through. When he had got out, he slipped down to the ground, +where the dogs were lying. They seemed very glad to see him, and +began pressing round to lick his face; but he pushed them off, and +ran away over the plain as fast as he could. The stars were shining, +but it was very dark and silent; only in moist places, where the +grass grew tall, he heard the crickets strumming sadly on their +little harps. + +At length, tired with running, he coiled himself in a large tussock +of dry grass and went to sleep, just as if he had been accustomed to +sleep out of doors all his life. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE PEOPLE OF THE MIRAGE + +In that remote land where Martin was born, with its bright warm +climate and rich soil, no person need go very long hungry--not even +a small boy alone and lost on the great grassy plain. For there is a +little useful plant in that place, with small leaves like clover +leaves and a pretty yellow flower, which bears a wholesome sweet root, +about as big as a pigeon's egg and of a pearly white colour. It is +so well known to the settlers' children in that desert country that +they are always wandering off to the plain to look for it, just as +the children in a town are always running off with their halfpence +to the sweet-stuff shop. This pretty white root is watery, so that +it satisfies both hunger and thirst at the same time. Now when Martin +woke next morning, he found a great many of the little three-leaved +plants growing close to the spot where he had slept, and they +supplied him with a nice sweet breakfast. After he had eaten enough +and had amused himself by rolling over and over several times on the +grass, he started once more on his travels, going towards the +sunrise as fast as he could run. He could run well for a small boy, +but he got tired at last and sat down to rest. Then he jumped up and +went on again at a trot: this pace he kept up very steadily, only +pausing from time to time to watch a flock of small white birds that +followed him all the morning out of curiosity. At length he began to +feel so hot and tired that he could only walk. Still he kept on; he +could see no flowers nor anything pretty in that place--why should +he stay in it? He would go on, and on, and on, in spite of the heat, +until he came to something. But it grew hotter as the day advanced, +and the ground about him more dry and barren and desolate, until at +last he came to ground where there was scarcely a blade of grass: it +was a great, barren, level plain, covered with a slight crust of +salt crystals that glittered in the sun so brightly that it dazzled +and pained his eyesight. Here were no sweet watery roots for +refreshment, and no berries; nor could Martin find a bush to give +him a little shade and protection from the burning noonday sun. He +saw one large dark object in the distance, and mistaking it for a +bush covered with thick foliage he ran towards it; but suddenly it +started up, when he was near, and waving its great grey and white +wings like sails, fled across the plain. It was an ostrich! + +Now this hot, shadeless plain seemed to be the very home and +dwelling-place of the False Water. It sparkled and danced all round +him so close that there only appeared to be a small space of dry +ground for him to walk on; only he was always exactly in the centre +of the dry spot; for as he advanced, the glittering whiteness, that +looked so like shiny water, flew mockingly before his steps. But he +hoped to get to it at last, as every time he flagged in the chase +the mysterious figure of the day before appeared again to lure him +still further on. At length, unable to move another step, Martin sat +right down on the bare ground: it was like sitting on the floor of a +heated oven, but there was no help for it, he was so tired. The air +was so thick and heavy that he could hardly breathe, even with his +mouth wide open like a little gasping bird; and the sky looked like +metal, heated to a white heat, and so low down as to make him fancy +that if he were to throw up his hands he would touch it and burn his +fingers. + +And the Mirage--oh, how it glistened and quivered here where he had +sat down, half blinding him with its brightness! Now that he could +no longer run after it, nor even walk, it came to him, breaking +round and over him in a thousand fantastic shapes, filling the air +with a million white flakes that whirled about as if driven by a +furious wind, although not a breath was stirring. They looked like +whitest snow-flakes, yet stung his cheeks like sparks of fire. Not +only did he see and feel, he could even _hear_ it now: his ears were +filled with a humming sound, growing louder and louder every minute, +like the noise made by a large colony of bumble-bees when a person +carelessly treads on their nest, and they are angered and thrown +into a great commotion and swarm out to defend their home. Very soon +out of this confused murmur louder, clearer sounds began to rise; +and these could be distinguished as the notes of numberless musical +instruments, and voices of people singing, talking, and laughing. +Then, all at once, there appeared running and skipping over the +ground towards him a great company of girls--scores and hundreds of +them scattered over the plain, exceeding in loveliness all lovely +things that he had ever beheld. Their faces were whiter than lilies, +and their loose, fluttering hair looked like a mist of pale shining +gold; and their skirts, that rustled as they ran, were also shining +like the wings of dragon-flies, and were touched with brown +reflections and changing, beautiful tints, such as are seen on +soap-bubbles. Each of them carried a silver pitcher, and as they ran +and skipped along they dipped their fingers in and sprinkled the +desert with water. The bright drops they scattered fell all around +in a grateful shower, and flew up again from the heated earth in the +form of a white mist touched with rainbow colours, filling the air +with a refreshing coolness. + +At Martin's side there grew a small plant, its grey-green leaves +lying wilted on the ground, and one of the girls paused to water it, +and as she sprinkled the drops on it she sang:-- + + + "Little weed, little weed, + In such need, + Must you pain, ask in vain, + Die for rain, + Never bloom, never seed, + Little weed? + O, no, no, you shall not die, + From the sky + With my pitcher down I fly. + Drink the rain, grow again, + Bloom and seed, + Little weed." + + +Martin held up his hot little hands to catch some of the falling +drops; then the girl, raising her pitcher, poured a stream of cool +water right into his face, and laughing at what she had done, went +away with a hop, skip, and jump after her companions. + +The girls with pitchers had all gone, and were succeeded by troops +of boys, just as beautiful, many of them singing and some playing on +wind and stringed instruments; and some were running, others quietly +walking, and still others riding on various animals--ostriches, sheep, +goats, fawns, and small donkeys, all pure white. One boy was riding +on a ram, and as he came by, strum-strumming on a little +silver-stringed banjo, he sang a very curious song, which made Martin +prick up his ears to listen. It was about a speckled snake that +lived far away on a piece of waste ground; how day after day he +sought for his lost playmate--the little boy that had left him; how +he glided this way and that on his smooth, bright belly, winding in +and out among the tall wild sunflowers; how he listened for the dear +footsteps--listened with his green leaf-shaped, little head raised +high among the leaves. But his playmate was far away and came no +more to feed him from his basin of bread and milk, and caress his +cold, smooth coils with his warm, soft, little hand. + +Close after the boy on the ram marched four other little boys on foot, +holding up long silver trumpets in readiness to blow. One of them +stopped, and putting his trumpet down close to Martin's ear, puffed +out his little, round cheeks, and blew a blast that made him jump. +Laughing at the joke, they passed on, and were succeeded by others +and still others, singing, shouting, twanging their instruments, and +some of them stopping for a few moments to look at Martin or play +some pretty little trick on him. + +But now all at once Martin ceased to listen or even look at them, +for something new and different was coming, something strange which +made him curious and afraid at the same time. It was a sound, very +deep and solemn, of men's voices singing together a song that was +like a dirge and coming nearer and nearer, and it was like the +coming of a storm with wind and rain and thunder. Soon he could see +them marching through the great crowd of people--old men moving in a +slow procession, and they had pale dark faces and their hair and +long beards were whiter than snow, and their long flowing robes were +of the silvery dark colour of a rain-cloud. Then he saw that the +leaders of the procession were followed by others who carried a +couch of mother-o'-pearl resting on their shoulders, that on the +couch reposed a pale sweet-looking youth dressed in silk clothes of +a delicate rose-colour. He also wore crimson shoes, and a +tight-fitting apple-green skull cap, which made his head look very +small. His eyes were ruby-red, and he had a long slender nose like a +snipe's bill, only broad and flattened at the tip. And then Martin +saw that he was wounded, for he had one white hand pressed to his +side and it was stained with blood, and drops of blood were +trickling through his fingers. + +He was troubled at the sight, and he gazed at him, and listened to +the words of that solemn song the old men were singing but could not +understand them. Not because he was a child, for no person, however +aged and wise and filled with all learning he might be, could have +understood that strange song about Wonderful Life and Wonderful Death. +Yet there was something in it too which any one who heard it, man or +child, could understand; and he understood it, and it went into his +heart to make it so heavy and sad that he could have put his little +face down on the ground and cried as he had never cried before. But +he did not put his face down and cry, for just then the wounded youth +looked down on him as they carried him past and smiled a very sweet +smile: then Martin felt that he loved him above all the bright and +beautiful beings that had passed before him. + +Then, when he was gone from sight; when the solemn sound of the +voices began to grow fainter in the distance like the sound of a +storm when it passes away, his heaviness of heart and sorrow left him, +and he began to listen to the shouts and cries and clanging of noisy +instruments of music swiftly coming nearer and nearer; and then all +round and past him came a vast company of youths and maidens singing +and playing and shouting and dancing as they moved onwards. They +were the most beautiful beings he had ever seen in their shining +dresses, some all in white, others in amber-colour, others in +sky-blue, and some in still other lovely colours. "The Queen! the +Queen!" they were shouting. "Stand up, little boy, and bow to the +Queen." + +"The Queen! Kneel to the Queen, little boy," cried others. + +Then many others in the company began crying out together, "The Queen! +lie down flat on the ground, little boy." + +"The Queen! Shut your eyes and open your mouth, little boy." + +"The Queen! Run away as fast as you can, little boy." + +"Stand on your head to the Queen, little boy!" + +"Crow like a cock and bark like a dog, little boy!" + +Trying to obey all these conflicting commands at one and the same +time, poor Martin made strange noises and tumbled about this way and +that and set them all laughing at him. + +"The Queen wishes to speak to you--stand up, little boy," said one +of the brightest beings, touching Martin on the cheek. + +There before him, surrounded by all that beautiful company, stood +the horses that drew her--great milk-white horses impatiently pawing +the dusty ground with their hoofs and proudly champing their gold +bridles, tossing the white froth from their mouths. But when he +lifted his eyes timidly to the majestic being seated in her chariot +before him he was dazzled and overcome with the sight. Her face had +a brightness that was like that of the Mirage at noon, and the eyes +that gazed on him were like two great opals; she appeared clothed in +a white shining mist, and her hair spread wide on her shoulders +looked white--whiter than a lamb's fleece, and powdered with fine +gold that sparkled and quivered and ran through it like sparks of +yellow fire: and on her head she wore a crown that was like a diamond +seen by candle-light, or like a dewdrop in the sun, and every moment +it changed its colour, and by turns was a red flame, then a green, +then a yellow, then a violet. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Child, you have followed me far," said the Queen, "and now you are +rewarded, for you have looked on my face and I have refreshed you; +and the Sun, my father, will never more hurt you for my sake." + +"He is a naughty boy and unworthy of your goodness," spoke one of +the bright beings standing near. "He killed the spoonbill." + +"He cried for the poor slain bird," replied the Queen. "He will +never remember it without grief, and I forgive him." + +"He went away from his home and thinks no more of his poor old +father and mother, who cry for him and are seeking for him on the +great plain," continued the voice. + +"I forgive him," returned the Queen. "He is such a little +wanderer--he could not always rest at home." + +"He emptied a bucketful of water over good old Jacob, who found him +and took him in and fed him, and sang to him, and danced to him, and +was a second father to him." + +At that there was great laughter; even the Queen laughed when she +said that she forgave him that too. And Martin when he remembered +old Jacob, and saw that they only made a joke of it, laughed with +them. But the accusing voice still went on: + +"And when the good old shepherd went to sleep a second time, then +the naughty little boy climbed on the table and picked a hole in the +thatch and got out and ran away." + +Another burst of laughter followed; then a youth in a shining, +violet-coloured dress suddenly began twanging on his instrument and +wildly capering about in imitation of old Jacob's dancing, and while +he played and danced he sang-- + + + + "Ho, sheep whose ways are known to me, + Both ewe and lamb + And horned ram + Wherever can that Martin be? + All day for him I ride + Over the plains so wide, + And on my horn I blow, + Just to let him know + That Jacob's on his track, + And soon will have him back, + I look and look all day, + And when I'm home I say: + He isn't like a mole + To dig himself a hole; + Them little legs he's got + They can't go far, trot, trot, + They can't go far, run run, + Oh no, it is his fun; + I'm sure he's near, + He must be here + A-skulking round the house + Just like a little mouse. + I'll get a mouse-trap in a minute, + And bait with cheese that's smelly + To bring him helter-skelly-- + That little empty belly, + And then I'll have him in it. + Where have he hid, + That little kid, + That good old Jacob was so kind to? + And when a rest I am inclined to + Who'll boil the cow and dig the kittles + And milk the stockings, darn the wittles? + Who mugs of tea + Will drink with me? + When round and round + I pound the ground + With boots of cowhide, boots of thunder, + Who'll help to make the noise, I wonder? + Who'll join the row + Of loud bow-wow + With din of tin and copper clatter + With bang and whang of pan and platter? + O when I find + Him fast I'll bind + And upside down I'll hold him; + And when a-home I gallop late-o + I'll give him no more cold potato, + But cuff him, box him, bang him, scold him, + And drench him with a pail of water, + And fill his mouth with wool and mortar, + Because he don't do things he oughter, + But does the things he ought not to, + Then tell me true, + Both ram and ewe, + Wherever have that Martin got to? + For Jacob's old and deaf and dim + And never knowed the ways of him." + + + +"I forgive him everything," said the Queen very graciously, when the +song ended, at which they all laughed. "And now let two of you speak +and each bestow a gift on him. He deserves to be rewarded for +running so far after us." + +Then one of those bright beautiful beings came forward and cried out: +"He loves wandering; let him have his will and be a wanderer all his +days on the face of the earth." + +"Well spoken!" cried the Queen. + +"A wanderer he is to be," said another: "let the sea do him no +harm--that is my gift." + +"So be it," said the Queen; "and to your two gifts I shall add a +third. Let all men love him. Go now, Martin, you are well equipped, +and satisfy your heart with the sight of all the strange and +beautiful things the world contains." + +"Kneel and thank the Queen for her gifts," said a voice to Martin. + +He dropped on to his knees, but could speak no word; when he raised +his eyes again the whole glorious company had vanished. + +[Illustration: ] + +The air was cool and fragrant, the earth moist as if a shower had +just fallen. He got up and slowly walked onward until near sunset, +thinking of nothing but the beautiful people of the Mirage. He had +left the barren salt plain behind by now; the earth was covered with +yellow grass, and he found and ate some sweet roots and berries. +Then feeling very tired, he stretched himself out on his back and +began to wonder if what he had seen was nothing but a dream. Yes, it +was surely a dream, but then--in his life dreams and realities were +so mixed--how was he always to know one from the other? Which was +most strange, the Mirage that glittered and quivered round him and +flew mockingly before him, or the people of the Mirage he had seen? + +If you are lying quite still with your eyes shut and some one comes +softly up and stands over you, somehow you know it, and open your +eyes to see who it is. Just in that way Martin knew that some one +had come and was standing over him. Still he kept his eyes shut, +feeling sure that it was one of those bright and beautiful beings he +had lately seen, perhaps the Queen herself, and that the sight of +her shining countenance would dazzle his eyes. Then all at once he +thought that it might be old Jacob, who would punish him for running +away. He opened his eyes very quickly then. What do you think he saw? +An ostrich--that same big ostrich he had seen and startled early in +the day! It was standing over him, staring down with its great +vacant eyes. Gradually its head came lower and lower down, until at +last it made a sudden peck at a metal button on his jacket, and gave +such a vigorous tug at it that Martin was almost lifted off the +ground. He screamed and gave a jump; but it was nothing to the jump +the ostrich gave when he discovered that the button belonged to a +living boy. He jumped six feet high into the air and came down with +a great flop; then feeling rather ashamed of himself for being +frightened at such an insignificant thing as Martin, he stalked +majestically away, glancing back, first over one shoulder then the +other, and kicking up his heels behind him in a somewhat disdainful +manner. + +Martin laughed, and in the middle of his laugh he fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MARTIN MEETS WITH SAVAGES + +When, on waking next morning, Martin took his first peep over the +grass, there, directly before him, loomed the great blue hills, or +Sierras as they are called in that country. He had often seen them, +long ago in his distant home on clear mornings, when they had +appeared like a blue cloud on the horizon. He had even wished to get +to them, to tread their beautiful blue summits that looked as if +they would be soft to his feet--softer than the moist springy turf +on the plain; but he wished it only as one wishes to get to some +far-off impossible place--a white cloud, for instance, or the blue +sky itself. Now all at once he unexpectedly found himself near them, +and the sight fired him with a new desire. The level plain had +nothing half so enchanting as the cloud-like blue airy hills, and +very soon he was up on his feet and hurrying towards them. In spite +of hurrying he did not seem to get any nearer; still it was pleasant +to be always going on and on, knowing that he would get to them at +last. He had now left the drier plains behind; the earth was clothed +with green and yellow grass easy to the feet, and during the day he +found many sweet roots to refresh him. He also found quantities of +cam-berries, a round fruit a little less than a cherry in size, +bright yellow in colour, and each berry inside a green case or +sheath shaped like a heart. They were very sweet. At night he slept +once more in the long grass, and when daylight returned he travelled +on, feeling very happy there alone--happy to think that he would get +to the beautiful hills at last. But only in the early morning would +they look distinct and near; later in the day, when the sun grew hot, +they would seem further off, like a cloud resting on the earth, +which made him think sometimes that they moved on as he went towards +them. + +On the third day he came to a high piece of ground; and when he got +to the top and looked over to the other side he saw a broad green +valley with a stream of water running in it: on one hand the valley +with its gleaming water stretched away as far as he could see, or +until it lost itself in the distant haze; but on the other hand, on +looking up the valley, there appeared a great forest, looking blue +in the distance; and this was the first forest Martin had ever seen. +Close by, down in the green valley before him, there was something +else to attract his attention, and this was a large group of men and +horses. No sooner had he caught sight of them than he set off at a +run towards them, greatly excited; and as he drew near they all rose +up from the grass where they had been sitting or lying to stare at +him, filled with wonder at the sight of that small boy alone in the +desert. There were about twenty men and women, and several children; +the men were very big and tall, and were dressed only in robes made +of the skins of some wild animal; they had broad, flat faces, and +dark copper-coloured skins, and their long black hair hung down +loose on their backs. + +These strange, rude-looking people were savages, and are supposed to +be cruel and wicked, and to take pleasure in torturing and killing +any lost or stray person that falls into their hands; but indeed it +is not so, as you shall shortly find. Poor ignorant little Martin, +who had never read a book in his life, having always refused to +learn his letters, knew nothing about savages, and feared them no +more than he had feared old Jacob, or the small spotted snake, the +very sight of which had made grown-up people scream and run away. So +he marched boldly up and stared at them, and they in turn stared at +him out of their great, dark, savage eyes. + +[Illustration: ] + +They had just been eating their supper of deer's flesh, roasted on +the coals, and after a time one of the savages, as an experiment, +took up a bone of meat and offered it to him. Being very hungry he +gladly took it, and began gnawing the meat off the bone. + +When he had satisfied his hunger, he began to look round him, still +stared at by the others. Then one of the women, who had a +good-humoured face, caught him up, and seating him on her knees, +tried to talk to him. + +"Melu-melumia quiltahou papa shani cha silmata," she spoke, gazing +very earnestly into his face. + +They had all been talking among themselves while he was eating; but +he did not know that savages had a language of their own different +from ours, and so thought that they had only been amusing themselves +with a kind of nonsense talk, which meant nothing. Now when the +woman addressed this funny kind of talk to him, he answered her in +her own way, as he imagined, readily enough: "Hey diddle-diddle, the +cat's in the fiddle, fe fo fi fum, chumpty-chumpty-chum, with bings +on her ringers, and tells on her boes." + +They all listened with grave attention, as if he had said something +very important. Then the woman continued: "Huanatopa ana ana +quiltahou." + +To which Martin answered, "Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter, +sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles; and if Theophilus--oh, I won't +say any more!" + +Then she said, "Quira-holata silhoa mari changa changa." + +"Cock-a-doodle-do!" cried Martin, getting tired and impatient. +"Baa, baa, black sheep, bow, wow, wow; goosey, goosey gander; see-saw, +Mary Daw; chick-a-dee-dee, will you listen to me. And now let me go!" + +But she held him fast and kept on talking her nonsense language to +him, until becoming vexed he caught hold of her hair and pulled it. +She only laughed and tossed him up into the air and caught him again, +just as he might have tossed and caught a small kitten. At length +she released him, for now they were all beginning to lie down by the +fire to sleep, as it was getting dark; Martin being very tired +settled himself down among them, and as one of the women threw a +skin over him he slept very comfortably. + +Next morning the hills looked nearer than ever just across the river; +but little he cared for hills now, and when the little savage +children went out to hunt for berries and sweet roots he followed +and spent the day agreeably enough in their company. + +On the afternoon of the second day his new playfellows all threw off +their little skin cloaks and plunged into the stream to bathe; and +Martin, seeing how much they seemed to enjoy being in the water, +undressed himself and went in after them. The water was not too deep +in that place, and as it was rare fun splashing about and trying to +keep his legs in the swift current and clambering over slippery rocks, +he went out some distance from the bank. All at once he discovered +that the others had left him, and looking back he saw that they were +all scrambling out on to the bank and fighting over his clothes. +Back he dashed in haste to rescue his property, but by the time he +reached the spot they had finished dividing the spoil, and jumping +up they ran away and scattered in all directions, one wearing his +jacket, another his knickerbockers, another his shirt and one sock, +another his cap and shoes, and the last the one remaining sock only. +In vain he pursued and called after them; and at last he was +compelled to follow them unclothed to the camping ground, where he +presented himself crying piteously; but the women who had been so +kind to him would not help him now, and only laughed to see how +white his skin looked by contrast with the dark copper-coloured skins +of the other children. At length one of them compassionately gave +him a small soft-furred skin of some wild animal, and fastened it on +him like a cloak; and this he was compelled to wear with shame and +grief, feeling very strange and uncomfortable in it. But the feeling +of discomfort in that new savage dress was nothing to the sense of +injury that stung him, and in his secret heart he was determined not +to lose his own clothes. + +When the children went out next day he followed them, watching and +waiting for a chance to recover anything that belonged to him; and +at last, seeing the little boy who wore his cap off his guard, he +made a sudden rush, and snatching it off the young savage's head, +put it firmly upon his own. But the little savage now regarded that +cap as his very own: he had taken it by force or stratagem, and had +worn it on his head since the day before, and that made it his +property; and so at Martin he went, and they fought stoutly together, +and being nearly of a size, he could not conquer the little white boy. +Then he cried out to the others to help him, and they came and +overthrew Martin, and deprived him not only of his cap, but of his +little skin cloak as well, and then punished him until he screamed +aloud with pain. Leaving him crying on the ground, they ran back to +the camp. He followed shortly afterwards, but got no sympathy, for, +as a rule, grown-up savages do not trouble themselves very much about +these little matters: they leave their children to settle their own +disputes. + +During the rest of that day Martin sulked by himself behind a great +tussock of grass, refusing to eat with the others, and when one of +the women went to him and offered him a piece of meat he struck it +vindictively out of her hand. She only laughed a little and left him. + +Now when the sun was setting, and he was beginning to feel very cold +and miserable in his nakedness, the men were seen returning from the +hunt; but instead of riding slowly to the camp as on other days, +they came riding furiously and shouting. The moment they were seen +and their shouts heard the women jumped up and began hastily packing +the skins and all their belongings into bundles; and in less than +ten minutes the whole company was mounted on horseback and ready for +flight. One of the men picked Martin up and placed him on the +horse's back before him, and then they all started at a swift canter +up the valley towards that great blue forest in the distance. + +In about an hour they came to it: it was then quite dark, the sky +powdered with numberless stars; but when they got among the trees +the blue, dusky sky and brilliant stars disappeared from sight, as +if a black cloud had come over them, so dark was it in the forest. +For the trees were very tall and mingled their branches overhead; +but they had got into a narrow path known to them, and moving slowly +in single file, they kept on for about two hours longer, then +stopped and dismounted under the great trees, and lying down all +close together, went to sleep. Martin, lying among them, crept under +the edge of one of the large skin robes and, feeling warm, he soon +fell fast asleep and did not wake till daylight. + +[Illustration: ] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +ALONE IN THE GREAT FOREST + +Imagine to yourself one accustomed to live in the great treeless +plain, accustomed to open his eyes each morning to the wide blue sky +and the brilliant sunlight, now for the first time opening them in +that vast gloomy forest, where neither wind nor sunlight came, and +no sound was heard, and twilight lasted all day long! All round him +were trees with straight, tall grey trunks, and behind and beyond +them yet other trees--trees everywhere that stood motionless like +pillars of stone supporting the dim green roof of foliage far above. +It was like a vast gloomy prison in which he had been shut, and he +longed to make his escape to where he could see the rising sun and +feel the fanning wind on his cheeks. He looked round at the others: +they were all stretched on the ground still in a deep sleep, and it +frightened him a little to look at their great, broad, dark faces +framed in masses of black hair. He felt that he hated them, for they +had treated him badly: the children had taken his clothes, compelling +him to go naked, and had beaten and bruised him, and he had not been +pitied and helped by their elders. By and by, very quietly and +cautiously he crept away from among them, and made his escape into +the gloomy wood. On one side the forest shadows looked less dark +than the other, and on that side he went, for it was the side on +which the sun rose, and the direction he had been travelling when he +first met with the savages. On and on he went, over the thick bed of +dark decaying leaves, which made no rustling sound, looking like a +little white ghost of a boy in that great gloomy wood. But he came +to no open place, nor did he find anything to eat when hunger +pressed him; for there were no sweet roots and berries there, nor any +plant that he had ever seen before. It was all strange and gloomy, +and very silent. Not a leaf trembled; for if one had trembled near +him he would have heard it whisper in that profound stillness that +made him hold his breath to listen. But sometimes at long intervals +the silence would be broken by a sound that made him start and stand +still and wonder what had caused it. For the rare sounds in the +forest were unlike any sounds he had heard before. Three or four +times during the day a burst of loud, hollow, confused laughter +sounded high up among the trees; but he saw nothing, although most +likely the creature that had laughed saw him plainly enough from its +hiding-place in the deep shadows as it ran up the trunks of the trees. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length he came to a river about thirty or forty yards wide; +and this was the same river that he had bathed in many leagues +further down in the open valley. It is called by the savages +Co-viota-co-chamanga, which means that it runs partly in the dark +and partly in the light. Here it was in the dark. The trees grew +thick and tall on its banks, and their wide branches met and +intermingled above its waters that flowed on without a ripple, black +to the eye as a river of ink. How strange it seemed when, holding on +to a twig, he bent over and saw himself reflected--a white, naked +child with a scared face--in that black mirror! Overcome by thirst, +he ventured to creep down and dip his hand in the stream, and was +astonished to see that the black water looked as clear as crystal in +his hollow hand. After quenching his thirst he went on, following +the river now, for it had made him turn aside; but after walking for +an hour or more he came to a great tree that had fallen across the +stream, and climbing on to the slippery trunk, he crept cautiously +over and then went gladly on in the old direction. + +Now, after he had crossed the river and walked a long distance, he +came to a more open part; but though it was nice to feel the +sunshine on him again, the underwood and grass and creepers trailing +over the ground made it difficult and tiring to walk, and in this +place a curious thing happened. Picking his way through the tangled +herbage, an animal his footsteps had startled scuttled away in great +fear, and as it went he caught a glimpse of it. It was a kind of +weasel, but very large--larger than a big tom-cat, and all over as +black as the blackest cat. Looking down he discovered that this +strange animal had been feasting on eggs. The eggs were nearly as +large as fowls', of a deep green colour, with polished shells. There +had been about a dozen in the nest, which was only a small hollow in +the ground lined with dry grass, but most of them had been broken, +and the contents devoured by the weasel. Only two remained entire, +and these he took, and tempted by his hunger, soon broke the shells +at the small end and sucked them clean. They were raw, but never had +eggs, boiled, fried, or poached, tasted so nice before! He had +just finished his meal, and was wishing that a third egg had remained +in the ruined nest, when a slight sound like the buzzing of an insect +made him look round, and there, within a few feet of him, was the big +black weasel once more, looking strangely bold and savage-tempered. +It kept staring fixedly at Martin out of its small, wicked, beady +black eyes, and snarling so as to show its white sharp teeth; +and very white they looked by contrast with the black lips, and +nose, and hair. Martin stared back at it, but it kept moving and +coming nearer, now sitting straight up, then dropping its fore-feet +and gathering its legs in a bunch as if about to spring, and finally +stretching itself straight out towards him again, its round flat +head and long smooth body making it look like a great black snake +crawling towards him. And all the time it kept on snarling and +clicking its sharp teeth and uttering its low, buzzing growl. Martin +grew more and more afraid, it looked so strong and angry, so +unspeakably fierce. The creature looked as if he was speaking to +Martin, saying something very easy to understand, and very dreadful +to hear. This is what it seemed to be saying:-- + +"Ha, you came on me unawares, and startled me away from the nest I +found! You have eaten the last two eggs; and I found them, and they +were mine! Must I go hungry for you--starveling, robber! A miserable +little boy alone and lost in the forest, naked, all scratched and +bleeding with thorns, with no courage in his heart, no strength in +his hands! Look at me! I am not weak, but strong and black and fierce; +I live here--this is my home; I fear nothing; I am like a serpent, +and like brass and tempered steel--nothing can bruise or break me: +my teeth are like fine daggers; when I strike them into the flesh of +any creature I never loose my hold till I have sucked out all the +blood in his heart. But you, weak little wretch, I hate you! I +thirst for your blood for stealing my food from me! What can you do +to save yourself? Down, down on the ground, chicken-heart, where I +can get hold of you! You shall pay me for the eggs with your life! I +shall hold you fast by the throat, and drink and drink until I see +your glassy eyes close, and your cheeks turn whiter than ashes, and +I feel your heart flutter like a leaf in your bosom! Down, down!" + +It was terrible to watch him and seem to hear such words. He was +nearer now--scarcely a yard away, still with his beady glaring eyes +fixed on Martin's face: and Martin was powerless to fly from +him--powerless even to stir a step or to lift a hand. His heart +jumped so that it choked him, his hair stood up on his head, and he +trembled so that he was ready to fall. And at last, when about to +fall to the ground, in the extremity of his terror, he uttered a +great scream of despair; and the sudden scream so startled the weasel, +that he jumped up and scuttled away as fast as he could through the +creepers and bushes, making a great rustling over the dead leaves +and twigs; and Martin, recovering his strength, listened to that +retreating sound as it passed away into the deep shadows, until it +ceased altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +THE FLOWER AND THE SERPENT + +His escape from the horrible black animal made Martin quite happy, +in spite of hunger and fatigue, and he pushed on as bravely as ever. +But it was slow going and very difficult, even painful in places, on +account of the rough thorny undergrowth, where he had to push and +crawl through the close bushes, and tread on ground littered with old +dead prickly leaves and dead thorny twigs. After going on for about +an hour in this way, he came to a stream, a branch of the river he +had left, and much shallower, so that he could easily cross from +side to side, and he could also see the bright pebbles under the +clear swift current. The stream appeared to run from the east, the +way he wished to travel towards the hills, so that he could keep by +it, which he wras glad enough to do, as it was nice to get a drink +of water whenever he felt thirsty, and to refresh his tired and sore +little feet in the stream. + +Following this water he came before very long to a place in the +forest where there was little or no underwood, but only low trees +and bushes scattered about, and all the ground moist and very green +and fresh like a water-meadow. It was indeed pleasant to feel his +feet on the soft carpet of grass, and stooping, he put his hands +down on it, and finally lying down he rolled on it so as to have the +nice sensation of the warm soft grass all over his body. So +agreeable was it lying and rolling about in that open green place +with the sweet sunshine on him, that he felt no inclination to get up +and travel on. It was so sweet to rest after all his strivings and +sufferings in that great dark forest! So sweet was it that he pretty +soon fell asleep, and no doubt slept a long time, for when he woke, +the sun, which had been over his head, was now far down in the west. +It was very still, and the air warm and fragrant at that hour, with +the sun shining through the higher branches of the trees on the +green turf where he was lying. How green it was--the grass, the trees, +every tiny blade and every leaf was like a piece of emerald green +glass with the sun shining through it! So wonderful did it seem to +him--the intense greenness, the brilliant sunbeams that shone into +his eyes, and seemed to fill him with brightness, and the stillness +of the forest, that he sat up and stared about him. What did it +mean--that brightness and stillness? + +Then, at a little distance away, he caught sight of something on a +tree of a shining golden yellow colour. Jumping up he ran to the tree, +and found that it was half overgrown with a very beautiful climbing +plant, with leaves divided like the fingers of a hand, and large +flowers and fruit, both green and ripe. The ripe fruit was as big as +a duck's egg, and the same shape, and of a shining yellow colour. +Reaching up his hand he began to feel the smooth lovely fruit, when, +being very ripe, it came off its stem into his hand. It smelt very +nice, and then, in his hunger, he bit through the smooth rind with +his teeth, and it tasted as nice as it looked. He quickly ate it, +and then pulled another and ate that, and then another, and still +others, until he could eat no more. He had not had so delicious a +meal for many a long day. + +Not until he had eaten his fill did Martin begin to look closely at +the flowers on the plant. It was the passion-flower, and he had +never seen it before, and now that he looked well at it he thought +it the loveliest and strangest flower he had ever beheld; not +brilliant and shining, jewel-like, in the sun, like the scarlet +verbena of the plains, or some yellow flower, but pale and misty, +the petals being of a dim greenish cream-colour, with a large blue +circle in the centre; and the blue, too, was misty like the blue +haze in the distance on a summer day. To see and admire it better he +reached out his hand and tried to pluck one of the flowers; then in +an instant he dropped his hand, as if he had been pricked by a thorn. +But there was no thorn and nothing to hurt him; he dropped his hand +only because he felt that he had hurt the flower. Moving a step back +he stared at it, and the flower seemed like a thing alive that +looked back at him, and asked him why he had hurt it. + +"O, poor flower!" said Martin, and, coming closer he touched it +gently with his finger-tips; and then, standing on tiptoe, he +touched its petals with his lips, just as his mother had often and +often kissed his little hand when he had bruised it or pricked it +with a thorn. + +Then, while still standing by the plant, on bringing his eyes down +to the ground he spied a great snake lying coiled up on a bed of +moss on the sunny side of the same tree where the plant was growing. +He remembered the dear little snake he had once made a friend of, +and he did not feel afraid, for he thought that all snakes must be +friendly towards him, although this was a very big one, thicker than +his arm and of a different colour. It was a pale olive-green, like +the half-dry moss it was lying on, with a pattern of black and brown +mottling along its back. It was lying coiled round and round, with +its flat arrow-shaped head resting on its coils, and its round +bright eyes fixed on Martin's face. The sun shining on its eyes made +them glint like polished jewels or pieces of glass, and when Martin +moved nearer and stood still, or when he drew back and went to this +side or that, those brilliant glinting eyes were still on his face, +and it began to trouble him, until at last he covered his face with +his hands. Then he opened his fingers enough to peep through them, +and still those glittering eyes were fixed on him. + +[Illustration: ] + +Martin wondered if the snake was vexed with him for coming there, +and why it watched him so steadily with those shining eyes. +"Will you please look some other way?" he said at last, but the +snake would not, and so he turned from it, and then it seemed to him +that everything was alive and watching him in the same intent +way--the passion-flowers, the green leaves, the grass, the trees, +the wide sky, the great shining sun. He listened, and there was no +sound in the wood, not even the hum of a fly or wild bee, and it was +so still that not a leaf moved. Finally he moved away from that spot, +but treading very softly, and holding his breath to listen, for it +seemed to him that the forest had something to tell him, and that if +he listened he would hear the leaves speaking to him. And by-and-by +he did hear a sound: it came from a spot about a hundred yards away, +and was like the sound of a person crying. Then came low sobs which +rose and fell and then ceased, and after a silent interval began +again. Perhaps it was a child, lost there in the forest like himself. +Going softly to the spot he discovered that the sobbing sounds came +from the other side of a low tree with widespread branches, a kind +of acacia with thin loose foliage, but he could not see through it, +and so he went round the tree to look, and startled a dove which flew +off with a loud clatter of its wings. + +When the dove had flown away it was again very silent. What was he +to do? He was too tired now to walk much farther, and the sun was +getting low, so that all the ground was in shadow. He went on a +little way looking for some nice shelter where he could pass the +night, but could not find one. At length, when the sun had set and +the dark was coming, he came upon an old half-dead tree, where there +was a hollow at the roots, lined with half dry moss, very soft to +his foot, and it seemed a nice place to sleep in. But he had no +choice, for he was afraid of going further in the dark among the +trees; and so, creeping into the hollow among the old roots, he +curled himself up as comfortably as he could, and soon began to get +very drowsy, in spite of having no covering to keep him warm. But +although very tired and sleepy, he did not go quite to sleep, for he +had never been all alone in a wood by night before, and it was +different from the open plain where he could see all round, even at +night, and where he had feared nothing. Here the trees looked strange +and made strange black shadows, and he thought that the strange +people of the wood were perhaps now roaming about and would find him +there. He did not want them to find him fast asleep; it was better +to be awake, so that when they came he could jump up and run away +and hide himself from them. Once or twice a slight rustling sound +made him start and think that at last some one was coming to him, +stealing softly so as to catch him unawares, but he could see +nothing moving, and when he held his breath to listen there was no +sound. + +[Illustration: ] + +Then all at once, just when he had almost dropped off, a great cry +sounded at a distance, and made him start up wide awake again. +"O look! look! look!" cried the voice in a tone so deep and strange +and powerful that no one could have heard it without terror, for it +seemed to be uttered by some forest monster twenty times bigger than +an ordinary man. In a moment an answer came from another part of the +wood. "What's that?" cried the answering voice; and then another +voice cried, and then others far and near, all shouting "What's that?" +and for only answer the first voice shouted once more, "O look! look! +look!" + +Poor Martin, trembling with fright, crouched lower down in his mossy +bed, thinking that the awful people of the forest must have seen him, +and would be upon him in a few moments. But though he stared with +wide-open eyes into the gloom he could see nothing but the trees, +standing silent and motionless, and no sound of approaching +footsteps could he hear. + +After that it was silent again for a while, and he began to hope +that they had given up looking for him; when suddenly, close by, +sounded a loud startling "Who's that?" and he gave himself up for +lost. For he was too terrified to jump up and run away, as he had +thought to do: he could only lie still, his teeth chattering, his +hair standing up on his head. "Who's that?" exclaimed the terrible +voice once more, and then he saw a big black shape drop down from +the tree above and settle on a dead branch a few feet above his +hiding-place. It was a bird--a great owl, for now he could see it, +sharply outlined against the clear starry sky; and the bird had seen +and was peering curiously at him. And now all his fear was gone, for +he could not be afraid of an owl; he had been accustomed to see owls +all his life, only they were small, and this owl of the forest was +as big as an eagle, and had a round head and ears like a cat, and +great cat-like eyes that shone in the dark. + +The owl kept staring at Martin for some time, swaying his body this +way and that, and lowering then raising his head so as to get a +better view. And Martin, on his side, stared back at the owl, and at +last he exclaimed, "O what a great big owl you are! Please say +_Who's that_? again." + +But before the owl said anything Martin was fast asleep in his mossy +bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE BLACK PEOPLE OF THE SKY + +Whether or not the great owl went on shouting _O look! look! look_! +and asking _What's that_? and _Who's that_? all night, Martin did +not know. He was fast asleep until the morning sun shone on his face +and woke him, and as he had no clothes and shoes to put on he was +soon up and out. First he took a drink of water, then, feeling very +hungry he went back to the place where he had found the ripe fruit +and made a very good breakfast. After that he set out once more +through the wood towards sunrise, still following the stream. Before +long the wood became still more open, and at last to his great joy +he found that he had got clear of it, and was once more on the great +open plain. And now the hills were once more in sight--those great +blue hills where he wished to be, looking nearer and larger than +before, but they still looked blue like great banks of cloud and +were a long distance away. But he was determined to get to them, to +climb up their steep sides, and by and by when he found the stream +bent away to the south, he left it so as to go on straight as he +could to the hills. Away from the water-side the ground was higher, +and very flat and covered with dry yellow grass. Over this yellow +plain he walked for hours, resting at times, but finding no water +and no sweet roots to quench his thirst, until he was too tired to +walk any further, and so he sat down on the dry grass under that +wide blue sky. There was not a cloud on it--nothing but the great +globe of the sun above him; and there was no wind and no motion in +the yellow grass blades, and no sight or sound of any living creature. + +Martin lying on his back gazed up at the blue sky, keeping his eyes +from the sun, which was too bright for them, and after a time he did +see something moving--a small black spot no bigger than a fly moving +in a circle. But he knew it was something big, but at so great a +height from the earth as to look like a fly. And then he caught +sight of a second black speck, then another and another, until he +could make out a dozen or twenty, or more, all moving in wide +circles at that vast height. + +Martin thought they must be the black people of the sky; he wondered +why they were black and not white, like white birds, or blue, and of +other brilliant colours like the people of the Mirage. + +Now it was impossible for Martin to lie like that, following those +small black spots on the hot blue sky as they wheeled round and +round continuously, without giving his eyes a little rest by +shutting them at intervals. By-and-by he kept them shut a little too +long; he fell asleep, and when he woke he didn't wake fully in a +moment; he remained lying motionless just as before, with eyes still +closed, but the lids just raised enough to enable him to see about +him. And the sight that met his eyes was very curious. He was no +longer alone in that solitary place. There were people all round him, +dozens and scores of little black men about two feet in height, of a +very singular appearance. They had bald heads and thin hatchet faces, +wrinkled and warty, and long noses; and they all wore black silk +clothes--coat, waistcoat and knickerbockers, but without shoes and +stockings; their thin black legs and feet were bare; nor did they +have anything on their bald heads. They were gathered round Martin +in a circle, but a very wide circle quite twenty to thirty feet away +from him, and some were walking about, others standing alone or in +groups, talking together, and all looking at Martin. Only one who +appeared to be the most important person of the company kept inside +the circle, and whenever one or more of the others came forward a +few steps he held up his hand and begged them to go back a little. + +"We must not be in a hurry," he said. "We must wait." + +"Wait for what?" asked one. + +"For what may happen," said the important one. "I must ask you again +to leave it to me to decide when it is time to begin." Then he +strutted up and down in the open space, turning now towards his +fellows and again to Martin, moving his head about to get a better +sight of his face. Then, putting his hand down between his coat and +waistcoat he drew out a knife with a long shining blade, and holding +it from him looked attentively at it. By and by he breathed gently +on the bright blade, then pulling out a black silk pocket +handkerchief wiped off the stain of his breath, and turning the +blade about made it glitter in the sun. Then he put it back under +his coat and resumed his walk up and down. + +"We are getting very hungry," said one of the others at length. + +"Very hungry indeed!" cried another. "Some of us have not tasted +food these three days." + +"It certainly does seem hard," said yet another, "to see our dinner +before us and not be allowed to touch it." + +"Not so fast, my friends, I beg," exclaimed the man with the knife. +"I have already explained the case, and I do think you are a little +unfair in pressing me as you do." + +Thus rebuked they consulted together, then one of them spoke. +"If, sir, you consider us unfair, or that we have not full +confidence in you, would it not be as well to get some other person +to take your place?" + +"Yes, I am ready to do that," returned the important one promptly; +and here, drawing forth the knife once more, he held it out towards +them. But instead of coming forward to take it they all recoiled +some steps, showing considerable alarm. And then they all began +protesting that they were not complaining of him, that they were +satisfied with their choice, and could not have put the matter in +abler hands. + +"I am pleased at your good opinion," said the important one. +"I may tell you that I am no chicken. I first saw the light in +September, 1739, and, as you know, we are now within seven months +and thirteen days of the end of the first decade of the second half +of the nineteenth century. You may infer from this that I have had a +pretty extensive experience, and I promise you that when I come to +cut the body up you will not be able to say that I have made an +unfair distribution, or that any one has been left without his +portion." + +[Illustration: ] + +All murmured approval, and then one of the company asked if he would +be allowed to bespeak the liver for his share. + +"No, sir, certainly not," replied the other. "Such matters must be +left to my discretion entirely, and I must also remind you that +there is such a thing as the _carver's privilege_, and it is +possible that in this instance he may think fit to retain the liver +for his own consumption." + +After thus asserting himself he began to examine the blade of his +knife which he still held in his hand, and to breathe gently on it, +and wipe it with his handkerchief to make it shine brighter in the +sun. Finally, raising his arm, he flourished it and then made two or +three stabs and lunges in the air, then walking on tiptoe he +adyanced to Martin lying so still on the yellow grass in the midst +of that black-robed company, the hot sun shining on his naked white +body. + +The others all immediately pressed forward, craning their necks and +looking highly excited: they were expecting great things; but when +the man with a knife had got quite close to Martin he was seized +with fear and made two or three long jumps back to where the others +were; and then, recovering from his alarm, he quietly put back the +knife under his coat. + +"We really thought you were going to begin," said one of the crowd. + +"Oh no; no indeed; not just yet," said the other. + +"It is very disappointing," remarked one. + +The man with the knife turned on him and replied with dignity, +"I am really surprised at such a remark after all I have said on the +subject. I do wish you would consider the circumstances of the case. +They are peculiar, for this person--this Martin--is not an ordinary +person. We have been keeping our eyes on him for some time past, and +have witnessed some remarkable actions on his part, to put it mildly. +Let us keep in mind the boldness, the resource, the dangerous +violence he has displayed on so many occasions since he took to his +present vagabond way of life." + +"It appears to me," said one of the others, "that if Martin is dead +we need not concern ourselves about his character and desperate +deeds in the past." + +"_If_ he is dead!" exclaimed the other sharply. "That is the very +point,--_is_ he dead? Can you confidently say that he is not in a +sound sleep, or in a dead faint, or shamming and ready at the first +touch of the knife to leap up and seize his assailant--I mean his +carver--by the throat and perhaps murder him as he once murdered a +spoonbill?" + +"That would be very dreadful," said one. + +"But surely," said another, "there are means of telling whether a +person is dead or not? One simple and effectual method, which I have +heard, is to place a hand over the heart to feel if it still beats." + +"Yes, I know, I have also heard of that plan. Very simple, as you say; +but who is to try it? I invite the person who makes the suggestion +to put it in practice." + +"With pleasure," said the other, coming forward with a tripping gait +and an air of not being in the least afraid. But on coming near the +supposed corpse he paused to look round at the others, then pulling +out his black silk handkerchief he wiped his black wrinkled forehead +and bald head. "Whew!" he exclaimed, "it's very hot to-day." + +"I don't find it so," said the man with the knife. "It is sometimes +a matter of nerves." + +It was not a very nice remark, but it had the effect of bracing the +other up, and moving forward a little more he began anxiously +scrutinizing Martin's face. The others now began to press forward, +but were warned by the man with a knife not to come too near. Then +the bold person who had undertaken to feel Martin's heart doubled +back the silk sleeve of his coat, and after some further preparation +extended his arm and made two or three preliminary passes with his +trembling hand at a distance of a foot or so from the breast of the +corpse. Then he approached it a little nearer, but before it came to +the touching point a sudden fear made him start back. + +"What is it? What did you see?" cried the others. + +"I'm not sure there wasn't a twitch of the eyelid," he replied. + +"Never mind the eyelid--feel his heart," said one. + +"That's all very well," he returned, "but how would you like it +yourself? Will _you_ come and do it?" + +"No, no!" they all cried. "You have undertaken this, and must go +through with it." + +Thus encouraged, he once more turned to the corpse, and again +anxiously began to examine the face. Now Martin had been watching +them through the slits of his not quite closed eyes all the time, +and listening to their talk. Being hungry himself he could not help +feeling for them, and not thinking that it would hurt him to be cut +up in pieces and devoured, he had begun to wish that they would +really begin on him. He was both amused and annoyed at their +nervousness, and at last opening wide his eyes very suddenly he cried, +"Feel my heart!" + +It was as if a gun had been fired among them; for a moment they were +struck still with terror, and then all together turned and fled, +going away with three very long hops, and then opening wide their +great wings they launched themselves on the air. + +For they were not little black men in black silk clothes as it had +seemed, but vultures--those great, high-soaring, black-plumaged +birds which he had watched circling in the sky, looking no bigger +than bees or flies at that vast distance above the earth. And when +he was watching them they were watching him, and after he had fallen +asleep they continued moving round and round in the sky for hours, +and seeing him lying so still on the plain they at last imagined +that he was dead, and one by one they closed or half-closed their +wings and dropped, gliding downwards, growing larger in appearance +as they neared the ground, until the small black spots no bigger +than flies were seen to be great black birds as big as turkeys. + +But you see Martin was not dead after all, and so they had to go +away without their dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +A TROOP OF WILD HORSES + +It seemed so lonely to Martin when the vultures had gone up out of +sight in the sky, so silent and solitary on that immense level plain, +that he could not help wishing them back for the sake of company. +They were an amusing people when they were walking round him, +conversing together, and trying without coming too near to discover +whether he was dead or only sleeping. + +All that day it was just as lonely, for though he went on as far as +he could before night, he was still on that great level plain of dry +yellow grass which appeared to have no end, and the blue hills +looked no nearer than when he had started in the morning. He was +hungry and thirsty that evening, and very cold too when he nestled +down on the ground with nothing to cover him but the little heap of +dry grass he had gathered for his bed. + +It was better next day, for after walking two or three hours he came +to the end of that yellow plain to higher ground, where the earth +was sandy and barren, with a few scattered bushes growing on it--dark, +prickly bushes like butcher's broom. When he got to the highest part +of this barren ground he saw a green valley beyond, stretching away +as far as he could see on either hand. But it was nice to see a +green place again, and going down into the valley he managed to find +some sweet roots to stay his hunger and thirst; then, after a rest, +he went on again, and when he got to the top of the high ground +beyond the valley, he saw another valley before him, just like the +one he had left behind. Again he rested in that green place, and +then slowly went up the high land beyond, where it was barren and +sandy with the dark stiff prickly bushes growing here and there, and +when he got to the top he looked down, and behold! there was yet +another green valley stretching away to the right and left as far as +he could see. + +Would they never end--these high barren ridges and the long green +valleys between! + +When he toiled slowly up out of this last green resting-place it was +growing late in the day, and he was very tired. Then he came to the +top of another ridge like the others, only higher and more barren, +and when he could see the country beyond, lo! another valley, +greener and broader than those he had left behind, and a river +flowing in it, looking like a band of silver lying along the green +earth--a river too broad for him to cross, stretching away north and +south as far as he could see. How then should he ever be able to get +to the hills, still far, far away beyond that water? + +Martin stared at the scene before him for some time; then, feeling +very tired and weak, he sat down on the sandy ground beside a scanty +dark bush. Tears came to his eyes: he felt them running down his +cheeks; and all at once he remembered how long before when his +wandering began, he had dropped a tear, and a small dusty beetle had +refreshed himself by drinking it. He bent down and let a tear drop, +and watched it as it sank into the ground, but no small beetle came +out to drink it, and he felt more lonely and miserable than ever. He +began to think of all the queer creatures and people he had met in +the desert, and to wish for them. Some of them had not been very +kind to him, but he did not remember that now, it was so sad to be +quite alone in the world without even a small beetle to visit him. He +remembered the beautiful people of the Mirage and the black people +of the sky; and the ostrich, and old Jacob, and the savages, and the +serpent, and the black weasel in the forest. He stood up and stared +all round to see if anything was coming, but he could see nothing +and hear nothing. + +By-and-by, in that deep silence, there was a sound; it seemed to +come from a great distance, it was so faint. Then it grew louder and +nearer; and far away he saw a little cloud of dust, and then, even +through the dust, dark forms coming swiftly towards him. The sound +he heard was like a long halloo, a cry like the cry of a man, but +wild and shrill, like a bird's cry; and whenever that cry was uttered, +it was followed by a strange confused noise as of the neighing of +many horses. They were, in truth, horses that were coming swiftly +towards him--a herd of sixty or seventy wild horses. He could see +and hear them only too plainly now, looking very terrible in their +strength and speed, and the flowing black manes that covered them +like a black cloud, as they came thundering on, intending perhaps to +sweep over him and trample him to death with their iron-hard hoofs. + +All at once, when they were within fifty yards of Martin, the long, +shrill, wild cry went up again, and the horses swerved to one side, +and went sweeping round him in a wide circle. Then, as they galloped +by, he caught sight of the strangest-looking being he had ever seen, +a man, on the back of one of the horses; naked and hairy, he looked +like a baboon as he crouched, doubled up, gripping the shoulders and +neck of the horse with his knees, clinging with his hands to the mane, +and craning his neck like a flying bird. It was this strange rider +who had uttered the long piercing man-and-bird-like cries; and now +changing his voice to a whinnying sound the horses came to a stop, +and gathering together in a crowd they stood tossing their manes and +staring at Martin with their wild, startled eyes. + +In another moment the wild rider came bounding out from among them, +and moving now erect, now on all fours, came sideling up to Martin, +flinging his arms and legs about, wagging his head, grimacing and +uttering whinnying and other curious noises. Never had Martin looked +upon so strange a man! He was long and lean so that you could have +counted his ribs, and he was stark naked, except for the hair of his +head and face, which half covered him. His skin was of a yellowish +brown colour, and the hair the colour of old dead grass; and it was +coarse and tangled, falling over his shoulders and back and covering +his forehead like a thatch, his big brown nose standing out beneath +it like a beak. The face was covered with the beard which was +tangled too, and grew down to his waist, After staring at Martin for +some time with his big, yellow, goat-like eyes, he pranced up to him +and began to sniff round him, then touched him with his nose on his +face, arms, and shoulders. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Who are you?" said Martin in astonishment. + +For only answer the other squealed and whinnied, grimacing and +kicking his legs up at the same time. Then the horses advanced to +them, and gathering round in a close crowd began touching Martin with +their noses. He liked it--the softness of their sensitive skins, +which were like velvet, and putting up his hands he began to stroke +their noses. Then one by one, after smelling him, and being touched +by his hand, they turned away, and going down into the valley were +soon scattered about, most of them grazing, some rolling, others +lying stretched out on the grass as if to sleep; while the young +foals in the troop, leaving their dams, began playing about and +challenging one another to run a race. + +Martin, following and watching them, almost wished that he too could +go on four legs to join them in their games. He trusted those wild +horses, but he was still puzzled by that strange man, who had also +left him now and was going quietly round on all fours, smelling at +the grass. By-and-by he found something to his liking in a small +patch of tender green clover, which he began nosing and tearing it +up with his teeth, then turning his head round he stared back at +Martin, his jaws working vigorously all the time, the stems and +leaves of the clover he was eating sticking out from his mouth and +hanging about his beard. All at once he jumped up, and flying back +at Martin, snatched him up from the ground, carried him to the +clover patch, and set him upon it, face down, on all fours; then +when Martin sat up he grasped him by the head and forced it down +until his nose was on the grass so as to make him smell it and know +that it was good. But smell it he would not, and finally the other +seized him roughly again and, opening his mouth, forced a bunch of +grass into it. + +[Illustration: ] + +"It's grass, and I sha'n't eat it!" screamed Martin, crying with +anger at being so treated, and spewing the green stuff out of his +mouth. + +Then the man released him, and, withdrawing a space of two or three +yards, sat down on his haunches, and, planting his bony elbows on +his knees, thrust his great brown fingers in his tangled hair, and +stared at Martin with his big yellow goat's eyes for a long time. + +Suddenly a wild excited look came into his eyes, and, leaping up +with a shrill cry, which caused all the horses to look round at him, +he once more snatched Martin up, and holding him firmly gripped to +his ribby side by his arm, bounded off to where a mare was standing +giving suck to her young foal. With a vigorous kick he sent the foal +away, and forced Martin to take his place, and, to make it easier +for him, pressed the teat into his mouth. Martin was not accustomed +to feed in that way, and he not only refused to suck, but continued +to cry with indignation at such treatment, and to struggle with all +his little might to free himself. His striving was all in vain; and +by-and-by the man, seeing that he would not suck, had a fresh idea, +and, gripping Martin more firmly than ever, with one hand forced and +held his mouth open, and with the other drew a stream of milk into it. +After choking and spluttering and crying more than ever for a while, +Martin began to grow quiet, and to swallow the milk with some +satisfaction, for he was very hungry and thirsty, and it tasted very +good. By-and-by, when no more milk could be drawn from the teats, he +was taken to a second mare, from which the foal was kicked away with +as little ceremony as the first one, and then he had as much more +milk as he wanted, and began to like being fed in this amusing way. + +Of what happened after that Martin did not know much, except that +the man seemed very happy after feeding him. He set Martin on the +back of a horse, then jumped and danced round him, making funny +chuckling noises, after which he rolled horse-like on the grass, his +arms and legs up in the air, and finally, pulling Martin down, he +made him roll too. + +But the little fellow was too tired to keep his eyes any longer open, +and when he next opened them it was morning, and he found himself +lying wedged in between a mare and her young foal lying side by side +close together. There too was the wild man, coiled up like a +sleeping dog, his head pillowed on the foal's neck, and the hair of +his great shaggy beard thrown like a blanket over Martin. + +He very soon grew accustomed to the new strange manner of life, and +even liked it. Those big, noble-looking wild horses, with their +shining coats, brown and bay and black and sorrel and chestnut, and +their black manes and tails that swept the grass when they moved, +were so friendly to him that he could not help loving them. As he +went about among them when they grazed, every horse he approached +would raise his head and touch his face and arms with his nose. +"O you dear horse!" Martin would exclaim, rubbing the warm, +velvet-soft, sensitive nose with his hand. + +He soon discovered that they were just as fond of play as he was, +and that he too was to take part in their games. Having fed as long +as they wanted that morning, they all at once began to gather +together, coming at a gallop, neighing shrilly; then the wild man, +catching Martin up, leaped upon the back of one of the horses, and +away went the whole troop at a furious pace to the great open dry +plain, where Martin had met with them on the previous day. Now it +was very terrifying for him at first to be in the midst of that +flying crowd, as the animals went tearing over the plain, which +seemed to shake beneath their thundering hoofs, while their human +leader cheered them on with his shrill, repeated cries. But in a +little while he too caught the excitement, and, losing all his fear, +was as wildly happy as the others, crying out at the top of his +voice in imitation of the wild man. + +After an hour's run they returned to the valley, and then Martin, +without being compelled to do so, rolled about on the grass, and +went after the young foals when they came out to challenge one +another to a game. He tried to do as they did, prancing and throwing +up his heels and snorting, but when they ran from him they soon left +him hopelessly behind. Meanwhile the wild man kept watch over him, +feeding him with mare's milk, and inviting him from time to time to +smell and taste the tender grass. Best of all was, when they went +for another run in the evening, and when Martin was no longer held +with a tight grip against the man's side, but was taught or allowed +to hold on, clinging with his legs to the man's body and clasping +him round the neck with his arms, his fingers tightly holding on to +the great shaggy beard. + +Three days passed in this way, and if his time had been much longer +with the wild horses he would have become one of the troop, and +would perhaps have eaten grass too, and forgotten his human speech, +or that he was a little boy born to a very different kind of life. +But it was not to be, and in the end he was separated from the troop +by accident. + +At the end of the third day, when the sun was setting, and all the +horses were scattered about in the valley, quietly grazing, +something disturbed them. It might have been a sight or sound of +some feared object, or perhaps the wind had brought the smell of +their enemies and hunters from a great distance to their nostrils. +Suddenly they were all in a wild commotion, galloping from all sides +toward their leader, and he, picking Martin up, was quickly on a +horse, and off they went full speed, but not towards the plain where +they were accustomed to go for their runs. Now they fled in the +opposite direction down to the river: into it they went, into that +wide, deep, dangerous current, leaping from the bank, each horse, as +he fell into the water with a tremendous splash, disappearing from +sight; but in another moment the head and upper part of the neck was +seen to rise above the surface, until the whole lot were in, and +appeared to Martin like a troop of horses' heads swimming without +bodies over the river. He, clinging to the neck and beard of the +wild man, had the upper half of his body out of the cold, rushing +water, and in this way they all got safely across and up the +opposite bank. No sooner were they out, than, without even pausing +to shake the water from their skins, they set off at full speed +across the valley towards the distant hills. Now on this side, at a +distance of a mile or so from the river, there were vast reed-beds +standing on low land, dried to a hard crust by the summer heat, and +right into the reeds the horses rushed and struggled to force their +way through. The reeds were dead and dry, so tall that they rose +high above the horses' heads, and growing so close together that it +was hard to struggle through them. Then when they were in the midst +of this difficult place, the dry crust that covered the low ground +began to yield to the heavy hoofs, and the horses, sinking to their +knees, were thrown down and plunged about in the most desperate way, +and in the midst of this confusion Martin was struck and thrown from +his place, falling amongst the reeds. Luckily he was not trampled +upon, but he was left behind, and then what a dreadful situation was +his, when the whole troop had at last succeeded in fighting their +way through, and had gone away leaving him in that dark, solitary +place! He listened until the sound of heavy hoofs and the long cries +of the man had died away in the distance; then the silence and +darkness terrified him, and he struggled to get out, but the reeds +grew so close together that before he had pushed a dozen yards +through them he sank down, unable to do more. + +The air was hot and close and still down there on the ground, but by +leaning his head back, and staring straight up he could see the pale +night sky sprinkled with stars in the openings between the dry +leaves and spikes of the reeds. Poor Martin could do nothing but +gaze up at the little he could see of the sky in that close, black +place, until his neck ached with the strain; but at last, to make +him hope, he heard a sound--the now familiar long shrill cry of the +wild man. Then, as it came nearer, the sound of tramping hoofs and +neighing of the horses was heard, and the cries and hoof-beats grew +louder and then fainter in turns, and sounded now on this side, now +on that, and he knew that they were looking for him. "I'm here, I'm +here," he cried; "oh, dear horses, come and take me away!" But they +could not hear him, and at last the sound of their neighing and the +wild long cries died away altogether, and Martin was left alone in +that black silent place. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +THE LADY OF THE HILLS + +No escape was possible for poor little Martin so long as it was dark, +and there he had to stay all night, but morning brought him comfort; +for now he could see the reed-stems that hemmed him in all round, +and by using his hands to bend them from him on either side he could +push through them. By-and-by the sunlight touched the tops of the +tall plants, and working his way towards the side from which the +light came he soon made his escape from that prison, and came into a +place where he could walk without trouble, and could see the earth +and sky again. Further on, in a grassy part of the valley, he found +some sweet roots wrhich greatly refreshed him, and at last, leaving +the valley, he came out on a high grassy plain, and saw the hills +before him looking very much nearer than he had ever seen them look +before. Up till now they had appeared like masses of dark blue +banked up cloud resting on the earth, now he could see that they +were indeed stone--blue stone piled up in huge cliffs and crags high +above the green world; he could see the roughness of the heaped up +rocks, the fissures and crevices in the sides of the hills, and here +and there the patches of green colour where trees and bushes had +taken root. How wonderful it seemed to Martin that evening standing +there in the wide green plain, the level sun at his back shining on +his naked body, making him look like a statue of a small boy carved +in whitest marble or alabaster. Then, to make the sight he gazed on +still more enchanting, just as the sun went down the colour of the +hills changed from stone blue to a purple that was like the purple +of ripe plums and grapes, only more beautiful and bright. In a few +minutes the purple colour faded away and the hills grew shadowy and +dark. It was too late in the day, and he was too tired to walk +further. He was very hungry and thirsty too, and so when he had +found a few small white partridge-berries and had made a poor supper +on them, he gathered some dry grass into a little heap, and lying +down in it, was soon in a sound sleep. + +It was not until the late afternoon next day that Martin at last got +to the foot of the hill, or mountain, and looking up he saw it like +a great wall of stone above him, with trees and bushes and trailing +vines growing out of the crevices and on the narrow ledges of the +rock. Going some distance he came to a place where he could ascend, +and here he began slowly walking upwards. At first he could hardly +contain his delight where everything looked new and strange, and +here he found some very beautiful flowers; but as he toiled on he +grew more tired and hungry at every step, and then, to make matters +worse, his legs began to pain so that he could hardly lift them. It +was a curious pain which he had never felt in his sturdy little legs +before in all his wanderings. + +Then a cloud came over the sun, and a sharp wind sprang up that made +him shiver with cold: then followed a shower of rain; and now Martin, +feeling sore and miserable, crept into a cavity beneath a pile of +overhanging rocks for shelter. He was out of the rain there, but the +wind blew in on him until it made his teeth chatter with cold. He +began to think of his mother, and of all the comforts of his lost +home--the bread and milk when he was hungry, the warm clothing, and +the soft little bed with its snowy white coverlid in which he had +slept so sweetly every night. + +"O mother, mother!" he cried, but his mother was too far off to hear +his piteous cry. + +When the shower was over he crept out of his shelter again, and with +his little feet already bleeding from the sharp rocks, tried to +climb on. In one spot he found some small, creeping, myrtle plants +covered with ripe white berries, and although they had a very +pungent taste he ate his fill of them, he was so very hungry. Then +feeling that he could climb no higher, he began to look round for a +dry, sheltered spot to pass the night in. In a little while he came +to a great, smooth, flat stone that looked like a floor in a room, +and was about forty yards wide: nothing grew on it except some small +tufts of grey lichen; but on the further side, at the foot of a steep, +rocky precipice, there was a thick bed of tall green and yellow ferns, +and among the ferns he hoped to find a place to lie down in. Very +slowly he limped across the open space, crying with the pain he felt +at every step; but when he reached the bed of ferns he all at once +saw, sitting among the tall fronds on a stone, a strange-looking +woman in a green dress, who was gazing very steadily at him with +eyes full of love and compassion. At her side there crouched a big +yellow beast, covered all over with black, eye-like spots, with a +big round head, and looking just like a cat, but a hundred times +larger than the biggest cat he had ever seen. The animal rose up +with a low sound like a growl, and glared at Martin with its wide, +yellow, fiery eyes, which so terrified him that he dared not move +another step until the womaan, speaking very gently to him, told him +not to fear. She caressed the great beast, making him lie down again; +then coming forward and taking Martin by the hand, she drew him up +to her knees. + +[Illustration: ] + +"What is your name, poor little suffering child?" she asked, bending +down to him, and speaking softly. "Martin--what's yours?" he returned, +still half sobbing, and rubbing his eyes with his little fists. + +"I am called the Lady of the Hills, and I live here alone in the +mountain. Tell me, why do you cry, Martin?" + +"Because I'm so cold, and--and my legs hurt so, and--and because I +want to go back to my mother. She's over there," said he, with +another sob, pointing vaguely to the great plain beneath their feet, +extending far, far away into the blue distance, where the crimson +sun was now setting. + +"I will be your mother, and you shall live with me here on the +mountain," she said, caressing his little cold hands with hers. +"Will you call me mother?" + +"You are _not_ my mother," he returned warmly. "I don't want to call +you mother." + +"When I love you so much, dear child?" she pleaded, bending down +until her lips were close to his averted face. + +"How that great spotted cat stares at me!" he suddenly said. +"Do you think it will kill me?" + +"No, no, he only wants to play with you. Will you not even look at me, +Martin?" + +He still resisted her, but her hand felt very warm and +comforting--it was such a large, warm, protecting hand. So pleasant +did it feel that after a little while he began to move his hand up +her beautiful, soft, white arm until it touched her hair. For her +hair was unbound and loose; it was dark, and finer than the finest +spun silk, and fell all over her shoulders and down her back to the +stone she sat on. He let his fingers stray in and out among it; and +it felt like the soft, warm down that lines a little bird's nest to +his skin. Finally, he touched her neck and allowed his hand to rest +there, it was such a soft, warm neck. At length, but reluctantly, +for his little rebellious heart was not yet wholly subdued, he +raised his eyes to her face. Oh, how beautiful she was! Her love and +eager desire to win him had flushed her clear olive skin with rich +red colour; out of her sweet red lips, half parted, came her warm +breath on his cheek, more fragrant than wild flowers; and her large +dark eyes were gazing down into his with such a tenderness in them +that Martin, seeing it, felt a strange little shudder pass through +him, and scarcely knew whether to think it pleasant or painful. +"Dear child, I love you so much," she spoke, "will you not call me +mother?" + +Dropping his eyes and with trembling lips, feeling a little ashamed +at being conquered at last, he whispered "Mother." + +She raised him in her arms and pressed him to her bosom, wrapping +her hair like a warm mantle round him; and in less than one minute, +overcome by fatigue, he fell fast asleep in her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +THE LITTLE PEOPLE UNDERGROUND + +When he awoke Martin found himself lying on a soft downy bed in a +dim stone chamber, and feeling silky hair over his cheek and neck +and arms, he knew that he was still with his new strange mother, the +beautiful Lady of the Mountain. She, seeing him awake, took him up +in her arms, and holding him against her bosom, carried him through +a long winding stone passage, and out into the bright morning +sunlight. There by a small spring of clearest water that gushed from +the rock she washed his scratched and bruised skin, and rubbed it +with sweet-smelling unguents, and gave him food and drink. The great +spotted beast sat by them all the time, purring like a cat, and at +intervals he tried to entice Martin to leave the woman's lap and +play with him. But she would not let him out of her arms: all day +she nursed and fondled him as if he had been a helpless babe instead +of the sturdy little run-away and adventurer he had proved himself +to be. She also made him tell her the story of how he had got lost +and of all the wonderful things that had happened to him in his +wanderings in the wilderness--the people of the Mirage, and old +Jacob and the savages, the great forest, the serpent, the owl, the +wild horses and wild man, and the black people of the sky. But it +was of the Mirage and the procession of lovely beings about which he +spoke most and questioned her. + +"Do you think it was all a dream?" he kept asking her, "the Queen +and all those people?" + +She was vexed at the question, and turning her face away, refused to +answer him. For though at all other times, and when he spoke of +other things, she was gentle and loving in her manner, the moment he +spoke of the Queen of the Mirage and the gifts she had bestowed on +him, she became impatient, and rebuked him for saying such foolish +things. + +At length she spoke and told him that it was a dream, a very very +idle dream, a dream that was not worth dreaming; that he must never +speak of it again, never think of it, but forget it, just as he had +forgotten all the other vain silly dreams he had ever had. And +having said this much a little sharply, she smiled again and fondled +him, and promised that when he next slept he should have a good dream, +one worth the dreaming, and worth remembering and talking about. + +She held him away from her, seating him on her knees, to look at his +face, and said, "For oh, dear little Martin, you are lovely and +sweet to look at, and you are mine, my own sweet child, and so long +as you live with me on the hills, and love me and eall me mother, +you shall be happy, and everything you see, sleeping and waking, +shall seem strange and beautiful." + +It was quite true that he was sweet to look at, very pretty with his +rosy-white skin deepening to red on his cheeks; and his hair curling +all over his head was of a bright golden chestnut colour; and his +eyes were a very bright blue, and looked keen and straight at you +just like a bird's eyes, that seem to be thinking of nothing, and +yet seeing everything. + +After this Martin was eager to go to sleep at once and have the +promised dream, but his very eagerness kept him wide awake all day, +and even after going to bed in that dim chamber in the heart of the +hill, it was a long time before he dropped off. But he did not know +that he had fallen asleep: it seemed to him that he was very wide +awake, and that he heard a voice speaking in the chamber, and that +he started up to listen to it. + +"Do you not know that there are things just as strange underground +as above it?" said the voice. + +Martin could not see the speaker, but he answered quite boldly: +"No--there's nothing underground except earth and worms and roots. +I've seen it when they've been digging." + +"Oh, but there is!" said the voice. "You can see for yourself. All +you've got to do is to find a path leading down, and to follow it. +There's a path over there just in front of you; you can see the +opening from where you are lying." + +He looked, and sure enough there _was_ an opening, and a dim passage +running down through the solid rock. Up he jumped, fired at the +prospect of seeing new and wonderful things, and without looking any +more to see who had spoken to him, he ran over to it. The passage +had a smooth floor of stone, and sloped downward into the earth, and +went round and round in an immense spiral; but the circles were so +wide that Martin scarcely knew that he was not travelling in a +straight line. Have you by chance ever seen a buzzard, or stork, or +vulture, or some other great bird, soaring upwards into the sky in +wide circles, each circle taking it higher above the earth, until it +looked like a mere black speck in the vast blue heavens, and at +length disappeared altogether? Just in that way, going round and +round in just such wide circles, lightly running all the time, with +never a pause to rest, and without feeling in the least tired, +Martin went on, only down and down and further down, instead of up +and up like the soaring bird, until he was as far under the mountain +as ever any buzzard or crane or eagle soared above it. + +Thus running he came at last out of the passage to an open room or +space so wide that, look which way he would, he could see no end to +it. The stone roof of this place was held up by huge stone pillars +standing scattered about like groups of great rough-barked trees, +many times bigger round than hogsheads. Here and there in the roof, +or the stone overhead, were immense black caverns which almost +frightened him to gaze up at them, they were so vast and black. And +no light or sun or moon came down into that deep part of the earth: +the light was from big fires, and they were fires of smithies +burning all about him, sending up great flames and clouds of black +smoke, which rose and floated upwards through those big black caverns +in the roof. Crowds of people were gathered around the smithies, all +very busy heating metal and hammering on anvils like blacksmiths. +Never had he seen so many people, nor ever had he seen such busy men +as these, rushing about here and there shouting and colliding with +one another, bringing and carrying huge loads in baskets on their +backs, and altogether the sight of them, and the racket and the +smoke and dust, and the blazing fires, was almost too much for Martin; +and for a moment or two he was tempted to turn and run back into the +passage through which he had come. But the strangeness of it all +kept him there, and then he began to look more closely at the people, +for these were the little men that live under the earth, and they +were unlike anything he had seen on its surface. They were very stout, +strong-looking little men, dressed in coarse dark clothes, covered +with dust and grime, and they had dark faces, and long hair, and +rough, unkempt beards; they had very long arms and big hands, like +baboons, and there was not one among them who looked taller than +Martin himself. After looking at them he did not feel at all afraid +of them; he only wanted very much to know who they were, and what +they were doing, and why they were so excited and noisy over their +work. So he thrust himself among them, going to the smithies where +they were in crowds, and peering curiously at them. Then he began to +notice that his coming among them created a great commotion, for no +sooner would he appear than all work would be instantly suspended; +down would go their baskets and loads of wood, their hammers and +implements of all kinds, and they would stare and point at him, all +jabbering together, so that the noise was as if a thousand cockatoos +and parrots and paroquets were all screaming at once. What it was +all about he could not tell, as he could not make out what they said; +he could only see, and plainly enough, that his presence astonished +and upset them, for as he went about among them they fell back +before him, crowding together, and all staring and pointing at him. + +But at length he began to make out what they were saying; they were +all exclaiming and talking about him. "Look at him! look at him!" +they cried. "Who is he? What, Martin--this Martin? Never. No, no, no! +Yes, yes, yes! Martin himself--Martin with nothing on! Not a +shred--not a thread! Impossible--it cannot be! Nothing so strange +has ever happened! _Naked_--do you say that Martin is naked? Oh, +dreadful--from the crown of his head to his toes, naked as he was +born! No clothes--no clothes--oh no, it can't be Martin. It is, it is!" +And so on and on, until Martin could not endure it longer, for he +had been naked for days and days, and had ceased to think about it, +and in fact did not know that he was naked. And now hearing their +remarks, and seeing how they were disturbed, he looked down at +himself and saw that it was indeed so--that he had nothing on, and +he grew ashamed and frightened, and thought he would run and hide +himself from them in some hole in the ground. But there was no place +to hide in, for now they had gathered all round him in a vast +crowd, so that whichever way he turned there before him they +appeared--hundreds and hundreds of dark, excited faces, hundreds of +grimy hands all pointing at him. Then, all at once, he caught sight +of an old rag of a garment lying on the ground among the ashes and +cinders, and he thought he would cover himself with it, and picking +it hastily up was just going to put it round him when a great roar +of "No!" burst out from the crowd; he was almost deafened with the +sound, so that he stood trembling with the old dirty rag of cloth in +his hand. Then one of the little men came up to him, and snatching +the rag from his hand, flung it angrily down upon the floor; then as +if afraid of remaining so near Martin, he backed away into the crowd +again. + +Just then Martin heard a very low voice close to his ear speaking to +him, but when he looked round he could see no person near him. He +knew it was the same voice which had spoken to him in the cave where +he slept, and had told him to go down into that place underground. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Do not fear," said the gentle voice to Martin. "Say to the little +men that you have lost your clothes, and ask them for something to +put on." + +Then Martin, who had covered his face with his hands to shut out the +sight of the angry crowd, took courage, and looking at them, said, +half sobbing, "O, Little Men, I've lost my clothes--won't you give me +something to put on?" + +This speech had a wonderful effect: instantly there was a mighty rush, +all the Little Men hurrying away in all directions, shouting and +tumbling over each other in their haste to get away, and by-and-by +it looked to Martin as if they were having a great struggle or +contest over something. They were all struggling to get possession +of a small closed basket, and it was like a game of football with +hundreds of persons all playing, all fighting for possession of the +ball. At length one of them succeeded in getting hold of the basket +and escaping from all the others who opposed him, and running to +Martin he threw it down at his feet, and lifting the lid displayed +to his sight a bundle of the most beautiful clothes ever seen by +child or man. + +With a glad cry Martin pulled them out, but the next moment a very +important-looking Little Man, with a great white beard, sprang +forward and snatched them out of his hand. + +"No, no," he shouted. "These are not fit for Martin to wear! They +will soil!" Saying which, he flung them down on that dusty floor +with its litter of cinders and dirt, and began to trample on them as +if in a great passion. Then he snatched them up again and shook them, +and all could see that they were unsoiled and just as bright and +beautiful as before. Then Martin tried to take them from him, but the +other would not let him. + +"Never shall Martin wear such poor clothes," shouted the old man. +"They will not even keep out the wet," and with that he thrust them +into a great tub of water, and jumping in began treading them down +with his feet. But when he pulled them out again and shook them +before their faces, all saw that they were as dry and bright as +before. + +"Give them to me!" cried Martin, thinking that it was all right now. + +"Never shall Martin wear such poor clothes--they will not resist fire," +cried the old man, and into the flames he flung them. + +Martin now gave up all hopes of possessing them, and was ready to +burst into tears at their loss, when out of the fire they were +pulled again, and it was seen that the flames had not injured or +tarnished them in the least. Once more Martin put out his arms and +this time he was allowed to take those beautiful clothes, and then +just as he clasped them to him with a cry of delight he woke! + +His head was lying on his new mother's arm, and she was awake +watching him. + +"O, mother, what a nice dream I had! O such pretty clothes--why did +I wake so soon?" + +She laughed and touched his arms, showing him that they were still +clasping that beautiful suit of clothes to his breast--the very +clothes of his wonderful dream! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE GREAT BLUE WATER + +There was not in all that land, nor perhaps in all the wide world, a +happier little boy than Martin, when after waking from his sleep and +dream he dressed himself for the first time in that new suit, and +went out from the cave into the morning sunlight. He then felt the +comfort of such clothes, for they were softer than the finest, +softest down or silk to his skin, and kept him warm when it was cold, +and cool when it was hot, and dry when it rained on him, and the +earth could not soil them, nor the thorns tear them; and above +everything they were the most beautiful clothes ever seen. Their +colour was a deep moss green, or so it looked at a little distance, +or when seen in the shade, but in the sunshine it sparkled as if +small, shining, many-coloured beads had been sewn in the cloth; only +there were no beads; it was only the shining threads that made it +sparkle so, like clean sand in the sun. When you looked closely at +the cloth, you could see the lovely pattern woven in it--small leaf +and flower, the leaves like moss leaves, and the flowers like the +pimpernel, but not half so big, and they were yellow and red and +blue and violet in colour. + +But there were many, many things besides the lovely clothes to make +him contented and happy. First, the beautiful woman of the hills who +loved and cherished him and made him call her by the sweet name of +"mother" so many times every day that he well nigh forgot she was +not his real mother. Then there was the great stony hill-side on +which he now lived for a playground, where he could wander all day +among the rocks, overgrown with creepers and strange sweet-smelling +flowers he had never seen on the plain below. The birds and +butterflies he saw there were different from those he had always seen; +so were the snakes which he often found sleepily coiled up on the +rocks, and the little swift lizards. Even the water looked strange +and more beautiful than the water in the plain, for here it gushed +out of the living rock, sparkling like crystal in the sun, and was +always cold when he dipped his hands in it even on the hottest days. +Perhaps the most wonderful thing was the immense distance he could +see, when he looked away from the hillside across the plain and saw +the great dark forest where he had been, and the earth stretching far, +far away beyond. + +Then there was his playmate, the great yellow-spotted cat, who +followed him about and was always ready for a frolic, playing in a +very curious way. Whenever Martin would prepare to take a running +leap, or a swift run down a slope, the animal, stealing quietly up +behind, would put out a claw from his big soft foot--a great white +claw as big as an owl's beak--and pull him suddenly back. At last +Martin would lose his temper, and picking up a stick would turn on +his playmate; and away the animal would fly, pretending to be afraid, +and going over bushes and big stones with tremendous leaps to +disappear from sight on the mountain side. But very soon he would +steal secretly back by some other way to spring upon Martin unawares +and roll him over and over on the ground, growling as if angry, and +making believe to worry him with his great white teeth, although +never really hurting him in the least. He played with Martin just as +a cat plays with its kitten when it pretends to punish it. + +Whenever Martin began to show the least sign of weariness the Lady +of the Hills would call him to her. Then, lying back among the ferns, +she would unbind her long silky tresses to let him play with them, +for this was always a delight to him. Then she would gather her hair +up again and dress it with yellow flowers and glossy dark green +leaves to make herself look more lovely than ever. At other times, +taking him on her shoulders, she would bound nimbly as a wild goat up +the steepest places, springing from crag to crag, and dancing gaily +along the narrow ledges of rock, where it made him dizzy to look down. +Then when the sun was near setting, when long shadows from rocks and +trees began to creep over the mountain, and he had eaten the fruits +and honey and other wild delicacies she provided, she would make him +lie on her bosom. Playing with her loose hair and listening to her +singing as she rocked herself on a stone, he would presently fall +asleep. + +In the morning on waking he would always find himself lying still +clasped to her breast in that great dim cavern; and almost always +when he woke he would find her crying. Sometimes on opening his eyes +he would find her asleep, but with traces of tears on her face, +showing that she had been awake and crying. + +One afternoon, seeing him tired of play and hard to amuse, she took +him in her arms and carried him right up the side of the mountain, +where it grew so steep that even the big cat could not follow them. +Finally she brought him out on the extreme summit, and looking round +he seemed to see the whole world spread out beneath him. Below, +half-way down, there were some wild cattle feeding on the mountain +side, and they looked at that distance no bigger than mice. Looking +eastwards he beheld just beyond the plain a vast expanse of blue +water extending leagues and leagues away until it faded into the +blue sky. He shouted with joy when he saw it, and could not take his +eyes from this wonderful world of water. + +"Take me there--take me there!" he cried. + +She only shook her head and tried to laugh him out of such a wish; +but by-and-by when she attempted to carry him back down the mountain +he refused to move from the spot; nor would he speak to her nor look +up into her pleading face, but kept his eyes fixed on that distant +blue ocean which had so enchanted him. For it seemed to Martin the +most wonderful thing he had ever beheld. + +At length it began to grow cold on the summit; then with gentle +caressing words she made him turn and look to the opposite side of +the heavens, where the sun was just setting behind a great mass of +clouds--dark purple and crimson, rising into peaks that were like +hills of rose-coloured pearl, and all the heavens beyond them a pale +primrose-coloured flame. Filled with wonder at all this rich and +varied colour he forgot the ocean for a moment, and uttered an +exclamation of delight. + +"Do you know, dear Martin," said she, "what we should find there, +where it all looks so bright and beautiful, if I had wings and could +fly with you, clinging to my bosom like a little bat clinging to its +mother when she flies abroad in the twilight?" + +"What?" asked Martin. + +"Only dark dark clouds full of rain and cutting hail and thunder and +lightning. That is how it is with the sea, Martin: it makes you love +it when you see it at a distance; but oh, it is cruel and treacherous, +and when it has once got you in its power then it is more terrible +than the thunder and lightning in the cloud. Do you remember, when +you first came to me, naked, shivering with cold, with your little +bare feet blistered and bleeding from the sharp stones, how I +comforted you with my love, and you found it warm and pleasant lying +on my breast? The sea will not comfort you in that way; it will +clasp you to a cold, cold breast, and kiss you with bitter salt lips, +and carry you down where it is always dark, where you will never +never see the blue sky and sunshine and flowers again." + +Martin shivered and nestled closer to her; and then while the +shadows of evening were gathering round them, she sat rocking +herself to and fro on a stone, murmuring many tender, sweet words to +him, until the music of her voice and the warmth of her bosom made +him sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +THE WONDERS OF THE HILLS + +Now, although Martin had gone very comfortably to sleep in her arms +and found it sweet to be watched over so tenderly, he was not the +happy little boy he had been before the sight of the distant ocean. +And she knew it, and was troubled in her mind, and anxious to do +something to make him forget that great blue water. She could do many +things, and above all she could show him new and wonderful things in +the hills where she wished to keep him always with her. To caress him, +to feed and watch over him by day, and hold him in her arms when he +slept at night--all that was less to him than the sight of something +new and strange; she knew this well, and therefore determined to +satisfy his desire and make his life so full that he would always be +more than contented with it. + +In the morning he went out on the hillside, wandering listlessly +among the rocks, and when the big cat found him there and tried to +tempt him to a game he refused to play, for he had not yet got over +his disappointment, and could think of nothing but the sea. But the +cat did not know that anything was the matter with him, and was more +determined to play than ever; crouching now here, now there among +the stones and bushes, he would spring out upon Martin and pull him +down with its big paws, and this so enraged him that picking up a +stick he struck furiously at his tormentor. But the cat was too +quick for him; he dodged the blows, then knocked the stick out of +his hand, and finally Martin, to escape from him, crept into a +crevice in a rock where the cat could not reach him, and refused to +come out even when the Lady of the Hills came to look for him and +begged him to come to her. When at last, compelled by hunger, he +returned to her, he was silent and sullen and would not be caressed. + +He saw no more of the cat, and when next day he asked her where it +was, she said that it had gone from them and would return no +more--that she had sent it away because it had vexed him. This made +Martin sulk, and he would have gone away and hidden himself from her +had she not caught him up in her arms. He struggled to free himself, +but could not, and she then carried him away a long distance down +the mountain-side until they came to a small dell, green with +creepers and bushes, with a deep carpet of dry moss on the ground, +and here she sat down and began to talk to him. + +"The cat was a very beautiful beast with his spotted hide," she said; +"and you liked to play with him sometimes, but in a little while you +will be glad that he has gone from you." + +He asked her why. + +"Because though he was fond of you and liked to follow you about and +play with you, he is very fierce and powerful, and all the other +beasts are afraid of him. So long as he was with us they would not +come, but now he has gone they will come to you and let you go to +them." + +"Where are they?" said Martin, his curiosity greatly excited. + +"Let us wait here," she said, "and perhaps we shall see one by-and-by." + +So they waited and were silent, and as nothing came and nothing +happened, Martin sitting on the mossy ground began to feel a strange +drowsiness stealing over him. He rubbed his eyes and looked round; he +wanted to keep very wide awake and alert, so as not to miss the +sight of anything that might come. He was vexed with himself for +feeling drowsy, and wondered why it was; then listening to the low +continuous hum of the bees, he concluded that it was that low, soft, +humming sound that made him sleepy. He began to look at the bees, +and saw that they were unlike other wild bees he knew, that they +were like humble-bees in shape but much smaller, and were all of a +golden brown colour: they were in scores and hundreds coming and +going, and had their home or nest in the rock a few feet above his +head. He got up, and climbing from his mother's knee to her shoulder, +and standing on it, he looked into the crevice into which the bees +were streaming, and saw their nest full of clusters of small round +objects that looked like white berries. + +Then he came down and told her what he had seen, and wanted to know +all about it, and when she answered that the little round fruit-like +objects he had seen were cells full of purple honey that tasted sweet +and salt, he wanted her to get him some. + +"Not now--not to-day," she replied, "for now you love me and are +contented to be with me, and you are my own darling child. When you +are naughty, and try to grieve me all you can, and would like to go +away and never see me more, you shall taste the purple honey." + +He looked up into her face wondering and troubled at her words, and +she smiled down so sweetly on his upturned face, looking very +beautiful and tender, that it almost made him cry to think how +wilful and passionate he had been, and climbing on to her knees he +put his little face against her cheek. + +[Illustration: ] + +Then, while he was still caressing her, light tripping steps were +heard over the stony path, and through the bushes came two beautiful +wild animals--a doe with her fawn! Martin had often seen the wild +deer on the plains, but always at a great distance and running; now +that he had them standing before him he could see just what they +were like, and of all the four-footed creatures he had ever looked +on they were undoubtedly the most lovely. They were of a slim shape, +and of a very bright reddish fawn-colour, the young one with dappled +sides; and both had large trumpet-like ears, which they held up as +if listening, while they gazed fixedly at Martin's face with their +large, dark, soft eyes. Enchanted with the sight of them, he slipped +down from his mother's lap, and stretched out his arms towards them, +and the doe, coming a little nearer, timidly smelt at his hand, then +licked it with her long, pink tongue. + +In a few minutes the doe and fawn went away and they saw them no more; +but they left Martin with a heart filled with happy excitement; and +they were but the first of many strange and beautiful wild animals +he was now made acquainted with, so that for days he could think of +nothing else and wished for nothing better. + +But one day when she had taken him a good way up on the hillside, +Martin suddenly recognized a huge rocky precipice before him as the +one up which she had taken him, and from the top of which he had +seen the great blue water. Instantly he demanded to be taken up again, +and when she refused he rebelled against her, and was first +passionate and then sullen. Finding that he would not listen to +anything she could say, she sat down on a rock and left him to +himself. He could not climb up that precipice, and so he rambled +away to some distance, thinking to hide himself from her, because he +thought her unreasonable and unkind not to allow him to see the blue +water once more. But presently he caught sight of a snake lying +motionless on a bed of moss at the foot of a rock, with the sun on it, +lighting up its polished scales so that they shone like gems or +coloured glass. Resting his elbows on the stone and holding his face +between his hands he fell to watching the snake, for though it +seemed fast asleep in the sun its gem-like eyes were wide open. + +All at once he felt his mother's hand on his head: "Martin," she said, +"would you like to know what the snake feels when it lies with eyes +open in the bright hot sun? Shall I make you feel just how he feels?" + +"Yes," said Martin eagerly, forgetting his quarrel with her; then +taking him up in her strong arms she walked rapidly away, and +brought him to that very spot where he had seen the doe and fawn. + +She sat him down, and instantly his ears were filled with the murmur +of the bees; and in a moment she put her hand in the crevice and +pulled out a cluster of white cells, and gave them to Martin. +Breaking one of the cells he saw that it was full of thick honey, of +a violet colour, and tasting it he found it was like very sweet +honey in which a little salt had been mixed. He liked it and he +didn't like it; still, it was not the same in all the cells; in some +it was scarcely salt at all; and he began to suck the honey of cell +after cell, trying to find one that was not salt; and by and by he +dropped the cluster of cells from his hand, and stooping to pick it +up forgot to do so, and laying his head down and stretching himself +out on the mossy ground looked up into his mother's face with drowsy, +happy eyes. How sweet it seemed, lying there in the sun, with the sun +shining right into his eyes, and filling his whole being with its +delicious heat! He wished for nothing now--not even for the sight of +new wonderful things; he forgot the blue water, the strange, +beautiful wild animals, and his only thought, if he had a thought, +was that it was very nice to lie there, not sleeping, but feeling +the sun in him, and seeing it above him; and seeing all things--the +blue sky, the grey rocks and green bushes and moss, and the woman in +her green dress and her loose black hair--and hearing, too, the soft, +low, continuous murmur of the yellow bees. + +For hours he lay there in that drowsy condition, his mother keeping +watch over him, and when it passed off, and he got up again, his +temper appeared changed: he was more gentle and affectionate with +his mother, and obeyed her every wish. And when in his rambles on +the hill he found a snake lying in the sun he would steal softly +near it and watch it steadily for a long time, half wishing to taste +that strange purple honey again, so that he might lie again in the +sun, feeling what the snake feels. But there were more wonderful +things yet for Martin to see and know in the hills, so that in a +little while he ceased to have that desire. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +MARTIN'S EYES ARE OPENED + +[Illustration: ] + +One morning when they went up into a wild rocky place very high up +on the hillside a number of big birds were seen coming over the +mountain at a great height in the air, travelling in a northerly +direction. They were big hawks almost as big as eagles, with very +broad rounded wings, and instead of travelling straight like other +birds they moved in wide circles, so that they progressed very slowly. + +They sat down on a stone to watch the birds, and whenever one flying +lower than the others came pretty near them Martin gazed delightedly +at it, and wished it would come still nearer so that he might see it +better. Then the woman stood up on the stone, and, gazing skywards +and throwing up her arms, she uttered a long call, and the birds +began to come lower and lower down, still sweeping round in wide +circles, and by and by one came quite down and pitched on a stone a +few yards from them. Then another came and lighted on another stone, +then another, and others followed, until they were all round him in +scores, sitting on the rocks, great brown birds with black bars on +their wings and tails, and buff-coloured breasts with rust-red spots +and stripes. It was a wonderful sight, those eagle-like hawks, with +their blue hooked beaks and deep-set dark piercing eyes, sitting in +numbers on the rocks, and others and still others dropping down from +the sky to increase the gathering. + +Then the woman sat down by Martin's side, and after a while one of +the hawks spread his great wings and rose up into the air to resume +his flight. After an interval of a minute or so another rose, then +another, but it was an hour before they were all gone. + +"O the dear birds--they are all gone!" cried Martin. "Mother, where +are they going?" + +She told him of a far-away land in the south, from which, when +autumn comes, the birds migrate north to a warmer country hundreds +of leagues away, and that birds of all kinds were now travelling +north, and would be travelling through the sky above them for many +days to come. + +Martin looked up at the sky, and said he could see no birds now that +the buzzards were all gone. + +"I can see them," she returned, looking up and glancing about the sky. + +"O mother, I wish I could see them!" he cried. "Why can't I see them +when you can?" + +"Because your eyes are not like mine. Look, can you see this?" and +she held up a small stone phial which she took from her bosom. + +He took it in his hand and unstopped and smelt at it. "Is it honey? +Can I taste it?" he asked. + +She laughed. "It is better than honey, but you can't eat it!" she +said. "Do you remember how the honey made you feel like a snake? +This would make you see what I see if I put some of it on your eyes." +He begged her to do so, and she consenting poured a little into the +palm of her hand. It was thick and white as milk; then taking some +on her finger tip, she made him hold his eyes wide open while she +rubbed it on the eye-balls. It made his eyes smart, and everything +at first looked like a blue mist when he tried to see; then slowly +the mist faded away and the air had a new marvellous clearness, and +when he looked away over the plain beneath them he shouted for joy, +so far could he see and so distinct did distant objects appear. At +one point where nothing but the grey haze that obscured the distance +had been visible, a herd of wild cattle now appeared, scattered about, +some grazing, others lying down ruminating, and in the midst of the +herd a very noble-looking, tawny-coloured bull was standing. + +"O mother, do you see that bull?" cried Martin in delight. + +"Yes, I see him," she returned. "Sometimes he brings his herd to +feed on the hillside, and when I see him here another time I shall +take you to him, and put you on his back. But look now at the sky, +Martin." + +He looked up, and was astonished to see numbers of great birds +flying north, where no birds had appeared before. They were miles +high, and invisible to ordinary sight, but he could see them so +distinctly, their shape and colours, that all the birds he knew were +easily recognized. There were swans, shining white, with black heads +and necks, flying in wedge-shaped flocks, and rose-coloured +spoonbills, and flamingoes with scarlet wings tipped with black, and +ibises, and ducks of different colours, and many other birds, both +water and land, appeared, flock after flock, all flying as fast as +their wings could bear them towards the north. + +He continued watching them until it was past noon, and then he saw +fewer and fewer, only very big birds, appearing; and then these were +seen less and less until there were none. Then he turned his eyes on +the plain and tried to find the herd of wild cattle, but they were +no longer visible; it was as he had seen it in the morning with the +pale blue haze over all the distant earth. He was told that the +power to see all distant things with a vision equal to his mother's +was now exhausted, and when he grieved at the loss she comforted him +with the promise that it would be renewed at some other time. + +[Illustration: ] + +Now one day when they were out together Martin was greatly surprised +and disturbed at a change in his mother. When he spoke to her she +was silent; and byand-by, drawing a little away, he looked at her +with a fear which increased to a kind of terror, so strangely +altered did she seem, standing motionless, gazing fixedly with +wide-open eyes at the plain beneath them, her whole face white and +drawn with a look of rage. He had an impulse to fly from her and +hide himself in some hole in the rocks from the sight of that pale, +wrathful face, but when he looked round him he was afraid to move +from her, for the hill itself seemed changed, and now looked black +and angry even as she did. The ground he stood on, the grey old +stones covered with silvery-white and yellow lichen and pretty +flowery, creeping plants, so beautiful to look at in the bright +sunlight a few moments ago, now were covered with a dull mist which +appeared to be rising from them, making the air around them dark and +strange. And the air, too, had become sultry and close, and the sky +was growing dark above them. Then suddenly remembering all her love +and kindness he flew to her, and clinging to her dress sobbed out, +"O mother, mother, what is it?" + +She put her hand on him, then drew him up to her side, with his feet +on the stone she was standing by. "Would you like to see what I see, +Martin?" she asked, and taking the phial from her bosom she rubbed +the white thick liquid on his eye-balls, and in a little while, when +the mistiness passed off, she pointed with her hand and told him to +look there. + +He looked, and as on the former occasion, all distant things were +clearly visible, for although that mist and blackness given off by +the hill had wrapped them round so that they seemed to be standing +in the midst of a black cloud, yet away on the plain beneath the sun +was shining brightly, and all that was there could be seen by him. +Where he had once seen a herd of wild cattle he now saw mounted men, +to the number of about a dozen, slowly riding towards the hill, and +though they were miles away he could see them very distinctly. They +were dark, black-bearded men, strangely dressed, some with +fawn-coloured cloaks with broad stripes, others in a scarlet uniform, +and they wore cone-shaped scarlet caps. Some carried lances, others +carbines; and they all wore swords--he could see the steel scabbards +shining in the sun. As he watched them they drew rein and some of +them got off their horses, and they stood for some time as if +talking excitedly, pointing towards the hill and using emphatic +gestures. + +What were they talking about so excitedly? thought Martin. He wanted +to know, and he would have asked her, but when he looked up at her +she was still gazing fixedly at them with the same pale face and +terrible stern expression, and he could but dimly see her face in +that black cloud which had closed around them. He trembled with fear +and could only murmur, "Mother! mother!" Then her arm was put round +him, and she drew him close against her side, and at that moment--O +how terrible it was!--the black cloud and the whole universe was lit +up with a sudden flash that seemed to blind and scorch him, and the +hill and the world was shaken and seemed to be shattered by an awful +thunder crash. It was more than he could endure: he ceased to feel +or know anything, and was like one dead, and when he came to himself +and opened his eyes he was lying in her lap with her face smiling +very tenderly, bending over him. + +"O, poor little Martin," she said, "what a poor, weak little boy you +are to lose your senses at the lightning and thunder! I was angry +when I saw them coming to the hill, for they are wicked, cruel men, +stained with blood, and I made the storm to drive them away. They +are gone, and the storm is over now, and it is late--come, let us go +to our cave;" and she took him up and carried him in her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST + +When Martin first came to the hills it was at the end of the long, +hot, dry summer of that distant land: it was autumn now, and the +autumn was like a second summer, only not so hot and dry as the first. +But sometimes at this season a wet mist came up from the sea by +night and spread over all the country, covering it like a cloud; to +a soaring bird looking down from the sky it must have appeared like +another sea of a pale or pearly grey colour, with the hills rising +like islands from it. When the sun rose in the morning, if the sky +was clear so that it could shine, then the sea-fog would drift and +break up and melt away or float up in the form of thin white clouds. +Now, whenever this sea-mist was out over the world the Lady of the +Hills, without coming out of her chamber, knew of it, and she would +prevent Martin from leaving the bed and going out. He loved to be +out on the hill-side, to watch the sun come up, and she would say to +him, "You cannot see the sun because of the mist; and it is cold and +wet on the hill; wait until the mist has gone and then you shall go +out." + +But now a new idea came into her mind. She had succeeded in making +him happy during the last few days; but she wished to do more--she +wished to make him fear and hate the sea so that he would never grow +discontented with his life on the hills nor wish to leave her. So now, +one morning, when the mist was out over the land, she said to Martin +when he woke, "Get up and go out on to the hill and see the mist; +and when you feel its coldness and taste its salt on your lips, and +see how it dims and saddens the earth, you will know better than to +wish for that great water it comes from." + +So Martin got up and went out on the hill, and it was as she had said: +there was no blue sky above, no wide green earth before him: the +mist had blotted all out; he could hardly see the rocks and bushes a +dozen yards from him; the leaves and flowers were heavy laden with +the grey wet; and it felt clammy and cold on his face, and he tasted +its salt on his lips. It seemed thickest and darkest when he looked +down and lightest when he looked up, and the lightness led him to +climb up among the dripping, slippery rocks; and slipping and +stumbling he went on and on, the light increasing as he went, until +at last to his delight he got above the mist. There was an immense +crag there which stood boldly up on the hillside, and on to this he +managed to climb, and standing on it he looked down upon that vast +moving sea of grey mist that covered the earth, and saw the sun, a +large crimson disc, rising from it. + +It was a great thing to see, and made him cry out aloud for joy: and +then as the sun rose higher into the pure, blue sky the grey mist +changed to silvery white, and the white changed in places to shining +gold: and it drifted faster and faster away before the sun, and +began to break up, and when a cloud of mist swept by the rock on +which he stood it beat like a fine rain upon his face, and covered +his bright clothes with a grey beady moisture. + +Now, looking abroad over the earth, it appeared to Martin that the +thousands and tens and hundreds of thousands of fragments of mist, +had the shapes of men, and were like an innumerable multitude of +gigantic men with shining white faces and shining golden hair and +long cloud-like robes of a pearly grey colour, that trailed on the +earth as they moved. They were like a vast army covering the whole +earth, all with their faces set towards the west, all moving swiftly +and smoothly on towards the west. And he saw that every one held his +robes to his breast with his left hand, and that in his right hand, +raised to the level of his head, he carried a strange object. This +object was a shell--a big sea-shell of a golden yellow colour with +curved pink lips; and very soon one of the mist people came near him, +and as he passed by the rock he held the shell to Martin's ear, and +it sounded in his ear--a low, deep murmur as of waves breaking on a +long shingled beach, and Martin knew, though no word was spoken to +him, that it was the sound of the sea, and tears of delight came to +his eyes, and at the same time his heart was sick and sad with +longing for the sea. + +[Illustration: ] + +Again and again, until the whole vast multitude of the mist people +had gone by, a shell was held to his ear; and when they were all gone, +when he had watched them fade like a white cloud over the plain, and +float away and disappear in the blue sky, he sat down on the rock +and cried with the desire that was in him. + +When his mother found him with traces of tears on his cheeks; and he +was silent when she spoke to him, and had a strange look in his eyes +as if they were gazing at some distant object, she was angrier than +ever with the sea, for she knew that the thought of it had returned +to him and that it would be harder than ever to keep him. + +One morning on waking he found her still asleep, although the traces +of tears on her cheeks showed that she had been awake and crying +during the night. + +"Ah, now I know why she cries every morning," thought Martin; +"it is because I must go away and leave her here alone on the hills." + +He was out of her arms and dressed in a very few moments, moving +very softly lest she should wake; but though he knew that if she +awoke she would not let him go, he could not leave her without +saying goodbye. And so coming near he stooped over her and very +gently kissed her soft cheek and sweet mouth and murmured, "Good-bye, +sweet mother." Then, very cautiously, like a shy, little wild animal +he stole out of the cavern. Once outside, in the early morning light, +he started running as fast as he could, jumping from stone to stone +in the rough places, and scrambling through the dew-laden bushes and +creepers, until, hot and panting, he arrived down at the very foot +of the hill. + +Then it was easier walking, and he went on a little until he heard a +voice crying, "Martin! Martin!" and, looking back, he saw the Lady +of the Hills standing on a great stone near the foot of the mountain, +gazing sadly after him. "Martin, oh, my child, come back to me," she +called, stretching out her arms towards him. "Oh, Martin, I cannot +leave the hills to follow you and shield you from harm and save you +from death, Where will you go? Oh me, what shall I do without you?" + +For a little while he stood still, listening with tears in his eyes +to her words, and wavering in his mind; but very soon he thought of +the great blue water once more and could not go back, but began to +run again, and went on and on for a long distance before stopping to +rest. Then he looked back, but he could no longer see her form +standing there on the stone. + +All that day he journeyed on towards the ocean over a great plain. +There was no trees and no rocks nor hills, only grass on the level +earth, in some places so tall that the spikes, looking like great +white ostrich plumes, waved high above his head. But it was easy +walking, as the grass grew in tussocks or bunches, and underneath +the ground was bare and smooth so that he could walk easily between +the bunches. + +He wondered that he did not get to the sea, but it was still far off, +and so the long summer day wore to an end, and he was so tired that +he could scarcely lift his legs to walk. Then, as he went slowly on +in the fading light, where the grass was short and the evening +primroses were opening and filling the desert air with their sweet +perfume, he all at once saw a little grey old man not above six +inches in height standing on the ground right before him, and +staring fixedly at him with great, round, yellow eyes. + +[Illustration: ] + +"You bad boy!" exclaimed this curious, little, old man; whereupon +Martin stopped in his walk and stood still, gazing in the greatest +surprise at him. + +"You bad boy!" repeated the strange little man. + +The more Martin stared at him the harder he stared back at Martin, +always with the same unbending severity in his small, round, grey +face. He began to feel a little afraid, and was almost inclined to +run away; then he thought it would be funny to run from such a very +small man as this, so he stared bravely back once more and cried out, +"Go away!" + +"You bad boy!" answered the little grey man without moving. + +"Perhaps he's deaf, just like that other old man," said Martin to +himself, and throwing out his arms he shouted at the top of his voice, +"Go away!" + +And away with a scream he went, for it was only a little grey +burrowing owl after all! Martin laughed a little at his own +foolishness in mistaking that common bird he was accustomed to see +every day for a little old man. + +By-and-by, feeling very tired, he sat down to rest, and just where +he sat grew a plant with long white flowers like tall thin goblets +in shape. Sitting on the grass he could see right into one of the +flower-tubes, and presently he noticed a little, old, grey, +shrivelled woman in it, very, very small, for she was not longer +than the nail of his little finger. She wore a grey shawl that +dragged behind her, and kept getting under her feet and tripping her +up. She was most active, whisking about this way and that inside the +flower; and at intervals she turned to stare at Martin, who kept +getting nearer and nearer to watch her until his face nearly touched +the flower; and whenever she looked at him she wore an exceedingly +severe expression on her small dried-up countenance. It seemed to +Martin that she was very angry with him for some reason. Then she +would turn her back on him, and tumble about in the tube of the +flower, and gathering up the ends of her shawl in her arms begin +dusting with great energy; then hurrying out once more she would +shake the dust from her big, funny shawl in his eyes. At last he +carefully raised a hand and was just going to take hold of the queer, +little, old dame with his forefinger and thumb when up she flew. It +was only a small, grey, twilight moth! + +Very much puzzled and confused, and perhaps a little frightened at +these curious deceptions, he laid himself down on the grass and shut +his eyes so as to go to sleep; but no sooner had he shut his eyes +than he heard a soft, soft little voice calling, "Martin! Martin!" + +He started up and listened. It was only a field cricket singing in +the grass. But often as he lay down and closed his eyes the small +voice called again, plainly as possible, and oh so sadly, "Martin! +Martin!" + +It made him remember his beautiful mother, now perhaps crying alone +in the cave on the mountain, no little Martin resting on her bosom, +and he cried to think of it. And still the small voice went on, +calling, "Martin! Martin!" sadder than ever, until, unable to endure +it longer, he jumped up and ran away a good distance, and at last, +too tired to go any further, he crept into a tussock of tall grass +and went to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA + +Next day Martin journeyed on in the old way, jumping up and taking a +good long run, then dropping into a trot, then a walk, and finally +sitting down to rest. Then up again and another run, and so on. But +although feeling hungry and thirsty, he was so full of the thought +of the great blue water he was going to see, so eager to look upon +it at last after wishing for it so long, that he hardly gave himself +any time to hunt for food. Nor did he think of his mother of the +hills, alone to-day, and grieving at his loss, so excited was he at +the prospect of what lay before him. + +A little past noon he began to hear a low murmuring sound that +seemed in the earth beneath him, and all about him, and in the air +above him; but he did not know that it was the sound of the sea. At +length he came to a place where the earth rose up in long ridges of +yellow sand, on which nothing grew but scattered tufts of stiff, +yellow grass. As he toiled over the loose sand, sometimes sinking +ankle-deep in it, the curious deep murmuring sound he had heard for +so long grew louder and louder, until it was like the sound of a +mighty wind in a wood, but deeper and hoarser, rising and falling, +and at intervals broken by great throbs, as of thunder echoed and +re-echoed among the distant hills. At length he had toiled over the +last ridge of sand; and then all at once the world--his world of +solid earth at all events--came to an abrupt end; for no more ground +on which to set a foot was before him, but only the ocean--that +ocean which he had wanted so badly, and had loved at a distance more +than the plains and hills, and all they contained to delight him! +How wide, how vast it was, stretching away to where it melted into +the low sky, its immense grey-blue surface broken into ten thousand +thousand waves, lit with white crests that came in sight and +vanished like lightning flashes! How tremendous, how terrible it was +in its agitation--O the world had nothing to compare with it, +nothing to hold his heart after it; and it was well that the earth +was silent, that it only gazed upon it with the sun and moon and +stars, listening day and night for ever to the great voice of the sea! + +Only by lying flat on his chest could Martin look down over the edge +of the awful cliff, which is one of the highest in the world; and +then the sight of the sea swirling and beating at the foot of that +stupendous black precipice, sending up great clouds of spray in its +fury, made him shudder, it was so awful to look upon. But he could +not stir from that spot; there he stayed lying flat on his chest, +gazing and gazing, feeling neither hunger nor thirst, forgetful of +the beautiful woman he had called mother, and of everything besides. +And as he gazed, little by little, that great tumult of the waves +grew less; they no longer lifted themselves up, wave following wave, +to beat upon the cliff, and make it tremble; but sank lower and lower; +and at last drew off from the precipice, leaving at its foot a long +narrow strip of sand and shingle exposed to sight. A solemn calm +fell upon the waste of waters; only near the shore it continued to +move a little, rising and falling like the chest of a sleeping giant, +while along the margin small waves continued to form and break in +white foam on the shingle with a perpetual low, moaning sound. +Further out it was quite calm, its surface everywhere flushed with +changing violet, green, and rosy tints: in a little while these +lovely colours faded as from a sunset cloud, and it was all deep +dark blue: for the sun had gone, and the shadows of evening were +over land and sea. Then Martin, his little heart filled with a great +awe and a great joy, crept away a few yards from the edge of the +cliff and coiled himself up to sleep in a hollow in the soft warm +sand. + +On the following morning, after satisfying his hunger and thirst +with some roots which he had not to go very far to find, he returned +to watch the sea once more, and there he remained, never removing his +eyes from the wonderful scene until the sun was directly over his +head; then, when the sea was calm once more, he got up and started +to walk along the cliff. + +Keeping close to the edge, occasionally stopping to lie down on his +chest and peer over, he went on and on for hours, until the +afternoon tide once more covered the strip of shingled beach, and +the waves rising high began to beat with a sound like thunder +against the tremendous cliff, making the earth tremble under him. At +length he came to a spot where there was a great gap in the line of +the cliff, where in past times a portion of it had tumbled down, and +the stupendous masses of rock had rolled far out into the sea, and +now formed islands of black jagged rock, standing high above the +water. Here among the rocks the sea boiled and roared its loudest, +churning its waters into masses of white froth. Here a fresh wonder +met his sight: a number of big animals unlike any creature he had +ever seen before were lying prone on the rocks just out of the reach +of the waves that beat round them. At first they looked like cows, +then he saw that they had neither horns nor legs, that their heads +were like dog's but without ears, and that they had two great +flapper-shaped feet on their chests with which they walked or +crawled upon the rocks whenever a wave broke on them, causing them +to move a little higher. + +[Illustration: ] + +They were sea-lions, a very big sort of seal, but Martin had never +heard of such a creature, and being anxious to look more closely at +them he went into the gap, and began cautiously climbing down over +the broken masses of rock and clay until he got quite near the sea. +Lying there on a flat rock he became absorbed in watching these +strange dog-headed legless cattle of the sea; for he now had them +near, and they could see him, and occasionally one would lift its +head and gaze earnestly at him out of large dark eyes that were soft +and beautiful like the eyes of the doe that came to him on the hills. +O how glad he was to know that the sea, the mighty waters roaring so +loud as if in wrath, had its big beasts too for him to love, like +the hills and plains with their cattle and deer and horses! + +But the tide was still rising, and very soon the biggest waves began +to come quite over the rocks, rolling the big beasts over and even +washing them off, and it angered them when the waves struck them, +and they roared aloud, and by and by they began to go away, some +disappearing beneath the water, others with heads above the surface +swimming away out into the open sea, until all were gone. Martin was +sorry to lose them, but the sight of the sea tumbling and foaming on +the rocks still held him there, until all the rocks but one had been +covered by the waters, and this one was a great black jagged rock +close to the shore, not above twenty or thirty yards from him. +Against this mass of rock the waves continued to dash themselves +with a mighty noise, sending up a cloud of white foam and spray at +every blow. The sight and sound fascinated him. The sea appeared to +be talking, whispering, and murmuring, and crying out aloud to him in +such a manner that he actually began trying to make out what it was +saying. Then up would come a great green wave rushing and moaning, +to dash itself to pieces right before his face; and each time it +broke against the rock, and rose high up it took a fantastic shape +that began to look more and more the shape of a man. Yes, it was +unmistakably like a monstrous grey old man, with a vast snow-white +beard, and a world of disordered white hair floating over and around +its head. At all events it was white for a moment, then it looked +green--a great green beard which the old man took with his two hands +and twisted just as a washerwoman twists a blanket or counterpane, +so as to wring the water out of it. + +Martin stared at this strange uncouth visitor from the sea; while he +in turn, leaning over the rock, stared back into Martin's face with +his immense fishy eyes. + +Every time a fresh wave broke over him, lifting up his hair and +garments, which were of brown seaweed and all rags and tatters, it +seemed to annoy him somewhat; but he never stirred; and when the +wave retired he would wring the water out once more and blow a cloud +of sea-spray from his beard. At length, holding out his mighty arms +towards Martin, he opened his great, cod-fish mouth, and burst into +a hoarse laugh, which sounded like the deep laughter-like cries of +the big, black-backed gulls. Still, Martin did not feel at all +afraid of him, for he looked good-natured and friendly. + +"Who are you?" shouted Martin at last. + +"Who be I?" returned the man-shaped monster in a hoarse, sea-like +voice. "Ho, ho, ho,--now I calls that a good un! Why, little Martin, +that I've knowed all along, I be Bill. Leastways, that's what they +called me afore: but I got promotion, and in consekence I'm called +the Old Man of the Sea." + +"And how did you know I was Martin?" + +"How did I know as you was Martin? Why, bless your innocent heart, I +knowed it all along of course. How d'ye think I wouldn't know that? +Why, I no sooner saw you there among them rocks than I says to myself, +'Hullo,' says I, bless my eyes if that ain't Martin looking at my +cows, as I calls 'em. Of course I knowed as you was Martin." + +"And what made you go and live in the sea, Old--Bill?" questioned +Martin, "and why did you grow so big?" + +[Illustration: ] + +"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the giant, blowing a great cloud of spray from +his lips. "I don't mind telling you that. You see, Martin, I ain't +pressed for time. Them blessed bells is nothing to me now, not being +in the foc'sle trying to git a bit of a snooze. Well, to begin, I +were born longer ago than I can tell in a old town by the sea, and +my father he were a sailor man, and was drowned when I were very +small; then my mother she died just becoz every man that belonged to +her was drowned. For those as lives by the sea, Martin, mostly dies +in the sea. Being a orphan I were brought up by Granny. I were very +small then, and used to go and play all day in the marshes, and I +loved the cows and water-rats and all the little beasties, same as +you, Martin. When I were a bit growed Granny says to me one day, +'Bill, you go to sea and be a sailor-boy,' she says, 'becoz I've had +a dream,' she says, 'and it's wrote that you'll never git drowned.' +For you see, Martin, my Granny were a wise woman. So to the sea I +goes, and boy and man, I was on a many voyages to Turkey and Injy +and the Cape and the West Coast and Ameriky, and all round the world +forty times over. Many and many's the time I was shipwrecked and +overboard, but I never got drowned. At last, when I were gitting a +old man, and not much use by reason of the rheumatiz and stiffness +in the jints, there was a mutiny in our ship when we was off the Cape; +and the captain and mate they was killed. Then comes my turn, becoz +I went again the men, d'ye see, and they wasn't a-going for to +pardon me that. So out they had me on deck and began to talk about +how they'd finish me--rope, knife, or bullet. 'Mates,' says I 'shoot +me if you like and I'll dies comforbly; or run a knife into me, +which is better still; or string me up to the yard-arm, which is the +most comforble thing I know. But don't you go and put me into the sea,' +says I, 'becoz it's wrote that I ain't never going to git drowned, +and you'll have all your trouble for nothing,' says I. That made 'em +larf a most tremenjous larf. 'Old Bill,' says they, 'will have his +little joke.' Then they brings up some iron stowed in the hold, and +with ropes and chains they ties well-nigh half a ton of it to my +legs and arms, then lowers me over the side. Down I wrent, in course, +which made 'em larf louder than afore; and I were fathoms and +fathoms under water afore I stopped hearing them larf. At last I +comes down to the bottom of the sea, and glad I were to git there, +becoz now I couldn't go no further. There I lies doubled up like a +old sea-sarpint along of the rocks, but warm and comforble like. +Last of all, the ropes and chains they got busted off becoz of my +growing so big and strong down there, and up I comes to blow like a +grampus, for I were full of water by reason that it had soaked into +me. So that's how I got to be the Old Man of the Sea, hundreds and +hundreds of years ago." + +"And do you like to be always in the sea, Old Bill?" asked Martin. + +"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the monster. "That's a good un, little Martin! +Do I like it? Well, it's better than being a sailor man in a ship, I +can tell 'ee. That were a hard life, with nothing good except perhaps +the baccy. I were very fond of baccy once before the sea put out my +pipe. Likewise of rum. Many's the time I've been picked up on shore +that drunk, Martin, you wouldn't believe it, I were that fond of rum. +Sometimes, down here, when I remember how good it tasted, I open my +mouth wide and takes down a big gulp of sea water, enough to fill a +hogshead; then I comes up and blows it all out again just like a old +grampus." + +And having said this, he opened his vast cavernous mouth and roared +out his hoarse ho, ho, ho! louder than before, and at the same time +he rose up higher above the water and the black rock he had been +leaning on, until he stood like a stupendous tower above Martin--a +man-shaped tower of water and spray, and white froth and brown +seaweed. Then he slowly fell backwards out upon the sea, and falling +upon the sea caused so mighty a wave that it went high over the +black rock and washed the face of the cliff, sweeping Martin back +among the rocks. + +When the great wave retired, and Martin, half-choked with water and +half-dazed, struggled on to his feet, he saw that it was night, and +a cloudy, black sky was above, and the black sea beneath him. He had +not seen the light fade, and had perhaps fallen asleep and seen and +talked with that old sea monster in a dream. But now he could not +escape from his position down in the gap, just above the roaring +waves. There he had to stay, sheltered in a cavity in the rock, and +lying there, half sleeping and half waking, he had that great voice +of the sea in his ears all night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +MARTIN PLAYS WITH THE WAVES + +After a night spent in the roar of the sea, a drenched and bruised +prisoner among the rocks, it was nice to see the dawn again. No +sooner was it light than Martin set about trying to make his escape. +He had been washed by that big wave into a deep cleft among the +rocks and masses of hard clay, and shut in there he could not see the +water nor anything excepting a patch of sky above him. Now he began +climbing over the stones and crawling and forcing himself through +crevices and other small openings, making a little progress, for he +was sore from his bruises and very weak from his long fast, and at +intervals, tired and beaten, he would drop down crying with pain and +misery. But Martin was by nature a very resolute little boy, and +after two or three minutes' rest his tears would cease, and he would +be up struggling on determinedly as before. He was like some little +wild animal when it finds itself captive in a cage or box or room, +who tries without ceasing to find a way out. There may be no way, +but it will not give up trying to find one. And at last, after so +much trying, Martin's efforts were rewarded: he succeeded in getting +into the steep passage by which he had come down to the sea on the +previous day, and in the end got to the top of the cliff once more. +It was a great relief, and after resting a little while he began to +feel glad and happy at the sight before him: there was the glorious +sea again, not as he had seen it before, its wide surface roughened +by the wind and flecked with foam; for now the water was smooth, but +not still; it rose and fell in vast rollers, or long waves that were +like ridges, wave following wave in a very grand and ordered manner. +And as he gazed, the clouds broke and floated away, and the sky grew +clear and bright, and then all at once the great red sun came up out +of the waters! + +But it was impossible for him to stay there longer when there was +nothing to eat; his extreme hunger compelled him to get up and leave +the cliff and the sandy hills behind it; and then for an hour or two +he walked feebly about searching for sweet roots, but finding none. +It would have gone hard with him then if he had not seen some low, +dark-looking bushes at a distance on the dry, yellow plain, and gone +to them. They looked like yew-bushes, and when he got to them he +found that they were thickly covered with small berries; on some +bushes they were purple-black, on others crimson, but all were ripe, +and many small birds were there feasting on them. The berries were +pleasant to the taste, and he feasted with the little birds on them +until his hunger was satisfied; and then, with his mouth and fingers +stained purple with the juice, he went to sleep in the shade of one +of the bushes. There, too, he spent the whole of that day and the +night, hearing the low murmur of the sea when waking, and when +morning came he was strong and happy once more, and, after filling +himself with the fruit, set off to the sea again. + +Arrived at the cliff, he began walking along the edge, and in about +an hour's time came to the end of it, for there it sloped down to +the water, and before him, far as he could see, there was a wide, +shingled beach with low sand-hills behind it. With a shout of joy he +ran down to the margin, and the rest of that day he spent dabbling +in the water, gathering beautiful shells and seaweed and +strangely-painted pebbles into heaps, then going on and on again, +still picking up more beautiful riffraff on the margin, only to leave, +it all behind him at last. Never had he spent a happier day, and +when it came to an end he found a sheltered spot not far from the sea, +so that when he woke in the night he would still hear the deep, low +murmur of the waves on the beach. + +Many happy days he spent in the same way, with no living thing to +keep him company, except the little white and grey sanderlings that +piped so shrill and clear as they flitted along the margin before him; +and the great sea-gulls that uttered hoarse, laughter-like cries as +they soared and hovered above his head. "Oh, happy birds!" exclaimed +Martin, clapping his hands, and shouting in answer to their cries. + +Every day Martin grew more familiar with the sea, and loved it more, +and it was his companion and playmate. He was bolder than the little +restless sanderlings that ran and flitted before the advancing waves, +and so never got their pretty white and grey plumage wet: often he +would turn to meet the coming wave, and let it break round and rush +past him, and then in a moment he would be standing knee-deep in the +midst of a great sheet of dazzling white foam, until with a long +hiss as it fled back, drawing the round pebbles with it, it would be +gone, and he would laugh and shout with glee. What a grand old +play-fellow the sea was! And it loved him, like the big spotted cat +of the hills, and only pretended to be angry with him when it wanted +to play, and would do him no harm. And still he was not satisfied, +but grew bolder and bolder, putting himself in its power and trusting +to its mercy. He could play better with his clothes off; and one day, +chasing a great receding wave as far as it would go, he stood up +bravely to encounter the succeeding wave, but it was greater than +the last, and lifting him in its great green arms it carried him high +up till it broke with a mighty roar on the beach; then instead of +leaving him stranded there it rushed back still bearing him in its +arms out into the deep. Further and further from the shore it +carried him, until he became terrified, and throwing out his little +arms towards the land, he cried aloud, "Mother! Mother!" + +He was not calling to his own mother far away on the great plain; he +had forgotten her. Now he only thought of the beautiful woman of the +Hills, who was so strong, and loved him and made him call her +"Mother"; and to her he cried in his need for help. Now he +remembered her warm, protecting bosom, and how she had cried every +night at the fear of losing him; how when he ran from her she +followed him, calling to him to return. Ah, how cold was the sea's +bosom, how bitter its lips! + +Struggling still with the great wave, struggling in vain, blinded +and half-choked with salt water, he was driven violently against a +great black object tumbling about in the surf, and with all the +strength of his little hands he clung to it. The water rolled over +him, and beat against him, but he would not lose his hold; and at +last there came a bigger wave and lifted him up and cast him right +on to the object he was clinging to. It was as if some enormous +monster of the sea had caught him up and put him in that place, just +as the Lady of the Hills had often snatched him up from the edge of +some perilous precipice to set him down in a safe place. + +There he lay exhausted, stretched out at full length, so tossed +about on the billows that he had a sensation of being in a swing; +but the sea grew quiet at last, and when he looked up it was dark, +the stars glittering in the dim blue vault above, and the smooth, +black water reflecting them all round him, so that he seemed to be +floating suspended between two vast, starry skies, one immeasurably +far above, the other below him. All night, with only the twinkling, +trembling stars for company, he lay there, naked, wet, and cold, +thirsty with the bitter taste of sea-salt in his mouth, never daring +to stir, listening to the continual lapping sound of the water. + +Morning dawned at last; the sea was green once more, the sky blue, +and beautiful with the young, fresh light. He was lying on an old +raft of black, water-logged spars and planks lashed together with +chains and rotting ropes. But alas! there was no shore in sight, for +all night long he had been drifting, drifting further and further +away from land. + +A strange habitation for Martin, the child of the plain, was that +old raft! It had been made by shipwrecked mariners, long, long ago, +and had floated about the sea until it had become of the sea, like a +half-submerged floating island; brown and many-coloured seaweeds had +attached themselves to it; strange creatures, half plant and half +animal, grew on it; and little shell-fish and numberless slimy, +creeping things of the sea made it their dwelling-place. It was +about as big as the floor of a large room, all rough, black, and +slippery, with the seaweed floating like ragged hair many yards long +around it, and right in the middle of the raft there was a large +hole where the wood had rotted away. Now, it was very curious that +when Martin looked over the side of the raft he could see down into +the clear, green water a few fathoms only; but when he crept to the +edge of the hole and looked into the water there, he was able to see +ten times further down. Looking in this hole, he saw far down a +strange, fish-shaped creature, striped like a zebra, with long +spines on its back, moving about to and fro. It disappeared, and then, +very much further down, something moved, first like a shadow, then +like a great, dark form; and as it came up higher it took the shape +of a man, but dim and vast like a man-shaped cloud or shadow that +floated in the green translucent water. The shoulders and head +appeared; then it changed its position and the face was towards him +with the vast eyes, that had a dim, greyish light in them, gazing up +into his. Martin trembled as he gazed, not exactly with fear, but +with excitement, because he recognized in this huge water-monster +under him that Old Man of the Sea who had appeared and talked to him +in his dream when he fell asleep among the rocks. Could it be, +although he was asleep at the time, that the Old Man really had +appeared before him, and that his eyes had been open just enough to +see him? + +By-and-by the cloud-like face disappeared, and did not return though +he watched for it a long time. Then sitting on the black, rotten +wood and brown seaweed he gazed over the ocean, a vast green, sunlit +expanse with no shore and no living thing upon it. But after a while +he began to think that there was some living thing in it, which was +always near him though he could not see what it was. From time to +time the surface of the sea was broken just as if some huge fish had +risen to the surface and then sunk again without showing itself. It +was something very big, judging from the commotion it made in the +water; and at last he did see it or a part of it--a vast brown +object which looked like a gigantic man's shoulder, but it might +have been the back of a whale. It was no sooner seen than gone, but +in a very short time after its appearance cries as of birds were +heard at a great distance. The cries came from various directions, +growing louder and louder, and before long Martin saw many birds +flying towards him. + +On arrival they began to soar and circle round above him, all +screaming excitedly. They were white birds with long wings and long +sharp beaks, and were very much like gulls, except that they had an +easier and swifter flight. + +Martin rejoiced at seeing them, for he had been in the greatest +terror at the strangeness and loneliness of the sea now that there +was no land in sight. Sitting on the black raft he was constantly +thinking of the warning words his mother of the hills had spoken +--that the sea would kiss him with cold salt lips and take him down +into the depths where he would never see the light again. O how +strange the sea was to him now, how lonely, how terrible! But birds +that with their wings could range over the whole world were of the +land, and now seemed to bring the land near him with their white +forms and wild cries. How could they help him? He did not know, he +did not ask; but he was not alone now that they had come to him, and +his terror was less. + +And still more birds kept coming; and as the morning wore on the +crowd of birds increased until they were in hundreds, then in +thousands, perpetually wheeling and swooping and rising and hovering +over him in a great white cloud. And they were of many kinds, mostly +white, some grey, others sooty brown or mottled, and some wholly +black. Then in the midst of the crowrd of birds he saw one of great +size wheeling about like a king or giant among the others, with wings +of amazing length, wild eyes of a glittering yellow, and a yellow +beak half as long as Martin's arm, with a huge vulture-like hook at +the end. Now when this mighty bird swooped close down over his head, +fanning him with its immense wings, Martin again began to be alarmed +at its formidable appearance; and as more and more birds came, with +more of the big kind, and the wild outcry they made increased, his +fear and astonishment grew; then all at once these feelings rose to +extreme terror and amazement at the sight of a new bird-like +creature a thousand times bigger than the largest one in the +circling crowd above, coming swiftly towards him. He saw that it was +not flying but swimming or gliding over the surface of the sea; and +its body was black, and above the body were many immense white wings +of various shapes, which stood up like a white cloud. + +Overcome with terror he fell flat on the raft, hiding his face in +the brown seaweed that covered it; then in a few minutes the sea +became agitated and rocked him in his raft, and a wave came over him +which almost swept him into the sea. At the same time the outcry of +the birds were redoubled until he was nearly deafened by their +screams, and the screams seemed to shape themselves into words. +"Martin! Martin!" the birds seemed to be screaming. "Look up, Martin, +look up, look up!" The whole air above and about him seemed to be +full of the cries, and every cry said to him, "Martin! Martin! lookup! +lookup!" + +[Illustration: ] + +Although dazed with the awful din and almost fainting with terror +and weakness, he could not resist the command. Pressing his hands on +the raft he at last struggled up to his knees, and saw that the +feared bird-like monster had passed him by: he saw that it was a +ship with a black hull, its white sails spread, and that the motion +of the water and the wave that swept over him had been created by +the ship as it came close to the raft. It was now rapidly gliding +from him, but still very near, and he saw a crowd of strange-looking +rough men, with sun-browned faces and long hair and shaggy beards, +leaning over the bulwarks staring at him. They had seen with +astonishment the corpse, as they thought, of a little naked white +boy lying on the old black raft, with a multitude of sea-birds +gathered to feed on him; now when they saw him get up on his knees +and look at them, they uttered a great cry, and began rushing +excitedly hither and thither, to pull at ropes and lower a boat. +Martin did not know what they were doing; he only knew that they +were men in a ship, but he was now too weak and worn-out to look at +or think of more than one thing at a time, and what he was looking at +now was the birds. For no sooner had he looked up and seen the ship +than their wild cries ceased, and they rose up and up like a white +cloud to scatter far and wide over sky and sea. For some moments he +continued watching them, listening to their changed voices, which +now had a very soft and pleasant sound, as if they were satisfied +and happy. It made him happy to hear them, and he lifted his hands +up and smiled; then, relieved of his terror and overcome with +weariness, he closed his eyes and dropped once more full length upon +his bed of wet seaweed. At that the men stared into each other's face, +a very strange startled look coming into their eyes. And no wonder! +For long, long months, running to years, they had been cruising in +those lonely desolate seas, thousands of miles from home, seeing no +land nor any green thing, nor dear face of woman or child: and now +by some strange chance a child had come to them, and even while they +were making all haste to rescue it, putting their arms out to take +it from the sea, its life had seemingly been snatched from them! + +But he was only sleeping. + +[Illustration: ] + + +NOTE + + +_When I arranged with Mr. Hudson for the publication of an +American Edition of_ A Little Boy Lost, _I asked him to write a +special foreword to his American readers. He replied with a +characteristic letter, and, taking him at his word. I am printing it +on the following pages_. + + ALFRED A. KNOPF. + + + _Dear Mr. Knopf_: + + Your request for a Foreword to insert in the American + reprint of the little book worries me. A critic on + this side has said that my Prefaces to reprints of my + earlier works are of the nature of parting kicks, and I + have no desire just now to kick this poor innocent. + That evil-tempered old woman, Mother Nature, in one + of her worst tantrums, has been inflicting so many cuffs + and blows on me that she has left me no energy or disposition + to kick anything--even myself. + + The trouble is that I know so little about it. Did + I write this book? What then made me do it? + + In reading a volume of Fors Clavigera I once came + upon a passage which sounded well but left me in a + mist, and it relieved me to find a footnote to it in which + the author says: "This passage was written many + years ago and what I was thinking about at the time + has quite escaped my memory. At all events, though + I let it stand, I can find no meaning in it now." + + Little men may admire but must not try to imitate + these gestures of the giants. And as a result of a little + quiet thinking it over I seem able to recover the idea + I had in my mind when I composed this child's story + and found a title for it in Blake. Something too of the + semi-wild spirit of the child hero in the lines: + + "Naught loves another as itself.... + And, father, how can I love you + Or any of my brothers more? + I love you like the little birds + That pick up crumbs about the door." + + There nature is, after picking up the crumbs to fly + away. + + A long time ago I formed a small collection of children's + books of the early years of the nineteenth century; + and looking through them, wishing that some of + them had fallen into my hands when I was a child I + recalled the books I had read at that time--especially + two or three. Like any normal child I delighted in + such stories as the Swiss Family Robinson, but they + were not the books I prized most; they omitted the very + quality I liked best--the little thrills that nature itself + gave me, which half frightened and fascinated at the + same time, the wonder and mystery of it all. Once in a + while I got a book with something of this rare element + in it, contained perhaps in some perfectly absurd + narrative of animals taking human shape or using human + speech, with such like transformations and vagaries; + they could never be too extravagant, fantastic and incredible, + so long as they expressed anything of the feeling + I myself experienced when out of sight and sound + of my fellow beings, whether out on the great level + plain, with a glitter of illusory water all round me, or + among the shadowy trees with their bird and insect + sounds, or by the waterside and bed of tall dark bullrushes + murmuring in the wind. + + These ancient memories put it in my mind to write + a book which, I imagined, would have suited my peculiar + taste of that early period, the impossible story + to be founded on my own childish impressions and adventures, + with a few dreams and fancies thrown in and + two or three native legends and myths, such as the one + of the Lady of the Hills, the incarnate spirit of the + rocky Sierras on the great plains, about which I heard + from my gaucho comrades when on the spot--the + strange woman seldom viewed by human eyes who is + jealous of man's presence and is able to create sudden + violent tempests to frighten them from her sacred + haunts. + + That's the story of my story, and to the question in + your publisher's practical mind, I'm sorry to have to + say I don't know. I have no way of finding out, since + children are not accustomed to write to authors to tell + them what they think of their books. And after all + these excuses it just occurs to me that children do not + read forewords and introductions; they have to be addressed + to adults who do not read children's books, so + that in any case it would be thrown away. Still if a + foreword you must have, and from me, I think you will + have to get it out of this letter. + + I remain, + + Yours cordially, + W. H. HUDSON. + + November 14,1917. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Little Boy Lost, by Hudson, W. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Little Boy Lost + +Author: Hudson, W. H. + +Release Date: November 17, 2003 [EBook #10101] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A LITTLE BOY LOST *** + + + + +Produced by PG Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +[Illustration: ] + +A LITTLE BOY LOST + + +By W. H. Hudson + +Illustrated by A. D. M'Cormick + + + + +CONTENTS + +_CHAPTER_ + +I THE HOME ON THE GREAT PLAIN, + +II THE SPOONBILL AND THE CLOUD, + +III CHASING A FLYING FIGURE, + +IV MARTIN IS FOUND BY A DEAF OLD MAN, + +V THE PEOPLE OF THE MIRAGE, + +VI MARTIN MEETS WITH SAVAGES, + +VII ALONE IN THE GREAT FOREST, + +VIII THE FLOWER AND THE SERPENT, + +IX THE BLACK PEOPLE OF THE SKY, + +X A TROOP OF WILD HORSES, + +XI THE LADY OF THE HILLS, + +XII THE LITTLE PEOPLE UNDERGROUND, + +XIII THE GREAT BLUE WATER, + +XIV THE WONDERS OF THE HILLS, + +XV MARTIN'S EYES ARE OPENED, + +XVI THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST, + +XVII THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA, + +XVIII MARTIN PLAYS WITH THE WAVES, + + + + + CHAPTER I + + +THE HOME ON THE GREAT PLAIN + +Some like to be one thing, some another. There is so much to be done, +so many different things to do, so many trades! Shepherds, soldiers, +sailors, ploughmen, carters--one could go on all day naming without +getting to the end of them. For myself, boy and man, I have been +many things, working for a living, and sometimes doing things just +for pleasure; but somehow, whatever I did, it never seemed quite the +right and proper thing to do--it never quite satisfied me. I always +wanted to do something else--I wanted to be a carpenter. It seemed +to me that to stand among wood-shavings and sawdust, making things +at a bench with bright beautiful tools out of nice-smelling wood, +was the cleanest, healthiest, prettiest work that any man can do. +Now all this has nothing, or very little, to do with my story: I +only spoke of it because I had to begin somehow, and it struck me +that I would make a start that way. And for another reason, too. +_His father was a carpenter_. I mean Martin's father--Martin, the +Little Boy Lost. His father's name was John, and he was a very good +man and a good carpenter, and he loved to do his carpentering better +than anything else; in fact as much as I should have loved it if I +had been taught that trade. He lived in a seaside town, named +Southampton, where there is a great harbour, where he saw great +ships coming and going to and from all parts of the world. Now, no +strong, brave man can live in a place like that, seeing the ships +and often talking to the people who voyaged in them about the +distant lands where they had been, without wishing to go and see +those distant countries for himself. When it is winter in England, +and it rains and rains, and the east wind blows, and it is grey and +cold and the trees are bare, who does not think how nice it would be +to fly away like the summer birds to some distant country where the +sky is always blue and the sun shines bright and warm every day? And +so it came to pass that John, at last, when he was an old man, sold +his shop, and went abroad. They went to a country many thousands of +miles away--for you must know that Mrs. John went too; and when the +sea voyage ended, they travelled many days and weeks in a wagon +until they came to the place where they wanted to live; and there, +in that lonely country, they built a house, and made a garden, and +planted an orchard. It was a desert, and they had no neighbours, but +they were happy enough because they had as much land as they wanted, +and the weather was always bright and beautiful; John, too, had his +carpenter's tools to work with when he felt inclined; and, best of +all, they had little Martin to love and think about. + +But how about Martin himself? You might think that with no other +child to prattle to and play with or even to see, it was too lonely +a home for him. Not a bit of it! No child could have been happier. +He did not want for company; his playfellows were the dogs and cats +and chickens, and any creature in and about the house. But most of +all he loved the little shy creatures that lived in the sunshine +among the flowers--the small birds and butterflies, and little +beasties and creeping things he was accustomed to see outside the +gate among the tall, wild sunflowers. There were acres of these +plants, and they were taller than Martin, and covered with flowers +no bigger than marigolds, and here among the sunflowers he used to +spend most of the day, as happy as possible. + +He had other amusements too. Whenever John went to his carpenter's +shop--for the old man still dearly loved his carpentering--Martin +would run in to keep him company. One thing he liked to do was to +pick up the longest wood-shavings, to wind them round his neck and +arms and legs, and then he would laugh and dance with delight, happy +as a young Indian in his ornaments. + +A wood-shaving may seem a poor plaything to a child with all the +toyshops in London to pick and choose from, but it is really very +curious and pretty. Bright and smooth to the touch, pencilled with +delicate wavy lines, while in its spiral shape it reminds one of +winding plants, and tendrils by means of which vines and creepers +support themselves, and flowers with curling petals, and curled +leaves and sea-shells and many other pretty natural objects. + +One day Martin ran into the house looking very flushed and joyous, +holding up his pinafore with something heavy in it. + +"What have you got now?" cried his father and mother in a breath, +getting up to peep at his treasure, for Martin was always fetching +in the most curious out-of-the-way things to show them. + +"My pretty shaving," said Martin proudly. + +[Illustration: ] + +When they looked they were amazed and horrified to see a spotted +green snake coiled comfortably up in the pinafore. It didn't appear +to like being looked at by them, for it raised its curious +heart-shaped head and flicked its little red, forked tongue at them. + +His mother gave a great scream, and dropped the jug she had in her +hand upon the floor, while John rushed off to get a big stick. +"Drop it, Martin--drop the wicked snake before it stings you, and +I'll soon kill it." + +Martin stared, surprised at the fuss they were making; then, still +tightly holding the ends of his pinafore, he turned and ran out of +the room and away as fast as he could go. Away went his father after +him, stick in hand, and out of the gate into the thicket of tall wild +sunflowers where Martin had vanished from sight. After hunting about +for some time, he found the little run-away sitting on the ground +among the weeds. + +"Where's the snake?" he cried. + +"Gone!" said Martin, waving his little hand around. "I let it go and +you mustn't look for it." + +John picked the child up in his arms and marched back to the room +and popped him down on the floor, then gave him a good scolding. +"It's a mercy the poisonous thing didn't sting you," he said. +"You're a naughty little boy to play with snakes, because they're +dangerous bad things, and you die if they bite you. And now you must +go straight to bed; that's the only punishment that has any effect +on such a harebrained little butterfly." + +Martin, puckering up his face for a cry, crept away to his little +room. It was very hard to have to go to bed in the daytime when he +was not sleepy, and when the birds and butterflies were out in the +sunshine having such a good time. + +"It's not a bit of use scolding him--I found that out long ago," +said Mrs. John, shaking her head. "Do you know, John, I can't help +thinking sometimes that he's not our child at all." + +"Whose child do you think he is, then?" said John, who had a cup of +water in his hand, for the chase after Martin had made him hot, and +he wanted cooling. + +"I don't know--but I once had a very curious dream." + +"People often do have curious dreams," said wise old John. + +"But this was a very curious one, and I remember saying to myself, +if this doesn't mean something that is going to happen, then dreams +don't count for much." + +"No more they do," said John. + +"It was in England, just when we were getting ready for the voyage, +and it was autumn, when the birds were leaving us. I dreamed that I +went out alone and walked by the sea, and stood watching a great +number of swallows flying by and out over the sea--flying away to +some distant land. By-and-by I noticed one bird coming down lower +and lower as if he wanted to alight, and I watched it, and it came +down straight to me, and at last flew right into my bosom. I put my +hand on it, and looking close saw that it was a martin, all pure +white on its throat and breast, and with a white patch on its back. +Then I woke up, and it was because of that dream that I named our +child Martin instead of John as you wished to do. Now, when I watch +swallows flying about, coming and going round the house, I sometimes +think that Martin came to us like that one in the dream, and that +some day he will fly away from us. When he gets bigger, I mean." + +"When he gets littler," you mean, said John with a laugh. "No, no, +he's too big for a swallow--a Michaelmas goose would be nothing to +him for size. But here I am listening to your silly dreams instead of +watering the melons and cucumbers!" And out he went to his garden, +but in a minute he put his head in at the door and said, "You may go +and tell him to get up if you like. Poor little fellow! Only make him +promise not to go chumming with spotted snakes any more, and not to +bring them into the house, because somehow they disagree with me." + +[Illustration: ] + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +THE SPOONBILL AND THE CLOUD + +As Martin grew in years and strength, his age being now about seven, +his rambles began to extend beyond the waste grounds outside of the +fenced orchard and gate. These waste grounds were a wilderness of +weeds: here were the sunflowers that Martin liked best; the wild +cock's-comb, flaunting great crimson tufts; the yellow flowering +mustard, taller than the tallest man; giant thistle, and wild +pumpkin with spotted leaves; the huge hairy fox-gloves with yellow +bells; feathery fennel, and the big grey-green thorn-apples, with +prickly burs full of bright red seed, and long white wax-like flowers, +that bloomed only in the evening. He could never get high enough on +anything to see over the tops of these plants; but at last he found +his way through them, and discovered on their further side a wide +grassy plain with scarcely a tree on it, stretching away into the +blue distance. On this vast plain he gazed with wonderment and +delight. Behind the orchard and weedy waste the ground sloped down +to a stream of running water, full of tall rushes with dark green +polished stems, and yellow water-lilies. All along the moist banks +grew other flowers that were never seen in the dry ground above--the +blue star, and scarlet and white verbenas; and sweet-peas of all +colours; and the delicate red vinegar flower, and angel's hair, and +the small fragrant lilies called Mary's-tears, and tall scattered +flags, flaunting their yellow blossoms high above the meadow grass. + +Every day Martin ran down to the stream to gather flowers and shells; +for many curious water-snails were found there with brown +purple-striped shells; and he also liked to watch the small birds +that build their nests in the rushes. + +There were three of these small birds that did not appear to know +that Martin loved them; for no sooner would he present himself at +the stream than forth they would flutter in a great state of mind. +One, the prettiest, was a tiny, green-backed little creature, with a +crimson crest and a velvet-black band across a bright yellow breast: +this one had a soft, low, complaining voice, clear as a silver bell. +The second was a brisk little grey and black fellow, with a loud, +indignant chuck, and a broad tail which he incessantly opened and +shut, like a Spanish lady playing with her fan. + +The third was a shy, mysterious little brown bird, peering out of +the clustering leaves, and making a sound like the soft ticking of a +clock. They were like three little men, an Italian, a Dutchman, and +a Hindoo, talking together, each in his own language, and yet well +able to understand each other. Martin could not make out what they +said, but suspected that they were talking about him; and he feared +that their remarks were not always of a friendly nature. + +At length he made the discovery that the water of the stream was +perpetually running away. If he dropped a leaf on the surface it +would hasten down stream, and toss about and fret impatiently +against anything that stood in its way, until, making its escape, it +would quickly hurry out of sight. Whither did this rippling, running +water go? He was anxious to find out. At length, losing all fear and +fired with the sight of many new and pretty things he found while +following it, he ran along the banks until, miles from home, he came +to a great lake he could hardly see across, it was so broad. It was +a wonderful place, full of birds; not small, fretful creatures +flitting in and out of the rushes, but great majestic birds that +took very little notice of him. Far out on the blue surface of the +water floated numbers of wild fowl, and chief among them for grace +and beauty was the swan, pure white with black head and neck and +crimson bill. There also were stately flamingoes, stalking along +knee-deep in the water, which was shallow; and nearer to the shore +were flocks of rose-coloured spoonbills and solitary big grey herons +standing motionless; also groups of white egrets, and a great +multitude of glossy ibises, with dark green and purple plumage and +long sickle-like beaks. + +The sight of this water with its beds of rushes and tall flowering +reeds, and its great company of birds, filled Martin with delight; +and other joys were soon to follow. Throwing off his shoes, he +dashed with a shout into the water, frightening a number of ibises; +up they flew, each bird uttering a cry repeated many times, that +sounded just like his old father's laugh when he laughed loud and +heartily. Then what was Martin's amazement to hear his own shout and +this chorus of bird ha, ha, ha's, repeated by hundreds of voices all +over the lake. At first he thought that the other birds were mocking +the ibises; but presently he shouted again, and again his shouts +were repeated by dozens of voices. This delighted him so much that +he spent the whole day shouting himself hoarse at the waterside. + +When he related his wonderful experience at home, and heard from his +father that the sounds he had heard were only echoes from the beds +of rushes, he was not a bit wiser than before, so that the echoes +remained to him a continual wonder and source of never-failing +pleasure. + +Every day he would take some noisy instrument to the lake to startle +the echoes; a whistle his father made him served for a time; after +that he marched up and down the banks, rattling a tin canister with +pebbles in it; then he got a large frying-pan from the kitchen, and +beat on it with a stick every day for about a fortnight. When he +grew tired of all these sounds, and began casting about for some new +thing to wake the echoes with, he all at once remembered his +father's gun--just what he wanted, for it was the noisiest thing in +the world. Watching his opportunity, he got secretly into the room +where it was kept loaded, and succeeded in carrying it out of the +house without being seen; then, full of joyful anticipations, he ran +as fast as the heavy gun would let him to his favourite haunt. + +When he arrived at the lake three or four spoonbills--those beautiful, +tall, rose-coloured birds--were standing on the bank, quietly dozing +in the hot sunshine. They did not fly away at his approach, for the +birds were now so accustomed to Martin and his harmless noises that +they took very little notice of him. He knelt on one knee and +pointed the gun at them. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Now, birdies, you don't know what a fright I'm going to give +you--off you go!" he cried, and pulled the trigger. + +The roar of the loud report travelled all over the wide lake, +creating a great commotion among the feathered people, and they rose +up with a general scream into the air. + +All this was of no benefit to Martin, the recoil of the gun having +sent him flying over, his heels in the air; and before he recovered +himself the echoes were silent, and all the frightened birds were +settling on the water again. But there, just before him, lay one of +the spoonbills, beating its great rose-coloured wings against the +ground. + +Martin ran to it, full of keen distress, but was powerless to help; +its life's blood was fast running away from the shot wounds it had +received in its side, staining the grass with crimson. Presently it +closed its beautiful ruby-coloured eyes and the quivering wings grew +still. + +Then Martin sat down on the grass by its side and began to cry, Oh, +that great bird, half as tall as himself, and so many times more +lovely and strong and beautiful in its life--he had killed it, and +it would never fly again! He raised it up very tenderly in his arms +and kissed it--kissed its pale green head and rosy wings; then out +of his arms it tumbled back again on to the grass. + +"Oh, poor bird," he cried suddenly, "open your wings and fly away!" + +But it was dead. + +Then Martin got up and stared all round him at the wide landscape, +and everything looked strange and dim and sorrowful. A shadow passed +over the lake, and a murmur came up out of the rushes that was like +a voice saying something that he could not understand. A great cry +of pain rose from his heart and died to a whisper on his lips; he +was awed into silence. Sinking down upon the grass again, he hid his +face against the rosy-breasted bird and began to sob. How warm the +dead bird felt against his cheek--oh, so warm--and it could not live +and fly about with the others. + +At length he sat up and knew the reason of that change that had come +over the earth. A dark cloud had sprung up in the south-west, far +off as yet, and near the horizon; but its fringe already touched and +obscured the low-hanging sun, and a shadow flew far and vast before +it. Over the lake flew that great shadow: the waters looked cold and +still, reflecting as in a polished glass the motionless rushes, the +glassy bank, and Martin, sitting on it, still clasping in his arms +the dead rose-coloured bird. + +Swifter and vaster, following close upon the flying shadow, came the +mighty cloud, changing from black to slaty grey; and then, as the +sun broke forth again under its lower edge, it was all flushed with +a brilliant rose colour. But what a marvellous thing it was, when +the cloud covered a third of the wide heavens, almost touching the +horizon on either side with its wing-like extremities; Martin, +gazing steadily at it, saw that in its form it was like an immense +spoonbill flying through the air! He would gladly have run away then +to hide himself from its sight, but he dared not stir, for it was +now directly above him; so, lying down on the grass and hiding his +face against the dead bird, he waited in fear and trembling. + +[Illustration: ] + +He heard the rushing sound of the mighty wings: the wind they +created smote on the waters in a hurricane, so that the reeds were +beaten flat on the surface, and a great cry of terror went up from +all the wild birds. It passed, and when Martin raised his bowed head +and looked again, the sun, just about to touch the horizon with its +great red globe, shone out, shedding a rich radiance over the earth +and water; while far off, on the opposite side of the heavens, the +great cloud-bird was rapidly fading out of sight. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +CHASING A FLYING FIGURE + +After what had happened Martin could never visit the waterside and +look at the great birds wading and swimming there without a feeling +that was like a sudden coldness in the blood of his veins. The rosy +spoonbill he had killed and cried over and the great bird-cloud that +had frightened him were never forgotten. He grew tired of shouting +to the echoes: he discovered that there were even more wonderful +things than the marsh echoes in the world, and that the world was +bigger than he had thought it. When spring with its moist verdure +and frail, sweet-smelling flowers had gone; when the great plain +began to turn to a rusty-brown colour, and the dry hard earth was +full of cracks, and the days grew longer and the heat greater, there +came an appearance of water that quivered and glittered and danced +before his wondering sight, and would lead him miles from home every +day in his vain efforts to find out what it was. He could talk of +nothing else, and asked endless questions about it, and they told +him that this strange thing was nothing but the Mirage, but of +course that was not telling him enough, so that he was left to +puzzle his little boy-brains over this new mystery, just as they had +puzzled before over the mystery of the echoes. Now this Mirage was a +glittering whiteness that looked just like water, always shining and +dancing before him and all round him, on the dry level plain where +there was no water. It was never quiet, but perpetually quivering +and running into wavelets that threw up crests and jets of sprays as +from a fountain, and showers of brilliant drops that flashed like +molten silver in the sunlight before they broke and vanished, only +to be renewed again. It appeared every day when the sun was high and +the air hot, and it was often called _The False Water_. And false it +was, since it always flew before him as he ran, so that although he +often seemed to be getting nearer to it he could never quite +overtake it. But Martin had a very determined spirit for a small boy, +and although this appearance of water mocked his efforts a hundred +times every day with its vanishing brightness and beauty, he would +not give up the pursuit. + +Now one day when there was not a cloud on the great hot whitey-blue +sky, nor a breath of air stirring, when it was all silent, for not +even a grass-hopper creaked in the dead, yellow, motionless grass, +the whole level earth began to shine and sparkle like a lake of +silvery water, as Martin had never seen it shine before. He had +wandered far away from home--never had he been so far--and still he +ran and ran and ran, and still that whiteness quivered and glittered +and flew on before him; and ever it looked more temptingly near, +urging him to fresh exertions. At length, tired out and overcome +with heat, he sat down to rest, and feeling very much hurt at the +way he had been deceived and led on, he shed one little tear. There +was no mistake about that tear; he felt it running like a small +spider down his cheek, and finally he saw it fall. It fell on to a +blade of yellow grass and ran down the blade, then stopped so as to +gather itself into a little round drop before touching the ground. +Just then, out of the roots of the grass beneath it, crept a tiny +dusty black beetle and began drinking the drop, waving its little +horns up and down like donkey's ears, apparently very much pleased +at its good fortune in finding water and having a good drink in such +a dry, thirsty place. Probably it took the tear for a drop of rain +just fallen out of the sky. + +"You _are_ a funny little thing!" exclaimed Martin, feeling now less +like crying than laughing. + +The wee beetle, satisfied and refreshed, climbed up the grass-blade, +and when it reached the tip lifted its dusty black wing-cases just +enough to throw out a pair of fine gauzy wings that had been neatly +folded up beneath them, and flew away. + +[Illustration: ] + +Martin, following its flight, had his eyes quite dazzled by the +intense glitter of the False Water, which now seemed to be only a +few yards from him: but the strangest thing was that in it there +appeared a form--a bright beautiful form that vanished when he gazed +steadily at it. Again he got up and began running harder than ever +after the flying mocking Mirage, and every time he stopped he +fancied that he could see the figure again, sometimes like a pale +blue shadow on the brightness; sometimes shining with its own +excessive light, and sometimes only seen in outline, like a figure +graved on glass, and always vanishing when looked at steadily. +Perhaps that white water-like glitter of the Mirage was like a +looking-glass, and he was only chasing his own reflection. I cannot +say, but there it was, always before him, a face as of a beautiful +boy, with tumbled hair and laughing lips, its figure clothed in a +fluttering dress of lights and shadows. It also seemed to beckon to +him with its hand, and encourage him to run on after it with its +bright merry glances. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length when it was past the hour of noon, Martin sat down under a +small bush that gave just shade enough to cover him and none to spare. +It was only a little spot of shade like an island in a sea of heat +and brightness. He was too hot and tired to run more, too tired even +to keep his eyes open, and so, propping his back against the stem of +the small bush, he closed his tired hot eyes. + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +MARTIN IS FOUND BY A DEAF OLD MAN + +Martin kept his eyes shut for only about a minute, as he thought; +but he must have been asleep some time, for when he opened them the +False Water had vanished, and the sun, looking very large and crimson, +was just about to set. He started up, feeling very thirsty and +hungry and bewildered; for he was far, far from home, and lost on +the great plain. Presently he spied a man coming towards him on +horseback. A very funny-looking old man he proved to be, with a face +wrinkled and tanned by sun and wind, until it resembled a piece of +ancient shoe-leather left lying for years on some neglected spot of +ground. A Brazil nut is not darker nor more wrinkled than was the +old man's face. His long matted beard and hair had once been white, +but the sun out of doors and the smoke in his smoky hut had given +them a yellowish tinge, so that they looked like dry dead grass. He +wore big jack-boots, patched all over, and full of cracks and holes; +and a great pea-jacket, rusty and ragged, fastened with horn buttons +big as saucers. His old brimless hat looked like a dilapidated +tea-cosy on his head, and to prevent it from being carried off by +the wind it was kept on with an old flannel shirtsleeve tied under +his chin. His saddle, too, like his clothes, was old and full of +rents, with wisps of hair and straw-stuffing sticking out in various +places, and his feet were thrust into a pair of big stirrups made of +pieces of wood and rusty iron tied together with string and wire. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Boy, what may you being a doing of here?" bawled this old man at +the top of his voice: for he was as deaf as a post, and like a good +many deaf people thought it necessary to speak very loud to make +himself heard. + +"Playing," answered Martin innocently. But he could not make the old +man hear until he stood up on tip-toe and shouted out his answer as +loud as he could. + +"Playing," exclaimed the old man. "Well, I never in all my life! +When there ain't a house 'cepting my own for leagues and leagues, +and he says he's playing! What may you be now?" he shouted again. + +"A little boy," screamed Martin. + +"I knowed that afore I axed," said the other. Then he slapped his +legs and held up his hands with astonishment, and at last began to +chuckle. "Will you come home along o' me?" he shouted. + +"Will you give me something to eat?" asked Martin in return. + +"Haw, haw, haw," guffawed the old fellow. It was a tremendous laugh, +so loud and hollow, it astonished and almost frightened Martin to +hear it. "Well I never!" he said. "He ain't no fool, neither. Now, +old Jacob, just you take your time and think a bit afore you makes +your answer to that." + +This curious old man, whose name was Jacob, had lived so long by +himself that he always thought out loud--louder than other people +talk: for, being deaf, he could not hear himself, and never had a +suspicion that he could be heard by others. + +"He's lost, that's what he is," continued old Jacob aloud to himself. +"And what's more, he's been and gone and forgot all about his own +home, and all he wants is summat to eat. I'll take him and keep him, +that's what I'll do: for he's a stray lamb, and belongs to him that +finds him, like any other lamb I finds. I'll make him believe I'm +his old dad; for he's little and will believe most anything you +tells him. I'll learn him to do things about the house--to boil the +kettle, and cook the wittels, and gather the firewood, and mend the +clothes, and do the washing, and draw the water, and milk the cow, +and dig the potatoes, and mind the sheep and--and--and that's what +I'll learn him. Then, Jacob, you can sit down and smoke your pipe, +'cos you'll have some one to do your work for you." + +Martin stood quietly listening to all this, not quite understanding +the old man's kind intentions. Then old Jacob, promising to give him +something to eat, pulled him up on to his horse, and started home at +a gallop. + +Soon they arrived at a mud hovel, thatched with rushes, the roof +sloping down so low that one could almost step on to it; it was +surrounded with a ditch, and had a potato patch and a sheep enclosure; +for old Jacob was a shepherd, and had a flock of sheep. There were +several big dogs, and when Martin got down from the horse, they +began jumping round him, barking with delight, as if they knew him, +half-smothering him with their rough caresses. Jacob led him into +the hut, which looked extremely dirty and neglected, and had only +one room. In the corners against the walls were piles of sheep-skins +that had a strong and rather unpleasant smell: the thatch above was +covered with dusty cobwebs, hanging like old rags, and the clay +floor was littered with bones, sticks, and other rubbish. The only +nice thing to see was a teakettle singing and steaming away merrily +on the fire in the grate. Old Jacob set about preparing the evening +meal; and soon they sat down at a small deal table to a supper of +cold mutton and potatoes, and tea which did not taste very nice, as +it was sweetened with moist black sugar. Martin was too hungry to +turn up his nose at anything, and while he ate and drank the old man +chuckled and talked aloud to himself about his good fortune in +finding the little boy to do his work for him. After supper he +cleared the table, and put two mugs of tea on it, and then got out +his clay pipe and tobacco. + +"Now, little boy," he cried, "let's have a jolly evening together. +Your very good health, little boy," and here he jingled his mug +against Martin's, and took a sip of tea. + +"Would you like to hear a song, little boy?" he said, after +finishing his pipe. + +"No," said Martin, who was getting sleepy; but Jacob took no to mean +yes, and so he stood up on his legs and sang this song:-- + + + "My name is Jacob, that's my name; + And tho' I'm old, the old man's game-- + The air it is so good, d'ye see: + And on the plain my flock I keep, + And sing all day to please my sheep, + And never lose them like Bo-Peep, + Becos the ways of them are known to me." + + "When winter comes and winds do blow, + Unto my sheep so good I go-- + I'm always good to them, d'ye see-- + Ho, sheep, say I, both ram, both ewe, + I've sung you songs all summer through, + Now lend to me a skin or two, + To keep the cold and wet from out o' me." + + +This song, accompanied with loud raps on the table, was bellowed +forth in a dreadfully discordant voice; and very soon all the dogs +rushed into the room and began to bark and howl most dismally, which +seemed to please the old man greatly, for to him it was a kind of +applause. But the noise was too much for Martin; so he stopped up +his ears, and only removed his fingers from them when the +performance was over. After the song the old man offered to dance, +for he had not yet had amusement enough. + +"Boy, can you play on this?" he shouted, holding up a frying-pan and +a big stick to beat it with. Of course Martin could play on _that_ +instrument: he had often enough played on one like it to startle the +echoes on the lake, in other days. And so, when he had been lifted +on to the table, he took the frying-pan by the handle, and began +vigorously beating on it with the stick. He did not mind the noise +now since he was helping to make it. Meanwhile old Jacob began +flinging his arms and legs about in all directions, looking like a +scarecrow made to tumble about by means of springs and wires. He +pounded the clay floor with his ponderous old boots until the room +was filled with a cloud of dust; then in his excitement he kicked +over chairs, pots, kettles, and whatever came in his way, while he +kept on revolving round the table in a kind of crazy fandango. +Martin thought it fine fun, and screamed with laughter, and beat his +gong louder than ever; then to make matters worse old Jacob at +intervals uttered whoops and yells, which the dogs answered with +long howls from the door, until the din was something tremendous. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length they both grew tired, and then after resting and sipping +some more cold tea, prepared to go to bed. Some sheep-skins were +piled up in a corner for Martin to sleep on, and old Jacob covered +him with a horse-rug, and tucked him in very carefully. Then the kind +old man withdrew to his own bed on the opposite side of the room. + +About midnight Martin was wakened by loud horrible noises in the room, +and started up on bed trembling with fear. The sounds came from the +old man's nose, and resembled a succession of blasts on a ram's horn, +which, on account of its roughness and twisted shape, makes a very +bad trumpet. As soon as Martin discovered the cause of the noise he +crept out of bed and tried to waken the old snorer by shouting at him, +tugging at his arms and legs, and finally pulling his beard. He +refused to wake. Then Martin had a bright idea, and groping his way +to the bucket of cold water standing beside the fire-place, he +managed to raise it up in his arms, and poured it over the sleeper. +The snoring changed to a series of loud choking snorts, then ceased. +Martin, well pleased at the success of his experiment, was about to +return to his bed when old Jacob struggled up to a sitting posture. + +"Hullo, wake up, little boy!" he shouted. "My bed's all full o' +water--goodness knows where it comes from." + +"I poured it over you to wake you up. Don't you know you were making +a noise with your nose?" cried Martin at the top of his voice. + +"You--you--you throwed it over me! You--O you most wicked little +villain you! You throwed it over me, did you!" and here he poured +out such a torrent of abusive words that Martin was horrified and +cried out, "O what a naughty, wicked, bad old man you are!" + +It was too dark for old Jacob to see him, but he knew his way about +the room, and taking up the wet rug that served him for covering he +groped his way to Martin's bed and began pounding it with the rug, +thinking the naughty little boy was there. + +"You little rascal you--I hope you like that!--and that!--and that!" +he shouted, pounding away. "I'll learn you to throw water over your +poor old dad! And such a--a affectionate father as I've been too, +giving him sich nice wittels--and--and singing and dancing to him to +teach him music. Perhaps you'd like a little more, you takes it so +quietly? Well, then, take that!--and that!--and that! Why, how's +this--the young warmint ain't here arter all! Well, I'm blowed if +that don't beat everythink! What did he go and chuck that water over +me for? What a walloping I'll give him in the morning when it's light! +and now, boy, you may go and sleep on my bed, 'cos it's wet, d'ye see; +and I'll sleep on yourn, 'cos it's dry." + +Then he got into Martin's bed, and muttered and grumbled himself to +sleep. Martin came out from under the table, and after dressing +himself with great secrecy crept to the door to make his escape. It +was locked and the key taken away. But he was determined to make his +escape somehow, and not wait to be whipped; so, by and by, he drew +the little deal table close against the wall, and getting on to it +began picking the rushes one by one out of the lower part of the +thatch. After working for half-an-hour, like a mouse eating his way +out of a soft wooden box, he began to see the light coming through +the hole, and in another half hour it was large enough for him to +creep through. When he had got out, he slipped down to the ground, +where the dogs were lying. They seemed very glad to see him, and +began pressing round to lick his face; but he pushed them off, and +ran away over the plain as fast as he could. The stars were shining, +but it was very dark and silent; only in moist places, where the +grass grew tall, he heard the crickets strumming sadly on their +little harps. + +At length, tired with running, he coiled himself in a large tussock +of dry grass and went to sleep, just as if he had been accustomed to +sleep out of doors all his life. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +THE PEOPLE OF THE MIRAGE + +In that remote land where Martin was born, with its bright warm +climate and rich soil, no person need go very long hungry--not even +a small boy alone and lost on the great grassy plain. For there is a +little useful plant in that place, with small leaves like clover +leaves and a pretty yellow flower, which bears a wholesome sweet root, +about as big as a pigeon's egg and of a pearly white colour. It is +so well known to the settlers' children in that desert country that +they are always wandering off to the plain to look for it, just as +the children in a town are always running off with their halfpence +to the sweet-stuff shop. This pretty white root is watery, so that +it satisfies both hunger and thirst at the same time. Now when Martin +woke next morning, he found a great many of the little three-leaved +plants growing close to the spot where he had slept, and they +supplied him with a nice sweet breakfast. After he had eaten enough +and had amused himself by rolling over and over several times on the +grass, he started once more on his travels, going towards the +sunrise as fast as he could run. He could run well for a small boy, +but he got tired at last and sat down to rest. Then he jumped up and +went on again at a trot: this pace he kept up very steadily, only +pausing from time to time to watch a flock of small white birds that +followed him all the morning out of curiosity. At length he began to +feel so hot and tired that he could only walk. Still he kept on; he +could see no flowers nor anything pretty in that place--why should +he stay in it? He would go on, and on, and on, in spite of the heat, +until he came to something. But it grew hotter as the day advanced, +and the ground about him more dry and barren and desolate, until at +last he came to ground where there was scarcely a blade of grass: it +was a great, barren, level plain, covered with a slight crust of +salt crystals that glittered in the sun so brightly that it dazzled +and pained his eyesight. Here were no sweet watery roots for +refreshment, and no berries; nor could Martin find a bush to give +him a little shade and protection from the burning noonday sun. He +saw one large dark object in the distance, and mistaking it for a +bush covered with thick foliage he ran towards it; but suddenly it +started up, when he was near, and waving its great grey and white +wings like sails, fled across the plain. It was an ostrich! + +Now this hot, shadeless plain seemed to be the very home and +dwelling-place of the False Water. It sparkled and danced all round +him so close that there only appeared to be a small space of dry +ground for him to walk on; only he was always exactly in the centre +of the dry spot; for as he advanced, the glittering whiteness, that +looked so like shiny water, flew mockingly before his steps. But he +hoped to get to it at last, as every time he flagged in the chase +the mysterious figure of the day before appeared again to lure him +still further on. At length, unable to move another step, Martin sat +right down on the bare ground: it was like sitting on the floor of a +heated oven, but there was no help for it, he was so tired. The air +was so thick and heavy that he could hardly breathe, even with his +mouth wide open like a little gasping bird; and the sky looked like +metal, heated to a white heat, and so low down as to make him fancy +that if he were to throw up his hands he would touch it and burn his +fingers. + +And the Mirage--oh, how it glistened and quivered here where he had +sat down, half blinding him with its brightness! Now that he could +no longer run after it, nor even walk, it came to him, breaking +round and over him in a thousand fantastic shapes, filling the air +with a million white flakes that whirled about as if driven by a +furious wind, although not a breath was stirring. They looked like +whitest snow-flakes, yet stung his cheeks like sparks of fire. Not +only did he see and feel, he could even _hear_ it now: his ears were +filled with a humming sound, growing louder and louder every minute, +like the noise made by a large colony of bumble-bees when a person +carelessly treads on their nest, and they are angered and thrown +into a great commotion and swarm out to defend their home. Very soon +out of this confused murmur louder, clearer sounds began to rise; +and these could be distinguished as the notes of numberless musical +instruments, and voices of people singing, talking, and laughing. +Then, all at once, there appeared running and skipping over the +ground towards him a great company of girls--scores and hundreds of +them scattered over the plain, exceeding in loveliness all lovely +things that he had ever beheld. Their faces were whiter than lilies, +and their loose, fluttering hair looked like a mist of pale shining +gold; and their skirts, that rustled as they ran, were also shining +like the wings of dragon-flies, and were touched with brown +reflections and changing, beautiful tints, such as are seen on +soap-bubbles. Each of them carried a silver pitcher, and as they ran +and skipped along they dipped their fingers in and sprinkled the +desert with water. The bright drops they scattered fell all around +in a grateful shower, and flew up again from the heated earth in the +form of a white mist touched with rainbow colours, filling the air +with a refreshing coolness. + +At Martin's side there grew a small plant, its grey-green leaves +lying wilted on the ground, and one of the girls paused to water it, +and as she sprinkled the drops on it she sang:-- + + + "Little weed, little weed, + In such need, + Must you pain, ask in vain, + Die for rain, + Never bloom, never seed, + Little weed? + O, no, no, you shall not die, + From the sky + With my pitcher down I fly. + Drink the rain, grow again, + Bloom and seed, + Little weed." + + +Martin held up his hot little hands to catch some of the falling +drops; then the girl, raising her pitcher, poured a stream of cool +water right into his face, and laughing at what she had done, went +away with a hop, skip, and jump after her companions. + +The girls with pitchers had all gone, and were succeeded by troops +of boys, just as beautiful, many of them singing and some playing on +wind and stringed instruments; and some were running, others quietly +walking, and still others riding on various animals--ostriches, sheep, +goats, fawns, and small donkeys, all pure white. One boy was riding +on a ram, and as he came by, strum-strumming on a little +silver-stringed banjo, he sang a very curious song, which made Martin +prick up his ears to listen. It was about a speckled snake that +lived far away on a piece of waste ground; how day after day he +sought for his lost playmate--the little boy that had left him; how +he glided this way and that on his smooth, bright belly, winding in +and out among the tall wild sunflowers; how he listened for the dear +footsteps--listened with his green leaf-shaped, little head raised +high among the leaves. But his playmate was far away and came no +more to feed him from his basin of bread and milk, and caress his +cold, smooth coils with his warm, soft, little hand. + +Close after the boy on the ram marched four other little boys on foot, +holding up long silver trumpets in readiness to blow. One of them +stopped, and putting his trumpet down close to Martin's ear, puffed +out his little, round cheeks, and blew a blast that made him jump. +Laughing at the joke, they passed on, and were succeeded by others +and still others, singing, shouting, twanging their instruments, and +some of them stopping for a few moments to look at Martin or play +some pretty little trick on him. + +But now all at once Martin ceased to listen or even look at them, +for something new and different was coming, something strange which +made him curious and afraid at the same time. It was a sound, very +deep and solemn, of men's voices singing together a song that was +like a dirge and coming nearer and nearer, and it was like the +coming of a storm with wind and rain and thunder. Soon he could see +them marching through the great crowd of people--old men moving in a +slow procession, and they had pale dark faces and their hair and +long beards were whiter than snow, and their long flowing robes were +of the silvery dark colour of a rain-cloud. Then he saw that the +leaders of the procession were followed by others who carried a +couch of mother-o'-pearl resting on their shoulders, that on the +couch reposed a pale sweet-looking youth dressed in silk clothes of +a delicate rose-colour. He also wore crimson shoes, and a +tight-fitting apple-green skull cap, which made his head look very +small. His eyes were ruby-red, and he had a long slender nose like a +snipe's bill, only broad and flattened at the tip. And then Martin +saw that he was wounded, for he had one white hand pressed to his +side and it was stained with blood, and drops of blood were +trickling through his fingers. + +He was troubled at the sight, and he gazed at him, and listened to +the words of that solemn song the old men were singing but could not +understand them. Not because he was a child, for no person, however +aged and wise and filled with all learning he might be, could have +understood that strange song about Wonderful Life and Wonderful Death. +Yet there was something in it too which any one who heard it, man or +child, could understand; and he understood it, and it went into his +heart to make it so heavy and sad that he could have put his little +face down on the ground and cried as he had never cried before. But +he did not put his face down and cry, for just then the wounded youth +looked down on him as they carried him past and smiled a very sweet +smile: then Martin felt that he loved him above all the bright and +beautiful beings that had passed before him. + +Then, when he was gone from sight; when the solemn sound of the +voices began to grow fainter in the distance like the sound of a +storm when it passes away, his heaviness of heart and sorrow left him, +and he began to listen to the shouts and cries and clanging of noisy +instruments of music swiftly coming nearer and nearer; and then all +round and past him came a vast company of youths and maidens singing +and playing and shouting and dancing as they moved onwards. They +were the most beautiful beings he had ever seen in their shining +dresses, some all in white, others in amber-colour, others in +sky-blue, and some in still other lovely colours. "The Queen! the +Queen!" they were shouting. "Stand up, little boy, and bow to the +Queen." + +"The Queen! Kneel to the Queen, little boy," cried others. + +Then many others in the company began crying out together, "The Queen! +lie down flat on the ground, little boy." + +"The Queen! Shut your eyes and open your mouth, little boy." + +"The Queen! Run away as fast as you can, little boy." + +"Stand on your head to the Queen, little boy!" + +"Crow like a cock and bark like a dog, little boy!" + +Trying to obey all these conflicting commands at one and the same +time, poor Martin made strange noises and tumbled about this way and +that and set them all laughing at him. + +"The Queen wishes to speak to you--stand up, little boy," said one +of the brightest beings, touching Martin on the cheek. + +There before him, surrounded by all that beautiful company, stood +the horses that drew her--great milk-white horses impatiently pawing +the dusty ground with their hoofs and proudly champing their gold +bridles, tossing the white froth from their mouths. But when he +lifted his eyes timidly to the majestic being seated in her chariot +before him he was dazzled and overcome with the sight. Her face had +a brightness that was like that of the Mirage at noon, and the eyes +that gazed on him were like two great opals; she appeared clothed in +a white shining mist, and her hair spread wide on her shoulders +looked white--whiter than a lamb's fleece, and powdered with fine +gold that sparkled and quivered and ran through it like sparks of +yellow fire: and on her head she wore a crown that was like a diamond +seen by candle-light, or like a dewdrop in the sun, and every moment +it changed its colour, and by turns was a red flame, then a green, +then a yellow, then a violet. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Child, you have followed me far," said the Queen, "and now you are +rewarded, for you have looked on my face and I have refreshed you; +and the Sun, my father, will never more hurt you for my sake." + +"He is a naughty boy and unworthy of your goodness," spoke one of +the bright beings standing near. "He killed the spoonbill." + +"He cried for the poor slain bird," replied the Queen. "He will +never remember it without grief, and I forgive him." + +"He went away from his home and thinks no more of his poor old +father and mother, who cry for him and are seeking for him on the +great plain," continued the voice. + +"I forgive him," returned the Queen. "He is such a little +wanderer--he could not always rest at home." + +"He emptied a bucketful of water over good old Jacob, who found him +and took him in and fed him, and sang to him, and danced to him, and +was a second father to him." + +At that there was great laughter; even the Queen laughed when she +said that she forgave him that too. And Martin when he remembered +old Jacob, and saw that they only made a joke of it, laughed with +them. But the accusing voice still went on: + +"And when the good old shepherd went to sleep a second time, then +the naughty little boy climbed on the table and picked a hole in the +thatch and got out and ran away." + +Another burst of laughter followed; then a youth in a shining, +violet-coloured dress suddenly began twanging on his instrument and +wildly capering about in imitation of old Jacob's dancing, and while +he played and danced he sang-- + + + + "Ho, sheep whose ways are known to me, + Both ewe and lamb + And horned ram + Wherever can that Martin be? + All day for him I ride + Over the plains so wide, + And on my horn I blow, + Just to let him know + That Jacob's on his track, + And soon will have him back, + I look and look all day, + And when I'm home I say: + He isn't like a mole + To dig himself a hole; + Them little legs he's got + They can't go far, trot, trot, + They can't go far, run run, + Oh no, it is his fun; + I'm sure he's near, + He must be here + A-skulking round the house + Just like a little mouse. + I'll get a mouse-trap in a minute, + And bait with cheese that's smelly + To bring him helter-skelly-- + That little empty belly, + And then I'll have him in it. + Where have he hid, + That little kid, + That good old Jacob was so kind to? + And when a rest I am inclined to + Who'll boil the cow and dig the kittles + And milk the stockings, darn the wittles? + Who mugs of tea + Will drink with me? + When round and round + I pound the ground + With boots of cowhide, boots of thunder, + Who'll help to make the noise, I wonder? + Who'll join the row + Of loud bow-wow + With din of tin and copper clatter + With bang and whang of pan and platter? + O when I find + Him fast I'll bind + And upside down I'll hold him; + And when a-home I gallop late-o + I'll give him no more cold potato, + But cuff him, box him, bang him, scold him, + And drench him with a pail of water, + And fill his mouth with wool and mortar, + Because he don't do things he oughter, + But does the things he ought not to, + Then tell me true, + Both ram and ewe, + Wherever have that Martin got to? + For Jacob's old and deaf and dim + And never knowed the ways of him." + + + +"I forgive him everything," said the Queen very graciously, when the +song ended, at which they all laughed. "And now let two of you speak +and each bestow a gift on him. He deserves to be rewarded for +running so far after us." + +Then one of those bright beautiful beings came forward and cried out: +"He loves wandering; let him have his will and be a wanderer all his +days on the face of the earth." + +"Well spoken!" cried the Queen. + +"A wanderer he is to be," said another: "let the sea do him no +harm--that is my gift." + +"So be it," said the Queen; "and to your two gifts I shall add a +third. Let all men love him. Go now, Martin, you are well equipped, +and satisfy your heart with the sight of all the strange and +beautiful things the world contains." + +"Kneel and thank the Queen for her gifts," said a voice to Martin. + +He dropped on to his knees, but could speak no word; when he raised +his eyes again the whole glorious company had vanished. + +[Illustration: ] + +The air was cool and fragrant, the earth moist as if a shower had +just fallen. He got up and slowly walked onward until near sunset, +thinking of nothing but the beautiful people of the Mirage. He had +left the barren salt plain behind by now; the earth was covered with +yellow grass, and he found and ate some sweet roots and berries. +Then feeling very tired, he stretched himself out on his back and +began to wonder if what he had seen was nothing but a dream. Yes, it +was surely a dream, but then--in his life dreams and realities were +so mixed--how was he always to know one from the other? Which was +most strange, the Mirage that glittered and quivered round him and +flew mockingly before him, or the people of the Mirage he had seen? + +If you are lying quite still with your eyes shut and some one comes +softly up and stands over you, somehow you know it, and open your +eyes to see who it is. Just in that way Martin knew that some one +had come and was standing over him. Still he kept his eyes shut, +feeling sure that it was one of those bright and beautiful beings he +had lately seen, perhaps the Queen herself, and that the sight of +her shining countenance would dazzle his eyes. Then all at once he +thought that it might be old Jacob, who would punish him for running +away. He opened his eyes very quickly then. What do you think he saw? +An ostrich--that same big ostrich he had seen and startled early in +the day! It was standing over him, staring down with its great +vacant eyes. Gradually its head came lower and lower down, until at +last it made a sudden peck at a metal button on his jacket, and gave +such a vigorous tug at it that Martin was almost lifted off the +ground. He screamed and gave a jump; but it was nothing to the jump +the ostrich gave when he discovered that the button belonged to a +living boy. He jumped six feet high into the air and came down with +a great flop; then feeling rather ashamed of himself for being +frightened at such an insignificant thing as Martin, he stalked +majestically away, glancing back, first over one shoulder then the +other, and kicking up his heels behind him in a somewhat disdainful +manner. + +Martin laughed, and in the middle of his laugh he fell asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +MARTIN MEETS WITH SAVAGES + +When, on waking next morning, Martin took his first peep over the +grass, there, directly before him, loomed the great blue hills, or +Sierras as they are called in that country. He had often seen them, +long ago in his distant home on clear mornings, when they had +appeared like a blue cloud on the horizon. He had even wished to get +to them, to tread their beautiful blue summits that looked as if +they would be soft to his feet--softer than the moist springy turf +on the plain; but he wished it only as one wishes to get to some +far-off impossible place--a white cloud, for instance, or the blue +sky itself. Now all at once he unexpectedly found himself near them, +and the sight fired him with a new desire. The level plain had +nothing half so enchanting as the cloud-like blue airy hills, and +very soon he was up on his feet and hurrying towards them. In spite +of hurrying he did not seem to get any nearer; still it was pleasant +to be always going on and on, knowing that he would get to them at +last. He had now left the drier plains behind; the earth was clothed +with green and yellow grass easy to the feet, and during the day he +found many sweet roots to refresh him. He also found quantities of +cam-berries, a round fruit a little less than a cherry in size, +bright yellow in colour, and each berry inside a green case or +sheath shaped like a heart. They were very sweet. At night he slept +once more in the long grass, and when daylight returned he travelled +on, feeling very happy there alone--happy to think that he would get +to the beautiful hills at last. But only in the early morning would +they look distinct and near; later in the day, when the sun grew hot, +they would seem further off, like a cloud resting on the earth, +which made him think sometimes that they moved on as he went towards +them. + +On the third day he came to a high piece of ground; and when he got +to the top and looked over to the other side he saw a broad green +valley with a stream of water running in it: on one hand the valley +with its gleaming water stretched away as far as he could see, or +until it lost itself in the distant haze; but on the other hand, on +looking up the valley, there appeared a great forest, looking blue +in the distance; and this was the first forest Martin had ever seen. +Close by, down in the green valley before him, there was something +else to attract his attention, and this was a large group of men and +horses. No sooner had he caught sight of them than he set off at a +run towards them, greatly excited; and as he drew near they all rose +up from the grass where they had been sitting or lying to stare at +him, filled with wonder at the sight of that small boy alone in the +desert. There were about twenty men and women, and several children; +the men were very big and tall, and were dressed only in robes made +of the skins of some wild animal; they had broad, flat faces, and +dark copper-coloured skins, and their long black hair hung down +loose on their backs. + +These strange, rude-looking people were savages, and are supposed to +be cruel and wicked, and to take pleasure in torturing and killing +any lost or stray person that falls into their hands; but indeed it +is not so, as you shall shortly find. Poor ignorant little Martin, +who had never read a book in his life, having always refused to +learn his letters, knew nothing about savages, and feared them no +more than he had feared old Jacob, or the small spotted snake, the +very sight of which had made grown-up people scream and run away. So +he marched boldly up and stared at them, and they in turn stared at +him out of their great, dark, savage eyes. + +[Illustration: ] + +They had just been eating their supper of deer's flesh, roasted on +the coals, and after a time one of the savages, as an experiment, +took up a bone of meat and offered it to him. Being very hungry he +gladly took it, and began gnawing the meat off the bone. + +When he had satisfied his hunger, he began to look round him, still +stared at by the others. Then one of the women, who had a +good-humoured face, caught him up, and seating him on her knees, +tried to talk to him. + +"Melu-melumia quiltahou papa shani cha silmata," she spoke, gazing +very earnestly into his face. + +They had all been talking among themselves while he was eating; but +he did not know that savages had a language of their own different +from ours, and so thought that they had only been amusing themselves +with a kind of nonsense talk, which meant nothing. Now when the +woman addressed this funny kind of talk to him, he answered her in +her own way, as he imagined, readily enough: "Hey diddle-diddle, the +cat's in the fiddle, fe fo fi fum, chumpty-chumpty-chum, with bings +on her ringers, and tells on her boes." + +They all listened with grave attention, as if he had said something +very important. Then the woman continued: "Huanatopa ana ana +quiltahou." + +To which Martin answered, "Theophilus Thistle, the thistle-sifter, +sifted a sieve of unsifted thistles; and if Theophilus--oh, I won't +say any more!" + +Then she said, "Quira-holata silhoa mari changa changa." + +"Cock-a-doodle-do!" cried Martin, getting tired and impatient. +"Baa, baa, black sheep, bow, wow, wow; goosey, goosey gander; see-saw, +Mary Daw; chick-a-dee-dee, will you listen to me. And now let me go!" + +But she held him fast and kept on talking her nonsense language to +him, until becoming vexed he caught hold of her hair and pulled it. +She only laughed and tossed him up into the air and caught him again, +just as he might have tossed and caught a small kitten. At length +she released him, for now they were all beginning to lie down by the +fire to sleep, as it was getting dark; Martin being very tired +settled himself down among them, and as one of the women threw a +skin over him he slept very comfortably. + +Next morning the hills looked nearer than ever just across the river; +but little he cared for hills now, and when the little savage +children went out to hunt for berries and sweet roots he followed +and spent the day agreeably enough in their company. + +On the afternoon of the second day his new playfellows all threw off +their little skin cloaks and plunged into the stream to bathe; and +Martin, seeing how much they seemed to enjoy being in the water, +undressed himself and went in after them. The water was not too deep +in that place, and as it was rare fun splashing about and trying to +keep his legs in the swift current and clambering over slippery rocks, +he went out some distance from the bank. All at once he discovered +that the others had left him, and looking back he saw that they were +all scrambling out on to the bank and fighting over his clothes. +Back he dashed in haste to rescue his property, but by the time he +reached the spot they had finished dividing the spoil, and jumping +up they ran away and scattered in all directions, one wearing his +jacket, another his knickerbockers, another his shirt and one sock, +another his cap and shoes, and the last the one remaining sock only. +In vain he pursued and called after them; and at last he was +compelled to follow them unclothed to the camping ground, where he +presented himself crying piteously; but the women who had been so +kind to him would not help him now, and only laughed to see how +white his skin looked by contrast with the dark copper-coloured skins +of the other children. At length one of them compassionately gave +him a small soft-furred skin of some wild animal, and fastened it on +him like a cloak; and this he was compelled to wear with shame and +grief, feeling very strange and uncomfortable in it. But the feeling +of discomfort in that new savage dress was nothing to the sense of +injury that stung him, and in his secret heart he was determined not +to lose his own clothes. + +When the children went out next day he followed them, watching and +waiting for a chance to recover anything that belonged to him; and +at last, seeing the little boy who wore his cap off his guard, he +made a sudden rush, and snatching it off the young savage's head, +put it firmly upon his own. But the little savage now regarded that +cap as his very own: he had taken it by force or stratagem, and had +worn it on his head since the day before, and that made it his +property; and so at Martin he went, and they fought stoutly together, +and being nearly of a size, he could not conquer the little white boy. +Then he cried out to the others to help him, and they came and +overthrew Martin, and deprived him not only of his cap, but of his +little skin cloak as well, and then punished him until he screamed +aloud with pain. Leaving him crying on the ground, they ran back to +the camp. He followed shortly afterwards, but got no sympathy, for, +as a rule, grown-up savages do not trouble themselves very much about +these little matters: they leave their children to settle their own +disputes. + +During the rest of that day Martin sulked by himself behind a great +tussock of grass, refusing to eat with the others, and when one of +the women went to him and offered him a piece of meat he struck it +vindictively out of her hand. She only laughed a little and left him. + +Now when the sun was setting, and he was beginning to feel very cold +and miserable in his nakedness, the men were seen returning from the +hunt; but instead of riding slowly to the camp as on other days, +they came riding furiously and shouting. The moment they were seen +and their shouts heard the women jumped up and began hastily packing +the skins and all their belongings into bundles; and in less than +ten minutes the whole company was mounted on horseback and ready for +flight. One of the men picked Martin up and placed him on the +horse's back before him, and then they all started at a swift canter +up the valley towards that great blue forest in the distance. + +In about an hour they came to it: it was then quite dark, the sky +powdered with numberless stars; but when they got among the trees +the blue, dusky sky and brilliant stars disappeared from sight, as +if a black cloud had come over them, so dark was it in the forest. +For the trees were very tall and mingled their branches overhead; +but they had got into a narrow path known to them, and moving slowly +in single file, they kept on for about two hours longer, then +stopped and dismounted under the great trees, and lying down all +close together, went to sleep. Martin, lying among them, crept under +the edge of one of the large skin robes and, feeling warm, he soon +fell fast asleep and did not wake till daylight. + +[Illustration: ] + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +ALONE IN THE GREAT FOREST + +Imagine to yourself one accustomed to live in the great treeless +plain, accustomed to open his eyes each morning to the wide blue sky +and the brilliant sunlight, now for the first time opening them in +that vast gloomy forest, where neither wind nor sunlight came, and +no sound was heard, and twilight lasted all day long! All round him +were trees with straight, tall grey trunks, and behind and beyond +them yet other trees--trees everywhere that stood motionless like +pillars of stone supporting the dim green roof of foliage far above. +It was like a vast gloomy prison in which he had been shut, and he +longed to make his escape to where he could see the rising sun and +feel the fanning wind on his cheeks. He looked round at the others: +they were all stretched on the ground still in a deep sleep, and it +frightened him a little to look at their great, broad, dark faces +framed in masses of black hair. He felt that he hated them, for they +had treated him badly: the children had taken his clothes, compelling +him to go naked, and had beaten and bruised him, and he had not been +pitied and helped by their elders. By and by, very quietly and +cautiously he crept away from among them, and made his escape into +the gloomy wood. On one side the forest shadows looked less dark +than the other, and on that side he went, for it was the side on +which the sun rose, and the direction he had been travelling when he +first met with the savages. On and on he went, over the thick bed of +dark decaying leaves, which made no rustling sound, looking like a +little white ghost of a boy in that great gloomy wood. But he came +to no open place, nor did he find anything to eat when hunger +pressed him; for there were no sweet roots and berries there, nor any +plant that he had ever seen before. It was all strange and gloomy, +and very silent. Not a leaf trembled; for if one had trembled near +him he would have heard it whisper in that profound stillness that +made him hold his breath to listen. But sometimes at long intervals +the silence would be broken by a sound that made him start and stand +still and wonder what had caused it. For the rare sounds in the +forest were unlike any sounds he had heard before. Three or four +times during the day a burst of loud, hollow, confused laughter +sounded high up among the trees; but he saw nothing, although most +likely the creature that had laughed saw him plainly enough from its +hiding-place in the deep shadows as it ran up the trunks of the trees. + +[Illustration: ] + +At length he came to a river about thirty or forty yards wide; +and this was the same river that he had bathed in many leagues +further down in the open valley. It is called by the savages +Co-viota-co-chamanga, which means that it runs partly in the dark +and partly in the light. Here it was in the dark. The trees grew +thick and tall on its banks, and their wide branches met and +intermingled above its waters that flowed on without a ripple, black +to the eye as a river of ink. How strange it seemed when, holding on +to a twig, he bent over and saw himself reflected--a white, naked +child with a scared face--in that black mirror! Overcome by thirst, +he ventured to creep down and dip his hand in the stream, and was +astonished to see that the black water looked as clear as crystal in +his hollow hand. After quenching his thirst he went on, following +the river now, for it had made him turn aside; but after walking for +an hour or more he came to a great tree that had fallen across the +stream, and climbing on to the slippery trunk, he crept cautiously +over and then went gladly on in the old direction. + +Now, after he had crossed the river and walked a long distance, he +came to a more open part; but though it was nice to feel the +sunshine on him again, the underwood and grass and creepers trailing +over the ground made it difficult and tiring to walk, and in this +place a curious thing happened. Picking his way through the tangled +herbage, an animal his footsteps had startled scuttled away in great +fear, and as it went he caught a glimpse of it. It was a kind of +weasel, but very large--larger than a big tom-cat, and all over as +black as the blackest cat. Looking down he discovered that this +strange animal had been feasting on eggs. The eggs were nearly as +large as fowls', of a deep green colour, with polished shells. There +had been about a dozen in the nest, which was only a small hollow in +the ground lined with dry grass, but most of them had been broken, +and the contents devoured by the weasel. Only two remained entire, +and these he took, and tempted by his hunger, soon broke the shells +at the small end and sucked them clean. They were raw, but never had +eggs, boiled, fried, or poached, tasted so nice before! He had +just finished his meal, and was wishing that a third egg had remained +in the ruined nest, when a slight sound like the buzzing of an insect +made him look round, and there, within a few feet of him, was the big +black weasel once more, looking strangely bold and savage-tempered. +It kept staring fixedly at Martin out of its small, wicked, beady +black eyes, and snarling so as to show its white sharp teeth; +and very white they looked by contrast with the black lips, and +nose, and hair. Martin stared back at it, but it kept moving and +coming nearer, now sitting straight up, then dropping its fore-feet +and gathering its legs in a bunch as if about to spring, and finally +stretching itself straight out towards him again, its round flat +head and long smooth body making it look like a great black snake +crawling towards him. And all the time it kept on snarling and +clicking its sharp teeth and uttering its low, buzzing growl. Martin +grew more and more afraid, it looked so strong and angry, so +unspeakably fierce. The creature looked as if he was speaking to +Martin, saying something very easy to understand, and very dreadful +to hear. This is what it seemed to be saying:-- + +"Ha, you came on me unawares, and startled me away from the nest I +found! You have eaten the last two eggs; and I found them, and they +were mine! Must I go hungry for you--starveling, robber! A miserable +little boy alone and lost in the forest, naked, all scratched and +bleeding with thorns, with no courage in his heart, no strength in +his hands! Look at me! I am not weak, but strong and black and fierce; +I live here--this is my home; I fear nothing; I am like a serpent, +and like brass and tempered steel--nothing can bruise or break me: +my teeth are like fine daggers; when I strike them into the flesh of +any creature I never loose my hold till I have sucked out all the +blood in his heart. But you, weak little wretch, I hate you! I +thirst for your blood for stealing my food from me! What can you do +to save yourself? Down, down on the ground, chicken-heart, where I +can get hold of you! You shall pay me for the eggs with your life! I +shall hold you fast by the throat, and drink and drink until I see +your glassy eyes close, and your cheeks turn whiter than ashes, and +I feel your heart flutter like a leaf in your bosom! Down, down!" + +It was terrible to watch him and seem to hear such words. He was +nearer now--scarcely a yard away, still with his beady glaring eyes +fixed on Martin's face: and Martin was powerless to fly from +him--powerless even to stir a step or to lift a hand. His heart +jumped so that it choked him, his hair stood up on his head, and he +trembled so that he was ready to fall. And at last, when about to +fall to the ground, in the extremity of his terror, he uttered a +great scream of despair; and the sudden scream so startled the weasel, +that he jumped up and scuttled away as fast as he could through the +creepers and bushes, making a great rustling over the dead leaves +and twigs; and Martin, recovering his strength, listened to that +retreating sound as it passed away into the deep shadows, until it +ceased altogether. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +THE FLOWER AND THE SERPENT + +His escape from the horrible black animal made Martin quite happy, +in spite of hunger and fatigue, and he pushed on as bravely as ever. +But it was slow going and very difficult, even painful in places, on +account of the rough thorny undergrowth, where he had to push and +crawl through the close bushes, and tread on ground littered with old +dead prickly leaves and dead thorny twigs. After going on for about +an hour in this way, he came to a stream, a branch of the river he +had left, and much shallower, so that he could easily cross from +side to side, and he could also see the bright pebbles under the +clear swift current. The stream appeared to run from the east, the +way he wished to travel towards the hills, so that he could keep by +it, which he wras glad enough to do, as it was nice to get a drink +of water whenever he felt thirsty, and to refresh his tired and sore +little feet in the stream. + +Following this water he came before very long to a place in the +forest where there was little or no underwood, but only low trees +and bushes scattered about, and all the ground moist and very green +and fresh like a water-meadow. It was indeed pleasant to feel his +feet on the soft carpet of grass, and stooping, he put his hands +down on it, and finally lying down he rolled on it so as to have the +nice sensation of the warm soft grass all over his body. So +agreeable was it lying and rolling about in that open green place +with the sweet sunshine on him, that he felt no inclination to get up +and travel on. It was so sweet to rest after all his strivings and +sufferings in that great dark forest! So sweet was it that he pretty +soon fell asleep, and no doubt slept a long time, for when he woke, +the sun, which had been over his head, was now far down in the west. +It was very still, and the air warm and fragrant at that hour, with +the sun shining through the higher branches of the trees on the +green turf where he was lying. How green it was--the grass, the trees, +every tiny blade and every leaf was like a piece of emerald green +glass with the sun shining through it! So wonderful did it seem to +him--the intense greenness, the brilliant sunbeams that shone into +his eyes, and seemed to fill him with brightness, and the stillness +of the forest, that he sat up and stared about him. What did it +mean--that brightness and stillness? + +Then, at a little distance away, he caught sight of something on a +tree of a shining golden yellow colour. Jumping up he ran to the tree, +and found that it was half overgrown with a very beautiful climbing +plant, with leaves divided like the fingers of a hand, and large +flowers and fruit, both green and ripe. The ripe fruit was as big as +a duck's egg, and the same shape, and of a shining yellow colour. +Reaching up his hand he began to feel the smooth lovely fruit, when, +being very ripe, it came off its stem into his hand. It smelt very +nice, and then, in his hunger, he bit through the smooth rind with +his teeth, and it tasted as nice as it looked. He quickly ate it, +and then pulled another and ate that, and then another, and still +others, until he could eat no more. He had not had so delicious a +meal for many a long day. + +Not until he had eaten his fill did Martin begin to look closely at +the flowers on the plant. It was the passion-flower, and he had +never seen it before, and now that he looked well at it he thought +it the loveliest and strangest flower he had ever beheld; not +brilliant and shining, jewel-like, in the sun, like the scarlet +verbena of the plains, or some yellow flower, but pale and misty, +the petals being of a dim greenish cream-colour, with a large blue +circle in the centre; and the blue, too, was misty like the blue +haze in the distance on a summer day. To see and admire it better he +reached out his hand and tried to pluck one of the flowers; then in +an instant he dropped his hand, as if he had been pricked by a thorn. +But there was no thorn and nothing to hurt him; he dropped his hand +only because he felt that he had hurt the flower. Moving a step back +he stared at it, and the flower seemed like a thing alive that +looked back at him, and asked him why he had hurt it. + +"O, poor flower!" said Martin, and, coming closer he touched it +gently with his finger-tips; and then, standing on tiptoe, he +touched its petals with his lips, just as his mother had often and +often kissed his little hand when he had bruised it or pricked it +with a thorn. + +Then, while still standing by the plant, on bringing his eyes down +to the ground he spied a great snake lying coiled up on a bed of +moss on the sunny side of the same tree where the plant was growing. +He remembered the dear little snake he had once made a friend of, +and he did not feel afraid, for he thought that all snakes must be +friendly towards him, although this was a very big one, thicker than +his arm and of a different colour. It was a pale olive-green, like +the half-dry moss it was lying on, with a pattern of black and brown +mottling along its back. It was lying coiled round and round, with +its flat arrow-shaped head resting on its coils, and its round +bright eyes fixed on Martin's face. The sun shining on its eyes made +them glint like polished jewels or pieces of glass, and when Martin +moved nearer and stood still, or when he drew back and went to this +side or that, those brilliant glinting eyes were still on his face, +and it began to trouble him, until at last he covered his face with +his hands. Then he opened his fingers enough to peep through them, +and still those glittering eyes were fixed on him. + +[Illustration: ] + +Martin wondered if the snake was vexed with him for coming there, +and why it watched him so steadily with those shining eyes. +"Will you please look some other way?" he said at last, but the +snake would not, and so he turned from it, and then it seemed to him +that everything was alive and watching him in the same intent +way--the passion-flowers, the green leaves, the grass, the trees, +the wide sky, the great shining sun. He listened, and there was no +sound in the wood, not even the hum of a fly or wild bee, and it was +so still that not a leaf moved. Finally he moved away from that spot, +but treading very softly, and holding his breath to listen, for it +seemed to him that the forest had something to tell him, and that if +he listened he would hear the leaves speaking to him. And by-and-by +he did hear a sound: it came from a spot about a hundred yards away, +and was like the sound of a person crying. Then came low sobs which +rose and fell and then ceased, and after a silent interval began +again. Perhaps it was a child, lost there in the forest like himself. +Going softly to the spot he discovered that the sobbing sounds came +from the other side of a low tree with widespread branches, a kind +of acacia with thin loose foliage, but he could not see through it, +and so he went round the tree to look, and startled a dove which flew +off with a loud clatter of its wings. + +When the dove had flown away it was again very silent. What was he +to do? He was too tired now to walk much farther, and the sun was +getting low, so that all the ground was in shadow. He went on a +little way looking for some nice shelter where he could pass the +night, but could not find one. At length, when the sun had set and +the dark was coming, he came upon an old half-dead tree, where there +was a hollow at the roots, lined with half dry moss, very soft to +his foot, and it seemed a nice place to sleep in. But he had no +choice, for he was afraid of going further in the dark among the +trees; and so, creeping into the hollow among the old roots, he +curled himself up as comfortably as he could, and soon began to get +very drowsy, in spite of having no covering to keep him warm. But +although very tired and sleepy, he did not go quite to sleep, for he +had never been all alone in a wood by night before, and it was +different from the open plain where he could see all round, even at +night, and where he had feared nothing. Here the trees looked strange +and made strange black shadows, and he thought that the strange +people of the wood were perhaps now roaming about and would find him +there. He did not want them to find him fast asleep; it was better +to be awake, so that when they came he could jump up and run away +and hide himself from them. Once or twice a slight rustling sound +made him start and think that at last some one was coming to him, +stealing softly so as to catch him unawares, but he could see +nothing moving, and when he held his breath to listen there was no +sound. + +[Illustration: ] + +Then all at once, just when he had almost dropped off, a great cry +sounded at a distance, and made him start up wide awake again. +"O look! look! look!" cried the voice in a tone so deep and strange +and powerful that no one could have heard it without terror, for it +seemed to be uttered by some forest monster twenty times bigger than +an ordinary man. In a moment an answer came from another part of the +wood. "What's that?" cried the answering voice; and then another +voice cried, and then others far and near, all shouting "What's that?" +and for only answer the first voice shouted once more, "O look! look! +look!" + +Poor Martin, trembling with fright, crouched lower down in his mossy +bed, thinking that the awful people of the forest must have seen him, +and would be upon him in a few moments. But though he stared with +wide-open eyes into the gloom he could see nothing but the trees, +standing silent and motionless, and no sound of approaching +footsteps could he hear. + +After that it was silent again for a while, and he began to hope +that they had given up looking for him; when suddenly, close by, +sounded a loud startling "Who's that?" and he gave himself up for +lost. For he was too terrified to jump up and run away, as he had +thought to do: he could only lie still, his teeth chattering, his +hair standing up on his head. "Who's that?" exclaimed the terrible +voice once more, and then he saw a big black shape drop down from +the tree above and settle on a dead branch a few feet above his +hiding-place. It was a bird--a great owl, for now he could see it, +sharply outlined against the clear starry sky; and the bird had seen +and was peering curiously at him. And now all his fear was gone, for +he could not be afraid of an owl; he had been accustomed to see owls +all his life, only they were small, and this owl of the forest was +as big as an eagle, and had a round head and ears like a cat, and +great cat-like eyes that shone in the dark. + +The owl kept staring at Martin for some time, swaying his body this +way and that, and lowering then raising his head so as to get a +better view. And Martin, on his side, stared back at the owl, and at +last he exclaimed, "O what a great big owl you are! Please say +_Who's that_? again." + +But before the owl said anything Martin was fast asleep in his mossy +bed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +THE BLACK PEOPLE OF THE SKY + +Whether or not the great owl went on shouting _O look! look! look_! +and asking _What's that_? and _Who's that_? all night, Martin did +not know. He was fast asleep until the morning sun shone on his face +and woke him, and as he had no clothes and shoes to put on he was +soon up and out. First he took a drink of water, then, feeling very +hungry he went back to the place where he had found the ripe fruit +and made a very good breakfast. After that he set out once more +through the wood towards sunrise, still following the stream. Before +long the wood became still more open, and at last to his great joy +he found that he had got clear of it, and was once more on the great +open plain. And now the hills were once more in sight--those great +blue hills where he wished to be, looking nearer and larger than +before, but they still looked blue like great banks of cloud and +were a long distance away. But he was determined to get to them, to +climb up their steep sides, and by and by when he found the stream +bent away to the south, he left it so as to go on straight as he +could to the hills. Away from the water-side the ground was higher, +and very flat and covered with dry yellow grass. Over this yellow +plain he walked for hours, resting at times, but finding no water +and no sweet roots to quench his thirst, until he was too tired to +walk any further, and so he sat down on the dry grass under that +wide blue sky. There was not a cloud on it--nothing but the great +globe of the sun above him; and there was no wind and no motion in +the yellow grass blades, and no sight or sound of any living creature. + +Martin lying on his back gazed up at the blue sky, keeping his eyes +from the sun, which was too bright for them, and after a time he did +see something moving--a small black spot no bigger than a fly moving +in a circle. But he knew it was something big, but at so great a +height from the earth as to look like a fly. And then he caught +sight of a second black speck, then another and another, until he +could make out a dozen or twenty, or more, all moving in wide +circles at that vast height. + +Martin thought they must be the black people of the sky; he wondered +why they were black and not white, like white birds, or blue, and of +other brilliant colours like the people of the Mirage. + +Now it was impossible for Martin to lie like that, following those +small black spots on the hot blue sky as they wheeled round and +round continuously, without giving his eyes a little rest by +shutting them at intervals. By-and-by he kept them shut a little too +long; he fell asleep, and when he woke he didn't wake fully in a +moment; he remained lying motionless just as before, with eyes still +closed, but the lids just raised enough to enable him to see about +him. And the sight that met his eyes was very curious. He was no +longer alone in that solitary place. There were people all round him, +dozens and scores of little black men about two feet in height, of a +very singular appearance. They had bald heads and thin hatchet faces, +wrinkled and warty, and long noses; and they all wore black silk +clothes--coat, waistcoat and knickerbockers, but without shoes and +stockings; their thin black legs and feet were bare; nor did they +have anything on their bald heads. They were gathered round Martin +in a circle, but a very wide circle quite twenty to thirty feet away +from him, and some were walking about, others standing alone or in +groups, talking together, and all looking at Martin. Only one who +appeared to be the most important person of the company kept inside +the circle, and whenever one or more of the others came forward a +few steps he held up his hand and begged them to go back a little. + +"We must not be in a hurry," he said. "We must wait." + +"Wait for what?" asked one. + +"For what may happen," said the important one. "I must ask you again +to leave it to me to decide when it is time to begin." Then he +strutted up and down in the open space, turning now towards his +fellows and again to Martin, moving his head about to get a better +sight of his face. Then, putting his hand down between his coat and +waistcoat he drew out a knife with a long shining blade, and holding +it from him looked attentively at it. By and by he breathed gently +on the bright blade, then pulling out a black silk pocket +handkerchief wiped off the stain of his breath, and turning the +blade about made it glitter in the sun. Then he put it back under +his coat and resumed his walk up and down. + +"We are getting very hungry," said one of the others at length. + +"Very hungry indeed!" cried another. "Some of us have not tasted +food these three days." + +"It certainly does seem hard," said yet another, "to see our dinner +before us and not be allowed to touch it." + +"Not so fast, my friends, I beg," exclaimed the man with the knife. +"I have already explained the case, and I do think you are a little +unfair in pressing me as you do." + +Thus rebuked they consulted together, then one of them spoke. +"If, sir, you consider us unfair, or that we have not full +confidence in you, would it not be as well to get some other person +to take your place?" + +"Yes, I am ready to do that," returned the important one promptly; +and here, drawing forth the knife once more, he held it out towards +them. But instead of coming forward to take it they all recoiled +some steps, showing considerable alarm. And then they all began +protesting that they were not complaining of him, that they were +satisfied with their choice, and could not have put the matter in +abler hands. + +"I am pleased at your good opinion," said the important one. +"I may tell you that I am no chicken. I first saw the light in +September, 1739, and, as you know, we are now within seven months +and thirteen days of the end of the first decade of the second half +of the nineteenth century. You may infer from this that I have had a +pretty extensive experience, and I promise you that when I come to +cut the body up you will not be able to say that I have made an +unfair distribution, or that any one has been left without his +portion." + +[Illustration: ] + +All murmured approval, and then one of the company asked if he would +be allowed to bespeak the liver for his share. + +"No, sir, certainly not," replied the other. "Such matters must be +left to my discretion entirely, and I must also remind you that +there is such a thing as the _carver's privilege_, and it is +possible that in this instance he may think fit to retain the liver +for his own consumption." + +After thus asserting himself he began to examine the blade of his +knife which he still held in his hand, and to breathe gently on it, +and wipe it with his handkerchief to make it shine brighter in the +sun. Finally, raising his arm, he flourished it and then made two or +three stabs and lunges in the air, then walking on tiptoe he +adyanced to Martin lying so still on the yellow grass in the midst +of that black-robed company, the hot sun shining on his naked white +body. + +The others all immediately pressed forward, craning their necks and +looking highly excited: they were expecting great things; but when +the man with a knife had got quite close to Martin he was seized +with fear and made two or three long jumps back to where the others +were; and then, recovering from his alarm, he quietly put back the +knife under his coat. + +"We really thought you were going to begin," said one of the crowd. + +"Oh no; no indeed; not just yet," said the other. + +"It is very disappointing," remarked one. + +The man with the knife turned on him and replied with dignity, +"I am really surprised at such a remark after all I have said on the +subject. I do wish you would consider the circumstances of the case. +They are peculiar, for this person--this Martin--is not an ordinary +person. We have been keeping our eyes on him for some time past, and +have witnessed some remarkable actions on his part, to put it mildly. +Let us keep in mind the boldness, the resource, the dangerous +violence he has displayed on so many occasions since he took to his +present vagabond way of life." + +"It appears to me," said one of the others, "that if Martin is dead +we need not concern ourselves about his character and desperate +deeds in the past." + +"_If_ he is dead!" exclaimed the other sharply. "That is the very +point,--_is_ he dead? Can you confidently say that he is not in a +sound sleep, or in a dead faint, or shamming and ready at the first +touch of the knife to leap up and seize his assailant--I mean his +carver--by the throat and perhaps murder him as he once murdered a +spoonbill?" + +"That would be very dreadful," said one. + +"But surely," said another, "there are means of telling whether a +person is dead or not? One simple and effectual method, which I have +heard, is to place a hand over the heart to feel if it still beats." + +"Yes, I know, I have also heard of that plan. Very simple, as you say; +but who is to try it? I invite the person who makes the suggestion +to put it in practice." + +"With pleasure," said the other, coming forward with a tripping gait +and an air of not being in the least afraid. But on coming near the +supposed corpse he paused to look round at the others, then pulling +out his black silk handkerchief he wiped his black wrinkled forehead +and bald head. "Whew!" he exclaimed, "it's very hot to-day." + +"I don't find it so," said the man with the knife. "It is sometimes +a matter of nerves." + +It was not a very nice remark, but it had the effect of bracing the +other up, and moving forward a little more he began anxiously +scrutinizing Martin's face. The others now began to press forward, +but were warned by the man with a knife not to come too near. Then +the bold person who had undertaken to feel Martin's heart doubled +back the silk sleeve of his coat, and after some further preparation +extended his arm and made two or three preliminary passes with his +trembling hand at a distance of a foot or so from the breast of the +corpse. Then he approached it a little nearer, but before it came to +the touching point a sudden fear made him start back. + +"What is it? What did you see?" cried the others. + +"I'm not sure there wasn't a twitch of the eyelid," he replied. + +"Never mind the eyelid--feel his heart," said one. + +"That's all very well," he returned, "but how would you like it +yourself? Will _you_ come and do it?" + +"No, no!" they all cried. "You have undertaken this, and must go +through with it." + +Thus encouraged, he once more turned to the corpse, and again +anxiously began to examine the face. Now Martin had been watching +them through the slits of his not quite closed eyes all the time, +and listening to their talk. Being hungry himself he could not help +feeling for them, and not thinking that it would hurt him to be cut +up in pieces and devoured, he had begun to wish that they would +really begin on him. He was both amused and annoyed at their +nervousness, and at last opening wide his eyes very suddenly he cried, +"Feel my heart!" + +It was as if a gun had been fired among them; for a moment they were +struck still with terror, and then all together turned and fled, +going away with three very long hops, and then opening wide their +great wings they launched themselves on the air. + +For they were not little black men in black silk clothes as it had +seemed, but vultures--those great, high-soaring, black-plumaged +birds which he had watched circling in the sky, looking no bigger +than bees or flies at that vast distance above the earth. And when +he was watching them they were watching him, and after he had fallen +asleep they continued moving round and round in the sky for hours, +and seeing him lying so still on the plain they at last imagined +that he was dead, and one by one they closed or half-closed their +wings and dropped, gliding downwards, growing larger in appearance +as they neared the ground, until the small black spots no bigger +than flies were seen to be great black birds as big as turkeys. + +But you see Martin was not dead after all, and so they had to go +away without their dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +A TROOP OF WILD HORSES + +It seemed so lonely to Martin when the vultures had gone up out of +sight in the sky, so silent and solitary on that immense level plain, +that he could not help wishing them back for the sake of company. +They were an amusing people when they were walking round him, +conversing together, and trying without coming too near to discover +whether he was dead or only sleeping. + +All that day it was just as lonely, for though he went on as far as +he could before night, he was still on that great level plain of dry +yellow grass which appeared to have no end, and the blue hills +looked no nearer than when he had started in the morning. He was +hungry and thirsty that evening, and very cold too when he nestled +down on the ground with nothing to cover him but the little heap of +dry grass he had gathered for his bed. + +It was better next day, for after walking two or three hours he came +to the end of that yellow plain to higher ground, where the earth +was sandy and barren, with a few scattered bushes growing on it--dark, +prickly bushes like butcher's broom. When he got to the highest part +of this barren ground he saw a green valley beyond, stretching away +as far as he could see on either hand. But it was nice to see a +green place again, and going down into the valley he managed to find +some sweet roots to stay his hunger and thirst; then, after a rest, +he went on again, and when he got to the top of the high ground +beyond the valley, he saw another valley before him, just like the +one he had left behind. Again he rested in that green place, and +then slowly went up the high land beyond, where it was barren and +sandy with the dark stiff prickly bushes growing here and there, and +when he got to the top he looked down, and behold! there was yet +another green valley stretching away to the right and left as far as +he could see. + +Would they never end--these high barren ridges and the long green +valleys between! + +When he toiled slowly up out of this last green resting-place it was +growing late in the day, and he was very tired. Then he came to the +top of another ridge like the others, only higher and more barren, +and when he could see the country beyond, lo! another valley, +greener and broader than those he had left behind, and a river +flowing in it, looking like a band of silver lying along the green +earth--a river too broad for him to cross, stretching away north and +south as far as he could see. How then should he ever be able to get +to the hills, still far, far away beyond that water? + +Martin stared at the scene before him for some time; then, feeling +very tired and weak, he sat down on the sandy ground beside a scanty +dark bush. Tears came to his eyes: he felt them running down his +cheeks; and all at once he remembered how long before when his +wandering began, he had dropped a tear, and a small dusty beetle had +refreshed himself by drinking it. He bent down and let a tear drop, +and watched it as it sank into the ground, but no small beetle came +out to drink it, and he felt more lonely and miserable than ever. He +began to think of all the queer creatures and people he had met in +the desert, and to wish for them. Some of them had not been very +kind to him, but he did not remember that now, it was so sad to be +quite alone in the world without even a small beetle to visit him. He +remembered the beautiful people of the Mirage and the black people +of the sky; and the ostrich, and old Jacob, and the savages, and the +serpent, and the black weasel in the forest. He stood up and stared +all round to see if anything was coming, but he could see nothing +and hear nothing. + +By-and-by, in that deep silence, there was a sound; it seemed to +come from a great distance, it was so faint. Then it grew louder and +nearer; and far away he saw a little cloud of dust, and then, even +through the dust, dark forms coming swiftly towards him. The sound +he heard was like a long halloo, a cry like the cry of a man, but +wild and shrill, like a bird's cry; and whenever that cry was uttered, +it was followed by a strange confused noise as of the neighing of +many horses. They were, in truth, horses that were coming swiftly +towards him--a herd of sixty or seventy wild horses. He could see +and hear them only too plainly now, looking very terrible in their +strength and speed, and the flowing black manes that covered them +like a black cloud, as they came thundering on, intending perhaps to +sweep over him and trample him to death with their iron-hard hoofs. + +All at once, when they were within fifty yards of Martin, the long, +shrill, wild cry went up again, and the horses swerved to one side, +and went sweeping round him in a wide circle. Then, as they galloped +by, he caught sight of the strangest-looking being he had ever seen, +a man, on the back of one of the horses; naked and hairy, he looked +like a baboon as he crouched, doubled up, gripping the shoulders and +neck of the horse with his knees, clinging with his hands to the mane, +and craning his neck like a flying bird. It was this strange rider +who had uttered the long piercing man-and-bird-like cries; and now +changing his voice to a whinnying sound the horses came to a stop, +and gathering together in a crowd they stood tossing their manes and +staring at Martin with their wild, startled eyes. + +In another moment the wild rider came bounding out from among them, +and moving now erect, now on all fours, came sideling up to Martin, +flinging his arms and legs about, wagging his head, grimacing and +uttering whinnying and other curious noises. Never had Martin looked +upon so strange a man! He was long and lean so that you could have +counted his ribs, and he was stark naked, except for the hair of his +head and face, which half covered him. His skin was of a yellowish +brown colour, and the hair the colour of old dead grass; and it was +coarse and tangled, falling over his shoulders and back and covering +his forehead like a thatch, his big brown nose standing out beneath +it like a beak. The face was covered with the beard which was +tangled too, and grew down to his waist, After staring at Martin for +some time with his big, yellow, goat-like eyes, he pranced up to him +and began to sniff round him, then touched him with his nose on his +face, arms, and shoulders. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Who are you?" said Martin in astonishment. + +For only answer the other squealed and whinnied, grimacing and +kicking his legs up at the same time. Then the horses advanced to +them, and gathering round in a close crowd began touching Martin with +their noses. He liked it--the softness of their sensitive skins, +which were like velvet, and putting up his hands he began to stroke +their noses. Then one by one, after smelling him, and being touched +by his hand, they turned away, and going down into the valley were +soon scattered about, most of them grazing, some rolling, others +lying stretched out on the grass as if to sleep; while the young +foals in the troop, leaving their dams, began playing about and +challenging one another to run a race. + +Martin, following and watching them, almost wished that he too could +go on four legs to join them in their games. He trusted those wild +horses, but he was still puzzled by that strange man, who had also +left him now and was going quietly round on all fours, smelling at +the grass. By-and-by he found something to his liking in a small +patch of tender green clover, which he began nosing and tearing it +up with his teeth, then turning his head round he stared back at +Martin, his jaws working vigorously all the time, the stems and +leaves of the clover he was eating sticking out from his mouth and +hanging about his beard. All at once he jumped up, and flying back +at Martin, snatched him up from the ground, carried him to the +clover patch, and set him upon it, face down, on all fours; then +when Martin sat up he grasped him by the head and forced it down +until his nose was on the grass so as to make him smell it and know +that it was good. But smell it he would not, and finally the other +seized him roughly again and, opening his mouth, forced a bunch of +grass into it. + +[Illustration: ] + +"It's grass, and I sha'n't eat it!" screamed Martin, crying with +anger at being so treated, and spewing the green stuff out of his +mouth. + +Then the man released him, and, withdrawing a space of two or three +yards, sat down on his haunches, and, planting his bony elbows on +his knees, thrust his great brown fingers in his tangled hair, and +stared at Martin with his big yellow goat's eyes for a long time. + +Suddenly a wild excited look came into his eyes, and, leaping up +with a shrill cry, which caused all the horses to look round at him, +he once more snatched Martin up, and holding him firmly gripped to +his ribby side by his arm, bounded off to where a mare was standing +giving suck to her young foal. With a vigorous kick he sent the foal +away, and forced Martin to take his place, and, to make it easier +for him, pressed the teat into his mouth. Martin was not accustomed +to feed in that way, and he not only refused to suck, but continued +to cry with indignation at such treatment, and to struggle with all +his little might to free himself. His striving was all in vain; and +by-and-by the man, seeing that he would not suck, had a fresh idea, +and, gripping Martin more firmly than ever, with one hand forced and +held his mouth open, and with the other drew a stream of milk into it. +After choking and spluttering and crying more than ever for a while, +Martin began to grow quiet, and to swallow the milk with some +satisfaction, for he was very hungry and thirsty, and it tasted very +good. By-and-by, when no more milk could be drawn from the teats, he +was taken to a second mare, from which the foal was kicked away with +as little ceremony as the first one, and then he had as much more +milk as he wanted, and began to like being fed in this amusing way. + +Of what happened after that Martin did not know much, except that +the man seemed very happy after feeding him. He set Martin on the +back of a horse, then jumped and danced round him, making funny +chuckling noises, after which he rolled horse-like on the grass, his +arms and legs up in the air, and finally, pulling Martin down, he +made him roll too. + +But the little fellow was too tired to keep his eyes any longer open, +and when he next opened them it was morning, and he found himself +lying wedged in between a mare and her young foal lying side by side +close together. There too was the wild man, coiled up like a +sleeping dog, his head pillowed on the foal's neck, and the hair of +his great shaggy beard thrown like a blanket over Martin. + +He very soon grew accustomed to the new strange manner of life, and +even liked it. Those big, noble-looking wild horses, with their +shining coats, brown and bay and black and sorrel and chestnut, and +their black manes and tails that swept the grass when they moved, +were so friendly to him that he could not help loving them. As he +went about among them when they grazed, every horse he approached +would raise his head and touch his face and arms with his nose. +"O you dear horse!" Martin would exclaim, rubbing the warm, +velvet-soft, sensitive nose with his hand. + +He soon discovered that they were just as fond of play as he was, +and that he too was to take part in their games. Having fed as long +as they wanted that morning, they all at once began to gather +together, coming at a gallop, neighing shrilly; then the wild man, +catching Martin up, leaped upon the back of one of the horses, and +away went the whole troop at a furious pace to the great open dry +plain, where Martin had met with them on the previous day. Now it +was very terrifying for him at first to be in the midst of that +flying crowd, as the animals went tearing over the plain, which +seemed to shake beneath their thundering hoofs, while their human +leader cheered them on with his shrill, repeated cries. But in a +little while he too caught the excitement, and, losing all his fear, +was as wildly happy as the others, crying out at the top of his +voice in imitation of the wild man. + +After an hour's run they returned to the valley, and then Martin, +without being compelled to do so, rolled about on the grass, and +went after the young foals when they came out to challenge one +another to a game. He tried to do as they did, prancing and throwing +up his heels and snorting, but when they ran from him they soon left +him hopelessly behind. Meanwhile the wild man kept watch over him, +feeding him with mare's milk, and inviting him from time to time to +smell and taste the tender grass. Best of all was, when they went +for another run in the evening, and when Martin was no longer held +with a tight grip against the man's side, but was taught or allowed +to hold on, clinging with his legs to the man's body and clasping +him round the neck with his arms, his fingers tightly holding on to +the great shaggy beard. + +Three days passed in this way, and if his time had been much longer +with the wild horses he would have become one of the troop, and +would perhaps have eaten grass too, and forgotten his human speech, +or that he was a little boy born to a very different kind of life. +But it was not to be, and in the end he was separated from the troop +by accident. + +At the end of the third day, when the sun was setting, and all the +horses were scattered about in the valley, quietly grazing, +something disturbed them. It might have been a sight or sound of +some feared object, or perhaps the wind had brought the smell of +their enemies and hunters from a great distance to their nostrils. +Suddenly they were all in a wild commotion, galloping from all sides +toward their leader, and he, picking Martin up, was quickly on a +horse, and off they went full speed, but not towards the plain where +they were accustomed to go for their runs. Now they fled in the +opposite direction down to the river: into it they went, into that +wide, deep, dangerous current, leaping from the bank, each horse, as +he fell into the water with a tremendous splash, disappearing from +sight; but in another moment the head and upper part of the neck was +seen to rise above the surface, until the whole lot were in, and +appeared to Martin like a troop of horses' heads swimming without +bodies over the river. He, clinging to the neck and beard of the +wild man, had the upper half of his body out of the cold, rushing +water, and in this way they all got safely across and up the +opposite bank. No sooner were they out, than, without even pausing +to shake the water from their skins, they set off at full speed +across the valley towards the distant hills. Now on this side, at a +distance of a mile or so from the river, there were vast reed-beds +standing on low land, dried to a hard crust by the summer heat, and +right into the reeds the horses rushed and struggled to force their +way through. The reeds were dead and dry, so tall that they rose +high above the horses' heads, and growing so close together that it +was hard to struggle through them. Then when they were in the midst +of this difficult place, the dry crust that covered the low ground +began to yield to the heavy hoofs, and the horses, sinking to their +knees, were thrown down and plunged about in the most desperate way, +and in the midst of this confusion Martin was struck and thrown from +his place, falling amongst the reeds. Luckily he was not trampled +upon, but he was left behind, and then what a dreadful situation was +his, when the whole troop had at last succeeded in fighting their +way through, and had gone away leaving him in that dark, solitary +place! He listened until the sound of heavy hoofs and the long cries +of the man had died away in the distance; then the silence and +darkness terrified him, and he struggled to get out, but the reeds +grew so close together that before he had pushed a dozen yards +through them he sank down, unable to do more. + +The air was hot and close and still down there on the ground, but by +leaning his head back, and staring straight up he could see the pale +night sky sprinkled with stars in the openings between the dry +leaves and spikes of the reeds. Poor Martin could do nothing but +gaze up at the little he could see of the sky in that close, black +place, until his neck ached with the strain; but at last, to make +him hope, he heard a sound--the now familiar long shrill cry of the +wild man. Then, as it came nearer, the sound of tramping hoofs and +neighing of the horses was heard, and the cries and hoof-beats grew +louder and then fainter in turns, and sounded now on this side, now +on that, and he knew that they were looking for him. "I'm here, I'm +here," he cried; "oh, dear horses, come and take me away!" But they +could not hear him, and at last the sound of their neighing and the +wild long cries died away altogether, and Martin was left alone in +that black silent place. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +THE LADY OF THE HILLS + +No escape was possible for poor little Martin so long as it was dark, +and there he had to stay all night, but morning brought him comfort; +for now he could see the reed-stems that hemmed him in all round, +and by using his hands to bend them from him on either side he could +push through them. By-and-by the sunlight touched the tops of the +tall plants, and working his way towards the side from which the +light came he soon made his escape from that prison, and came into a +place where he could walk without trouble, and could see the earth +and sky again. Further on, in a grassy part of the valley, he found +some sweet roots wrhich greatly refreshed him, and at last, leaving +the valley, he came out on a high grassy plain, and saw the hills +before him looking very much nearer than he had ever seen them look +before. Up till now they had appeared like masses of dark blue +banked up cloud resting on the earth, now he could see that they +were indeed stone--blue stone piled up in huge cliffs and crags high +above the green world; he could see the roughness of the heaped up +rocks, the fissures and crevices in the sides of the hills, and here +and there the patches of green colour where trees and bushes had +taken root. How wonderful it seemed to Martin that evening standing +there in the wide green plain, the level sun at his back shining on +his naked body, making him look like a statue of a small boy carved +in whitest marble or alabaster. Then, to make the sight he gazed on +still more enchanting, just as the sun went down the colour of the +hills changed from stone blue to a purple that was like the purple +of ripe plums and grapes, only more beautiful and bright. In a few +minutes the purple colour faded away and the hills grew shadowy and +dark. It was too late in the day, and he was too tired to walk +further. He was very hungry and thirsty too, and so when he had +found a few small white partridge-berries and had made a poor supper +on them, he gathered some dry grass into a little heap, and lying +down in it, was soon in a sound sleep. + +It was not until the late afternoon next day that Martin at last got +to the foot of the hill, or mountain, and looking up he saw it like +a great wall of stone above him, with trees and bushes and trailing +vines growing out of the crevices and on the narrow ledges of the +rock. Going some distance he came to a place where he could ascend, +and here he began slowly walking upwards. At first he could hardly +contain his delight where everything looked new and strange, and +here he found some very beautiful flowers; but as he toiled on he +grew more tired and hungry at every step, and then, to make matters +worse, his legs began to pain so that he could hardly lift them. It +was a curious pain which he had never felt in his sturdy little legs +before in all his wanderings. + +Then a cloud came over the sun, and a sharp wind sprang up that made +him shiver with cold: then followed a shower of rain; and now Martin, +feeling sore and miserable, crept into a cavity beneath a pile of +overhanging rocks for shelter. He was out of the rain there, but the +wind blew in on him until it made his teeth chatter with cold. He +began to think of his mother, and of all the comforts of his lost +home--the bread and milk when he was hungry, the warm clothing, and +the soft little bed with its snowy white coverlid in which he had +slept so sweetly every night. + +"O mother, mother!" he cried, but his mother was too far off to hear +his piteous cry. + +When the shower was over he crept out of his shelter again, and with +his little feet already bleeding from the sharp rocks, tried to +climb on. In one spot he found some small, creeping, myrtle plants +covered with ripe white berries, and although they had a very +pungent taste he ate his fill of them, he was so very hungry. Then +feeling that he could climb no higher, he began to look round for a +dry, sheltered spot to pass the night in. In a little while he came +to a great, smooth, flat stone that looked like a floor in a room, +and was about forty yards wide: nothing grew on it except some small +tufts of grey lichen; but on the further side, at the foot of a steep, +rocky precipice, there was a thick bed of tall green and yellow ferns, +and among the ferns he hoped to find a place to lie down in. Very +slowly he limped across the open space, crying with the pain he felt +at every step; but when he reached the bed of ferns he all at once +saw, sitting among the tall fronds on a stone, a strange-looking +woman in a green dress, who was gazing very steadily at him with +eyes full of love and compassion. At her side there crouched a big +yellow beast, covered all over with black, eye-like spots, with a +big round head, and looking just like a cat, but a hundred times +larger than the biggest cat he had ever seen. The animal rose up +with a low sound like a growl, and glared at Martin with its wide, +yellow, fiery eyes, which so terrified him that he dared not move +another step until the womaan, speaking very gently to him, told him +not to fear. She caressed the great beast, making him lie down again; +then coming forward and taking Martin by the hand, she drew him up +to her knees. + +[Illustration: ] + +"What is your name, poor little suffering child?" she asked, bending +down to him, and speaking softly. "Martin--what's yours?" he returned, +still half sobbing, and rubbing his eyes with his little fists. + +"I am called the Lady of the Hills, and I live here alone in the +mountain. Tell me, why do you cry, Martin?" + +"Because I'm so cold, and--and my legs hurt so, and--and because I +want to go back to my mother. She's over there," said he, with +another sob, pointing vaguely to the great plain beneath their feet, +extending far, far away into the blue distance, where the crimson +sun was now setting. + +"I will be your mother, and you shall live with me here on the +mountain," she said, caressing his little cold hands with hers. +"Will you call me mother?" + +"You are _not_ my mother," he returned warmly. "I don't want to call +you mother." + +"When I love you so much, dear child?" she pleaded, bending down +until her lips were close to his averted face. + +"How that great spotted cat stares at me!" he suddenly said. +"Do you think it will kill me?" + +"No, no, he only wants to play with you. Will you not even look at me, +Martin?" + +He still resisted her, but her hand felt very warm and +comforting--it was such a large, warm, protecting hand. So pleasant +did it feel that after a little while he began to move his hand up +her beautiful, soft, white arm until it touched her hair. For her +hair was unbound and loose; it was dark, and finer than the finest +spun silk, and fell all over her shoulders and down her back to the +stone she sat on. He let his fingers stray in and out among it; and +it felt like the soft, warm down that lines a little bird's nest to +his skin. Finally, he touched her neck and allowed his hand to rest +there, it was such a soft, warm neck. At length, but reluctantly, +for his little rebellious heart was not yet wholly subdued, he +raised his eyes to her face. Oh, how beautiful she was! Her love and +eager desire to win him had flushed her clear olive skin with rich +red colour; out of her sweet red lips, half parted, came her warm +breath on his cheek, more fragrant than wild flowers; and her large +dark eyes were gazing down into his with such a tenderness in them +that Martin, seeing it, felt a strange little shudder pass through +him, and scarcely knew whether to think it pleasant or painful. +"Dear child, I love you so much," she spoke, "will you not call me +mother?" + +Dropping his eyes and with trembling lips, feeling a little ashamed +at being conquered at last, he whispered "Mother." + +She raised him in her arms and pressed him to her bosom, wrapping +her hair like a warm mantle round him; and in less than one minute, +overcome by fatigue, he fell fast asleep in her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +THE LITTLE PEOPLE UNDERGROUND + +When he awoke Martin found himself lying on a soft downy bed in a +dim stone chamber, and feeling silky hair over his cheek and neck +and arms, he knew that he was still with his new strange mother, the +beautiful Lady of the Mountain. She, seeing him awake, took him up +in her arms, and holding him against her bosom, carried him through +a long winding stone passage, and out into the bright morning +sunlight. There by a small spring of clearest water that gushed from +the rock she washed his scratched and bruised skin, and rubbed it +with sweet-smelling unguents, and gave him food and drink. The great +spotted beast sat by them all the time, purring like a cat, and at +intervals he tried to entice Martin to leave the woman's lap and +play with him. But she would not let him out of her arms: all day +she nursed and fondled him as if he had been a helpless babe instead +of the sturdy little run-away and adventurer he had proved himself +to be. She also made him tell her the story of how he had got lost +and of all the wonderful things that had happened to him in his +wanderings in the wilderness--the people of the Mirage, and old +Jacob and the savages, the great forest, the serpent, the owl, the +wild horses and wild man, and the black people of the sky. But it +was of the Mirage and the procession of lovely beings about which he +spoke most and questioned her. + +"Do you think it was all a dream?" he kept asking her, "the Queen +and all those people?" + +She was vexed at the question, and turning her face away, refused to +answer him. For though at all other times, and when he spoke of +other things, she was gentle and loving in her manner, the moment he +spoke of the Queen of the Mirage and the gifts she had bestowed on +him, she became impatient, and rebuked him for saying such foolish +things. + +At length she spoke and told him that it was a dream, a very very +idle dream, a dream that was not worth dreaming; that he must never +speak of it again, never think of it, but forget it, just as he had +forgotten all the other vain silly dreams he had ever had. And +having said this much a little sharply, she smiled again and fondled +him, and promised that when he next slept he should have a good dream, +one worth the dreaming, and worth remembering and talking about. + +She held him away from her, seating him on her knees, to look at his +face, and said, "For oh, dear little Martin, you are lovely and +sweet to look at, and you are mine, my own sweet child, and so long +as you live with me on the hills, and love me and eall me mother, +you shall be happy, and everything you see, sleeping and waking, +shall seem strange and beautiful." + +It was quite true that he was sweet to look at, very pretty with his +rosy-white skin deepening to red on his cheeks; and his hair curling +all over his head was of a bright golden chestnut colour; and his +eyes were a very bright blue, and looked keen and straight at you +just like a bird's eyes, that seem to be thinking of nothing, and +yet seeing everything. + +After this Martin was eager to go to sleep at once and have the +promised dream, but his very eagerness kept him wide awake all day, +and even after going to bed in that dim chamber in the heart of the +hill, it was a long time before he dropped off. But he did not know +that he had fallen asleep: it seemed to him that he was very wide +awake, and that he heard a voice speaking in the chamber, and that +he started up to listen to it. + +"Do you not know that there are things just as strange underground +as above it?" said the voice. + +Martin could not see the speaker, but he answered quite boldly: +"No--there's nothing underground except earth and worms and roots. +I've seen it when they've been digging." + +"Oh, but there is!" said the voice. "You can see for yourself. All +you've got to do is to find a path leading down, and to follow it. +There's a path over there just in front of you; you can see the +opening from where you are lying." + +He looked, and sure enough there _was_ an opening, and a dim passage +running down through the solid rock. Up he jumped, fired at the +prospect of seeing new and wonderful things, and without looking any +more to see who had spoken to him, he ran over to it. The passage +had a smooth floor of stone, and sloped downward into the earth, and +went round and round in an immense spiral; but the circles were so +wide that Martin scarcely knew that he was not travelling in a +straight line. Have you by chance ever seen a buzzard, or stork, or +vulture, or some other great bird, soaring upwards into the sky in +wide circles, each circle taking it higher above the earth, until it +looked like a mere black speck in the vast blue heavens, and at +length disappeared altogether? Just in that way, going round and +round in just such wide circles, lightly running all the time, with +never a pause to rest, and without feeling in the least tired, +Martin went on, only down and down and further down, instead of up +and up like the soaring bird, until he was as far under the mountain +as ever any buzzard or crane or eagle soared above it. + +Thus running he came at last out of the passage to an open room or +space so wide that, look which way he would, he could see no end to +it. The stone roof of this place was held up by huge stone pillars +standing scattered about like groups of great rough-barked trees, +many times bigger round than hogsheads. Here and there in the roof, +or the stone overhead, were immense black caverns which almost +frightened him to gaze up at them, they were so vast and black. And +no light or sun or moon came down into that deep part of the earth: +the light was from big fires, and they were fires of smithies +burning all about him, sending up great flames and clouds of black +smoke, which rose and floated upwards through those big black caverns +in the roof. Crowds of people were gathered around the smithies, all +very busy heating metal and hammering on anvils like blacksmiths. +Never had he seen so many people, nor ever had he seen such busy men +as these, rushing about here and there shouting and colliding with +one another, bringing and carrying huge loads in baskets on their +backs, and altogether the sight of them, and the racket and the +smoke and dust, and the blazing fires, was almost too much for Martin; +and for a moment or two he was tempted to turn and run back into the +passage through which he had come. But the strangeness of it all +kept him there, and then he began to look more closely at the people, +for these were the little men that live under the earth, and they +were unlike anything he had seen on its surface. They were very stout, +strong-looking little men, dressed in coarse dark clothes, covered +with dust and grime, and they had dark faces, and long hair, and +rough, unkempt beards; they had very long arms and big hands, like +baboons, and there was not one among them who looked taller than +Martin himself. After looking at them he did not feel at all afraid +of them; he only wanted very much to know who they were, and what +they were doing, and why they were so excited and noisy over their +work. So he thrust himself among them, going to the smithies where +they were in crowds, and peering curiously at them. Then he began to +notice that his coming among them created a great commotion, for no +sooner would he appear than all work would be instantly suspended; +down would go their baskets and loads of wood, their hammers and +implements of all kinds, and they would stare and point at him, all +jabbering together, so that the noise was as if a thousand cockatoos +and parrots and paroquets were all screaming at once. What it was +all about he could not tell, as he could not make out what they said; +he could only see, and plainly enough, that his presence astonished +and upset them, for as he went about among them they fell back +before him, crowding together, and all staring and pointing at him. + +But at length he began to make out what they were saying; they were +all exclaiming and talking about him. "Look at him! look at him!" +they cried. "Who is he? What, Martin--this Martin? Never. No, no, no! +Yes, yes, yes! Martin himself--Martin with nothing on! Not a +shred--not a thread! Impossible--it cannot be! Nothing so strange +has ever happened! _Naked_--do you say that Martin is naked? Oh, +dreadful--from the crown of his head to his toes, naked as he was +born! No clothes--no clothes--oh no, it can't be Martin. It is, it is!" +And so on and on, until Martin could not endure it longer, for he +had been naked for days and days, and had ceased to think about it, +and in fact did not know that he was naked. And now hearing their +remarks, and seeing how they were disturbed, he looked down at +himself and saw that it was indeed so--that he had nothing on, and +he grew ashamed and frightened, and thought he would run and hide +himself from them in some hole in the ground. But there was no place +to hide in, for now they had gathered all round him in a vast +crowd, so that whichever way he turned there before him they +appeared--hundreds and hundreds of dark, excited faces, hundreds of +grimy hands all pointing at him. Then, all at once, he caught sight +of an old rag of a garment lying on the ground among the ashes and +cinders, and he thought he would cover himself with it, and picking +it hastily up was just going to put it round him when a great roar +of "No!" burst out from the crowd; he was almost deafened with the +sound, so that he stood trembling with the old dirty rag of cloth in +his hand. Then one of the little men came up to him, and snatching +the rag from his hand, flung it angrily down upon the floor; then as +if afraid of remaining so near Martin, he backed away into the crowd +again. + +Just then Martin heard a very low voice close to his ear speaking to +him, but when he looked round he could see no person near him. He +knew it was the same voice which had spoken to him in the cave where +he slept, and had told him to go down into that place underground. + +[Illustration: ] + +"Do not fear," said the gentle voice to Martin. "Say to the little +men that you have lost your clothes, and ask them for something to +put on." + +Then Martin, who had covered his face with his hands to shut out the +sight of the angry crowd, took courage, and looking at them, said, +half sobbing, "O, Little Men, I've lost my clothes--won't you give me +something to put on?" + +This speech had a wonderful effect: instantly there was a mighty rush, +all the Little Men hurrying away in all directions, shouting and +tumbling over each other in their haste to get away, and by-and-by +it looked to Martin as if they were having a great struggle or +contest over something. They were all struggling to get possession +of a small closed basket, and it was like a game of football with +hundreds of persons all playing, all fighting for possession of the +ball. At length one of them succeeded in getting hold of the basket +and escaping from all the others who opposed him, and running to +Martin he threw it down at his feet, and lifting the lid displayed +to his sight a bundle of the most beautiful clothes ever seen by +child or man. + +With a glad cry Martin pulled them out, but the next moment a very +important-looking Little Man, with a great white beard, sprang +forward and snatched them out of his hand. + +"No, no," he shouted. "These are not fit for Martin to wear! They +will soil!" Saying which, he flung them down on that dusty floor +with its litter of cinders and dirt, and began to trample on them as +if in a great passion. Then he snatched them up again and shook them, +and all could see that they were unsoiled and just as bright and +beautiful as before. Then Martin tried to take them from him, but the +other would not let him. + +"Never shall Martin wear such poor clothes," shouted the old man. +"They will not even keep out the wet," and with that he thrust them +into a great tub of water, and jumping in began treading them down +with his feet. But when he pulled them out again and shook them +before their faces, all saw that they were as dry and bright as +before. + +"Give them to me!" cried Martin, thinking that it was all right now. + +"Never shall Martin wear such poor clothes--they will not resist fire," +cried the old man, and into the flames he flung them. + +Martin now gave up all hopes of possessing them, and was ready to +burst into tears at their loss, when out of the fire they were +pulled again, and it was seen that the flames had not injured or +tarnished them in the least. Once more Martin put out his arms and +this time he was allowed to take those beautiful clothes, and then +just as he clasped them to him with a cry of delight he woke! + +His head was lying on his new mother's arm, and she was awake +watching him. + +"O, mother, what a nice dream I had! O such pretty clothes--why did +I wake so soon?" + +She laughed and touched his arms, showing him that they were still +clasping that beautiful suit of clothes to his breast--the very +clothes of his wonderful dream! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +THE GREAT BLUE WATER + +There was not in all that land, nor perhaps in all the wide world, a +happier little boy than Martin, when after waking from his sleep and +dream he dressed himself for the first time in that new suit, and +went out from the cave into the morning sunlight. He then felt the +comfort of such clothes, for they were softer than the finest, +softest down or silk to his skin, and kept him warm when it was cold, +and cool when it was hot, and dry when it rained on him, and the +earth could not soil them, nor the thorns tear them; and above +everything they were the most beautiful clothes ever seen. Their +colour was a deep moss green, or so it looked at a little distance, +or when seen in the shade, but in the sunshine it sparkled as if +small, shining, many-coloured beads had been sewn in the cloth; only +there were no beads; it was only the shining threads that made it +sparkle so, like clean sand in the sun. When you looked closely at +the cloth, you could see the lovely pattern woven in it--small leaf +and flower, the leaves like moss leaves, and the flowers like the +pimpernel, but not half so big, and they were yellow and red and +blue and violet in colour. + +But there were many, many things besides the lovely clothes to make +him contented and happy. First, the beautiful woman of the hills who +loved and cherished him and made him call her by the sweet name of +"mother" so many times every day that he well nigh forgot she was +not his real mother. Then there was the great stony hill-side on +which he now lived for a playground, where he could wander all day +among the rocks, overgrown with creepers and strange sweet-smelling +flowers he had never seen on the plain below. The birds and +butterflies he saw there were different from those he had always seen; +so were the snakes which he often found sleepily coiled up on the +rocks, and the little swift lizards. Even the water looked strange +and more beautiful than the water in the plain, for here it gushed +out of the living rock, sparkling like crystal in the sun, and was +always cold when he dipped his hands in it even on the hottest days. +Perhaps the most wonderful thing was the immense distance he could +see, when he looked away from the hillside across the plain and saw +the great dark forest where he had been, and the earth stretching far, +far away beyond. + +Then there was his playmate, the great yellow-spotted cat, who +followed him about and was always ready for a frolic, playing in a +very curious way. Whenever Martin would prepare to take a running +leap, or a swift run down a slope, the animal, stealing quietly up +behind, would put out a claw from his big soft foot--a great white +claw as big as an owl's beak--and pull him suddenly back. At last +Martin would lose his temper, and picking up a stick would turn on +his playmate; and away the animal would fly, pretending to be afraid, +and going over bushes and big stones with tremendous leaps to +disappear from sight on the mountain side. But very soon he would +steal secretly back by some other way to spring upon Martin unawares +and roll him over and over on the ground, growling as if angry, and +making believe to worry him with his great white teeth, although +never really hurting him in the least. He played with Martin just as +a cat plays with its kitten when it pretends to punish it. + +Whenever Martin began to show the least sign of weariness the Lady +of the Hills would call him to her. Then, lying back among the ferns, +she would unbind her long silky tresses to let him play with them, +for this was always a delight to him. Then she would gather her hair +up again and dress it with yellow flowers and glossy dark green +leaves to make herself look more lovely than ever. At other times, +taking him on her shoulders, she would bound nimbly as a wild goat up +the steepest places, springing from crag to crag, and dancing gaily +along the narrow ledges of rock, where it made him dizzy to look down. +Then when the sun was near setting, when long shadows from rocks and +trees began to creep over the mountain, and he had eaten the fruits +and honey and other wild delicacies she provided, she would make him +lie on her bosom. Playing with her loose hair and listening to her +singing as she rocked herself on a stone, he would presently fall +asleep. + +In the morning on waking he would always find himself lying still +clasped to her breast in that great dim cavern; and almost always +when he woke he would find her crying. Sometimes on opening his eyes +he would find her asleep, but with traces of tears on her face, +showing that she had been awake and crying. + +One afternoon, seeing him tired of play and hard to amuse, she took +him in her arms and carried him right up the side of the mountain, +where it grew so steep that even the big cat could not follow them. +Finally she brought him out on the extreme summit, and looking round +he seemed to see the whole world spread out beneath him. Below, +half-way down, there were some wild cattle feeding on the mountain +side, and they looked at that distance no bigger than mice. Looking +eastwards he beheld just beyond the plain a vast expanse of blue +water extending leagues and leagues away until it faded into the +blue sky. He shouted with joy when he saw it, and could not take his +eyes from this wonderful world of water. + +"Take me there--take me there!" he cried. + +She only shook her head and tried to laugh him out of such a wish; +but by-and-by when she attempted to carry him back down the mountain +he refused to move from the spot; nor would he speak to her nor look +up into her pleading face, but kept his eyes fixed on that distant +blue ocean which had so enchanted him. For it seemed to Martin the +most wonderful thing he had ever beheld. + +At length it began to grow cold on the summit; then with gentle +caressing words she made him turn and look to the opposite side of +the heavens, where the sun was just setting behind a great mass of +clouds--dark purple and crimson, rising into peaks that were like +hills of rose-coloured pearl, and all the heavens beyond them a pale +primrose-coloured flame. Filled with wonder at all this rich and +varied colour he forgot the ocean for a moment, and uttered an +exclamation of delight. + +"Do you know, dear Martin," said she, "what we should find there, +where it all looks so bright and beautiful, if I had wings and could +fly with you, clinging to my bosom like a little bat clinging to its +mother when she flies abroad in the twilight?" + +"What?" asked Martin. + +"Only dark dark clouds full of rain and cutting hail and thunder and +lightning. That is how it is with the sea, Martin: it makes you love +it when you see it at a distance; but oh, it is cruel and treacherous, +and when it has once got you in its power then it is more terrible +than the thunder and lightning in the cloud. Do you remember, when +you first came to me, naked, shivering with cold, with your little +bare feet blistered and bleeding from the sharp stones, how I +comforted you with my love, and you found it warm and pleasant lying +on my breast? The sea will not comfort you in that way; it will +clasp you to a cold, cold breast, and kiss you with bitter salt lips, +and carry you down where it is always dark, where you will never +never see the blue sky and sunshine and flowers again." + +Martin shivered and nestled closer to her; and then while the +shadows of evening were gathering round them, she sat rocking +herself to and fro on a stone, murmuring many tender, sweet words to +him, until the music of her voice and the warmth of her bosom made +him sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +THE WONDERS OF THE HILLS + +Now, although Martin had gone very comfortably to sleep in her arms +and found it sweet to be watched over so tenderly, he was not the +happy little boy he had been before the sight of the distant ocean. +And she knew it, and was troubled in her mind, and anxious to do +something to make him forget that great blue water. She could do many +things, and above all she could show him new and wonderful things in +the hills where she wished to keep him always with her. To caress him, +to feed and watch over him by day, and hold him in her arms when he +slept at night--all that was less to him than the sight of something +new and strange; she knew this well, and therefore determined to +satisfy his desire and make his life so full that he would always be +more than contented with it. + +In the morning he went out on the hillside, wandering listlessly +among the rocks, and when the big cat found him there and tried to +tempt him to a game he refused to play, for he had not yet got over +his disappointment, and could think of nothing but the sea. But the +cat did not know that anything was the matter with him, and was more +determined to play than ever; crouching now here, now there among +the stones and bushes, he would spring out upon Martin and pull him +down with its big paws, and this so enraged him that picking up a +stick he struck furiously at his tormentor. But the cat was too +quick for him; he dodged the blows, then knocked the stick out of +his hand, and finally Martin, to escape from him, crept into a +crevice in a rock where the cat could not reach him, and refused to +come out even when the Lady of the Hills came to look for him and +begged him to come to her. When at last, compelled by hunger, he +returned to her, he was silent and sullen and would not be caressed. + +He saw no more of the cat, and when next day he asked her where it +was, she said that it had gone from them and would return no +more--that she had sent it away because it had vexed him. This made +Martin sulk, and he would have gone away and hidden himself from her +had she not caught him up in her arms. He struggled to free himself, +but could not, and she then carried him away a long distance down +the mountain-side until they came to a small dell, green with +creepers and bushes, with a deep carpet of dry moss on the ground, +and here she sat down and began to talk to him. + +"The cat was a very beautiful beast with his spotted hide," she said; +"and you liked to play with him sometimes, but in a little while you +will be glad that he has gone from you." + +He asked her why. + +"Because though he was fond of you and liked to follow you about and +play with you, he is very fierce and powerful, and all the other +beasts are afraid of him. So long as he was with us they would not +come, but now he has gone they will come to you and let you go to +them." + +"Where are they?" said Martin, his curiosity greatly excited. + +"Let us wait here," she said, "and perhaps we shall see one by-and-by." + +So they waited and were silent, and as nothing came and nothing +happened, Martin sitting on the mossy ground began to feel a strange +drowsiness stealing over him. He rubbed his eyes and looked round; he +wanted to keep very wide awake and alert, so as not to miss the +sight of anything that might come. He was vexed with himself for +feeling drowsy, and wondered why it was; then listening to the low +continuous hum of the bees, he concluded that it was that low, soft, +humming sound that made him sleepy. He began to look at the bees, +and saw that they were unlike other wild bees he knew, that they +were like humble-bees in shape but much smaller, and were all of a +golden brown colour: they were in scores and hundreds coming and +going, and had their home or nest in the rock a few feet above his +head. He got up, and climbing from his mother's knee to her shoulder, +and standing on it, he looked into the crevice into which the bees +were streaming, and saw their nest full of clusters of small round +objects that looked like white berries. + +Then he came down and told her what he had seen, and wanted to know +all about it, and when she answered that the little round fruit-like +objects he had seen were cells full of purple honey that tasted sweet +and salt, he wanted her to get him some. + +"Not now--not to-day," she replied, "for now you love me and are +contented to be with me, and you are my own darling child. When you +are naughty, and try to grieve me all you can, and would like to go +away and never see me more, you shall taste the purple honey." + +He looked up into her face wondering and troubled at her words, and +she smiled down so sweetly on his upturned face, looking very +beautiful and tender, that it almost made him cry to think how +wilful and passionate he had been, and climbing on to her knees he +put his little face against her cheek. + +[Illustration: ] + +Then, while he was still caressing her, light tripping steps were +heard over the stony path, and through the bushes came two beautiful +wild animals--a doe with her fawn! Martin had often seen the wild +deer on the plains, but always at a great distance and running; now +that he had them standing before him he could see just what they +were like, and of all the four-footed creatures he had ever looked +on they were undoubtedly the most lovely. They were of a slim shape, +and of a very bright reddish fawn-colour, the young one with dappled +sides; and both had large trumpet-like ears, which they held up as +if listening, while they gazed fixedly at Martin's face with their +large, dark, soft eyes. Enchanted with the sight of them, he slipped +down from his mother's lap, and stretched out his arms towards them, +and the doe, coming a little nearer, timidly smelt at his hand, then +licked it with her long, pink tongue. + +In a few minutes the doe and fawn went away and they saw them no more; +but they left Martin with a heart filled with happy excitement; and +they were but the first of many strange and beautiful wild animals +he was now made acquainted with, so that for days he could think of +nothing else and wished for nothing better. + +But one day when she had taken him a good way up on the hillside, +Martin suddenly recognized a huge rocky precipice before him as the +one up which she had taken him, and from the top of which he had +seen the great blue water. Instantly he demanded to be taken up again, +and when she refused he rebelled against her, and was first +passionate and then sullen. Finding that he would not listen to +anything she could say, she sat down on a rock and left him to +himself. He could not climb up that precipice, and so he rambled +away to some distance, thinking to hide himself from her, because he +thought her unreasonable and unkind not to allow him to see the blue +water once more. But presently he caught sight of a snake lying +motionless on a bed of moss at the foot of a rock, with the sun on it, +lighting up its polished scales so that they shone like gems or +coloured glass. Resting his elbows on the stone and holding his face +between his hands he fell to watching the snake, for though it +seemed fast asleep in the sun its gem-like eyes were wide open. + +All at once he felt his mother's hand on his head: "Martin," she said, +"would you like to know what the snake feels when it lies with eyes +open in the bright hot sun? Shall I make you feel just how he feels?" + +"Yes," said Martin eagerly, forgetting his quarrel with her; then +taking him up in her strong arms she walked rapidly away, and +brought him to that very spot where he had seen the doe and fawn. + +She sat him down, and instantly his ears were filled with the murmur +of the bees; and in a moment she put her hand in the crevice and +pulled out a cluster of white cells, and gave them to Martin. +Breaking one of the cells he saw that it was full of thick honey, of +a violet colour, and tasting it he found it was like very sweet +honey in which a little salt had been mixed. He liked it and he +didn't like it; still, it was not the same in all the cells; in some +it was scarcely salt at all; and he began to suck the honey of cell +after cell, trying to find one that was not salt; and by and by he +dropped the cluster of cells from his hand, and stooping to pick it +up forgot to do so, and laying his head down and stretching himself +out on the mossy ground looked up into his mother's face with drowsy, +happy eyes. How sweet it seemed, lying there in the sun, with the sun +shining right into his eyes, and filling his whole being with its +delicious heat! He wished for nothing now--not even for the sight of +new wonderful things; he forgot the blue water, the strange, +beautiful wild animals, and his only thought, if he had a thought, +was that it was very nice to lie there, not sleeping, but feeling +the sun in him, and seeing it above him; and seeing all things--the +blue sky, the grey rocks and green bushes and moss, and the woman in +her green dress and her loose black hair--and hearing, too, the soft, +low, continuous murmur of the yellow bees. + +For hours he lay there in that drowsy condition, his mother keeping +watch over him, and when it passed off, and he got up again, his +temper appeared changed: he was more gentle and affectionate with +his mother, and obeyed her every wish. And when in his rambles on +the hill he found a snake lying in the sun he would steal softly +near it and watch it steadily for a long time, half wishing to taste +that strange purple honey again, so that he might lie again in the +sun, feeling what the snake feels. But there were more wonderful +things yet for Martin to see and know in the hills, so that in a +little while he ceased to have that desire. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +MARTIN'S EYES ARE OPENED + +[Illustration: ] + +One morning when they went up into a wild rocky place very high up +on the hillside a number of big birds were seen coming over the +mountain at a great height in the air, travelling in a northerly +direction. They were big hawks almost as big as eagles, with very +broad rounded wings, and instead of travelling straight like other +birds they moved in wide circles, so that they progressed very slowly. + +They sat down on a stone to watch the birds, and whenever one flying +lower than the others came pretty near them Martin gazed delightedly +at it, and wished it would come still nearer so that he might see it +better. Then the woman stood up on the stone, and, gazing skywards +and throwing up her arms, she uttered a long call, and the birds +began to come lower and lower down, still sweeping round in wide +circles, and by and by one came quite down and pitched on a stone a +few yards from them. Then another came and lighted on another stone, +then another, and others followed, until they were all round him in +scores, sitting on the rocks, great brown birds with black bars on +their wings and tails, and buff-coloured breasts with rust-red spots +and stripes. It was a wonderful sight, those eagle-like hawks, with +their blue hooked beaks and deep-set dark piercing eyes, sitting in +numbers on the rocks, and others and still others dropping down from +the sky to increase the gathering. + +Then the woman sat down by Martin's side, and after a while one of +the hawks spread his great wings and rose up into the air to resume +his flight. After an interval of a minute or so another rose, then +another, but it was an hour before they were all gone. + +"O the dear birds--they are all gone!" cried Martin. "Mother, where +are they going?" + +She told him of a far-away land in the south, from which, when +autumn comes, the birds migrate north to a warmer country hundreds +of leagues away, and that birds of all kinds were now travelling +north, and would be travelling through the sky above them for many +days to come. + +Martin looked up at the sky, and said he could see no birds now that +the buzzards were all gone. + +"I can see them," she returned, looking up and glancing about the sky. + +"O mother, I wish I could see them!" he cried. "Why can't I see them +when you can?" + +"Because your eyes are not like mine. Look, can you see this?" and +she held up a small stone phial which she took from her bosom. + +He took it in his hand and unstopped and smelt at it. "Is it honey? +Can I taste it?" he asked. + +She laughed. "It is better than honey, but you can't eat it!" she +said. "Do you remember how the honey made you feel like a snake? +This would make you see what I see if I put some of it on your eyes." +He begged her to do so, and she consenting poured a little into the +palm of her hand. It was thick and white as milk; then taking some +on her finger tip, she made him hold his eyes wide open while she +rubbed it on the eye-balls. It made his eyes smart, and everything +at first looked like a blue mist when he tried to see; then slowly +the mist faded away and the air had a new marvellous clearness, and +when he looked away over the plain beneath them he shouted for joy, +so far could he see and so distinct did distant objects appear. At +one point where nothing but the grey haze that obscured the distance +had been visible, a herd of wild cattle now appeared, scattered about, +some grazing, others lying down ruminating, and in the midst of the +herd a very noble-looking, tawny-coloured bull was standing. + +"O mother, do you see that bull?" cried Martin in delight. + +"Yes, I see him," she returned. "Sometimes he brings his herd to +feed on the hillside, and when I see him here another time I shall +take you to him, and put you on his back. But look now at the sky, +Martin." + +He looked up, and was astonished to see numbers of great birds +flying north, where no birds had appeared before. They were miles +high, and invisible to ordinary sight, but he could see them so +distinctly, their shape and colours, that all the birds he knew were +easily recognized. There were swans, shining white, with black heads +and necks, flying in wedge-shaped flocks, and rose-coloured +spoonbills, and flamingoes with scarlet wings tipped with black, and +ibises, and ducks of different colours, and many other birds, both +water and land, appeared, flock after flock, all flying as fast as +their wings could bear them towards the north. + +He continued watching them until it was past noon, and then he saw +fewer and fewer, only very big birds, appearing; and then these were +seen less and less until there were none. Then he turned his eyes on +the plain and tried to find the herd of wild cattle, but they were +no longer visible; it was as he had seen it in the morning with the +pale blue haze over all the distant earth. He was told that the +power to see all distant things with a vision equal to his mother's +was now exhausted, and when he grieved at the loss she comforted him +with the promise that it would be renewed at some other time. + +[Illustration: ] + +Now one day when they were out together Martin was greatly surprised +and disturbed at a change in his mother. When he spoke to her she +was silent; and byand-by, drawing a little away, he looked at her +with a fear which increased to a kind of terror, so strangely +altered did she seem, standing motionless, gazing fixedly with +wide-open eyes at the plain beneath them, her whole face white and +drawn with a look of rage. He had an impulse to fly from her and +hide himself in some hole in the rocks from the sight of that pale, +wrathful face, but when he looked round him he was afraid to move +from her, for the hill itself seemed changed, and now looked black +and angry even as she did. The ground he stood on, the grey old +stones covered with silvery-white and yellow lichen and pretty +flowery, creeping plants, so beautiful to look at in the bright +sunlight a few moments ago, now were covered with a dull mist which +appeared to be rising from them, making the air around them dark and +strange. And the air, too, had become sultry and close, and the sky +was growing dark above them. Then suddenly remembering all her love +and kindness he flew to her, and clinging to her dress sobbed out, +"O mother, mother, what is it?" + +She put her hand on him, then drew him up to her side, with his feet +on the stone she was standing by. "Would you like to see what I see, +Martin?" she asked, and taking the phial from her bosom she rubbed +the white thick liquid on his eye-balls, and in a little while, when +the mistiness passed off, she pointed with her hand and told him to +look there. + +He looked, and as on the former occasion, all distant things were +clearly visible, for although that mist and blackness given off by +the hill had wrapped them round so that they seemed to be standing +in the midst of a black cloud, yet away on the plain beneath the sun +was shining brightly, and all that was there could be seen by him. +Where he had once seen a herd of wild cattle he now saw mounted men, +to the number of about a dozen, slowly riding towards the hill, and +though they were miles away he could see them very distinctly. They +were dark, black-bearded men, strangely dressed, some with +fawn-coloured cloaks with broad stripes, others in a scarlet uniform, +and they wore cone-shaped scarlet caps. Some carried lances, others +carbines; and they all wore swords--he could see the steel scabbards +shining in the sun. As he watched them they drew rein and some of +them got off their horses, and they stood for some time as if +talking excitedly, pointing towards the hill and using emphatic +gestures. + +What were they talking about so excitedly? thought Martin. He wanted +to know, and he would have asked her, but when he looked up at her +she was still gazing fixedly at them with the same pale face and +terrible stern expression, and he could but dimly see her face in +that black cloud which had closed around them. He trembled with fear +and could only murmur, "Mother! mother!" Then her arm was put round +him, and she drew him close against her side, and at that moment--O +how terrible it was!--the black cloud and the whole universe was lit +up with a sudden flash that seemed to blind and scorch him, and the +hill and the world was shaken and seemed to be shattered by an awful +thunder crash. It was more than he could endure: he ceased to feel +or know anything, and was like one dead, and when he came to himself +and opened his eyes he was lying in her lap with her face smiling +very tenderly, bending over him. + +"O, poor little Martin," she said, "what a poor, weak little boy you +are to lose your senses at the lightning and thunder! I was angry +when I saw them coming to the hill, for they are wicked, cruel men, +stained with blood, and I made the storm to drive them away. They +are gone, and the storm is over now, and it is late--come, let us go +to our cave;" and she took him up and carried him in her arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +THE PEOPLE OF THE MIST + +When Martin first came to the hills it was at the end of the long, +hot, dry summer of that distant land: it was autumn now, and the +autumn was like a second summer, only not so hot and dry as the first. +But sometimes at this season a wet mist came up from the sea by +night and spread over all the country, covering it like a cloud; to +a soaring bird looking down from the sky it must have appeared like +another sea of a pale or pearly grey colour, with the hills rising +like islands from it. When the sun rose in the morning, if the sky +was clear so that it could shine, then the sea-fog would drift and +break up and melt away or float up in the form of thin white clouds. +Now, whenever this sea-mist was out over the world the Lady of the +Hills, without coming out of her chamber, knew of it, and she would +prevent Martin from leaving the bed and going out. He loved to be +out on the hill-side, to watch the sun come up, and she would say to +him, "You cannot see the sun because of the mist; and it is cold and +wet on the hill; wait until the mist has gone and then you shall go +out." + +But now a new idea came into her mind. She had succeeded in making +him happy during the last few days; but she wished to do more--she +wished to make him fear and hate the sea so that he would never grow +discontented with his life on the hills nor wish to leave her. So now, +one morning, when the mist was out over the land, she said to Martin +when he woke, "Get up and go out on to the hill and see the mist; +and when you feel its coldness and taste its salt on your lips, and +see how it dims and saddens the earth, you will know better than to +wish for that great water it comes from." + +So Martin got up and went out on the hill, and it was as she had said: +there was no blue sky above, no wide green earth before him: the +mist had blotted all out; he could hardly see the rocks and bushes a +dozen yards from him; the leaves and flowers were heavy laden with +the grey wet; and it felt clammy and cold on his face, and he tasted +its salt on his lips. It seemed thickest and darkest when he looked +down and lightest when he looked up, and the lightness led him to +climb up among the dripping, slippery rocks; and slipping and +stumbling he went on and on, the light increasing as he went, until +at last to his delight he got above the mist. There was an immense +crag there which stood boldly up on the hillside, and on to this he +managed to climb, and standing on it he looked down upon that vast +moving sea of grey mist that covered the earth, and saw the sun, a +large crimson disc, rising from it. + +It was a great thing to see, and made him cry out aloud for joy: and +then as the sun rose higher into the pure, blue sky the grey mist +changed to silvery white, and the white changed in places to shining +gold: and it drifted faster and faster away before the sun, and +began to break up, and when a cloud of mist swept by the rock on +which he stood it beat like a fine rain upon his face, and covered +his bright clothes with a grey beady moisture. + +Now, looking abroad over the earth, it appeared to Martin that the +thousands and tens and hundreds of thousands of fragments of mist, +had the shapes of men, and were like an innumerable multitude of +gigantic men with shining white faces and shining golden hair and +long cloud-like robes of a pearly grey colour, that trailed on the +earth as they moved. They were like a vast army covering the whole +earth, all with their faces set towards the west, all moving swiftly +and smoothly on towards the west. And he saw that every one held his +robes to his breast with his left hand, and that in his right hand, +raised to the level of his head, he carried a strange object. This +object was a shell--a big sea-shell of a golden yellow colour with +curved pink lips; and very soon one of the mist people came near him, +and as he passed by the rock he held the shell to Martin's ear, and +it sounded in his ear--a low, deep murmur as of waves breaking on a +long shingled beach, and Martin knew, though no word was spoken to +him, that it was the sound of the sea, and tears of delight came to +his eyes, and at the same time his heart was sick and sad with +longing for the sea. + +[Illustration: ] + +Again and again, until the whole vast multitude of the mist people +had gone by, a shell was held to his ear; and when they were all gone, +when he had watched them fade like a white cloud over the plain, and +float away and disappear in the blue sky, he sat down on the rock +and cried with the desire that was in him. + +When his mother found him with traces of tears on his cheeks; and he +was silent when she spoke to him, and had a strange look in his eyes +as if they were gazing at some distant object, she was angrier than +ever with the sea, for she knew that the thought of it had returned +to him and that it would be harder than ever to keep him. + +One morning on waking he found her still asleep, although the traces +of tears on her cheeks showed that she had been awake and crying +during the night. + +"Ah, now I know why she cries every morning," thought Martin; +"it is because I must go away and leave her here alone on the hills." + +He was out of her arms and dressed in a very few moments, moving +very softly lest she should wake; but though he knew that if she +awoke she would not let him go, he could not leave her without +saying goodbye. And so coming near he stooped over her and very +gently kissed her soft cheek and sweet mouth and murmured, "Good-bye, +sweet mother." Then, very cautiously, like a shy, little wild animal +he stole out of the cavern. Once outside, in the early morning light, +he started running as fast as he could, jumping from stone to stone +in the rough places, and scrambling through the dew-laden bushes and +creepers, until, hot and panting, he arrived down at the very foot +of the hill. + +Then it was easier walking, and he went on a little until he heard a +voice crying, "Martin! Martin!" and, looking back, he saw the Lady +of the Hills standing on a great stone near the foot of the mountain, +gazing sadly after him. "Martin, oh, my child, come back to me," she +called, stretching out her arms towards him. "Oh, Martin, I cannot +leave the hills to follow you and shield you from harm and save you +from death, Where will you go? Oh me, what shall I do without you?" + +For a little while he stood still, listening with tears in his eyes +to her words, and wavering in his mind; but very soon he thought of +the great blue water once more and could not go back, but began to +run again, and went on and on for a long distance before stopping to +rest. Then he looked back, but he could no longer see her form +standing there on the stone. + +All that day he journeyed on towards the ocean over a great plain. +There was no trees and no rocks nor hills, only grass on the level +earth, in some places so tall that the spikes, looking like great +white ostrich plumes, waved high above his head. But it was easy +walking, as the grass grew in tussocks or bunches, and underneath +the ground was bare and smooth so that he could walk easily between +the bunches. + +He wondered that he did not get to the sea, but it was still far off, +and so the long summer day wore to an end, and he was so tired that +he could scarcely lift his legs to walk. Then, as he went slowly on +in the fading light, where the grass was short and the evening +primroses were opening and filling the desert air with their sweet +perfume, he all at once saw a little grey old man not above six +inches in height standing on the ground right before him, and +staring fixedly at him with great, round, yellow eyes. + +[Illustration: ] + +"You bad boy!" exclaimed this curious, little, old man; whereupon +Martin stopped in his walk and stood still, gazing in the greatest +surprise at him. + +"You bad boy!" repeated the strange little man. + +The more Martin stared at him the harder he stared back at Martin, +always with the same unbending severity in his small, round, grey +face. He began to feel a little afraid, and was almost inclined to +run away; then he thought it would be funny to run from such a very +small man as this, so he stared bravely back once more and cried out, +"Go away!" + +"You bad boy!" answered the little grey man without moving. + +"Perhaps he's deaf, just like that other old man," said Martin to +himself, and throwing out his arms he shouted at the top of his voice, +"Go away!" + +And away with a scream he went, for it was only a little grey +burrowing owl after all! Martin laughed a little at his own +foolishness in mistaking that common bird he was accustomed to see +every day for a little old man. + +By-and-by, feeling very tired, he sat down to rest, and just where +he sat grew a plant with long white flowers like tall thin goblets +in shape. Sitting on the grass he could see right into one of the +flower-tubes, and presently he noticed a little, old, grey, +shrivelled woman in it, very, very small, for she was not longer +than the nail of his little finger. She wore a grey shawl that +dragged behind her, and kept getting under her feet and tripping her +up. She was most active, whisking about this way and that inside the +flower; and at intervals she turned to stare at Martin, who kept +getting nearer and nearer to watch her until his face nearly touched +the flower; and whenever she looked at him she wore an exceedingly +severe expression on her small dried-up countenance. It seemed to +Martin that she was very angry with him for some reason. Then she +would turn her back on him, and tumble about in the tube of the +flower, and gathering up the ends of her shawl in her arms begin +dusting with great energy; then hurrying out once more she would +shake the dust from her big, funny shawl in his eyes. At last he +carefully raised a hand and was just going to take hold of the queer, +little, old dame with his forefinger and thumb when up she flew. It +was only a small, grey, twilight moth! + +Very much puzzled and confused, and perhaps a little frightened at +these curious deceptions, he laid himself down on the grass and shut +his eyes so as to go to sleep; but no sooner had he shut his eyes +than he heard a soft, soft little voice calling, "Martin! Martin!" + +He started up and listened. It was only a field cricket singing in +the grass. But often as he lay down and closed his eyes the small +voice called again, plainly as possible, and oh so sadly, "Martin! +Martin!" + +It made him remember his beautiful mother, now perhaps crying alone +in the cave on the mountain, no little Martin resting on her bosom, +and he cried to think of it. And still the small voice went on, +calling, "Martin! Martin!" sadder than ever, until, unable to endure +it longer, he jumped up and ran away a good distance, and at last, +too tired to go any further, he crept into a tussock of tall grass +and went to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA + +Next day Martin journeyed on in the old way, jumping up and taking a +good long run, then dropping into a trot, then a walk, and finally +sitting down to rest. Then up again and another run, and so on. But +although feeling hungry and thirsty, he was so full of the thought +of the great blue water he was going to see, so eager to look upon +it at last after wishing for it so long, that he hardly gave himself +any time to hunt for food. Nor did he think of his mother of the +hills, alone to-day, and grieving at his loss, so excited was he at +the prospect of what lay before him. + +A little past noon he began to hear a low murmuring sound that +seemed in the earth beneath him, and all about him, and in the air +above him; but he did not know that it was the sound of the sea. At +length he came to a place where the earth rose up in long ridges of +yellow sand, on which nothing grew but scattered tufts of stiff, +yellow grass. As he toiled over the loose sand, sometimes sinking +ankle-deep in it, the curious deep murmuring sound he had heard for +so long grew louder and louder, until it was like the sound of a +mighty wind in a wood, but deeper and hoarser, rising and falling, +and at intervals broken by great throbs, as of thunder echoed and +re-echoed among the distant hills. At length he had toiled over the +last ridge of sand; and then all at once the world--his world of +solid earth at all events--came to an abrupt end; for no more ground +on which to set a foot was before him, but only the ocean--that +ocean which he had wanted so badly, and had loved at a distance more +than the plains and hills, and all they contained to delight him! +How wide, how vast it was, stretching away to where it melted into +the low sky, its immense grey-blue surface broken into ten thousand +thousand waves, lit with white crests that came in sight and +vanished like lightning flashes! How tremendous, how terrible it was +in its agitation--O the world had nothing to compare with it, +nothing to hold his heart after it; and it was well that the earth +was silent, that it only gazed upon it with the sun and moon and +stars, listening day and night for ever to the great voice of the sea! + +Only by lying flat on his chest could Martin look down over the edge +of the awful cliff, which is one of the highest in the world; and +then the sight of the sea swirling and beating at the foot of that +stupendous black precipice, sending up great clouds of spray in its +fury, made him shudder, it was so awful to look upon. But he could +not stir from that spot; there he stayed lying flat on his chest, +gazing and gazing, feeling neither hunger nor thirst, forgetful of +the beautiful woman he had called mother, and of everything besides. +And as he gazed, little by little, that great tumult of the waves +grew less; they no longer lifted themselves up, wave following wave, +to beat upon the cliff, and make it tremble; but sank lower and lower; +and at last drew off from the precipice, leaving at its foot a long +narrow strip of sand and shingle exposed to sight. A solemn calm +fell upon the waste of waters; only near the shore it continued to +move a little, rising and falling like the chest of a sleeping giant, +while along the margin small waves continued to form and break in +white foam on the shingle with a perpetual low, moaning sound. +Further out it was quite calm, its surface everywhere flushed with +changing violet, green, and rosy tints: in a little while these +lovely colours faded as from a sunset cloud, and it was all deep +dark blue: for the sun had gone, and the shadows of evening were +over land and sea. Then Martin, his little heart filled with a great +awe and a great joy, crept away a few yards from the edge of the +cliff and coiled himself up to sleep in a hollow in the soft warm +sand. + +On the following morning, after satisfying his hunger and thirst +with some roots which he had not to go very far to find, he returned +to watch the sea once more, and there he remained, never removing his +eyes from the wonderful scene until the sun was directly over his +head; then, when the sea was calm once more, he got up and started +to walk along the cliff. + +Keeping close to the edge, occasionally stopping to lie down on his +chest and peer over, he went on and on for hours, until the +afternoon tide once more covered the strip of shingled beach, and +the waves rising high began to beat with a sound like thunder +against the tremendous cliff, making the earth tremble under him. At +length he came to a spot where there was a great gap in the line of +the cliff, where in past times a portion of it had tumbled down, and +the stupendous masses of rock had rolled far out into the sea, and +now formed islands of black jagged rock, standing high above the +water. Here among the rocks the sea boiled and roared its loudest, +churning its waters into masses of white froth. Here a fresh wonder +met his sight: a number of big animals unlike any creature he had +ever seen before were lying prone on the rocks just out of the reach +of the waves that beat round them. At first they looked like cows, +then he saw that they had neither horns nor legs, that their heads +were like dog's but without ears, and that they had two great +flapper-shaped feet on their chests with which they walked or +crawled upon the rocks whenever a wave broke on them, causing them +to move a little higher. + +[Illustration: ] + +They were sea-lions, a very big sort of seal, but Martin had never +heard of such a creature, and being anxious to look more closely at +them he went into the gap, and began cautiously climbing down over +the broken masses of rock and clay until he got quite near the sea. +Lying there on a flat rock he became absorbed in watching these +strange dog-headed legless cattle of the sea; for he now had them +near, and they could see him, and occasionally one would lift its +head and gaze earnestly at him out of large dark eyes that were soft +and beautiful like the eyes of the doe that came to him on the hills. +O how glad he was to know that the sea, the mighty waters roaring so +loud as if in wrath, had its big beasts too for him to love, like +the hills and plains with their cattle and deer and horses! + +But the tide was still rising, and very soon the biggest waves began +to come quite over the rocks, rolling the big beasts over and even +washing them off, and it angered them when the waves struck them, +and they roared aloud, and by and by they began to go away, some +disappearing beneath the water, others with heads above the surface +swimming away out into the open sea, until all were gone. Martin was +sorry to lose them, but the sight of the sea tumbling and foaming on +the rocks still held him there, until all the rocks but one had been +covered by the waters, and this one was a great black jagged rock +close to the shore, not above twenty or thirty yards from him. +Against this mass of rock the waves continued to dash themselves +with a mighty noise, sending up a cloud of white foam and spray at +every blow. The sight and sound fascinated him. The sea appeared to +be talking, whispering, and murmuring, and crying out aloud to him in +such a manner that he actually began trying to make out what it was +saying. Then up would come a great green wave rushing and moaning, +to dash itself to pieces right before his face; and each time it +broke against the rock, and rose high up it took a fantastic shape +that began to look more and more the shape of a man. Yes, it was +unmistakably like a monstrous grey old man, with a vast snow-white +beard, and a world of disordered white hair floating over and around +its head. At all events it was white for a moment, then it looked +green--a great green beard which the old man took with his two hands +and twisted just as a washerwoman twists a blanket or counterpane, +so as to wring the water out of it. + +Martin stared at this strange uncouth visitor from the sea; while he +in turn, leaning over the rock, stared back into Martin's face with +his immense fishy eyes. + +Every time a fresh wave broke over him, lifting up his hair and +garments, which were of brown seaweed and all rags and tatters, it +seemed to annoy him somewhat; but he never stirred; and when the +wave retired he would wring the water out once more and blow a cloud +of sea-spray from his beard. At length, holding out his mighty arms +towards Martin, he opened his great, cod-fish mouth, and burst into +a hoarse laugh, which sounded like the deep laughter-like cries of +the big, black-backed gulls. Still, Martin did not feel at all +afraid of him, for he looked good-natured and friendly. + +"Who are you?" shouted Martin at last. + +"Who be I?" returned the man-shaped monster in a hoarse, sea-like +voice. "Ho, ho, ho,--now I calls that a good un! Why, little Martin, +that I've knowed all along, I be Bill. Leastways, that's what they +called me afore: but I got promotion, and in consekence I'm called +the Old Man of the Sea." + +"And how did you know I was Martin?" + +"How did I know as you was Martin? Why, bless your innocent heart, I +knowed it all along of course. How d'ye think I wouldn't know that? +Why, I no sooner saw you there among them rocks than I says to myself, +'Hullo,' says I, bless my eyes if that ain't Martin looking at my +cows, as I calls 'em. Of course I knowed as you was Martin." + +"And what made you go and live in the sea, Old--Bill?" questioned +Martin, "and why did you grow so big?" + +[Illustration: ] + +"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the giant, blowing a great cloud of spray from +his lips. "I don't mind telling you that. You see, Martin, I ain't +pressed for time. Them blessed bells is nothing to me now, not being +in the foc'sle trying to git a bit of a snooze. Well, to begin, I +were born longer ago than I can tell in a old town by the sea, and +my father he were a sailor man, and was drowned when I were very +small; then my mother she died just becoz every man that belonged to +her was drowned. For those as lives by the sea, Martin, mostly dies +in the sea. Being a orphan I were brought up by Granny. I were very +small then, and used to go and play all day in the marshes, and I +loved the cows and water-rats and all the little beasties, same as +you, Martin. When I were a bit growed Granny says to me one day, +'Bill, you go to sea and be a sailor-boy,' she says, 'becoz I've had +a dream,' she says, 'and it's wrote that you'll never git drowned.' +For you see, Martin, my Granny were a wise woman. So to the sea I +goes, and boy and man, I was on a many voyages to Turkey and Injy +and the Cape and the West Coast and Ameriky, and all round the world +forty times over. Many and many's the time I was shipwrecked and +overboard, but I never got drowned. At last, when I were gitting a +old man, and not much use by reason of the rheumatiz and stiffness +in the jints, there was a mutiny in our ship when we was off the Cape; +and the captain and mate they was killed. Then comes my turn, becoz +I went again the men, d'ye see, and they wasn't a-going for to +pardon me that. So out they had me on deck and began to talk about +how they'd finish me--rope, knife, or bullet. 'Mates,' says I 'shoot +me if you like and I'll dies comforbly; or run a knife into me, +which is better still; or string me up to the yard-arm, which is the +most comforble thing I know. But don't you go and put me into the sea,' +says I, 'becoz it's wrote that I ain't never going to git drowned, +and you'll have all your trouble for nothing,' says I. That made 'em +larf a most tremenjous larf. 'Old Bill,' says they, 'will have his +little joke.' Then they brings up some iron stowed in the hold, and +with ropes and chains they ties well-nigh half a ton of it to my +legs and arms, then lowers me over the side. Down I wrent, in course, +which made 'em larf louder than afore; and I were fathoms and +fathoms under water afore I stopped hearing them larf. At last I +comes down to the bottom of the sea, and glad I were to git there, +becoz now I couldn't go no further. There I lies doubled up like a +old sea-sarpint along of the rocks, but warm and comforble like. +Last of all, the ropes and chains they got busted off becoz of my +growing so big and strong down there, and up I comes to blow like a +grampus, for I were full of water by reason that it had soaked into +me. So that's how I got to be the Old Man of the Sea, hundreds and +hundreds of years ago." + +"And do you like to be always in the sea, Old Bill?" asked Martin. + +"Ho, ho, ho!" laughed the monster. "That's a good un, little Martin! +Do I like it? Well, it's better than being a sailor man in a ship, I +can tell 'ee. That were a hard life, with nothing good except perhaps +the baccy. I were very fond of baccy once before the sea put out my +pipe. Likewise of rum. Many's the time I've been picked up on shore +that drunk, Martin, you wouldn't believe it, I were that fond of rum. +Sometimes, down here, when I remember how good it tasted, I open my +mouth wide and takes down a big gulp of sea water, enough to fill a +hogshead; then I comes up and blows it all out again just like a old +grampus." + +And having said this, he opened his vast cavernous mouth and roared +out his hoarse ho, ho, ho! louder than before, and at the same time +he rose up higher above the water and the black rock he had been +leaning on, until he stood like a stupendous tower above Martin--a +man-shaped tower of water and spray, and white froth and brown +seaweed. Then he slowly fell backwards out upon the sea, and falling +upon the sea caused so mighty a wave that it went high over the +black rock and washed the face of the cliff, sweeping Martin back +among the rocks. + +When the great wave retired, and Martin, half-choked with water and +half-dazed, struggled on to his feet, he saw that it was night, and +a cloudy, black sky was above, and the black sea beneath him. He had +not seen the light fade, and had perhaps fallen asleep and seen and +talked with that old sea monster in a dream. But now he could not +escape from his position down in the gap, just above the roaring +waves. There he had to stay, sheltered in a cavity in the rock, and +lying there, half sleeping and half waking, he had that great voice +of the sea in his ears all night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +MARTIN PLAYS WITH THE WAVES + +After a night spent in the roar of the sea, a drenched and bruised +prisoner among the rocks, it was nice to see the dawn again. No +sooner was it light than Martin set about trying to make his escape. +He had been washed by that big wave into a deep cleft among the +rocks and masses of hard clay, and shut in there he could not see the +water nor anything excepting a patch of sky above him. Now he began +climbing over the stones and crawling and forcing himself through +crevices and other small openings, making a little progress, for he +was sore from his bruises and very weak from his long fast, and at +intervals, tired and beaten, he would drop down crying with pain and +misery. But Martin was by nature a very resolute little boy, and +after two or three minutes' rest his tears would cease, and he would +be up struggling on determinedly as before. He was like some little +wild animal when it finds itself captive in a cage or box or room, +who tries without ceasing to find a way out. There may be no way, +but it will not give up trying to find one. And at last, after so +much trying, Martin's efforts were rewarded: he succeeded in getting +into the steep passage by which he had come down to the sea on the +previous day, and in the end got to the top of the cliff once more. +It was a great relief, and after resting a little while he began to +feel glad and happy at the sight before him: there was the glorious +sea again, not as he had seen it before, its wide surface roughened +by the wind and flecked with foam; for now the water was smooth, but +not still; it rose and fell in vast rollers, or long waves that were +like ridges, wave following wave in a very grand and ordered manner. +And as he gazed, the clouds broke and floated away, and the sky grew +clear and bright, and then all at once the great red sun came up out +of the waters! + +But it was impossible for him to stay there longer when there was +nothing to eat; his extreme hunger compelled him to get up and leave +the cliff and the sandy hills behind it; and then for an hour or two +he walked feebly about searching for sweet roots, but finding none. +It would have gone hard with him then if he had not seen some low, +dark-looking bushes at a distance on the dry, yellow plain, and gone +to them. They looked like yew-bushes, and when he got to them he +found that they were thickly covered with small berries; on some +bushes they were purple-black, on others crimson, but all were ripe, +and many small birds were there feasting on them. The berries were +pleasant to the taste, and he feasted with the little birds on them +until his hunger was satisfied; and then, with his mouth and fingers +stained purple with the juice, he went to sleep in the shade of one +of the bushes. There, too, he spent the whole of that day and the +night, hearing the low murmur of the sea when waking, and when +morning came he was strong and happy once more, and, after filling +himself with the fruit, set off to the sea again. + +Arrived at the cliff, he began walking along the edge, and in about +an hour's time came to the end of it, for there it sloped down to +the water, and before him, far as he could see, there was a wide, +shingled beach with low sand-hills behind it. With a shout of joy he +ran down to the margin, and the rest of that day he spent dabbling +in the water, gathering beautiful shells and seaweed and +strangely-painted pebbles into heaps, then going on and on again, +still picking up more beautiful riffraff on the margin, only to leave, +it all behind him at last. Never had he spent a happier day, and +when it came to an end he found a sheltered spot not far from the sea, +so that when he woke in the night he would still hear the deep, low +murmur of the waves on the beach. + +Many happy days he spent in the same way, with no living thing to +keep him company, except the little white and grey sanderlings that +piped so shrill and clear as they flitted along the margin before him; +and the great sea-gulls that uttered hoarse, laughter-like cries as +they soared and hovered above his head. "Oh, happy birds!" exclaimed +Martin, clapping his hands, and shouting in answer to their cries. + +Every day Martin grew more familiar with the sea, and loved it more, +and it was his companion and playmate. He was bolder than the little +restless sanderlings that ran and flitted before the advancing waves, +and so never got their pretty white and grey plumage wet: often he +would turn to meet the coming wave, and let it break round and rush +past him, and then in a moment he would be standing knee-deep in the +midst of a great sheet of dazzling white foam, until with a long +hiss as it fled back, drawing the round pebbles with it, it would be +gone, and he would laugh and shout with glee. What a grand old +play-fellow the sea was! And it loved him, like the big spotted cat +of the hills, and only pretended to be angry with him when it wanted +to play, and would do him no harm. And still he was not satisfied, +but grew bolder and bolder, putting himself in its power and trusting +to its mercy. He could play better with his clothes off; and one day, +chasing a great receding wave as far as it would go, he stood up +bravely to encounter the succeeding wave, but it was greater than +the last, and lifting him in its great green arms it carried him high +up till it broke with a mighty roar on the beach; then instead of +leaving him stranded there it rushed back still bearing him in its +arms out into the deep. Further and further from the shore it +carried him, until he became terrified, and throwing out his little +arms towards the land, he cried aloud, "Mother! Mother!" + +He was not calling to his own mother far away on the great plain; he +had forgotten her. Now he only thought of the beautiful woman of the +Hills, who was so strong, and loved him and made him call her +"Mother"; and to her he cried in his need for help. Now he +remembered her warm, protecting bosom, and how she had cried every +night at the fear of losing him; how when he ran from her she +followed him, calling to him to return. Ah, how cold was the sea's +bosom, how bitter its lips! + +Struggling still with the great wave, struggling in vain, blinded +and half-choked with salt water, he was driven violently against a +great black object tumbling about in the surf, and with all the +strength of his little hands he clung to it. The water rolled over +him, and beat against him, but he would not lose his hold; and at +last there came a bigger wave and lifted him up and cast him right +on to the object he was clinging to. It was as if some enormous +monster of the sea had caught him up and put him in that place, just +as the Lady of the Hills had often snatched him up from the edge of +some perilous precipice to set him down in a safe place. + +There he lay exhausted, stretched out at full length, so tossed +about on the billows that he had a sensation of being in a swing; +but the sea grew quiet at last, and when he looked up it was dark, +the stars glittering in the dim blue vault above, and the smooth, +black water reflecting them all round him, so that he seemed to be +floating suspended between two vast, starry skies, one immeasurably +far above, the other below him. All night, with only the twinkling, +trembling stars for company, he lay there, naked, wet, and cold, +thirsty with the bitter taste of sea-salt in his mouth, never daring +to stir, listening to the continual lapping sound of the water. + +Morning dawned at last; the sea was green once more, the sky blue, +and beautiful with the young, fresh light. He was lying on an old +raft of black, water-logged spars and planks lashed together with +chains and rotting ropes. But alas! there was no shore in sight, for +all night long he had been drifting, drifting further and further +away from land. + +A strange habitation for Martin, the child of the plain, was that +old raft! It had been made by shipwrecked mariners, long, long ago, +and had floated about the sea until it had become of the sea, like a +half-submerged floating island; brown and many-coloured seaweeds had +attached themselves to it; strange creatures, half plant and half +animal, grew on it; and little shell-fish and numberless slimy, +creeping things of the sea made it their dwelling-place. It was +about as big as the floor of a large room, all rough, black, and +slippery, with the seaweed floating like ragged hair many yards long +around it, and right in the middle of the raft there was a large +hole where the wood had rotted away. Now, it was very curious that +when Martin looked over the side of the raft he could see down into +the clear, green water a few fathoms only; but when he crept to the +edge of the hole and looked into the water there, he was able to see +ten times further down. Looking in this hole, he saw far down a +strange, fish-shaped creature, striped like a zebra, with long +spines on its back, moving about to and fro. It disappeared, and then, +very much further down, something moved, first like a shadow, then +like a great, dark form; and as it came up higher it took the shape +of a man, but dim and vast like a man-shaped cloud or shadow that +floated in the green translucent water. The shoulders and head +appeared; then it changed its position and the face was towards him +with the vast eyes, that had a dim, greyish light in them, gazing up +into his. Martin trembled as he gazed, not exactly with fear, but +with excitement, because he recognized in this huge water-monster +under him that Old Man of the Sea who had appeared and talked to him +in his dream when he fell asleep among the rocks. Could it be, +although he was asleep at the time, that the Old Man really had +appeared before him, and that his eyes had been open just enough to +see him? + +By-and-by the cloud-like face disappeared, and did not return though +he watched for it a long time. Then sitting on the black, rotten +wood and brown seaweed he gazed over the ocean, a vast green, sunlit +expanse with no shore and no living thing upon it. But after a while +he began to think that there was some living thing in it, which was +always near him though he could not see what it was. From time to +time the surface of the sea was broken just as if some huge fish had +risen to the surface and then sunk again without showing itself. It +was something very big, judging from the commotion it made in the +water; and at last he did see it or a part of it--a vast brown +object which looked like a gigantic man's shoulder, but it might +have been the back of a whale. It was no sooner seen than gone, but +in a very short time after its appearance cries as of birds were +heard at a great distance. The cries came from various directions, +growing louder and louder, and before long Martin saw many birds +flying towards him. + +On arrival they began to soar and circle round above him, all +screaming excitedly. They were white birds with long wings and long +sharp beaks, and were very much like gulls, except that they had an +easier and swifter flight. + +Martin rejoiced at seeing them, for he had been in the greatest +terror at the strangeness and loneliness of the sea now that there +was no land in sight. Sitting on the black raft he was constantly +thinking of the warning words his mother of the hills had spoken +--that the sea would kiss him with cold salt lips and take him down +into the depths where he would never see the light again. O how +strange the sea was to him now, how lonely, how terrible! But birds +that with their wings could range over the whole world were of the +land, and now seemed to bring the land near him with their white +forms and wild cries. How could they help him? He did not know, he +did not ask; but he was not alone now that they had come to him, and +his terror was less. + +And still more birds kept coming; and as the morning wore on the +crowd of birds increased until they were in hundreds, then in +thousands, perpetually wheeling and swooping and rising and hovering +over him in a great white cloud. And they were of many kinds, mostly +white, some grey, others sooty brown or mottled, and some wholly +black. Then in the midst of the crowrd of birds he saw one of great +size wheeling about like a king or giant among the others, with wings +of amazing length, wild eyes of a glittering yellow, and a yellow +beak half as long as Martin's arm, with a huge vulture-like hook at +the end. Now when this mighty bird swooped close down over his head, +fanning him with its immense wings, Martin again began to be alarmed +at its formidable appearance; and as more and more birds came, with +more of the big kind, and the wild outcry they made increased, his +fear and astonishment grew; then all at once these feelings rose to +extreme terror and amazement at the sight of a new bird-like +creature a thousand times bigger than the largest one in the +circling crowd above, coming swiftly towards him. He saw that it was +not flying but swimming or gliding over the surface of the sea; and +its body was black, and above the body were many immense white wings +of various shapes, which stood up like a white cloud. + +Overcome with terror he fell flat on the raft, hiding his face in +the brown seaweed that covered it; then in a few minutes the sea +became agitated and rocked him in his raft, and a wave came over him +which almost swept him into the sea. At the same time the outcry of +the birds were redoubled until he was nearly deafened by their +screams, and the screams seemed to shape themselves into words. +"Martin! Martin!" the birds seemed to be screaming. "Look up, Martin, +look up, look up!" The whole air above and about him seemed to be +full of the cries, and every cry said to him, "Martin! Martin! lookup! +lookup!" + +[Illustration: ] + +Although dazed with the awful din and almost fainting with terror +and weakness, he could not resist the command. Pressing his hands on +the raft he at last struggled up to his knees, and saw that the +feared bird-like monster had passed him by: he saw that it was a +ship with a black hull, its white sails spread, and that the motion +of the water and the wave that swept over him had been created by +the ship as it came close to the raft. It was now rapidly gliding +from him, but still very near, and he saw a crowd of strange-looking +rough men, with sun-browned faces and long hair and shaggy beards, +leaning over the bulwarks staring at him. They had seen with +astonishment the corpse, as they thought, of a little naked white +boy lying on the old black raft, with a multitude of sea-birds +gathered to feed on him; now when they saw him get up on his knees +and look at them, they uttered a great cry, and began rushing +excitedly hither and thither, to pull at ropes and lower a boat. +Martin did not know what they were doing; he only knew that they +were men in a ship, but he was now too weak and worn-out to look at +or think of more than one thing at a time, and what he was looking at +now was the birds. For no sooner had he looked up and seen the ship +than their wild cries ceased, and they rose up and up like a white +cloud to scatter far and wide over sky and sea. For some moments he +continued watching them, listening to their changed voices, which +now had a very soft and pleasant sound, as if they were satisfied +and happy. It made him happy to hear them, and he lifted his hands +up and smiled; then, relieved of his terror and overcome with +weariness, he closed his eyes and dropped once more full length upon +his bed of wet seaweed. At that the men stared into each other's face, +a very strange startled look coming into their eyes. And no wonder! +For long, long months, running to years, they had been cruising in +those lonely desolate seas, thousands of miles from home, seeing no +land nor any green thing, nor dear face of woman or child: and now +by some strange chance a child had come to them, and even while they +were making all haste to rescue it, putting their arms out to take +it from the sea, its life had seemingly been snatched from them! + +But he was only sleeping. + +[Illustration: ] + + +NOTE + + +_When I arranged with Mr. Hudson for the publication of an +American Edition of_ A Little Boy Lost, _I asked him to write a +special foreword to his American readers. He replied with a +characteristic letter, and, taking him at his word. I am printing it +on the following pages_. + + ALFRED A. KNOPF. + + + _Dear Mr. Knopf_: + + Your request for a Foreword to insert in the American + reprint of the little book worries me. A critic on + this side has said that my Prefaces to reprints of my + earlier works are of the nature of parting kicks, and I + have no desire just now to kick this poor innocent. + That evil-tempered old woman, Mother Nature, in one + of her worst tantrums, has been inflicting so many cuffs + and blows on me that she has left me no energy or disposition + to kick anything--even myself. + + The trouble is that I know so little about it. Did + I write this book? What then made me do it? + + In reading a volume of Fors Clavigera I once came + upon a passage which sounded well but left me in a + mist, and it relieved me to find a footnote to it in which + the author says: "This passage was written many + years ago and what I was thinking about at the time + has quite escaped my memory. At all events, though + I let it stand, I can find no meaning in it now." + + Little men may admire but must not try to imitate + these gestures of the giants. And as a result of a little + quiet thinking it over I seem able to recover the idea + I had in my mind when I composed this child's story + and found a title for it in Blake. Something too of the + semi-wild spirit of the child hero in the lines: + + "Naught loves another as itself.... + And, father, how can I love you + Or any of my brothers more? + I love you like the little birds + That pick up crumbs about the door." + + There nature is, after picking up the crumbs to fly + away. + + A long time ago I formed a small collection of children's + books of the early years of the nineteenth century; + and looking through them, wishing that some of + them had fallen into my hands when I was a child I + recalled the books I had read at that time--especially + two or three. Like any normal child I delighted in + such stories as the Swiss Family Robinson, but they + were not the books I prized most; they omitted the very + quality I liked best--the little thrills that nature itself + gave me, which half frightened and fascinated at the + same time, the wonder and mystery of it all. Once in a + while I got a book with something of this rare element + in it, contained perhaps in some perfectly absurd + narrative of animals taking human shape or using human + speech, with such like transformations and vagaries; + they could never be too extravagant, fantastic and incredible, + so long as they expressed anything of the feeling + I myself experienced when out of sight and sound + of my fellow beings, whether out on the great level + plain, with a glitter of illusory water all round me, or + among the shadowy trees with their bird and insect + sounds, or by the waterside and bed of tall dark bullrushes + murmuring in the wind. + + These ancient memories put it in my mind to write + a book which, I imagined, would have suited my peculiar + taste of that early period, the impossible story + to be founded on my own childish impressions and adventures, + with a few dreams and fancies thrown in and + two or three native legends and myths, such as the one + of the Lady of the Hills, the incarnate spirit of the + rocky Sierras on the great plains, about which I heard + from my gaucho comrades when on the spot--the + strange woman seldom viewed by human eyes who is + jealous of man's presence and is able to create sudden + violent tempests to frighten them from her sacred + haunts. + + That's the story of my story, and to the question in + your publisher's practical mind, I'm sorry to have to + say I don't know. I have no way of finding out, since + children are not accustomed to write to authors to tell + them what they think of their books. And after all + these excuses it just occurs to me that children do not + read forewords and introductions; they have to be addressed + to adults who do not read children's books, so + that in any case it would be thrown away. Still if a + foreword you must have, and from me, I think you will + have to get it out of this letter. + + I remain, + + Yours cordially, + W. H. HUDSON. + + November 14,1917. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Little Boy Lost, by Hudson, W. 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