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diff --git a/old/wtrbs10.txt b/old/wtrbs10.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6cdda76..0000000 --- a/old/wtrbs10.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7991 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Water-Babies, by Charles Kingsley -(#3 in our series by Charles Kingsley) - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the -copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing -this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. - -This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project -Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the -header without written permission. - -Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the -eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is -important information about your specific rights and restrictions in -how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: The Water-Babies - -Author: Charles Kingsley - -Release Date: August, 1997 [EBook #1018] -[This file was first posted on August 8, 1997] -[Most recently updated: May 23, 2003] - -Edition: 10 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE WATER-BABIES *** - - - - -Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk - - - -THE WATER BABIES - - - - -CHAPTER I - - - -"I heard a thousand blended notes, -While in a grove I sate reclined; -In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts -Bring sad thoughts to the mind. - -"To her fair works did Nature link -The human soul that through me ran; -And much it grieved my heart to think, -What man has made of man." - -WORDSWORTH. - - -Once upon a time there was a little chimney-sweep, and his name was -Tom. That is a short name, and you have heard it before, so you -will not have much trouble in remembering it. He lived in a great -town in the North country, where there were plenty of chimneys to -sweep, and plenty of money for Tom to earn and his master to spend. -He could not read nor write, and did not care to do either; and he -never washed himself, for there was no water up the court where he -lived. He had never been taught to say his prayers. He never had -heard of God, or of Christ, except in words which you never have -heard, and which it would have been well if he had never heard. He -cried half his time, and laughed the other half. He cried when he -had to climb the dark flues, rubbing his poor knees and elbows raw; -and when the soot got into his eyes, which it did every day in the -week; and when his master beat him, which he did every day in the -week; and when he had not enough to eat, which happened every day -in the week likewise. And he laughed the other half of the day, -when he was tossing halfpennies with the other boys, or playing -leap-frog over the posts, or bowling stones at the horses' legs as -they trotted by, which last was excellent fun, when there was a -wall at hand behind which to hide. As for chimney-sweeping, and -being hungry, and being beaten, he took all that for the way of the -world, like the rain and snow and thunder, and stood manfully with -his back to it till it was over, as his old donkey did to a hail- -storm; and then shook his ears and was as jolly as ever; and -thought of the fine times coming, when he would be a man, and a -master sweep, and sit in the public-house with a quart of beer and -a long pipe, and play cards for silver money, and wear velveteens -and ankle-jacks, and keep a white bull-dog with one gray ear, and -carry her puppies in his pocket, just like a man. And he would -have apprentices, one, two, three, if he could. How he would bully -them, and knock them about, just as his master did to him; and make -them carry home the soot sacks, while he rode before them on his -donkey, with a pipe in his mouth and a flower in his button-hole, -like a king at the head of his army. Yes, there were good times -coming; and, when his master let him have a pull at the leavings of -his beer, Tom was the jolliest boy in the whole town. - -One day a smart little groom rode into the court where Tom lived. -Tom was just hiding behind a wall, to heave half a brick at his -horse's legs, as is the custom of that country when they welcome -strangers; but the groom saw him, and halloed to him to know where -Mr. Grimes, the chimney-sweep, lived. Now, Mr. Grimes was Tom's -own master, and Tom was a good man of business, and always civil to -customers, so he put the half-brick down quietly behind the wall, -and proceeded to take orders. - -Mr. Grimes was to come up next morning to Sir John Harthover's, at -the Place, for his old chimney-sweep was gone to prison, and the -chimneys wanted sweeping. And so he rode away, not giving Tom time -to ask what the sweep had gone to prison for, which was a matter of -interest to Tom, as he had been in prison once or twice himself. -Moreover, the groom looked so very neat and clean, with his drab -gaiters, drab breeches, drab jacket, snow-white tie with a smart -pin in it, and clean round ruddy face, that Tom was offended and -disgusted at his appearance, and considered him a stuck-up fellow, -who gave himself airs because he wore smart clothes, and other -people paid for them; and went behind the wall to fetch the half- -brick after all; but did not, remembering that he had come in the -way of business, and was, as it were, under a flag of truce. - -His master was so delighted at his new customer that he knocked Tom -down out of hand, and drank more beer that night than he usually -did in two, in order to be sure of getting up in time next morning; -for the more a man's head aches when he wakes, the more glad he is -to turn out, and have a breath of fresh air. And, when he did get -up at four the next morning, he knocked Tom down again, in order to -teach him (as young gentlemen used to be taught at public schools) -that he must be an extra good boy that day, as they were going to a -very great house, and might make a very good thing of it, if they -could but give satisfaction. - -And Tom thought so likewise, and, indeed, would have done and -behaved his best, even without being knocked down. For, of all -places upon earth, Harthover Place (which he had never seen) was -the most wonderful, and, of all men on earth, Sir John (whom he had -seen, having been sent to gaol by him twice) was the most awful. - -Harthover Place was really a grand place, even for the rich North -country; with a house so large that in the frame-breaking riots, -which Tom could just remember, the Duke of Wellington, and ten -thousand soldiers to match, were easily housed therein; at least, -so Tom believed; with a park full of deer, which Tom believed to be -monsters who were in the habit of eating children; with miles of -game-preserves, in which Mr. Grimes and the collier lads poached at -times, on which occasions Tom saw pheasants, and wondered what they -tasted like; with a noble salmon-river, in which Mr. Grimes and his -friends would have liked to poach; but then they must have got into -cold water, and that they did not like at all. In short, Harthover -was a grand place, and Sir John a grand old man, whom even Mr. -Grimes respected; for not only could he send Mr. Grimes to prison -when he deserved it, as he did once or twice a week; not only did -he own all the land about for miles; not only was he a jolly, -honest, sensible squire, as ever kept a pack of hounds, who would -do what he thought right by his neighbours, as well as get what he -thought right for himself; but, what was more, he weighed full -fifteen stone, was nobody knew how many inches round the chest, and -could have thrashed Mr. Grimes himself in fair fight, which very -few folk round there could do, and which, my dear little boy, would -not have been right for him to do, as a great many things are not -which one both can do, and would like very much to do. So Mr. -Grimes touched his hat to him when he rode through the town, and -called him a "buirdly awd chap," and his young ladies "gradely -lasses," which are two high compliments in the North country; and -thought that that made up for his poaching Sir John's pheasants; -whereby you may perceive that Mr. Grimes had not been to a -properly-inspected Government National School. - -Now, I dare say, you never got up at three o'clock on a midsummer -morning. Some people get up then because they want to catch -salmon; and some because they want to climb Alps; and a great many -more because they must, like Tom. But, I assure you, that three -o'clock on a midsummer morning is the pleasantest time of all the -twenty-four hours, and all the three hundred and sixty-five days; -and why every one does not get up then, I never could tell, save -that they are all determined to spoil their nerves and their -complexions by doing all night what they might just as well do all -day. But Tom, instead of going out to dinner at half-past eight at -night, and to a ball at ten, and finishing off somewhere between -twelve and four, went to bed at seven, when his master went to the -public-house, and slept like a dead pig; for which reason he was as -piert as a game-cock (who always gets up early to wake the maids), -and just ready to get up when the fine gentlemen and ladies were -just ready to go to bed. - -So he and his master set out; Grimes rode the donkey in front, and -Tom and the brushes walked behind; out of the court, and up the -street, past the closed window-shutters, and the winking weary -policemen, and the roofs all shining gray in the gray dawn. - -They passed through the pitmen's village, all shut up and silent -now, and through the turnpike; and then the were out in the real -country, and plodding along the black dusty road, between black -slag walls, with no sound but the groaning and thumping of the pit- -engine in the next field. But soon the road grew white, and the -walls likewise; and at the wall's foot grew long grass and gay -flowers, all drenched with dew; and instead of the groaning of the -pit-engine, they heard the skylark saying his matins high up in the -air, and the pit-bird warbling in the sedges, as he had warbled all -night long. - -All else was silent. For old Mrs. Earth was still fast asleep; -and, like many pretty people, she looked still prettier asleep than -awake. The great elm-trees in the gold-green meadows were fast -asleep above, and the cows fast asleep beneath them; nay, the few -clouds which were about were fast asleep likewise, and so tired -that they had lain down on the earth to rest, in long white flakes -and bars, among the stems of the elm-trees, and along the tops of -the alders by the stream, waiting for the sun to bid them rise and -go about their day's business in the clear blue overhead. - -On they went; and Tom looked, and looked, for he never had been so -far into the country before; and longed to get over a gate, and -pick buttercups, and look for birds' nests in the hedge; but Mr. -Grimes was a man of business, and would not have heard of that. - -Soon they came up with a poor Irishwoman, trudging along with a -bundle at her back. She had a gray shawl over her head, and a -crimson madder petticoat; so you may be sure she came from Galway. -She had neither shoes nor stockings, and limped along as if she -were tired and footsore; but she was a very tall handsome woman, -with bright gray eyes, and heavy black hair hanging about her -cheeks. And she took Mr. Grimes' fancy so much, that when he came -alongside he called out to her: - -"This is a hard road for a gradely foot like that. Will ye up, -lass, and ride behind me?" - -But, perhaps, she did not admire Mr. Grimes' look and voice; for -she answered quietly: - -"No, thank you: I'd sooner walk with your little lad here." - -"You may please yourself," growled Grimes, and went on smoking. - -So she walked beside Tom, and talked to him, and asked him where he -lived, and what he knew, and all about himself, till Tom thought he -had never met such a pleasant-spoken woman. And she asked him, at -last, whether he said his prayers! and seemed sad when he told her -that he knew no prayers to say. - -Then he asked her where she lived, and she said far away by the -sea. And Tom asked her about the sea; and she told him how it -rolled and roared over the rocks in winter nights, and lay still in -the bright summer days, for the children to bathe and play in it; -and many a story more, till Tom longed to go and see the sea, and -bathe in it likewise. - -At last, at the bottom of a hill, they came to a spring; not such a -spring as you see here, which soaks up out of a white gravel in the -bog, among red fly-catchers, and pink bottle-heath, and sweet white -orchis; nor such a one as you may see, too, here, which bubbles up -under the warm sandbank in the hollow lane by the great tuft of -lady ferns, and makes the sand dance reels at the bottom, day and -night, all the year round; not such a spring as either of those; -but a real North country limestone fountain, like one of those in -Sicily or Greece, where the old heathen fancied the nymphs sat -cooling themselves the hot summer's day, while the shepherds peeped -at them from behind the bushes. Out of a low cave of rock, at the -foot of a limestone crag, the great fountain rose, quelling, and -bubbling, and gurgling, so clear that you could not tell where the -water ended and the air began; and ran away under the road, a -stream large enough to turn a mill; among blue geranium, and golden -globe-flower, and wild raspberry, and the bird-cherry with its -tassels of snow. - -And there Grimes stopped, and looked; and Tom looked too. Tom was -wondering whether anything lived in that dark cave, and came out at -night to fly in the meadows. But Grimes was not wondering at all. -Without a word, he got off his donkey, and clambered over the low -road wall, and knelt down, and began dipping his ugly head into the -spring--and very dirty he made it. - -Tom was picking the flowers as fast as he could. The Irishwoman -helped him, and showed him how to tie them up; and a very pretty -nosegay they had made between them. But when he saw Grimes -actually wash, he stopped, quite astonished; and when Grimes had -finished, and began shaking his ears to dry them, he said: - -"Why, master, I never saw you do that before." - -"Nor will again, most likely. 'Twasn't for cleanliness I did it, -but for coolness. I'd be ashamed to want washing every week or so, -like any smutty collier lad." - -"I wish I might go and dip my head in," said poor little Tom. "It -must be as good as putting it under the town-pump; and there is no -beadle here to drive a chap away." - -"Thou come along," said Grimes; "what dost want with washing -thyself? Thou did not drink half a gallon of beer last night, like -me." - -"I don't care for you," said naughty Tom, and ran down to the -stream, and began washing his face. - -Grimes was very sulky, because the woman preferred Tom's company to -his; so he dashed at him with horrid words, and tore him up from -his knees, and began beating him. But Tom was accustomed to that, -and got his head safe between Mr. Grimes' legs, and kicked his -shins with all his might. - -"Are you not ashamed of yourself, Thomas Grimes?" cried the -Irishwoman over the wall. - -Grimes looked up, startled at her knowing his name; but all he -answered was, "No, nor never was yet;" and went on beating Tom. - -"True for you. If you ever had been ashamed of yourself, you would -have gone over into Vendale long ago." - -"What do you know about Vendale?" shouted Grimes; but he left off -beating Tom. - -"I know about Vendale, and about you, too. I know, for instance, -what happened in Aldermire Copse, by night, two years ago come -Martinmas." - -"You do?" shouted Grimes; and leaving Tom, he climbed up over the -wall, and faced the woman. Tom thought he was going to strike her; -but she looked him too full and fierce in the face for that. - -"Yes; I was there," said the Irishwoman quietly. - -"You are no Irishwoman, by your speech," said Grimes, after many -bad words. - -"Never mind who I am. I saw what I saw; and if you strike that boy -again, I can tell what I know." - -Grimes seemed quite cowed, and got on his donkey without another -word. - -"Stop!" said the Irishwoman. "I have one more word for you both; -for you will both see me again before all is over. Those that wish -to be clean, clean they will be; and those that wish to be foul, -foul they will be. Remember." - -And she turned away, and through a gate into the meadow. Grimes -stood still a moment, like a man who had been stunned. Then he -rushed after her, shouting, "You come back." But when he got into -the meadow, the woman was not there. - -Had she hidden away? There was no place to hide in. But Grimes -looked about, and Tom also, for he was as puzzled as Grimes himself -at her disappearing so suddenly; but look where they would, she was -not there. - -Grimes came back again, as silent as a post, for he was a little -frightened; and, getting on his donkey, filled a fresh pipe, and -smoked away, leaving Tom in peace. - -And now they had gone three miles and more, and came to Sir John's -lodge-gates. - -Very grand lodges they were, with very grand iron gates and stone -gate-posts, and on the top of each a most dreadful bogy, all teeth, -horns, and tail, which was the crest which Sir John's ancestors -wore in the Wars of the Roses; and very prudent men they were to -wear it, for all their enemies must have run for their lives at the -very first sight of them. - -Grimes rang at the gate, and out came a keeper on the spot, and -opened. - -"I was told to expect thee," he said. "Now thou'lt be so good as -to keep to the main avenue, and not let me find a hare or a rabbit -on thee when thou comest back. I shall look sharp for one, I tell -thee." - -"Not if it's in the bottom of the soot-bag," quoth Grimes, and at -that he laughed; and the keeper laughed and said: - -"If that's thy sort, I may as well walk up with thee to the hall." - -"I think thou best had. It's thy business to see after thy game, -man, and not mine." - -So the keeper went with them; and, to Tom's surprise, he and Grimes -chatted together all the way quite pleasantly. He did not know -that a keeper is only a poacher turned outside in, and a poacher a -keeper turned inside out. - -They walked up a great lime avenue, a full mile long, and between -their stems Tom peeped trembling at the horns of the sleeping deer, -which stood up among the ferns. Tom had never seen such enormous -trees, and as he looked up he fancied that the blue sky rested on -their heads. But he was puzzled very much by a strange murmuring -noise, which followed them all the way. So much puzzled, that at -last he took courage to ask the keeper what it was. - -He spoke very civilly, and called him Sir, for he was horribly -afraid of him, which pleased the keeper, and he told him that they -were the bees about the lime flowers. - -"What are bees?" asked Tom. - -"What make honey." - -"What is honey?" asked Tom. - -"Thou hold thy noise," said Grimes. - -"Let the boy be," said the keeper. "He's a civil young chap now, -and that's more than he'll be long if he bides with thee." - -Grimes laughed, for he took that for a compliment. - -"I wish I were a keeper," said Tom, "to live in such a beautiful -place, and wear green velveteens, and have a real dog-whistle at my -button, like you." - -The keeper laughed; he was a kind-hearted fellow enough. - -"Let well alone, lad, and ill too at times. Thy life's safer than -mine at all events, eh, Mr. Grimes?" - -And Grimes laughed again, and then the two men began talking, quite -low. Tom could hear, though, that it was about some poaching -fight; and at last Grimes said surlily, "Hast thou anything against -me?" - -"Not now." - -"Then don't ask me any questions till thou hast, for I am a man of -honour." - -And at that they both laughed again, and thought it a very good -joke. - -And by this time they were come up to the great iron gates in front -of the house; and Tom stared through them at the rhododendrons and -azaleas, which were all in flower; and then at the house itself, -and wondered how many chimneys there were in it, and how long ago -it was built, and what was the man's name that built it, and -whether he got much money for his job? - -These last were very difficult questions to answer. For Harthover -had been built at ninety different times, and in nineteen different -styles, and looked as if somebody had built a whole street of -houses of every imaginable shape, and then stirred them together -with a spoon. - - -For the attics were Anglo-Saxon. -The third door Norman. -The second Cinque-cento. -The first-floor Elizabethan. -The right wing Pure Doric. -The centre Early English, with a huge portico copied from the -Parthenon. -The left wing pure Boeotian, which the country folk admired most of -all, became it was just like the new barracks in the town, only -three times as big. -The grand staircase was copied from the Catacombs at Rome. -The back staircase from the Tajmahal at Agra. This was built by -Sir John's great-great-great-uncle, who won, in Lord Clive's Indian -Wars, plenty of money, plenty of wounds, and no more taste than his -betters. -The cellars were copied from the caves of Elephanta. -The offices from the Pavilion at Brighton. - - -And the rest from nothing in heaven, or earth, or under the earth. - -So that Harthover House was a great puzzle to antiquarians, and a -thorough Naboth's vineyard to critics, and architects, and all -persons who like meddling with other men's business, and spending -other men's money. So they were all setting upon poor Sir John, -year after year, and trying to talk him into spending a hundred -thousand pounds or so, in building, to please them and not himself. -But he always put them off, like a canny North-countryman as he -was. One wanted him to build a Gothic house, but he said he was no -Goth; and another to build an Elizabethan, but he said he lived -under good Queen Victoria, and not good Queen Bess; and another was -bold enough to tell him that his house was ugly, but he said he -lived inside it, and not outside; and another, that there was no -unity in it, but he said that that was just why he liked the old -place. For he liked to see how each Sir John, and Sir Hugh, and -Sir Ralph, and Sir Randal, had left his mark upon the place, each -after his own taste; and he had no more notion of disturbing his -ancestors' work than of disturbing their graves. For now the house -looked like a real live house, that had a history, and had grown -and grown as the world grew; and that it was only an upstart fellow -who did not know who his own grandfather was, who would change it -for some spick and span new Gothic or Elizabethan thing, which -looked as if it bad been all spawned in a night, as mushrooms are. -From which you may collect (if you have wit enough) that Sir John -was a very sound-headed, sound-hearted squire, and just the man to -keep the country side in order, and show good sport with his -hounds. - -But Tom and his master did not go in through the great iron gates, -as if they had been Dukes or Bishops, but round the back way, and a -very long way round it was; and into a little back-door, where the -ash-boy let them in, yawning horribly; and then in a passage the -housekeeper met them, in such a flowered chintz dressing-gown, that -Tom mistook her for My Lady herself, and she gave Grimes solemn -orders about "You will take care of this, and take care of that," -as if he was going up the chimneys, and not Tom. And Grimes -listened, and said every now and then, under his voice, "You'll -mind that, you little beggar?" and Tom did mind, all at least that -he could. And then the housekeeper turned them into a grand room, -all covered up in sheets of brown paper, and bade them begin, in a -lofty and tremendous voice; and so after a whimper or two, and a -kick from his master, into the grate Tom went, and up the chimney, -while a housemaid stayed in the room to watch the furniture; to -whom Mr. Grimes paid many playful and chivalrous compliments, but -met with very slight encouragement in return. - -How many chimneys Tom swept I cannot say; but he swept so many that -he got quite tired, and puzzled too, for they were not like the -town flues to which he was accustomed, but such as you would find-- -if you would only get up them and look, which perhaps you would not -like to do--in old country-houses, large and crooked chimneys, -which had been altered again and again, till they ran one into -another, anastomosing (as Professor Owen would say) considerably. -So Tom fairly lost his way in them; not that he cared much for -that, though he was in pitchy darkness, for he was as much at home -in a chimney as a mole is underground; but at last, coming down as -he thought the right chimney, he came down the wrong one, and found -himself standing on the hearthrug in a room the like of which he -had never seen before. - -Tom had never seen the like. He had never been in gentlefolks' -rooms but when the carpets were all up, and the curtains down, and -the furniture huddled together under a cloth, and the pictures -covered with aprons and dusters; and he had often enough wondered -what the rooms were like when they were all ready for the quality -to sit in. And now he saw, and he thought the sight very pretty. - -The room was all dressed in white,--white window-curtains, white -bed-curtains, white furniture, and white walls, with just a few -lines of pink here and there. The carpet was all over gay little -flowers; and the walls were hung with pictures in gilt frames, -which amused Tom very much. There were pictures of ladies and -gentlemen, and pictures of horses and dogs. The horses he liked; -but the dogs he did not care for much, for there were no bull-dogs -among them, not even a terrier. But the two pictures which took -his fancy most were, one a man in long garments, with little -children and their mothers round him, who was laying his hand upon -the children's heads. That was a very pretty picture, Tom thought, -to hang in a lady's room. For he could see that it was a lady's -room by the dresses which lay about. - -The other picture was that of a man nailed to a cross, which -surprised Tom much. He fancied that he had seen something like it -in a shop-window. But why was it there? "Poor man," thought Tom, -"and he looks so kind and quiet. But why should the lady have such -a sad picture as that in her room? Perhaps it was some kinsman of -hers, who had been murdered by the savages in foreign parts, and -she kept it there for a remembrance." And Tom felt sad, and awed, -and turned to look at something else. - -The next thing he saw, and that too puzzled him, was a washing- -stand, with ewers and basins, and soap and brushes, and towels, and -a large bath full of clean water--what a heap of things all for -washing! "She must be a very dirty lady," thought Tom, "by my -master's rule, to want as much scrubbing as all that. But she must -be very cunning to put the dirt out of the way so well afterwards, -for I don't see a speck about the room, not even on the very -towels." - -And then, looking toward the bed, he saw that dirty lady, and held -his breath with astonishment. - -Under the snow-white coverlet, upon the snow-white pillow, lay the -most beautiful little girl that Tom had ever seen. Her cheeks were -almost as white as the pillow, and her hair was like threads of -gold spread all about over the bed. She might have been as old as -Tom, or maybe a year or two older; but Tom did not think of that. -He thought only of her delicate skin and golden hair, and wondered -whether she was a real live person, or one of the wax dolls he had -seen in the shops. But when he saw her breathe, he made up his -mind that she was alive, and stood staring at her, as if she had -been an angel out of heaven. - -No. She cannot be dirty. She never could have been dirty, thought -Tom to himself. And then he thought, "And are all people like that -when they are washed?" And he looked at his own wrist, and tried -to rub the soot off, and wondered whether it ever would come off. -"Certainly I should look much prettier then, if I grew at all like -her." - -And looking round, he suddenly saw, standing close to him, a little -ugly, black, ragged figure, with bleared eyes and grinning white -teeth. He turned on it angrily. What did such a little black ape -want in that sweet young lady's room? And behold, it was himself, -reflected in a great mirror, the like of which Tom had never seen -before. - -And Tom, for the first time in his life, found out that he was -dirty; and burst into tears with shame and anger; and turned to -sneak up the chimney again and hide; and upset the fender and threw -the fire-irons down, with a noise as of ten thousand tin kettles -tied to ten thousand mad dogs' tails. - -Up jumped the little white lady in her bed, and, seeing Tom, -screamed as shrill as any peacock. In rushed a stout old nurse -from the next room, and seeing Tom likewise, made up her mind that -he had come to rob, plunder, destroy, and burn; and dashed at him, -as he lay over the fender, so fast that she caught him by the -jacket. - -But she did not hold him. Tom had been in a policeman's hands many -a time, and out of them too, what is more; and he would have been -ashamed to face his friends for ever if he had been stupid enough -to be caught by an old woman; so he doubled under the good lady's -arm, across the room, and out of the window in a moment. - -He did not need to drop out, though he would have done so bravely -enough. Nor even to let himself down a spout, which would have -been an old game to him; for once he got up by a spout to the -church roof, he said to take jackdaws' eggs, but the policeman said -to steal lead; and, when he was seen on high, sat there till the -sun got too hot, and came down by another spout, leaving the -policemen to go back to the stationhouse and eat their dinners. - -But all under the window spread a tree, with great leaves and sweet -white flowers, almost as big as his head. It was magnolia, I -suppose; but Tom knew nothing about that, and cared less; for down -the tree he went, like a cat, and across the garden lawn, and over -the iron railings and up the park towards the wood, leaving the old -nurse to scream murder and fire at the window. - -The under gardener, mowing, saw Tom, and threw down his scythe; -caught his leg in it, and cut his shin open, whereby he kept his -bed for a week; but in his hurry he never knew it, and gave chase -to poor Tom. The dairymaid heard the noise, got the churn between -her knees, and tumbled over it, spilling all the cream; and yet she -jumped up, and gave chase to Tom. A groom cleaning Sir John's hack -at the stables let him go loose, whereby he kicked himself lame in -five minutes; but he ran out and gave chase to Tom. Grimes upset -the soot-sack in the new-gravelled yard, and spoilt it all utterly; -but he ran out and gave chase to Tom. The old steward opened the -park-gate in such a hurry, that he hung up his pony's chin upon the -spikes, and, for aught I know, it hangs there still; but he jumped -off, and gave chase to Tom. The ploughman left his horses at the -headland, and one jumped over the fence, and pulled the other into -the ditch, plough and all; but he ran on, and gave chase to Tom. -The keeper, who was taking a stoat out of a trap, let the stoat go, -and caught his own finger; but he jumped up, and ran after Tom; and -considering what he said, and how he looked, I should have been -sorry for Tom if he had caught him. Sir John looked out of his -study window (for he was an early old gentleman) and up at the -nurse, and a marten dropped mud in his eye, so that he had at last -to send for the doctor; and yet he ran out, and gave chase to Tom. -The Irishwoman, too, was walking up to the house to beg,--she must -have got round by some byway--but she threw away her bundle, and -gave chase to Tom likewise. Only my Lady did not give chase; for -when she had put her head out of the window, her night-wig fell -into the garden, and she had to ring up her lady's-maid, and send -her down for it privately, which quite put her out of the running, -so that she came in nowhere, and is consequently not placed. - -In a word, never was there heard at Hall Place--not even when the -fox was killed in the conservatory, among acres of broken glass, -and tons of smashed flower-pots--such a noise, row, hubbub, babel, -shindy, hullabaloo, stramash, charivari, and total contempt of -dignity, repose, and order, as that day, when Grimes, gardener, the -groom, the dairymaid, Sir John, the steward, the ploughman, the -keeper, and the Irishwoman, all ran up the park, shouting, "Stop -thief," in the belief that Tom had at least a thousand pounds' -worth of jewels in his empty pockets; and the very magpies and jays -followed Tom up, screaking and screaming, as if he were a hunted -fox, beginning to droop his brush. - -And all the while poor Tom paddled up the park with his little bare -feet, like a small black gorilla fleeing to the forest. Alas for -him! there was no big father gorilla therein to take his part--to -scratch out the gardener's inside with one paw, toss the dairymaid -into a tree with another, and wrench off Sir John's head with a -third, while he cracked the keeper's skull with his teeth as easily -as if it had been a cocoa-nut or a paving-stone. - -However, Tom did not remember ever having had a father; so he did -not look for one, and expected to have to take care of himself; -while as for running, he could keep up for a couple of miles with -any stage-coach, if there was the chance of a copper or a cigar- -end, and turn coach-wheels on his hands and feet ten times -following, which is more than you can do. Wherefore his pursuers -found it very difficult to catch him; and we will hope that they -did not catch him at all. - -Tom, of course, made for the woods. He had never been in a wood in -his life; but he was sharp enough to know that he might hide in a -bush, or swarm up a tree, and, altogether, had more chance there -than in the open. If he had not known that, he would have been -foolisher than a mouse or a minnow. - -But when he got into the wood, he found it a very different sort of -place from what he had fancied. He pushed into a thick cover of -rhododendrons, and found himself at once caught in a trap. The -boughs laid hold of his legs and arms, poked him in his face and -his stomach, made him shut his eyes tight (though that was no great -loss, for he could not see at best a yard before his nose); and -when he got through the rhododendrons, the hassock-grass and sedges -tumbled him over, and cut his poor little fingers afterwards most -spitefully; the birches birched him as soundly as if he had been a -nobleman at Eton, and over the face too (which is not fair swishing -as all brave boys will agree); and the lawyers tripped him up, and -tore his shins as if they had sharks' teeth--which lawyers are -likely enough to have. - -"I must get out of this," thought Tom, "or I shall stay here till -somebody comes to help me--which is just what I don't want." - -But how to get out was the difficult matter. And indeed I don't -think he would ever have got out at all, but have stayed there till -the cock-robins covered him with leaves, if he had not suddenly run -his head against a wall. - -Now running your head against a wall is not pleasant, especially if -it is a loose wall, with the stones all set on edge, and a sharp -cornered one hits you between the eyes and makes you see all manner -of beautiful stars. The stars are very beautiful, certainly; but -unfortunately they go in the twenty-thousandth part of a split -second, and the pain which comes after them does not. And so Tom -hurt his head; but he was a brave boy, and did not mind that a -penny. He guessed that over the wall the cover would end; and up -it he went, and over like a squirrel. - -And there he was, out on the great grouse-moors, which the country -folk called Harthover Fell--heather and bog and rock, stretching -away and up, up to the very sky. - -Now, Tom was a cunning little fellow--as cunning as an old Exmoor -stag. Why not? Though he was but ten years old, he had lived -longer than most stags, and had more wits to start with into the -bargain. - -He knew as well as a stag, that if he backed he might throw the -hounds out. So the first thing he did when he was over the wall -was to make the neatest double sharp to his right, and run along -under the wall for nearly half a mile. - -Whereby Sir John, and the keeper, and the steward, and the -gardener, and the ploughman, and the dairymaid, and all the hue- -and-cry together, went on ahead half a mile in the very opposite -direction, and inside the wall, leaving him a mile off on the -outside; while Tom heard their shouts die away in the woods and -chuckled to himself merrily. - -At last he came to a dip in the land, and went to the bottom of it, -and then he turned bravely away from the wall and up the moor; for -he knew that he had put a hill between him and his enemies, and -could go on without their seeing him. - -But the Irishwoman, alone of them all, had seen which way Tom went. -She had kept ahead of every one the whole time; and yet she neither -walked nor ran. She went along quite smoothly and gracefully, -while her feet twinkled past each other so fast that you could not -see which was foremost; till every one asked the other who the -strange woman was; and all agreed, for want of anything better to -say, that she must be in league with Tom. - -But when she came to the plantation, they lost sight of her; and -they could do no less. For she went quietly over the wall after -Tom, and followed him wherever he went. Sir John and the rest saw -no more of her; and out of sight was out of mind. - -And now Tom was right away into the heather, over just such a moor -as those in which you have been bred, except that there were rocks -and stones lying about everywhere, and that, instead of the moor -growing flat as he went upwards, it grew more and more broken and -hilly, but not so rough but that little Tom could jog along well -enough, and find time, too, to stare about at the strange place, -which was like a new world to him. - -He saw great spiders there, with crowns and crosses marked on their -backs, who sat in the middle of their webs, and when they saw Tom -coming, shook them so fast that they became invisible. Then he saw -lizards, brown and gray and green, and thought they were snakes, -and would sting him; but they were as much frightened as he, and -shot away into the heath. And then, under a rock, he saw a pretty -sight--a great brown, sharp-nosed creature, with a white tag to her -brush, and round her four or five smutty little cubs, the funniest -fellows Tom ever saw. She lay on her back, rolling about, and -stretching out her legs and head and tail in the bright sunshine; -and the cubs jumped over her, and ran round her, and nibbled her -paws, and lugged her about by the tail; and she seemed to enjoy it -mightily. But one selfish little fellow stole away from the rest -to a dead crow close by, and dragged it off to hide it, though it -was nearly as big as he was. Whereat all his little brothers set -off after him in full cry, and saw Tom; and then all ran back, and -up jumped Mrs. Vixen, and caught one up in her mouth, and the rest -toddled after her, and into a dark crack in the rocks; and there -was an end of the show. - -And next he had a fright; for, as he scrambled up a sandy brow-- -whirr-poof-poof-cock-cock-kick--something went off in his face, -with a most horrid noise. He thought the ground had blown up, and -the end of the world come. - -And when he opened his eyes (for he shut them very tight) it was -only an old cock-grouse, who had been washing himself in sand, like -an Arab, for want of water; and who, when Tom had all but trodden -on him, jumped up with a noise like the express train, leaving his -wife and children to shift for themselves, like an old coward, and -went off, screaming "Cur-ru-u-uck, cur-ru-u-uck--murder, thieves, -fire--cur-u-uck-cock-kick--the end of the world is come--kick-kick- -cock-kick." He was always fancying that the end of the world was -come, when anything happened which was farther off than the end of -his own nose. But the end of the world was not come, any more than -the twelfth of August was; though the old grouse-cock was quite -certain of it. - -So the old grouse came back to his wife and family an hour -afterwards, and said solemnly, "Cock-cock-kick; my dears, the end -of the world is not quite come; but I assure you it is coming the -day after to-morrow--cock." But his wife had heard that so often -that she knew all about it, and a little more. And, besides, she -was the mother of a family, and had seven little poults to wash and -feed every day; and that made her very practical, and a little -sharp-tempered; so all she answered was: "Kick-kick-kick--go and -catch spiders, go and catch spiders--kick." - -So Tom went on and on, he hardly knew why; but he liked the great -wide strange place, and the cool fresh bracing air. But he went -more and more slowly as he got higher up the hill; for now the -ground grew very bad indeed. Instead of soft turf and springy -heather, he met great patches of flat limestone rock, just like -ill-made pavements, with deep cracks between the stones and ledges, -filled with ferns; so he had to hop from stone to stone, and now -and then he slipped in between, and hurt his little bare toes, -though they were tolerably tough ones; but still he would go on and -up, he could not tell why. - -What would Tom have said if he had seen, walking over the moor -behind him, the very same Irishwoman who had taken his part upon -the road? But whether it was that he looked too little behind him, -or whether it was that she kept out of sight behind the rocks and -knolls, he never saw her, though she saw him. - -And now he began to get a little hungry, and very thirsty; for he -had run a long way, and the sun had risen high in heaven, and the -rock was as hot as an oven, and the air danced reels over it, as it -does over a limekiln, till everything round seemed quivering and -melting in the glare. - -But he could see nothing to eat anywhere, and still less to drink. - -The heath was full of bilberries and whimberries; but they were -only in flower yet, for it was June. And as for water; who can -find that on the top of a limestone rock? Now and then he passed -by a deep dark swallow-hole, going down into the earth, as if it -was the chimney of some dwarfs house underground; and more than -once, as he passed, he could hear water falling, trickling, -tinkling, many many feet below. How he longed to get down to it, -and cool his poor baked lips! But, brave little chimney-sweep as -he was, he dared not climb down such chimneys as those. - -So he went on and on, till his head spun round with the heat, and -he thought he heard church-bells ringing a long way off. - -"Ah!" he thought, "where there is a church there will be houses and -people; and, perhaps, some one will give me a bit and a sup." So -he set off again, to look for the church; for he was sure that he -heard the bells quite plain. - -And in a minute more, when he looked round, he stopped again, and -said, "Why, what a big place the world is!" - -And so it was; for, from the top of the mountain he could see--what -could he not see? - -Behind him, far below, was Harthover, and the dark woods, and the -shining salmon river; and on his left, far below, was the town, and -the smoking chimneys of the collieries; and far, far away, the -river widened to the shining sea; and little white specks, which -were ships, lay on its bosom. Before him lay, spread out like a -map, great plains, and farms, and villages, amid dark knots of -trees. They all seemed at his very feet; but he had sense to see -that they were long miles away. - -And to his right rose moor after moor, hill after hill, till they -faded away, blue into blue sky. But between him and those moors, -and really at his very feet, lay something, to which, as soon as -Tom saw it, he determined to go, for that was the place for him. - -A deep, deep green and rocky valley, very narrow, and filled with -wood; but through the wood, hundreds of feet below him, he could -see a clear stream glance. Oh, if he could but get down to that -stream! Then, by the stream, he saw the roof of a little cottage, -and a little garden set out in squares and beds. And there was a -tiny little red thing moving in the garden, no bigger than a fly. -As Tom looked down, he saw that it was a woman in a red petticoat. -Ah! perhaps she would give him something to eat. And there were -the church-bells ringing again. Surely there must be a village -down there. Well, nobody would know him, or what had happened at -the Place. The news could not have got there yet, even if Sir John -had set all the policemen in the county after him; and he could get -down there in five minutes. - -Tom was quite right about the hue-and-cry not having got thither; -for he had come without knowing it, the best part of ten miles from -Harthover; but he was wrong about getting down in five minutes, for -the cottage was more than a mile off, and a good thousand feet -below. - -However, down he went; like a brave little man as he was, though he -was very footsore, and tired, and hungry, and thirsty; while the -church-bells rang so loud, he began to think that they must be -inside his own head, and the river chimed and tinkled far below; -and this was the song which it sang:- - - -Clear and cool, clear and cool, -By laughing shallow, and dreaming pool; -Cool and clear, cool and clear, -By shining shingle, and foaming wear; -Under the crag where the ouzel sings, -And the ivied wall where the church-bell rings, -Undefiled, for the undefiled; -Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child. - -Dank and foul, dank and foul, -By the smoky town in its murky cowl; -Foul and dank, foul and dank, -By wharf and sewer and slimy bank; -Darker and darker the farther I go, -Baser and baser the richer I grow; -Who dares sport with the sin-defiled? -Shrink from me, turn from me, mother and child. - -Strong and free, strong and free, -The floodgates are open, away to the sea, -Free and strong, free and strong, -Cleansing my streams as I hurry along, -To the golden sands, and the leaping bar, -And the taintless tide that awaits me afar. -As I lose myself in the infinite main, -Like a soul that has sinned and is pardoned again. -Undefiled, for the undefiled; -Play by me, bathe in me, mother and child. - - -So Tom went down; and all the while he never saw the Irishwoman -going down behind him. - - - -CHAPTER II - - - -"And is there care in heaven? and is there love -In heavenly spirits to these creatures base -That may compassion of their evils move? -There is:- else much more wretched were the case -Of men than beasts: But oh! the exceeding grace -Of Highest God that loves His creatures so, -And all His works with mercy doth embrace, -That blessed Angels He sends to and fro, -To serve to wicked man, to serve His wicked foe!" - -SPENSER. - - -A mile off, and a thousand feet down. - -So Tom found it; though it seemed as if he could have chucked a -pebble on to the back of the woman in the red petticoat who was -weeding in the garden, or even across the dale to the rocks beyond. -For the bottom of the valley was just one field broad, and on the -other side ran the stream; and above it, gray crag, gray down, gray -stair, gray moor walled up to heaven. - -A quiet, silent, rich, happy place; a narrow crack cut deep into -the earth; so deep, and so out of the way, that the bad bogies can -hardly find it out. The name of the place is Vendale; and if you -want to see it for yourself, you must go up into the High Craven, -and search from Bolland Forest north by Ingleborough, to the Nine -Standards and Cross Fell; and if you have not found it, you must -turn south, and search the Lake Mountains, down to Scaw Fell and -the sea; and then, if you have not found it, you must go northward -again by merry Carlisle, and search the Cheviots all across, from -Annan Water to Berwick Law; and then, whether you have found -Vendale or not, you will have found such a country, and such a -people, as ought to make you proud of being a British boy. - -So Tom went to go down; and first he went down three hundred feet -of steep heather, mixed up with loose brown grindstone, as rough as -a file; which was not pleasant to his poor little heels, as he came -bump, stump, jump, down the steep. And still he thought he could -throw a stone into the garden. - -Then he went down three hundred feet of lime-stone terraces, one -below the other, as straight as if a carpenter had ruled them with -his ruler and then cut them out with his chisel. There was no -heath there, but - - -First, a little grass slope, covered with the prettiest flowers, -rockrose and saxifrage, and thyme and basil, and all sorts of sweet -herbs. - -Then bump down a two-foot step of limestone. - -Then another bit of grass and flowers. - -Then bump down a one-foot step. - -Then another bit of grass and flowers for fifty yards, as steep as -the house-roof, where he had to slide down on his dear little tail. - -Then another step of stone, ten feet high; and there he had to stop -himself, and crawl along the edge to find a crack; for if he had -rolled over, he would have rolled right into the old woman's -garden, and frightened her out of her wits. - -Then, when he had found a dark narrow crack, full of green-stalked -fern, such as hangs in the basket in the drawing-room, and had -crawled down through it, with knees and elbows, as he would down a -chimney, there was another grass slope, and another step, and so -on, till--oh, dear me! I wish it was all over; and so did he. And -yet he thought he could throw a stone into the old woman's garden. - -At last he came to a bank of beautiful shrubs; white-beam with its -great silver-backed leaves, and mountain-ash, and oak; and below -them cliff and crag, cliff and crag, with great beds of crown-ferns -and wood-sedge; while through the shrubs he could see the stream -sparkling, and hear it murmur on the white pebbles. He did not -know that it was three hundred feet below. - -You would have been giddy, perhaps, at looking down: but Tom was -not. He was a brave little chimney-sweep; and when he found -himself on the top of a high cliff, instead of sitting down and -crying for his baba (though he never had had any baba to cry for), -he said, "Ah, this will just suit me!" though he was very tired; -and down he went, by stock and stone, sedge and ledge, bush and -rush, as if he had been born a jolly little black ape, with four -hands instead of two. - -And all the while he never saw the Irishwoman coming down behind -him. - -But he was getting terribly tired now. The burning sun on the -fells had sucked him up; but the damp heat of the woody crag sucked -him up still more; and the perspiration ran out of the ends of his -fingers and toes, and washed him cleaner than he had been for a -whole year. But, of course, he dirtied everything, terribly as he -went. There has been a great black smudge all down the crag ever -since. And there have been more black beetles in Vendale since -than ever were known before; all, of course, owing to Tom's having -blacked the original papa of them all, just as he was setting off -to be married, with a sky-blue coat and scarlet leggins, as smart -as a gardener's dog with a polyanthus in his mouth. - -At last he got to the bottom. But, behold, it was not the bottom-- -as people usually find when they are coming down a mountain. For -at the foot of the crag were heaps and heaps of fallen limestone of -every size from that of your head to that of a stage-waggon, with -holes between them full of sweet heath-fern; and before Tom got -through them, he was out in the bright sunshine again; and then he -felt, once for all and suddenly, as people generally do, that he -was b-e-a-t, beat. - -You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if -you live such a life as a man ought to live, let you be as strong -and healthy as you may: and when you are, you will find it a very -ugly feeling. I hope that that day you may have a stout staunch -friend by you who is not beat; for, if you have not, you had best -lie where you are, and wait for better times, as poor Tom did. - -He could not get on. The sun was burning, and yet he felt chill -all over. He was quite empty, and yet he felt quite sick. There -was but two hundred yards of smooth pasture between him and the -cottage, and yet he could not walk down it. He could hear the -stream murmuring only one field beyond it, and yet it seemed to him -as if it was a hundred miles off. - -He lay down on the grass till the beetles ran over him, and the -flies settled on his nose. I don't know when he would have got up -again, if the gnats and the midges had not taken compassion on him. -But the gnats blew their trumpets so loud in his ear, and the -midges nibbled so at his hands and face wherever they could find a -place free from soot, that at last he woke up, and stumbled away, -down over a low wall, and into a narrow road, and up to the -cottage-door. - -And a neat pretty cottage it was, with clipped yew hedges all round -the garden, and yews inside too, cut into peacocks and trumpets and -teapots and all kinds of queer shapes. And out of the open door -came a noise like that of the frogs on the Great-A, when they know -that it is going to be scorching hot to-morrow--and how they know -that I don't know, and you don't know, and nobody knows. - -He came slowly up to the open door, which was all hung round with -clematis and roses; and then peeped in, half afraid. - -And there sat by the empty fireplace, which was filled with a pot -of sweet herbs, the nicest old woman that ever was seen, in her red -petticoat, and short dimity bedgown, and clean white cap, with a -black silk handkerchief over it, tied under her chin. At her feet -sat the grandfather of all the cats; and opposite her sat, on two -benches, twelve or fourteen neat, rosy, chubby little children, -learning their Chris-cross-row; and gabble enough they made about -it. - -Such a pleasant cottage it was, with a shiny clean stone floor, and -curious old prints on the walls, and an old black oak sideboard -full of bright pewter and brass dishes, and a cuckoo clock in the -corner, which began shouting as soon as Tom appeared: not that it -was frightened at Tom, but that it was just eleven o'clock. - -All the children started at Tom's dirty black figure,--the girls -began to cry, and the boys began to laugh, and all pointed at him -rudely enough; but Tom was too tired to care for that. - -"What art thou, and what dost want?" cried the old dame. "A -chimney-sweep! Away with thee! I'll have no sweeps here." - -"Water," said poor little Tom, quite faint. - -"Water? There's plenty i' the beck," she said, quite sharply. - -"But I can't get there; I'm most clemmed with hunger and drought." -And Tom sank down upon the door-step, and laid his head against the -post. - -And the old dame looked at him through her spectacles one minute, -and two, and three; and then she said, "He's sick; and a bairn's a -bairn, sweep or none." - -"Water," said Tom. - -"God forgive me!" and she put by her spectacles, and rose, and came -to Tom. "Water's bad for thee; I'll give thee milk." And she -toddled off into the next room, and brought a cup of milk and a bit -of bread. - -Tom drank the milk off at one draught, and then looked up, revived. - -"Where didst come from?" said the dame. - -"Over Fell, there," said Tom, and pointed up into the sky. - -"Over Harthover? and down Lewthwaite Crag? Art sure thou art not -lying?" - -"Why should I?" said Tom, and leant his head against the post. - -"And how got ye up there?" - -"I came over from the Place;" and Tom was so tired and desperate he -had no heart or time to think of a story, so he told all the truth -in a few words. - -"Bless thy little heart! And thou hast not been stealing, then?" - -"No." - -"Bless thy little heart! and I'll warrant not. Why, God's guided -the bairn, because he was innocent! Away from the Place, and over -Harthover Fell, and down Lewthwaite Crag! Who ever heard the like, -if God hadn't led him? Why dost not eat thy bread?" - -"I can't." - -"It's good enough, for I made it myself." - -"I can't," said Tom, and he laid his head on his knees, and then -asked - - -"Is it Sunday?" - -"No, then; why should it be?" - -"Because I hear the church-bells ringing so." - -"Bless thy pretty heart! The bairn's sick. Come wi' me, and I'll -hap thee up somewhere. If thou wert a bit cleaner I'd put thee in -my own bed, for the Lord's sake. But come along here." - -But when Tom tried to get up, he was so tired and giddy that she -had to help him and lead him. - -She put him in an outhouse upon soft sweet hay and an old rug, and -bade him sleep off his walk, and she would come to him when school -was over, in an hour's time. - -And so she went in again, expecting Tom to fall fast asleep at -once. - -But Tom did not fall asleep. - -Instead of it he turned and tossed and kicked about in the -strangest way, and felt so hot all over that he longed to get into -the river and cool himself; and then he fell half asleep, and -dreamt that he heard the little white lady crying to him, "Oh, -you're so dirty; go and be washed;" and then that he heard the -Irishwoman saying, "Those that wish to be clean, clean they will -be." And then he heard the church-bells ring so loud, close to him -too, that he was sure it must be Sunday, in spite of what the old -dame had said; and he would go to church, and see what a church was -like inside, for he had never been in one, poor little fellow, in -all his life. But the people would never let him come in, all over -soot and dirt like that. He must go to the river and wash first. -And he said out loud again and again, though being half asleep he -did not know it, "I must be clean, I must be clean." - -And all of a sudden he found himself, not in the outhouse on the -hay, but in the middle of a meadow, over the road, with the stream -just before him, saying continually, "I must be clean, I must be -clean." He had got there on his own legs, between sleep and awake, -as children will often get out of bed, and go about the room, when -they are not quite well. But he was not a bit surprised, and went -on to the bank of the brook, and lay down on the grass, and looked -into the clear, clear limestone water, with every pebble at the -bottom bright and clean, while the little silver trout dashed about -in fright at the sight of his black face; and he dipped his hand in -and found it so cool, cool, cool; and he said, "I will be a fish; I -will swim in the water; I must be clean, I must be clean." - -So he pulled off all his clothes in such haste that he tore some of -them, which was easy enough with such ragged old things. And he -put his poor hot sore feet into the water; and then his legs; and -the farther he went in, the more the church-bells rang in his head. - -"Ah," said Tom, "I must be quick and wash myself; the bells are -ringing quite loud now; and they will stop soon, and then the door -will be shut, and I shall never be able to get in at all." - -Tom was mistaken: for in England the church doors are left open -all service time, for everybody who likes to come in, Churchman or -Dissenter; ay, even if he were a Turk or a Heathen; and if any man -dared to turn him out, as long as he behaved quietly, the good old -English law would punish that man, as he deserved, for ordering any -peaceable person out of God's house, which belongs to all alike. -But Tom did not know that, any more than he knew a great deal more -which people ought to know. - -And all the while he never saw the Irishwoman, not behind him this -time, but before. - -For just before he came to the river side, she had stept down into -the cool clear water; and her shawl and her petticoat floated off -her, and the green water-weeds floated round her sides, and the -white water-lilies floated round her head, and the fairies of the -stream came up from the bottom and bore her away and down upon -their arms; for she was the Queen of them all; and perhaps of more -besides. - -"Where have you been?" they asked her. - -"I have been smoothing sick folks' pillows, and whispering sweet -dreams into their ears; opening cottage casements, to let out the -stifling air; coaxing little children away from gutters, and foul -pools where fever breeds; turning women from the gin-shop door, and -staying men's hands as they were going to strike their wives; doing -all I can to help those who will not help themselves: and little -enough that is, and weary work for me. But I have brought you a -new little brother, and watched him safe all the way here." - -Then all the fairies laughed for joy at the thought that they had a -little brother coming. - -"But mind, maidens, he must not see you, or know that you are here. -He is but a savage now, and like the beasts which perish; and from -the beasts which perish he must learn. So you must not play with -him, or speak to him, or let him see you: but only keep him from -being harmed." - -Then the fairies were sad, because they could not play with their -new brother, but they always did what they were told. - -And their Queen floated away down the river; and whither she went, -thither she came. But all this Tom, of course, never saw or heard: -and perhaps if he had it would have made little difference in the -story; for was so hot and thirsty, and longed so to be clean for -once, that he tumbled himself as quick as he could into the clear -cool stream. - -And he had not been in it two minutes before he fell fast asleep, -into the quietest, sunniest, cosiest sleep that ever he had in his -life; and he dreamt about the green meadows by which he had walked -that morning, and the tall elm-trees, and the sleeping cows; and -after that he dreamt of nothing at all. - -The reason of his falling into such a delightful sleep is very -simple; and yet hardly any one has found it out. It was merely -that the fairies took him. - -Some people think that there are no fairies. Cousin Cramchild -tells little folks so in his Conversations. Well, perhaps there -are none--in Boston, U.S., where he was raised. There are only a -clumsy lot of spirits there, who can't make people hear without -thumping on the table: but they get their living thereby, and I -suppose that is all they want. And Aunt Agitate, in her Arguments -on political economy, says there are none. Well, perhaps there are -none--in her political economy. But it is a wide world, my little -man--and thank Heaven for it, for else, between crinolines and -theories, some of us would get squashed--and plenty of room in it -for fairies, without people seeing them; unless, of course, they -look in the right place. The most wonderful and the strongest -things in the world, you know, are just the things which no one can -see. There is life in you; and it is the life in you which makes -you grow, and move, and think: and yet you can't see it. And -there is steam in a steam-engine; and that is what makes it move: -and yet you can't see it; and so there may be fairies in the world, -and they may be just what makes the world go round to the old tune -of - - -"C'est l'amour, l'amour, l'amour -Qui fait la monde a la ronde:" - - -and yet no one may be able to see them except those whose hearts -are going round to that same tune. At all events, we will make -believe that there are fairies in the world. It will not be the -last time by many a one that we shall have to make believe. And -yet, after all, there is no need for that. There must be fairies; -for this is a fairy tale: and how can one have a fairy tale if -there are no fairies? - -You don't see the logic of that? Perhaps not. Then please not to -see the logic of a great many arguments exactly like it, which you -will hear before your beard is gray. - -The kind old dame came back at twelve, when school was over, to -look at Tom: but there was no Tom there. She looked about for his -footprints; but the ground was so hard that there was no slot, as -they say in dear old North Devon. And if you grow up to be a brave -healthy man, you may know some day what no slot means, and know -too, I hope, what a slot does mean--a broad slot, with blunt claws, -which makes a man put out his cigar, and set his teeth, and tighten -his girths, when he sees it; and what his rights mean, if he has -them, brow, bay, tray, and points; and see something worth seeing -between Haddon Wood and Countisbury Cliff, with good Mr. Palk -Collyns to show you the way, and mend your bones as fast as you -smash them. Only when that jolly day comes, please don't break -your neck; stogged in a mire you never will be, I trust; for you -are a heath-cropper bred and born. - -So the old dame went in again quite sulky, thinking that little Tom -had tricked her with a false story, and shammed ill, and then run -away again. - -But she altered her mind the next day. For, when Sir John and the -rest of them had run themselves out of breath, and lost Tom, they -went back again, looking very foolish. - -And they looked more foolish still when Sir John heard more of the -story from the nurse; and more foolish still, again, when they -heard the whole story from Miss Ellie, the little lady in white. -All she had seen was a poor little black chimney-sweep, crying and -sobbing, and going to get up the chimney again. Of course, she was -very much frightened: and no wonder. But that was all. The boy -had taken nothing in the room; by the mark of his little sooty -feet, they could see that he had never been off the hearthrug till -the nurse caught hold of him. It was all a mistake. - -So Sir John told Grimes to go home, and promised him five shillings -if he would bring the boy quietly up to him, without beating him, -that he might be sure of the truth. For he took for granted, and -Grimes too, that Tom had made his way home. - -But no Tom came back to Mr. Grimes that evening; and he went to the -police-office, to tell them to look out for the boy. But no Tom -was heard of. As for his having gone over those great fells to -Vendale, they no more dreamed of that than of his having gone to -the moon. - -So Mr. Grimes came up to Harthover next day with a very sour face; -but when he got there, Sir John was over the hills and far away; -and Mr. Grimes had to sit in the outer servants' hall all day, and -drink strong ale to wash away his sorrows; and they were washed -away long before Sir John came back. - -For good Sir John had slept very badly that night; and he said to -his lady, "My dear, the boy must have got over into the grouse- -moors, and lost himself; and he lies very heavily on my conscience, -poor little lad. But I know what I will do." - -So, at five the next morning up he got, and into his bath, and into -his shooting-jacket and gaiters, and into the stableyard, like a -fine old English gentleman, with a face as red as a rose, and a -hand as hard as a table, and a back as broad as a bullock's; and -bade them bring his shooting pony, and the keeper to come on his -pony, and the huntsman, and the first whip, and the second whip, -and the under-keeper with the bloodhound in a leash--a great dog as -tall as a calf, of the colour of a gravel-walk, with mahogany ears -and nose, and a throat like a church-bell. They took him up to the -place where Tom had gone into the wood; and there the hound lifted -up his mighty voice, and told them all he knew. - -Then he took them to the place where Tom had climbed the wall; and -they shoved it down, and all got through. - -And then the wise dog took them over the moor, and over the fells, -step by step, very slowly; for the scent was a day old, you know, -and very light from the heat and drought. But that was why cunning -old Sir John started at five in the morning. - -And at last he came to the top of Lewthwaite Crag, and there he -bayed, and looked up in their faces, as much as to say, "I tell you -he is gone down here!" - -They could hardly believe that Tom would have gone so far; and when -they looked at that awful cliff, they could never believe that he -would have dared to face it. But if the dog said so, it must be -true. - -"Heaven forgive us!" said Sir John. "If we find him at all, we -shall find him lying at the bottom." And he slapped his great hand -upon his great thigh, and said - - -"Who will go down over Lewthwaite Crag, and see if that boy is -alive? Oh that I were twenty years younger, and I would go down -myself!" And so he would have done, as well as any sweep in the -county. Then he said - - -"Twenty pounds to the man who brings me that boy alive!" and as was -his way, what he said he meant. - -Now among the lot was a little groom-boy, a very little groom -indeed; and he was the same who had ridden up the court, and told -Tom to come to the Hall; and he said - - -"Twenty pounds or none, I will go down over Lewthwaite Crag, if -it's only for the poor boy's sake. For he was as civil a spoken -little chap as ever climbed a flue." - -So down over Lewthwaite Crag he went: a very smart groom he was at -the top, and a very shabby one at the bottom; for he tore his -gaiters, and he tore his breeches, and he tore his jacket, and he -burst his braces, and he burst his boots, and he lost his hat, and -what was worst of all, he lost his shirt pin, which he prized very -much, for it was gold, and he had won it in a raffle at Malton, and -there was a figure at the top of it, of t'ould mare, noble old -Beeswing herself, as natural as life; so it was a really severe -loss: but he never saw anything of Tom. - -And all the while Sir John and the rest were riding round, full -three miles to the right, and back again, to get into Vendale, and -to the foot of the crag. - -When they came to the old dame's school, all the children came out -to see. And the old dame came out too; and when she saw Sir John, -she curtsied very low, for she was a tenant of his. - -"Well, dame, and how are you?" said Sir John. - -"Blessings on you as broad as your back, Harthover," says she--she -didn't call him Sir John, but only Harthover, for that is the -fashion in the North country--"and welcome into Vendale: but -you're no hunting the fox this time of the year?" - -"I am hunting, and strange game too," said he. - -"Blessings on your heart, and what makes you look so sad the morn?" - -"I'm looking for a lost child, a chimney-sweep, that is run away." - -"Oh, Harthover, Harthover," says she, "ye were always a just man -and a merciful; and ye'll no harm the poor little lad if I give you -tidings of him?" - -"Not I, not I, dame. I'm afraid we hunted him out of the house all -on a miserable mistake, and the hound has brought him to the top of -Lewthwaite Crag, and--" - -Whereat the old dame broke out crying, without letting him finish -his story. - -"So he told me the truth after all, poor little dear! Ah, first -thoughts are best, and a body's heart'll guide them right, if they -will but hearken to it." And then she told Sir John all. - -"Bring the dog here, and lay him on," said Sir John, without -another word, and he set his teeth very hard. - -And the dog opened at once; and went away at the back of the -cottage, over the road, and over the meadow, and through a bit of -alder copse; and there, upon an alder stump, they saw Tom's clothes -lying. And then they knew as much about it all as there was any -need to know. - -And Tom? - -Ah, now comes the most wonderful part of this wonderful story. -Tom, when he woke, for of course he woke--children always wake -after they have slept exactly as long as is good for them--found -himself swimming about in the stream, being about four inches, or-- -that I may be accurate--3.87902 inches long and having round the -parotid region of his fauces a set of external gills (I hope you -understand all the big words) just like those of a sucking eft, -which he mistook for a lace frill, till he pulled at them, found he -hurt himself, and made up his mind that they were part of himself, -and best left alone. - -In fact, the fairies had turned him into a water-baby. - -A water-baby? You never heard of a water-baby. Perhaps not. That -is the very reason why this story was written. There are a great -many things in the world which you never heard of; and a great many -more which nobody ever heard of; and a great many things, too, -which nobody will ever hear of, at least until the coming of the -Cocqcigrues, when man shall be the measure of all things. - -"But there are no such things as water-babies." - -How do you know that? Have you been there to see? And if you had -been there to see, and had seen none, that would not prove that -there were none. If Mr. Garth does not find a fox in Eversley -Wood--as folks sometimes fear he never will--that does not prove -that there are no such things as foxes. And as is Eversley Wood to -all the woods in England, so are the waters we know to all the -waters in the world. And no one has a right to say that no water- -babies exist, till they have seen no water-babies existing; which -is quite a different thing, mind, from not seeing water-babies; and -a thing which nobody ever did, or perhaps ever will do. - -"But surely if there were water-babies, somebody would have caught -one at least?" - -Well. How do you know that somebody has not? - -"But they would have put it into spirits, or into the Illustrated -News, or perhaps cut it into two halves, poor dear little thing, -and sent one to Professor Owen, and one to Professor Huxley, to see -what they would each say about it." - -Ah, my dear little man! that does not follow at all, as you will -see before the end of the story. - -"But a water-baby is contrary to nature." - -Well, but, my dear little man, you must learn to talk about such -things, when you grow older, in a very different way from that. -You must not talk about "ain't" and "can't" when you speak of this -great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only -the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton -said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless -ocean. - -You must not say that this cannot be, or that that is contrary to -nature. You do not know what Nature is, or what she can do; and -nobody knows; not even Sir Roderick Murchison, or Professor Owen, -or Professor Sedgwick, or Professor Huxley, or Mr. Darwin, or -Professor Faraday, or Mr. Grove, or any other of the great men whom -good boys are taught to respect. They are very wise men; and you -must listen respectfully to all they say: but even if they should -say, which I am sure they never would, "That cannot exist. That is -contrary to nature," you must wait a little, and see; for perhaps -even they may be wrong. It is only children who read Aunt -Agitate's Arguments, or Cousin Cramchild's Conversations; or lads -who go to popular lectures, and see a man pointing at a few big -ugly pictures on the wall, or making nasty smells with bottles and -squirts, for an hour or two, and calling that anatomy or chemistry- --who talk about "cannot exist," and "contrary to nature." Wise men -are afraid to say that there is anything contrary to nature, except -what is contrary to mathematical truth; for two and two cannot make -five, and two straight lines cannot join twice, and a part cannot -be as great as the whole, and so on (at least, so it seems at -present): but the wiser men are, the less they talk about -"cannot." That is a very rash, dangerous word, that "cannot"; and -if people use it too often, the Queen of all the Fairies, who makes -the clouds thunder and the fleas bite, and takes just as much -trouble about one as about the other, is apt to astonish them -suddenly by showing them, that though they say she cannot, yet she -can, and what is more, will, whether they approve or not. - -And therefore it is, that there are dozens and hundreds of things -in the world which we should certainly have said were contrary to -nature, if we did not see them going on under our eyes all day -long. If people had never seen little seeds grow into great plants -and trees, of quite different shape from themselves, and these -trees again produce fresh seeds, to grow into fresh trees, they -would have said, "The thing cannot be; it is contrary to nature." -And they would have been quite as right in saying so, as in saying -that most other things cannot be. - -Or suppose again, that you had come, like M. Du Chaillu, a -traveller from unknown parts; and that no human being had ever seen -or heard of an elephant. And suppose that you described him to -people, and said, "This is the shape, and plan, and anatomy of the -beast, and of his feet, and of his trunk, and of his grinders, and -of his tusks, though they are not tusks at all, but two fore teeth -run mad; and this is the section of his skull, more like a mushroom -than a reasonable skull of a reasonable or unreasonable beast; and -so forth, and so forth; and though the beast (which I assure you I -have seen and shot) is first cousin to the little hairy coney of -Scripture, second cousin to a pig, and (I suspect) thirteenth or -fourteenth cousin to a rabbit, yet he is the wisest of all beasts, -and can do everything save read, write, and cast accounts." People -would surely have said, "Nonsense; your elephant is contrary to -nature;" and have thought you were telling stories--as the French -thought of Le Vaillant when he came back to Paris and said that he -had shot a giraffe; and as the king of the Cannibal Islands thought -of the English sailor, when he said that in his country water -turned to marble, and rain fell as feathers. They would tell you, -the more they knew of science, "Your elephant is an impossible -monster, contrary to the laws of comparative anatomy, as far as yet -known." To which you would answer the less, the more you thought. - -Did not learned men, too, hold, till within the last twenty-five -years, that a flying dragon was an impossible monster? And do we -not now know that there are hundreds of them found fossil up and -down the world? People call them Pterodactyles: but that is only -because they are ashamed to call them flying dragons, after denying -so long that flying dragons could exist. - -The truth is, that folks' fancy that such and such things cannot -be, simply because they have not seen them, is worth no more than a -savage's fancy that there cannot be such a thing as a locomotive, -because he never saw one running wild in the forest. Wise men know -that their business is to examine what is, and not to settle what -is not. They know that there are elephants; they know that there -have been flying dragons; and the wiser they are, the less inclined -they will be to say positively that there are no water-babies. - -No water-babies, indeed? Why, wise men of old said that everything -on earth had its double in the water; and you may see that that is, -if not quite true, still quite as true as most other theories which -you are likely to hear for many a day. There are land-babies--then -why not water-babies? Are there not water-rats, water-flies, -water-crickets, water-crabs, water-tortoises, water-scorpions, -water-tigers and water-hogs, water-cats and water-dogs, sea-lions -and sea-bears, sea-horses and sea-elephants, sea-mice and sea- -urchins, sea-razors and sea-pens, sea-combs and sea-fans; and of -plants, are there not water-grass, and water-crowfoot, water- -milfoil, and so on, without end? - -"But all these things are only nicknames; the water things are not -really akin to the land things." - -That's not always true. They are, in millions of cases, not only -of the same family, but actually the same individual creatures. Do -not even you know that a green drake, and an alder-fly, and a -dragon-fly, live under water till they change their skins, just as -Tom changed his? And if a water animal can continually change into -a land animal, why should not a land animal sometimes change into a -water animal? Don't be put down by any of Cousin Cramchild's -arguments, but stand up to him like a man, and answer him (quite -respectfully, of course) thus:- - -If Cousin Cramchild says, that if there are water-babies, they must -grow into water-men, ask him how he knows that they do not? and -then, how he knows that they must, any more than the Proteus of the -Adelsberg caverns grows into a perfect newt. - -If he says that it is too strange a transformation for a land-baby -to turn into a water-baby, ask him if he ever heard of the -transformation of Syllis, or the Distomas, or the common jelly- -fish, of which M. Quatrefages says excellently well--"Who would not -exclaim that a miracle had come to pass, if he saw a reptile come -out of the egg dropped by the hen in his poultry-yard, and the -reptile give birth at once to an indefinite number of fishes and -birds? Yet the history of the jelly-fish is quite as wonderful as -that would be." Ask him if he knows about all this; and if he does -not, tell him to go and look for himself; and advise him (very -respectfully, of course) to settle no more what strange things -cannot happen, till he has seen what strange things do happen every -day. - -If he says that things cannot degrade, that is, change downwards -into lower forms, ask him, who told him that water-babies were -lower than land-babies? But even if they were, does he know about -the strange degradation of the common goose-barnacles, which one -finds sticking on ships' bottoms; or the still stranger degradation -of some cousins of theirs, of which one hardly likes to talk, so -shocking and ugly it is? - -And, lastly, if he says (as he most certainly will) that these -transformations only take place in the lower animals, and not in -the higher, say that that seems to little boys, and to some grown -people, a very strange fancy. For if the changes of the lower -animals are so wonderful, and so difficult to discover, why should -not there be changes in the higher animals far more wonderful, and -far more difficult to discover? And may not man, the crown and -flower of all things, undergo some change as much more wonderful -than all the rest, as the Great Exhibition is more wonderful than a -rabbit-burrow? Let him answer that. And if he says (as he will) -that not having seen such a change in his experience, he is not -bound to believe it, ask him respectfully, where his microscope has -been? Does not each of us, in coming into this world, go through a -transformation just as wonderful as that of a sea-egg, or a -butterfly? and do not reason and analogy, as well as Scripture, -tell us that that transformation is not the last? and that, though -what we shall be, we know not, yet we are here but as the crawling -caterpillar, and shall be hereafter as the perfect fly. The old -Greeks, heathens as they were, saw as much as that two thousand -years ago; and I care very little for Cousin Cramchild, if he sees -even less than they. And so forth, and so forth, till he is quite -cross. And then tell him that if there are no water-babies, at -least there ought to be; and that, at least, he cannot answer. - -And meanwhile, my dear little man, till you know a great deal more -about nature than Professor Owen and Professor Huxley put together, -don't tell me about what cannot be, or fancy that anything is too -wonderful to be true. "We are fearfully and wonderfully made," -said old David; and so we are; and so is everything around us, down -to the very deal table. Yes; much more fearfully and wonderfully -made, already, is the table, as it stands now, nothing but a piece -of dead deal wood, than if, as foxes say, and geese believe, -spirits could make it dance, or talk to you by rapping on it. - -Am I in earnest? Oh dear no! Don't you know that this is a fairy -tale, and all fun and pretence; and that you are not to believe one -word of it, even if it is true? - -But at all events, so it happened to Tom. And, therefore, the -keeper, and the groom, and Sir John made a great mistake, and were -very unhappy (Sir John at least) without any reason, when they -found a black thing in the water, and said it was Tom's body, and -that he had been drowned. They were utterly mistaken. Tom was -quite alive; and cleaner, and merrier, than he ever had been. The -fairies had washed him, you see, in the swift river, so thoroughly, -that not only his dirt, but his whole husk and shell had been -washed quite off him, and the pretty little real Tom was washed out -of the inside of it, and swam away, as a caddis does when its case -of stones and silk is bored through, and away it goes on its back, -paddling to the shore, there to split its skin, and fly away as a -caperer, on four fawn-coloured wings, with long legs and horns. -They are foolish fellows, the caperers, and fly into the candle at -night, if you leave the door open. We will hope Tom will be wiser, -now he has got safe out of his sooty old shell. - -But good Sir John did not understand all this, not being a fellow -of the Linnaean Society; and he took it into his head that Tom was -drowned. When they looked into the empty pockets of his shell, and -found no jewels there, nor money--nothing but three marbles, and a -brass button with a string to it--then Sir John did something as -like crying as ever he did in his life, and blamed himself more -bitterly than he need have done. So he cried, and the groom-boy -cried, and the huntsman cried, and the dame cried, and the little -girl cried, and the dairymaid cried, and the old nurse cried (for -it was somewhat her fault), and my lady cried, for though people -have wigs, that is no reason why they should not have hearts; but -the keeper did not cry, though he had been so good-natured to Tom -the morning before; for he was so dried up with running after -poachers, that you could no more get tears out of him than milk out -of leather: and Grimes did not cry, for Sir John gave him ten -pounds, and he drank it all in a week. Sir John sent, far and -wide, to find Tom's father and mother: but he might have looked -till Doomsday for them, for one was dead, and the other was in -Botany Bay. And the little girl would not play with her dolls for -a whole week, and never forgot poor little Tom. And soon my lady -put a pretty little tombstone over Tom's shell in the little -churchyard in Vendale, where the old dalesmen all sleep side by -side between the lime-stone crags. And the dame decked it with -garlands every Sunday, till she grew so old that she could not stir -abroad; then the little children decked it, for her. And always -she sang an old old song, as she sat spinning what she called her -wedding-dress. The children could not understand it, but they -liked it none the less for that; for it was very sweet, and very -sad; and that was enough for them. And these are the words of it:- - - -When all the world is young, lad, -And all the trees are green; -And every goose a swan, lad, -And every lass a queen; -Then hey for boot and horse, lad, -And round the world away; -Young blood must have its course, lad, -And every dog his day. - -When all the world is old, lad, -And all the trees are brown; -And all the sport is stale, lad, -And all the wheels run down; -Creep home, and take your place there, -The spent and maimed among: -God grant you find one face there, -You loved when all was young. - - -Those are the words: but they are only the body of it: the soul -of the song was the dear old woman's sweet face, and sweet voice, -and the sweet old air to which she sang; and that, alas! one cannot -put on paper. And at last she grew so stiff and lame, that the -angels were forced to carry her; and they helped her on with her -wedding-dress, and carried her up over Harthover Fells, and a long -way beyond that too; and there was a new schoolmistress in Vendale, -and we will hope that she was not certificated. - -And all the while Tom was swimming about in the river, with a -pretty little lace-collar of gills about his neck, as lively as a -grig, and as clean as a fresh-run salmon. - -Now if you don't like my story, then go to the schoolroom and learn -your multiplication-table, and see if you like that better. Some -people, no doubt, would do so. So much the better for us, if not -for them. It takes all sorts, they say, to make a world. - - - -CHAPTER III - - - -"He prayeth well who loveth well -Both men and bird and beast; -He prayeth best who loveth best -All things both great and small: -For the dear God who loveth us, -He made and loveth all." - -COLERIDGE. - - -Tom was now quite amphibious. You do not know what that means? -You had better, then, ask the nearest Government pupil-teacher, who -may possibly answer you smartly enough, thus - - -"Amphibious. Adjective, derived from two Greek words, amphi, a -fish, and bios, a beast. An animal supposed by our ignorant -ancestors to be compounded of a fish and a beast; which therefore, -like the hippopotamus, can't live on the land, and dies in the -water." - -However that may be, Tom was amphibious: and what is better still, -he was clean. For the first time in his life, he felt how -comfortable it was to have nothing on him but himself. But he only -enjoyed it: he did not know it, or think about it; just as you -enjoy life and health, and yet never think about being alive and -healthy; and may it be long before you have to think about it! - -He did not remember having ever been dirty. Indeed, he did not -remember any of his old troubles, being tired, or hungry, or -beaten, or sent up dark chimneys. Since that sweet sleep, he had -forgotten all about his master, and Harthover Place, and the little -white girl, and in a word, all that had happened to him when he -lived before; and what was best of all, he had forgotten all the -bad words which he had learned from Grimes, and the rude boys with -whom he used to play. - -That is not strange: for you know, when you came into this world, -and became a land-baby, you remembered nothing. So why should he, -when he became a water-baby? - -Then have you lived before? - -My dear child, who can tell? One can only tell that, by -remembering something which happened where we lived before; and as -we remember nothing, we know nothing about it; and no book, and no -man, can ever tell us certainly. - -There was a wise man once, a very wise man, and a very good man, -who wrote a poem about the feelings which some children have about -having lived before; and this is what he said - - - -"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; -The soul that rises with us, our life's star, -Hath elsewhere had its setting, -And cometh from afar: -Not in entire forgetfulness, -And not in utter nakedness, -But trailing clouds of glory, do we come -From God, who is our home." - - -There, you can know no more than that. But if I was you, I would -believe that. For then the great fairy Science, who is likely to -be queen of all the fairies for many a year to come, can only do -you good, and never do you harm; and instead of fancying with some -people, that your body makes your soul, as if a steam-engine could -make its own coke; or, with some people, that your soul has nothing -to do with your body, but is only stuck into it like a pin into a -pincushion, to fall out with the first shake;--you will believe the -one true, - -orthodox, inductive, -rational, deductive, -philosophical, seductive, -logical, productive, -irrefragable, salutary, -nominalistic, comfortable, -realistic, -and on-all-accounts-to-be-received - -doctrine of this wonderful fairy tale; which is, that your soul -makes your body, just as a snail makes his shell. For the rest, it -is enough for us to be sure that whether or not we lived before, we -shall live again; though not, I hope, as poor little heathen Tom -did. For he went downward into the water: but we, I hope, shall -go upward to a very different place. - -But Tom was very happy in the water. He had been sadly overworked -in the land-world; and so now, to make up for that, he had nothing -but holidays in the water-world for a long, long time to come. He -had nothing to do now but enjoy himself, and look at all the pretty -things which are to be seen in the cool clear water-world, where -the sun is never too hot, and the frost is never too cold. - -And what did he live on? Water-cresses, perhaps; or perhaps water- -gruel, and water-milk; too many land-babies do so likewise. But we -do not know what one-tenth of the water-things eat; so we are not -answerable for the water-babies. - -Sometimes he went along the smooth gravel water-ways, looking at -the crickets which ran in and out among the stones, as rabbits do -on land; or he climbed over the ledges of rock, and saw the sand- -pipes hanging in thousands, with every one of them a pretty little -head and legs peeping out; or he went into a still corner, and -watched the caddises eating dead sticks as greedily as you would -eat plum-pudding, and building their houses with silk and glue. -Very fanciful ladies they were; none of them would keep to the same -materials for a day. One would begin with some pebbles; then she -would stick on a piece of green wood; then she found a shell, and -stuck it on too; and the poor shell was alive, and did not like at -all being taken to build houses with: but the caddis did not let -him have any voice in the matter, being rude and selfish, as vain -people are apt to be; then she stuck on a piece of rotten wood, -then a very smart pink stone, and so on, till she was patched all -over like an Irishman's coat. Then she found a long straw, five -times as long as herself, and said, "Hurrah! my sister has a tail, -and I'll have one too;" and she stuck it on her back, and marched -about with it quite proud, though it was very inconvenient indeed. -And, at that, tails became all the fashion among the caddis-baits -in that pool, as they were at the end of the Long Pond last May, -and they all toddled about with long straws sticking out behind, -getting between each other's legs, and tumbling over each other, -and looking so ridiculous, that Tom laughed at them till he cried, -as we did. But they were quite right, you know; for people must -always follow the fashion, even if it be spoon-bonnets. - -Then sometimes he came to a deep still reach; and there he saw the -water-forests. They would have looked to you only little weeds: -but Tom, you must remember, was so little that everything looked a -hundred times as big to him as it does to you, just as things do to -a minnow, who sees and catches the little water-creatures which you -can only see in a microscope. - -And in the water-forest he saw the water-monkeys and water- -squirrels (they had all six legs, though; everything almost has six -legs in the water, except efts and water-babies); and nimbly enough -they ran among the branches. There were water-flowers there too, -in thousands; and Tom tried to pick them: but as soon as he -touched them, they drew themselves in and turned into knots of -jelly; and then Tom saw that they were all alive--bells, and stars, -and wheels, and flowers, of all beautiful shapes and colours; and -all alive and busy, just as Tom was. So now he found that there -was a great deal more in the world than he had fancied at first -sight. - -There was one wonderful little fellow, too, who peeped out of the -top of a house built of round bricks. He had two big wheels, and -one little one, all over teeth, spinning round and round like the -wheels in a thrashing-machine; and Tom stood and stared at him, to -see what he was going to make with his machinery. And what do you -think he was doing? Brick-making. With his two big wheels he -swept together all the mud which floated in the water: all that -was nice in it he put into his stomach and ate; and all the mud he -put into the little wheel on his breast, which really was a round -hole set with teeth; and there he spun it into a neat hard round -brick; and then he took it and stuck it on the top of his house- -wall, and set to work to make another. Now was not he a clever -little fellow? - -Tom thought so: but when he wanted to talk to him the brick-maker -was much too busy and proud of his work to take notice of him. - -Now you must know that all the things under the water talk; only -not such a language as ours; but such as horses, and dogs, and -cows, and birds talk to each other; and Tom soon learned to -understand them and talk to them; so that he might have had very -pleasant company if he had only been a good boy. But I am sorry to -say, he was too like some other little boys, very fond of hunting -and tormenting creatures for mere sport. Some people say that boys -cannot help it; that it is nature, and only a proof that we are all -originally descended from beasts of prey. But whether it is nature -or not, little boys can help it, and must help it. For if they -have naughty, low, mischievous tricks in their nature, as monkeys -have, that is no reason why they should give way to those tricks -like monkeys, who know no better. And therefore they must not -torment dumb creatures; for if they do, a certain old lady who is -coming will surely give them exactly what they deserve. - -But Tom did not know that; and he pecked and howked the poor water- -things about sadly, till they were all afraid of him, and got out -of his way, or crept into their shells; so he had no one to speak -to or play with. - -The water-fairies, of course, were very sorry to see him so -unhappy, and longed to take him, and tell him how naughty he was, -and teach him to be good, and to play and romp with him too: but -they had been forbidden to do that. Tom had to learn his lesson -for himself by sound and sharp experience, as many another foolish -person has to do, though there may be many a kind heart yearning -over them all the while, and longing to teach them what they can -only teach themselves. - -At last one day he found a caddis, and wanted it to peep out of its -house: but its house-door was shut. He had never seen a caddis -with a house-door before: so what must he do, the meddlesome -little fellow, but pull it open, to see what the poor lady was -doing inside. What a shame! How should you like to have any one -breaking your bedroom-door in, to see how you looked when you where -in bed? So Tom broke to pieces the door, which was the prettiest -little grating of silk, stuck all over with shining bits of -crystal; and when he looked in, the caddis poked out her head, and -it had turned into just the shape of a bird's. But when Tom spoke -to her she could not answer; for her mouth and face were tight tied -up in a new night-cap of neat pink skin. However, if she didn't -answer, all the other caddises did; for they held up their hands -and shrieked like the cats in Struwelpeter: "Oh, you nasty horrid -boy; there you are at it again! And she had just laid herself up -for a fortnight's sleep, and then she would have come out with such -beautiful wings, and flown about, and laid such lots of eggs: and -now you have broken her door, and she can't mend it because her -mouth is tied up for a fortnight, and she will die. Who sent you -here to worry us out of our lives?" - -So Tom swam away. He was very much ashamed of himself, and felt -all the naughtier; as little boys do when they have done wrong and -won't say so. - -Then he came to a pool full of little trout, and began tormenting -them, and trying to catch them: but they slipped through his -fingers, and jumped clean out of water in their fright. But as Tom -chased them, he came close to a great dark hover under an alder -root, and out floushed a huge old brown trout ten times as big as -he was, and ran right against him, and knocked all the breath out -of his body; and I don't know which was the more frightened of the -two. - -Then he went on sulky and lonely, as he deserved to be; and under a -bank he saw a very ugly dirty creature sitting, about half as big -as himself; which had six legs, and a big stomach, and a most -ridiculous head with two great eyes and a face just like a -donkey's. - -"Oh," said Tom, "you are an ugly fellow to be sure!" and he began -making faces at him; and put his nose close to him, and halloed at -him, like a very rude boy. - -When, hey presto; all the thing's donkey-face came off in a moment, -and out popped a long arm with a pair of pincers at the end of it, -and caught Tom by the nose. It did not hurt him much; but it held -him quite tight. - -"Yah, ah! Oh, let me go!" cried Tom. - -"Then let me go," said the creature. "I want to be quiet. I want -to split." - -Tom promised to let him alone, and he let go. - -"Why do you want to split?" said Tom. - -"Because my brothers and sisters have all split, and turned into -beautiful creatures with wings; and I want to split too. Don't -speak to me. I am sure I shall split. I will split!" - -Tom stood still, and watched him. And he swelled himself, and -puffed, and stretched himself out stiff, and at last--crack, puff, -bang--he opened all down his back, and then up to the top of his -head. - -And out of his inside came the most slender, elegant, soft -creature, as soft and smooth as Tom: but very pale and weak, like -a little child who has been ill a long time in a dark room. It -moved its legs very feebly; and looked about it half ashamed, like -a girl when she goes for the first time into a ballroom; and then -it began walking slowly up a grass stem to the top of the water. - -Tom was so astonished that he never said a word but he stared with -all his eyes. And he went up to the top of the water too, and -peeped out to see what would happen. - -And as the creature sat in the warm bright sun, a wonderful change -came over it. It grew strong and firm; the most lovely colours -began to show on its body, blue and yellow and black, spots and -bars and rings; out of its back rose four great wings of bright -brown gauze; and its eyes grew so large that they filled all its -head, and shone like ten thousand diamonds. - -"Oh, you beautiful creature!" said Tom; and he put out his hand to -catch it. - -But the thing whirred up into the air, and hung poised on its wings -a moment, and then settled down again by Tom quite fearless. - -"No!" it said, "you cannot catch me. I am a dragon-fly now, the -king of all the flies; and I shall dance in the sunshine, and hawk -over the river, and catch gnats, and have a beautiful wife like -myself. I know what I shall do. Hurrah!" And he flew away into -the air, and began catching gnats. - -"Oh! come back, come back," cried Tom, "you beautiful creature. I -have no one to play with, and I am so lonely here. If you will but -come back I will never try to catch you." - -"I don't care whether you do or not," said the dragon-fly; "for you -can't. But when I have had my dinner, and looked a little about -this pretty place, I will come back, and have a little chat about -all I have seen in my travels. Why, what a huge tree this is! and -what huge leaves on it!" - -It was only a big dock: but you know the dragon-fly had never seen -any but little water-trees; starwort, and milfoil, and water- -crowfoot, and such like; so it did look very big to him. Besides, -he was very short-sighted, as all dragon-flies are; and never could -see a yard before his nose; any more than a great many other folks, -who are not half as handsome as he. - -The dragon-fly did come back, and chatted away with Tom. He was a -little conceited about his fine colours and his large wings; but -you know, he had been a poor dirty ugly creature all his life -before; so there were great excuses for him. He was very fond of -talking about all the wonderful things he saw in the trees and the -meadows; and Tom liked to listen to him, for he had forgotten all -about them. So in a little while they became great friends. - -And I am very glad to say, that Tom learned such a lesson that day, -that he did not torment creatures for a long time after. And then -the caddises grew quite tame, and used to tell him strange stories -about the way they built their houses, and changed their skins, and -turned at last into winged flies; till Tom began to long to change -his skin, and have wings like them some day. - -And the trout and he made it up (for trout very soon forget if they -have been frightened and hurt). So Tom used to play with them at -hare and hounds, and great fun they had; and he used to try to leap -out of the water, head over heels, as they did before a shower came -on; but somehow he never could manage it. He liked most, though, -to see them rising at the flies, as they sailed round and round -under the shadow of the great oak, where the beetles fell flop into -the water, and the green caterpillars let themselves down from the -boughs by silk ropes for no reason at all; and then changed their -foolish minds for no reason at all either; and hauled themselves up -again into the tree, rolling up the rope in a ball between their -paws; which is a very clever rope-dancer's trick, and neither -Blondin nor Leotard could do it: but why they should take so much -trouble about it no one can tell; for they cannot get their living, -as Blondin and Leotard do, by trying to break their necks on a -string. - -And very often Tom caught them just as they touched the water; and -caught the alder-flies, and the caperers, and the cock-tailed duns -and spinners, yellow, and brown, and claret, and gray, and gave -them to his friends the trout. Perhaps he was not quite kind to -the flies; but one must do a good turn to one's friends when one -can. - -And at last he gave up catching even the flies; for he made -acquaintance with one by accident and found him a very merry little -fellow. And this was the way it happened; and it is all quite -true. - -He was basking at the top of the water one hot day in July, -catching duns and feeding the trout, when he saw a new sort, a dark -gray little fellow with a brown head. He was a very little fellow -indeed: but he made the most of himself, as people ought to do. -He cocked up his head, and he cocked up his wings, and he cocked up -his tail, and he cocked up the two whisks at his tail-end, and, in -short, he looked the cockiest little man of all little men. And so -he proved to be; for instead of getting away, he hopped upon Tom's -finger, and sat there as bold as nine tailors; and he cried out in -the tiniest, shrillest, squeakiest little voice you ever heard, - -"Much obliged to you, indeed; but I don't want it yet." - -"Want what?" said Tom, quite taken aback by his impudence. - -"Your leg, which you are kind enough to hold out for me to sit on. -I must just go and see after my wife for a few minutes. Dear me! -what a troublesome business a family is!" (though the idle little -rogue did nothing at all, but left his poor wife to lay all the -eggs by herself). "When I come back, I shall be glad of it, if -you'll be so good as to keep it sticking out just so;" and off he -flew. - -Tom thought him a very cool sort of personage; and still more so, -when, in five minutes he came back, and said--"Ah, you were tired -waiting? Well, your other leg will do as well." - -And he popped himself down on Tom's knee, and began chatting away -in his squeaking voice. - -"So you live under the water? It's a low place. I lived there for -some time; and was very shabby and dirty. But I didn't choose that -that should last. So I turned respectable, and came up to the top, -and put on this gray suit. It's a very business-like suit, you -think, don't you?" - -"Very neat and quiet indeed," said Tom. - -"Yes, one must be quiet and neat and respectable, and all that sort -of thing for a little, when one becomes a family man. But I'm -tired of it, that's the truth. I've done quite enough business, I -consider, in the last week, to last me my life. So I shall put on -a ball dress, and go out and be a smart man, and see the gay world, -and have a dance or two. Why shouldn't one be jolly if one can?" - -"And what will become of your wife?" - -"Oh! she is a very plain stupid creature, and that's the truth; and -thinks about nothing but eggs. If she chooses to come, why she -may; and if not, why I go without her;--and here I go." - -And, as he spoke, he turned quite pale, and then quite white. - -"Why, you're ill!" said Tom. But he did not answer. - -"You're dead," said Tom, looking at him as he stood on his knee as -white as a ghost. - -"No, I ain't!" answered a little squeaking voice over his head. -"This is me up here, in my ball-dress; and that's my skin. Ha, ha! -you could not do such a trick as that!" - -And no more Tom could, nor Houdin, nor Robin, nor Frikell, nor all -the conjurors in the world. For the little rogue had jumped clean -out of his own skin, and left it standing on Tom's knee, eyes, -wings, legs, tail, exactly as if it had been alive. - -"Ha, ha!" he said, and he jerked and skipped up and down, never -stopping an instant, just as if he had St. Vitus's dance. "Ain't I -a pretty fellow now?" - -And so he was; for his body was white, and his tail orange, and his -eyes all the colours of a peacock's tail. And what was the oddest -of all, the whisks at the end of his tail had grown five times as -long as they were before. - -"Ah!" said he, "now I will see the gay world. My living, won't -cost me much, for I have no mouth, you see, and no inside; so I can -never be hungry nor have the stomach-ache neither." - -No more he had. He had grown as dry and hard and empty as a quill, -as such silly shallow-hearted fellows deserve to grow. - -But, instead of being ashamed of his emptiness, he was quite proud -of it, as a good many fine gentlemen are, and began flirting and -flipping up and down, and singing - - - -"My wife shall dance, and I shall sing, -So merrily pass the day; -For I hold it for quite the wisest thing, -To drive dull care away." - - -And he danced up and down for three days and three nights, till he -grew so tired, that he tumbled into the water, and floated down. -But what became of him Tom never knew, and he himself never minded; -for Tom heard him singing to the last, as he floated down - - - -"To drive dull care away-ay-ay!" - - -And if he did not care, why nobody else cared either. - -But one day Tom had a new adventure. He was sitting on a water- -lily leaf, he and his friend the dragon-fly, watching the gnats -dance. The dragon-fly had eaten as many as he wanted, and was -sitting quite still and sleepy, for it was very hot and bright. -The gnats (who did not care the least for their poor brothers' -death) danced a foot over his head quite happily, and a large black -fly settled within an inch of his nose, and began washing his own -face and combing his hair with his paws: but the dragon-fly never -stirred, and kept on chatting to Tom about the times when he lived -under the water. - -Suddenly, Tom heard the strangest noise up the stream; cooing, and -grunting, and whining, and squeaking, as if you had put into a bag -two stock-doves, nine mice, three guinea-pigs, and a blind puppy, -and left them there to settle themselves and make music. - -He looked up the water, and there he saw a sight as strange as the -noise; a great ball rolling over and over down the stream, seeming -one moment of soft brown fur, and the next of shining glass: and -yet it was not a ball; for sometimes it broke up and streamed away -in pieces, and then it joined again; and all the while the noise -came out of it louder and louder. - -Tom asked the dragon-fly what it could be: but, of course, with -his short sight, he could not even see it, though it was not ten -yards away. So he took the neatest little header into the water, -and started off to see for himself; and, when he came near, the -ball turned out to be four or five beautiful creatures, many times -larger than Tom, who were swimming about, and rolling, and diving, -and twisting, and wrestling, and cuddling, and kissing and biting, -and scratching, in the most charming fashion that ever was seen. -And if you don't believe me, you may go to the Zoological Gardens -(for I am afraid that you won't see it nearer, unless, perhaps, you -get up at five in the morning, and go down to Cordery's Moor, and -watch by the great withy pollard which hangs over the backwater, -where the otters breed sometimes), and then say, if otters at play -in the water are not the merriest, lithest, gracefullest creatures -you ever saw. - -But, when the biggest of them saw Tom, she darted out from the -rest, and cried in the water-language sharply enough, "Quick, -children, here is something to eat, indeed!" and came at poor Tom, -showing such a wicked pair of eyes, and such a set of sharp teeth -in a grinning mouth, that Tom, who had thought her very handsome, -said to himself, Handsome is that handsome does, and slipped in -between the water-lily roots as fast as he could, and then turned -round and made faces at her. - -"Come out," said the wicked old otter, "or it will be worse for -you." - -But Tom looked at her from between two thick roots, and shook them -with all his might, making horrible faces all the while, just as he -used to grin through the railings at the old women, when he lived -before. It was not quite well bred, no doubt; but you know, Tom -had not finished his education yet. - -"Come, away, children," said the otter in disgust, "it is not worth -eating, after all. It is only a nasty eft, which nothing eats, not -even those vulgar pike in the pond." - -"I am not an eft!" said Tom; "efts have tails." - -"You are an eft," said the otter, very positively; "I see your two -hands quite plain, and I know you have a tail." - -"I tell you I have not," said Tom. "Look here!" and he turned his -pretty little self quite round; and, sure enough, he had no more -tail than you. - -The otter might have got out of it by saying that Tom was a frog: -but, like a great many other people, when she had once said a -thing, she stood to it, right or wrong; so she answered: - -"I say you are an eft, and therefore you are, and not fit food for -gentlefolk like me and my children. You may stay there till the -salmon eat you (she knew the salmon would not, but she wanted to -frighten poor Tom). Ha! ha! they will eat you, and we will eat -them;" and the otter laughed such a wicked cruel laugh--as you may -hear them do sometimes; and the first time that you hear it you -will probably think it is bogies. - -"What are salmon?" asked Tom. - -"Fish, you eft, great fish, nice fish to eat. They are the lords -of the fish, and we are lords of the salmon;" and she laughed -again. "We hunt them up and down the pools, and drive them up into -a corner, the silly things; they are so proud, and bully the little -trout, and the minnows, till they see us coming, and then they are -so meek all at once, and we catch them, but we disdain to eat them -all; we just bite out their soft throats and suck their sweet -juice--Oh, so good!"--(and she licked her wicked lips)--"and then -throw them away, and go and catch another. They are coming soon, -children, coming soon; I can smell the rain coming up off the sea, -and then hurrah for a fresh, and salmon, and plenty of eating all -day long." - -And the otter grew so proud that she turned head over heels twice, -and then stood upright half out of the water, grinning like a -Cheshire cat. - -"And where do they come from?" asked Tom, who kept himself very -close, for he was considerably frightened. - -"Out of the sea, eft, the great wide sea, where they might stay and -be safe if they liked. But out of the sea the silly things come, -into the great river down below, and we come up to watch for them; -and when they go down again we go down and follow them. And there -we fish for the bass and the pollock, and have jolly days along the -shore, and toss and roll in the breakers, and sleep snug in the -warm dry crags. Ah, that is a merry life too, children, if it were -not for those horrid men." - -"What are men?" asked Tom; but somehow he seemed to know before he -asked. - -"Two-legged things, eft: and, now I come to look at you, they are -actually something like you, if you had not a tail" (she was -determined that Tom should have a tail), "only a great deal bigger, -worse luck for us; and they catch the fish with hooks and lines, -which get into our feet sometimes, and set pots along the rocks to -catch lobsters. They speared my poor dear husband as he went out -to find something for me to eat. I was laid up among the crags -then, and we were very low in the world, for the sea was so rough -that no fish would come in shore. But they speared him, poor -fellow, and I saw them carrying him away upon a pole. All, he lost -his life for your sakes, my children, poor dear obedient creature -that he was." - -And the otter grew so sentimental (for otters can be very -sentimental when they choose, like a good many people who are both -cruel and greedy, and no good to anybody at all) that she sailed -solemnly away down the burn, and Tom saw her no more for that time. -And lucky it was for her that she did so; for no sooner was she -gone, than down the bank came seven little rough terrier doors, -snuffing and yapping, and grubbing and splashing, in full cry after -the otter. Tom hid among the water-lilies till they were gone; for -he could not guess that they were the water-fairies come to help -him. - -But he could not help thinking of what the otter had said about the -great river and the broad sea. And, as he thought, he longed to go -and see them. He could not tell why; but the more he thought, the -more he grew discontented with the narrow little stream in which he -lived, and all his companions there; and wanted to get out into the -wide wide world, and enjoy all the wonderful sights of which he was -sure it was full. - -And once he set off to go down the stream. But the stream was very -low; and when he came to the shallows he could not keep under -water, for there was no water left to keep under. So the sun -burned his back and made him sick; and he went back again and lay -quiet in the pool for a whole week more. - -And then, on the evening of a very hot day, he saw a sight. - -He had been very stupid all day, and so had the trout; for they -would not move an inch to take a fly, though there were thousands -on the water, but lay dozing at the bottom under the shade of the -stones; and Tom lay dozing too, and was glad to cuddle their smooth -cool sides, for the water was quite warm and unpleasant. - -But toward evening it grew suddenly dark, and Tom looked up and saw -a blanket of black clouds lying right across the valley above his -head, resting on the crags right and left. He felt not quite -frightened, but very still; for everything was still. There was -not a whisper of wind, nor a chirp of a bird to be heard; and next -a few great drops of rain fell plop into the water, and one hit Tom -on the nose, and made him pop his head down quickly enough. - -And then the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed, and leapt -across Vendale and back again, from cloud to cloud, and cliff to -cliff, till the very rocks in the stream seemed to shake: and Tom -looked up at it through the water, and thought it the finest thing -he ever saw in his life. - -But out of the water he dared not put his head; for the rain came -down by bucketsful, and the hail hammered like shot on the stream, -and churned it into foam; and soon the stream rose, and rushed -down, higher and higher, and fouler and fouler, full of beetles, -and sticks; and straws, and worms, and addle-eggs, and wood-lice, -and leeches, and odds and ends, and omnium-gatherums, and this, -that, and the other, enough to fill nine museums. - -Tom could hardly stand against the stream, and hid behind a rock. -But the trout did not; for out they rushed from among the stones, -and began gobbling the beetles and leeches in the most greedy and -quarrelsome way, and swimming about with great worms hanging out of -their mouths, tugging and kicking to get them away from each other. - -And now, by the flashes of the lightning, Tom saw a new sight--all -the bottom of the stream alive with great eels, turning and -twisting along, all down stream and away. They had been hiding for -weeks past in the cracks of the rocks, and in burrows in the mud; -and Tom had hardly ever seen them, except now and then at night: -but now they were all out, and went hurrying past him so fiercely -and wildly that he was quite frightened. And as they hurried past -he could hear them say to each other, "We must run, we must run. -What a jolly thunderstorm! Down to the sea, down to the sea!" - -And then the otter came by with all her brood, twining and sweeping -along as fast as the eels themselves; and she spied Tom as she came -by, and said "Now is your time, eft, if you want to see the world. -Come along, children, never mind those nasty eels: we shall -breakfast on salmon to-morrow. Down to the sea, down to the sea!" - -Then came a flash brighter than all the rest, and by the light of -it--in the thousandth part of a second they were gone again--but he -had seen them, he was certain of it--Three beautiful little white -girls, with their arms twined round each other's necks, floating -down the torrent, as they sang, "Down to the sea, down to the sea!" - -"Oh stay! Wait for me!" cried Tom; but they were gone: yet he -could hear their voices clear and sweet through the roar of thunder -and water and wind, singing as they died away, "Down to the sea!" - -"Down to the sea?" said Tom; "everything is going to the sea, and I -will go too. Good-bye, trout." But the trout were so busy -gobbling worms that they never turned to answer him; so that Tom -was spared the pain of bidding them farewell. - -And now, down the rushing stream, guided by the bright flashes of -the storm; past tall birch-fringed rocks, which shone out one -moment as clear as day, and the next were dark as night; past dark -hovers under swirling banks, from which great trout rushed out on -Tom, thinking him to be good to eat, and turned back sulkily, for -the fairies sent them home again with a tremendous scolding, for -daring to meddle with a water-baby; on through narrow strids and -roaring cataracts, where Tom was deafened and blinded for a moment -by the rushing waters; along deep reaches, where the white water- -lilies tossed and flapped beneath the wind and hail; past sleeping -villages; under dark bridge-arches, and away and away to the sea. -And Tom could not stop, and did not care to stop; he would see the -great world below, and the salmon, and the breakers, and the wide -wide sea. - -And when the daylight came, Tom found himself out in the salmon -river. - -And what sort of a river was it? Was it like an Irish stream, -winding through the brown bogs, where the wild ducks squatter up -from among the white water-lilies, and the curlews flit to and fro, -crying "Tullie-wheep, mind your sheep;" and Dennis tells you -strange stories of the Peishtamore, the great bogy-snake which lies -in the black peat pools, among the old pine-stems, and puts his -head out at night to snap at the cattle as they come down to -drink?--But you must not believe all that Dennis tells you, mind; -for if you ask him: - -"Is there a salmon here, do you think, Dennis?" - -"Is it salmon, thin, your honour manes? Salmon? Cartloads it is -of thim, thin, an' ridgmens, shouldthering ache out of water, av' -ye'd but the luck to see thim." - -Then you fish the pool all over, and never get a rise. - -"But there can't be a salmon here, Dennis! and, if you'll but -think, if one had come up last tide, he'd be gone to the higher -pools by now." - -"Shure thin, and your honour's the thrue fisherman, and understands -it all like a book. Why, ye spake as if ye'd known the wather a -thousand years! As I said, how could there be a fish here at all, -just now?" - -"But you said just now they were shouldering each other out of -water?" - -And then Dennis will look up at you with his handsome, sly, soft, -sleepy, good-natured, untrustable, Irish gray eye, and answer with -the prettiest smile: - -"Shure, and didn't I think your honour would like a pleasant -answer?" - -So you must not trust Dennis, because he is in the habit of giving -pleasant answers: but, instead of being angry with him, you must -remember that he is a poor Paddy, and knows no better; so you must -just burst out laughing; and then he will burst out laughing too, -and slave for you, and trot about after you, and show you good -sport if he can--for he is an affectionate fellow, and as fond of -sport as you are--and if he can't, tell you fibs instead, a hundred -an hour; and wonder all the while why poor ould Ireland does not -prosper like England and Scotland, and some other places, where -folk have taken up a ridiculous fancy that honesty is the best -policy. - -Or was it like a Welsh salmon river, which is remarkable chiefly -(at least, till this last year) for containing no salmon, as they -have been all poached out by the enlightened peasantry, to prevent -the Cythrawl Sassenach (which means you, my little dear, your kith -and kin, and signifies much the same as the Chinese Fan Quei) from -coming bothering into Wales, with good tackle, and ready money, and -civilisation, and common honesty, and other like things of which -the Cymry stand in no need whatsoever? - -Or was it such a salmon stream as I trust you will see among the -Hampshire water-meadows before your hairs are gray, under the wise -new fishing-laws?--when Winchester apprentices shall covenant, as -they did three hundred years ago, not to be made to eat salmon more -than three days a week; and fresh-run fish shall be as plentiful -under Salisbury spire as they are in Holly-hole at Christchurch; in -the good time coming, when folks shall see that, of all Heaven's -gifts of food, the one to be protected most carefully is that -worthy gentleman salmon, who is generous enough to go down to the -sea weighing five ounces, and to come back next year weighing five -pounds, without having cost the soil or the state one farthing? - -Or was it like a Scotch stream, such as Arthur Clough drew in his -"Bothie":- - - -"Where over a ledge of granite -Into a granite bason the amber torrent descended. . . . . -Beautiful there for the colour derived from green rocks under; -Beautiful most of all, where beads of foam uprising -Mingle their clouds of white with the delicate hue of the -stillness. . . . -Cliff over cliff for its sides, with rowan and pendant birch -boughs." . . . - - -Ah, my little man, when you are a big man, and fish such a stream -as that, you will hardly care, I think, whether she be roaring down -in full spate, like coffee covered with scald cream, while the fish -are swirling at your fly as an oar-blade swirls in a boat-race, or -flashing up the cataract like silver arrows, out of the fiercest of -the foam; or whether the fall be dwindled to a single thread, and -the shingle below be as white and dusty as a turnpike road, while -the salmon huddle together in one dark cloud in the clear amber -pool, sleeping away their time till the rain creeps back again off -the sea. You will not care much, if you have eyes and brains; for -you will lay down your rod contentedly, and drink in at your eyes -the beauty of that glorious place; and listen to the water-ouzel -piping on the stones, and watch the yellow roes come down to drink -and look up at you with their great soft trustful eyes, as much as -to say, "You could not have the heart to shoot at us?" And then, -if you have sense, you will turn and talk to the great giant of a -gilly who lies basking on the stone beside you. He will tell you -no fibs, my little man; for he is a Scotchman, and fears God, and -not the priest; and, as you talk with him, you will be surprised -more and more at his knowledge, his sense, his humour, his -courtesy; and you will find out--unless you have found it out -before--that a man may learn from his Bible to be a more thorough -gentleman than if he had been brought up in all the drawing-rooms -in London. - -No. It was none of these, the salmon stream at Harthover. It was -such a stream as you see in dear old Bewick; Bewick, who was born -and bred upon them. A full hundred yards broad it was, sliding on -from broad pool to broad shallow, and broad shallow to broad pool, -over great fields of shingle, under oak and ash coverts, past low -cliffs of sandstone, past green meadows, and fair parks, and a -great house of gray stone, and brown moors above, and here and -there against the sky the smoking chimney of a colliery. You must -look at Bewick to see just what it was like, for he has drawn it a -hundred times with the care and the love of a true north -countryman; and, even if you do not care about the salmon river, -you ought, like all good boys, to know your Bewick. - -At least, so old Sir John used to say, and very sensibly he put it -too, as he was wont to do: - -"If they want to describe a finished young gentleman in France, I -hear, they say of him, 'Il sait son Rabelais.' But if I want to -describe one in England, I say, 'He knows his Bewick.' And I think -that is the higher compliment." - -But Tom thought nothing about what the river was like. All his -fancy was, to get down to the wide wide sea. - -And after a while he came to a place where the river spread out -into broad still shallow reaches, so wide that little Tom, as he -put his head out of the water, could hardly see across. - -And there he stopped. He got a little frightened. "This must be -the sea," he thought. "What a wide place it is! If I go on into -it I shall surely lose my way, or some strange thing will bite me. -I will stop here and look out for the otter, or the eels, or some -one to tell me where I shall go." - -So he went back a little way, and crept into a crack of the rock, -just where the river opened out into the wide shallows, and watched -for some one to tell him his way: but the otter and the eels were -gone on miles and miles down the stream. - -There he waited, and slept too, for he was quite tired with his -night's journey; and, when he woke, the stream was clearing to a -beautiful amber hue, though it was still very high. And after a -while he saw a sight which made him jump up; for he knew in a -moment it was one of the things which he had come to look for. - -Such a fish! ten times as big as the biggest trout, and a hundred -times as big as Tom, sculling up the stream past him, as easily as -Tom had sculled down. - -Such a fish! shining silver from head to tail, and here and there a -crimson dot; with a grand hooked nose and grand curling lip, and a -grand bright eye, looking round him as proudly as a king, and -surveying the water right and left as if all belonged to him. -Surely he must be the salmon, the king of all the fish. - -Tom was so frightened that he longed to creep into a hole; but he -need not have been; for salmon are all true gentlemen, and, like -true gentlemen, they look noble and proud enough, and yet, like -true gentlemen, they never harm or quarrel with any one, but go -about their own business, and leave rude fellows to themselves. - -The salmon looked at him full in the face, and then went on without -minding him, with a swish or two of his tail which made the stream -boil again. And in a few minutes came another, and then four or -five, and so on; and all passed Tom, rushing and plunging up the -cataract with strong strokes of their silver tails, now and then -leaping clean out of water and up over a rock, shining gloriously -for a moment in the bright sun; while Tom was so delighted that he -could have watched them all day long. - -And at last one came up bigger than all the rest; but he came -slowly, and stopped, and looked back, and seemed very anxious and -busy. And Tom saw that he was helping another salmon, an -especially handsome one, who had not a single spot upon it, but was -clothed in pure silver from nose to tail. - -"My dear," said the great fish to his companion, "you really look -dreadfully tired, and you must not over-exert yourself at first. -Do rest yourself behind this rock;" and he shoved her gently with -his nose, to the rock where Tom sat. - -You must know that this was the salmon's wife. For salmon, like -other true gentlemen, always choose their lady, and love her, and -are true to her, and take care of her and work for her, and fight -for her, as every true gentleman ought; and are not like vulgar -chub and roach and pike, who have no high feelings, and take no -care of their wives. - -Then he saw Tom, and looked at him very fiercely one moment, as if -he was going to bite him. - -"What do you want here?" he said, very fiercely. - -"Oh, don't hurt me!" cried Tom. "I only want to look at you; you -are so handsome." - -"Ah?" said the salmon, very stately but very civilly. "I really -beg your pardon; I see what you are, my little dear. I have met -one or two creatures like you before, and found them very agreeable -and well-behaved. Indeed, one of them showed me a great kindness -lately, which I hope to be able to repay. I hope we shall not be -in your way here. As soon as this lady is rested, we shall proceed -on our journey." - -What a well-bred old salmon he was! - -"So you have seen things like me before?" asked Tom. - -"Several times, my dear. Indeed, it was only last night that one -at the river's mouth came and warned me and my wife of some new -stake-nets which had got into the stream, I cannot tell how, since -last winter, and showed us the way round them, in the most -charmingly obliging way." - -"So there are babies in the sea?" cried Tom, and clapped his little -hands. "Then I shall have some one to play with there? How -delightful!" - -"Were there no babies up this stream?" asked the lady salmon. - -"No! and I grew so lonely. I thought I saw three last night; but -they were gone in an instant, down to the sea. So I went too; for -I had nothing to play with but caddises and dragon-flies and -trout." - -"Ugh!" cried the lady, "what low company!" - -"My dear, if he has been in low company, he has certainly not -learnt their low manners," said the salmon. - -"No, indeed, poor little dear: but how sad for him to live among -such people as caddises, who have actually six legs, the nasty -things; and dragon-flies, too! why they are not even good to eat; -for I tried them once, and they are all hard and empty; and, as for -trout, every one knows what they are." Whereon she curled up her -lip, and looked dreadfully scornful, while her husband curled up -his too, till he looked as proud as Alcibiades. - -"Why do you dislike the trout so?" asked Tom. - -"My dear, we do not even mention them, if we can help it; for I am -sorry to say they are relations of ours who do us no credit. A -great many years ago they were just like us: but they were so -lazy, and cowardly, and greedy, that instead of going down to the -sea every year to see the world and grow strong and fat, they chose -to stay and poke about in the little streams and eat worms and -grubs; and they are very properly punished for it; for they have -grown ugly and brown and spotted and small; and are actually so -degraded in their tastes, that they will eat our children." - -"And then they pretend to scrape acquaintance with us again," said -the lady. "Why, I have actually known one of them propose to a -lady salmon, the little impudent little creature." - -"I should hope," said the gentleman, "that there are very few -ladies of our race who would degrade themselves by listening to -such a creature for an instant. If I saw such a thing happen, I -should consider it my duty to put them both to death upon the -spot." So the old salmon said, like an old blue-blooded hidalgo of -Spain; and what is more, he would have done it too. For you must -know, no enemies are so bitter against each other as those who are -of the same race; and a salmon looks on a trout, as some great -folks look on some little folks, as something just too much like -himself to be tolerated. - - - -CHAPTER IV - - - -"Sweet is the lore which Nature brings; -Our meddling intellect -Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things -We murder to dissect. - -Enough of science and of art: -Close up these barren leaves; -Come forth, and bring with you a heart -That watches and receives." - -WORDSWORTH. - - -So the salmon went up, after Tom had warned them of the wicked old -otter; and Tom went down, but slowly and cautiously, coasting along -shore. He was many days about it, for it was many miles down to -the sea; and perhaps he would never have found his way, if the -fairies had not guided him, without his seeing their fair faces, or -feeling their gentle hands. - -And, as he went, he had a very strange adventure. It was a clear -still September night, and the moon shone so brightly down through -the water, that he could not sleep, though he shut his eyes as -tight as possible. So at last he came up to the top, and sat upon -a little point of rock, and looked up at the broad yellow moon, and -wondered what she was, and thought that she looked at him. And he -watched the moonlight on the rippling river, and the black heads of -the firs, and the silver-frosted lawns, and listened to the owl's -hoot, and the snipe's bleat, and the fox's bark, and the otter's -laugh; and smelt the soft perfume of the birches, and the wafts of -heather honey off the grouse moor far above; and felt very happy, -though he could not well tell why. You, of course, would have been -very cold sitting there on a September night, without the least bit -of clothes on your wet back; but Tom was a water-baby, and -therefore felt cold no more than a fish. - -Suddenly, he saw a beautiful sight. A bright red light moved along -the river-side, and threw down into the water a long tap-root of -flame. Tom, curious little rogue that he was, must needs go and -see what it was; so he swam to the shore, and met the light as it -stopped over a shallow run at the edge of a low rock. - -And there, underneath the light, lay five or six great salmon, -looking up at the flame with their great goggle eyes, and wagging -their tails, as if they were very much pleased at it. - -Tom came to the top, to look at this wonderful light nearer, and -made a splash. - -And he heard a voice say: - -"There was a fish rose." - -He did not know what the words meant: but he seemed to know the -sound of them, and to know the voice which spoke them; and he saw -on the bank three great two-legged creatures, one of whom held the -light, flaring and sputtering, and another a long pole. And he -knew that they were men, and was frightened, and crept into a hole -in the rock, from which he could see what went on. - -The man with the torch bent down over the water, and looked -earnestly in; and then he said: - -"Tak' that muckle fellow, lad; he's ower fifteen punds; and haud -your hand steady." - -Tom felt that there was some danger coming, and longed to warn the -foolish salmon, who kept staring up at the light as if he was -bewitched. But before he could make up his mind, down came the -pole through the water; there was a fearful splash and struggle, -and Tom saw that the poor salmon was speared right through, and was -lifted out of the water. - -And then, from behind, there sprang on these three men three other -men; and there were shouts, and blows, and words which Tom -recollected to have heard before; and he shuddered and turned sick -at them now, for he felt somehow that they were strange, and ugly, -and wrong, and horrible. And it all began to come back to him. -They were men; and they were fighting; savage, desperate, up-and- -down fighting, such as Tom had seen too many times before. - -And he stopped his little ears, and longed to swim away; and was -very glad that he was a water-baby, and had nothing to do any more -with horrid dirty men, with foul clothes on their backs, and foul -words on their lips; but he dared not stir out of his hole: while -the rock shook over his head with the trampling and struggling of -the keepers and the poachers. - -All of a sudden there was a tremendous splash, and a frightful -flash, and a hissing, and all was still. - -For into the water, close to Tom, fell one of the men; he who held -the light in his hand. Into the swift river he sank, and rolled -over and over in the current. Tom heard the men above run along -seemingly looking for him; but he drifted down into the deep hole -below, and there lay quite still, and they could not find him. - -Tom waited a long time, till all was quiet; and then he peeped out, -and saw the man lying. At last he screwed up his courage and swam -down to him. "Perhaps," he thought, "the water has made him fall -asleep, as it did me." - -Then he went nearer. He grew more and more curious, he could not -tell why. He must go and look at him. He would go very quietly, -of course; so he swam round and round him, closer and closer; and, -as he did not stir, at last he came quite close and looked him in -the face. - -The moon shone so bright that Tom could see every feature; and, as -he saw, he recollected, bit by bit, it was his old master, Grimes. - -Tom turned tail, and swam away as fast as he could. - -"Oh dear me!" he thought, "now he will turn into a water-baby. -What a nasty troublesome one he will be! And perhaps he will find -me out, and beat me again." - -So he went up the river again a little way, and lay there the rest -of the night under an alder root; but, when morning came, he longed -to go down again to the big pool, and see whether Mr. Grimes had -turned into a water-baby yet. - -So he went very carefully, peeping round all the rocks, and hiding -under all the roots. Mr. Grimes lay there still; he had not turned -into a water-baby. In the afternoon Tom went back again. He could -not rest till he had found out what had become of Mr. Grimes. But -this time Mr. Grimes was gone; and Tom made up his mind that he was -turned into a water-baby. - -He might have made himself easy, poor little man; Mr. Grimes did -not turn into a water-baby, or anything like one at all. But he -did not make himself easy; and a long time he was fearful lest he -should meet Grimes suddenly in some deep pool. He could not know -that the fairies had carried him away, and put him, where they put -everything which falls into the water, exactly where it ought to -be. But, do you know, what had happened to Mr. Grimes had such an -effect on him that he never poached salmon any more. And it is -quite certain that, when a man becomes a confirmed poacher, the -only way to cure him is to put him under water for twenty-four -hours, like Grimes. So when you grow to be a big man, do you -behave as all honest fellows should; and never touch a fish or a -head of game which belongs to another man without his express -leave; and then people will call you a gentleman, and treat you -like one; and perhaps give you good sport: instead of hitting you -into the river, or calling you a poaching snob. - -Then Tom went on down, for he was afraid of staying near Grimes: -and as he went, all the vale looked sad. The red and yellow leaves -showered down into the river; the flies and beetles were all dead -and gone; the chill autumn fog lay low upon the hills, and -sometimes spread itself so thickly on the river that he could not -see his way. But he felt his way instead, following the flow of -the stream, day after day, past great bridges, past boats and -barges, past the great town, with its wharfs, and mills, and tall -smoking chimneys, and ships which rode at anchor in the stream; and -now and then he ran against their hawsers, and wondered what they -were, and peeped out, and saw the sailors lounging on board smoking -their pipes; and ducked under again, for he was terribly afraid of -being caught by man and turned into a chimney-sweep once more. He -did not know that the fairies were close to him always, shutting -the sailors' eyes lest they should see him, and turning him aside -from millraces, and sewer-mouths, and all foul and dangerous -things. Poor little fellow, it was a dreary journey for him; and -more than once he longed to be back in Vendale, playing with the -trout in the bright summer sun. But it could not be. What has -been once can never come over again. And people can be little -babies, even water-babies, only once in their lives. - -Besides, people who make up their minds to go and see the world, as -Tom did, must needs find it a weary journey. Lucky for them if -they do not lose heart and stop half-way, instead of going on -bravely to the end as Tom did. For then they will remain neither -boys nor men, neither fish, flesh, nor good red-herring: having -learnt a great deal too much, and yet not enough; and sown their -wild oats, without having the advantage of reaping them. - -But Tom was always a brave, determined, little English bull-dog, -who never knew when he was beaten; and on and on he held, till he -saw a long way off the red buoy through the fog. And then he found -to his surprise, the stream turned round, and running up inland. - -It was the tide, of course: but Tom knew nothing of the tide. He -only knew that in a minute more the water, which had been fresh, -turned salt all round him. And then there came a change over him. -He felt as strong, and light, and fresh, as if his veins had run -champagne; and gave, he did not know why, three skips out of the -water, a yard high, and head over heels, just as the salmon do when -they first touch the noble rich salt water, which, as some wise men -tell us, is the mother of all living things. - -He did not care now for the tide being against him. The red buoy -was in sight, dancing in the open sea; and to the buoy he would go, -and to it he went. He passed great shoals of bass and mullet, -leaping and rushing in after the shrimps, but he never heeded them, -or they him; and once he passed a great black shining seal, who was -coming in after the mullet. The seal put his head and shoulders -out of water, and stared at him, looking exactly like a fat old -greasy negro with a gray pate. And Tom, instead of being -frightened, said, "How d'ye do, sir; what a beautiful place the sea -is!" And the old seal, instead of trying to bite him, looked at -him with his soft sleepy winking eyes, and said, "Good tide to you, -my little man; are you looking for your brothers and sisters? I -passed them all at play outside." - -"Oh, then," said Tom, "I shall have playfellows at last," and he -swam on to the buoy, and got upon it (for he was quite out of -breath) and sat there, and looked round for water-babies: but -there were none to be seen. - -The sea-breeze came in freshly with the tide and blew the fog away; -and the little waves danced for joy around the buoy, and the old -buoy danced with them. The shadows of the clouds ran races over -the bright blue bay, and yet never caught each other up; and the -breakers plunged merrily upon the wide white sands, and jumped up -over the rocks, to see what the green fields inside were like, and -tumbled down and broke themselves all to pieces, and never minded -it a bit, but mended themselves and jumped up again. And the terns -hovered over Tom like huge white dragon-flies with black heads, and -the gulls laughed like girls at play, and the sea-pies, with their -red bills and legs, flew to and fro from shore to shore, and -whistled sweet and wild. And Tom looked and looked, and listened; -and he would have been very happy, if he could only have seen the -water-babies. Then when the tide turned, he left the buoy, and -swam round and round in search of them: but in vain. Sometimes he -thought he heard them laughing: but it was only the laughter of -the ripples. And sometimes he thought he saw them at the bottom: -but it was only white and pink shells. And once he was sure he had -found one, for he saw two bright eyes peeping out of the sand. So -he dived down, and began scraping the sand away, and cried, "Don't -hide; I do want some one to play with so much!" And out jumped a -great turbot with his ugly eyes and mouth all awry, and flopped -away along the bottom, knocking poor Tom over. And he sat down at -the bottom of the sea, and cried salt tears from sheer -disappointment. - -To have come all this way, and faced so many dangers, and yet to -find no water-babies! How hard! Well, it did seem hard: but -people, even little babies, cannot have all they want without -waiting for it, and working for it too, my little man, as you will -find out some day. - -And Tom sat upon the buoy long days, long weeks, looking out to -sea, and wondering when the water-babies would come back; and yet -they never came. - -Then he began to ask all the strange things which came in out of -the sea if they had seen any; and some said "Yes," and some said -nothing at all. - -He asked the bass and the pollock; but they were so greedy after -the shrimps that they did not care to answer him a word. - -Then there came in a whole fleet of purple sea-snails, floating -along, each on a sponge full of foam, and Tom said, "Where do you -come from, you pretty creatures? and have you seen the water- -babies?" - -And the sea-snails answered, "Whence we come we know not; and -whither we are going, who can tell? We float out our life in the -mid-ocean, with the warm sunshine above our heads, and the warm -gulf-stream below; and that is enough for us. Yes; perhaps we have -seen the water-babies. We have seen many strange things as we -sailed along." And they floated away, the happy stupid things, and -all went ashore upon the sands. - -Then there came in a great lazy sunfish, as big as a fat pig cut in -half; and he seemed to have been cut in half too, and squeezed in a -clothes-press till he was flat; but to all his big body and big -fins he had only a little rabbit's mouth, no bigger than Tom's; -and, when Tom questioned him, he answered in a little squeaky -feeble voice: - -"I'm sure I don't know; I've lost my way. I meant to go to the -Chesapeake, and I'm afraid I've got wrong somehow. Dear me! it was -all by following that pleasant warm water. I'm sure I've lost my -way." - -And, when Tom asked him again, he could only answer, "I've lost my -way. Don't talk to me; I want to think." - -But, like a good many other people, the more he tried to think the -less he could think; and Tom saw him blundering about all day, till -the coast-guardsmen saw his big fin above the water, and rowed out, -and struck a boat-hook into him, and took him away. They took him -up to the town and showed him for a penny a head, and made a good -day's work of it. But of course Tom did not know that. - -Then there came by a shoal of porpoises, rolling as they went-- -papas, and mammas, and little children--and all quite smooth and -shiny, because the fairies French-polish them every morning; and -they sighed so softly as they came by, that Tom took courage to -speak to them: but all they answered was, "Hush, hush, hush;" for -that was all they had learnt to say. - -And then there came a shoal of basking sharks' some of them as long -as a boat, and Tom was frightened at them. But they were very lazy -good-natured fellows, not greedy tyrants, like white sharks and -blue sharks and ground sharks and hammer-heads, who eat men, or -saw-fish and threshers and ice-sharks, who hunt the poor old -whales. They came and rubbed their great sides against the buoy, -and lay basking in the sun with their backfins out of water; and -winked at Tom: but he never could get them to speak. They had -eaten so many herrings that they were quite stupid; and Tom was -glad when a collier brig came by and frightened them all away; for -they did smell most horribly, certainly, and he had to hold his -nose tight as long as they were there. - -And then there came by a beautiful creature, like a ribbon of pure -silver with a sharp head and very long teeth; but it seemed very -sick and sad. Sometimes it rolled helpless on its side; and then -it dashed away glittering like white fire; and then it lay sick -again and motionless. - -"Where do you come from?" asked Tom. "And why are YOU so sick and -sad?" - -"I come from the warm Carolinas, and the sandbanks fringed with -pines; where the great owl-rays leap and flap, like giant bats, -upon the tide. But I wandered north and north, upon the -treacherous warm gulf-stream, till I met with the cold icebergs, -afloat in the mid ocean. So I got tangled among the icebergs, and -chilled with their frozen breath. But the water-babies helped me -from among them, and set me free again. And now I am mending every -day; but I am very sick and sad; and perhaps I shall never get home -again to play with the owl-rays any more." - -"Oh!" cried Tom. "And you have seen water-babies? Have you seen -any near here?" - -"Yes; they helped me again last night, or I should have been eaten -by a great black porpoise." - -How vexatious! The water-babies close to him, and yet he could not -find one. - -And then he left the buoy, and used to go along the sands and round -the rocks, and come out in the night--like the forsaken Merman in -Mr. Arnold's beautiful, beautiful poem, which you must learn by -heart some day--and sit upon a point of rock, among the shining -sea-weeds, in the low October tides, and cry and call for the -water-babies; but he never heard a voice call in return. And at -last, with his fretting and crying, he grew quite lean and thin. - -But one day among the rocks he found a playfellow. It was not a -water-baby, alas! but it was a lobster; and a very distinguished -lobster he was; for he had live barnacles on his claws, which is a -great mark of distinction in lobsterdom, and no more to be bought -for money than a good conscience or the Victoria Cross. - -Tom had never seen a lobster before; and he was mightily taken with -this one; for he thought him the most curious, odd, ridiculous -creature he had ever seen; and there he was not far wrong; for all -the ingenious men, and all the scientific men, and all the fanciful -men, in the world, with all the old German bogy-painters into the -bargain, could never invent, if all their wits were boiled into -one, anything so curious, and so ridiculous, as a lobster. - -He had one claw knobbed and the other jagged; and Tom delighted in -watching him hold on to the seaweed with his knobbed claw, while he -cut up salads with his jagged one, and then put them into his -mouth, after smelling at them, like a monkey. And always the -little barnacles threw out their casting-nets and swept the water, -and came in for their share of whatever there was for dinner. - -But Tom was most astonished to see how he fired himself off--snap! -like the leap-frogs which you make out of a goose's breast-bone. -Certainly he took the most wonderful shots, and backwards, too. -For, if he wanted to go into a narrow crack ten yards off, what do -you think he did? If he had gone in head foremost, of course he -could not have turned round. So he used to turn his tail to it, -and lay his long horns, which carry his sixth sense in their tips -(and nobody knows what that sixth sense is), straight down his back -to guide him, and twist his eyes back till they almost came out of -their sockets, and then made ready, present, fire, snap!--and away -he went, pop into the hole; and peeped out and twiddled his -whiskers, as much as to say, "You couldn't do that." - -Tom asked him about water-babies. "Yes," he said. He had seen -them often. But he did not think much of them. They were -meddlesome little creatures, that went about helping fish and -shells which got into scrapes. Well, for his part, he should be -ashamed to be helped by little soft creatures that had not even a -shell on their backs. He had lived quite long enough in the world -to take care of himself. - -He was a conceited fellow, the old lobster, and not very civil to -Tom; and you will hear how he had to alter his mind before he was -done, as conceited people generally have. But he was so funny, and -Tom so lonely, that he could not quarrel with him; and they used to -sit in holes in the rocks, and chat for hours. - -And about this time there happened to Tom a very strange and -important adventure--so important, indeed, that he was very near -never finding the water-babies at all; and I am sure you would have -been sorry for that. - -I hope that you have not forgotten the little white lady all this -while. At least, here she comes, looking like a clean white good -little darling, as she always was, and always will be. For it -befell in the pleasant short December days, when the wind always -blows from the south-west, till Old Father Christmas comes and -spreads the great white table-cloth, ready for little boys and -girls to give the birds their Christmas dinner of crumbs--it befell -(to go on) in the pleasant December days, that Sir John was so busy -hunting that nobody at home could get a word out of him. Four days -a week he hunted, and very good sport he had; and the other two he -went to the bench and the board of guardians, and very good justice -he did; and, when he got home in time, he dined at five; for he -hated this absurd new fashion of dining at eight in the hunting -season, which forces a man to make interest with the footman for -cold beef and beer as soon as he comes in, and so spoil his -appetite, and then sleep in an arm-chair in his bedroom, all stiff -and tired, for two or three hours before he can get his dinner like -a gentleman. And do you be like Sir John, my dear little man, when -you are your own master; and, if you want either to read hard or -ride hard, stick to the good old Cambridge hours of breakfast at -eight and dinner at five; by which you may get two days' work out -of one. But, of course, if you find a fox at three in the -afternoon and run him till dark, and leave off twenty miles from -home, why you must wait for your dinner till you can get it, as -better men than you have done. Only see that, if you go hungry, -your horse does not; but give him his warm gruel and beer, and take -him gently home, remembering that good horses don't grow on the -hedge like blackberries. - -It befell (to go on a second time) that Sir John, hunting all day, -and dining at five, fell asleep every evening, and snored so -terribly that all the windows in Harthover shook, and the soot fell -down the chimneys. Whereon My Lady, being no more able to get -conversation out of him than a song out of a dead nightingale, -determined to go off and leave him, and the doctor, and Captain -Swinger the agent, to snore in concert every evening to their -hearts' content. So she started for the seaside with all the -children, in order to put herself and them into condition by mild -applications of iodine. She might as well have stayed at home and -used Parry's liquid horse-blister, for there was plenty of it in -the stables; and then she would have saved her money, and saved the -chance, also, of making all the children ill instead of well (as -hundreds are made), by taking them to some nasty smelling undrained -lodging, and then wondering how they caught scarlatina and -diphtheria: but people won't be wise enough to understand that -till they are dead of bad smells, and then it will be too late; -besides you see, Sir John did certainly snore very loud. - -But where she went to nobody must know, for fear young ladies -should begin to fancy that there are water-babies there! and so -hunt and howk after them (besides raising the price of lodgings), -and keep them in aquariums, as the ladies at Pompeii (as you may -see by the paintings) used to keep Cupids in cages. But nobody -ever heard that they starved the Cupids, or let them die of dirt -and neglect, as English young ladies do by the poor sea-beasts. So -nobody must know where My Lady went. Letting water-babies die is -as bad as taking singing birds' eggs; for, though there are -thousands, ay, millions, of both of them in the world, yet there is -not one too many. - -Now it befell that, on the very shore, and over the very rocks, -where Tom was sitting with his friend the lobster, there walked one -day the little white lady, Ellie herself, and with her a very wise -man indeed--Professor Ptthmllnsprts. - -His mother was a Dutchwoman, and therefore he was born at Curacao -(of course you have learnt your geography, and therefore know why); -and his father a Pole, and therefore he was brought up at -Petropaulowski (of course you have learnt your modern politics, and -therefore know why): but for all that he was as thorough an -Englishman as ever coveted his neighbour's goods. And his name, as -I said, was Professor Ptthmllnsprts, which is a very ancient and -noble Polish name. - -He was, as I said, a very great naturalist, and chief professor of -Necrobioneopalaeonthydrochthonanthropopithekology in the new -university which the king of the Cannibal Islands had founded; and, -being a member of the Acclimatisation Society, he had come here to -collect all the nasty things which he could find on the coast of -England, and turn them loose round the Cannibal Islands, because -they had not nasty things enough there to eat what they left. - -But he was a very worthy kind good-natured little old gentleman; -and very fond of children (for he was not the least a cannibal -himself); and very good to all the world as long as it was good to -him. Only one fault he had, which cock-robins have likewise, as -you may see if you look out of the nursery window--that, when any -one else found a curious worm, he would hop round them, and peck -them, and set up his tail, and bristle up his feathers, just as a -cock-robin would; and declare that he found the worm first; and -that it was his worm; and, if not, that then it was not a worm at -all. - -He had met Sir John at Scarborough, or Fleetwood, or somewhere or -other (if you don't care where, nobody else does), and had made -acquaintance with him, and become very fond of his children. Now, -Sir John knew nothing about sea-cockyolybirds, and cared less, -provided the fishmonger sent him good fish for dinner; and My Lady -knew as little: but she thought it proper that the children should -know something. For in the stupid old times, you must understand, -children were taught to know one thing, and to know it well; but in -these enlightened new times they are taught to know a little about -everything, and to know it all ill; which is a great deal -pleasanter and easier, and therefore quite right. - -So Ellie and he were walking on the rocks, and he was showing her -about one in ten thousand of all the beautiful and curious things -which are to be seen there. But little Ellie was not satisfied -with them at all. She liked much better to play with live -children, or even with dolls, which she could pretend were alive; -and at last she said honestly, "I don't care about all these -things, because they can't play with me, or talk to me. If there -were little children now in the water, as there used to be, and I -could see them, I should like that." - -"Children in the water, you strange little duck?" said the -professor. - -"Yes," said Ellie. "I know there used to be children in the water, -and mermaids too, and mermen. I saw them all in a picture at home, -of a beautiful lady sailing in a car drawn by dolphins, and babies -flying round her, and one sitting in her lap; and the mermaids -swimming and playing, and the mermen trumpeting on conch-shells; -and it is called 'The Triumph of Galatea;' and there is a burning -mountain in the picture behind. It hangs on the great staircase, -and I have looked at it ever since I was a baby, and dreamt about -it a hundred times; and it is so beautiful, that it must be true." - -But the professor had not the least notion of allowing that things -were true, merely because people thought them beautiful. For at -that rate, he said, the Baltas would be quite right in thinking it -a fine thing to eat their grandpapas, because they thought it an -ugly thing to put them underground. The professor, indeed, went -further, and held that no man was forced to believe anything to be -true, but what he could see, hear, taste, or handle. - -He held very strange theories about a good many things. He had -even got up once at the British Association, and declared that apes -had hippopotamus majors in their brains just as men have. Which -was a shocking thing to say; for, if it were so, what would become -of the faith, hope, and charity of immortal millions? You may -think that there are other more important differences between you -and an ape, such as being able to speak, and make machines, and -know right from wrong, and say your prayers, and other little -matters of that kind; but that is a child's fancy, my dear. -Nothing is to be depended on but the great hippopotamus test. If -you have a hippopotamus major in your brain, you are no ape, though -you had four hands, no feet, and were more apish than the apes of -all aperies. But if a hippopotamus major is ever discovered in one -single ape's brain, nothing will save your great-great-great-great- -great-great-great-great-great-great-great-greater-greatest- -grandmother from having been an ape too. No, my dear little man; -always remember that the one true, certain, final, and all- -important difference between you and an ape is, that you have a -hippopotamus major in your brain, and it has none; and that, -therefore, to discover one in its brain will be a very wrong and -dangerous thing, at which every one will be very much shocked, as -we may suppose they were at the professor.--Though really, after -all, it don't much matter; because--as Lord Dundreary and others -would put it--nobody but men have hippopotamuses in their brains; -so, if a hippopotamus was discovered in an ape's brain, why it -would not be one, you know, but something else. - -But the professor had gone, I am sorry to say, even further than -that; for he had read at the British Association at Melbourne, -Australia, in the year 1999, a paper which assured every one who -found himself the better or wiser for the news, that there were -not, never had been, and could not be, any rational or half- -rational beings except men, anywhere, anywhen, or anyhow; that -nymphs, satyrs, fauns, inui, dwarfs, trolls, elves, gnomes, -fairies, brownies, nixes, wills, kobolds, leprechaunes, -cluricaunes, banshees, will-o'-the-wisps, follets, lutins, magots, -goblins, afrits, marids, jinns, ghouls, peris, deevs, angels, -archangels, imps, bogies, or worse, were nothing at all, and pure -bosh and wind. And he had to get up very early in the morning to -prove that, and to eat his breakfast overnight; but he did it, at -least to his own satisfaction. Whereon a certain great divine, and -a very clever divine was he, called him a regular Sadducee; and -probably he was quite right. Whereon the professor, in return, -called him a regular Pharisee; and probably he was quite right too. -But they did not quarrel in the least; for, when men are men of the -world, hard words run off them like water off a duck's back. So -the professor and the divine met at dinner that evening, and sat -together on the sofa afterwards for an hour, and talked over the -state of female labour on the antarctic continent (for nobody talks -shop after his claret), and each vowed that the other was the best -company he ever met in his life. What an advantage it is to be men -of the world! - -From all which you may guess that the professor was not the least -of little Ellie's opinion. So he gave her a succinct compendium of -his famous paper at the British Association, in a form suited for -the youthful mind. But, as we have gone over his arguments against -water-babies once already, which is once too often, we will not -repeat them here. - -Now little Ellie was, I suppose, a stupid little girl; for, instead -of being convinced by Professor Ptthmllnsprts' arguments, she only -asked the same question over again. - -"But why are there not water-babies?" - -I trust and hope that it was because the professor trod at that -moment on the edge of a very sharp mussel, and hurt one of his -corns sadly, that he answered quite sharply, forgetting that he was -a scientific man, and therefore ought to have known that he -couldn't know; and that he was a logician, and therefore ought to -have known that he could not prove a universal negative--I say, I -trust and hope it was because the mussel hurt his corn, that the -professor answered quite sharply: - -"Because there ain't." - -Which was not even good English, my dear little boy; for, as you -must know from Aunt Agitate's Arguments, the professor ought to -have said, if he was so angry as to say anything of the kind-- -Because there are not: or are none: or are none of them; or (if -he had been reading Aunt Agitate too) because they do not exist. - -And he groped with his net under the weeds so violently, that, as -it befell, he caught poor little Tom. - -He felt the net very heavy; and lifted it out quickly, with Tom all -entangled in the meshes. - -"Dear me!" he cried. "What a large pink Holothurian; with hands, -too! It must be connected with Synapta." - -And he took him out. - -"It has actually eyes!" he cried. "Why, it must be a Cephalopod! -This is most extraordinary!" - -"No, I ain't!" cried Tom, as loud as he could; for he did not like -to be called bad names. - -"It is a water-baby!" cried Ellie; and of course it was. - -"Water-fiddlesticks, my dear!" said the professor; and he turned -away sharply. - -There was no denying it. It was a water-baby: and he had said a -moment ago that there were none. What was he to do? - -He would have liked, of course, to have taken Tom home in a bucket. -He would not have put him in spirits. Of course not. He would -have kept him alive, and petted him (for he was a very kind old -gentleman), and written a book about him, and given him two long -names, of which the first would have said a little about Tom, and -the second all about himself; for of course he would have called -him Hydrotecnon Ptthmllnsprtsianum, or some other long name like -that; for they are forced to call everything by long names now, -because they have used up all the short ones, ever since they took -to making nine species out of one. But--what would all the learned -men say to him after his speech at the British Association? And -what would Ellie say, after what he had just told her? - -There was a wise old heathen once, who said, "Maxima debetur pueris -reverentia"--The greatest reverence is due to children; that is, -that grown people should never say or do anything wrong before -children, lest they should set them a bad example.--Cousin -Cramchild says it means, "The greatest respectfulness is expected -from little boys." But he was raised in a country where little -boys are not expected to be respectful, because all of them are as -good as the President:- Well, every one knows his own concerns -best; so perhaps they are. But poor Cousin Cramchild, to do him -justice, not being of that opinion, and having a moral mission, and -being no scholar to speak of, and hard up for an authority--why, it -was a very great temptation for him. But some people, and I am -afraid the professor was one of them, interpret that in a more -strange, curious, one-sided, left-handed, topsy-turvy, inside-out, -behind-before fashion than even Cousin Cramchild; for they make it -mean, that you must show your respect for children, by never -confessing yourself in the wrong to them, even if you know that you -are so, lest they should lose confidence in their elders. - -Now, if the professor had said to Ellie, "Yes, my darling, it is a -water-baby, and a very wonderful thing it is; and it shows how -little I know of the wonders of nature, in spite of forty years' -honest labour. I was just telling you that there could be no such -creatures; and, behold! here is one come to confound my conceit and -show me that Nature can do, and has done, beyond all that man's -poor fancy can imagine. So, let us thank the Maker, and Inspirer, -and Lord of Nature for all His wonderful and glorious works, and -try and find out something about this one;"--I think that, if the -professor had said that, little Ellie would have believed him more -firmly, and respected him more deeply, and loved him better, than -ever she had done before. But he was of a different opinion. He -hesitated a moment. He longed to keep Tom, and yet he half wished -he never had caught him; and at last he quite longed to get rid of -him. So he turned away and poked Tom with his finger, for want of -anything better to do; and said carelessly, "My dear little maid, -you must have dreamt of water-babies last night, your head is so -full of them." - -Now Tom had been in the most horrible and unspeakable fright all -the while; and had kept as quiet as he could, though he was called -a Holothurian and a Cephalopod; for it was fixed in his little head -that if a man with clothes on caught him, he might put clothes on -him too, and make a dirty black chimney-sweep of him again. But, -when the professor poked him, it was more than he could bear; and, -between fright and rage, he turned to bay as valiantly as a mouse -in a corner, and bit the professor's finger till it bled. - -"Oh! ah! yah!" cried he; and glad of an excuse to be rid of Tom, -dropped him on to the seaweed, and thence he dived into the water -and was gone in a moment. - -"But it was a water-baby, and I heard it speak!" cried Ellie. "Ah, -it is gone!" And she jumped down off the rock, to try and catch -Tom before he slipped into the sea. - -Too late! and what was worse, as she sprang down, she slipped, and -fell some six feet, with her head on a sharp rock, and lay quite -still. - -The professor picked her up, and tried to waken her, and called to -her, and cried over her, for he loved her very much: but she would -not waken at all. So he took her up in his arms and carried her to -her governess, and they all went home; and little Ellie was put to -bed, and lay there quite still; only now and then she woke up and -called out about the water-baby: but no one knew what she meant, -and the professor did not tell, for he was ashamed to tell. - -And, after a week, one moonlight night, the fairies came flying in -at the window and brought her such a pretty pair of wings that she -could not help putting them on; and she flew with them out of the -window, and over the land, and over the sea, and up through the -clouds, and nobody heard or saw anything of her for a very long -while. - -And this is why they say that no one has ever yet seen a water- -baby. For my part, I believe that the naturalists get dozens of -them when they are out dredging; but they say nothing about them, -and throw them overboard again, for fear of spoiling their -theories. But, you see the professor was found out, as every one -is in due time. A very terrible old fairy found the professor out; -she felt his bumps, and cast his nativity, and took the lunars of -him carefully inside and out; and so she knew what he would do as -well as if she had seen it in a print book, as they say in the dear -old west country; and he did it; and so he was found out -beforehand, as everybody always is; and the old fairy will find out -the naturalists some day, and put them in the Times, and then on -whose side will the laugh be? - -So the old fairy took him in hand very severely there and then. -But she says she is always most severe with the best people, -because there is most chance of curing them, and therefore they are -the patients who pay her best; for she has to work on the same -salary as the Emperor of China's physicians (it is a pity that all -do not), no cure, no pay. - -So she took the poor professor in hand: and because he was not -content with things as they are, she filled his head with things as -they are not, to try if he would like them better; and because he -did not choose to believe in a water-baby when he saw it, she made -him believe in worse things than water-babies--in unicorns, fire- -drakes, manticoras, basilisks, amphisbaenas, griffins, phoenixes, -rocs, orcs, dog-headed men, three-headed dogs, three-bodied -geryons, and other pleasant creatures, which folks think never -existed yet, and which folks hope never will exist, though they -know nothing about the matter, and never will; and these creatures -so upset, terrified, flustered, aggravated, confused, astounded, -horrified, and totally flabbergasted the poor professor that the -doctors said that he was out of his wits for three months; and -perhaps they were right, as they are now and then. - -So all the doctors in the county were called in to make a report on -his case; and of course every one of them flatly contradicted the -other: else what use is there in being men of science? But at -last the majority agreed on a report in the true medical language, -one half bad Latin, the other half worse Greek, and the rest what -might have been English, if they had only learnt to write it. And -this is the beginning thereof - - - -"The subanhypaposupernal anastomoses of peritomic diacellurite in -the encephalo digital region of the distinguished individual of -whose symptomatic phoenomena we had the melancholy honour -(subsequently to a preliminary diagnostic inspection) of making an -inspectorial diagnosis, presenting the interexclusively -quadrilateral and antinomian diathesis known as Bumpsterhausen's -blue follicles, we proceeded" - - - -But what they proceeded to do My Lady never knew; for she was so -frightened at the long words that she ran for her life, and locked -herself into her bedroom, for fear of being squashed by the words -and strangled by the sentence. A boa constrictor, she said, was -bad company enough: but what was a boa constrictor made of paving -stones? - -"It was quite shocking! What can they think is the matter with -him?" said she to the old nurse. - -"That his wit's just addled; may be wi' unbelief and heathenry," -quoth she. - -"Then why can't they say so?" - -And the heaven, and the sea, and the rocks, and the vales re- -echoed--"Why indeed?" But the doctors never heard them. - -So she made Sir John write to the Times to command the Chancellor -of the Exchequer for the time being to put a tax on long words; - - -A light tax on words over three syllables, which are necessary -evils, like rats: but, like them, must be kept down judiciously. - -A heavy tax on words over four syllables, as heterodoxy, -spontaneity, spiritualism, spuriosity, etc. - -And on words over five syllables (of which I hope no one will wish -to see any examples), a totally prohibitory tax. - -And a similar prohibitory tax on words derived from three or more -languages at once; words derived from two languages having become -so common that there was no more hope of rooting out them than of -rooting out peth-winds. - -The Chancellor of the Exchequer, being a scholar and a man of -sense, jumped at the notion; for he saw in it the one and only plan -for abolishing Schedule D: but when he brought in his bill, most -of the Irish members, and (I am sorry to say) some of the Scotch -likewise, opposed it most strongly, on the ground that in a free -country no man was bound either to understand himself or to let -others understand him. So the bill fell through on the first -reading; and the Chancellor, being a philosopher, comforted himself -with the thought that it was not the first time that a woman had -hit off a grand idea and the men turned up their stupid noses -thereat. - -Now the doctors had it all their own way; and to work they went in -earnest, and they gave the poor professor divers and sundry -medicines, as prescribed by the ancients and moderns, from -Hippocrates to Feuchtersleben, as below, viz.- - -1. Hellebore, to wit - - -Hellebore of AEta. -Hellebore of Galatia. -Hellebore of Sicily. - -And all other Hellebores, after the method of the Helleborising -Helleborists of the Helleboric era. But that would not do. -Bumpsterhausen's blue follicles would not stir an inch out of his -encephalo digital region. - -2. Trying to find out what was the matter with him, after the -method of - -Hippocrates, -Aretaeus, -Celsus, -Coelius Aurelianus, -And Galen. - -But they found that a great deal too much trouble, as most people -have since; and so had recourse to - - -3. Borage. -Cauteries. - -Boring a hole in his head to let out fumes, which (says Gordonius) -"will, without doubt, do much good." But it didn't. - -Bezoar stone. -Diamargaritum. -A ram's brain boiled in spice. -Oil of wormwood. -Water of Nile. -Capers. -Good wine (but there was none to be got). -The water of a smith's forge. -Ambergris. -Mandrake pillows. -Dormouse fat. -Hares' ears. -Starvation. -Camphor. -Salts and senna. -Musk. -Opium. -Strait-waistcoats. -Bullyings. -Bumpings. -Bleedings. -Bucketings with cold water. -Knockings down. -Kneeling on his chest till they broke it in, etc. etc.; after the -medieval or monkish method: but that would not do. -Bumpsterhausen's blue follicles stuck there still. - -Then - - -4. Coaxing. -Kissing. -Champagne and turtle. -Red herrings and soda water. -Good advice. -Gardening. -Croquet. -Musical soirees. -Aunt Salty. -Mild tobacco. -The Saturday Review. -A carriage with outriders, etc. etc. - -After the modern method. But that would not do. - -And if he had but been a convict lunatic, and had shot at the -Queen, killed all his creditors to avoid paying them, or indulged -in any other little amiable eccentricity of that kind, they would -have given him in addition - - -The healthiest situation in England, on Easthampstead Plain. - -Free run of Windsor Forest. - -The Times every morning. - -A double-barrelled gun and pointers, and leave to shoot three -Wellington College boys a week (not more) in case black game was -scarce. - -But as he was neither mad enough nor bad enough to be allowed such -luxuries, they grew desperate, and fell into bad ways, viz. - - -5. Suffumigations of sulphur. -Herrwiggius his "Incomparable drink for madmen:" - -Only they could not find out what it was. - -Suffumigation of the liver of the fish * * * - -Only they had forgotten its name, so Dr. Gray could not well -procure them a specimen. - -Metallic tractors. -Holloway's Ointment. -Electro-biology. -Valentine Greatrakes his Stroking Cure. -Spirit-rapping. -Holloway's Pills. -Table-turning. -Morison's Pills. -Homoeopathy. -Parr's Life Pills. -Mesmerism. -Pure Bosh. -Exorcisms, for which the read Maleus Maleficarum, Nideri -Formicarium, Delrio, Wierus, etc. - -But could not get one that mentioned water-babies. - -Hydropathy. -Madame Rachel's Elixir of Youth. -The Poughkeepsie Seer his Prophecies. -The distilled liquor of addle eggs. -Pyropathy. - -As successfully employed by the old inquisitors to cure the malady -of thought, and now by the Persian Mollahs to cure that of -rheumatism. - -Geopathy, or burying him. -Atmopathy, or steaming him. -Sympathy, after the method of Basil Valentine his Triumph of -Antimony, and Kenelm Digby his Weapon-salve, which some call a hair -of the dog that bit him. -Hermopathy, or pouring mercury down his throat to move the animal -spirits. -Meteoropathy, or going up to the moon to look for his lost wits, as -Ruggiero did for Orlando Furioso's: only, having no hippogriff, -they were forced to use a balloon; and, falling into the North Sea, -were picked up by a Yarmouth herring-boat, and came home much the -wiser, and all over scales. - -Antipathy, or using him like "a man and a brother." - -Apathy, or doing nothing at all. - -With all other ipathies and opathies which Noodle has invented, and -Foodle tried, since black-fellows chipped flints at Abbeville-- -which is a considerable time ago, to judge by the Great Exhibition. - - -But nothing would do; for he screamed and cried all day for a -water-baby, to come and drive away the monsters; and of course they -did not try to find one, because they did not believe in them, and -were thinking of nothing but Bumpsterhausen's blue follicles; -having, as usual, set the cart before the horse, and taken the -effect for the cause. - -So they were forced at last to let the poor professor ease his mind -by writing a great book, exactly contrary to all his old opinions; -in which he proved that the moon was made of green cheese, and that -all the mites in it (which you may see sometimes quite plain -through a telescope, if you will only keep the lens dirty enough, -as Mr. Weekes kept his voltaic battery) are nothing in the world -but little babies, who are hatching and swarming up there in -millions, ready to come down into this world whenever children want -a new little brother or sister. - -Which must be a mistake, for this one reason: that, there being no -atmosphere round the moon (though some one or other says there is, -at least on the other side, and that he has been round at the back -of it to see, and found that the moon was just the shape of a Bath -bun, and so wet that the man in the moon went about on Midsummer- -day in Macintoshes and Cording's boots, spearing eels and -sneezing); that, therefore, I say, there being no atmosphere, there -can be no evaporation; and therefore the dew-point can never fall -below 71.5 degrees below zero of Fahrenheit: and, therefore, it -cannot be cold enough there about four o'clock in the morning to -condense the babies' mesenteric apophthegms into their left -ventricles; and, therefore, they can never catch the hooping-cough; -and if they do not have hooping-cough, they cannot be babies at -all; and, therefore, there are no babies in the moon.--Q.E.D. - -Which may seem a roundabout reason; and so, perhaps, it is: but -you will have heard worse ones in your time, and from better men -than you are. - -But one thing is certain; that, when the good old doctor got his -book written, he felt considerably relieved from Bumpsterhausen's -blue follicles, and a few things infinitely worse; to wit, from -pride and vain-glory, and from blindness and hardness of heart; -which are the true causes of Bumpsterhausen's blue follicles, and -of a good many other ugly things besides. Whereon the foul flood- -water in his brains ran down, and cleared to a fine coffee colour, -such as fish like to rise in, till very fine clean fresh-run fish -did begin to rise in his brains; and he caught two or three of them -(which is exceedingly fine sport, for brain rivers), and anatomised -them carefully, and never mentioned what he found out from them, -except to little children; and became ever after a sadder and a -wiser man; which is a very good thing to become, my dear little -boy, even though one has to pay a heavy price for the blessing. - - - -CHAPTER V - - - -"Stern Lawgiver! yet thou dost wear -The Godhead's most benignant grace; -Nor know we anything so fair -As is the smile upon thy face: -Flowers laugh before thee on their beds -And fragrance in thy footing treads; -Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong; -And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong." - -WORDSWORTH, Ode to Duty. - - -What became of little Tom? - -He slipped away off the rocks into the water, as I said before. -But he could not help thinking of little Ellie. He did not -remember who she was; but he knew that she was a little girl, -though she was a hundred times as big as he. That is not -surprising: size has nothing to do with kindred. A tiny weed may -be first cousin to a great tree; and a little dog like Vick knows -that Lioness is a dog too, though she is twenty times larger than -herself. So Tom knew that Ellie was a little girl, and thought -about her all that day, and longed to have had her to play with; -but he had very soon to think of something else. And here is the -account of what happened to him, as it was published next morning, -in the Water-proof Gazette, on the finest watered paper, for the -use of the great fairy, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, who reads the news -very carefully every morning, and especially the police cases, as -you will hear very soon. - -He was going along the rocks in three-fathom water, watching the -pollock catch prawns, and the wrasses nibble barnacles off the -rocks, shells and all, when he saw a round cage of green withes; -and inside it, looking very much ashamed of himself, sat his friend -the lobster, twiddling his horns, instead of thumbs. - -"What, have you been naughty, and have they put you in the lock- -up?" asked Tom. - -The lobster felt a little indignant at such a notion, but he was -too much depressed in spirits to argue; so he only said, "I can't -get out." - -"Why did you get in?" - -"After that nasty piece of dead fish." He had thought it looked -and smelt very nice when he was outside, and so it did, for a -lobster: but now he turned round and abused it because he was -angry with himself. - -"Where did you get in?" - -"Through that round hole at the top." - -"Then why don't you get out through it?" - -"Because I can't:" and the lobster twiddled his horns more fiercely -than ever, but he was forced to confess. - -"I have jumped upwards, downwards, backwards, and sideways, at -least four thousand times; and I can't get out: I always get up -underneath there, and can't find the hole." - -Tom looked at the trap, and having more wit than the lobster, he -saw plainly enough what was the matter; as you may if you will look -at a lobster-pot. - -"Stop a bit," said Tom. "Turn your tail up to me, and I'll pull -you through hindforemost, and then you won't stick in the spikes." - -But the lobster was so stupid and clumsy that he couldn't hit the -hole. Like a great many fox-hunters, he was very sharp as long as -he was in his own country; but as soon as they get out of it they -lose their heads; and so the lobster, so to speak, lost his tail. - -Tom reached and clawed down the hole after him, till he caught hold -of him; and then, as was to be expected, the clumsy lobster pulled -him in head foremost. - -"Hullo! here is a pretty business," said Tom. "Now take your great -claws, and break the points off those spikes, and then we shall -both get out easily." - -"Dear me, I never thought of that," said the lobster; "and after -all the experience of life that I have had!" - -You see, experience is of very little good unless a man, or a -lobster, has wit enough to make use of it. For a good many people, -like old Polonius, have seen all the world, and yet remain little -better than children after all. - -But they had not got half the spikes away when they saw a great -dark cloud over them: and lo, and behold, it was the otter. - -How she did grin and grin when she saw Tom. "Yar!" said she, "you -little meddlesome wretch, I have you now! I will serve you out for -telling the salmon where I was!" And she crawled all over the pot -to get in. - -Tom was horribly frightened, and still more frightened when she -found the hole in the top, and squeezed herself right down through -it, all eyes and teeth. But no sooner was her head inside than -valiant Mr. Lobster caught her by the nose and held on. - -And there they were all three in the pot, rolling over and over, -and very tight packing it was. And the lobster tore at the otter, -and the otter tore at the lobster, and both squeezed and thumped -poor Tom till he had no breath left in his body; and I don't know -what would have happened to him if he had not at last got on the -otter's back, and safe out of the hole. - -He was right glad when he got out: but he would not desert his -friend who had saved him; and the first time he saw his tail -uppermost he caught hold of it, and pulled with all his might. - -But the lobster would not let go. - -"Come along," said Tom; "don't you see she is dead?" And so she -was, quite drowned and dead. - -And that was the end of the wicked otter. - -But the lobster would not let go. - -"Come along, you stupid old stick-in-the-mud," cried Tom, "or the -fisherman will catch you!" And that was true, for Tom felt some -one above beginning to haul up the pot. - -But the lobster would not let go. Tom saw the fisherman haul him -up to the boat-side, and thought it was all up with him. But when -Mr. Lobster saw the fisherman, he gave such a furious and -tremendous snap, that he snapped out of his hand, and out of the -pot, and safe into the sea. But he left his knobbed claw behind -him; for it never came into his stupid head to let go after all, so -he just shook his claw off as the easier method. It was something -of a bull, that; but you must know the lobster was an Irish -lobster, and was hatched off Island Magee at the mouth of Belfast -Lough. - -Tom asked the lobster why he never thought of letting go. He said -very determinedly that it was a point of honour among lobsters. -And so it is, as the Mayor of Plymouth found out once to his cost-- -eight or nine hundred years ago, of course; for if it had happened -lately it would be personal to mention it. - -For one day he was so tired with sitting on a hard chair, in a -grand furred gown, with a gold chain round his neck, hearing one -policeman after another come in and sing, "What shall we do with -the drunken sailor, so early in the morning?" and answering them -each exactly alike: - -"Put him in the round house till he gets sober, so early in the -morning" - - -That, when it was over, he jumped up, and played leap-frog with the -town-clerk till he burst his buttons, and then had his luncheon, -and burst some more buttons, and then said: "It is a low spring- -tide; I shall go out this afternoon and cut my capers." - -Now he did not mean to cut such capers as you eat with boiled -mutton. It was the commandant of artillery at Valetta who used to -amuse himself with cutting them, and who stuck upon one of the -bastions a notice, "No one allowed to cut capers here but me," -which greatly edified the midshipmen in port, and the Maltese on -the Nix Mangiare stairs. But all that the mayor meant was that he -would go and have an afternoon's fun, like any schoolboy, and catch -lobsters with an iron hook. - -So to the Mewstone he went, and for lobsters he looked. And when -he came to a certain crack in the rocks he was so excited that, -instead of putting in his hook, he put in his hand; and Mr. Lobster -was at home, and caught him by the finger, and held on. - -"Yah!" said the mayor, and pulled as hard as he dared: but the -more he pulled, the more the lobster pinched, till he was forced to -be quiet. - -Then he tried to get his hook in with his other hand; but the hole -was too narrow. - -Then he pulled again; but he could not stand the pain. - -Then he shouted and bawled for help: but there was no one nearer -him than the men-of-war inside the breakwater. - -Then he began to turn a little pale; for the tide flowed, and still -the lobster held on. - -Then he turned quite white; for the tide was up to his knees, and -still the lobster held on. - -Then he thought of cutting off his finger; but he wanted two things -to do it with--courage and a knife; and he had got neither. - -Then he turned quite yellow; for the tide was up to his waist, and -still the lobster held on. - -Then he thought over all the naughty things he ever had done; all -the sand which he had put in the sugar, and the sloe-leaves in the -tea, and the water in the treacle, and the salt in the tobacco -(because his brother was a brewer, and a man must help his own -kin). - -Then he turned quite blue; for the tide was up to his breast, and -still the lobster held on. - -Then, I have no doubt, he repented fully of all the said naughty -things which he had done, and promised to mend his life, as too -many do when they think they have no life left to mend. Whereby, -as they fancy, they make a very cheap bargain. But the old fairy -with the birch rod soon undeceives them. - -And then he grew all colours at once, and turned up his eyes like a -duck in thunder; for the water was up to his chin, and still the -lobster held on. - -And then came a man-of-war's boat round the Mewstone, and saw his -head sticking up out of the water. One said it was a keg of -brandy, and another that it was a cocoa-nut, and another that it -was a buoy loose, and another that it was a black diver, and wanted -to fire at it, which would not have been pleasant for the mayor: -but just then such a yell came out of a great hole in the middle of -it that the midshipman in charge guessed what it was, and bade pull -up to it as fast as they could. So somehow or other the Jack-tars -got the lobster out, and set the mayor free, and put him ashore at -the Barbican. He never went lobster-catching again; and we will -hope he put no more salt in the tobacco, not even to sell his -brother's beer. - -And that is the story of the Mayor of Plymouth, which has two -advantages--first, that of being quite true; and second, that of -having (as folks say all good stories ought to have) no moral -whatsoever: no more, indeed, has any part of this book, because it -is a fairy tale, you know. - -And now happened to Tom a most wonderful thing; for he had not left -the lobster five minutes before he came upon a water-baby. - -A real live water-baby, sitting on the white sand, very busy about -a little point of rock. And when it saw Tom it looked up for a -moment, and then cried, "Why, you are not one of us. You are a new -baby! Oh, how delightful!" - -And it ran to Tom, and Tom ran to it, and they hugged and kissed -each other for ever so long, they did not know why. But they did -not want any introductions there under the water. - -At last Tom said, "Oh, where have you been all this while? I have -been looking for you so long, and I have been so lonely." - -"We have been here for days and days. There are hundreds of us -about the rocks. How was it you did not see us, or hear us when we -sing and romp every evening before we go home?" - -Tom looked at the baby again, and then he said: - -"Well, this is wonderful! I have seen things just like you again -and again, but I thought you were shells, or sea-creatures. I -never took you for water-babies like myself." - -Now, was not that very odd? So odd, indeed, that you will, no -doubt, want to know how it happened, and why Tom could never find a -water-baby till after he had got the lobster out of the pot. And, -if you will read this story nine times over, and then think for -yourself, you will find out why. It is not good for little boys to -be told everything, and never to be forced to use their own wits. -They would learn, then, no more than they do at Dr. Dulcimer's -famous suburban establishment for the idler members of the youthful -aristocracy, where the masters learn the lessons and the boys hear -them--which saves a great deal of trouble--for the time being. - -"Now," said the baby, "come and help me, or I shall not have -finished before my brothers and sisters come, and it is time to go -home." - -"What shall I help you at?" - -"At this poor dear little rock; a great clumsy boulder came rolling -by in the last storm, and knocked all its head off, and rubbed off -all its flowers. And now I must plant it again with seaweeds, and -coralline, and anemones, and I will make it the prettiest little -rock-garden on all the shore." - -So they worked away at the rock, and planted it, and smoothed the -sand down round, it, and capital fun they had till the tide began -to turn. And then Tom heard all the other babies coming, laughing -and singing and shouting and romping; and the noise they made was -just like the noise of the ripple. So he knew that he had been -hearing and seeing the water-babies all along; only he did not know -them, because his eyes and ears were not opened. - -And in they came, dozens and dozens of them, some bigger than Tom -and some smaller, all in the neatest little white bathing dresses; -and when they found that he was a new baby, they hugged him and -kissed him, and then put him in the middle and danced round him on -the sand, and there was no one ever so happy as poor little Tom. - -"Now then," they cried all at once, "we must come away home, we -must come away home, or the tide will leave us dry. We have mended -all the broken sea-weed, and put all the rock-pools in order, and -planted all the shells again in the sand, and nobody will see where -the ugly storm swept in last week." - -And this is the reason why the rock-pools are always so neat and -clean; because the water-babies come inshore after every storm to -sweep them out, and comb them down, and put them all to rights -again. - -Only where men are wasteful and dirty, and let sewers run into the -sea instead of putting the stuff upon the fields like thrifty -reasonable souls; or throw herrings' heads and dead dog-fish, or -any other refuse, into the water; or in any way make a mess upon -the clean shore--there the water-babies will not come, sometimes -not for hundreds of years (for they cannot abide anything smelly or -foul), but leave the sea-anemones and the crabs to clear away -everything, till the good tidy sea has covered up all the dirt in -soft mud and clean sand, where the water-babies can plant live -cockles and whelks and razor-shells and sea-cucumbers and golden- -combs, and make a pretty live garden again, after man's dirt is -cleared away. And that, I suppose, is the reason why there are no -water-babies at any watering-place which I have ever seen. - -And where is the home of the water-babies? In St. Brandan's fairy -isle. - -Did you never hear of the blessed St. Brandan, how he preached to -the wild Irish on the wild, wild Kerry coast, he and five other -hermits, till they were weary and longed to rest? For the wild -Irish would not listen to them, or come to confession and to mass, -but liked better to brew potheen, and dance the pater o'pee, and -knock each other over the head with shillelaghs, and shoot each -other from behind turf-dykes, and steal each other's cattle, and -burn each other's homes; till St. Brandan and his friends were -weary of them, for they would not learn to be peaceable Christians -at all. - -So St. Brandan went out to the point of Old Dunmore, and looked -over the tide-way roaring round the Blasquets, at the end of all -the world, and away into the ocean, and sighed--"Ah that I had -wings as a dove!" And far away, before the setting sun, he saw a -blue fairy sea, and golden fairy islands, and he said, "Those are -the islands of the blest." Then he and his friends got into a -hooker, and sailed away and away to the westward, and were never -heard of more. But the people who would not hear him were changed -into gorillas, and gorillas they are until this day. - -And when St. Brandan and the hermits came to that fairy isle they -found it overgrown with cedars and full of beautiful birds; and he -sat down under the cedars and preached to all the birds in the air. -And they liked his sermons so well that they told the fishes in the -sea; and they came, and St. Brandan preached to them; and the -fishes told the water-babies, who live in the caves under the isle; -and they came up by hundreds every Sunday, and St. Brandan got -quite a neat little Sunday-school. And there he taught the water- -babies for a great many hundred years, till his eyes grew too dim -to see, and his beard grew so long that he dared not walk for fear -of treading on it, and then he might have tumbled down. And at -last he and the five hermits fell fast asleep under the cedar- -shades, and there they sleep unto this day. But the fairies took -to the water-babies, and taught them their lessons themselves. - -And some say that St. Brandan will awake and begin to teach the -babies once more: but some think that he will sleep on, for better -for worse, till the coming of the Cocqcigrues. But, on still clear -summer evenings, when the sun sinks down into the sea, among golden -cloud-capes and cloud-islands, and locks and friths of azure sky, -the sailors fancy that they see, away to westward, St. Brandan's -fairy isle. - -But whether men can see it or not, St. Brandan's Isle once actually -stood there; a great land out in the ocean, which has sunk and sunk -beneath the waves. Old Plato called it Atlantis, and told strange -tales of the wise men who lived therein, and of the wars they -fought in the old times. And from off that island came strange -flowers, which linger still about this land:- the Cornish heath, -and Cornish moneywort, and the delicate Venus's hair, and the -London-pride which covers the Kerry mountains, and the little pink -butterwort of Devon, and the great blue butterwort of Ireland, and -the Connemara heath, and the bristle-fern of the Turk waterfall, -and many a strange plant more; all fairy tokens left for wise men -and good children from off St. Brandan's Isle. - -Now when Tom got there, he found that the isle stood all on -pillars, and that its roots were full of caves. There were pillars -of black basalt, like Staffa; and pillars of green and crimson -serpentine, like Kynance; and pillars ribboned with red and white -and yellow sandstone, like Livermead; and there were blue grottoes -like Capri, and white grottoes like Adelsberg; all curtained and -draped with seaweeds, purple and crimson, green and brown; and -strewn with soft white sand, on which the water-babies sleep every -night. But, to keep the place clean and sweet, the crabs picked up -all the scraps off the floor and ate them like so many monkeys; -while the rocks were covered with ten thousand sea-anemones, and -corals and madrepores, who scavenged the water all day long, and -kept it nice and pure. But, to make up to them for having to do -such nasty work, they were not left black and dirty, as poor -chimney-sweeps and dustmen are. No; the fairies are more -considerate and just than that, and have dressed them all in the -most beautiful colours and patterns, till they look like vast -flower-beds of gay blossoms. If you think I am talking nonsense, I -can only say that it is true; and that an old gentleman named -Fourier used to say that we ought to do the same by chimney-sweeps -and dustmen, and honour them instead of despising them; and he was -a very clever old gentleman: but, unfortunately for him and the -world, as mad as a March hare. - -And, instead of watchmen and policemen to keep out nasty things at -night, there were thousands and thousands of water-snakes, and most -wonderful creatures they were. They were all named after the -Nereids, the sea-fairies who took care of them, Eunice and Polynoe, -Phyllodoce and Psamathe, and all the rest of the pretty darlings -who swim round their Queen Amphitrite, and her car of cameo shell. -They were dressed in green velvet, and black velvet, and purple -velvet; and were all jointed in rings; and some of them had three -hundred brains apiece, so that they must have been uncommonly -shrewd detectives; and some had eyes in their tails; and some had -eyes in every joint, so that they kept a very sharp look-out; and -when they wanted a baby-snake, they just grew one at the end of -their own tails, and when it was able to take care of itself it -dropped off; so that they brought up their families very cheaply. -But if any nasty thing came by, out they rushed upon it; and then -out of each of their hundreds of feet there sprang a whole cutler's -shop of - -Scythes, Javelins, -Billhooks, Lances, -Pickaxes, Halberts, -Forks, Gisarines, -Penknives, Poleaxes, -Rapiers, Fishhooks, -Sabres, Bradawls, -Yataghans, Gimblets, -Creeses, Corkscrews, -Ghoorka swords, Pins, -Tucks, Needles, -And so forth, - -which stabbed, shot, poked, pricked, scratched, ripped, pinked, and -crimped those naughty beasts so terribly, that they had to run for -their lives, or else be chopped into small pieces and be eaten -afterwards. And, if that is not all, every word, true, then there -is no faith in microscopes, and all is over with the Linnaean -Society. - -And there were the water-babies in thousands, more than Tom, or you -either, could count.--All the little children whom the good fairies -take to, because their cruel mothers and fathers will not; all who -are untaught and brought up heathens, and all who come to grief by -ill-usage or ignorance or neglect; all the little children who are -overlaid, or given gin when they are young, or are let to drink out -of hot kettles, or to fall into the fire; all the little children -in alleys and courts, and tumble-down cottages, who die by fever, -and cholera, and measles, and scarlatina, and nasty complaints -which no one has any business to have, and which no one will have -some day, when folks have common sense; and all the little children -who have been killed by cruel masters and wicked soldiers; they -were all there, except, of course, the babes of Bethlehem who were -killed by wicked King Herod; for they were taken straight to heaven -long ago, as everybody knows, and we call them the Holy Innocents. - -But I wish Tom had given up all his naughty tricks, and left off -tormenting dumb animals now that he had plenty of playfellows to -amuse him. Instead of that, I am sorry to say, he would meddle -with the creatures, all but the water-snakes, for they would stand -no nonsense. So he tickled the madrepores, to make them shut up; -and frightened the crabs, to make them hide in the sand and peep -out at him with the tips of their eyes; and put stones into the -anemones' mouths, to make them fancy that their dinner was coming. - -The other children warned him, and said, "Take care what you are -at. Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid is coming." But Tom never heeded them, -being quite riotous with high spirits and good luck, till, one -Friday morning early, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid came indeed. - -A very tremendous lady she was; and when the children saw her they -all stood in a row, very upright indeed, and smoothed down their -bathing dresses, and put their hands behind them, just as if they -were going to be examined by the inspector. - -And she had on a black bonnet, and a black shawl, and no crinoline -at all; and a pair of large green spectacles, and a great hooked -nose, hooked so much that the bridge of it stood quite up above her -eyebrows; and under her arm she carried a great birch-rod. Indeed, -she was so ugly that Tom was tempted to make faces at her: but did -not; for he did not admire the look of the birch-rod under her arm. - -And she looked at the children one by one, and seemed very much -pleased with them, though she never asked them one question about -how they were behaving; and then began giving them all sorts of -nice sea-things--sea-cakes, sea-apples, sea-oranges, sea-bullseyes, -sea-toffee; and to the very best of all she gave sea-ices, made out -of sea-cows' cream, which never melt under water. - -And, if you don't quite believe me, then just think--What is more -cheap and plentiful than sea-rock? Then why should there not be -sea-toffee as well? And every one can find sea-lemons (ready -quartered too) if they will look for them at low tide; and sea- -grapes too sometimes, hanging in bunches; and, if you will go to -Nice, you will find the fish-market full of sea-fruit, which they -call "frutta di mare:" though I suppose they call them "fruits de -mer" now, out of compliment to that most successful, and therefore -most immaculate, potentate who is seemingly desirous of inheriting -the blessing pronounced on those who remove their neighbours' land- -mark. And, perhaps, that is the very reason why the place is -called Nice, because there are so many nice things in the sea -there: at least, if it is not, it ought to be. - -Now little Tom watched all these sweet things given away, till his -mouth watered, and his eyes grew as round as an owl's. For he -hoped that his turn would come at last; and so it did. For the -lady called him up, and held out her fingers with something in -them, and popped it into his mouth; and, lo and behold, it was a -nasty cold hard pebble. - -"You are a very cruel woman," said he, and began to whimper. - -"And you are a very cruel boy; who puts pebbles into the sea- -anemones' mouths, to take them in, and make them fancy that they -had caught a good dinner! As you did to them, so I must do to -you." - -"Who told you that?" said Tom. - -"You did yourself, this very minute." - -Tom had never opened his lips; so he was very much taken aback -indeed. - -"Yes; every one tells me exactly what they have done wrong; and -that without knowing it themselves. So there is no use trying to -hide anything from me. Now go, and be a good boy, and I will put -no more pebbles in your mouth, if you put none in other -creatures'." - -"I did not know there was any harm in it," said Tom. - -"Then you know now. People continually say that to me: but I tell -them, if you don't know that fire burns, that is no reason that it -should not burn you; and if you don't know that dirt breeds fever, -that is no reason why the fevers should not kill you. The lobster -did not know that there was any harm in getting into the lobster- -pot; but it caught him all the same." - -"Dear me," thought Tom, "she knows everything!" And so she did, -indeed. - -"And so, if you do not know that things are wrong that is no reason -why you should not be punished for them; though not as much, not as -much, my little man" (and the lady looked very kindly, after all), -"as if you did know." - -"Well, you are a little hard on a poor lad," said Tom. - -"Not at all; I am the best friend you ever had in all your life. -But I will tell you; I cannot help punishing people when they do -wrong. I like it no more than they do; I am often very, very sorry -for them, poor things: but I cannot help it. If I tried not to do -it, I should do it all the same. For I work by machinery, just -like an engine; and am full of wheels and springs inside; and am -wound up very carefully, so that I cannot help going." - -"Was it long ago since they wound you up?" asked Tom. For he -thought, the cunning little fellow, "She will run down some day: -or they may forget to wind her up, as old Grimes used to forget to -wind up his watch when he came in from the public-house; and then I -shall be safe." - -"I was wound up once and for all, so long ago, that I forget all -about it." - -"Dear me," said Tom, "you must have been made a long time!" - -"I never was made, my child; and I shall go for ever and ever; for -I am as old as Eternity, and yet as young as Time." - -And there came over the lady's face a very curious expression--very -solemn, and very sad; and yet very, very sweet. And she looked up -and away, as if she were gazing through the sea, and through the -sky, at something far, far off; and as she did so, there came such -a quiet, tender, patient, hopeful smile over her face that Tom -thought for the moment that she did not look ugly at all. And no -more she did; for she was like a great many people who have not a -pretty feature in their faces, and yet are lovely to behold, and -draw little children's hearts to them at once because though the -house is plain enough, yet from the windows a beautiful and good -spirit is looking forth. - -And Tom smiled in her face, she looked so pleasant for the moment. -And the strange fairy smiled too, and said: - -"Yes. You thought me very ugly just now, did you not?" - -Tom hung down his head, and got very red about the ears. - -"And I am very ugly. I am the ugliest fairy in the world; and I -shall be, till people behave themselves as they ought to do. And -then I shall grow as handsome as my sister, who is the loveliest -fairy in the world; and her name is Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby. So -she begins where I end, and I begin where she ends; and those who -will not listen to her must listen to me, as you will see. Now, -all of you run away, except Tom; and he may stay and see what I am -going to do. It will be a very good warning for him to begin with, -before he goes to school. - -"Now, Tom, every Friday I come down here and call up all who have -ill-used little children and serve them as they served the -children." - -And at that Tom was frightened, and crept under a stone; which made -the two crabs who lived there very angry, and frightened their -friend the butter-fish into flapping hysterics: but he would not -move for them. - -And first she called up all the doctors who give little children so -much physic (they were most of them old ones; for the young ones -have learnt better, all but a few army surgeons, who still fancy -that a baby's inside is much like a Scotch grenadier's), and she -set them all in a row; and very rueful they looked; for they knew -what was coming. - -And first she pulled all their teeth out; and then she bled them -all round: and then she dosed them with calomel, and jalap, and -salts and senna, and brimstone and treacle; and horrible faces they -made; and then she gave them a great emetic of mustard and water, -and no basons; and began all over again; and that was the way she -spent the morning. - -And then she called up a whole troop of foolish ladies, who pinch -up their children's waists and toes; and she laced them all up in -tight stays, so that they were choked and sick, and their noses -grew red, and their hands and feet swelled; and then she crammed -their poor feet into the most dreadfully tight boots, and made them -all dance, which they did most clumsily indeed; and then she asked -them how they liked it; and when they said not at all, she let them -go: because they had only done it out of foolish fashion, fancying -it was for their children's good, as if wasps' waists and pigs' -toes could be pretty, or wholesome, or of any use to anybody. - -Then she called up all the careless nurserymaids, and stuck pins -into them all over, and wheeled them about in perambulators with -tight straps across their stomachs and their heads and arms hanging -over the side, till they were quite sick and stupid, and would have -had sun-strokes: but, being under the water, they could only have -water-strokes; which, I assure you, are nearly as bad, as you will -find if you try to sit under a mill-wheel. And mind--when you hear -a rumbling at the bottom of the sea, sailors will tell you that it -is a ground-swell: but now you know better. It is the old lady -wheeling the maids about in perambulators. - -And by that time she was so tired, she had to go to luncheon. - -And after luncheon she set to work again, and called up all the -cruel schoolmasters--whole regiments and brigades of them; and when -she saw them, she frowned most terribly, and set to work in -earnest, as if the best part of the day's work was to come. More -than half of them were nasty, dirty, frowzy, grubby, smelly old -monks, who, because they dare not hit a man of their own size, -amused themselves with beating little children instead; as you may -see in the picture of old Pope Gregory (good man and true though he -was, when he meddled with things which he did understand), teaching -children to sing their fa-fa-mi-fa with a cat-o'-nine tails under -his chair: but, because they never had any children of their own, -they took into their heads (as some folks do still) that they were -the only people in the world who knew how to manage children: and -they first brought into England, in the old Anglo-Saxon times, the -fashion of treating free boys, and girls too, worse than you would -treat a dog or a horse: but Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid has caught them -all long ago; and given them many a taste of their own rods; and -much good may it do them. - -And she boxed their ears, and thumped them over the head with -rulers, and pandied their hands with canes, and told them that they -told stories, and were this and that bad sort of people; and the -more they were very indignant, and stood upon their honour, and -declared they told the truth, the more she declared they were not, -and that they were only telling lies; and at last she birched them -all round soundly with her great birch-rod and set them each an -imposition of three hundred thousand lines of Hebrew to learn by -heart before she came back next Friday. And at that they all cried -and howled so, that their breaths came all up through the sea like -bubbles out of soda-water; and that is one reason of the bubbles in -the sea. There are others: but that is the one which principally -concerns little boys. And by that time she was so tired that she -was glad to stop; and, indeed, she had done a very good day's work. - -Tom did not quite dislike the old lady: but he could not help -thinking her a little spiteful--and no wonder if she was, poor old -soul; for if she has to wait to grow handsome till people do as -they would be done by, she will have to wait a very long time. - -Poor old Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid! she has a great deal of hard work -before her, and had better have been born a washerwoman, and stood -over a tub all day: but, you see, people cannot always choose -their own profession. - -But Tom longed to ask her one question; and after all, whenever she -looked at him, she did not look cross at all; and now and then -there was a funny smile in her face, and she chuckled to herself in -a way which gave Tom courage, and at last he said: - -"Pray, ma'am, may I ask you a question?" - -"Certainly, my little dear." - -"Why don't you bring all the bad masters here and serve them out -too? The butties that knock about the poor collier-boys; and the -nailers that file off their lads' noses and hammer their fingers; -and all the master sweeps, like my master Grimes? I saw him fall -into the water long ago; so I surely expected he would have been -here. I'm sure he was bad enough to me." - -Then the old lady looked so very stern that Tom was quite -frightened, and sorry that he had been so bold. But she was not -angry with him. She only answered, "I look after them all the week -round; and they are in a very different place from this, because -they knew that they were doing wrong." - -She spoke very quietly; but there was something in her voice which -made Tom tingle from head to foot, as if he had got into a shoal of -sea-nettles. - -"But these people," she went on, "did not know that they were doing -wrong: they were only stupid and impatient; and therefore I only -punish them till they become patient, and learn to use their common -sense like reasonable beings. But as for chimney-sweeps, and -collier-boys, and nailer lads, my sister has set good people to -stop all that sort of thing; and very much obliged to her I am; for -if she could only stop the cruel masters from ill-using poor -children, I should grow handsome at least a thousand years sooner. -And now do you be a good boy, and do as you would be done by, which -they did not; and then, when my sister, MADAME -DOASYOUWOULDBEDONEBY, comes on Sunday, perhaps she will take notice -of you, and teach you how to behave. She understands that better -than I do." And so she went. - -Tom was very glad to hear that there was no chance of meeting -Grimes again, though he was a little sorry for him, considering -that he used sometimes to give him the leavings of the beer: but -he determined to be a very good boy all Saturday; and he was; for -he never frightened one crab, nor tickled any live corals, nor put -stones into the sea anemones' mouths, to make them fancy they had -got a dinner; and when Sunday morning came, sure enough, MRS. -DOASYOUWOULDBEDONEBY came too. Whereat all the little children -began dancing and clapping their hands, and Tom danced too with all -his might. - -And as for the pretty lady, I cannot tell you what the colour of -her hair was, or, of her eyes: no more could Tom; for, when any -one looks at her, all they can think of is, that she has the -sweetest, kindest, tenderest, funniest, merriest face they ever -saw, or want to see. But Tom saw that she was a very tall woman, -as tall as her sister: but instead of being gnarly and horny, and -scaly, and prickly, like her, she was the most nice, soft, fat, -smooth, pussy, cuddly, delicious creature who ever nursed a baby; -and she understood babies thoroughly, for she had plenty of her -own, whole rows and regiments of them, and has to this day. And -all her delight was, whenever she had a spare moment, to play with -babies, in which she showed herself a woman of sense; for babies -are the best company, and the pleasantest playfellows, in the -world; at least, so all the wise people in the world think. And -therefore when the children saw her, they naturally all caught hold -of her, and pulled her till she sat down on a stone, and climbed -into her lap, and clung round her neck, and caught hold of her -hands; and then they all put their thumbs into their mouths, and -began cuddling and purring like so many kittens, as they ought to -have done. While those who could get nowhere else sat down on the -sand, and cuddled her feet--for no one, you know, wear shoes in the -water, except horrid old bathing-women, who are afraid of the -water-babies pinching their horny toes. And Tom stood staring at -them; for he could not understand what it was all about. - -"And who are you, you little darling?" she said. - -"Oh, that is the new baby!" they all cried, pulling their thumbs -out of their mouths; "and he never had any mother," and they all -put their thumbs back again, for they did not wish to lose any -time. - -"Then I will be his mother, and he shall have the very best place; -so get out, all of you, this moment." - -And she took up two great armfuls of babies--nine hundred under one -arm, and thirteen hundred under the other--and threw them away, -right and left, into the water. But they minded it no more than -the naughty boys in Struwelpeter minded when St. Nicholas dipped -them in his inkstand; and did not even take their thumbs out of -their mouths, but came paddling and wriggling back to her like so -many tadpoles, till you could see nothing of her from head to foot -for the swarm of little babies. - -But she took Tom in her arms, and laid him in the softest place of -all, and kissed him, and patted him, and talked to him, tenderly -and low, such things as he had never heard before in his life; and -Tom looked up into her eyes, and loved her, and loved, till he fell -fast asleep from pure love. - -And when he woke she was telling the children a story. And what -story did she tell them? One story she told them, which begins -every Christmas Eve, and yet never ends at all for ever and ever; -and, as she went on, the children took their thumbs out of their -mouths and listened quite seriously; but not sadly at all; for she -never told them anything sad; and Tom listened too, and never grew -tired of listening. And he listened so long that he fell fast -asleep again, and, when he woke, the lady was nursing him still. - -"Don't go away," said little Tom. "This is so nice. I never had -any one to cuddle me before." - -"Don't go away," said all the children; "you have not sung us one -song." - -"Well, I have time for only one. So what shall it be?" - -"The doll you lost! The doll you lost!" cried all the babies at -once. - -So the strange fairy sang:- - - -I once had a sweet little doll, dears, -The prettiest doll in the world; -Her cheeks were so red and so white, dears, -And her hair was so charmingly curled. -But I lost my poor little doll, dears, -As I played in the heath one day; -And I cried for her more than a week, dears, -But I never could find where she lay. - -I found my poor little doll, dears, -As I played in the heath one day: -Folks say she is terribly changed, dears, -For her paint is all washed away, -And her arm trodden off by the cows, dears, -And her hair not the least bit curled: -Yet, for old sakes' sake she is still, dears, -The prettiest doll in the world. - - -What a silly song for a fairy to sing! - -And what silly water-babies to be quite delighted at it! - -Well, but you see they have not the advantage of Aunt Agitate's -Arguments in the sea-land down below. - -"Now," said the fairy to Tom, "will you be a good boy for my sake, -and torment no more sea-beasts till I come back?" - -"And you will cuddle me again?" said poor little Tom. - -"Of course I will, you little duck. I should like to take you with -me and cuddle you all the way, only I must not;" and away she went. - -So Tom really tried to be a good boy, and tormented no sea-beasts -after that as long as he lived; and he is quite alive, I assure -you, still. - -Oh, how good little boys ought to be who have kind pussy mammas to -cuddle them and tell them stories; and how afraid they ought to be -of growing naughty, and bringing tears into their mammas' pretty -eyes! - - - -CHAPTER VI - - - -"Thou little child, yet glorious in the night -Of heaven-born freedom on thy Being's height, -Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke -The Years to bring the inevitable yoke - -Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife? -Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight, -And custom lie upon thee with a weight -Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life." - -WORDSWORTH. - - -I come to the very saddest part of all my story. I know some -people will only laugh at it, and call it much ado about nothing. -But I know one man who would not; and he was an officer with a pair -of gray moustaches as long as your arm, who said once in company -that two of the most heart-rending sights in the world, which moved -him most to tears, which he would do anything to prevent or remedy, -were a child over a broken toy and a child stealing sweets. - -The company did not laugh at him; his moustaches were too long and -too gray for that: but, after he was gone, they called him -sentimental and so forth, all but one dear little old Quaker lady -with a soul as white as her cap, who was not, of course, generally -partial to soldiers; and she said very quietly, like a Quaker: - -"Friends, it is borne upon my mind that that is a truly brave man." - -Now you may fancy that Tom was quite good, when he had everything -that he could want or wish: but you would be very much mistaken. -Being quite comfortable is a very good thing; but it does not make -people good. Indeed, it sometimes makes them naughty, as it has -made the people in America; and as it made the people in the Bible, -who waxed fat and kicked, like horses overfed and underworked. And -I am very sorry to say that this happened to little Tom. For he -grew so fond of the sea-bullseyes and sea-lollipops that his -foolish little head could think of nothing else: and he was always -longing for more, and wondering when the strange lady would come -again and give him some, and what she would give him, and how much, -and whether she would give him more than the others. And he -thought of nothing but lollipops by day, and dreamt of nothing else -by night--and what happened then? - -That he began to watch the lady to see where she kept the sweet -things: and began hiding, and sneaking, and following her about, -and pretending to be looking the other way, or going after -something else, till he found out that she kept them in a beautiful -mother-of-pearl cabinet away in a deep crack of the rocks. - -And he longed to go to the cabinet, and yet he was afraid; and then -he longed again, and was less afraid; and at last, by continual -thinking about it, he longed so violently that he was not afraid at -all. And one night, when all the other children were asleep, and -he could not sleep for thinking of lollipops, he crept away among -the rocks, and got to the cabinet, and behold! it was open. - -But, when he saw all the nice things inside, instead of being -delighted, he was quite frightened, and wished he had never come -there. And then he would only touch them, and he did; and then he -would only taste one, and he did; and then he would only eat one, -and he did; and then he would only eat two, and then three, and so -on; and then he was terrified lest she should come and catch him, -and began gobbling them down so fast that he did not taste them, or -have any pleasure in them; and then he felt sick, and would have -only one more; and then only one more again; and so on till he had -eaten them all up. - -And all the while, close behind him, stood Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid. - -Some people may say, But why did she not keep her cupboard locked? -Well, I know.--It may seem a very strange thing, but she never does -keep her cupboard locked; every one may go and taste for -themselves, and fare accordingly. It is very odd, but so it is; -and I am quite sure that she knows best. Perhaps she wishes people -to keep their fingers out of the fire, by having them burned. - -She took off her spectacles, because she did not like to see too -much; and in her pity she arched up her eyebrows into her very -hair, and her eyes grew so wide that they would have taken in all -the sorrows of the world, and filled with great big tears, as they -too often do. - -But all she said was: - -"Ah, you poor little dear! you are just like all the rest." - -But she said it to herself, and Tom neither heard nor saw her. -Now, you must not fancy that she was sentimental at all. If you -do, and think that she is going to let off you, or me, or any human -being when we do wrong, because she is too tender-hearted to punish -us, then you will find yourself very much mistaken, as many a man -does every year and every day. - -But what did the strange fairy do when she saw all her lollipops -eaten? - -Did she fly at Tom, catch him by the scruff of the neck, hold him, -howk him, hump him, hurry him, hit him, poke him, pull him, pinch -him, pound him, put him in the corner, shake him, slap him, set him -on a cold stone to reconsider himself, and so forth? - -Not a bit. You may watch her at work if you know where to find -her. But you will never see her do that. For, if she had, she -knew quite well Tom would have fought, and kicked, and bit, and -said bad words, and turned again that moment into a naughty little -heathen chimney-sweep, with his hand, like Ishmael's of old, -against every man, and every man's hand against him. - -Did she question him, hurry him, frighten him, threaten him, to -make him confess? Not a bit. You may see her, as I said, at her -work often enough if you know where to look for her: but you will -never see her do that. For, if she had, she would have tempted him -to tell lies in his fright; and that would have been worse for him, -if possible, than even becoming a heathen chimney-sweep again. - -No. She leaves that for anxious parents and teachers (lazy ones, -some call them), who, instead of giving children a fair trial, such -as they would expect and demand for themselves, force them by -fright to confess their own faults--which is so cruel and unfair -that no judge on the bench dare do it to the wickedest thief or -murderer, for the good British law forbids it--ay, and even punish -them to make them confess, which is so detestable a crime that it -is never committed now, save by Inquisitors, and Kings of Naples, -and a few other wretched people of whom the world is weary. And -then they say, "We have trained up the child in the way he should -go, and when he grew up he has departed from it. Why then did -Solomon say that he would not depart from it?" But perhaps the way -of beating, and hurrying and frightening, and questioning, was not -the way that the child should go; for it is not even the way in -which a colt should go if you want to break it in and make it a -quiet serviceable horse. - -Some folks may say, "Ah! but the Fairy does not need to do that if -she knows everything already." True. But, if she did not know, -she would not surely behave worse than a British judge and jury; -and no more should parents and teachers either. - -So she just said nothing at all about the matter, not even when Tom -came next day with the rest for sweet things. He was horribly -afraid of coming: but he was still more afraid of staying away, -lest any one should suspect him. He was dreadfully afraid, too, -lest there should be no sweets--as was to be expected, he having -eaten them all--and lest then the fairy should inquire who had -taken them. But, behold! she pulled out just as many as ever, -which astonished Tom, and frightened him still more. - -And, when the fairy looked him full in the face, he shook from head -to foot: however she gave him his share like the rest, and he -thought within himself that she could not have found him out. - -But, when he put the sweets into his mouth, he hated the taste of -them; and they made him so sick that he had to get away as fast as -he could; and terribly sick he was, and very cross and unhappy, all -the week after. - -Then, when next week came, he had his share again; and again the -fairy looked him full in the face; but more sadly than she had ever -looked. And he could not bear the sweets: but took them again in -spite of himself. - -And when Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby came, he wanted to be cuddled -like the rest; but she said very seriously: - -"I should like to cuddle you; but I cannot, you are so horny and -prickly." - -And Tom looked at himself: and he was all over prickles, just like -a sea-egg. - -Which was quite natural; for you must know and believe that -people's souls make their bodies just as a snail makes its shell (I -am not joking, my little man; I am in serious, solemn earnest). -And therefore, when Tom's soul grew all prickly with naughty -tempers, his body could not help growing prickly, too, so that -nobody would cuddle him, or play with him, or even like to look at -him. - -What could Tom do now but go away and hide in a corner and cry? -For nobody would play with him, and he knew full well why. - -And he was so miserable all that week that when the ugly fairy came -and looked at him once more full in the face, more seriously and -sadly than ever, he could stand it no longer, and thrust the -sweetmeats away, saying, "No, I don't want any: I can't bear them -now," and then burst out crying, poor little man, and told Mrs. -Bedonebyasyoudid every word as it happened. - -He was horribly frightened when he had done so; for he expected her -to punish him very severely. But, instead, she only took him up -and kissed him, which was not quite pleasant, for her chin was very -bristly indeed; but he was so lonely-hearted, he thought that rough -kissing was better than none. - -"I will forgive you, little man," she said. "I always forgive -every one the moment they tell me the truth of their own accord." - -"Then you will take away all these nasty prickles?" - -"That is a very different matter. You put them there yourself, and -only you can take them away." - -"But how can I do that?" asked Tom, crying afresh. - -"Well, I think it is time for you to go to school; so I shall fetch -you a schoolmistress, who will teach you how to get rid of your -prickles." And so she went away. - -Tom was frightened at the notion of a school-mistress; for he -thought she would certainly come with a birch-rod or a cane; but he -comforted himself, at last, that she might be something like the -old woman in Vendale--which she was not in the least; for, when the -fairy brought her, she was the most beautiful little girl that ever -was seen, with long curls floating behind her like a golden cloud, -and long robes floating all round her like a silver one. - -"There he is," said the fairy; "and you must teach him to be good, -whether you like or not." - -"I know," said the little girl; but she did not seem quite to like, -for she put her finger in her mouth, and looked at Tom under her -brows; and Tom put his finger in his mouth, and looked at her under -his brows, for he was horribly ashamed of himself. - -The little girl seemed hardly to know how to begin; and perhaps she -would never have begun at all if poor Tom had not burst out crying, -and begged her to teach him to be good and help him to cure his -prickles; and at that she grew so tender-hearted that she began -teaching him as prettily as ever child was taught in the world. - -And what did the little girl teach Tom? She taught him, first, -what you have been taught ever since you said your first prayers at -your mother's knees; but she taught him much more simply. For the -lessons in that world, my child, have no such hard words in them as -the lessons in this, and therefore the water-babies like them -better than you like your lessons, and long to learn them more and -more; and grown men cannot puzzle nor quarrel over their meaning, -as they do here on land; for those lessons all rise clear and pure, -like the Test out of Overton Pool, out of the everlasting ground of -all life and truth. - -So she taught Tom every day in the week; only on Sundays she always -went away home, and the kind fairy took her place. And before she -had taught Tom many Sundays, his prickles had vanished quite away, -and his skin was smooth and clean again. - -"Dear me!" said the little girl; "why, I know you now. You are the -very same little chimney-sweep who came into my bedroom." - -"Dear me!" cried Tom. "And I know you, too, now. You are the very -little white lady whom I saw in bed." And he jumped at her, and -longed to hug and kiss her; but did not, remembering that she was a -lady born; so he only jumped round and round her till he was quite -tired. - -And then they began telling each other all their story--how he had -got into the water, and she had fallen over the rock; and how he -had swum down to the sea, and how she had flown out of the window; -and how this, that, and the other, till it was all talked out: and -then they both began over again, and I can't say which of the two -talked fastest. - -And then they set to work at their lessons again, and both liked -them so well that they went on well till seven full years were past -and gone. - -You may fancy that Tom was quite content and happy all those seven -years; but the truth is, he was not. He had always one thing on -his mind, and that was--where little Ellie went, when she went home -on Sundays. - -To a very beautiful place, she said. - -But what was the beautiful place like, and where was it? - -Ah! that is just what she could not say. And it is strange, but -true, that no one can say; and that those who have been oftenest in -it, or even nearest to it, can say least about it, and make people -understand least what it is like. There are a good many folks -about the Other-end-of-Nowhere (where Tom went afterwards), who -pretend to know it from north to south as well as if they had been -penny postmen there; but, as they are safe at the Other-end-of- -Nowhere, nine hundred and ninety-nine million miles away, what they -say cannot concern us. - -But the dear, sweet, loving, wise, good, self-sacrificing people, -who really go there, can never tell you anything about it, save -that it is the most beautiful place in all the world; and, if you -ask them more, they grow modest, and hold their peace, for fear of -being laughed at; and quite right they are. - -So all that good little Ellie could say was, that it was worth all -the rest of the world put together. And of course that only made -Tom the more anxious to go likewise. - -"Miss Ellie," he said at last, "I will know why I cannot go with -you when you go home on Sundays, or I shall have no peace, and give -you none either." - -"You must ask the fairies that." - -So when the fairy, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, came next, Tom asked her. - -"Little boys who are only fit to play with sea-beasts cannot go -there," she said. "Those who go there must go first where they do -not like, and do what they do not like, and help somebody they do -not like." - -"Why, did Ellie do that?" - -"Ask her." - -And Ellie blushed, and said, "Yes, Tom; I did not like coming here -at first; I was so much happier at home, where it is always Sunday. -And I was afraid of you, Tom, at first, because--because--" - -"Because I was all over prickles? But I am not prickly now, am I, -Miss Ellie?" - -"No," said Ellie. "I like you very much now; and I like coming -here, too." - -"And perhaps," said the fairy, "you will learn to like going where -you don't like, and helping some one that you don't like, as Ellie -has." - -But Tom put his finger in his mouth, and hung his head down; for he -did not see that at all. - -So when Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby came, Tom asked her; for he -thought in his little head, She is not so strict as her sister, and -perhaps she may let me off more easily. - -Ah, Tom, Tom, silly fellow! and yet I don't know why I should blame -you, while so many grown people have got the very same notion in -their heads. - -But, when they try it, they get just the same answer as Tom did. -For, when he asked the second fairy, she told him just what the -first did, and in the very same words. - -Tom was very unhappy at that. And, when Ellie went home on Sunday, -he fretted and cried all day, and did not care to listen to the -fairy's stories about good children, though they were prettier than -ever. Indeed, the more he overheard of them, the less he liked to -listen, because they were all about children who did what they did -not like, and took trouble for other people, and worked to feed -their little brothers and sisters instead of caring only for their -play. And, when she began to tell a story about a holy child in -old times, who was martyred by the heathen because it would not -worship idols, Tom could bear no more, and ran away and hid among -the rocks. - -And, when Ellie came back, he was shy with her, because he fancied -she looked down on him, and thought him a coward. And then he grew -quite cross with her, because she was superior to him, and did what -he could not do. And poor Ellie was quite surprised and sad; and -at last Tom burst out crying; but he would not tell her what was -really in his mind. - -And all the while he was eaten up with curiosity to know where -Ellie went to; so that he began not to care for his playmates, or -for the sea-palace or anything else. But perhaps that made matters -all the easier for him; for he grew so discontented with everything -round him that he did not care to stay, and did not care where he -went. - -"Well," he said, at last, "I am so miserable here, I'll go; if only -you will go with me?" - -"Ah!" said Ellie, "I wish I might; but the worst of it is, that the -fairy says that you must go alone if you go at all. Now don't poke -that poor crab about, Tom" (for he was feeling very naughty and -mischievous), "or the fairy will have to punish you." - -Tom was very nearly saying, "I don't care if she does;" but he -stopped himself in time. - -"I know what she wants me to do," he said, whining most dolefully. -"She wants me to go after that horrid old Grimes. I don't like -him, that's certain. And if I find him, he will turn me into a -chimney-sweep again, I know. That's what I have been afraid of all -along." - -"No, he won't--I know as much as that. Nobody can turn water- -babies into sweeps, or hurt them at all, as long as they are good." - -"Ah," said naughty Tom, "I see what you want; you are persuading me -all along to go, because you are tired of me, and want to get rid -of me." - -Little Ellie opened her eyes very wide at that, and they were all -brimming over with tears. - -"Oh, Tom, Tom!" she said, very mournfully--and then she cried, "Oh, -Tom! where are you?" - -And Tom cried, "Oh, Ellie, where are you?" - -For neither of them could see each other--not the least. Little -Ellie vanished quite away, and Tom heard her voice calling him, and -growing smaller and smaller, and fainter and fainter, till all was -silent. - -Who was frightened then but Tom? He swam up and down among the -rocks, into all the halls and chambers, faster than ever he swam -before, but could not find her. He shouted after her, but she did -not answer; he asked all the other children, but they had not seen -her; and at last he went up to the top of the water and began -crying and screaming for Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid--which perhaps was -the best thing to do--for she came in a moment. - -"Oh!" said Tom. "Oh dear, oh dear! I have been naughty to Ellie, -and I have killed her--I know I have killed her." - -"Not quite that," said the fairy; "but I have sent her away home, -and she will not come back again for I do not know how long." - -And at that Tom cried so bitterly that the salt sea was swelled -with his tears, and the tide was .3,954,620,819 of an inch higher -than it had been the day before: but perhaps that was owing to the -waxing of the moon. It may have been so; but it is considered -right in the new philosophy, you know, to give spiritual causes for -physical phenomena--especially in parlour-tables; and, of course, -physical causes for spiritual ones, like thinking, and praying, and -knowing right from wrong. And so they odds it till it comes even, -as folks say down in Berkshire. - -"How cruel of you to send Ellie away!" sobbed Tom. "However, I -will find her again, if I go to the world's end to look for her." - -The fairy did not slap Tom, and tell him to hold his tongue: but -she took him on her lap very kindly, just as her sister would have -done; and put him in mind how it was not her fault, because she was -wound up inside, like watches, and could not help doing things -whether she liked or not. And then she told him how he had been in -the nursery long enough, and must go out now and see the world, if -he intended ever to be a man; and how he must go all alone by -himself, as every one else that ever was born has to go, and see -with his own eyes, and smell with his own nose, and make his own -bed and lie on it, and burn his own fingers if he put them into the -fire. And then she told him how many fine things there were to be -seen in the world, and what an odd, curious, pleasant, orderly, -respectable, well-managed, and, on the whole, successful (as, -indeed, might have been expected) sort of a place it was, if people -would only be tolerably brave and honest and good in it; and then -she told him not to be afraid of anything he met, for nothing would -harm him if he remembered all his lessons, and did what he knew was -right. And at last she comforted poor little Tom so much that he -was quite eager to go, and wanted to set out that minute. "Only," -he said, "if I might see Ellie once before I went!" - -"Why do you want that?" - -"Because--because I should be so much happier if I thought she had -forgiven me." - -And in the twinkling of an eye there stood Ellie, smiling, and -looking so happy that Tom longed to kiss her; but was still afraid -it would not be respectful, because she was a lady born. - -"I am going, Ellie!" said Tom. "I am going, if it is to the -world's end. But I don't like going at all, and that's the truth." - -"Pooh! pooh! pooh!" said the fairy. "You will like it very well -indeed, you little rogue, and you know that at the bottom of your -heart. But if you don't, I will make you like it. Come here, and -see what happens to people who do only what is pleasant." - -And she took out of one of her cupboards (she had all sorts of -mysterious cupboards in the cracks of the rocks) the most wonderful -waterproof book, full of such photographs as never were seen. For -she had found out photography (and this is a fact) more than -13,598,000 years before anybody was born; and, what is more, her -photographs did not merely represent light and shade, as ours do, -but colour also, and all colours, as you may see if you look at a -black-cock's tail, or a butterfly's wing, or indeed most things -that are or can be, so to speak. And therefore her photographs -were very curious and famous, and the children looked with great -delight for the opening of the book. - -And on the title-page was written, "The History of the great and -famous nation of the Doasyoulikes, who came away from the country -of Hardwork, because they wanted to play on the Jews' harp all day -long." - -In the first picture they saw these Doasyoulikes living in the land -of Readymade, at the foot of the Happy-go-lucky Mountains, where -flapdoodle grows wild; and if you want to know what that is, you -must read Peter Simple. - -They lived very much such a life as those jolly old Greeks in -Sicily, whom you may see painted on the ancient vases, and really -there seemed to be great excuses for them, for they had no need to -work. - -Instead of houses they lived in the beautiful caves of tufa, and -bathed in the warm springs three times a day; and, as for clothes, -it was so warm there that the gentlemen walked about in little -beside a cocked hat and a pair of straps, or some light summer -tackle of that kind; and the ladies all gathered gossamer in autumn -(when they were not too lazy) to make their winter dresses. - -They were very fond of music, but it was too much trouble to learn -the piano or the violin; and as for dancing, that would have been -too great an exertion. So they sat on ant-hills all day long, and -played on the Jews' harp; and, if the ants bit them, why they just -got up and went to the next ant-hill, till they were bitten there -likewise. - -And they sat under the flapdoodle-trees, and let the flapdoodle -drop into their mouths; and under the vines, and squeezed the -grape-juice down their throats; and, if any little pigs ran about -ready roasted, crying, "Come and eat me," as was their fashion in -that country, they waited till the pigs ran against their mouths, -and then took a bite, and were content, just as so many oysters -would have been. - -They needed no weapons, for no enemies ever came near their land; -and no tools, for everything was readymade to their hand; and the -stern old fairy Necessity never came near them to hunt them up, and -make them use their wits, or die. - -And so on, and so on, and so on, till there were never such -comfortable, easy-going, happy-go-lucky people in the world. - -"Well, that is a jolly life," said Tom. - -"You think so?" said the fairy. "Do you see that great peaked -mountain there behind," said the fairy, "with smoke coming out of -its top?" - -"Yes." - -"And do you see all those ashes, and slag, and cinders lying -about?" - -"Yes." - -"Then turn over the next five hundred years, and you will see what -happens next." - -And behold the mountain had blown up like a barrel of gunpowder, -and then boiled over like a kettle; whereby one-third of the -Doasyoulikes were blown into the air, and another third were -smothered in ashes; so that there was only one-third left. - -"You see," said the fairy, "what comes of living on a burning -mountain." - -"Oh, why did you not warn them?" said little Ellie. - -"I did warn them all that I could. I let the smoke come out of the -mountain; and wherever there is smoke there is fire. And I laid -the ashes and cinders all about; and wherever there are cinders, -cinders may be again. But they did not like to face facts, my -dears, as very few people do; and so they invented a cock-and-bull -story, which, I am sure, I never told them, that the smoke was the -breath of a giant, whom some gods or other had buried under the -mountain; and that the cinders were what the dwarfs roasted the -little pigs whole with; and other nonsense of that kind. And, when -folks are in that humour, I cannot teach them, save by the good old -birch-rod." - -And then she turned over the next five hundred years: and there -were the remnant of the Doasyoulikes, doing as they liked, as -before. They were too lazy to move away from the mountain; so they -said, If it has blown up once, that is all the more reason that it -should not blow up again. And they were few in number: but they -only said, The more the merrier, but the fewer the better fare. -However, that was not quite true; for all the flapdoodle-trees were -killed by the volcano, and they had eaten all the roast pigs, who, -of course, could not be expected to have little ones. So they had -to live very hard, on nuts and roots which they scratched out of -the ground with sticks. Some of them talked of sowing corn, as -their ancestors used to do, before they came into the land of -Readymade; but they had forgotten how to make ploughs (they had -forgotten even how to make Jews' harps by this time), and had eaten -all the seed-corn which they brought out of the land of Hardwork -years since; and of course it was too much trouble to go away and -find more. So they lived miserably on roots and nuts, and all the -weakly little children had great stomachs, and then died. - -"Why," said Tom, "they are growing no better than savages." - -"And look how ugly they are all getting," said Ellie. - -"Yes; when people live on poor vegetables instead of roast beef and -plum-pudding, their jaws grow large, and their lips grow coarse, -like the poor Paddies who eat potatoes." - -And she turned over the next five hundred years. And there they -were all living up in trees, and making nests to keep off the rain. -And underneath the trees lions were prowling about. - -"Why," said Ellie, "the lions seem to have eaten a good many of -them, for there are very few left now." - -"Yes," said the fairy; "you see it was only the strongest and most -active ones who could climb the trees, and so escape." - -"But what great, hulking, broad-shouldered chaps they are," said -Tom; "they are a rough lot as ever I saw." - -"Yes, they are getting very strong now; for the ladies will not -marry any but the very strongest and fiercest gentlemen, who can -help them up the trees out of the lions' way." - -And she turned over the next five hundred years. And in that they -were fewer still, and stronger, and fiercer; but their feet had -changed shape very oddly, for they laid hold of the branches with -their great toes, as if they had been thumbs, just as a Hindoo -tailor uses his toes to thread his needle. - -The children were very much surprised, and asked the fairy whether -that was her doing. - -"Yes, and no," she said, smiling. "It was only those who could use -their feet as well as their hands who could get a good living: or, -indeed, get married; so that they got the best of everything, and -starved out all the rest; and those who are left keep up a regular -breed of toe-thumb-men, as a breed of short-horns, or are skye- -terriers, or fancy pigeons is kept up." - -"But there is a hairy one among them," said Ellie. - -"Ah!" said the fairy, "that will be a great man in his time, and -chief of all the tribe." - -And, when she turned over the next five hundred years, it was true. - -For this hairy chief had had hairy children, and they hairier -children still; and every one wished to marry hairy husbands, and -have hairy children too; for the climate was growing so damp that -none but the hairy ones could live: all the rest coughed and -sneezed, and had sore throats, and went into consumptions, before -they could grow up to be men and women. - -Then the fairy turned over the next five hundred years. And they -were fewer still. - -"Why, there is one on the ground picking up roots," said Ellie, -"and he cannot walk upright." - -No more he could; for in the same way that the shape of their feet -had altered, the shape of their backs had altered also. - -"Why," cried Tom, "I declare they are all apes." - -"Something fearfully like it, poor foolish creatures," said the -fairy. "They are grown so stupid now, that they can hardly think: -for none of them have used their wits for many hundred years. They -have almost forgotten, too, how to talk. For each stupid child -forgot some of the words it heard from its stupid parents, and had -not wits enough to make fresh words for itself. Beside, they are -grown so fierce and suspicious and brutal that they keep out of -each other's way, and mope and sulk in the dark forests, never -hearing each other's voice, till they have forgotten almost what -speech is like. I am afraid they will all be apes very soon, and -all by doing only what they liked." - -And in the next five hundred years they were all dead and gone, by -bad food and wild beasts and hunters; all except one tremendous old -fellow with jaws like a jack, who stood full seven feet high; and -M. Du Chaillu came up to him, and shot him, as he stood roaring and -thumping his breast. And he remembered that his ancestors had once -been men, and tried to say, "Am I not a man and a brother?" but had -forgotten how to use his tongue; and then he had tried to call for -a doctor, but he had forgotten the word for one. So all he said -was "Ubboboo!" and died. - -And that was the end of the great and jolly nation of the -Doasyoulikes. And, when Tom and Ellie came to the end of the book, -they looked very sad and solemn; and they had good reason so to do, -for they really fancied that the men were apes, and never thought, -in their simplicity, of asking whether the creatures had -hippopotamus majors in their brains or not; in which case, as you -have been told already, they could not possibly have been apes, -though they were more apish than the apes of all aperies. - -"But could you not have saved them from becoming apes?" said little -Ellie, at last. - -"At first, my dear; if only they would have behaved like men, and -set to work to do what they did not like. But the longer they -waited, and behaved like the dumb beasts, who only do what they -like, the stupider and clumsier they grew; till at last they were -past all cure, for they had thrown their own wits away. It is such -things as this that help to make me so ugly, that I know not when I -shall grow fair." - -"And where are they all now?" asked Ellie. - -"Exactly where they ought to be, my dear." - -"Yes!" said the fairy, solemnly, half to herself, as she closed the -wonderful book. "Folks say now that I can make beasts into men, by -circumstance, and selection, and competition, and so forth. Well, -perhaps they are right; and perhaps, again, they are wrong. That -is one of the seven things which I am forbidden to tell, till the -coming of the Cocqcigrues; and, at all events, it is no concern of -theirs. Whatever their ancestors were, men they are; and I advise -them to behave as such, and act accordingly. But let them -recollect this, that there are two sides to every question, and a -downhill as well as an uphill road; and, if I can turn beasts into -men, I can, by the same laws of circumstance, and selection, and -competition, turn men into beasts. You were very near being turned -into a beast once or twice, little Tom. Indeed, if you had not -made up your mind to go on this journey, and see the world, like an -Englishman, I am not sure but that you would have ended as an eft -in a pond." - -"Oh, dear me!" said Tom; "sooner than that, and be all over slime, -I'll go this minute, if it is to the world's end." - - - -CHAPTER VII - - - -"And Nature, the old Nurse, took -The child upon her knee, -Saying, 'Here is a story book -Thy father hath written for thee. - -"'Come wander with me,' she said, -'Into regions yet untrod, -And read what is still unread -In the Manuscripts of God.' - -"And he wandered away and away -With Nature, the dear old Nurse, -Who sang to him night and day -The rhymes of the universe." - -LONGFELLOW. - - -"Now," said Tom, "I am ready be off, if it's to the world's end." - -"Ah!" said the fairy, "that is a brave, good boy. But you must go -farther than the world's end, if you want to find Mr. Grimes; for -he is at the Other-end-of-Nowhere. You must go to Shiny Wall, and -through the white gate that never was opened; and then you will -come to Peacepool, and Mother Carey's Haven, where the good whales -go when they die. And there Mother Carey will tell you the way to -the Other-end-of-Nowhere, and there you will find Mr. Grimes." - -"Oh, dear!" said Tom. "But I do not know my way to Shiny Wall, or -where it is at all." - -"Little boys must take the trouble to find out things for -themselves, or they will never grow to be men; so that you must ask -all the beasts in the sea and the birds in the air, and if you have -been good to them, some of them will tell you the way to Shiny -Wall." - -"Well," said Tom, "it will be a long journey, so I had better start -at once. Good-bye, Miss Ellie; you know I am getting a big boy, -and I must go out and see the world." - -"I know you must," said Ellie; "but you will not forget me, Tom. I -shall wait here till you come." - -And she shook hands with him, and bade him good-bye. Tom longed -very much again to kiss her; but he thought it would not be -respectful, considering she was a lady born; so he promised not to -forget her: but his little whirl-about of a head was so full of -the notion of going out to see the world, that it forgot her in -five minutes: however, though his head forgot her, I am glad to -say his heart did not. - -So he asked all the beasts in the sea, and all the birds in the -air, but none of them knew the way to Shiny Wall. For why? He was -still too far down south. - -Then he met a ship, far larger than he had ever seen--a gallant -ocean-steamer, with a long cloud of smoke trailing behind; and he -wondered how she went on without sails, and swam up to her to see. -A school of dolphins were running races round and round her, going -three feet for her one, and Tom asked them the way to Shiny Wall: -but they did not know. Then he tried to find out how she moved, -and at last he saw her screw, and was so delighted with it that he -played under her quarter all day, till he nearly had his nose -knocked off by the fans, and thought it time to move. Then he -watched the sailors upon deck, and the ladies, with their bonnets -and parasols: but none of them could see him, because their eyes -were not opened,--as, indeed, most people's eyes are not. - -At last there came out into the quarter-gallery a very pretty lady, -in deep black widow's weeds, and in her arms a baby. She leaned -over the quarter-gallery, and looked back and back toward England -far away; and as she looked she sang: - - -I. - -"Soft soft wind, from out the sweet south sliding, -Waft thy silver cloud-webs athwart the summer sea; -Thin thin threads of mist on dewy fingers twining -Weave a veil of dappled gauze to shade my babe and me. - -II. - -"Deep deep Love, within thine own abyss abiding, -Pour Thyself abroad, O Lord, on earth and air and sea; -Worn weary hearts within Thy holy temple hiding, -Shield from sorrow, sin, and shame my helpless babe and me." - - -Her voice was so soft and low, and the music of the air so sweet, -that Tom could have listened to it all day. But as she held the -baby over the gallery rail, to show it the dolphins leaping and the -water gurgling in the ship's wake, lo! and behold, the baby saw -Tom. - -He was quite sure of that for when their eyes met, the baby smiled -and held out his hands; and Tom smiled and held out his hands too; -and the baby kicked and leaped, as if it wanted to jump overboard -to him. - -"What do you see, my darling?" said the lady; and her eyes followed -the baby's till she too caught sight of Tom, swimming about among -the foam-beads below. - -She gave a little shriek and start; and then she said, quite -quietly, "Babies in the sea? Well, perhaps it is the happiest -place for them;" and waved her hand to Tom, and cried, "Wait a -little, darling, only a little: and perhaps we shall go with you -and be at rest." - -And at that an old nurse, all in black, came out and talked to her, -and drew her in. And Tom turned away northward, sad and wondering; -and watched the great steamer slide away into the dusk, and the -lights on board peep out one by one, and die out again, and the -long bar of smoke fade away into the evening mist, till all was out -of sight. - -And he swam northward again, day after day, till at last he met the -King of the Herrings, with a curry-comb growing out of his nose, -and a sprat in his mouth for a cigar, and asked him the way to -Shiny Wall; so he bolted his sprat head foremost, and said: - -"If I were you, young Gentleman, I should go to the Allalonestone, -and ask the last of the Gairfowl. She is of a very ancient clan, -very nearly as ancient as my own; and knows a good deal which these -modern upstarts don't, as ladies of old houses are likely to do." - -Tom asked his way to her, and the King of the Herrings told him -very kindly, for he was a courteous old gentleman of the old -school, though he was horribly ugly, and strangely bedizened too, -like the old dandies who lounge in the club-house windows. - -But just as Tom had thanked him and set off, he called after him: -"Hi! I say, can you fly?" - -"I never tried," says Tom. "Why?" - -"Because, if you can, I should advise you to say nothing to the old -lady about it. There; take a hint. Good-bye." - -And away Tom went for seven days and seven nights due north-west, -till he came to a great codbank, the like of which he never saw -before. The great cod lay below in tens of thousands, and gobbled -shell-fish all day long; and the blue sharks roved above in -hundreds, and gobbled them when they came up. So they ate, and -ate, and ate each other, as they had done since the making of the -world; for no man had come here yet to catch them, and find out how -rich old Mother Carey is. - -And there he saw the last of the Gairfowl, standing up on the -Allalonestones all alone. And a very grand old lady she was, full -three feet high, and bolt upright, like some old Highland -chieftainess. She had on a black velvet gown, and a white pinner -and apron, and a very high bridge to her nose (which is a sure mark -of high breeding), and a large pair of white spectacles on it, -which made her look rather odd: but it was the ancient fashion of -her house. - -And instead of wings, she had two little feathery arms, with which -she fanned herself, and complained of the dreadful heat; and she -kept on crooning an old song to herself, which she learnt when she -was a little baby-bird, long ago - - - -"Two little birds they sat on a stone, -One swam away, and then there was one, -With a fal-lal-la-lady. - -"The other swam after, and then there was none, -And so the poor stone was left all alone; -With a fal-lal-la-lady." - - -It was "flew" away, properly, and not "swam" away: but, as she -could not fly, she had a right to alter it. However, it was a very -fit song for her to sing, because she was a lady herself. - -Tom came up to her very humbly, and made his bow; and the first -thing she said was - - -"Have you wings? Can you fly?" - -"Oh dear, no, ma'am; I should not think of such thing," said -cunning little Tom. - -"Then I shall have great pleasure in talking to you, my dear. It -is quite refreshing nowadays to see anything without wings. They -must all have wings, forsooth, now, every new upstart sort of bird, -and fly. What can they want with flying, and raising themselves -above their proper station in life? In the days of my ancestors no -birds ever thought of having wings, and did very well without; and -now they all laugh at me because I keep to the good old fashion. -Why, the very marrocks and dovekies have got wings, the vulgar -creatures, and poor little ones enough they are; and my own cousins -too, the razor-bills, who are gentlefolk born, and ought to know -better than to ape their inferiors." - -And so she was running on, while Tom tried to get in a word -edgeways; and at last he did, when the old lady got out of breath, -and began fanning herself again; and then he asked if she knew the -way to Shiny Wall. - -"Shiny Wall? Who should know better than I? We all came from -Shiny Wall, thousands of years ago, when it was decently cold, and -the climate was fit for gentlefolk; but now, what with the heat, -and what with these vulgar-winged things who fly up and down and -eat everything, so that gentlepeople's hunting is all spoilt, and -one really cannot get one's living, or hardly venture off the rock -for fear of being flown against by some creature that would not -have dared to come within a mile of one a thousand years ago--what -was I saying? Why, we have quite gone down in the world, my dear, -and have nothing left but our honour. And I am the last of my -family. A friend of mine and I came and settled on this rock when -we were young, to be out of the way of low people. Once we were a -great nation, and spread over all the Northern Isles. But men shot -us so, and knocked us on the head, and took our eggs--why, if you -will believe it, they say that on the coast of Labrador the sailors -used to lay a plank from the rock on board the thing called their -ship, and drive us along the plank by hundreds, till we tumbled -down into the ship's waist in heaps; and then, I suppose, they ate -us, the nasty fellows! Well--but--what was I saying? At last, -there were none of us left, except on the old Gairfowlskerry, just -off the Iceland coast, up which no man could climb. Even there we -had no peace; for one day, when I was quite a young girl, the land -rocked, and the sea boiled, and the sky grew dark, and all the air -was filled with smoke and dust, and down tumbled the old -Gairfowlskerry into the sea. The dovekies and marrocks, of course, -all flew away; but we were too proud to do that. Some of us were -dashed to pieces, and some drowned; and those who were left got -away to Eldey, and the dovekies tell me they are all dead now, and -that another Gairfowlskerry has risen out of the sea close to the -old one, but that it is such a poor flat place that it is not safe -to live on: and so here I am left alone." - -This was the Gairfowl's story, and, strange as it may seem, it is -every word of it true. - -"If you only had had wings!" said Tom; "then you might all have -flown away too." - -"Yes, young gentleman: and if people are not gentleman and ladies, -and forget that noblesse oblige, they will find it as easy to get -on in the world as other people who don't care what they do. Why, -if I had not recollected that noblesse oblige, I should not have -been all alone now." And the poor old lady sighed. - -"How was that, ma'am?" - -"Why, my dear, a gentleman came hither with me, and after we had -been here some time, he wanted to marry--in fact, he actually -proposed to me. Well, I can't blame him; I was young, and very -handsome then, I don't deny: but you see, I could not hear of such -a thing, because he was my deceased sister's husband, you see?" - -"Of course not, ma'am," said Tom; though, of course, he knew -nothing about it. "She was very much diseased, I suppose?" - -"You do not understand me, my dear. I mean, that being a lady, and -with right and honourable feelings, as our house always has had, I -felt it my duty to snub him, and howk him, and peck him -continually, to keep him at his proper distance; and, to tell the -truth, I once pecked him a little too hard, poor fellow, and he -tumbled backwards off the rock, and--really, it was very -unfortunate, but it was not my fault--a shark coming by saw him -flapping, and snapped him up. And since then I have lived all alone -- - - -'With a fal-lal-la-lady.' - - -And soon I shall be gone, my little dear, and nobody will miss me; -and then the poor stone will be left all alone." - -"But, please, which is the way to Shiny Wall?" said Tom. - -"Oh, you must go, my little dear--you must go. Let me see--I am -sure--that is--really, my poor old brains are getting quite -puzzled. Do you know, my little dear, I am afraid, if you want to -know, you must ask some of these vulgar birds about, for I have -quite forgotten." - -And the poor old Gairfowl began to cry tears of pure oil; and Tom -was quite sorry for her; and for himself too, for he was at his -wit's end whom to ask. - -But by there came a flock of petrels, who are Mother Carey's own -chickens; and Tom thought them much prettier than Lady Gairfowl, -and so perhaps they were; for Mother Carey had had a great deal of -fresh experience between the time that she invented the Gairfowl -and the time that she invented them. They flitted along like a -flock of black swallows, and hopped and skipped from wave to wave, -lifting up their little feet behind them so daintily, and whistling -to each other so tenderly, that Tom fell in love with them at once, -and called them to know the way to Shiny Wall. - -"Shiny Wall? Do you want Shiny Wall? Then come with us, and we -will show you. We are Mother Carey's own chickens, and she sends -us out over all the seas, to show the good birds the way home." - -Tom was delighted, and swam off to them, after he had made his bow -to the Gairfowl. But she would not return his bow: but held -herself bolt upright, and wept tears of oil as she sang: - - -"And so the poor stone was left all alone; -With a fal-lal-la-lady." - - -But she was wrong there; for the stone was not left all alone: and -the next time that Tom goes by it, he will see a sight worth -seeing. - -The old Gairfowl is gone already: but there are better things come -in her place; and when Tom comes he will see the fishing-smacks -anchored there in hundreds, from Scotland, and from Ireland, and -from the Orkneys, and the Shetlands, and from all the Northern -ports, full of the children of the old Norse Vikings, the masters -of the sea. And the men will be hauling in the great cod by -thousands, till their hands are sore from the lines; and they will -be making cod-liver oil and guano, and salting down the fish; and -there will be a man-of-war steamer there to protect them, and a -lighthouse to show them the way; and you and I, perhaps, shall go -some day to the Allalonestone to the great summer sea-fair, and -dredge strange creatures such as man never saw before; and we shall -hear the sailors boast that it is not the worst jewel in Queen -Victoria's crown, for there are eighty miles of codbank, and food -for all the poor folk in the land. That is what Tom will see, and -perhaps you and I shall see it too. And then we shall not be sorry -because we cannot get a Gairfowl to stuff, much less find gairfowl -enough to drive them into stone pens and slaughter them, as the old -Norsemen did, or drive them on board along a plank till the ship -was victualled with them, as the old English and French rovers used -to do, of whom dear old Hakluyt tells: but we shall remember what -Mr. Tennyson says: how - - -"The old order changeth, giving place to the new, -And God fulfils himself in many ways." - - -And now Tom was all agog to start for Shiny Wall; but the petrels -said no. They must go first to Allfowlsness, and wait there for -the great gathering of all the sea-birds, before they start for -their summer breeding-places far away in the Northern Isles; and -there they would be sure to find some birds which were going to -Shiny Wall: but where Allfowlsness was, he must promise never to -tell, lest men should go there and shoot the birds, and stuff them, -and put them into stupid museums, instead of leaving them to play -and breed and work in Mother Carey's water-garden, where they ought -to be. - -So where Allfowlsness is nobody must know; and all that is to be -said about it is, that Tom waited there many days; and as he -waited, he saw a very curious sight. On the rabbit burrows on the -shore there gathered hundreds and hundreds of hoodie-crows, such as -you see in Cambridgeshire. And they made such a noise, that Tom -came on shore and went up to see what was the matter. - -And there he found them holding their great caucus, which they hold -every year in the North; and all their stump-orators were -speechifying; and for a tribune, the speaker stood on an old -sheep's skull. - -And they cawed and cawed, and boasted of all the clever things they -had done; how many lambs' eyes they had picked out, and how many -dead bullocks they had eaten, and how many young grouse they had -swallowed whole, and how many grouse-eggs they had flown away with, -stuck on the point of their bills, which is the hoodie-crow's -particularly clever feat, of which he is as proud as a gipsy is of -doing the hokany-baro; and what that is, I won't tell you. - -And at last they brought out the prettiest, neatest young lady-crow -that ever was seen, and set her in the middle, and all began -abusing and vilifying, and rating, and bullyragging at her, because -she had stolen no grouse-eggs, and had actually dared to say that -she would not steal any. So she was to be tried publicly by their -laws (for the hoodies always try some offenders in their great -yearly parliament). And there she stood in the middle, in her -black gown and gray hood, looking as meek and as neat as a -Quakeress, and they all bawled at her at once - - -And it was in vain that she pleaded - - - -That she did not like grouse-eggs; -That she could get her living very well without them; -That she was afraid to eat them, for fear of the gamekeepers; -That she had not the heart to eat them, because the grouse were -such pretty, kind, jolly birds; -And a dozen reasons more. - - -For all the other scaul-crows set upon her, and pecked her to death -there and then, before Tom could come to help her; and then flew -away, very proud of what they had done. - -Now, was not this a scandalous transaction? - -But they are true republicans, these hoodies, who do every one just -what he likes, and make other people do so too; so that, for any -freedom of speech, thought, or action, which is allowed among them, -they might as well be American citizens of the new school. - -But the fairies took the good crow, and gave her nine new sets of -feathers running, and turned her at last into the most beautiful -bird of paradise with a green velvet suit and a long tail, and sent -her to eat fruit in the Spice Islands, where cloves and nutmegs -grow. - -And Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid settled her account with the wicked -hoodies. For, as they flew away, what should they find but a nasty -dead dog?--on which they all set to work, peeking and gobbling and -cawing and quarrelling to their hearts' content. But the moment -afterwards, they all threw up their bills into the air, and gave -one screech; and then turned head over heels backward, and fell -down dead, one hundred and twenty-three of them at once. For why? -The fairy had told the gamekeeper in a dream, to fill the dead dog -full of strychnine; and so he did. - -And after a while the birds began to gather at Allfowlsness, in -thousands and tens of thousands, blackening all the air; swans and -brant geese, harlequins and eiders, harolds and garganeys, smews -and goosanders, divers and loons, grebes and dovekies, auks and -razor-bills, gannets and petrels, skuas and terns, with gulls -beyond all naming or numbering; and they paddled and washed and -splashed and combed and brushed themselves on the sand, till the -shore was white with feathers; and they quacked and clucked and -gabbled and chattered and screamed and whooped as they talked over -matters with their friends, and settled where they were to go and -breed that summer, till you might have heard them ten miles off; -and lucky it was for them that there was no one to hear them but -the old keeper, who lived all alone upon the Ness, in a turf hut -thatched with heather and fringed round with great stones slung -across the roof by bent-ropes, lest the winter gales should blow -the hut right away. But he never minded the birds nor hurt them, -because they were not in season; indeed, he minded but two things -in the whole world, and those were, his Bible and his grouse; for -he was as good an old Scotchman as ever knit stockings on a -winter's night: only, when all the birds were going, he toddled -out, and took off his cap to them, and wished them a merry journey -and a safe return; and then gathered up all the feathers which they -had left, and cleaned them to sell down south, and make feather- -beds for stuffy people to lie on. - -Then the petrels asked this bird and that whether they would take -Tom to Shiny Wall: but one set was going to Sutherland, and one to -the Shetlands, and one to Norway, and one to Spitzbergen, and one -to Iceland, and one to Greenland: but none would go to Shiny Wall. -So the good-natured petrels said that they would show him part of -the way themselves, but they were only going as far as Jan Mayen's -Land; and after that he must shift for himself. - -And then all the birds rose up, and streamed away in long black -lines, north, and north-east, and north-west, across the bright -blue summer sky; and their cry was like ten thousand packs of -hounds, and ten thousand peals of bells. Only the puffins stayed -behind, and killed the young rabbits, and laid their eggs in the -rabbit-burrows; which was rough practice, certainly; but a man must -see to his own family. - -And, as Tom and the petrels went north-eastward, it began to blow -right hard; for the old gentleman in the gray great-coat, who looks -after the big copper boiler, in the gulf of Mexico, had got -behindhand with his work; so Mother Carey had sent an electric -message to him for more steam; and now the steam was coming, as -much in an hour as ought to have come in a week, puffing and -roaring and swishing and swirling, till you could not see where the -sky ended and the sea began. But Tom and the petrels never cared, -for the gale was right abaft, and away they went over the crests of -the billows, as merry as so many flying-fish. - -And at last they saw an ugly sight--the black side of a great ship, -waterlogged in the trough of the sea. Her funnel and her masts -were overboard, and swayed and surged under her lee; her decks were -swept as clean as a barn floor, and there was no living soul on -board. - -The petrels flew up to her, and wailed round her; for they were -very sorry indeed, and also they expected to find some salt pork; -and Tom scrambled on board of her and looked round, frightened and -sad. - -And there, in a little cot, lashed tight under the bulwark, lay a -baby fast asleep; the very same baby, Tom saw at once, which he had -seen in the singing lady's arms. - -He went up to it, and wanted to wake it; but behold, from under the -cot out jumped a little black and tan terrier dog, and began -barking and snapping at Tom, and would not let him touch the cot. - -Tom knew the dog's teeth could not hurt him: but at least it could -shove him away, and did; and he and the dog fought and struggled, -for he wanted to help the baby, and did not want to throw the poor -dog overboard: but as they were struggling there came a tall green -sea, and walked in over the weather side of the ship, and swept -them all into the waves. - -"Oh, the baby, the baby!" screamed Tom: but the next moment he did -not scream at all; for he saw the cot settling down through the -green water, with the baby, smiling in it, fast asleep; and he saw -the fairies come up from below, and carry baby and cradle gently -down in their soft arms; and then he knew it was all right, and -that there would be a new water-baby in St. Brandan's Isle. - -And the poor little dog? - -Why, after he had kicked and coughed a little, he sneezed so hard, -that he sneezed himself clean out of his skin, and turned into a -water-dog, and jumped and danced round Tom, and ran over the crests -of the waves, and snapped at the jelly-fish and the mackerel, and -followed Tom the whole way to the Other-end-of-Nowhere. - -Then they went on again, till they began to see the peak of Jan -Mayen's Land, standing-up like a white sugar-loaf, two miles above -the clouds. - -And there they fell in with a whole flock of molly-mocks, who were -feeding on a dead whale. - -"These are the fellows to show you the way," said Mother Carey's -chickens; "we cannot help you farther north. We don't like to get -among the ice pack, for fear it should nip our toes: but the -mollys dare fly anywhere." - -So the petrels called to the mollys: but they were so busy and -greedy, gobbling and peeking and spluttering and fighting over the -blubber, that they did not take the least notice. - -"Come, come," said the petrels, "you lazy greedy lubbers, this -young gentleman is going to Mother Carey, and if you don't attend -on him, you won't earn your discharge from her, you know." - -"Greedy we are," says a great fat old molly, "but lazy we ain't; -and, as for lubbers, we're no more lubbers than you. Let's have a -look at the lad." - -And he flapped right into Tom's face, and stared at him in the most -impudent way (for the mollys are audacious fellows, as all whalers -know), and then asked him where he hailed from, and what land he -sighted last. - -And, when Tom told him, he seemed pleased, and said he was a good -plucked one to have got so far. - -"Come along, lads," he said to the rest, "and give this little chap -a cast over the pack, for Mother Carey's sake. We've eaten blubber -enough for to-day, and we'll e'en work out a bit of our time by -helping the lad." - -So the mollys took Tom up on their backs, and flew off with him, -laughing and joking--and oh, how they did smell of train oil! - -"Who are you, you jolly birds?" asked Tom. - -"We are the spirits of the old Greenland skippers (as every sailor -knows), who hunted here, right whales and horse-whales, full -hundreds of years agone. But, because we were saucy and greedy, we -were all turned into mollys, to eat whale's blubber all our days. -But lubbers we are none, and could sail a ship now against any man -in the North seas, though we don't hold with this new-fangled -steam. And it's a shame of those black imps of petrels to call us -so; but because they're her grace's pets, they think they may say -anything they like." - -"And who are you?" asked Tom of him, for he saw that he was the -king of all the birds. - -"My name is Hendrick Hudson, and a right good skipper was I; and my -name will last to the world's end, in spite of all the wrong I did. -For I discovered Hudson River, and I named Hudson's Bay; and many -have come in my wake that dared not have shown me the way. But I -was a hard man in my time, that's truth, and stole the poor Indians -off the coast of Maine, and sold them for slaves down in Virginia; -and at last I was so cruel to my sailors, here in these very seas, -that they set me adrift in an open boat, and I never was heard of -more. So now I'm the king of all mollys, till I've worked out my -time." - -And now they came to the edge of the pack, and beyond it they could -see Shiny Wall looming, through mist, and snow, and storm. But the -pack rolled horribly upon the swell, and the ice giants fought and -roared, and leapt upon each other's backs, and ground each other to -powder, so that Tom was afraid to venture among them, lest he -should be ground to powder too. And he was the more afraid, when -he saw lying among the ice pack the wrecks of many a gallant ship; -some with masts and yards all standing, some with the seamen frozen -fast on board. Alas, alas, for them! They were all true English -hearts; and they came to their end like good knights-errant, in -searching for the white gate that never was opened yet. - -But the good mollys took Tom and his dog up, and flew with them -safe over the pack and the roaring ice giants, and set them down at -the foot of Shiny Wall. - -"And where is the gate?" asked Tom. - -"There is no gate," said the mollys. - -"No gate?" cried Tom, aghast. - -"None; never a crack of one, and that's the whole of the secret, as -better fellows, lad, than you have found to their cost; and if -there had been, they'd have killed by now every right whale that -swims the sea." - -"What am I to do, then?" - -"Dive under the floe, to be sure, if you have pluck." - -"I've not come so far to turn now," said Tom; "so here goes for a -header." - -"A lucky voyage to you, lad," said the mollys; "we knew you were -one of the right sort. So good-bye." - -"Why don't you come too?" asked Tom. - -But the mollys only wailed sadly, "We can't go yet, we can't go -yet," and flew away over the pack. - -So Tom dived under the great white gate which never was opened yet, -and went on in black darkness, at the bottom of the sea, for seven -days and seven nights. And yet he was not a bit frightened. Why -should he be? He was a brave English lad, whose business is to go -out and see all the world. - -And at last he saw the light, and clear clear water overhead; and -up he came a thousand fathoms, among clouds of sea-moths, which -fluttered round his head. There were moths with pink heads and -wings and opal bodies, that flapped about slowly; moths with brown -wings that flapped about quickly; yellow shrimps that hopped and -skipped most quickly of all; and jellies of all the colours in the -world, that neither hopped nor skipped, but only dawdled and -yawned, and would not get out of his way. The dog snapped at them -till his jaws were tired; but Tom hardly minded them at all, he was -so eager to get to the top of the water, and see the pool where the -good whales go. - -And a very large pool it was, miles and miles across, though the -air was so clear that the ice cliffs on the opposite side looked as -if they were close at hand. All round it the ice cliffs rose, in -walls and spires and battlements, and caves and bridges, and -stories and galleries, in which the ice-fairies live, and drive -away the storms and clouds, that Mother Carey's pool may lie calm -from year's end to year's end. And the sun acted policeman, and -walked round outside every day, peeping just over the top of the -ice wall, to see that all went right; and now and then he played -conjuring tricks, or had an exhibition of fireworks, to amuse the -ice-fairies. For he would make himself into four or five suns at -once, or paint the sky with rings and crosses and crescents of -white fire, and stick himself in the middle of them, and wink at -the fairies; and I daresay they were very much amused; for -anything's fun in the country. - -And there the good whales lay, the happy sleepy beasts, upon the -still oily sea. They were all right whales, you must know, and -finners, and razor-backs, and bottle-noses, and spotted sea- -unicorns with long ivory horns. But the sperm whales are such -raging, ramping, roaring, rumbustious fellows, that, if Mother -Carey let them in, there would be no more peace in Peacepool. So -she packs them away in a great pond by themselves at the South -Pole, two hundred and sixty-three miles south-south-east of Mount -Erebus, the great volcano in the ice; and there they butt each -other with their ugly noses, day and night from year's end to -year's end. - -But here there were only good quiet beasts, lying about like the -black hulls of sloops, and blowing every now and then jets of white -steam, or sculling round with their huge mouths open, for the sea- -moths to swim down their throats. There were no threshers there to -thresh their poor old backs, or sword-fish to stab their stomachs, -or saw-fish to rip them up, or ice-sharks to bite lumps out of -their sides, or whalers to harpoon and lance them. They were quite -safe and happy there; and all they had to do was to wait quietly in -Peacepool, till Mother Carey sent for them to make them out of old -beasts into new. - -Tom swam up to the nearest whale, and asked the way to Mother -Carey. - -"There she sits in the middle," said the whale. - -Tom looked; but he could see nothing in the middle of the pool, but -one peaked iceberg: and he said so. - -"That's Mother Carey," said the whale, "as you will find when you -get to her. There she sits making old beasts into new all the year -round." - -"How does she do that?" - -"That's her concern, not mine," said the old whale; and yawned so -wide (for he was very large) that there swam into his mouth 943 -sea-moths, 13,846 jelly-fish no bigger than pins' heads, a string -of salpae nine yards long, and forty-three little ice-crabs, who -gave each other a parting pinch all round, tucked their legs under -their stomachs, and determined to die decently, like Julius Caesar. - -"I suppose," said Tom, "she cuts up a great whale like you into a -whole shoal of porpoises?" - -At which the old whale laughed so violently that he coughed up all -the creatures; who swam away again very thankful at having escaped -out of that terrible whalebone net of his, from which bourne no -traveller returns; and Tom went on to the iceberg, wondering. - -And, when he came near it, it took the form of the grandest old -lady he had ever seen--a white marble lady, sitting on a white -marble throne. And from the foot of the throne there swum away, -out and out into the sea, millions of new-born creatures, of more -shapes and colours than man ever dreamed. And they were Mother -Carey's children, whom she makes out of the sea-water all day long. - -He expected, of course--like some grown people who ought to know -better--to find her snipping, piecing, fitting, stitching, -cobbling, basting, filing, planing, hammering, turning, polishing, -moulding, measuring, chiselling, clipping, and so forth, as men do -when they go to work to make anything. - -But, instead of that, she sat quite still with her chin upon her -hand, looking down into the sea with two great grand blue eyes, as -blue as the sea itself. Her hair was as white as the snow--for she -was very very old--in fact, as old as anything which you are likely -to come across, except the difference between right and wrong. - -And, when she saw Tom, she looked at him very kindly. - -"What do you want, my little man? It is long since I have seen a -water-baby here." - -Tom told her his errand, and asked the way to the Other-end-of- -Nowhere. - -"You ought to know yourself, for you have been there already." - -"Have I, ma'am? I'm sure I forget all about it." - -"Then look at me." - -And, as Tom looked into her great blue eyes, he recollected the way -perfectly. - -Now, was not that strange? - -"Thank you, ma'am," said Tom. "Then I won't trouble your ladyship -any more; I hear you are very busy." - -"I am never more busy than I am now," she said, without stirring a -finger. - -"I heard, ma'am, that you were always making new beasts out of -old." - -"So people fancy. But I am not going to trouble myself to make -things, my little dear. I sit here and make them make themselves." - -"You are a clever fairy, indeed," thought Tom. And he was quite -right. - -That is a grand trick of good old Mother Carey's, and a grand -answer, which she has had occasion to make several times to -impertinent people. - -There was once, for instance, a fairy who was so clever that she -found out how to make butterflies. I don't mean sham ones; no: -but real live ones, which would fly, and eat, and lay eggs, and do -everything that they ought; and she was so proud of her skill that -she went flying straight off to the North Pole, to boast to Mother -Carey how she could make butterflies. - -But Mother Carey laughed. - -"Know, silly child," she said, "that any one can make things, if -they will take time and trouble enough: but it is not every one -who, like me, can make things make themselves." - -But people do not yet believe that Mother Carey is as clever as all -that comes to; and they will not till they, too, go the journey to -the Other-end-of-Nowhere. - -"And now, my pretty little man," said Mother Carey, "you are sure -you know the way to the Other-end-of-Nowhere?" - -Tom thought; and behold, he had forgotten it utterly. - -"That is because you took your eyes off me." - -Tom looked at her again, and recollected; and then looked away, and -forgot in an instant. - -"But what am I to do, ma'am? For I can't keep looking at you when -I am somewhere else." - -"You must do without me, as most people have to do, for nine -hundred and ninety-nine thousandths of their lives; and look at the -dog instead; for he knows the way well enough, and will not forget -it. Besides, you may meet some very queer-tempered people there, -who will not let you pass without this passport of mine, which you -must hang round your neck and take care of; and, of course, as the -dog will always go behind you, you must go the whole way backward." - -"Backward!" cried Tom. "Then I shall not be able to see my way." - -"On the contrary, if you look forward, you will not see a step -before you, and be certain to go wrong; but, if you look behind -you, and watch carefully whatever you have passed, and especially -keep your eye on the dog, who goes by instinct, and therefore can't -go wrong, then you will know what is coming next, as plainly as if -you saw it in a looking-glass." - -Tom was very much astonished: but he obeyed her, for he had learnt -always to believe what the fairies told him. - -"So it is, my dear child," said Mother Carey; "and I will tell you -a story, which will show you that I am perfectly right, as it is my -custom to be. - -"Once on a time, there were two brothers. One was called -Prometheus, because he always looked before him, and boasted that -he was wise beforehand. The other was called Epimetheus, because -he always looked behind him, and did not boast at all; but said -humbly, like the Irishman, that he had sooner prophesy after the -event. - -"Well, Prometheus was a very clever fellow, of course, and invented -all sorts of wonderful things. But, unfortunately, when they were -set to work, to work was just what they would not do: wherefore -very little has come of them, and very little is left of them; and -now nobody knows what they were, save a few archaeological old -gentlemen who scratch in queer corners, and find little there save -Ptinum Furem, Blaptem Mortisagam, Acarum Horridum, and Tineam -Laciniarum. - -"But Epimetheus was a very slow fellow, certainly, and went among -men for a clod, and a muff, and a milksop, and a slowcoach, and a -bloke, and a boodle, and so forth. And very little he did, for -many years: but what he did, he never had to do over again. - -"And what happened at last? There came to the two brothers the -most beautiful creature that ever was seen, Pandora by name; which -means, All the gifts of the Gods. But because she had a strange -box in her hand, this fanciful, forecasting, suspicious, -prudential, theoretical, deductive, prophesying Prometheus, who was -always settling what was going to happen, would have nothing to do -with pretty Pandora and her box. - -"But Epimetheus took her and it, as he took everything that came; -and married her for better for worse, as every man ought, whenever -he has even the chance of a good wife. And they opened the box -between them, of course, to see what was inside: for, else, of -what possible use could it have been to them? - -"And out flew all the ills which flesh is heir to; all the children -of the four great bogies, Self-will, Ignorance, Fear, and Dirt--for -instance: - - -Measles, Famines, -Monks, Quacks, -Scarlatina, Unpaid bills, -Idols, Tight stays, -Hooping-coughs, Potatoes, -Popes, Bad Wine, -Wars, Despots, -Peacemongers, Demagogues, -And, worst of all, Naughty Boys and Girls. - - -But one thing remained at the bottom of the box, and that was, -Hope. - -"So Epimetheus got a great deal of trouble, as most men do in this -world: but he got the three best things in the world into the -bargain--a good wife, and experience, and hope: while Prometheus -had just as much trouble, and a great deal more (as you will hear), -of his own making; with nothing beside, save fancies spun out of -his own brain, as a spider spins her web out of her stomach. - -"And Prometheus kept on looking before him so far ahead, that as he -was running about with a box of lucifers (which were the only -useful things he ever invented, and do as much harm as good), he -trod on his own nose, and tumbled down (as most deductive -philosophers do), whereby he set the Thames on fire; and they have -hardly put it out again yet. So he had to be chained to the top of -a mountain, with a vulture by him to give him a peck whenever he -stirred, lest he should turn the whole world upside down with his -prophecies and his theories. - -"But stupid old Epimetheus went working and grubbing on, with the -help of his wife Pandora, always looking behind him to see what had -happened, till he really learnt to know now and then what would -happen next; and understood so well which side his bread was -buttered, and which way the cat jumped, that he began to make -things which would work, and go on working, too; to till and drain -the ground, and to make looms, and ships, and railroads, and steam -ploughs, and electric telegraphs, and all the things which you see -in the Great Exhibition; and to foretell famine, and bad weather, -and the price of stocks and (what is hardest of all) the next -vagary of the great idol Whirligig, which some call Public Opinion; -till at last he grew as rich as a Jew, and as fat as a farmer, and -people thought twice before they meddled with him, but only once -before they asked him to help them; for, because he earned his -money well, he could afford to spend it well likewise. - -"And his children are the men of science, who get good lasting work -done in the world; but the children of Prometheus are the fanatics, -and the theorists, and the bigots, and the bores, and the noisy -windy people, who go telling silly folk what will happen, instead -of looking to see what has happened already." - -Now, was not Mother Carey's a wonderful story? And, I am happy to -say, Tom believed it every word. - -For so it happened to Tom likewise. He was very sorely tried; for -though, by keeping the dog to heels (or rather to toes, for he had -to walk backward), he could see pretty well which way the dog was -hunting, yet it was much slower work to go backwards than to go -forwards. But, what was more trying still, no sooner had he got -out of Peacepool, than there came running to him all the conjurors, -fortune-tellers, astrologers, prophesiers, projectors, -prestigiators, as many as were in those parts (and there are too -many of them everywhere), Old Mother Shipton on her broomstick, -with Merlin, Thomas the Rhymer, Gerbertus, Rabanus Maurus, -Nostradamus, Zadkiel, Raphael, Moore, Old Nixon, and a good many in -black coats and white ties who might have known better, considering -in what century they were born, all bawling and screaming at him, -"Look a-head, only look a-head; and we will show you what man never -saw before, and right away to the end of the world!" - -But I am proud to say that, though Tom had not been to Cambridge-- -for, if he had, he would have certainly been senior wrangler--he -was such a little dogged, hard, gnarly, foursquare brick of an -English boy, that he never turned his head round once all the way -from Peacepool to the Other-end-of-Nowhere: but kept his eye on -the dog, and let him pick out the scent, hot or cold, straight or -crooked, wet or dry, up hill or down dale; by which means he never -made a single mistake, and saw all the wonderful and hitherto by- -no-mortal-man-imagined things, which it is my duty to relate to you -in the next chapter. - - - -CHAPTER VIII AND LAST - - - -"Come to me, O ye children! -For I hear you at your play; -And the questions that perplexed me -Have vanished quite away. - -"Ye open the Eastern windows, -That look towards the sun, -Where thoughts are singing swallows, -And the brooks of morning run. - -* * * * * - -"For what are all our contrivings -And the wisdom of our books, -When compared with your caresses, -And the gladness of your looks? - -"Ye are better than all the ballads -That ever were sung or said; -For ye are living poems, -And all the rest are dead." - -LONGFELLOW. - - -Here begins the never-to-be-too-much-studied account of the nine- -hundred-and-ninety-ninth part of the wonderful things which Tom saw -on his journey to the Other-end-of-Nowhere; which all good little -children are requested to read; that, if ever they get to the -Other-end-of-Nowhere, as they may very probably do, they may not -burst out laughing, or try to run away, or do any other silly -vulgar thing which may offend Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid. - -Now, as soon as Tom had left Peacepool, he came to the white lap of -the great sea-mother, ten thousand fathoms deep; where she makes -world-pap all day long, for the steam-giants to knead, and the -fire-giants to bake, till it has risen and hardened into mountain- -loaves and island-cakes. - -And there Tom was very near being kneaded up in the world-pap, and -turned into a fossil water-baby; which would have astonished the -Geological Society of New Zealand some hundreds of thousands of -years hence. - -For, as he walked along in the silence of the sea-twilight, on the -soft white ocean floor, he was aware of a hissing, and a roaring, -and a thumping, and a pumping, as of all the steam-engines in the -world at once. And, when he came near, the water grew boiling-hot; -not that that hurt him in the least: but it also grew as foul as -gruel; and every moment he stumbled over dead shells, and fish, and -sharks, and seals, and whales, which had been killed by the hot -water. - -And at last he came to the great sea-serpent himself, lying dead at -the bottom; and as he was too thick to scramble over, Tom had to -walk round him three-quarters of a mile and more, which put him out -of his path sadly; and, when he had got round, he came to the place -called Stop. And there he stopped, and just in time. - -For he was on the edge of a vast hole in the bottom of the sea, up -which was rushing and roaring clear steam enough to work all the -engines in the world at once; so clear, indeed, that it was quite -light at moments; and Tom could see almost up to the top of the -water above, and down below into the pit for nobody knows how far. - -But, as soon as he bent his head over the edge, he got such a rap -on the nose from pebbles, that he jumped back again; for the steam, -as it rushed up, rasped away the sides of the hole, and hurled it -up into the sea in a shower of mud and gravel and ashes; and then -it spread all around, and sank again, and covered in the dead fish -so fast, that before Tom had stood there five minutes he was buried -in silt up to his ankles, and began to be afraid that he should -have been buried alive. - -And perhaps he would have been, but that while he was thinking, the -whole piece of ground on which he stood was torn off and blown -upwards, and away flew Tom a mile up through the sea, wondering -what was coming next. - -At last he stopped--thump! and found himself tight in the legs of -the most wonderful bogy which he had ever seen. - -It had I don't know how many wings, as big as the sails of a -windmill, and spread out in a ring like them; and with them it -hovered over the steam which rushed up, as a ball hovers over the -top of a fountain. And for every wing above it had a leg below, -with a claw like a comb at the tip, and a nostril at the root; and -in the middle it had no stomach and one eye; and as for its mouth, -that was all on one side, as the madreporiform tubercle in a star- -fish is. Well, it was a very strange beast; but no stranger than -some dozens which you may see. - -"What do you want here," it cried quite peevishly, "getting in my -way?" and it tried to drop Tom: but he held on tight to its claws, -thinking himself safer where he was. - -So Tom told him who he was, and what his errand was. And the thing -winked its one eye, and sneered: - -"I am too old to be taken in in that way. You are come after gold- --I know you are." - -"Gold! What is gold?" And really Tom did not know; but the -suspicious old bogy would not believe him. - -But after a while Tom began to understand a little. For, as the -vapours came up out of the hole, the bogy smelt them with his -nostrils, and combed them and sorted them with his combs; and then, -when they steamed up through them against his wings, they were -changed into showers and streams of metal. From one wing fell -gold-dust, and from another silver, and from another copper, and -from another tin, and from another lead, and so on, and sank into -the soft mud, into veins and cracks, and hardened there. Whereby -it comes to pass that the rocks are full of metal. - -But, all of a sudden, somebody shut off the steam below, and the -hole was left empty in an instant: and then down rushed the water -into the hole, in such a whirlpool that the bogy spun round and -round as fast as a teetotum. But that was all in his day's work, -like a fair fall with the hounds; so all he did was to say to Tom - - -"Now is your time, youngster, to get down, if you are in earnest, -which I don't believe." - -"You'll soon see," said Tom; and away he went, as bold as Baron -Munchausen, and shot down the rushing cataract like a salmon at -Ballisodare. - -And, when he got to the bottom, he swam till he was washed on shore -safe upon the Other-end-of-Nowhere; and he found it, to his -surprise, as most other people do, much more like This-End-of- -Somewhere than he had been in the habit of expecting - -And first he went through Waste-paper-land, where all the stupid -books lie in heaps, up hill and down dale, like leaves in a winter -wood; and there he saw people digging and grubbing among them, to -make worse books out of bad ones, and thrashing chaff to save the -dust of it; and a very good trade they drove thereby, especially -among children. - -Then he went by the sea of slops, to the mountain of messes, and -the territory of tuck, where the ground was very sticky, for it was -all made of bad toffee (not Everton toffee, of course), and full of -deep cracks and holes choked with wind-fallen fruit, and green -goose-berries, and sloes, and crabs, and whinberries, and hips and -haws, and all the nasty things which little children will eat, if -they can get them. But the fairies hide them out of the way in -that country as fast as they can, and very hard work they have, and -of very little use it is. For as fast as they hide away the old -trash, foolish and wicked people make fresh trash full of lime and -poisonous paints, and actually go and steal receipts out of old -Madame Science's big book to invent poisons for little children, -and sell them at wakes and fairs and tuck-shops. Very well. Let -them go on. Dr. Letheby and Dr. Hassall cannot catch them, though -they are setting traps for them all day long. But the Fairy with -the birch-rod will catch them all in time, and make them begin at -one corner of their shops, and eat their way out at the other: by -which time they will have got such stomach-aches as will cure them -of poisoning little children. - -Next he saw all the little people in the world, writing all the -little books in the world, about all the other little people in the -world; probably because they had no great people to write about: -and if the names of the books were not Squeeky, nor the Pump- -lighter, nor the Narrow Narrow World, nor the Hills of the -Chattermuch, nor the Children's Twaddeday, why then they were -something else. And, all the rest of the little people in the -world read the books, and thought themselves each as good as the -President; and perhaps they were right, for every one knows his own -business best. But Tom thought he would sooner have a jolly good -fairy tale, about Jack the Giant-killer or Beauty and the Beast, -which taught him something that he didn't know already. - -And next he came to the centre of Creation (the hub, they call it -there), which lies in latitude 42.21 degrees south, and longitude -108.56 degrees east. - -And there he found all the wise people instructing mankind in the -science of spirit-rapping, while their house was burning over their -heads: and when Tom told them of the fire, they held an -indignation meeting forthwith, and unanimously determined to hang -Tom's dog for coming into their country with gunpowder in his -mouth. Tom couldn't help saying that though they did fancy they -had carried all the wit away with them out of Lincolnshire two -hundred years ago, yet if they had had one such Lincolnshire -nobleman among them as good old Lord Yarborough, he would have -called for the fire-engines before he hanged other people's dogs. -But it was of no use, and the dog was hanged: and Tom couldn't -even have his carcase; for they had abolished the have-his-carcase -act in that country, for fear lest when rogues fell out, honest men -should come by their own. And so they would have succeeded -perfectly, as they always do, only that (as they also always do) -they failed in one little particular, viz. that the dog would not -die, being a water-dog, but bit their fingers so abominably that -they were forced to let him go, and Tom likewise, as British -subjects. Whereon they recommenced rapping for the spirits of -their fathers; and very much astonished the poor old spirits were -when they came, and saw how, according to the laws of Mrs. -Bedonebyasyoudid, their descendants had weakened their constitution -by hard living. - -Then came Tom to the Island of Polupragmosyne (which some call -Rogues' Harbour; but they are wrong; for that is in the middle of -Bramshill Bushes, and the county police have cleared it out long -ago). There every one knows his neighbour's business better than -his own; and a very noisy place it is, as might be expected, -considering that all the inhabitants are ex officio on the wrong -side of the house in the "Parliament of Man, and the Federation of -the World;" and are always making wry mouths, and crying that the -fairies' grapes were sour. - -There Tom saw ploughs drawing horses, nails driving hammers, birds' -nests taking boys, books making authors, bulls keeping china-shops, -monkeys shaving cats, dead dogs drilling live lions, blind -brigadiers shelfed as principals of colleges, play-actors not in -the least shelfed as popular preachers; and, in short, every one -set to do something which he had not learnt, because in what he had -learnt, or pretended to learn, he had failed. - -There stands the Pantheon of the Great Unsuccessful, from the -builders of the Tower of Babel to those of the Trafalgar Fountains; -in which politicians lecture on the constitutions which ought to -have marched, conspirators on the revolutions which ought to have -succeeded, economists on the schemes which ought to have made every -one's fortune, and projectors on the discoveries which ought to -have set the Thames on fire. There cobblers lecture on orthopedy -(whatsoever that may be) because they cannot sell their shoes; and -poets on AEsthetics (whatsoever that may be) because they cannot -sell their poetry. There philosophers demonstrate that England -would be the freest and richest country in the world, if she would -only turn Papist again; penny-a-liners abuse the Times, because -they have not wit enough to get on its staff; and young ladies walk -about with lockets of Charles the First's hair (or of somebody -else's, when the Jews' genuine stock is used up), inscribed with -the neat and appropriate legend--which indeed is popular through -all that land, and which, I hope, you will learn to translate in -due time and to perpend likewise:- - - -"Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa puellis." - - -When he got into the middle of the town, they all set on him at -once, to show him his way; or rather, to show him that he did not -know his way; for as for asking him what way he wanted to go, no -one ever thought of that. - -But one pulled him hither, and another poked him thither, and a -third cried - - -"You mustn't go west, I tell you; it is destruction to go west." - -"But I am not going west, as you may see," said Tom. - -And another, "The east lies here, my dear; I assure you this is the -east." - -"But I don't want to go east," said Tom. - -"Well, then, at all events, whichever way you are going, you are -going wrong," cried they all with one voice--which was the only -thing which they ever agreed about; and all pointed at once to all -the thirty-and-two points of the compass, till Tom thought all the -sign-posts in England had got together, and fallen fighting. - -And whether he would have ever escaped out of the town, it is hard -to say, if the dog had not taken it into his head that they were -going to pull his master in pieces, and tackled them so sharply -about the gastrocnemius muscle, that he gave them some business of -their own to think of at last; and while they were rubbing their -bitten calves, Tom and the dog got safe away. - -On the borders of that island he found Gotham, where the wise men -live; the same who dragged the pond because the moon had fallen -into it, and planted a hedge round the cuckoo, to keep spring all -the year. And he found them bricking up the town gate, because it -was so wide that little folks could not get through. And, when he -asked why, they told him they were expanding their liturgy. So he -went on; for it was no business of his: only he could not help -saying that in his country, if the kitten could not get in at the -same hole as the cat, she might stay outside and mew. - -But he saw the end of such fellows, when he came to the island of -the Golden Asses, where nothing but thistles grow. For there they -were all turned into mokes with ears a yard long, for meddling with -matters which they do not understand, as Lucius did in the story. -And like him, mokes they must remain, till, by the laws of -development, the thistles develop into roses. Till then, they must -comfort themselves with the thought, that the longer their ears -are, the thicker their hides; and so a good beating don't hurt -them. - -Then came Tom to the great land of Hearsay, in which are no less -than thirty and odd kings, beside half a dozen Republics, and -perhaps more by next mail. - -And there he fell in with a deep, dark, deadly, and destructive -war, waged by the princes and potentates of those parts, both -spiritual and temporal, against what do you think? One thing I am -sure of. That unless I told you, you would never know; nor how -they waged that war either; for all their strategy and art military -consisted in the safe and easy process of stopping their ears and -screaming, "Oh, don't tell us!" and then running away. - -So when Tom came into that land, he found them all, high and low, -man, woman, and child, running for their lives day and night -continually, and entreating not to be told they didn't know what: -only the land being an island, and they having a dislike to the -water (being a musty lot for the most part), they ran round and -round the shore for ever, which (as the island was exactly of the -same circumference as the planet on which we have the honour of -living) was hard work, especially to those who had business to look -after. But before them, as bandmaster and fugleman, ran a -gentleman shearing a pig; the melodious strains of which animal led -them for ever, if not to conquest, still to flight; and kept up -their spirits mightily with the thought that they would at least -have the pig's wool for their pains. - -And running after them, day and night, came such a poor, lean, -seedy, hard-worked old giant, as ought to have been cockered up, -and had a good dinner given him, and a good wife found him, and -been set to play with little children; and then he would have been -a very presentable old fellow after all; for he had a heart, though -it was considerably overgrown with brains. - -He was made up principally of fish bones and parchment, put -together with wire and Canada balsam; and smelt strongly of -spirits, though he never drank anything but water: but spirits he -used somehow, there was no denying. He had a great pair of -spectacles on his nose, and a butterfly-net in one hand, and a -geological hammer in the other; and was hung all over with pockets, -full of collecting boxes, bottles, microscopes, telescopes, -barometers, ordnance maps, scalpels, forceps, photographic -apparatus, and all other tackle for finding out everything about -everything, and a little more too. And, most strange of all, he -was running not forwards but backwards, as fast as he could. - -Away all the good folks ran from him, except Tom, who stood his -ground and dodged between his legs; and the giant, when he had -passed him, looked down, and cried, as if he was quite pleased and -comforted, - - -"What? who are you? And you actually don't run away, like all the -rest?" But he had to take his spectacles off, Tom remarked, in -order to see him plainly. - -Tom told him who he was; and the giant pulled out a bottle and a -cork instantly, to collect him with. - -But Tom was too sharp for that, and dodged between his legs and in -front of him; and then the giant could not see him at all. - -"No, no, no!" said Tom, "I've not been round the world, and through -the world, and up to Mother Carey's haven, beside being caught in a -net and called a Holothurian and a Cephalopod, to be bottled up by -any old giant like you." - -And when the giant understood what a great traveller Tom had been, -he made a truce with him at once, and would have kept him there to -this day to pick his brains, so delighted was he at finding any one -to tell him what he did not know before. - -"Ah, you lucky little dog!" said he at last, quite simply--for he -was the simplest, pleasantest, honestest, kindliest old Dominie -Sampson of a giant that ever turned the world upside down without -intending it--"ah, you lucky little dog! If I had only been where -you have been, to see what you have seen!" - -"Well," said Tom, "if you want to do that, you had best put your -head under water for a few hours, as I did, and turn into a water- -baby, or some other baby, and then you might have a chance." - -"Turn into a baby, eh? If I could do that, and know what was -happening to me for but one hour, I should know everything then, -and be at rest. But I can't; I can't be a little child again; and -I suppose if I could, it would be no use, because then I should -then know nothing about what was happening to me. Ah, you lucky -little dog!" said the poor old giant. - -"But why do you run after all these poor people?" said Tom, who -liked the giant very much. - -"My dear, it's they that have been running after me, father and -son, for hundreds and hundreds of years, throwing stones at me till -they have knocked off my spectacles fifty times, and calling me a -malignant and a turbaned Turk, who beat a Venetian and traduced the -State--goodness only knows what they mean, for I never read poetry- --and hunting me round and round--though catch me they can't, for -every time I go over the same ground, I go the faster, and grow the -bigger. While all I want is to be friends with them, and to tell -them something to their advantage, like Mr. Joseph Ady: only -somehow they are so strangely afraid of hearing it. But, I suppose -I am not a man of the world, and have no tact." - -"But why don't you turn round and tell them so?" - -"Because I can't. You see, I am one of the sons of Epimetheus, and -must go backwards, if I am to go at all." - -"But why don't you stop, and let them come up to you?" - -"Why, my dear, only think. If I did, all the butterflies and -cockyolybirds would fly past me, and then I should catch no more -new species, and should grow rusty and mouldy, and die. And I -don't intend to do that, my dear; for I have a destiny before me, -they say: though what it is I don't know, and don't care." - -"Don't care?" said Tom. - -"No. Do the duty which lies nearest you, and catch the first -beetle you come across, is my motto; and I have thriven by it for -some hundred years. Now I must go on. Dear me, while I have been -talking to you, at least nine new species have escaped me." - -And on went the giant, behind before, like a bull in a china-shop, -till he ran into the steeple of the great idol temple (for they are -all idolaters in those parts, of course, else they would never be -afraid of giants), and knocked the upper half clean off, hurting -himself horribly about the small of the back. - -But little he cared; for as soon as the ruins of the steeple were -well between his legs, he poked and peered among the falling -stones, and shifted his spectacles, and pulled out his pocket- -magnifier, and cried - - -"An entirely new Oniscus, and three obscure Podurellae! Besides a -moth which M. le Roi des Papillons (though he, like all Frenchmen, -is given to hasty inductions) says is confined to the limits of the -Glacial Drift. This is most important!" - -And down he sat on the nave of the temple (not being a man of the -world) to examine his Podurellae. Whereon (as was to be expected) -the roof caved in bodily, smashing the idols, and sending the -priests flying out of doors and windows, like rabbits out of a -burrow when a ferret goes in. - -But he never heeded; for out of the dust flew a bat, and the giant -had him in a moment. - -"Dear me! This is even more important! Here is a cognate species -to that which Macgilliwaukie Brown insists is confined to the -Buddhist temples of Little Thibet; and now when I look at it, it -may be only a variety produced by difference of climate!" - -And having bagged his bat, up he got, and on he went; while all the -people ran, being in none the better humour for having their temple -smashed for the sake of three obscure species of Podurella, and a -Buddhist bat. - -"Well," thought Tom, "this is a very pretty quarrel, with a good -deal to be said on both sides. But it is no business of mine." - -And no more it was, because he was a water-baby, and had the -original sow by the right ear; which you will never have, unless -you be a baby, whether of the water, the land, or the air, matters -not, provided you can only keep on continually being a baby. - -So the giant ran round after the people, and the people ran round -after the giant, and they are running, unto this day for aught I -know, or do not know; and will run till either he, or they, or -both, turn into little children. And then, as Shakespeare says -(and therefore it must be true) - - - -"Jack shall have Gill -Nought shall go ill -The man shall have his mare again, and all go well." - - -Then Tom came to a very famous island, which was called, in the -days of the great traveller Captain Gulliver, the Isle of Laputa. -But Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid has named it over again the Isle of -Tomtoddies, all heads and no bodies. - -And when Tom came near it, he heard such a grumbling and grunting -and growling and wailing and weeping and whining that he thought -people must be ringing little pigs, or cropping puppies' ears, or -drowning kittens: but when he came nearer still, he began to hear -words among the noise; which was the Tomtoddies' song which they -sing morning and evening, and all night too, to their great idol -Examination - - - -"I can't learn my lesson: the examiner's coming!" - - -And that was the only song which they knew. - -And when Tom got on shore the first thing he saw was a great -pillar, on one side of which was inscribed, "Playthings not allowed -here;" at which he was so shocked that he would not stay to see -what was written on the other side. Then he looked round for the -people of the island: but instead of men, women, and children, he -found nothing but turnips and radishes, beet and mangold wurzel, -without a single green leaf among them, and half of them burst and -decayed, with toad-stools growing out of them. Those which were -left began crying to Tom, in half a dozen different languages at -once, and all of them badly spoken, "I can't learn my lesson; do -come and help me!" And one cried, "Can you show me how to extract -this square root?" - -And another, "Can you tell me the distance between [alpha] Lyrae -and [beta] Camelopardis?" - -And another, "What is the latitude and longitude of Snooksville, in -Noman's County, Oregon, U.S.?" - -And another, "What was the name of Mutius Scaevola's thirteenth -cousin's grandmother's maid's cat?" - -And another, "How long would it take a school-inspector of average -activity to tumble head over heels from London to York?" - -And another, "Can you tell me the name of a place that nobody ever -heard of, where nothing ever happened, in a country which has not -been discovered yet?" - -And another, "Can you show me how to correct this hopelessly -corrupt passage of Graidiocolosyrtus Tabenniticus, on the cause why -crocodiles have no tongues?" - -And so on, and so on, and so on, till one would have thought they -were all trying for tide-waiters' places, or cornetcies in the -heavy dragoons. - -"And what good on earth will it do you if I did tell you?" quoth -Tom. - -Well, they didn't know that: all they knew was the examiner was -coming. - -Then Tom stumbled on the hugest and softest nimblecomequick turnip -you ever saw filling a hole in a crop of swedes, and it cried to -him, "Can you tell me anything at all about anything you like?" - -"About what?" says Tom. - -"About anything you like; for as fast as I learn things I forget -them again. So my mamma says that my intellect is not adapted for -methodic science, and says that I must go in for general -information." - -Tom told him that he did not know general information, nor any -officers in the army; only he had a friend once that went for a -drummer: but he could tell him a great many strange things which -he had seen in his travels. - -So he told him prettily enough, while the poor turnip listened very -carefully; and the more he listened, the more he forgot, and the -more water ran out of him. - -Tom thought he was crying: but it was only his poor brains running -away, from being worked so hard; and as Tom talked, the unhappy -turnip streamed down all over with juice, and split and shrank till -nothing was left of him but rind and water; whereat Tom ran away in -a fright, for he thought he might be taken up for killing the -turnip. - -But, on the contrary, the turnip's parents were highly delighted, -and considered him a saint and a martyr, and put up a long -inscription over his tomb about his wonderful talents, early -development, and unparalleled precocity. Were they not a foolish -couple? But there was a still more foolish couple next to them, -who were beating a wretched little radish, no bigger than my thumb, -for sullenness and obstinacy and wilful stupidity, and never knew -that the reason why it couldn't learn or hardly even speak was, -that there was a great worm inside it eating out all its brains. -But even they are no foolisher than some hundred score of papas and -mammas, who fetch the rod when they ought to fetch a new toy, and -send to the dark cupboard instead of to the doctor. - -Tom was so puzzled and frightened with all he saw, that he was -longing to ask the meaning of it; and at last he stumbled over a -respectable old stick lying half covered with earth. But a very -stout and worthy stick it was, for it belonged to good Roger Ascham -in old time, and had carved on its head King Edward the Sixth, with -the Bible in his hand. - -"You see," said the stick, "there were as pretty little children -once as you could wish to see, and might have been so still if they -had been only left to grow up like human beings, and then handed -over to me; but their foolish fathers and mothers, instead of -letting them pick flowers, and make dirt-pies, and get birds' -nests, and dance round the gooseberry bush, as little children -should, kept them always at lessons, working, working, working, -learning week-day lessons all week-days, and Sunday lessons all -Sunday, and weekly examinations every Saturday, and monthly -examinations every month, and yearly examinations every year, -everything seven times over, as if once was not enough, and enough -as good as a feast--till their brains grew big, and their bodies -grew small, and they were all changed into turnips, with little but -water inside; and still their foolish parents actually pick the -leaves off them as fast as they grow, lest they should have -anything green about them." - -"Ah!" said Tom, "if dear Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby knew of it she -would send them a lot of tops, and balls, and marbles, and -ninepins, and make them all as jolly as sand-boys." - -"It would be no use," said the stick. "They can't play now, if -they tried. Don't you see how their legs have turned to roots and -grown into the ground, by never taking any exercise, but sapping -and moping always in the same place? But here comes the Examiner- -of-all-Examiners. So you had better get away, I warn you, or he -will examine you and your dog into the bargain, and set him to -examine all the other dogs, and you to examine all the other water- -babies. There is no escaping out of his hands, for his nose is -nine thousand miles long, and can go down chimneys, and through -keyholes, upstairs, downstairs, in my lady's chamber, examining all -little boys, and the little boys' tutors likewise. But when he is -thrashed--so Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid has promised me--I shall have -the thrashing of him: and if I don't lay it on with a will it's a -pity." - -Tom went off: but rather slowly and surlily; for he was somewhat -minded to face this same Examiner-of-all-Examiners, who came -striding among the poor turnips, binding heavy burdens and grievous -to be borne, and laying them on little children's shoulders, like -the Scribes and Pharisees of old, and not touching the same with -one of his fingers; for he had plenty of money, and a fine house to -live in, and so forth; which was more than the poor little turnips -had. - -But when he got near, he looked so big and burly and dictatorial, -and shouted so loud to Tom, to come and be examined, that Tom ran -for his life, and the dog too. And really it was time; for the -poor turnips, in their hurry and fright, crammed themselves so fast -to be ready for the Examiner, that they burst and popped by dozens -all round him, till the place sounded like Aldershot on a field- -day, and Tom thought he should be blown into the air, dog and all. - -As he went down to the shore he passed the poor turnip's new tomb. -But Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid had taken away the epitaph about talents -and precocity and development, and put up one of her own instead -which Tom thought much more sensible:- - - -"Instruction sore long time I bore, -And cramming was in vain; -Till heaven did please my woes to ease -With water on the brain." - - -So Tom jumped into the sea, and swam on his way, singing:- - - -"Farewell, Tomtoddies all; I thank my stars -That nought I know save those three royal r's: -Reading and riting sure, with rithmetick, -Will help a lad of sense through thin and thick." - - -Whereby you may see that Tom was no poet: but no more was John -Bunyan, though he was as wise a man as you will meet in a month of -Sundays. - -And next he came to Oldwivesfabledom, where the folks were all -heathens, and worshipped a howling ape. And there he found a -little boy sitting in the middle of the road, and crying bitterly. - -"What are you crying for?" said Tom. - -"Because I am not as frightened as I could wish to be." - -"Not frightened? You are a queer little chap: but, if you want to -be frightened, here goes--Boo!" - -"Ah," said the little boy, "that is very kind of you; but I don't -feel that it has made any impression." - -Tom offered to upset him, punch him, stamp on him, fettle him over -the head with a brick, or anything else whatsoever which would give -him the slightest comfort. - -But he only thanked Tom very civilly, in fine long words which he -had heard other folk use, and which therefore, he thought were fit -and proper to use himself; and cried on till his papa and mamma -came, and sent off for the Powwow man immediately. And a very -good-natured gentleman and lady they were, though they were -heathens; and talked quite pleasantly to Tom about his travels, -till the Powwow man arrived, with his thunderbox under his arm. - -And a well-fed, ill-favoured gentleman he was, as ever served Her -Majesty at Portland. Tom was a little frightened at first; for he -thought it was Grimes. But he soon saw his mistake: for Grimes -always looked a man in the face; and this fellow never did. And -when he spoke, it was fire and smoke; and when he sneezed, it was -squibs and crackers; and when he cried (which he did whenever it -paid him), it was boiling pitch; and some of it was sure to stick. - -"Here we are again!" cried he, like the clown in a pantomime. "So -you can't feel frightened, my little dear--eh? I'll do that for -you. I'll make an impression on you! Yah! Boo! Whirroo! -Hullabaloo!" - -And he rattled, thumped, brandished his thunder-box, yelled, -shouted, raved, roared, stamped, and danced corrobory like any -black fellow; and then he touched a spring in the thunderbox, and -out popped turnip-ghosts and magic-lanthorns and pasteboard bogies -and spring-heeled Jacks, and sallaballas, with such a horrid din, -clatter, clank, roll, rattle, and roar, that the little boy turned -up the whites of his eyes, and fainted right away. - -And at that his poor heathen papa and mamma were as much delighted -as if they had found a gold mine; and fell down upon their knees -before the Powwow man, and gave him a palanquin with a pole of -solid silver and curtains of cloth of gold; and carried him about -in it on their own backs: but as soon as they had taken him up, -the pole stuck to their shoulders, and they could not set him down -any more, but carried him on willynilly, as Sinbad carried the old -man of the sea: which was a pitiable sight to see; for the father -was a very brave officer, and wore two swords and a blue button; -and the mother was as pretty a lady as ever had pinched feet like a -Chinese. But you see, they had chosen to do a foolish thing just -once too often; so, by the laws of Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid, they had -to go on doing it whether they chose or not, till the coming of the -Cocqcigrues. - -Ah! don't you wish that some one would go and convert those poor -heathens, and teach them not to frighten their little children into -fits? - -"Now, then," said the Powwow man to Tom, "wouldn't you like to be -frightened, my little dear? For I can see plainly that you are a -very wicked, naughty, graceless, reprobate boy." - -"You're another," quoth Tom, very sturdily. And when the man ran -at him, and cried "Boo!" Tom ran at him in return, and cried -"Boo!" likewise, right in his face, and set the little dog upon -him; and at his legs the dog went. - -At which, if you will believe it, the fellow turned tail, -thunderbox and all, with a "Woof!" like an old sow on the common; -and ran for his life, screaming, "Help! thieves! murder! fire! He -is going to kill me! I am a ruined man! He will murder me; and -break, burn, and destroy my precious and invaluable thunderbox; and -then you will have no more thunder-showers in the land. Help! -help! help!" - -At which the papa and mamma and all the people of Oldwivesfabledom -flew at Tom, shouting, "Oh, the wicked, impudent, hard-hearted, -graceless boy! Beat him, kick him, shoot him, drown him, hang him, -burn him!" and so forth: but luckily they had nothing to shoot, -hang, or burn him with, for the fairies had hid all the killing- -tackle out of the way a little while before; so they could only -pelt him with stones; and some of the stones went clean through -him, and came out the other side. But he did not mind that a bit; -for the holes closed up again as fast as they were made, because he -was a water-baby. However, he was very glad when he was safe out -of the country, for the noise there made him all but deaf. - -Then he came to a very quiet place, called Leaveheavenalone. And -there the sun was drawing water out of the sea to make steam- -threads, and the wind was twisting them up to make cloud-patterns, -till they had worked between them the loveliest wedding veil of -Chantilly lace, and hung it up in their own Crystal Palace for any -one to buy who could afford it; while the good old sea never -grudged, for she knew they would pay her back honestly. So the sun -span, and the wind wove, and all went well with the great steam- -loom; as is likely, considering--and considering--and considering - - -And at last, after innumerable adventures, each more wonderful than -the last, he saw before him a huge building, much bigger, and--what -is most surprising--a little uglier than a certain new lunatic -asylum, but not built quite of the same materials. None of it, at -least--or, indeed, for aught that I ever saw, any part of any other -building whatsoever--is cased with nine-inch brick inside and out, -and filled up with rubble between the walls, in order that any -gentleman who has been confined during Her Majesty's pleasure may -be unconfined during his own pleasure, and take a walk in the -neighbouring park to improve his spirits, after an hour's light and -wholesome labour with his dinner-fork or one of the legs of his -iron bedstead. No. The walls of this building were built on an -entirely different principle, which need not be described, as it -has not yet been discovered. - -Tom walked towards this great building, wondering what it was, and -having a strange fancy that he might find Mr. Grimes inside it, -till he saw running toward him, and shouting "Stop!" three or four -people, who, when they came nearer, were nothing else than -policemen's truncheons, running along without legs or arms. - -Tom was not astonished. He was long past that. Besides, he had -seen the naviculae in the water move nobody knows how, a hundred -times, without arms, or legs, or anything to stand in their stead. -Neither was he frightened for he had been doing no harm. - -So he stopped; and, when the foremost truncheon came up and asked -his business, he showed Mother Carey's pass; and the truncheon -looked at it in the oddest fashion; for he had one eye in the -middle of his upper end, so that when he looked at anything, being -quite stiff, he had to slope himself, and poke himself, till it was -a wonder why he did not tumble over; but, being quite full of the -spirit of justice (as all policemen, and their truncheons, ought to -be), he was always in a position of stable equilibrium, whichever -way he put himself. - -"All right--pass on," said he at last. And then he added: "I had -better go with you, young man." And Tom had no objection, for such -company was both respectable and safe; so the truncheon coiled its -thong neatly round its handle, to prevent tripping itself up--for -the thong had got loose in running--and marched on by Tom's side. - -"Why have you no policeman to carry you?" asked Tom, after a while. - -"Because we are not like those clumsy-made truncheons in the land- -world, which cannot go without having a whole man to carry them -about. We do our own work for ourselves; and do it very well, -though I say it who should not." - -"Then why have you a thong to your handle?" asked Tom. - -"To hang ourselves up by, of course, when we are off duty." - -Tom had got his answer, and had no more to say, till they came up -to the great iron door of the prison. And there the truncheon -knocked twice, with its own head. - -A wicket in the door opened, and out looked a tremendous old brass -blunderbuss charged up to the muzzle with slugs, who was the -porter; and Tom started back a little at the sight of him. - -"What case is this?" he asked in a deep voice, out of his broad -bell mouth. - -"If you please, sir, it is no case; only a young gentleman from her -ladyship, who wants to see Grimes, the master-sweep." - -"Grimes?" said the blunderbuss. And he pulled in his muzzle, -perhaps to look over his prison-lists. - -"Grimes is up chimney No. 345," he said from inside. "So the young -gentleman had better go on to the roof." - -Tom looked up at the enormous wall, which seemed at least ninety -miles high, and wondered how he should ever get up: but, when he -hinted that to the truncheon, it settled the matter in a moment. -For it whisked round, and gave him such a shove behind as sent him -up to the roof in no time, with his little dog under his arm. - -And there he walked along the leads, till he met another truncheon, -and told him his errand. - -"Very good," it said. "Come along: but it will be of no use. He -is the most unremorseful, hard-hearted, foul-mouthed fellow I have -in charge; and thinks about nothing but beer and pipes, which are -not allowed here, of course." - -So they walked along over the leads, and very sooty they were, and -Tom thought the chimneys must want sweeping very much. But he was -surprised to see that the soot did not stick to his feet, or dirty -them in the least. Neither did the live coals, which were lying -about in plenty, burn him; for, being a water-baby, his radical -humours were of a moist and cold nature, as you may read at large -in Lemnius, Cardan, Van Helmont, and other gentlemen, who knew as -much as they could, and no man can know more. - -And at last they came to chimney No. 345. Out of the top of it, -his head and shoulders just showing, stuck poor Mr. Grimes, so -sooty, and bleared, and ugly, that Tom could hardly bear to look at -him. And in his mouth was a pipe; but it was not a-light; though -he was pulling at it with all his might. - -"Attention, Mr. Grimes," said the truncheon; "here is a gentleman -come to see you." - -But Mr. Grimes only said bad words; and kept grumbling, "My pipe -won't draw. My pipe won't draw." - -"Keep a civil tongue, and attend!" said the truncheon; and popped -up just like Punch, hitting Grimes such a crack over the head with -itself, that his brains rattled inside like a dried walnut in its -shell. He tried to get his hands out, and rub the place: but he -could not, for they were stuck fast in the chimney. Now he was -forced to attend. - -"Hey!" he said, "why, it's Tom! I suppose you have come here to -laugh at me, you spiteful little atomy?" - -Tom assured him he had not, but only wanted to help him. - -"I don't want anything except beer, and that I can't get; and a -light to this bothering pipe, and that I can't get either." - -"I'll get you one," said Tom; and he took up a live coal (there -were plenty lying about) and put it to Grimes' pipe: but it went -out instantly. - -"It's no use," said the truncheon, leaning itself up against the -chimney and looking on. "I tell you, it is no use. His heart is -so cold that it freezes everything that comes near him. You will -see that presently, plain enough." - -"Oh, of course, it's my fault. Everything's always my fault," said -Grimes. "Now don't go to hit me again" (for the truncheon started -upright, and looked very wicked); "you know, if my arms were only -free, you daren't hit me then." - -The truncheon leant back against the chimney, and took no notice of -the personal insult, like a well-trained policeman as it was, -though he was ready enough to avenge any transgression against -morality or order. - -"But can't I help you in any other way? Can't I help you to get -out of this chimney?" said Tom. - -"No," interposed the truncheon; "he has come to the place where -everybody must help themselves; and he will find it out, I hope, -before he has done with me." - -"Oh, yes," said Grimes, "of course it's me. Did I ask to be -brought here into the prison? Did I ask to be set to sweep your -foul chimneys? Did I ask to have lighted straw put under me to -make me go up? Did I ask to stick fast in the very first chimney -of all, because it was so shamefully clogged up with soot? Did I -ask to stay here--I don't know how long--a hundred years, I do -believe, and never get my pipe, nor my beer, nor nothing fit for a -beast, let alone a man?" - -"No," answered a solemn voice behind. "No more did Tom, when you -behaved to him in the very same way." - -It was Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid. And, when the truncheon saw her, it -started bolt upright--Attention!--and made such a low bow, that if -it had not been full of the spirit of justice, it must have tumbled -on its end, and probably hurt its one eye. And Tom made his bow -too. - -"Oh, ma'am," he said, "don't think about me; that's all past and -gone, and good times and bad times and all times pass over. But -may not I help poor Mr. Grimes? Mayn't I try and get some of these -bricks away, that he may move his arms?" - -"You may try, of course," she said. - -So Tom pulled and tugged at the bricks: but he could not move one. -And then he tried to wipe Mr. Grimes' face: but the soot would not -come off. - -"Oh, dear!" he said. "I have come all this way, through all these -terrible places, to help you, and now I am of no use at all." - -"You had best leave me alone," said Grimes; "you are a good-natured -forgiving little chap, and that's truth; but you'd best be off. -The hail's coming on soon, and it will beat the eyes out of your -little head." - -"What hail?" - -"Why, hail that falls every evening here; and, till it comes close -to me, it's like so much warm rain: but then it turns to hail over -my head, and knocks me about like small shot." - -"That hail will never come any more," said the strange lady. "I -have told you before what it was. It was your mother's tears, -those which she shed when she prayed for you by her bedside; but -your cold heart froze it into hail. But she is gone to heaven now, -and will weep no more for her graceless son." - -Then Grimes was silent awhile; and then he looked very sad. - -"So my old mother's gone, and I never there to speak to her! Ah! a -good woman she was, and might have been a happy one, in her little -school there in Vendale, if it hadn't been for me and my bad ways." - -"Did she keep the school in Vendale?" asked Tom. And then he told -Grimes all the story of his going to her house, and how she could -not abide the sight of a chimney-sweep, and then how kind she was, -and how he turned into a water-baby. - -"Ah!" said Grimes, "good reason she had to hate the sight of a -chimney-sweep. I ran away from her and took up with the sweeps, -and never let her know where I was, nor sent her a penny to help -her, and now it's too late--too late!" said Mr. Grimes. - -And he began crying and blubbering like a great baby, till his pipe -dropped out of his mouth, and broke all to bits. - -"Oh, dear, if I was but a little chap in Vendale again, to see the -clear beck, and the apple-orchard, and the yew-hedge, how different -I would go on! But it's too late now. So you go along, you kind -little chap, and don't stand to look at a man crying, that's old -enough to be your father, and never feared the face of man, nor of -worse neither. But I'm beat now, and beat I must be. I've made my -bed, and I must lie on it. Foul I would be, and foul I am, as an -Irishwoman said to me once; and little I heeded it. It's all my -own fault: but it's too late." And he cried so bitterly that Tom -began crying too. - -"Never too late," said the fairy, in such a strange soft new voice -that Tom looked up at her; and she was so beautiful for the moment, -that Tom half fancied she was her sister. - -No more was it too late. For, as poor Grimes cried and blubbered -on, his own tears did what his mother's could not do, and Tom's -could not do, and nobody's on earth could do for him; for they -washed the soot off his face and off his clothes; and then they -washed the mortar away from between the bricks; and the chimney -crumbled down; and Grimes began to get out of it. - -Up jumped the truncheon, and was going to hit him on the crown a -tremendous thump, and drive him down again like a cork into a -bottle. But the strange lady put it aside. - -"Will you obey me if I give you a chance?" - -"As you please, ma'am. You're stronger than me--that I know too -well, and wiser than me, I know too well also. And, as for being -my own master, I've fared ill enough with that as yet. So whatever -your ladyship pleases to order me; for I'm beat, and that's the -truth." - -"Be it so then--you may come out. But remember, disobey me again, -and into a worse place still you go." - -"I beg pardon ma'am, but I never disobeyed you that I know of. I -never had the honour of setting eyes upon you till I came to these -ugly quarters." - -"Never saw me? Who said to you, Those that will be foul, foul they -will be?" - -Grimes looked up; and Tom looked up too; for the voice was that of -the Irishwoman who met them the day that they went out together to -Harthover. "I gave you your warning then: but you gave it -yourself a thousand times before and since. Every bad word that -you said--every cruel and mean thing that you did--every time that -you got tipsy--every day that you went dirty--you were disobeying -me, whether you knew it or not." - -"If I'd only known, ma'am--" - -"You knew well enough that you were disobeying something, though -you did not know it was me. But come out and take your chance. -Perhaps it may be your last." - -So Grimes stepped out of the chimney, and really, if it had not -been for the scars on his face, he looked as clean and respectable -as a master-sweep need look. - -"Take him away," said she to the truncheon, "and give him his -ticket-of-leave." - -"And what is he to do, ma'am?" - -"Get him to sweep out the crater of Etna; he will find some very -steady men working out their time there, who will teach him his -business: but mind, if that crater gets choked again, and there is -an earthquake in consequence, bring them all to me, and I shall -investigate the case very severely." - -So the truncheon marched off Mr. Grimes, looking as meek as a -drowned worm. - -And for aught I know, or do not know, he is sweeping the crater of -Etna to this very day. - -"And now," said the fairy to Tom, "your work here is done. You may -as well go back again." - -"I should be glad enough to go," said Tom, "but how am I to get up -that great hole again, now the steam has stopped blowing?" - -"I will take you up the backstairs: but I must bandage your eyes -first; for I never allow anybody to see those backstairs of mine." - -"I am sure I shall not tell anybody about them, ma'am, if you bid -me not." - -"Aha! So you think, my little man. But you would soon forget your -promise if you got back into the land-world. For, if people only -once found out that you had been up my backstairs, you would have -all the fine ladies kneeling to you, and the rich men emptying -their purses before you, and statesmen offering you place and -power; and young and old, rich and poor, crying to you, 'Only tell -us the great backstairs secret, and we will be your slaves; we will -make you lord, king, emperor, bishop, archbishop, pope, if you -like--only tell us the secret of the backstairs. For thousands of -years we have been paying, and petting, and obeying, and -worshipping quacks who told us they had the key of the backstairs, -and could smuggle us up them; and in spite of all our -disappointments, we will honour, and glorify, and adore, and -beatify, and translate, and apotheotise you likewise, on the chance -of your knowing something about the backstairs, that we may all go -on pilgrimage to it; and, even if we cannot get up it, lie at the -foot of it, and cry - - - -'Oh, backstairs, -precious backstairs, -invaluable backstairs, -requisite backstairs, -necessary backstairs, -good-natured backstairs, -cosmopolitan backstairs, -comprehensive backstairs, -accommodating backstairs, -well-bred backstairs, -commercial backstairs, -economical backstairs, -practical backstairs, -logical backstairs, -deductive backstairs, -comfortable backstairs, -humane backstairs, -reasonable backstairs, -long-sought backstairs, -coveted backstairs, -aristocratic backstairs, -respectable backstairs, -gentlenmanlike backstairs, -ladylike backstairs, -orthodox backstairs, -probable backstairs, -credible backstairs, -demonstrable backstairs, -irrefragable backstairs, -potent backstairs, -all-but-omnipotent backstairs, -&c. - - -Save us from the consequences of our own actions, and from the -cruel fairy, Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid!' Do not you think that you -would be a little tempted then to tell what you know, laddie?" - -Tom thought so certainly. "But why do they want so to know about -the backstairs?" asked he, being a little frightened at the long -words, and not understanding them the least; as, indeed, he was not -meant to do, or you either. - -"That I shall not tell you. I never put things into little folks' -heads which are but too likely to come there of themselves. So -come--now I must bandage your eyes." So she tied the bandage on -his eyes with one hand, and with the other she took it off. - -"Now," she said, "you are safe up the stairs." Tom opened his eyes -very wide, and his mouth too; for he had not, as he thought, moved -a single step. But, when he looked round him, there could be no -doubt that he was safe up the backstairs, whatsoever they may be, -which no man is going to tell you, for the plain reason that no man -knows. - -The first thing which Tom saw was the black cedars, high and sharp -against the rosy dawn; and St. Brandan's Isle reflected double in -the still broad silver sea. The wind sang softly in the cedars, -and the water sang among the eaves: the sea-birds sang as they -streamed out into the ocean, and the land-birds as they built among -the boughs; and the air was so full of song that it stirred St. -Brandan and his hermits, as they slumbered in the shade; and they -moved their good old lips, and sang their morning hymn amid their -dreams. But among all the songs one came across the water more -sweet and clear than all; for it was the song of a young girl's -voice. - -And what was the song which she sang? Ah, my little man, I am too -old to sing that song, and you too young to understand it. But -have patience, and keep your eye single, and your hands clean, and -you will learn some day to sing it yourself, without needing any -man to teach you. - -And as Tom neared the island, there sat upon a rock the most -graceful creature that ever was seen, looking down, with her chin -upon her hand, and paddling with her feet in the water. And when -they came to her she looked up, and behold it was Ellie. - -"Oh, Miss Ellie," said he, "how you are grown!" - -"Oh, Tom," said she, "how you are grown too!" - -And no wonder; they were both quite grown up--he into a tall man, -and she into a beautiful woman. - -"Perhaps I may be grown," she said. "I have had time enough; for I -have been sitting here waiting for you many a hundred years, till I -thought you were never coming." - -"Many a hundred years?" thought Tom; but he had seen so much in his -travels that he had quite given up being astonished; and, indeed, -he could think of nothing but Ellie. So he stood and looked at -Ellie, and Ellie looked at him; and they liked the employment so -much that they stood and looked for seven years more, and neither -spoke nor stirred. - -At last they heard the fairy say: "Attention, children. Are you -never going to look at me again?" - -"We have been looking at you all this while," they said. And so -they thought they had been. - -"Then look at me once more," said she. - -They looked--and both of them cried out at once, "Oh, who are you, -after all?" - -"You are our dear Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby." - -"No, you are good Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid; but you are grown quite -beautiful now!" - -"To you," said the fairy. "But look again." - -"You are Mother Carey," said Tom, in a very low, solemn voice; for -he had found out something which made him very happy, and yet -frightened him more than all that he had ever seen. - -"But you are grown quite young again." - -"To you," said the fairy. "Look again." - -"You are the Irishwoman who met me the day I went to Harthover!" - -And when they looked she was neither of them, and yet all of them -at once. - -"My name is written in my eyes, if you have eyes to see it there." - -And they looked into her great, deep, soft eyes, and they changed -again and again into every hue, as the light changes in a diamond. - -"Now read my name," said she, at last. - -And her eyes flashed, for one moment, clear, white, blazing light: -but the children could not read her name; for they were dazzled, -and hid their faces in their hands. - -"Not yet, young things, not yet," said she, smiling; and then she -turned to Ellie. - -"You may take him home with you now on Sundays, Ellie. He has won -his spurs in the great battle, and become fit to go with you and be -a man; because he has done the thing he did not like." - -So Tom went home with Ellie on Sundays, and sometimes on week-days, -too; and he is now a great man of science, and can plan railroads, -and steam-engines, and electric telegraphs, and rifled guns, and so -forth; and knows everything about everything, except why a hen's -egg don't turn into a crocodile, and two or three other little -things which no one will know till the coming of the Cocqcigrues. -And all this from what he learnt when he was a water-baby, -underneath the sea. - -"And of course Tom married Ellie?" - -My dear child, what a silly notion! Don't you know that no one -ever marries in a fairy tale, under the rank of a prince or a -princess? - -"And Tom's dog?" - -Oh, you may see him any clear night in July; for the old dog-star -was so worn out by the last three hot summers that there have been -no dog-days since; so that they had to take him down and put Tom's -dog up in his place. Therefore, as new brooms sweep clean, we may -hope for some warm weather this year. And that is the end of my -story. - - - -MORAL. - - - -And now, my dear little man, what should we learn from this -parable? - -We should learn thirty-seven or thirty-nine things, I am not -exactly sure which: but one thing, at least, we may learn, and -that is this--when we see efts in the pond, never to throw stones -at them, or catch them with crooked pins, or put them into -vivariums with sticklebacks, that the sticklebacks may prick them -in their poor little stomachs, and make them jump out of the glass -into somebody's work-box, and so come to a bad end. For these efts -are nothing else but the water-babies who are stupid and dirty, and -will not learn their lessons and keep themselves clean; and, -therefore (as comparative anatomists will tell you fifty years -hence, though they are not learned enough to tell you now), their -skulls grow flat, their jaws grow out, and their brains grow small, -and their tails grow long, and they lose all their ribs (which I am -sure you would not like to do), and their skins grow dirty and -spotted, and they never get into the clear rivers, much less into -the great wide sea, but hang about in dirty ponds, and live in the -mud, and eat worms, as they deserve to do. - -But that is no reason why you should ill-use them: but only why -you should pity them, and be kind to them, and hope that some day -they will wake up, and be ashamed of their nasty, dirty, lazy, -stupid life, and try to amend, and become something better once -more. For, perhaps, if they do so, then after 379,423 years, nine -months, thirteen days, two hours, and twenty-one minutes (for aught -that appears to the contrary), if they work very hard and wash very -hard all that time, their brains may grow bigger, and their jaws -grow smaller, and their ribs come back, and their tails wither off, -and they will turn into water-babies again, and perhaps after that -into land-babies; and after that perhaps into grown men. - -You know they won't? Very well, I daresay you know best. But you -see, some folks have a great liking for those poor little efts. -They never did anybody any harm, or could if they tried; and their -only fault is, that they do no good--any more than some thousands -of their betters. But what with ducks, and what with pike, and -what with sticklebacks, and what with water-beetles, and what with -naughty boys, they are "sae sair hadden doun," as the Scotsmen say, -that it is a wonder how they live; and some folks can't help -hoping, with good Bishop Butler, that they may have another chance, -to make things fair and even, somewhere, somewhen, somehow. - -Meanwhile, do you learn your lessons, and thank God that you have -plenty of cold water to wash in; and wash in it too, like a true -Englishman. And then, if my story is not true, something better -is; and if I am not quite right, still you will be, as long as you -stick to hard work and cold water. - -But remember always, as I told you at first, that this is all a -fairy tale, and only fun and pretence: and, therefore, you are not -to believe a word of it, even if it is true. - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE WATER-BABIES *** - -This file should be named wtrbs10.txt or wtrbs10.zip -Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wtrbs11.txt -VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wtrbs10a.txt - -Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US -unless a copyright notice is included. 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