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diff --git a/42920-0.txt b/42920-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c6fed79 --- /dev/null +++ b/42920-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1316 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42920 *** + +FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT + +THE + +GOOD WOLF + +BY + +FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT + +AUTHOR OF "LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY," + +"THE LITTLE PRINCESS," ETC., ETC. + +ILLUSTRATED BY + +HAROLD SICHEL + +CHICAGO: M. A. DONOHUE & Co. + + + +Copyright, 1907, 1908, by HOLIDAY PUBLISHING CO. NEW YORK + +Entered at Stationers Hall All rights reserved + +Published, September, 1908 + +Reprinted, September, 1909 + +Reprinted, May, 1912 + +Reprinted, July, 1913 + +Reprinted, August, 1914 + + + +CHAPTER ONE + +THERE was once a fat little, nice little, round little boy and his +name was Tim. As soon as people looked at him they began to laugh +and he began to laugh too. He had dimples on his knees and dimples +on his hands and dimples all round his mouth. That was because +Fairies liked him and used to kiss him whenever they flew past him, +and they kissed him so much that they made dimples. He had a lot of +curly hair which made a lovely mop. In fact he was lovesome all +over and no one ever denied it. But when he played about and he +never stopped playing the wind blew his curly mop into tangles, and +when he stood on his head on his bed or the grass or the nursery +floor, that rubbed it into tangles; and when he was asleep and +cuddled down into his pillows and dreamed delightful things, that +ruffled it into tangles. So after he was dressed in the morning his +mamma was obliged to brush them all out and comb out all the knots +and make him look soft and fluffy and lovesome for the rest of the +day. Now of course this might have been very horrid for both of +them. He might have wriggled and cried and she might have pulled +hard and scolded. But nothing of the sort happened because they +were both nice people. He was a nice people and she was a nice +people. So she used to sit down on a chair by a window which looked +right into a big maple tree where birds lived, and Tim used to turn +his back and stand leaning his fat little warm body against her +knee and then she would comb and brush, and while she did she told +him the Hair Curling Stories. This was one of them and it was +called: + +THE GOOD WOLF. + +Once there was another little boy and his name was Bartholomew +Herbert Hubert Ellecompane but of course he was not called all that +at once. When people wanted him they only said Barty and he was +quite satisfied, because you see that if every time anyone wanted +to make you a present of a beautiful train or a box of caramels, he +had to call out "Bartholomew Herbert Hubert Ellecompane" before he +could give them to you, a great deal of time would be wasted. + +Well, Barty was a nice people. If he had not been you would +probably have heard crying and seen wriggling in his nursery every +morning. He lived in the time when boys wore quite long, curly hair +and if your hair is short you don't know how much combing and +brushing that takes. But Barty was so cheerful that he did not mind +it one bit and even used to laugh and chuckle and sing songs his +hair was being brushed. (When the story of the Good Wolf was being +told to Tim his mother used to feel his fat little body shake +against her knee when he heard this part because he always laughed +and chuckled at it.) + +Indeed Barty was a great blessing and a privilege. He lived on the +edge of a deep forest, and he was very fond of that forest because +there were such wonderful things in it things that grew and things +that built nests and things that burrowed under the earth and made +long passages and little warm caves to live in delightful things. +Besides which Barty had heard that there were Fairies there, though +he had never seen one. + +He was not a rich little boy, in fact he was quite poor. He had no +toys at all because his father and mother had no money. When he +went to bed. He used to lie and think of all the things he would +like to have, and when he went to sleep he sometimes dreamed he had +them, which was very nice, but when he wakened they were not there. + +One morning in the winter he wished very much for a sled because +when he looked out of the window all the ground was covered with +sparkling snow and all the trees in the forest were loaded with it, +and the sun was shining on glittering icicles hanging from the +roof. + +"I want a sled," he whispered to himself as he pressed his little +nose against the glass. "I want one I wish I had one." + +If he had not been a blessing and a privilege he would have cried, +but he actually didn't. He scrambled down and asked his mother to +put on his thick scarlet cap and coat and his rubber boots, and he +went striding out into the snow like a stout little robin red +breast. + +He stamped across the road and stamped across the field to the edge +of his beloved deep forest, because he wanted to see what things +were doing, the things that build nests and the things that burrow +and make little warm caves to live in. + +And when he reached the very edge where the thick trees began--there +he saw sitting up on its haunches and looking straight at him +an Immense Wolf. + +He gave a little jump and turned pale and was going to run away as +fast as his rubber boots would carry him, when he suddenly stopped +because he could not help it. The Wolf was speaking to him. + +"Do not be frightened," he said in a slow deep voice. "And do not +run away. I am a Good Wolf." + +Usually wolves don't talk, but this one did, and there were such +peculiar things about him that Barty actually forgot to be +frightened. + +"How--how good are you?" he asked. + +"I am this good," the Wolf said quite solemnly. "When I see a +little boy who is a blessing and a privilege and never frets and +says he has nothing to play with, and never wriggles when his hair +is brushed, I am his Best and most Intimate Friend. But--" and his +nice voice became quite fierce and growly and he showed all his +white teeth, "when I meet a boy who is a little pig and a torment +and who makes life a burden when the tangles are taken out--I tear +him from limb to limb!" + +"I am glad I don't make life a burden," Barty said. + +"So am I," answered the Good Wolf. "I prefer to be your Intimate +Friend. Look at my ears." + +He need not have said that, because Barty had been looking at them +all the time. He had thought them very queer at first because they +were so very big and tall and pointed, and one was pink and one was +blue. But they had been growing queerer and queerer every minute +because they had been growing bigger and bigger and bigger right +before Barty's eyes. + +"Watch them," said the Good Wolf. + +He shook the pink ear. Once he shook it--twice he shook it--three +times he shook it. And out of it fell a beautiful red sled--exactly +the kind Barty had dreamed about. + +"That is for you," the Good Wolf said. "It is a present from your +Intimate Friend." + +"Oh! Oh! Oh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" shouted Barty and he +danced and danced about. + +"Look again," the Good Wolf said. + +He shook the blue ear. Once he shook it--twice he shook it--three +times he shook it. And he shook out a splendid train with ever so +many cars, and a key to wind it up and make it go--exactly the kind +Barty had dreamed about. + +Barty jumped at it and knelt down in the snow. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" he kept saying because he could scarcely believe he +was awake. + +Then the Good Wolf shook the pink ear and pennies flew out--pennies +and pennies and pennies--just like a shower of rain; and while +Barty was scrambling about shouting for joy and picking them up, +the blue ear was shaken and a purse flew out, so that there was a +place to put the pennies in, and Barty picked up enough to stuff it +full to the brim. + +He just danced up and down. + +"What a Good Wolf you are!" he said. "I did not know any wolf could +be as good as this." + +"Ah!" said the Good Wolf. "You don't know me!" + +(When Tim's mother came to this part of the story he used to jump +up and down and laugh for joy until his face was full of dimples.) + +The Good Wolf was enjoying himself as much as Barty was. He was +smiling and smiling and wagging his tail. + +"Now," he said, "do you want to go into the forest and see the +things that build nests and the things that burrow under the ground +and make little warm caves to live in?" + +"Please yes!" Barty shouted. "Please yes!" + +Then the Good Wolf shook the pink ear. Once he shook it--twice he +shook it--three times he shook it and there flew out a beautiful +set of harness made of red leather studded with gold ornaments and +hung with tiny sleigh bells. + +That made Barty stare because he did not know what it was for. + +"It is for me," the Good Wolf said. "You must harness me to your +sled and I will draw you anywhere in the world--just anywhere." + +Barty clapped his hands and jumped up and down more than ever. He +had always wanted to be a coachman and once he dreamed that he had +a cart and horse. + +"But before you harness me," the Good Wolf said, "there is +something else to be done. If your mother were to see a wolf +galloping off into the forest with her boy she would not know he +was a Good Wolf and she would be frightened, and if we met a hunter +in the forest he would not know I was a good wolf and he would +shoot me. So I must change myself into something else." + +"Can you?" cried Barty, and his eyes grew as big as saucers, he was +so delighted. + +"Just you watch me!" said the Good Wolf. + +Once he shook himself--twice he shook himself--three times he shook +himself--and then something very funny happened. While he was +shaking himself he shook so fast that he looked as if he were +standing in a white mist. Then he stopped quite suddenly and stood +still. And actually instead of being a wolf he had changed into a +great big dog the kind of big dog that drags sleds over the snow +for the Esquimau people--but he was as white as the snow was. + +He was so furry and handsome that Barty ran to him and hung round +his neck hugging him. He had so wanted a dog and this was exactly +the kind he had dreamed about. + +"Put on my harness. Put it on!" said the Good Wolf. "I will show +you how." + +He showed him how to do it all, and when he was harnessed to the +sled and stood ready with the scarlet leather straps and gold +buckles and jingling gold bells shining out against his thick furry +white coat, he looked like a picture--so did the sled--so did Barty +in his red coat and cap, dancing up and down with his whip in his +hand. + +"Take the reins and jump on," said the Wolf. + +And Barty did take the reins and jump on, and the Good Wolf began +to trot, and the scarlet harness shone, and the bells jingled and +jingled, and off they went gliding over the sparkling snow into the +forest--the deep, deep forest where things built nests, and things +burrowed under the earth and made long passages and little warm +caves to live in. + +CHAPTER TWO + +IF you never drove over the sparkling snow in a red sled drawn by a +big, furry, white dog (who is really a Good Wolf in disguise) you +don't know how delightful it was to Barty and how he laughed with +joy to hear the gold bells jingle, jingle, jingling on the harness. +When they trotted and jingled and slid into the forest the ground +was covered with a thick white carpet over which the sled went +flying. The branches of the trees were piled with white softness +and the tiny pines and cedars, which were only just big enough to +stick their heads above the deep snow, wore crowns and garlands and +icicle diamonds. And everything seemed so still so still that you +could hear a whisper a mile off. + +"Where are the things that build nests and the things that burrow +under the earth?" asked Barty. + +"They are keeping out of the way. They are very careful when the +snow is on the ground. You see it is so white that when they come +out to hop or run about on it, men with guns and dogs can see them +and that is very dangerous. But I am going to take you to a place +where you will see plenty of them. You are going to see a Snow +Feast. I am taking you now." + +"What is a Snow Feast?" Barty asked, getting quite red with +pleasure. "It does sound esciting." (He meant to say exciting.) + +"It is exciting," answered the Good Wolf. "No little boy in the +world has ever seen it." + +"Has any big boy seen it?" asked Barty. + +"No. Not one person in all the world has seen it. It is the +greatest secret there ever was. If I were not a Good Wolf I could +not see it. Only the very nicest people are allowed. It's the way +you behave when knots are combed out of your hair, that lets you +in." + +Barty was so joyful that he wriggled on his sled and the bells on +the reins jingled and jingled. + +"I think I'll trot rather faster," the Good Wolf said. + +"Would you mind trotting as fast as ever you can?" said Barty. + +"I'll trot very fast," the Good Wolf answered. "I'm excited +myself." + +So he trotted faster and faster and faster and faster, and the sled +whizzed over the snow and wound in and about between the tree +trunks like lightning, but it never struck against anything, or +upset or even joggled. It was simply wonderful. And the forest was +wonderful. It was so much bigger than Barty had ever dreamed of its +being. They went on and on and on and on, past strange trees, and +strange dells, and strange caves, and the glittering snow was piled +everywhere, and the sky grew bluer and bluer, and the sun shone +brighter and brighter. + +"It must be a Fairy Wood!" cried out Barty as they went flying +along. + +At that very minute they stopped. They were in a big circle with +trees growing thick and tall all round it. The snow looked as if +there were a great many tiny hillocks under its whiteness. + +"I believe this is a rabbit warren," Barty said. "That is why the +snow looks lumpy." + +"You wanted to see what the things that burrow under the earth are +doing and I am going to show you," answered the Good Wolf. "Get off +the sled and take my harness off." + +"But rabbits are afraid of dogs," said Barty. + +"They are not afraid of me," said the Good Wolf. "If I did not go +to their Snow Feast, they would be perfectly miserable. I'm always +invited. Take my harness off." Barty took it off very politely. + +"Now put it on the sled and come along," the Good Wolf ordered. + +"But rabbits are afraid of boys," said Barty. + +"They are not afraid of boys who are a blessing and a privilege. +Come on." + +They went to the largest hillock and stood by it. There was a hole +in it, and Barty saw that it was an opening into a burrow. + +"Is that the way in to the Snow Feast?" he asked. "We are too big to +get in there." + +"Watch me," said the Good Wolf. + +Once he shook himself, twice he shook himself, three times he shook +himself, and each time he did it he got smaller and smaller until +after the third time he was as small as a rabbit. + +"But I am too big," said Barty. + +"Shake yourself once, shake yourself twice, shake yourself three +times," said the Good Wolf, "and you will see what will happen." + +Once Barty shook himself, twice Barty shook himself, three times +Barty shook himself, and he did see what happened. He was as small +as a rabbit, and as he stood in the snow in his red coat and cap +and his tiny rubber boots, he was too pretty for anything. + +"Now for the Snow Feast," the Good Wolf said. "Just follow me." + +Barty did follow him, and in a minute he found himself in a place +like a wonderful little town under the earth. There were hundreds +of long narrow passages like corridors, which crossed each other +and ran this way and that, and seemed to have no end at all. The +walls and roofs were smooth and brown, and were lighted by +thousands and thousands of glow-worms that had fastened themselves +in beautiful festoons and patterns overhead and along the sides of +the corridors. It was like the most lovely illumination. + +"Every glow-worm in the forest comes to the Snow Feast," the Good +Wolf explained. "They can't dance but they like to look on. That is +their way of enjoying themselves. They polish their lamps up for +months before the Feast time." + +They were so beautiful to look at that Barty could not have taken +his eyes from them if the Good Wolf had not been in such a hurry. +"We must not stop here," he said. "We mustn't really. We must get +to the Hall of the Snow Feast. Trot along--trot along--trot along." + +So they trotted and trotted round corners into other passages, and +round other corners into other passages, in and out and farther and +farther in the most wonderful and amusing way. The festoons and +garlands of glow-worms lighted everything brilliantly, and +presently they began to see all sorts of interesting little animals +trotting along too as if they were all going to the same place. The +delightful thing was that no animal was bigger than a small rabbit +and there seemed to be every kind of animal Barty had ever heard of +in his life or had ever seen pictures of. There were little +elephants and little rhinoceroses, and little lions and tigers and +leopards and giraffes, and wolves and foxes and bears, and tiny +horses and sheep and cows, and they were all trotting along as if +they were as happy as possible. + +"Oh!" Barty cried out. "It looks as if a Noah's Ark had come alive. +Look at that tiny elephant trotting by the lion! Why don't they +fight?" + +"Nothing fights at the Snow Feast. Every one is quite tame. Lions +and lambs talk things over, and cats and robins are intimate +friends. Trot along--trot along." + +Barty trotted along, but he could not help asking questions. He was +so happy and excited. + +"How did they make themselves so little?" he said. "Did they shake +them selves before they came down into the burrow?" + +"Yes." + +Barty looked at the elephant, and remembering how monstrously big +elephants are when you see them at a circus, he could not help +laughing aloud. + +"Once he shook himself, twice he shook himself, three times he +shook himself, and then he grew as little as that," he said. "Oh! I +wish I could take him home to play with." + +"We will see what we can do about that," the Good Wolf said, just +as if anything nice in the world might happen if you once came to a +Snow Feast. + +At the moment he said that, they turned another corner and there +they were in a very much bigger passage, which ended in an archway +toward which all the little animals were making their way. This +archway was the entrance to a great Hall which was so big that you +could not see the end of it. It was lighted by myriads and myriads +of glow-worm lamps, and beautifully decorated with sea shells and +flowers made of snow and icicle jewels, and there was music being +played somewhere, and in one part there were tables loaded with +every kind of delightful thing to feast on. It was the most +beautiful place that Barty had ever beheld, and he really could not +help jumping a little for joy when he got inside. A little lion who +had just trotted in saw him and laughed. + +"I feel like that too!" he said, and he gave two or three funny +little jumps himself. + +"I didn't know you could talk," said Barty. + +"We can all talk at the Snow Feast," said the little lion. "That's +the fun of it." + +"May I pat you?" Barty asked. + +"Yes," the little lion answered. "May I pat you?" + +That made Barty laugh. + +"You may if you like," he said, "but I did not know animals wanted +to pat people." + +"They don't," said the little lion, making a merry little skip. "I +just said that for fun." And then Barty and he laughed like +anything. + +They were intimate friends from that minute, and the Good Wolf, who +had to go to speak to some one on business, left them together. +Then, I can tell you, fun began. The little lion brought another +little lion to Barty, and then he brought two fat little roly-poly +bears who were twin brothers; and then he brought a tiny elephant, +and a baby hippopotamus, and three beautiful kitten leopards, and +the most lovely little snow-white horse with a long mane and a tail +almost sweeping the ground. + +Barty could scarcely believe his eyes. When the little elephant +tossed up his trunk and trumpeted for him he almost shouted. + +"It seems as if you couldn't be real," he said. + +"We are real," said the small elephant. "But we are only like this +once a year and no other boy has ever seen us." + +And suddenly, just as he spoke, they heard a tramping and tramping +and the sound of music grew louder and louder as if it were coming +nearer, and the little elephant threw up his trunk and trumpeted +very loud as if he were saluting royalty. + +"What is it? What is it?" cried Barty. "Who's coming? Who's +coming?" + +He said it to the Good Wolf, who at that minute came running back +in a great hurry, pushing his way through the crowd. + +"Get into line!" he said. "Get into line! They are entering the +hall--their Royal Highnesses, the Noah's Ark Rabbits!" + +CHAPTER THREE + +BARTY'S eyes grew round and big with excitement. A wonderful +procession was entering the hall. First came a band of tiny jet +black monkeys playing on golden trumpet's--the Drum Major walking +backward before them and twirling his staff; then came two black +and two white rabbits, and they were carrying a throne on which sat +two old, old, old, white rabbits. They were so old that their hair +had grown long enough to hang down below their feet, and their eyes +were large and strange and had an ancient, solemn look in them, as +if they had been gazing at the rabbit world for thousands of years. +Barty thought their large, strange eyes looked nice, and he said so +to the Good Wolf. + +"They look kind," he whispered. + +"They were the two rabbits who went into the Ark with Noah," the +Good Wolf whispered back. "And they have lived so long and grown so +wise that they have found out that the best thing in the world is +to be kind. They never find fault with any one. They know too +much." + +"But I thought they died long ago," said Barty. + +"Everybody thought so," answered his friend. "But they didn't. They +are the great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather and +grandmother of all the rabbits in the world." + +"How int'resting," said Barty, jumping up and down a little. "How +'normously interesting!" + +The procession behind them was made up of their courtiers, and they +were all either black or white rabbits--a black one and a white +one--a black one and a white one. They all wore gold collars and +gold stars on their breasts. These were the Order of the Ancient +Rabbit. + +The black monkey musicians took their places on a little band +stand, and as soon as the bearers of the throne set it down at the +end of the hall, a grand blast of golden trumpets was heard, and +every one of the animals made a profound bow. + +Then the gentleman Noah's Ark Rabbit waved his long-haired front +foot gracefully. + +"Greeting, brothers and sisters," he said. "Welcome to the Snow +Feast. What is first to be done?" + +The Good Wolf whispered to a very grand Court Rabbit who was +standing near. He carried a wand and was black all over, except for +a white place on his breast, which made him look as if he were in +evening dress, and gave him a very fashionable air. The Court +Rabbit waved his wand. + +"Your Majesty, I have a new guest to present to you," he said, and +he made a sign to Barty. + +"Walk forward and make a bow," the Good Wolf said. "You are going +to be introduced." + +Barty did as he was told, and made a very nice bow indeed. His +Majesty, the Noah's Ark Rabbit, pointed to him with a benevolent, +puzzled look. + +"What kind of little animal is that?" he inquired. "I seem to +remember seeing some like him when I was in the Ark, but I cannot +remember what they were called." + +The Good Wolf answered him. + +"He is a boy, your Majesty," he said. "There are a good many of +them on the top." (He meant on the top of the earth, outside rabbit +burrows.) + +"Turn round, Boy," said the Noah's Ark Rabbit, "and let me look at +you." And when Barty very politely turned round and round, his +Majesty scratched himself behind his long ear and repeated, +"Boy-Boy-Boy?" as if he were trying to remember something, and at last +he turned to his wife and said, "My dear, do you remember anything +about a Boy?" + +The Queen Noah's Ark Rabbit had an ivory cane which she leaned on +when she walked, and she lifted it and began to poke Barty gently +all over, as if she were trying to find out what he was made of. +She was a kind looking old thing, and suddenly she began to smile. + +"Of course I remember," she said, "and so will you if you think a +moment. Who saved us from the Flood by taking us into the Ark? He +would take us. And he cried like anything when his grandfather +chose another pair. Who was it?" + +His Majesty slapped his knee and rocked with laughter. + +"It was a Boy!" he said. "It was a Boy as sure as I am a Noah's Ark +Rabbit. + +"It was a little Boy of Shem's, and he had made pets of us," said +her Majesty. "He kept us in a hutch, and when the animals were +picked out in pairs he huddled us in his arms and ran to his +grandfather, and said, "Grandfather, you must take these--you must. +If they are left behind I shall stay with them and let the Flood +drown me! And though his grandfather had picked out a much bigger +pair, he was obliged to take us or let the Boy be drowned." + +His Majesty slapped his knee again. "And that is why we are here +to-day!" he exclaimed. "How did we forget about Boys!" + +"It was because the Flood frightened us so much, that as soon as we +were let out of the Ark we ran away as fast as we could, and +burrowed deep into the earth, and we never have been on top since, +so we never have seen any until this minute. Dear! Dear! Dear!" +said her Majesty. "Deary, deary me!" + +Barty quite blushed with pleasure. They were such nice, old, +long-haired, aged, aged benevolent things. + +"I am very glad that I am a boy," he said, "if it was a boy who +saved you." + +"He is the nicest little animal I ever saw," said his Majesty +enthusiastically. "I am perfectly delighted to see him. He must be +led to the feasting table and given everything he likes to eat. He +must enjoy himself. He must stuff his pockets full of good things +to carry home. What can I give you for a Christmas present, Boy? Is +there anything in all the wide world I can do for you? Goodness +gracious, mercy me! You are the preserver of all our race. You are +a Boy!" + +He was so delighted that he spoke as fast as lightning, and his +words tumbled one over the other; seeing which, the Good Wolf spoke +again. + +"Your Majesty, he is not only a boy," he said, "but he is a +blessing and a privilege, which all boys are not." + +"Then he ought to have a Christmas present. He ought to have a +hundred thousand million Christmas presents," said the Noah's Ark +Rabbit, looking round, and growing so excited that all his long, +white fur fluffed up and stood out all over him. "Are there any +about here--are there any about? Goodness gracious, mercy me! There +ought to be Christmas presents on every side." + +Her dear old Majesty, his wife, began to look about her too, waving +her fore-paws in her inexpressible agitation. (Inexpressible +agitation means that she was so excited that she did not know what +to say.) "I don't see any! I don't see any! I don't see any!" she +exclaimed. "Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!" + +"Never since I came out of the Ark," said his Majesty, "have I +known such a dreadful situation. A Boy--a Boy like this, and no +presents! The place ought to be strewn with them--it ought to be +piled up with them--it ought to be stuffed--and crammed and bulging +with them!" + +(I wish you knew how Tim used to chuckle when this part was told.) + +Then the Good Wolf spoke aloud with a most agreeable smile, and +unless you have seen a Good Wolf you can never know how agreeable +his smile can be. + +"I know what he would like, your Majesty," he said. + +"Do you! Do you?" said the Noah's Ark Rabbit, his fur fluffing up +and standing out still more because he was so interested. "Then +speak up--speak up--speak up! Don't hang back, for goodness mercy's +sake!" + +"What he would like most of all would be that your Majesty should +allow some of your subjects to be his friends and play with him," +answered the Good Wolf. + +"Would he--would he really?" said the Noah's Ark Rabbit. "Why, that +seems a trifle." + +"Oh!" cried Barty, "if they only might, if they only would. I +should never want any toys again as long as I lived!" and he +clasped his hands. + +"Well, I can do that for you in the shake of a rabbit's tail," said +his Majesty. "How many would you like?" + +"Enough," answered Barty, rather timidly, because he was so afraid +he might be asking too much, "enough to play circus, so that I +could be the ring-master. I've so often wanted to be a ring-master, +and once I dreamed I was one." + +The Noah's Ark Rabbit put his hand into a pocket under his long +white fur, and he drew out a tiny whip. + +"Take that and crack it as loud as ever you can, and see what will +happen," he commanded. + +Barty took it and swung it as he had seen ring-masters do, and he +made it crack beautifully. What happened was that all the little +animals, every one of them, turned their heads to look at him. + +"Crack it again," said the Noah's Ark Rabbit. + +When Barty cracked it again the little animals began to crowd into +a circle all round him. + +"Now, my dear," said the Queen Noah's Ark Rabbit, "you just walk +out and choose the ones you would like best, and ask them if they +will come and play with you when they hear your whip crack." + +"I think I must be in a dream now," said Barty, as he began to go +round the circle. + +"Will you be my friend and come and play with me?" he said to the +little lion, and the little lion frisked and said: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" + +And then he went to some little horses and to some more little +lions, and to four elephants and a rhinoceros and a hippopotamus, +and a little tiger and two tiny polar bears, and they all cried +out: "Yes! Yes!" until at last he had enough animals to make a most +splendid circus. There was so much shouting of "Yes! Yes! Yes!" +that he began to rub his eyes. + +"Are you sure I am not dreaming?" he asked the Good Wolf. + +"Take him to the feasting tables," said the Noah's Ark Rabbit, "and +fill him to the brim. He will know then that he is not dreaming." + +Barty's eyes sparkled, because by this time he was very hungry, and +when the Good Wolf led him into another illuminated hall where all +the nice things to eat that are in the world seemed spread before +him on tables, you can imagine what he did. He ate just as much as +a little boy could eat after getting up early on a frosty morning +and forgetting all about his breakfast. But at last a sweet smile +spread over his rosy face, and he drew a long, long breath and +said: + +"My belt is very tight by now. Thank you ever so much, Good Wolf. I +never saw anything as beautiful as the Snow Feast is, and I should +like to stay until it is quite over; but if I do not go home my +mother will be frightened. Do you think there is time for me to +play a little with my circus before I go?" + +"Yes, there is," the Good Wolf answered. "I'll look after the time. +Come along. I see four little elephants and three lions looking +over here this minute, as if they wanted to talk to you." + +All the games Barty played and all the things he did that day, it +would take chapters and chapters to tell about. When the Good Wolf +told him it was time to go, he was being ring-master, and he was +laughing and shouting with glee. And all the little animals were +crowding round watching the elephants stand on their heads, and the +horses read things written on black boards. The Noah's Ark Rabbits +themselves were perfectly delighted, and said they had never +enjoyed a Snow Feast as much before. + +"You must come next year," they said, "and the next, and the next, +and the next, and the next--" They were even going on murmuring +"the next and the next," when Barty went away. + +"Now," said the Good Wolf, "trot along--trot along--trot along." + +And they did trot along, down corridors and round corners, and +through galleries, and in and out, and faster and faster, until at +last they came to the hole they had crept in through; and they +crept out through it, and found themselves once more standing in +the sparkling snow with the circle of tall trees round them. + +Barty clapped his hands. + +"I never had such a splendid time in my life," he said. "I never +had such beautiful things to eat. I never even dreamed of anything +as nice as the Snow Feast." + +"Neither did I," answered the Good Wolf. "I have nothing like it +even in the pink ear or the blue one. Now we must shake ourselves." + +So they shook themselves--once they shook themselves--twice they +shook themselves--three times and there they stood just the right +size again. And the Good Wolf slipped into his harness, and Barty +jumped on the red sled, and the bells jingled and jingled; and off +they went, gliding over the sparkling snow, home through the deep +forest where things built nests, and things burrowed under the +earth, and made long passages and little warm caves to hide in; and +where there were wonderful Snow Feasts, which only one little boy +in all the world had seen or heard of, and his name was Barty. + +CHAPTER FOUR + +WHEN the Good Wolf had drawn the red sled with Barty on it nearly +to the edge of the deep forest, he stopped. "Now," he said, "you +must get off and unharness me." + +Then Barty suddenly thought of something. "What shall I say when my +mother asks me where I got my new sled?" + +"Well," answered the Good Wolf, "I think I shall have to be a kind +of secret. Mothers are very easily frightened and I wouldn't +frighten a mother for anything. You might tell her it is a present +from an intimate friend, and if she asks what his name is you can +say it is Mr. Wolf. Have you got your whip safe?" + +Barty took it out of his pocket. Now that he was his real size +again it looked very tiny. + +"I would advise you to go into a quiet place in the forest when you +crack that whip," said the Good Wolf. "If any one came when you +were playing circus your little animals would suddenly grow big +again and that would be very inconvenient." + +"There is a very quiet place I know of," answered Barty. "It is my +secret playing place. You have to creep through bushes to get to +it. It is round and has grass on it. It will make a beautiful +circus. But when will you come back and see me?" + +"I don't know yet, but I will come some time," answered the Good +Wolf. "I am glad I happened to be at the edge of the forest this +morning. There is some pleasure in taking a boy like you, who is a +blessing and a privilege, to a Snow Feast. Now I must go." + +Once he shook himself, twice he shook himself, three times he shook +himself, and he was a wolf again. + +"Good-bye," he said, "until we meet again." And off he trotted. + +Barty went back to his house dragging his red sled after him and +thinking about things, until his cheeks were as red as his coat. + +His mother was very busy making bread, but when she saw him she was +so surprised that she stopped kneading her dough. + +"Where did you get that splendid sled?" she asked. + +"Some one in the forest gave it to me," answered Barty. "He said he +was my intimate friend and his name was Mr. Wolf. I think," and +Barty hesitated a little as he remembered, "I do think he was a +kind of a fairy." + +His mother laughed. "I should think he was too, if he gave me such +a nice present as that," she said, and she went on with her +kneading. + +Barty played with his sled all the rest of the day, and at night he +put it in a very safe corner in the woodshed. Before he went to +sleep he hid the tiny whip under his pillow. + +"But I do feel, now that I can't see either of them," he whispered +to himself as he lay in the dark, "I do feel as if it must have +been a dream. Was it?" And he had to put his hand under his pillow +and touch the whip before he could go to sleep. + +It was curious, but the first thing when he wakened in the morning +he found himself sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes and saying +aloud to himself: + +"Was it? Was it? Was it?" + +Then he remembered the tiny whip and he darted his hand under his +pillow, but he felt nothing. He lifted the pillow and looked under +it, but he saw nothing. He jumped out of bed and shook the sheet +and shook it, but he felt nothing. The tiny whip was gone. + +He just stood and stared, and then he said rather slowly: + +"Well, if it was a dream it was the nicest one I ever had and I'm +glad I had it. Perhaps some night I shall have it again." And he +dressed himself quickly and ran downstairs. + +And this was the first thing his mother said to him as she came in +from the wood shed: + +"I've just been looking at your new sled, Barty, and it is the +nicest one I ever saw." + +"Oh!" Barty almost shouted, "is it in the woodshed? Is it?" And he +flew out to look, and there it was! And it was just as red and just +as jingling and just as beautiful as ever. + +"The Good Wolf wasn't a dream," he cried joyfully. "And so the +other wasn't." + +But as the days went by and he wished more and more that he could +find the little whip and make sure that the tiny lions and tigers +and elephants had been real, he used to go and sit down very hard +on the red sled and say out loud ever so many times: + +"It wasn't a dream--it wasn't--it wasn't--it wasn't one! and that +would make him feel quite cheerful." + +One quite beautiful morning, after the snow had gone away, he was +in his bedroom and he suddenly caught sight of something bright, +shining under a wardrobe. + +"I wonder what that is," he said, feeling his heart begin to beat. +He crept to the wardrobe as if he thought the bright thing would +get away if it heard him, and suddenly he dropped on his knees, +thrust his arm far under the wardrobe, quite against the wall, and +pulled out the bright thing--and it was the whip. The bright part +was the gold handle. It had rolled out from under the pillow and +had rested on the edge of the bed until it had been shaken off and +rolled under the wardrobe and stayed there. Barty gave a shout. + +"There," he cried, "I said it wasn't a dream--and it wasn't one!" + +He was so excited that he almost did a dangerous thing. He almost +cracked the whip right in his bedroom, but he remembered just in +time that if he did, and the little animals came and his mother +came too, they would grow big all at once at sight of her, and it +would be enough to frighten any mother to death--besides the room +being so small that it wouldn't hold even a single elephant. 87 + +"I'd better be careful," he said to himself, "I'm glad I thought of +that in time." + +When he got outside he really couldn't wait until he got into the +deep forest, and was under the trees, flying along the path which +led to the bushes which hid his secret place. It was a very secret +place. You had to crawl through a sort of tunnel until you crawled +through a hole into a clear green place with a close hedge of +bushes round it, except where there was a high rock at the back--a +great big rock with a cave in it. Barty had never been into the +cave because it rather frightened him. He thought it looked like a +Robber's Cave, though he had never seen any robbers about, and +anyway there was only a long narrow slit in the rock for any one to +squeeze in and out of. A fat robber could never have got in. Barty +crawled through the hole in the bushes and stood up on his feet, +quite out of breath. His eyes were sparkling with joy. + +"Now then," he said when he had his breath again. "Now then!" And +he stood in the middle of the green circle and cracked his whip. + +It was such a little whip that it made only a little crack. And at +first nothing came. + +"Shake yourself once--shake yourself twice--shake yourself three +times," he said. "Perhaps I had better crack it three times." And +three times he cracked it as loud as ever he could. After he had +done it he stood quite still and listened. + +He listened and listened, and the deep forest seemed so still that +he could hear himself breathe. He listened and listened again, and +it seemed so still that he felt as if he could hear himself think. +Then he listened again, and he heard a faint, faint rustle. It +sounded far away and he did not know where it came from. But +presently he knew it was coming nearer. Yes, it was coming nearer +and nearer and it seemed to be coming from the right side and from +the left and from before and behind him, and it grew louder and +louder until it sounded like scampering and like shuffling and like +jumping and like little trotting hoofs. And in about three minutes +two little lions jumped over the bushes and two little tigers +followed them and two little leopards after them, and two little +bears came shuffling through the hole at the end of the tunnel, and +two tiny hippopotamuses and two rhinoceroses, and two lovely +elephants who marched into the middle of the ring and threw up +their trunks and trumpeted; and last of all four splendid little +horses, one snow white and one jet black and two with beautiful +brown spots on them, leaped over the hedge and made a bow to Barty, +bending their heads and scraping with their feet, and wheeled about +and began to gallop round and round the ring as fast as ever they +could, just as if they were at a real circus. + +"Oh, I said it wasn't a dream!" shouted Barty. "And it isn't--it +isn't--it isn't! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! And he jumped up and down +and laughed for joy, and stamped and stamped and stamped. Then they +all crowded round him as if they felt just as happy as he did. + +"Didn't you want us before?" they said. "What a long time you were +in calling us." + +"I lost my whip," answered Barty, and when they all cried out +"Oh-h-h!" he suddenly felt as if he must turn round and look +behind, and when he did it he saw that the nicest thing in the +world had happened. There sat the Good Wolf near the bushes, +smiling at him. He could not help running to him and hugging him. + +"Oh, I am glad! I am glad!" he said. "This is the nicest thing of +all!" + +"It is nice," answered the Good Wolf. "I was hunting in Russia and +I wasn't sure I could come. But I must attend to this whip +business." + +He shook his blue ear and a narrow, rather long ivory box fell out. + +"That is a whip box," he said, and he began to scratch in the earth +until he made a rather deep hole under a bush. "Now," he said, +"whenever you have done with your whip you must lock it in that box +and put it in this hole, and you will always know where to find +it." + +"I will never forget," said Barty. + +The circus they had that morning was ten times as nice as the one +they had had before. + +"Oh, what fun it would be," said Barty, "if we had a little clown." +He wasn't hinting in the least, he only said it because it just +came into his head, and he had no sooner said it than the Good Wolf +walked forward. + +"Now I should like to know," he said, "why I never thought once of +that. It was perfectly ridiculous of me." + +He gave his pink ear a flip and out flew a tiny clown in baggy +white trousers with his hands stuck in the pockets, and a frill +round his neck and a red and white painted face. And he turned +sixteen somersaults one after the other and bounced onto his feet +and stuck out his tongue, and said in a cracked little shrill voice +just like a big clown: "Here we are again, sir. How are you +to-morrow?" + +And this was such a tremendous joke that it was not only Barty who +laughed till he rolled over, but every single little animal laughed +till it rolled over, and the grass was just covered with little +elephants and lions and tigers and bears and the rest, rolling +about and holding their sides. There is no knowing when they would +have stopped, but in the midst of it the Good Wolf shook his blue +ear and out flew the prettiest little circus lady in the world. She +had pink tights on and wore so many short gauzy spangled skirts +that she looked like a fairy, and she whirled round and round on +the very tips of her toes, and sprang onto the backs of two of the +prettiest horses--one foot on each back--and went galloping round +the ring like lightning, smiling and kissing her hand to everybody. + +That was why the circus was ten times nicer than it had been +before. Everything was there. And Barty went on being ring-master +and the circus grew more and more delightful and more and more +exciting, until at last the whole entertainment was tired and had +to sit down and rest and fan itself because it was actually hot. + +They all sat in a circle, and because none of the animals were as +big as kittens, Barty looked like a very pretty giant with rosy +cheeks and curly hair. The animals had grown so fond of him that +they all sat and looked at him affectionately, and the nearest +elephant and lion perfectly cuddled up against him. The beautiful +little lady circus rider perched on his hand and the clown sat down +on his shoe. + +"I am very glad to have made your acquaintance," the little lady +said. "I admire you very much. You make a most delightful +ring-master." + +"We all like him," said the biggest little lion. "And we all mean +to stand by him. I came to him from the Nubian desert this morning, +and it is a long way off." + +"I love every one of you," said Barty. "I don't believe there is +any other boy in the world who has such delightful friends." + +He stroked the lion's side, and he was just going to put his cheek +against his mane, when he stopped suddenly and stared with wide +open eyes at the long narrow opening in the big rock at the other +side of the green circus. A thin, wicked face with evil shining +black eyes was peering out and watching him and his animals. + +He started so that he almost dropped the little lion. And that +minute he saw another thin wicked face, and another above that and +another above that, all glaring at him. And the owner of the first +wicked face began to wriggle his long body through the narrow slit, +and in about two minutes he had wriggled his way out and stood +grinning, with swords and pistols and knives hung at his belt. + +"He is a thin robber!" gasped Barty. "I knew a fat one could never +get in and out. It is a Robber's Cave." + +CHAPTER FIVE + +TO find that your secret play ground has a robber's cave in it is +very startling. Barty stood up quickly and so did all the little +animals. At first Barty thought they might suddenly grow big, as +the Good Wolf had said they would if they saw a grown-up person. +But they did not. And if they had looked as small as kittens when +they were compared with a boy, they looked almost as small as mice +when they were compared with a long, thin robber. In fact, they +looked so tiny that Barty was afraid they would be hurt. + +"You had better run off into the forest as fast as you can before +he wriggles all the way out," he said quickly to the biggest little +lion. + +"No, we won't," the lion answered. "Not much. We are going to stop +and see the fun." + +Barty was afraid there might not be much fun, but when he saw the +lion slowly wink one eye at him and then saw another lion wink, and +a tiger and elephant wink too, until each animal in the circus had +winked, he began to see that something queer was going to happen. +But he could not imagine what it was going to be, because they all +huddled round his feet as if they were frightened, and even shook +and shivered. + +When the first robber had wriggled through the slit in the rock, +another one began to wriggle through, and then another and another +until there were no less than four robbers standing scowling at +him. + +"Hello!" said the biggest one, who was the captain, and had a +feather sticking in his hat and at least four pistols and six +swords hanging at his belt. "Here's a rich kid! He's just what we +were looking for. He's got the finest lot of mechanical toys I ever +saw in my life. Just look at those lions lashing their tails." + +That made Barty very angry. He felt as if his friends were being +insulted, and he strode forward and stood before them. + +"They are not toys!" he shouted out. "They are as real as you are! +They are my intimate friends. Go away!" + +The robbers burst out laughing. + +"They are not toys!" they said. "Real lions and tigers and +elephants half as big as kittens!" + +"If they are real, make the lion roar," said the robber captain, +grinning. + +"Oh do roar! Please roar!" said Barty to the lions. "Perhaps it +will frighten them." + +The biggest little lion winked at him again quite as if he were +having a joke, and he turned round and roared. But it was such a +little roar that Barty could not help knowing that it sounded like +a toy roar. And the robbers laughed louder than ever. + +"Good Wolf! Good Wolf!" he called out, and turned to look for him. +But there was no wolf there only a big, white furry dog, who looked +so innocent that he would frighten nobody. + +The captain slapped his knee. + +"Never since I was a robber have I seen such toys!" he cried. "We +can sell them to a king for their weight in gold. These two are +mine--and I will take the dog." And he picked up a little lion in +one hand and a little tiger in another. + +"You shall not touch them!" cried out Barty. "You shall not +touch----" But he stopped in the middle of saying it because the +something very queer was beginning to happen. It began that very +minute. + +The robber captain standing in the middle of the ring suddenly +turned pale. He looked so frightened that the other robbers did not +pick up anything, and stood and stared at him with their mouths +open. + +"What's the matter?" he shouted out. "They are growing heavier. I +can't hold them. They are swelling! They are swelling!" and he +dropped both the lion and the tiger on the grass. + +And Barty saw that they were swelling. First they swelled until +they were as big as cats, then they swelled until they were as big +as dogs, then they were as big as pigs, then they were as big as +calves, and the next second they were as big as the hugest lion and +tiger in a menagerie, and the other lions, and tigers, and leopards +were as big as they were. The elephants and rhinoceroses and +hippopotamuses had to go outside the hedge to swell because there +wasn't room inside. But they put their big heads through the bushes +so that there was no mistake about their being there. + +You can just imagine how frightening it was to the robbers to find +themselves suddenly surrounded by roaring lions, and tigers, and +leopards, and huge trampling elephants and hippopotamuses instead +of tiny toy creatures they thought they could pick up and carry +away. If Barty had not known that all of them were his particular +friends he would have been frightened too. The robbers stood in the +midst of them all and howled with fright. + +"Call them off! Call them off!" they shouted to Barty because they +saw he was really the ring-master, "we will never do it again! +Never--never--never--never-r-r!" + +The captain tried to dart to the crack in the rock and wriggle +through, but the biggest lion put out a huge paw and dragged him +back by the seat of his trousers. He laid him flat on the grass and +put the huge paw on him and roared and roared. + +"I wouldn't kill him," cried Barty. "Perhaps he is sorry." + +"We are all sorry," the robbers sobbed. + +"We are sorrier than we ever were before in our lives! + +"I'll see that they are sorry enough," said the biggest lion, but +of course it was only Barty who understood what he said. The +robbers thought he was roaring and their knees knocked together. + +"What are you going to do to them?" asked Barty. + +"Watch!" answered the lion. + +He made a sign to his mate and two tigers, and each of them took up +a robber by his trousers and shook him as if he were a rat. Their +legs flew and their arms flew until they looked as if they would +fly to pieces, and they had not even the strength to yell with. Of +course it must have been most disagreeable and breath-taking, but +it served them perfectly right, for if you are a robber I should +like to know what you expect. + +When the shaking was over, and the lions and tigers laid the +robbers on the ground again, they did look queer. You see the bones +had nearly been shaken out of their bodies and the teeth out of +their mouths, and the hair had been shaken off their heads, every +bit of it, and they were quite bald. + +"Now," said the biggest lion to Barty, "you can tell them we are +going to give them a nice bit of a run through the forest; and if +they can get away from us this time they may as well give one hour +a day in the future to remembering that if they come near this cave +any more they won't get away again. They might do their remembering +from five to six every morning." + +So Barty told them, but when he had explained they were more +frightened than ever. + +"We never can get away from them," the robber captain said, wiping +his eyes on his sleeve. "We are too nervous to run, and our knees +keep knocking together. Ask him if he won't let us off easier than +that. There's not one of us who would think of coming back here. +Never--never--never!" + +He was in such a state that Barty actually began to feel sorry for +him. He turned and spoke to the lion. + +"How would it do," he inquired, "if they stopped being robbers and +were something nicer instead--bakers or hair dressers or pew +openers?" + +"We will! We will! We will!" shouted out the robbers. + +"I never wanted to be a robber," sobbed the captain. "I always +wanted to be a toy-shop man. I'm fond of toys. + +"And I wanted to be a confectioner," said another robber. + +"And I wanted to learn to play the harp!" cried another. + +"And it nearly broke my heart," said the fourth, "because I wasn't +allowed to be a gardener, and grow violets and sweet peas." + +"Well," said the lion to Barty, "tell them to go away and be +anything they like that is decent." + +"Wait a minute," said the Good Wolf, stepping forward. "Ask them if +they haven't had a great many adventures." + +"Yes, thousands of them," the captain answered when Barty asked +him. "We've been so many things; we've been pirates and gold-diggers, +and we've sailed the Spanish Main and things like that. We +could tell stories for years if you'd like to hear them, and if +your friends would not mind if we came back here occasionally--in +our best clothes--after we've quite stopped being robbers." + +"O, let them--et them!" Barty cried out joyfully. + +"That was what I was thinking of," said the Good Wolf. "There is +nothing more entertaining than a tame pirate or robber." + +"Tell them," said the lion, "that they may come back twice a week. +They shall be called 'The Combined Robbers and Pirates +Story-telling Club.' And we shall be here to listen and see that they +behave themselves." + +So it was agreed that the robbers should be allowed to go away and +begin working as hard as possible at not being robbers. And they +were so relieved that they were going to slip off as quietly as +they could, touching their hats meekly to everybody, but Barty +could not help shaking hands with the captain just to encourage him +a little. + +"I was frightened at first," he said, "but it has all turned out to +be so nice that I am very glad you came." + +When they were gone he sat down and fanned himself with his hat, +and the great big lions and tigers standing round him made him look +very little indeed. + +"Could you get small again, please?" he said. "I'm not a bit +frightened, but you are rather too big for my size." + +Every one of them began to un-swell that moment, and they got +smaller and smaller, and smaller and smaller, until they were just +the right size again--Snow Feast size--and they sat down in a ring +around Barty; and the circus lady crept out from under a leaf and +sat on his shoulder, and the clown crawled out of the bushes and +sat down on his foot again but not before he had turned twenty +somersaults. + +"Well," chuckled Barty, fanning away, "you did stand by me, didn't +you? And it has been a 'normous adventure. I shall so like to lie +awake and think of it. I know now why you all winked at me, and +said you were going to stay to see the fun." + +And they all laughed like anything--the Good Wolf more than all the +rest. + +In fact, they laughed and laughed and laughed until they could +scarcely stop themselves, and when at last it was time for Barty to +go home, and he said good-by to them, and the little elephants +threw up their trunks and trumpeted for him as if he were a king +going back to his palace, he ran down the path in the wood +chuckling to himself nearly all the way. + +"Oh!" he said, "what wonderful things happen in the deep forest +where things sing and things build nests and burrow in the earth, +and make little warm caves to live in." + +THE END + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Good Wolf, by Frances Hodgson Burnett + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42920 *** |