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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Miss Peck's Adventures, by Anonymous
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
-of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll
-have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using
-this ebook.
-
-
-
-Title: Miss Peck's Adventures
-       The Second Part of The Conceited Pig
-
-Author: Anonymous
-
-Release Date: October 12, 2019 [EBook #60477]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MISS PECK'S ADVENTURES ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by MFR, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  M. D. SEARS
-  SEE PAGE 8
-]
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-                        MISS PECK’S ADVENTURES.
-
-
-                            THE SECOND PART
-
-                                   OF
-
-                           The Conceited Pig.
-
-
-
-
-                      ----------------------------
-
-
-
-
-                                LONDON:
-
-                   JOSEPH MASTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET,
-
-                          AND NEW BOND STREET.
-
-                               MDCCCLIV.
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-                                LONDON:
-                   PRINTED BY JOSEPH MASTERS AND CO.,
-                           ALDERSGATE STREET.
-
-
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-                        MISS PECK’S ADVENTURES.
-
-                         ---------------------
-
-
-Any people who may happen to have read the story of “Wilful, the
-Conceited Pig,” will recollect how he had called up his friend, Miss
-Peck, one night, from the henhouse, where there had been a great
-disagreement between her and Cock-a-doodle, and how they had set off
-together to the Queen’s house, to tell Her Majesty some very curious
-news; also how they had very soon parted company, not being able to
-agree as to which was the right road, and how Wilful’s journey had come
-to a very sad end, long before he was anywhere near the palace of Her
-Majesty the Queen. Now they may also like to know something of Miss
-Peck’s adventures; and I am therefore going to relate them, thinking
-that, perhaps, we may find almost as much to take warning by, in her
-history, as in Wilful’s conceit, and the terrible punishment it met
-with.
-
-Miss Peck felt rather lonely at first, when she found herself out in the
-dusky lane alone, at that time of night; but still she could not help
-chuckling to think how Wilful had persisted in taking the wrong road,
-and was travelling all for nothing, whilst she was sure to reach the
-Queen’s house in time, if her poor legs would but carry her far enough.
-
-“There is no need to go so fast, at any rate,” she thought to herself.
-“If we got to the palace so early in the morning very likely Her Majesty
-the Queen would not be up, as I would have told Wilful, only he never
-will stop to listen to a word one has to say. Why our old David at home
-never gets up to give us our breakfast till Cock-a-doodle has walked
-round the yard several times, talked to all his family, told them his
-dreams—which, I must, say, I am very tired of hearing—and crowed over
-and over again. I am sure if it were not for the early walk into the
-rick-pen, which I make a point of taking every morning, and the little
-bit of support that I get there, I should be dead with hunger long
-before breakfast time; but nobody ever seems to remember how delicate my
-health is, and old David would not get up a bit the sooner, I verily
-believe, if I were dying. However, it is better than if Betsy Chopper
-had the feeding of us entirely, for I know that the smoke never begins
-to come out of the kitchen chimney till a little while before she gives
-us our dinner, and what the family do for something to eat I never can
-think. The poor ladies, I know, never look out of window or get a breath
-of air till the middle of the day in summer, and I believe they have no
-rick-pen to go to, and are obliged to wait till Betsy Chopper chooses to
-get up and feed them. The Queen may very likely not be as late as Betsy
-Chopper; but it is ten to one if she is as early as old David, so there
-can be no occasion to hurry oneself.”
-
-So Miss Peck walked on in a leisurely manner, picking her way along the
-dirty lane, as well as the darkness would allow, and every now and then
-stopping a minute or two to rest her poor legs by turns.
-
-Now not very far from Miss Peck’s own residence there stood a poor
-tumble-down cottage, in which lived an old woman, who kept a thin
-tortoiseshell cat and a little poultry. And on each side of the small
-wicket-gate leading to the cottage—which was close to the lane—stood a
-very thick yew-tree, cut into the form of a sugar-loaf at the top. Miss
-Peck was not brave, and when she reached this part of the lane, and saw,
-as she thought, two black giants, with plumes on their heads, standing
-not far before her, she was so horribly frightened that she screamed
-with all her might, and was very near running back the way she came,
-faster than she had ever run before. However, she had just resolution
-enough to stop and think what was best to be done, when, strange to say,
-one of the giants seemed to cry out Cock-a-doodle-doo, in a voice of
-thunder, and, all at once, came flapping down upon poor Miss Peck,
-rolling her over in the mud, and nearly driving all the breath out of
-her body with the shock and the terror. Getting on her legs again
-somehow or other, she ran behind a little heap of stones, where she
-stood panting and trembling, and with ruffled feathers, when again the
-same hateful cry rang in her ears, repeated three times, even louder
-than before—“Cock-a-doodle-doo, Cock-a-doodle-doo, Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
-Scarcely daring to look round, and expecting every instant to be
-swallowed up alive, or torn to pieces by one of the giants, Miss Peck
-wished herself safe at home again, with all her might, in spite of
-Cock-a-doodle’s tyranny, when, luckily, there came a faint gleam of
-light, and she saw, as she thought, Cock-a-doodle himself sitting on the
-top of the little wicket-gate between the two yew-trees. Could it have
-been he who had given her such a fright on purpose, or had he come out
-all this way to find her, and bring her home, and tell her how sorry he
-was not to have shown her more attention? She crept a little nearer,
-and, hoping to move his pity, gave a faint cry, as if she were in great
-pain and distress. “Who is that?” said a voice, which was not
-Cock-a-doodle’s; and Miss Peck replied directly “that she was an
-unfortunate young person who was travelling across the country on
-business of importance, and she hoped that the gentleman to whom she was
-speaking, whoever he might be, would take pity upon her, and protect her
-from the dangers which surrounded her, for, indeed, she never was so
-frightened in all her life, and she did not know how she should ever
-find courage to continue her journey.”
-
-“But, madam, might I ask,” said the gentleman on the gate, “what the
-important business is, which obliges you to be on the road at this time
-of night?”
-
-“I will tell you, sir, with the greatest pleasure,” said Miss Peck,
-“although my poor nerves are so shaken that I can scarcely speak, but if
-you could come a little nearer I should not be obliged to talk so loud.”
-
-“Oh, you will not disturb the old woman,” said her new acquaintance,
-“and as to the old cat, I saw her go by some time ago, and I believe she
-is spending the evening with the young jackdaws, who live in the
-church-roof. She has taken a great fancy to that family lately, and says
-that she finds them very agreeable, though shy; but I should doubt
-whether they were very fond of _her_, for you must know, madam, that the
-old cat is, in my opinion, one of the most conceited and selfish persons
-that ever lived, and if the old woman knew all her bad ways I do not
-think that she could allow her to continue in the house.”
-
-“Ah, indeed!” said Miss Peck, “well do I know, sir, what it is to have
-to do with that sort of people. From your account I should fear that the
-old cat was very little better than Cock-a-doodle himself.”
-
-Miss Peck then proceeded to give a long history of Cock-a-doodle’s
-unkindness to her, her own dreadful sufferings from spasms, which
-deprived her of her natural rest,—Miss Spangle’s spitefulness, in
-continuing fast asleep without once offering to help her,—and then the
-whole account of Wilful’s visit to the henhouse, and their setting off
-together to tell the Queen that the stars were falling out of the sky.
-
-“And now, sir,” added Miss Peck, “perhaps you will do me the great
-kindness to tell me your name, for I have no doubt now, that it was
-entirely owing to your interference, that I was not swallowed alive by
-one of those horrible giants, which gave me such an alarm just now.”
-
-“My name, madam,” answered the stranger, “is Cockielockie, at your
-service, but I think, owing to your youth and inexperience, you have
-probably mistaken these two respectable old yew trees, in one of which
-the seven ladies of my family are sleeping at this moment, for giants,
-or perhaps their shadows across the road deceived you, or it might be
-the old cat returning from her visit to the Jackdaws. At any rate,
-madam, here are no giants, I assure you, for the truth is that the old
-woman leads such a dull life that no giant ever comes near the place,
-and I have not seen so much as the face of Tim Scamp, the little pedlar,
-for the last six months. It is very sad to live so out of the world, and
-I must confess that I should like a little more society. The old woman
-is so particular and old-fashioned; and the cat is so ill-mannered and
-vulgar, that it is very trying to one’s patience, and I do not find much
-comfort in my own family, for I am sorry to say that they are always
-quarrelling. I cannot speak to one without the other’s being jealous,
-and to tell the truth, (though I am sure you will not repeat it,) I was
-awoke just now by the screams of my two daughters, Partridge and
-Speckle, who had had their ears boxed by Mrs. Cockielockie, for saying
-that they knew I wished she was dead! If I do wish it, they need not
-have told her so, and now I shall never hear the last of it. If I could
-but get away for a time, it might blow over, or Mrs. Cockielockie might
-be gone.”
-
-“Well, my dear sir,” said Miss Peck, interrupting him, “why cannot you
-come with me to the Queen? It would be an opportunity of introducing
-yourself to the very highest society, and I should be delighted with the
-honour of your company. Indeed, I really feel very lonely, travelling
-all by myself, and am very much in want of protection, which is just
-what I am sure, sir, you are always ready to afford to a poor weak young
-creature, like myself, though whenever one complains of helplessness, it
-seems to make some people, that I could mention, more spiteful and
-tyrannical than ever!”
-
-“Believe me, dear madam,” said Cockielockie,—who was very much pleased
-at the idea of paying a visit to the Queen,—“believe me, that never
-could be my case, I will accompany you instantly with the greatest
-pleasure, and I trust that, if we should meet with any enemies on the
-road you will find my spurs quite able to defend you from them. Under
-these circumstances, madam, I shall set off without giving my usual
-crow, which, hitherto, I have never failed to perform at this hour. It
-was my dear mother’s first and last lesson to me. She took the greatest
-pains to teach it me when young, and I remember how vexed she used to be
-when I forgot my crows, or cut them so short that no one could
-understand what I said, or did not repeat them exactly at the right
-time. She told me that if I went on so I should be good for nothing, and
-might as well be boiled at once; and the last thing she said to me,
-before she disappeared, and I fear was boiled herself, was, ‘Cockie,
-mind your crows.’ To tell the truth, however, now, my dear Miss Peck, I
-am afraid of waking the ladies in the yew-tree. Mrs. Cockielockie would
-make such a fuss, and then the old woman might be disturbed, for though
-she is very deaf, I have heard the cat say that she always hears when
-you most wish she should not; for there was a small piece of the tail of
-a red herring which she promised one evening at supper to give to
-her,—at least so Mrs. Puss told me,—and then she put it away in the
-cupboard, and went to bed, and forgot it! So the cat being hungry, could
-not go to sleep, and was just getting into the cupboard, to eat her own
-bit of fish, when down came the old woman to know what all that
-scratching and scrambling was about, and the cat was forced to pretend
-to be catching a mouse, and never got the herring after all, for the old
-woman locked it up, and took the key away with her. I think, therefore,
-madam, although it seems to be neglecting one’s duties, that we had
-better set off as quietly as possible.”
-
-So saying, Cockielockie shook himself gently, brushed his feathers,
-scraped his claws, and then came down from the little wicket-gate, on
-which he had all this time been sitting, and asked Miss Peck if she was
-now ready to go on.
-
-Miss Peck, having quite recovered from her fright, had been impatient to
-proceed on her journey all the time that Cockielockie was talking, so on
-they went, talking pleasantly all the way of their different sufferings,
-and the hard trials they each of them met with from undeserved
-persecutions at home.
-
-And they went, and they went, and they went down the lane, round the
-turning, and up the hill to the left, till they saw something white
-moving slowly on before them which, when they came nearer, seemed to be
-a duck, but its head hung down so wretchedly, its wings were so
-drooping, and its whole air so forlorn, that Miss Peck herself doubted,
-at first, what it could be. But when they came quite close, they saw
-that they were not mistaken, so Cockielockie, who had always a word for
-everybody, said in a cheerful manner:
-
-“How do you do, Duckiedaddles? You are up early this dark morning. Where
-may you be going to, if I may venture to ask the question?”
-
-The duck shook her head sadly, heaved a sigh, and said:
-
-“Oh, Cockielockie, I am a poor wretched creature, who can find no
-pleasure in life, and have had great misfortunes, and so I am going to
-consult an old friend, who lives a little way off, about making my will,
-and then return home, and hang myself in the well rope, behind the
-carthouse.”
-
-“Oh, pray, my dear madam,” exclaimed Miss Peck, “pray do not say such
-shocking things, or you will quite overcome me, for my feelings are very
-soon upset, owing to my unfortunate spasms. I am sure that my friend,
-Cockielockie, will be able to do everything in the world for you, if you
-will only explain the case to him.”
-
-“Thank you, Hennypenny,” answered the duck, while her tears fell fast:
-“I will tell you all about it, though I fear that Cockielockie will
-never be able to do me any good. My sorrow is owing to my having had my
-family taken away from me, and my own little ones brought up by a
-stranger, and one of the last persons whom I should ever have chosen to
-put them under. One evening I was returning home, having been out for a
-little walk round the shrubbery with my friend Mrs. Gobble, when I found
-that my nest was taken away, and so the tiresome life that I had been
-leading, sitting there, day after day, for hours together, was all
-trouble for nothing. It was the third time that the very same thing had
-happened to me, and whether it was one of Master Samuel’s mischievous
-tricks, or, whether Jem, the old carter, who was always meddling with
-what did not concern him, was at the bottom of it, I could not guess,
-for I was then far from suspecting the right person; and so was Mrs.
-Gobble, for I went to her directly, and though she was sorry to see me
-vexed, she said it was a good thing that I should not have to stay at
-home so much, for she was sure I must have been nearly moped to death,
-and she would not have led such a dull life, for all the little yellow
-ducklings that ever were seen. So I got over my disappointment as well
-as I could, and I remember that a party of us went out walking that
-evening, and the weather was beautiful, pouring rain every minute, and
-puddles running here and there, and everything so nice and wet, and I
-caught eleven large slugs, and felt much more contented. Indeed I had
-quite forgotten all about it, when, a long time afterwards, as I was
-coming in from a swimming match with some friends, one morning, what
-should I see but six or seven handsome little yellow ducklings, running
-in and out of a new house, which stood not far from the water. I looked
-very hard at them, for I suspected how it was, and as I passed close to
-the house, which was open in front, I looked in, and saw Mrs. Topknot
-sitting there as grand as could be, and spreading herself out as if she
-did not know how to be proud enough. She was always giving herself airs,
-I must tell you, and never was so civil to me as she ought to have been,
-but being of a meek disposition myself, I just stopped for a minute, and
-said, ‘Good morning, Mrs. Topknot. Whose is this lovely young family
-that you seem to have about you?’ ‘Whose?’ she answered, as shortly as
-possible. ‘Why your own to be sure, Mrs. Daddles, and I am going to
-bring them up, for everybody knows that you are such a gossiping,
-gadabout creature, that you are not fit to have the management of a
-family. You may think yourself very lucky that your young ones should be
-placed under the charge of such a wise and well-informed person as I am,
-instead of being left to shift for themselves, as they would be if they
-depended upon your care.’
-
-“I was so full of grief and anger at hearing this speech, that I could
-hardly speak, and, as if to enrage me still more, Mrs. Topknot called
-out to the ducklings to come to her directly, and I saw that the little
-dears did not dare to disobey her; so in they ran, and she shuffled them
-all under her wings, and would not even let me look at them, but one got
-his head half-out, and peeped at me, as much as to say, that if he could
-do as he liked, he would not be squeezed up in that way long.
-
-“‘And do you really mean to refuse to let me take away my own little
-ducklings, Mrs. Topknot?’ said I, ‘because, in that case I shall go
-immediately to Jem, the carter, and get him to wring your neck!’
-
-“Mrs. Topknot only gave a scornful laugh and answered, ‘As if anybody
-would mind what you said, indeed! You should have stayed at home, and
-attended to your own affairs instead of always sauntering about with
-that lazy Mrs. Gobble. Be thankful that your family are sure of a good
-education. I shall not allow them to get into any of the dirty, dabbling
-ways, that you, and all your relations, are so fond of, I can tell you!’
-
-“‘Very well, Mrs. Topknot,’ I answered: ‘I see you think yourself wiser
-than everybody else, as usual; but depend upon it, though you may bring
-up very good chickens, you will never make good ducklings as long as you
-live. It is quite a different thing, and so I shall tell Jem, the
-carter, since he has not the sense to know it already. Pray can you
-swim, Mrs. Topknot? Can you earn an independent living in a gutter? Can
-you eat slugs? You know that you, and all your family, are poor,
-helpless, delicate creatures, afraid of getting your feet wet, and
-obliged to live on the charity of Jem, the carter. How should you be
-able to bring up young ducklings to do their duty in their own station?
-You are quite mistaken if you expect ever to make chickens of them. I
-know by the look of their feet, that they will take to the water in
-spite of you, and then pray what will you do? Just let them come with
-me, and I will soon show you what little ducklings are made for. You
-have no right to keep my children squeezed up in that corner, where they
-can scarcely breathe. I know you will kill them before you have done.’
-
-“So I went on, begging and praying Mrs. Topknot to restore to me my own
-family, and even shedding tears to move her pity, but all in vain. She
-would not mind a word I said, and, in the greatest affliction, I went
-off to Mrs. Gobble, to ask her opinion about what was to be done. But
-Mrs. Gobble was just going out walking with a friend, and would hardly
-find time to listen to my story. She only said, that if I thought Jem,
-the carter, would understand anything about it, I should only be
-disappointed, for he was always doing the most foolish things, and
-making mischief in the yard in almost every family. I felt, therefore,
-that it was not of the least use to complain to him, for he would have
-been quite as likely to wring my neck, as Mrs. Topknot’s, and being
-weary of such an unkind world, and Mrs. Gobble not asking me to go with
-her and her friend I determined to hang myself in the well-rope, as I
-said; only as I have a small piece of cabbage-leaf behind the pig-sty,
-and two young snails in a corner of the garden-wall, I think it best to
-make my will; for, my dear Mr. Cockielockie, and Mrs. Hennypenny, you
-must now see that my distress is too great to admit of any relief.”
-
-“My name,” said Miss Peck, rather angrily, as soon as Duckiedaddles
-ceased speaking, “is not Hennypenny, Mrs. Daddles; and I must say,
-though extremely sorry for your misfortunes, that I think grief must
-have confused your mind a little, or you would not have made such a
-mistake about a young person like myself. My name is Miss Peck, and I
-and my friend Mr. Cockielockie are on our way to Her Most Gracious
-Majesty the Queen, to tell her that the stars are all falling out of the
-sky.”
-
-“And I think, Mrs. Daddles,” interrupted Cockielockie, “that you cannot
-do better than come along with us, and then you will have an opportunity
-of laying your melancholy case before Her Majesty, who very likely will
-order Mrs. Topknot and Jem the carter’s heads to be sent to her
-immediately; for I know she is particular about her own family, and
-would be very angry if any one were to take them away from her, and
-instead of letting them grow into good little kings and queens, with
-crowns on their heads, as they ought to do, were to try to make them
-wear topknots and live upon barley meal.”
-
-Mrs. Daddles was very willing to agree to Cockielockie’s proposal, for,
-as she said, she could see about making her will when she came back. So
-they went, and they went, and they went, until, turning a corner of the
-lane, what should they see walking towards them, in a grave and solemn
-manner, but a goose.
-
-“Good morning, Duckiedaddles, Cockielockie, Hennypenny,” said she,
-bowing very politely at the same time.
-
-“My name, madam,” said the unlucky Peck, taking care to answer before
-the others, “my name is Miss Peck; but you are quite correct as to my
-two companions, Mr. Cockielockie and Mrs. Duckiedaddles, who have had
-the kindness to accompany me on a journey of great importance, which it
-has been my duty to undertake. And I am sure, unused as I am to
-travelling alone, I do not know what I should do without the support of
-their society. Will you allow me to ask, Mrs. Goosiepoosie, where you
-are going to so early in the morning?”
-
-“I am going,” answered Mrs. Goosiepoosie, putting on an air of great
-importance, “to make an early visit to Her Majesty the Queen, on very
-pressing business.”
-
-“To the Queen!” they all exclaimed at once. “Pray, madam, do us the
-favour to tell us your errand?”
-
-“Why, to tell the truth,” replied Goosiepoosie, “it is a secret known
-only at present to my own family, but I have no objection to mentioning
-it so to such respectable people as yourselves, as I am sure you are
-quite to be trusted. You are aware that I and all my family have been
-accustomed from generation to generation, to dress in white, and have
-hitherto allowed our young ones to wear coats of the same colour as soon
-as they are old enough to take care of them. But at last we have quite
-grown tired of this style of dress. It was very well for our
-grandfathers and grandmothers, but now it looks old-fashioned and dowdy,
-and, besides requires a great deal of washing, which makes it expensive;
-and so I am going to beg the Queen to give an order for our having in
-future black coats, which will be much more becoming, and will entitle
-us to as high a place in society as the Turkey family, who now give
-themselves such airs and graces over us—as if an old-fashioned British
-goose, whose family has belonged to the country and supported the state
-in all times, and has led an honest and quiet life from father to son,
-were not much more respectable than such upstarts as themselves, who
-half ruin all their friends, and cannot speak English so as to be
-understood.”
-
-“Very true, madam,” exclaimed Cockielockie, “your observations have a
-great deal of weight, only I almost wonder that you should wish to adopt
-any imitation of the dress of these foreigners, instead of retaining
-that which your grandfathers and grandmothers seem to have found the
-most comfortable and convenient, and, I am sure, would never have
-changed for the sake of making themselves more like the Turkeys. If you
-are tired of white, why do you not ask leave to wear brown and red coats
-like ours, which have always been very much admired, and are so much
-handsomer than black ones?”
-
-“Why, sir,” rejoined Mrs. Goosiepoosie, “I do not see that your coats
-are any better than our own; and it is not very likely that Father
-Gander and all the heads of the family would have sent me off on such a
-long journey to Her Majesty just to ask her leave to change our dress,
-for no reason at all.”
-
-“I thought you said, madam, just now,” replied Cockielockie, rather
-slyly, “that you found your old white coats dowdy and expensive. I much
-fear, however, that you will be obliged to wear them some little time
-longer yet, for as you are going exactly the wrong way, it is not
-probable that you will ever reach the palace of Her Majesty the Queen.”
-
-“I beg your pardon,” replied Goosiepoosie, “but as I consulted old
-Father Gander before I started, and have carefully attended to his
-directions, which were to keep straight on, without turning to the right
-leg or to the left, I cannot possibly have gone wrong.”
-
-“Well,” exclaimed Miss Peck, rather sharply, “I can only tell you,
-madam, that _we_ are now on our way to the residence of Her Majesty, on
-very important business indeed, and as we have already travelled some
-distance, we expect very shortly to arrive there. It is not likely that
-persons of our rank in life should not know where our gracious Sovereign
-lives, having, of course, often heard the bells ring on her birthday,
-and also assisted Betsy Chopper in clearing away the crumbs, after a
-feast that was given us in honour of it, on a large table, under the
-chestnut trees, not very long ago. There were a great many cakes and
-curious things to eat, but the naughty children came swarming round the
-table, and stole them, before we knew of it, though they were all
-intended for us; so even Cock-a-doodle got nothing better than
-crumbs—and good enough for him, too. He gave Miss Spangle one of the
-largest he found, and never offered me a bit, although I was leaning
-against one leg of the table, close to him, at the time, and suffering
-agonies of pain from a sudden attack of cramp in my poor leg. But such
-is the way I have always been treated. However, madam, I can assure you
-that you had much better attend to what we say, and not go on in this
-direction, or you will never get to your journey’s end.”
-
-“I am much obliged to you, madam, for your good advice,” replied
-Goosiepoosie, with a formal bow, “but Father Gander is certain to be
-right, and I shall continue to follow the road which he pointed out.”
-
-“Then you are an obstinate goose for your pains,” cried Cockielockie,
-much provoked, “and may wear your vulgar white coat all your life, for
-any chance there is of the Queen’s giving you leave to change it.”
-
-Goosiepoosie made a very angry reply, and the quarrel might have
-continued to this time, but just then old Simon Joggle, the carrier, was
-coming along the road, and so loud and vehement had been the dispute
-that they did not hear the wheels of his cart till it was quite close to
-them. He was driving pretty fast, and they were standing near the middle
-of the road, so that there was scarcely time to get out of the way. The
-unfortunate Miss Peck screamed violently, and in her agitation, not
-thinking where she was going, she ran under one of the cart wheels, and
-it was no longer any joke about her poor left leg, for the wheel went
-over it and broke the bone.
-
-Her cries were so terrible, and there was such noise and confusion, and
-flapping of wings, at the same instant, that old Simon, who could not
-see in the glimmering light what was the matter, stopped his horse and
-got out of the cart. Poor Miss Peck, whose screams soon showed him where
-she was, tried to get away when he came near her, but she only fell down
-in great pain whenever she attempted to move. If the cramp in her leg,
-from which she used to suffer so much, especially when she was cross,
-had disabled her half as much as this sad accident, Cock-a-doodle could
-never have been so barbarous as to refuse to help her up the henhouse
-stairs, if fifty Miss Spangles had been near him at the same time. It
-was in vain that she struggled, and screamed, and scrambled along the
-ground. She was soon in old Simon’s clutches, who was quickly sitting in
-his cart again, with the reins in his hand, as if nothing had happened.
-
-But I fear that something very sad _had_ happened; and I am quite sure,
-whatever might be her fate, that poor Miss Peck was never more seen or
-heard of, although Cock-a-doodle thought it right to make every inquiry
-after her, and was very much shocked at the report which was whispered
-about the yard the next morning, that she had escaped from the henhouse,
-and gone off on a journey with young Master Wilful the conceited pig.
-
-But what became of Cockielockie, Goosiepoosie, and Duckiedaddles? They
-had suffered a terrible fright, and almost lost their senses, when old
-Simon’s cart came so suddenly upon them; Duckiedaddles, being the last
-to see the danger, in her haste, somehow knocked herself against one of
-the horse’s legs, and was so stunned by the blow that she lay for some
-minutes quite insensible. When she recovered she could see nothing of
-her companions; old Simon’s cart was just moving away, and there was a
-shrieking sound from the inside, which Duckie thought—but it might have
-been fancy—must be like the voice of Miss Peck in a very bad spasm. When
-the cart was quite out of sight, Duckie hobbled along till she came to a
-little brook that crossed the road, and plunging gladly into it, she
-swam through an arch under the hedge, and along some meadows, till she
-came to a pond, where, to her great delight, she found several of her
-own relations enjoying an early swim. She told them her story, with many
-tears and complaints, as she had done to Cockielockie and poor Miss
-Peck, and begged to know whether she might remain with them, and so
-escape for ever from the tyranny and insolence of Mrs. Topknot and Jem
-the carter.
-
-They told her that she was welcome to stay if she pleased, but it was
-right to mention that they were particularly subject to very severe
-misfortunes, in the frequent losses sustained by their families, as
-there was a house very near them, in which a large table was kept, and
-at any moment one of them might be seized, and taken in to stand upon
-this table, but not one had ever been brought back again. Duckiedaddles,
-however, thought that they only said this to frighten her, and felt
-quite sure that she should be much happier here than at home, so she
-stayed, and led an easy life with her new friends—except a dispute every
-now and then—for some time, when, one morning, as they were going down
-to the pond, she and Curlytail were not to be seen amongst them, so they
-knew directly that they were taken in to stand upon the great table, and
-would never come out and swim in the pleasant water any more.
-
-Goosiepoosie’s story is soon told. She first flew over the hedge, and
-nearly frightened a red cow, who was lying in the grass on the other
-side, into fits; and then, recovering her own senses, set off home as
-fast as she could go. When she arrived there, she called all her
-companions around her, and told them that, after travelling a long way,
-and inquiring everywhere, she found that the Queen’s house was not in
-any part of this country, and she was afraid that they should never be
-able to reach it; but, that if they waited quietly, perhaps there might
-be some opportunity of offering up a petition to her on the subject of
-their complaint. So the geese consented to wait, and as no opportunity
-of presenting their petition ever occurred, they have continued to wear
-their white coats ever since.
-
-Poor Cockielockie had a dismal time of it before he came to the end of
-_his_ troubles. He, too, had flown over the hedge on the other side, and
-in his great terror, continued, sometimes flying, and sometimes running,
-till he came to a copse, where he thought he should be safe; so he lay
-down in the thick grass, under a tree, scared and tired, and very much
-out of breath. Hearing nothing of his companions, and not seeing
-anything to alarm him, he remained there till the morning, dozing a
-little, and dreaming of the old cat, and Mrs. Cockielockie, and every
-now and then, starting up in the belief that all Farmer Cloverfield’s
-waggons and horses were coming down the lane at full gallop, and that he
-had not time to get out of the way. All that day he wandered unhappily
-about the copse, picking up a few insects, but meeting with no
-acquaintance, and not able to find any way out, he felt very lonely and
-wretched, and when the daylight was nearly gone, he climbed up into a
-hazel tree, and tried to go to sleep. But there was such a rustling and
-twittering amongst a family of robins, who lodged just below him, and
-who were talking over their plans for the winter, and the changes which
-they meant to make in the spring, that it was long before he could close
-his eyes. He had barely done so, when a sudden rush from below, and
-frightful sounds of pain and terror roused him from his short slumber.
-He flew instantly to the ground, and there, in the twilight, he
-distinctly saw his former companion, the old cat, standing with two
-murdered robins at her feet, while she greedily devoured a third.
-
-“Why, Mrs. Puss,” said he, for her mouth was too full to allow her to
-speak first, “may I ask how you came here, and what you are doing?”
-
-“How came I here!” said she, swallowing down the last wing of the robin
-as fast as she could. “I should think I had as much business here as you
-have, Mr. Cockielockie, particularly if the old woman sends me, to get
-her a few nice little birds for her dinner to-morrow. Of course I must
-taste them first myself, to see whether they are tough, and I am sure
-the one I have just swallowed was tough enough to choke me. I wonder how
-I could get it down at all. I hope, for the old woman’s sake, that the
-others will be more tender. And, perhaps, you will be good enough to
-tell me, Mr. Cockielockie, where you have been all this time, for there
-has been such a to-do at home about you, as never was known since Dame
-Featherleg drowned herself in the well: Mrs. Cockielockie in hysterics,
-all your family sobbing and sighing, and the old woman giving you up for
-lost, and hobbling off to Farmer Cloverfield’s to inquire whether Mr.
-Brush had been seen in the neighbourhood lately. For goodness’ sake go
-home as fast as you can, and make their minds easy, or Mrs. Cockielockie
-will be setting off in search of you, with all the family. If there
-should be anything that you do not wish mentioned, you may depend, Mr.
-Cockielockie, on my keeping it to myself, for I always say, the best of
-us would sometimes get into trouble, if our friends made a point of
-repeating every little thing that they might happen to know about us,
-that seemed to them contrary to one’s duty, and all that! So, if you
-will just take that turning to the right, Mr. Cockielockie, and then the
-next to the left, you will be on the way to the cottage, and I will come
-after you as soon as I have convinced myself that these nasty birds are
-too tough to be worth carrying home, which I strongly suspect to be the
-case. We shall have plenty of time to talk over our adventures as we
-walk along, for it is a good step from hence for you, though nothing for
-me, who am an excellent walker.”
-
-Cockielockie thanked Mrs. Puss for her directions, and immediately set
-off on the way she pointed out, feeling very thankful for the prospect
-of returning to his family, and sleeping once more in his comfortable
-old place in the yew-tree. When Mrs. Puss, who very soon came up with
-him, as she promised, heard his story, she said, that if he took her
-advice, he would never set off on such an errand again, for if anything
-so important as the stars falling out of the sky, had really happened,
-she and the old woman should have been sure to hear of it, and could let
-the Queen know, without troubling a meddlesome person like Miss Peck, to
-whom Her Majesty would never have thought of listening for a moment.
-
-So Cockielockie lived very quietly with the old woman ever after; the
-Queen has never been told from that day to this that the stars were
-falling out of the sky, and things have gone on much the same
-notwithstanding. Indeed, I know some people who think it a great pity
-that Miss Peck and her companions did not stay at home, and mind their
-own concerns. If they had but thought less of themselves, they would not
-have been so discontented with their condition, but there is an old
-proverb that, “to a crazy ship all winds are contrary,” and as,
-according to another homely saying, “Every path has a puddle,” those who
-spend their time in complaining, and turning this way and that, to
-escape from things that they do not like, and to better themselves in
-the world, are neither likely to be very useful to others, or to lead
-happy and prosperous lives themselves.
-
-
-
-
-           --------------------------------------------------
-
-         MASTERS AND CO., PRINTERS, ALDERSGATE STREET, LONDON.
-
-
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-
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-
-
- ● Transcriber’s Notes:
-    ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
-    ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
-    ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
-      when a predominant form was found in this book.
-    ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
-
-
-
-
-
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