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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6577.txt b/6577.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3dcf95 --- /dev/null +++ b/6577.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15893 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Junior Classics, V6, by Various +Edited by William Patten +#4 in our series by Various +Edited by William Patten + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Junior Classics, V6 + +Author: Various +Edited by William Patten + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6577] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 29, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII, with a couple of ISO-8859-1 characters + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNIOR CLASSICS, V6 *** + + + + +Produced by Wendy Crockett, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +THE JUNIOR CLASSICS + +A LIBRARY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS + +[Illustration: EVERYTHING'S GOT A MORAL IF ONLY YOU CAN FIND IT +_From the painting by Beatrice Stevens_] + + +THE JUNIOR CLASSICS + + +SELECTED AND ARRANGED BY + +WILLIAM PATTEN--MANAGING EDITOR OF THE HARVARD CLASSICS + + +INTRODUCTION BY + +CHARLES W. ELIOT, L L. D.--PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY + + +WITH A READING GUIDE BY + +WILLIAM ALLAN NEILSON, Ph.D.--PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, HARVARD UNIVERSITY +PRESIDENT SMITH COLLEGE, NORTHAMPTON, MASS., SINCE 1917 + + + + +VOLUME SIX + +OLD-FASHIONED TALES + + + + +CONTENTS + +The Race for the Silver Skates _Mary Mapes Dodge_ + +Nelly's Hospital _Louisa M. Alcott_ + +A Fox and a Raven _Rebecca H. Davis_ + +The Private Theatricals _Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney_ + +A Case of Coincidence _Rose Terry Cooke_ + +The Flight of the Dolls _Lucretia P. Hale_ + +Solomon John Goes for Apples _Lucretia P. Hale_ + +Wild Robin _Sophie May_ + +Deacon Thomas Wales' Will _Mary E. W. Freeman_ + +Dill _Mary E. W. Freeman_ + +Brownie and the Cook _Mrs. Dinah M. Craik_ + +Brownie and the Cherry Tree _Mrs. Dinah M. Craik_ + +The Ouphe of the Wood _Jean Ingelow_ + +The Prince's Dream _Jean Ingelow_ + +A Lost Wand _Jean Ingelow_ + +Snap-Dragons--A Tale of Christmas Eve _Juliana H. Ewing_ + +Uncle Jack's Story _Mrs. E. M. Field_ + +Bryda's Dreadful Scrape _Mrs. E. M. Field_ + +The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner _Charles Dickens_ + +Embellishment _Jacob Abbott_ + +The Great Stone Face _Nathaniel Hawthorne_ + +The King of the Golden River _John Ruskin_ + +The Two Gifts _Lillian M. Gask_ + +The Bar of Gold _Lillian M. Gask_ + +Uncle David's Nonsensical Story _Catherine Sinclair_ + +The Grand Feast _Catherine Sinclair_ + +The Story of Fairyfoot _Frances Browne_ + +ALICE IN WONDERLAND + +Down the Rabbit-Hole _Lewis Carroll_ + +The Pool of Tears _Lewis Carroll_ + +A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale _Lewis Carroll_ + +The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill _Lewis Carroll_ + +Advice from a Caterpillar _Lewis Carroll_ + +Pig and Pepper _Lewis Carroll_ + +A Mad Tea-Party _Lewis Carroll_ + +The Queen's Croquet Ground _Lewis Carroll_ + +The Mock Turtle's Story _Lewis Carroll_ + +The Lobster-Quadrille _Lewis Carroll_ + +Who Stole the Tarts? _Lewis Carroll_ + +Alice's Evidence _Lewis Carroll_ + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"EVERYTHING'S GOT A MORAL, IF ONLY YOU CAN FIND IT" + Alice in Wonderland + +_Frontispiece illustration in color from the painting by Beatrice +Stevens_ + +"IS THERE A PECULIAR FLAVOR IN WHAT YOU SPRINKLE FROM YOUR TORCH?" +ASKED SCROOGE + The Cratchits' Christmas Dinner + +_From the drawing by T. Leech_ + +GLUCK PUT HIS HEAD OUT TO SEE WHO IT WAS + The King of the Golden River + +_From the drawing by Richard Doyle_ + +THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS WERE SEATED ON THEIR THRONE + Alice in Wonderland + +_From the drawing by Sir John Tenniel_ + + + + +THE RACE FOR THE SILVER SKATES + +By Mary Mapes Dodge + + +The 20th of December came at last, bringing with it the perfection +of winter weather. All over the level landscape lay the warm sunlight. +It tried its power on lake, canal, and river; but the ice flashed +defiance, and showed no sign of melting. The very weather-cocks stood +still to enjoy the sight. This gave the windmills a holiday. Nearly +all the past week they had been whirling briskly: now, being rather +out of breath, they rocked lazily in the clear, still air. Catch a +windmill working when the weather-cocks have nothing to do! + +There was an end to grinding, crushing, and sawing for that day. It +was a good thing for the millers near Broek. Long before noon, they +concluded to take in their sails, and go to the race. Everybody would +be there. Already the north side of the frozen Y was bordered with +eager spectators: the news of the great skating-match had travelled +far and wide. Men, women, and children, in holiday attire, were +flocking toward the spot. Some wore furs, and wintry cloaks or shawls; +but many, consulting their feelings rather than the almanac, were +dressed as for an October day. + +The site selected for the race was a faultless plain of ice near +Amsterdam, on that great _arm_ of the Zuyder-Zee, which Dutchmen, +of course, must call the Eye. The townspeople turned out in large +numbers. Strangers in the city deemed it a fine chance to see what was +to be seen. Many a peasant from the northward had wisely chosen the +20th as the day for the next city-trading. It seemed that everybody, +young and old, who had wheels, skates, or feet at command, had +hastened to the scene. + +There were the gentry in their coaches, dressed like Parisians fresh +from the Boulevards; Amsterdam children in charity uniforms; girls +from the Roman-Catholic Orphan-House, in sable gowns and white +headbands; boys from the Burgher Asylum, with their black tights and +short-skirted, harlequin coats. [Footnote: This is not said in +derision. Both the boys and girls of this institution wear garments +quartered in red and black alternately. By making the dress thus +conspicuous, the children are, in a measure, deterred from wrong-doing +while going about the city. The Burgher Orphan-Asylum affords a +comfortable home to several hundred boys and girls. Holland is famous +for its charitable institutions.] There were old-fashioned gentlemen +in cocked hats and velvet knee-breeches; old-fashioned ladies, too, in +stiff, quilted skirts, and bodices of dazzling brocade. These were +accompanied by servants bearing foot-stoves and cloaks. There were the +peasant-folk arrayed in every possible Dutch costume--shy young +rustics in brazen buckles; simple village-maidens concealing their +flaxen hair under fillets of gold; women whose long, narrow aprons +were stiff with embroidery; women with short corkscrew curls hanging +over their foreheads; women with shaved heads and close-fitting caps; +and women in striped skirts and windmill bonnets; men in leather, in +homespun, in velvet and broadcloth; burghers in model European attire, +and burghers in short jackets, wide trousers, and steeple-crowned +hats. + +There were beautiful Friesland girls in wooden shoes and coarse +petticoats, with solid gold crescents encircling their heads, finished +at each temple with a golden rosette, and hung with lace a century +old. Some wore necklaces, pendants, and ear-rings of the purest gold. +Many were content with gilt, or even with brass; but it is not an +uncommon thing for a Friesland woman to have all the family treasure +in her head-gear. More than one rustic lass displayed the value of two +thousand guilders upon her head that day. + +Scattered throughout the crowd were peasants from the Island of +Marken, with sabots, black stockings, and the widest of breeches; also +women from Marken, with short blue petticoats, and black jackets gayly +figured in front. They wore red sleeves, white aprons, and a cap like +a bishop's mitre over their golden hair. + +The children, often, were as quaint and odd-looking as their elders. +In short, one-third of the crowd seemed to have stepped bodily from a +collection of Dutch paintings. + +Everywhere could be seen tall women, and stumpy men, lively-faced +girls, and youths whose expression never changed from sunrise to +sunset. + +There seemed to be at least one specimen from every known town in +Holland. There were Utrecht water-bearers, Gouda cheese-makers, Delft +pottery-men, Schiedam distillers, Amsterdam diamond-cutters, Rotterdam +merchants, dried-up herring-packers, and two sleepy-eyed shepherds +from Texel. Every man of them had his pipe and tobacco-pouch. Some +carried what might be called the smoker's complete outfit,--a pipe, +tobacco, a pricker with which to clean the tube, a silver net for +protecting the bowl, and a box of the strongest of brimstone-matches. + +A true Dutchman, you must remember, is rarely without his pipe on any +possible occasion. He may, for a moment, neglect to breathe; but, when +the pipe is forgotten, he must be dying, indeed. There were no such +sad cases here. Wreaths of smoke were rising from every possible +quarter. The more fantastic the smoke-wreath, the more placid and +solemn the smoker. + +Look at those boys and girls on stilts! That is a good idea. They can +see over the heads of the tallest. It is strange to see those little +bodies high in the air, carried about on mysterious legs. They have +such a resolute look on their round faces, what wonder that nervous +old gentlemen, with tender feet, wince and tremble while the +long-legged little monsters stride past them! + +You will read, in certain books, that the Dutch are a quiet people: so +they are generally. But listen! did ever you hear such a din? All made +up of human voices--no, the horses are helping somewhat, and the +fiddles are squeaking pitifully (how it must pain fiddles to be +tuned!); but the mass of the sound comes from the great _vox humana_ +that belongs to a crowd. + +That queer little dwarf, going about with a heavy basket, winding in +and out among the people, helps not a little. You can hear his shrill +cry above all the other sounds, "Pypen en tabac! Pypen en tabac!" + +Another, his big brother, though evidently some years younger, is +selling doughnuts and bon-bons. He is calling on all pretty children, +far and near, to come quickly, or the cakes will be gone. + +You know quite a number among the spectators. High up in yonder +pavilion, erected upon the border of the ice, are some persons whom +you have seen very lately. In the centre is Madame van Gleck. It is +her birthday, you remember: she has the post of honor. There is +Mynheer van Gleck, whose meerschaum has not really grown fast to his +lips: it only appears so. There are grandfather and grandmother, whom +you meet at the St. Nicholas _fête_. All the children are with them. +It is so mild, they have brought even the baby. The poor little +creature is swaddled very much after the manner of an Egyptian mummy; +but it can crow with delight, and, when the band is playing, open and +shut its animated mittens in perfect time to the music. + +Grandfather, with his pipe and spectacles and fur cap, makes quite a +picture as he holds baby upon his knee. Perched high upon their +canopied platforms, the party can see all that is going on. No wonder +the ladies look complacently at the glassy ice: with a stove for a +footstool, one might sit cosily beside the North Pole. + +There is a gentleman with them who somewhat resembles St. Nicholas as +he appeared to the young Van Glecks, on the fifth of December. But the +saint had a flowing white beard; and this face is as smooth as a +pippin. His saintship was larger around the body, too, and (between +ourselves) he had a pair of thimbles in his mouth, which this +gentleman certainly has not. It cannot be St. Nicholas, after all. + +Near by, in the next pavilion, sit the Van Holps, with their son and +daughter (the Van Gends) from The Hague. Peter's sister is not one to +forget her promises. + +She has brought bouquets of exquisite hot-house flowers for the +winners. + +These pavilions, and there are others beside, have all been erected +since daylight. That semicircular one, containing Mynheer Korbes's +family, is very pretty, and proves that the Hollanders are quite +skilled at tent-making; but I like the Van Gleck's best,--the centre +one,--striped red and white, and hung with evergreens. + +The one with the blue flags contains the musicians. Those pagoda-like +affairs, decked with sea-shells, and streamers of every possible hue, +are the judges' stands; and those columns and flagstaffs upon the ice +mark the limit of the race-course. The two white columns, twined with +green, connected at the top by that long, floating strip of drapery, +form the starting-point. Those flagstaffs, half a mile off, stand at +each end of the boundary line, cut sufficiently deep to be distinct to +the skaters, though not enough so to trip them when they turn to come +back to the starting-point. + +The air is so clear, it seems scarcely possible that the columns and +flagstaffs are so far apart. Of course, the judges' stands are but +little nearer together. + +Half a mile on the ice, when the atmosphere is like this, is but a +short distance, after all, especially when fenced with a living chain +of spectators. + +The music has commenced. How melody seems to enjoy itself in the open +air! The fiddles have forgotten their agony; and every thing is +harmonious. Until you look at the blue tent, it seems that the music +springs from the sunshine, it is so boundless, so joyous. Only when +you see the staid-faced musicians, you realize the truth. + +Where are the racers? All assembled together near the white columns. +It is a beautiful sight,--forty boys and girls in picturesque attire, +darting with electric swiftness in and out among each other, or +sailing in pairs and triplets, beckoning, chatting, whispering, in the +fulness of youthful glee. + +A few careful ones are soberly tightening their straps: others, +halting on one leg, with flushed, eager faces, suddenly cross the +suspected skate over their knee, give it an examining shake, and dart +off again. One and all are possessed with the spirit of motion. They +cannot stand still. Their skates are a part of them; and every runner +seems bewitched. + +Holland is the place for skaters, after all. Where else can nearly +every boy and girl perform feats on the ice that would attract a +crowd if seen on Central Park? Look at Ben! I did not see him before. +He is really astonishing the natives; no easy thing to do in the +Netherlands. Save your strength, Ben, you will need it soon. Now other +boys are trying! Ben is surpassed already. Such jumping, such poising, +such spinning, such india-rubber exploits generally! That boy with a +red cap is the lion now: his back is a watch-spring, his body is +cork--no, it is iron, or it would snap at that. He is a bird, a top, a +rabbit, a corkscrew, a sprite, a flesh-ball, all in an instant. When +you think he's erect, he is down; and, when you think he is down, he +is up. He drops his glove on the ice, and turns a somerset as he picks +it up. Without stopping, he snatches the cap from Jacob Poot's +astonished head, and claps it back again "hindside before." Lookers-on +hurrah and laugh. Foolish boy! It is arctic weather under your feet, +but more than temperate overhead. Big drops already are rolling down +your forehead. Superb skater, as you are, you may lose the race. + +A French traveller, standing with a note-book in his hand, sees our +English friend, Ben, buy a doughnut of the dwarf's brother, and eat +it. Thereupon he writes in his note-book, that the Dutch take enormous +mouthfuls, and universally are fond of potatoes boiled in molasses. + +There are some familiar faces near the white columns. Lambert, Ludwig, +Peter, and Carl are all there, cool, and in good skating-order. Hans +is not far off. Evidently he is going to join in the race, for his +skates are on,--the very pair that he sold for seven guilders. He had +soon suspected that his fairy godmother was the mysterious "friend" +who had bought them. This settled, he had boldly charged her with the +deed; and she, knowing well that all her little savings had been spent +in the purchase, had not had the face to deny it. Through the fairy +godmother, too, he had been rendered amply able to buy them back +again. Therefore Hans is to be in the race. Carl is more indignant +than ever about it; but, as three other peasant-boys have entered, +Hans is not alone. + +Twenty boys and twenty girls. The latter, by this time, are standing +in front, braced for the start; for they are to have the first "run." +Hilda, Rychie, and Katrinka are among them. Two or three bend hastily +to give a last pull at their skate-straps. It is pretty to see them +stamp to be sure that all is firm. Hilda is speaking pleasantly to a +graceful little creature in a red jacket and a new brown petticoat. +Why, it is Gretel! What a difference those pretty shoes make, and the +skirt, and the new cap! Annie Bouman is there, too. Even Janzoon +Kolp's sister has been admitted; but Janzoon himself has been voted +out by the directors, because he killed the stork, and only last +summer, was caught in the act of robbing a bird's nest,--a legal +offence in Holland. + +This Janzoon Kolp, you see, was--There, I cannot tell the story just +now. The race is about to commence. + +Twenty girls are formed in a line. The music has ceased. + +A man, whom we shall call the crier, stands between the columns and +the first judges' stand. He reads the rules in a loud voice:-- + +"THE GIRLS AND BOYS ARE TO RACE IN TURN, UNTIL ONE GIRL AND ONE BOY +HAS BEATEN TWICE. THEY ARE TO START IN A LINE FROM THE UNITED COLUMNS, +SKATE TO THE FLAGSTAFF LINE, TURN, AND THEN COME BACK TO THE +STARTING-POINT; THUS MAKING A MILE AT EACH RUN." + +A flag is waved from the judges' stand. Madame van Gleck rises in her +pavilion. She leans forward with a white handkerchief in her hand. +When she drops it, a bugler is to give the signal for them to start. + +The handkerchief is fluttering to the ground. Hark! + +They are off! + +No. Back again. Their line was not true in passing the judges' stand. + +The signal is repeated. + +Off again. No mistake this time. Whew! how fast they go! + +The multitude is quiet for an instant, absorbed in eager, breathless +watching. + +Cheers spring up along the line of spectators. Huzza! five girls are +ahead. Who comes flying back from the boundary-mark? We cannot tell. +Something red, that is all. There is a blue spot flitting near it, and +a dash of yellow nearer still. Spectators at this end of the line +strain their eyes, and wish they had taken their post nearer the +flagstaff. + +The wave of cheers is coming back again. Now we can see. Katrinka is +ahead! + +She passes the Van Holp pavilion. The next is Madame van Gleck's. That +leaning figure gazing from it is a magnet. Hilda shoots past Katrinka, +waving her hand to her mother as she passes. Two others are close now, +whizzing on like arrows. What is that flash of red and gray? Hurrah, +it is Gretel! She, too, waves her hand, but toward no gay pavilion. +The crowd is cheering; but she hears only her father's voice,--"Well +done, little Gretel!" Soon Katrinka, with a quick, merry laugh, shoots +past Hilda, The girl in yellow is gaining now. She passes them +all,--all except Gretel. The judges lean forward without seeming to +lift their eyes from their watches. Cheer after cheer fills the air: +the very columns seem rocking. Gretel has passed them. She has won. + +"GRETEL BRINKER, ONE MILE!" shouts the crier. + +The judges nod. They write something upon a tablet which each holds in +his hand. + +While the girls are resting,--some crowding eagerly around our +frightened little Gretel, some standing aside in high disdain,--the +boys form in line. + +Mynheer van Gleck drops the handkerchief, this time. The buglers give +a vigorous blast. + +The boys have started. + +Halfway already. Did ever you see the like! + +Three hundred legs flashing by in an instant. But there are only +twenty boys. No matter: there were hundreds of legs, I am sure. Where +are they now? There is such a noise, one gets bewildered. What are the +people laughing at? Oh! at that fat boy in the rear. See him go! See +him! He'll be down in an instant: no, he won't. I wonder if he knows +he is all alone: the other boys are nearly at the boundary-line. Yes, +he knows it. He stops. He wipes his hot face. He takes off his cap, +and looks about him. Better to give up with a good grace. He has made +a hundred friends by that hearty, astonished laugh. Good Jacob Poot! + +The fine fellow is already among the spectators, gazing as eagerly as +the rest. + +A cloud of feathery ice flies from the heels of the skaters as they +"bring to" and turn at the flagstaffs. + +Something black is coming now, one of the boys: it is all we know. He +has touched the _vox humana_ stop of the crowd: it fairly roars. +Now they come nearer: we can see the red cap. There's Ben, there's +Peter, there's Hans! + +Hans is ahead. Young Madame van Gend almost crushes the flowers in her +hand: she had been quite sure that Peter would be first. Carl Schummel +is next, then Ben, and the youth with the red cap. The others are +pressing close. A tall figure darts from among them. He passes the red +cap, he passes Ben, then Carl. Now it is an even race between him and +Hans. Madame van Gend catches her breath. + +It is Peter! He is ahead! Hans shoots past him. Hilda's eyes fill with +tears: Peter _must_ beat. Annie's eyes flash proudly. Gretel +gazes with clasped hands: four strokes more will take her brother to +the columns. + +He is there! Yes; but so was young Schummel just a second before. At +the last instant, Carl, gathering his powers, had whizzed between +them, and passed the goal. + +"CARL SCHUMMEL, ONE MILE!" shouts the crier. + +Soon Madame van Gleck rises again. The falling handkerchief starts the +bugle; and the bugle, using its voice as a bow-string, shoots off +twenty girls like so many arrows. + +It is a beautiful sight; but one has not long to look: before we can +fairly distinguish them, they are far in the distance. This time they +are close upon one another. It is hard to say, as they come speeding +back from the flagstaff, which will reach the columns first. There are +new faces among the foremost,--eager, glowing faces, unnoticed before. +Katrinka is there, and Hilda; but Gretel and Rychie are in the rear. +Gretel is wavering, but, when Rychie passes her, she starts forward +afresh. Now they are nearly beside Katrinka. Hilda is still in +advance: she is almost "home." She has not faltered since that +bugle-note sent her flying: like an arrow, still she is speeding +toward the goal. Cheer after cheer rises in the air. Peter is silent; +but his eyes shine like stars. "Huzza! Huzza!" + +The crier's voice is heard again. + +"HILDA VAN GLECK, ONE MILE!" + +A loud murmur of approval runs through the crowd, catching the music +in its course, till all seems one sound, with a glad rhythmic +throbbing in its depths. When the flag waves, all is still. + +Once more the bugle blows a terrific blast. It sends off the boys like +chaff before the wind,--dark chaff, I admit, and in big pieces. + +It is whisked around at the flagstaff, driven faster yet by the cheers +and shouts along the line. We begin to see what is coming. There are +three boys in advance, this time, and all abreast,--Hans, Peter, and +Lambert. Carl soon breaks the ranks, rushing through with a whiff. +Fly, Hans; fly, Peter: don't let Carl beat again!--Carl the bitter, +Carl the insolent. Van Mounen is flagging; but you are as strong as +ever. Hans and Peter, Peter and Hans: which is foremost? We love them +both. We scarcely care which is the fleeter. + +Hilda, Annie, and Gretel, seated upon the long crimson bench, can +remain quiet no longer. They spring to their feet, so different! and +yet one in eagerness. Hilda instantly reseats herself: none shall know +how interested she is; none shall know how anxious, how filled with +one hope. Shut your eyes, then, Hilda, hide your face rippling with +joy. Peter has beaten. + +"PETER VAN HOLP, ONE MILE!" calls the crier. + +The same buzz of excitement as before, while the judges take notes, +the same throbbing of music through the din; but something is +different. A little crowd presses close about some object near the +column. Carl has fallen. He is not hurt, though somewhat stunned. If +he were less sullen, he would find more sympathy in these warm young +hearts. As it is, they forget him as soon as he is fairly on his feet +again. + +The girls are to skate their third mile. + +How resolute the little maidens look as they stand in a line! Some are +solemn with a sense of responsibility; some wear a smile half-bashful, +half-provoked: but one air of determination pervades them all. + +This third mile may decide the race. Still, if neither Gretel nor +Hilda win, there is yet a chance among the rest for the silver skates. + +Each girl feels sure, that, this time, she will accomplish the +distance in one-half the time. How they stamp to try their runners! +How nervously they examine each strap! How erect they stand at last, +every eye upon Madame van Gleck! + +The bugle thrills through them again. With quivering eagerness they +spring forward, bending, but in perfect balance. Each flashing stroke +seems longer than the last. + +Now they are skimming off in the distance. + +Again the eager straining of eyes; again the shouts and cheering; +again the thrill of excitement, as, after a few moments, four or five, +in advance of, the rest, come speeding back, nearer, nearer, to the +white columns. + +Who is first? Not Rychie, Katrinka, Annie, nor Hilda, nor the girl in +yellow, but Gretel,--Gretel, the fleetest sprite of a girl that ever +skated. She was but playing in the earlier race: _now_ she is in +earnest, or, rather, something within her has determined to win. That +lithe little form makes no effort; but it cannot stop,--not until the +goal is passed! + +In vain the crier lifts his voice: he cannot be heard. He has no news +to tell: it is already ringing through the crowd,--_Gretel has won +the silver skates!_ + +Like a bird, she has flown over the ice; like a bird, she looks about +her in a timid, startled way. She longs to dart to the sheltered nook +where her father and mother stand. But Hans is beside her: the girls +are crowding round. Hilda's kind, joyous voice breathes in her ear. +From that hour, none will despise her. Goose-girl, or not, Gretel +stands acknowledged Queen of the Skaters. + +With natural pride, Hans turns to see if Peter van Holp is witnessing +his sister's triumph. Peter is not looking toward them at all. He is +kneeling, bending his troubled face low, and working hastily at his +skate-strap. Hans is beside him at once. + +"Are you in trouble, mynheer?" + +"Ah, Hans! that you? Yes, my fun is over. I tried to tighten my strap, +to make a new hole; and this botheration of a knife has cut it nearly +in two." + +"Mynheer," said Hans, at the same time pulling off a skate, "you must +use my strap!" + +"Not I, indeed, Hans Brinker!" cried Peter, looking up, "though I +thank you warmly. Go to your post, my friend: the bugle will sound in +a minute." + +"Mynheer!" pleaded Hans in a husky voice. "You have called me your +friend. Take this strap--quick! There is not an instant to lose. I +shall not skate this time; indeed, I am out of practice. Mynheer, you +_must_ take it;" and Hans, blind and deaf to any remonstrance, slipped +his strap into Peter's skate, and implored him to put it on. + +"Come, Peter!" cried Lambert from the line: "we are waiting for you." + +"For madame's sake," pleaded Hans, "be quick! She is motioning to you +to join the racers. There, the skate is almost on: quick, mynheer, +fasten it. I could not possibly win. The race lies between Master +Schummel and yourself." + +"You are a noble fellow, Hans!" cried Peter, yielding at last. He +sprang to his post just as the white handkerchief fell to the ground. +The bugle sends forth its blast, loud, clear, and ringing. + +Off go the boys. + +"Mein Gott!" cries a tough old fellow from Delft. "They beat every +thing,--these Amsterdam youngsters. See them!" + +See them, indeed! They are winged Mercuries, every one of them. What +mad errand are they on? + +Ah, I know: they are hunting Peter van Holp. He is some fleet-footed +runaway from Olympus. Mercury and his troop of winged cousins are in +full chase. They will catch him! Now Carl is the runaway. The pursuit +grows furious. Ben is foremost. + +The chase turns in a cloud of mist. It is coming this way. Who is +hunted now? Mercury himself. It is Peter, Peter van Holp! Fly, Peter! +Hans is watching you. He is sending all his fleetness, all his +strength, into your feet. Your mother and sister are pale with +eagerness. Hilda is trembling, and dare not look up. Fly, Peter! The +crowd has not gone deranged: it is only cheering. The pursuers are +close upon you. Touch the white column! It beckons; it is reeling +before you--it-- + +"Huzza! Huzza! Peter has won the silver skates!" + +"PETER VAN HOLP!" shouted the crier. But who heard him? "Peter van +Holp!" shouted a hundred voices; for he was the favorite boy of the +place. "Huzza! Huzza!" + +Now the music was resolved to be heard. It struck up a lively air, +then a tremendous march. The spectators, thinking something new was +about to happen, deigned to listen and to look. + +The racers formed in single file. Peter, being tallest, stood first. +Gretel, the smallest of all, took her place at the end. Hans, who had +borrowed a strap from the cake-boy, was near the head. + +Three gayly-twined arches were placed at intervals upon the river, +facing the Van Gleck pavilion. + +Skating slowly, and in perfect time to the music, the boys and girls +moved forward, led on by Peter. It was beautiful to see the bright +procession glide along like a living creature. It curved and doubled, +and drew its graceful length in and out among the arches: whichever +way Peter, the head, went, the body was sure to follow. Sometimes it +steered direct for the centre arch; then, as if seized with a new +impulse, turned away and curled itself about the first one; then +unwound slowly, and bending low, with quick, snake-like curvings, +crossed the river, passing at length through the farthest arch. + +When the music was slow, the procession seemed to crawl like a thing +afraid: it grew livelier, and the creature darted forward with a +spring, gliding rapidly among the arches, in and out, curling, +twisting, turning, never losing form, until at the shrill call of the +bugle rising above the music, it suddenly resolved itself into boys +and girls standing in double semicircle before Madame van Gleck's +pavilion. + +Peter and Gretel stand in the centre, in advance of the others. Madame +van Gleck rises majestically. Gretel trembles, but feels that she must +look at the beautiful lady. She cannot hear what is said, there is +such a buzzing all around her. She is thinking that she ought to try +and make a courtesy, such as her mother makes to the _meester_, when +suddenly something so dazzling is placed in her hand that she gives a +cry of joy. + +Then she ventures to look about her. Peter, too, has something in his +hands. "Oh, Oh! how splendid!" she cries; and "Oh! how splendid!" is +echoed as far as people can see. + +Meantime the silver skates flash in the sunshine, throwing dashes of +light upon those two happy faces. + +Mevrouw van Gend sends a little messenger with her bouquets,--one for +Hilda, one for Carl, and others for Peter and Gretel. + +At sight of the flowers, the Queen of the Skaters becomes +uncontrollable. With a bright stare of gratitude, she gathers skates +and bouquet in her apron, hugs them to her bosom, and darts off to +search for her father and mother in the scattering crowd. + + + + +NELLY'S HOSPITAL + +By Louisa M. Alcott + + +Nelly sat beside her mother picking lint; but while her fingers flew, +her eyes often looked wistfully out into the meadow, golden with +buttercups, and bright with sunshine. Presently she said, rather +bashfully, but very earnestly, "Mamma, I want to tell you a little +plan I've made, if you'll please not laugh." + +"I think I can safely promise that, my dear," said her mother, putting +down her work that she might listen quite respectfully. + +Nelly looked pleased, and went on confidingly. + +"Since brother Will came home with his lame foot, and I've helped you +tend him, I've heard a great deal about hospitals, and liked it very +much. To-day I said I wanted to go and be a nurse, like Aunt Mercy; +but Will laughed, and told me I'd better begin by nursing sick birds +and butterflies and pussies before I tried to take care of men. I did +not like to be made fun of, but I've been thinking that it would be +very pleasant to have a little hospital all my own, and be a nurse in +it, because, if I took pains, so many pretty creatures might be made +well, perhaps. Could I, mamma?" + +Her mother wanted to smile at the idea, but did not, for Nelly looked +up with her heart and eyes so full of tender compassion, both for the +unknown men for whom her little hands had done their best, and for the +smaller sufferers nearer home, that she stroked the shining head, and +answered readily: + +"Yes, Nelly, it will be a proper charity for such a young Samaritan, +and you may learn much if you are in earnest. You must study how to +feed and nurse your little patients, else your pity will do no good, +and your hospital become a prison. I will help you, and Tony shall be +your surgeon." + +"O mamma, how good you always are to me! Indeed, I am in truly +earnest; I will learn, I will be kind, and may I go now and begin?" + +"You may, but tell me first where will you have your hospital?" + +"In my room, mamma; it is so snug and sunny, and I never should forget +it there," said Nelly. + +"You must not forget it anywhere. I think that plan will not do. How +would you like to find caterpillars walking in your bed, to hear sick +pussies mewing in the night, to have beetles clinging to your clothes, +or see mice, bugs, and birds tumbling downstairs whenever the door was +open?" said her mother. + +Nelly laughed at that thought a minute, then clapped her hands, and +cried: "Let us have the old summer-house! My doves only use the upper +part, and it would be so like Frank in the storybook. Please say yes +again, mamma." + +Her mother did say yes, and, snatching up her hat, Nelly ran to find +Tony, the gardener's son, a pleasant lad of twelve, who was Nelly's +favorite playmate. Tony pronounced the plan a "jolly" one, and, +leaving his work, followed his young mistress to the summer-house, for +she could not wait one minute. + +"What must we do first?" she asked, as they stood looking in at the +dim, dusty room, full of garden tools, bags of seeds, old flower-pots, +and watering-cans. + +"Clear out the rubbish, miss," answered Tony. + +"Here it goes, then," and Nelly began bundling everything out in such +haste that she broke two flower-pots, scattered all the squash-seeds, +and brought a pile of rakes and hoes clattering down about her ears. + +"Just wait a bit, and let me take the lead, miss. You hand me things, +I'll pile 'em in the barrow and wheel 'em off to the barn; then it +will save time, and be finished up tidy." + +Nelly did as he advised, and very soon nothing but dust remained. + +"What next?" she asked, not knowing in the least. + +"I'll sweep up while you see if Polly can come and scrub the room out. +It ought to be done before you stay here, let alone the patients." + +"So it had," said Nelly, looking very wise all of a sudden. "Will says +the wards--that means the rooms, Tony--are scrubbed every day or two, +and kept very clean, and well venti--something--I can't say it; but it +means having a plenty of air come in. I can clean windows while Polly +mops, and then we shall soon be done." + +Away she ran, feeling very busy and important. Polly came, and very +soon the room looked like another place. The four latticed windows +were set wide open, so the sunshine came dancing through the vines +that grew outside, and curious roses peeped in to see what frolic was +afoot. The walls shone white again, for not a spider dared to stay; +the wide seat which encircled the room was dustless now,--the floor as +nice as willing hands could make it; and the south wind blew away all +musty odors with its fragrant breath. + +"How fine it looks!" cried Nelly, dancing on the doorstep, lest a +foot-print should mar the still damp floor. + +"I'd almost like to fall sick for the sake of staying here," said +Tony, admiringly. "Now, what sort of beds are you going to have, +miss?" + +"I suppose it won't do to put butterflies and toads and worms into +beds like the real soldiers where Will was?" answered Nelly, looking +anxious. + +Tony could hardly help shouting at the idea; but, rather than trouble +his little mistress, he said Very soberly: "I'm afraid they wouldn't +lay easy, not being used to it. Tucking up a butterfly would about +kill him; the worms would be apt to get lost among the bed-clothes; +and the toads would tumble out the first thing." + +"I shall have to ask mamma about it. What will you do while I'm gone?" +said Nelly, unwilling that a moment should be lost. + +"I'll make frames for nettings to the windows, else the doves will +come in and eat up the sick people." + +"I think they will know that it is a hospital, and be too kind to hurt +or frighten their neighbors," began Nelly; but as she spoke, a plump +white dove walked in, looked about with its red-winged eyes, and +quietly pecked up a tiny bug that had just ventured out from the crack +where it had taken refuge when the deluge came. + +"Yes, we must have the nettings. I'll ask mamma for some lace," said +Nelly, when she saw that; and, taking her pet dove on her shoulder, +told it about her hospital as she went toward the house: for, loving +all little creatures as she did, it grieved her to have any harm +befall even the least or plainest of them. She had a sweet child-fancy +that her playmates understood her language as she did theirs, and that +birds, flowers, animals, and insects felt for her the same affection +which she felt for them. Love always makes friends, and nothing seemed +to fear the gentle child; but welcomed her like a little sun who shone +alike on all, and never suffered an eclipse. + +She was gone some time, and when she came back her mind was full of +new plans, one hand full of rushes, the other of books, while over her +head floated the lace, and a bright green ribbon hung across her arm. + +"Mamma says that the best beds will be little baskets, boxes, cages, +and any sort of thing that suits the patients; for each will need +different care and food and medicine. I have not baskets enough, so, +as I cannot have pretty white beds, I am going to braid pretty green +nests for my patients, and, while I do it, mamma thought you'd read to +me the pages she has marked, so that we may begin right." + +"Yes, miss; I like that. But what is the ribbon for?" asked Tony. + +"O, that's for you. Will says that, if you are to be an army surgeon, +you must have a green band on your arm; so I got this to tie on when +we play hospital." + +Tony let her decorate the sleeve of his gray jacket, and when the +nettings were done, the welcome books were opened and enjoyed. It was +a happy time, sitting in the sunshine, with leaves pleasantly astir +all about them, doves cooing overhead, and flowers sweetly gossiping +together through the summer afternoon. Nelly wove her smooth, green +rushes, Tony pored over his pages, and both found something better +than fairy legends in the family histories of insects, birds, and +beasts. All manner of wonders appeared, and were explained to them, +till Nelly felt as if a new world had been given her, so full of +beauty, interest, and pleasure that she never could be tired of +studying it. Many of these things were not strange to Tony, because, +born among plants, he had grown up with them as if they were brothers +and sisters, and the sturdy, brown-faced boy had learned many lessons +which no poet or philosopher could have taught him, unless he had +become as childlike as himself, and studied from the same great book. + +When the baskets were done, the marked pages all read, and the sun +began to draw his rosy curtains round him before smiling "Good night," +Nelly ranged the green beds round the room, Tony put in the screens, +and the hospital was ready. The little nurse was so excited that she +could hardly eat her supper, and directly afterwards ran up to tell +Will how well she had succeeded with the first part of her enterprise. +Now brother Will was a brave young officer, who had fought stoutly and +done his duty like a man. But when lying weak and wounded at home, the +cheerful courage which had led him safely through many dangers seemed +to have deserted him, and he was often gloomy, sad, or fretful, +because he longed to be at his post again, and time passed very +slowly. This troubled his mother, and made Nelly wonder why he found +lying in a pleasant room so much harder than fighting battles or +making weary marches. Anything that interested and amused him was very +welcome, and when Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her +plans, mishaps, and successes, he laughed out more heartily than he +had done for many a day, and his thin face began to twinkle with fun +as it used to do so long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she chatted like +any affectionate little magpie, till Will was really interested; for +when one is ill, small things amuse. + +"Do you expect your patients to come to you, Nelly?" he asked. + +"No, I shall go and look for them. I often see poor things suffering +in the garden, and the wood, and always feel as if they ought to be +taken care of, as people are." + +"You won't like to carry insane bugs, lame toads, and convulsive +kittens in your hands, and they would not stay on a stretcher if you +had one. You should have an ambulance and be a branch of the Sanitary +Commission," said Will. + +Nelly had often heard the words, but did not quite understand what +they meant. So Will told her of that great never-failing charity, to +which thousands owe their lives; and the child listened with lips +apart, eyes often full, and so much love and admiration in her heart +that she could find no words in which to tell it. When her brother +paused, she said earnestly: "Yes, I will be a Sanitary. This little +cart of mine shall be my amb'lance, and I'll never let my +water-barrels go empty, never drive too fast, or be rough with my poor +passengers, like some of the men you tell about. Does this look like +an amb'lance, Will?" + +"Not a bit, but it shall, if you and mamma like to help me. I want +four long bits of cane, a square of white cloth, some pieces of thin +wood, and the gum-pot," said Will, sitting up to examine the little +cart, feeling like a boy again as he took out his knife and began to +whittle. + +Upstairs and downstairs ran Nelly till all necessary materials were +collected, and almost breathlessly she watched her brother arch the +canes over the cart, cover them with the cloth, and fit an upper shelf +of small compartments, each lined with cotton-wool to serve as beds +for wounded insects, lest they should hurt one another or jostle out. +The lower part was left free for any larger creatures which Nelly +might find. Among her toys she had a tiny cask which only needed a peg +to be water-tight; this was filled and fitted in before, because, as +the small sufferers needed no seats, there was no place for it behind, +and, as Nelly was both horse and driver, it was more convenient in +front. + +On each side of it stood a box of stores. In one were minute rollers, +as bandages are called, a few bottles not yet filled, and a wee doll's +jar of cold-cream, because Nelly could not feel that her outfit was +complete without a medicine-chest. The other box was full of crumbs, +bits of sugar, bird-seed, and grains of wheat and corn, lest any +famished stranger should die for want of food before she got it home. +Then mamma painted "U. S. San. Com." in bright letters on the cover, +and Nelly received her charitable plaything with a long sigh of +satisfaction. + +"Nine o'clock already. Bless me, what a short evening this has been," +exclaimed Will, as Nelly came to give him her good-night kiss. + +"And such a happy one," she answered. "Thank you very, very much, +dear Will. I only wish my little amb'lance was big enough for you to +go in,--I'd so like to give you the first ride." + +"Nothing I should like better, if it were possible, though I've a +prejudice against ambulances in general. But as I cannot ride, I'll +try and hop out to your hospital to-morrow, and see how you get +on,"--which was a great deal for Captain Will to say, because he had +been too listless to leave his sofa for several days. + +That promise sent Nelly happily away to bed, only stopping to pop her +head out of the window to see if it was likely to be a fair day +to-morrow, and to tell Tony about the new plan as he passed below. + +"Where shall you go to look for your first load of sick folks, miss?" +he asked. + +"All round the garden first, then through the grove, and home across +the brook. Do you think I can find any patients so?" said Nelly. + +"I know you will. Good night, miss," and Tony walked away with a merry +look on his face, that Nelly would not have understood if she had seen +it. + +Up rose the sun bright and early, and up rose Nurse Nelly almost as +early and as bright. Breakfast was taken in a great hurry, and before +the dew was off the grass this branch of the S. C. was all astir. +Papa, mamma, big brother and baby sister, men and maids, all looked +out to see the funny little ambulance depart, and nowhere in all the +summer fields was there a happier child than Nelly, as she went +smiling down the garden path, where tall flowers kissed her as she +passed and every blithe bird seemed singing a "Good speed!" + +"How I wonder what I shall find first," she thought, looking sharply +on all sides as she went. Crickets chirped, grasshoppers leaped, ants +worked busily at their subterranean houses, spiders spun shining webs +from twig to twig, bees were coming for their bags of gold, and +butterflies had just begun their holiday. A large white one alighted +on the top of the ambulance, walked over the inscription as if +spelling it letter by letter, then floated away from flower to flower, +like one carrying the good news far and wide. + +"Now every one will know about the hospital and be glad to see me +coming," thought Nelly. And indeed it seemed so, for just then a +blackbird, sitting on the garden wall, burst out with a song full of +musical joy, Nelly's kitten came running after to stare at the wagon +and rub her soft side against it, a bright-eyed toad looked out from +his cool bower among the lily-leaves, and at that minute Nelly found +her first patient. In one of the dewy cobwebs hanging from a shrub +near by sat a fat black and yellow spider, watching a fly whose +delicate wings were just caught in the net. The poor fly buzzed +pitifully, and struggled so hard that the whole web shook; but the +more he struggled, the more he entangled himself, and the fierce +spider was preparing to descend that it might weave a shroud about its +prey, when a little finger broke the threads and lifted the fly safely +into the palm of a hand, where he lay faintly humming his thanks. + +Nelly had heard much about contrabands, knew who they were, and was +very much interested in them; so, when she freed the poor black fly, +she played he was her contraband, and felt glad that her first patient +was one that needed help so much. Carefully brushing away as much of +the web as she could, she left small Pompey, as she named him, to free +his own legs, lest her clumsy fingers should hurt him; then she laid +him in one of the soft beds with a grain or two of sugar if he needed +refreshment, and bade him rest and recover from his fright, +remembering that he was at liberty to fly away whenever he liked, +because she had no wish to make a slave of him. + +Feeling very happy over this new friend, Nelly went on singing softly +as she walked, and presently she found a pretty caterpillar dressed in +brown fur, although the day was warm. He lay so still she thought him +dead, till he rolled himself into a ball as she touched him. + +"I think you are either faint from the heat of this thick coat of +yours, or that you are going to make a cocoon of yourself, Mr. Fuzz," +said Nelly. "Now I want to see you turn into a butterfly, so I shall +take you, and if you get lively again I will let you go. I shall play +that you have given out on a march, as the soldiers sometimes do, and +been left behind for the Sanitary people to see to." + +In went sulky Mr. Fuzz, and on trundled the ambulance till a golden +green rose-beetle was discovered, lying on his back kicking as if in a +fit. + +"Dear me, what shall I do for him?" thought Nelly. "He acts as baby +did when she was so ill, and mamma put her in a warm bath. I haven't +got my little tub here, or any hot water, and I'm afraid the beetle +would not like it if I had. Perhaps he has pain in his stomach; I'll +turn him over, and pat his back, as nurse does baby's when she cries +for pain like that." + +She set the beetle on his legs, and did her best to comfort him; but +he was evidently in great distress, for he could not walk, and instead +of lifting his emerald overcoat, and spreading the wings that lay +underneath, he turned over again, and kicked more violently than +before. Not knowing what to do, Nelly put him into one of her soft +nests for Tony to cure if possible. She found no more patients in the +garden except a dead bee, which she wrapped in a leaf, and took home +to bury. When she came to the grove, it was so green and cool she +longed to sit and listen to the whisper of the pines, and watch the +larch-tassels wave in the wind. But, recollecting her charitable +errand, she went rustling along the pleasant path till she came to +another patient, over which she stood considering several minutes +before she could decide whether it was best to take it to her +hospital, because it was a little gray snake, with a bruised tail. She +knew it would not hurt her, yet she was afraid of it; she thought it +pretty, yet could not like it; she pitied its pain, yet shrunk from +helping it, for it had a fiery eye, and a keen quivering tongue, that +looked as if longing to bite. + +"He is a rebel, I wonder if I ought to be good to him," thought Nelly, +watching the reptile writhe with pain. "Will said there were sick +rebels in his hospital, and one was very kind to him. It says, too, in +my little book, 'Love your enemies.' I think snakes are mine, but I +guess I'll try and love him because God made him. Some boy will kill +him if I leave him here, and then perhaps his mother will be very sad +about it. Come, poor worm, I wish to help you, so be patient, and +don't frighten me." + +Then Nelly laid her little handkerchief on the ground, and with a +stick gently lifted the wounded snake upon it, and, folding it +together, laid it in the ambulance. She was thoughtful after that, and +so busy puzzling her young head about the duty of loving those who +hate us, and being kind to those who are disagreeable or unkind, that +she went through the rest of the wood quite forgetful of her work. A +soft "Queek, queek!" made her look up and listen. The sound came from +the long meadow-grass, and, bending it carefully back, she found a +half-fledged bird, with one wing trailing on the ground, and its eyes +dim with pain or hunger. + +"You darling thing, did you fall out of your nest and hurt your wing?" +cried Nelly, looking up into the single tree that stood near by. No +nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered overhead, and little +Robin could only tell its troubles in that mournful "Queek, queek, +queek!" + +Nelly ran to get both her chests, and, sitting down beside the bird, +tried to feed it. To her great joy it ate crumb after crumb, as if it +were half starved, and soon fluttered nearer with a confiding +fearlessness that made her very proud. Soon baby Robin seemed quite +comfortable, his eye brightened, he "queeked" no more, and but for the +drooping wing would have been himself again. With one of her bandages +Nelly bound both wings closely to his sides for fear he should hurt +himself by trying to fly; and though he seemed amazed at her +proceedings, he behaved very well, only staring at her, and ruffling +up his few feathers in a funny way that made her laugh. Then she had +to discover some way of accommodating her two larger patients so that +neither should hurt nor alarm the other. A bright thought came to her +after much pondering. Carefully lifting the handkerchief, she pinned +the two ends to the roof of the cart, and there swung little +Forked-tongue, while Rob lay easily below. + +By this time Nelly began to wonder how it happened that she found so +many more injured things than ever before. But it never entered her +innocent head that Tony had searched the wood and meadow before she +was up, and laid most of these creatures ready to her hands, that she +might not be disappointed. She had not yet lost her faith in fairies, +so she fancied they too belonged to her small sisterhood, and +presently it did really seem impossible to doubt that the good folk +had been at work. + +Coming to the bridge that crossed the brook, she stopped a moment to +watch the water ripple over the bright pebbles, the ferns bend down to +drink, and the funny tadpoles frolic in quieter nooks, where the sun +shone, and the dragon-flies swung among the rushes. When Nelly turned +to go on, her blue eyes opened wide, and the handle of the ambulance +dropped with a noise that caused a stout frog to skip into the water +heels over head. + +Directly in the middle of the bridge was a pretty green tent, made of +two tall burdock leaves. The stems were stuck into cracks between the +boards, the tips were pinned together with a thorn, and one great +buttercup nodded in the doorway like a sleepy sentinel. Nelly stared +and smiled, listened, and looked about on every side. Nothing was seen +but the quiet meadow and the shady grove, nothing was heard but the +babble of the brook and the cheery music of the bobolinks. + +"Yes," said Nelly softly to herself, "that is a fairy tent, and in it +I may find a baby elf sick with whooping-cough or scarlet-fever. How +splendid it would be! only I could never nurse such a dainty thing." + +Stooping eagerly, she peeped over the buttercup's drowsy head, and saw +what seemed a tiny cock of hay. She had no time to feel disappointed, +for the haycock began to stir, and, looking nearer, she beheld two +silvery gray mites, who wagged wee tails, and stretched themselves as +if they had just waked up. Nelly knew that they were young field-mice, +and rejoiced over them, feeling rather relieved that no fairy had +appeared, though she still believed them to have had a hand in the +matter. + +"I shall call the mice my Babes in the Wood, because they are lost and +covered up with leaves," said Nelly, as she laid them in her snuggest +bed, where they nestled close together, and fell fast asleep again. + +Being very anxious to get home, that she might tell her adventures, +and show how great was the need of a sanitary commission in that +region, Nelly marched proudly up the avenue, and, having displayed her +load, hurried to the hospital, where another applicant was waiting for +her. On the step of the door lay a large turtle, with one claw gone, +and on his back was pasted a bit of paper, with his name,--"Commodore +Waddle, U. S. N." Nelly knew this was a joke of Will's, but welcomed +the ancient mariner, and called Tony to help her get him in. + +All that morning they were very busy settling the new-comer, for both +people and books had to be consulted before they could decide what +diet and treatment was best for each. The winged contraband had taken +Nelly at her word, and flown away on the journey home. Little Rob was +put in a large cage, where he could use his legs, yet not injure his +lame wing. Forked-tongue lay under a wire cover, on sprigs of fennel, +for the gardener said that snakes were fond of it. The Babes in the +Wood were put to bed in one of the rush baskets, under a cotton-wool +coverlet. Greenback, the beetle, found ease for his unknown aches in +the warm heart of a rose, where he sunned himself all day. The +Commodore was made happy in a tub of water, grass, and stones, and Mr. +Fuzz was put in a well-ventilated glass box to decide whether he would +be a cocoon or not. + +Tony had not been idle while his mistress was away, and he showed her +the hospital garden he had made close by, in which were cabbage, +nettle, and mignonette plants for the butterflies, flowering herbs for +the bees, chick-weed and hemp for the birds, catnip for the pussies, +and plenty of room left for whatever other patients might need. In the +afternoon, while Nelly did her task at lint-picking, talking busily to +Will as she worked, and interesting him in her affairs, Tony cleared a +pretty spot in the grove for the burying-ground, and made ready some +small bits of slate on which to write the names of those who died. He +did not have it ready an hour too soon, for at sunset two little +graves were needed, and Nurse Nelly shed tender tears for her first +losses as she laid the motherless mice in one smooth hollow, and the +gray-coated rebel in the other. She had learned to care for him +already, and when she found him dead, was very glad she had been kind +to him, hoping that he knew it, and died happier in her hospital than +all alone in the shadowy wood. + +The rest of Nelly's patients prospered, and of the many added +afterward few died, because of Tony's skilful treatment and her own +faithful care. Every morning when the day proved fair the little +ambulance went out upon its charitable errand; every afternoon Nelly +worked for the human sufferers whom she loved; and every evening +brother Will read aloud to her from useful books, showed her wonders +with his microscope, or prescribed remedies for the patients, whom he +soon knew by name and took much interest in. It was Nelly's holiday; +but, though she studied no lessons, she learned much, and +unconsciously made her pretty play both an example and a rebuke for +others. + +At first it seemed a childish pastime, and people laughed. But there +was something in the familiar words "sanitary," "hospital," and +"ambulance" that made them pleasant sounds to many ears. As reports of +Nelly's work went through the neighborhood, other children came to see +and copy her design. Rough lads looked ashamed when in her wards they +found harmless creatures hurt by them, and going out they said among +themselves, "We won't stone birds, chase butterflies, and drown the +girls' little cats any more, though we won't tell them so." And most +of the lads kept their word so well that people said there never had +been so many birds before as all that summer haunted wood and field. +Tender-hearted playmates brought their pets to be cured; even busy +farmers had a friendly word for the small charity, which reminded them +so sweetly of the great one which should never be forgotten; lonely +mothers sometimes looked out with wet eyes as the little ambulance +went by, recalling thoughts of absent sons who might be journeying +painfully to some far-off hospital, where brave women waited to tend +them with hands as willing, hearts as tender, as those the gentle +child gave to her self-appointed task. + +At home the charm worked also. No more idle days for Nelly, or fretful +ones for Will, because the little sister would not neglect the +helpless creatures so dependent upon her, and the big brother was +ashamed to complain after watching the patience of these lesser +sufferers, and merrily said he would try to bear his own wound as +quietly and bravely as the "Commodore" bore his. Nelly never knew how +much good she had done Captain Will till he went away again in the +early autumn. Then he thanked her for it, and though she cried for joy +and sorrow she never forgot it, because he left something behind him +which always pleasantly reminded her of the double success her little +hospital had won. + +When Will was gone and she had prayed softly in her heart that God +would keep him safe and bring him home again, she dried her tears and +went away to find comfort in the place where he had spent so many +happy hours with her. She had not been there before that day, and when +she reached the door she stood quite still and wanted very much to cry +again, for something beautiful had happened. She had often asked Will +for a motto for her hospital, and he had promised to find her one. She +thought he had forgotten it; but even in the hurry of that busy day he +had found time to do more than keep his word, while Nelly sat indoors, +lovingly brightening the tarnished buttons on the blue coat that had +seen so many battles. + +Above the roof, where the doves cooed in the sun, now rustled a white +flag with the golden "S. C." shining on it as the wind tossed it to +and fro. Below, on the smooth panel of the door, a skilful pencil had +drawn two arching ferns, in whose soft shadow, poised upon a mushroom, +stood a little figure of Nurse Nelly, and underneath it another of Dr. +Tony bottling medicine, with spectacles upon his nose. Both hands of +the miniature Nelly were outstretched, as if beckoning to a train of +insects, birds and beasts, which was so long that it not only circled +round the lower rim of this fine sketch, but dwindled in the distance +to mere dots and lines. Such merry conceits as one found there! A +mouse bringing the tail it had lost in some cruel trap, a dor-bug with +a shade over its eyes, an invalid butterfly carried in a tiny litter +by long-legged spiders, a fat frog with gouty feet hopping upon +crutches, Jenny Wren sobbing in a nice handkerchief, as she brought +dear dead Cock Robin to be restored to life. Rabbits, lambs, cats, +calves, and turtles, all came trooping up to be healed by the +benevolent little maid who welcomed them so heartily. + +Nelly laughed at these comical mites till the tears ran down her +cheeks, and thought she never could be tired of looking at them. But +presently she saw four lines clearly printed underneath her picture, +and her childish face grew sweetly serious as she read the words of a +great poet, which Will had made both compliment and motto:-- + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things, both great and small; + For the dear God who loveth us, + He made and loveth all" + + + + +A FOX AND A RAVEN + +By Rebecca Harding Davis + + +[_A raven, sitting high up on a limb, had a fine piece of cheese. He +was just going to enjoy it, when along came Mr. Fox. Now the fox +wanted the cheese, and he knew he could not catch the raven. So he +began to flatter the raven's croaking voice, and to beg the raven for +one of his "sweet songs." At last the poor raven, silly with flattery, +opened his mouth to sing--when lo! the cheese dropped to the ground, +and off ran the wily fox with the stolen treasure in his mouth. The +raven flew away, and never was heard of again._] + +Donee was a king's daughter. She had heard her father talk of the +battles into which he had led his mighty warriors, and of how all the +world that she knew had once been his, from the hills behind which the +sun rose to the broad rushing river where it set. Now all of this +account was strictly true. + +But the king, as he talked, wore no clothes but a muddy pair of cotton +trousers, and sat on a log in the sun, a pig rooting about his bare +feet. Black Joe, going by, called him a lazy old red-skin; and that +was true, too. But these differing accounts naturally confused Donee's +mind. When the old chief was dead, however, there was an end of all +talk of his warriors or battles. A large part of the land was left, +though; a long stretch of river bottom and forests, with but very +little swamp. Donee's brother, Oostogah, when he was in a good humor, +planted and hoed a field of corn (as he had no wife to do it for him), +and with a little fish and game, they managed to find enough to eat. +Oostogah and the little girl lived in a hut built of logs and mud, +and, as the floor of it never had been scrubbed, the grass actually +began to grow out of the dirt in the corners. There was a log +smouldering on the hearth, where Donee baked cakes of pounded corn and +beans in the ashes, and on the other side of the dark room was the +heap of straw where she slept. Besides this, there were two hacked +stumps of trees which served for chairs, and an iron pot out of which +they ate; and there you have the royal plenishing of _that_ palace. + +All the other Indians had long ago gone West. Donee had nothing and +nobody to play with. She was as easily scared as a rabbit; yet +sometimes, when Oostogah was gone for days together, she was so lonely +that she would venture down through the swamp to peep out at the +water-mill and the two or three houses which the white people had +built. The miller, of all the white people, was the one that she liked +best to watch, he was so big and round, and jolly; and one day, when +he had met her in the path, he did not call her "Injun," or "red +nigger," as the others did, but had said: "Where's your brother, my +dear?" just as if she were white. She saw, sometimes, his two little +girls and boy playing about the mill-door, and they were round and +fat, and jolly, just like their father. + +At last, one day Oostogah went down to the mill, and Donee plucked up +her courage and followed him. When she was there hiding close behind +the trough in which the horses were watered, so that nobody could see +her, she heard the miller say to her brother: "You ought to go to work +to clear your land, my lad. In two years there will be hundreds of +people moving in here, and you own the best part of the valley." + +Oostogah nodded. "The whole country once belonged to my people." + +"That's neither here nor there," said the miller. "Dead chickens don't +count for hatching. You go to work now and clear your land, and you +can sell it for enough to give you and this little girl behind the +trough an education. Enough to give you both a chance equal to any +white children." + +Oostogah nodded again, but said nothing. He was shrewd enough, and +could work, too, when he was in the humor. "Come, Donee," he said. + +But the miller's little Thad. and Jenny had found Donee behind the +trough, and the three were making a nettle basket together, and were +very well acquainted already. + +"Let the child stay till you come back from fishing, Oostogah," said +the miller. + +So Donee staid all the afternoon. Jenny and Betty rolled and shouted, +and could not talk fast enough with delight because they had this new +little girl to play with, and Thad. climbed all the trees, as Jenny +said, to "show off," and Betty tumbled into the trough head over heels +and was taken out dripping. + +Donee was very quiet, but it was to her as if the end of the world had +come, all this was so happy and wonderful. She never had had anybody +to play with before. + +Then, when Betty was carried in to be dried and dressed, there was, +too, the bright, cheerful room, with a lovely blue carpet on the +floor, and a white spread on the bed with fringe, and red dahlias that +shone in the sun, putting their heads in at the window. Betty's mother +did not scold when she took her wet clothes off, but said some funny +things which made them laugh. She looked at Donee now and then, +standing with her little hands clasped behind her back. + +"Does your mother _never_ wash or dress you, Donee?" said Betty. + +"She is dead," said Donee. + +Betty's mother did not say any more funny things after that. When +she had finished dressing Betty, to the tying of her shoes, she called +the little Indian girl up to her. + +"What can you do?" she said. "Sew? Make moccasins?" + +She had the pleasantest voice. Donee was not at all afraid. "I can +sew. I can make baskets," she said. "I am going to make a basket for +every one of you." + +"Very well. You can have a tea-party, Jenny, out of doors." Then she +opened a cupboard. "Here are the dishes," taking out a little box. +"And bread, jam, milk, sugar, and candy." + +"Candy!" cried Betty, rushing out to tell Thad. + +"Candy? Hooray!" shouted Thad. + +For there are no shops out in that wild country where a boy can run +for a stick of lemon or gumdrops every time he gets a penny. It was +very seldom that Thad. or Betty could have a taste of those red and +white "bull's eyes" which their mother now took out of the jar in the +locked cupboard. They knew she brought it out to please the little +Indian girl, whose own mother was dead. + +Jenny set the table for the tea-party under a big oak. There was a +flat place on one of the round roots that rose out of the moss, which +was the very thing for a table. So there she spread the little white +and gold plates and cups and saucers, with the meat dish (every bit as +large as your hand), in the middle, full of candy. The milk, of +course, was put in the pot for coffee, and set on three dead leaves to +boil; and Jenny allowed Donee to fill the jam dishes herself, with her +own hands. Donee could hardly get her breath as she did it. + +When they were all ready they sat down. The sun shone, and the wind +was blowing, and the water of the mill-race flashed and gurgled as it +went by, and a song-sparrow perched himself on the fence close to them +and sang, and sang, just as if he knew what was going on. + +"He wants to come to the party!" said Betty, and then they all +laughed. Donee laughed too. + +The shining plates just fitted into the moss, and there was a little +pitcher, the round-bellied part of which was covered with sand, while +the handle and top were, Jenny said, of solid gold; that was put in +the middle of all. + +Donee did not think it was like fairy-land or heaven, because she had +never in her life heard of fairy-land or heaven. She had never seen +anything but her own filthy hut, with its iron pot and wooden spoons. + +When it was all over, the children's mother (Donee felt as if she was +her mother too) called her in, and took out of that same cupboard a +roll of the loveliest red calico. + +"Now, Donee," she said, "if you can make yourself a dress of this I +will give you this box," and she opened a box, just like Jenny's. +Inside, packed in thin slips of paper, was a set of dishes; pure +white, with the tiniest rose-bud in the middle of each; cups, saucers, +meat-dish, coffee-pot, and all; and, below all, a pitcher, with sand +on the brown bottom, but the top and handle of solid gold! + +Donee went back to the hut, trotting along beside Oostogah, her roll +of calico under her arm. The next day she cut it out into a slip and +began to sew. + +Oostogah was at work all day cutting down dead trees. When he came in +at night, Donee said: "If you sold the land for much money, could we +have a home like the miller's?" + +Oostogah was as much astonished as if a chicken had asked him a +question, but he said, "Yes." + +"Would I be like Jenny and Betty?" + +"You're a chief's daughter," grunted Oostogah. + +One day in the next week she went down to the river far in the woods, +and took a bath, combing her long straight black hair down her +shoulders. Then she put on her new dress, and went down to the +miller's house. It was all very quiet, for the children were not +there, but their mother came to the door. She laughed out loud with +pleasure when she saw Donee. The red dress was just the right color +for her to wear with her dark skin and black hair. Her eyes were soft +and shy, and her bare feet and arms (like most Indian women's) pretty +enough to be copied in marble. + +"You are a good child--you're a very good child! Here are the dishes. +I wish the children were at home. Sit right down on the step now and +eat a piece of pie." + +But Donee could not eat the pie, her heart was so full. + +"Hillo!" called the miller, when he saw her. "Why, what a nice girl +you are to-day, Dony! Your brother's hard at work, eh? It will all +come right, then." + +Donee stood around for a long time, afraid to say what she wanted. + +"What is it?" asked the miller's wife. + +Donee managed to whisper, if she were to have a party the next day, +could the children come to it? and their mother said: "Certainly, in +the evening." + +When the little girl ran down the hill, the miller said: "Seems as +if't would be easy to make Christians out of them two." + +"I'm going to do what I can for Donee," said the miller's wife. + +It was not so easy for the little red-skinned girl to have a party, +for she had neither jam nor bread, nor butter, not to mention candy. +But she was up very early the next morning, and made tiny little cakes +of corn, no bigger than your thumbnail, and she went to a hollow tree +she knew of and got a cupful of honey, and brought some red haws, and +heaps of nuts, hickory and chestnuts. When Oostogah had gone, she set +out her little dishes under a big oak, and dressed herself in her +lovely frock, though she knew the party could not begin for hours and +hours. The brown cakes and honey, and scarlet haws, were in the white +dishes, and the gold pitcher, with a big purple flower, was in the +middle. Donee sat down and looked at it all. In a year or two Oostogah +would build a house like the miller's, and she should have a blue +carpet on the floor, and a white bed, and wear red frocks every day, +like Betty. + +Just then she heard voices talking. Oostogah had come back; he sat +upon a log; and the trader, who came around once a year, stood beside +him, a pack open at his feet. It was this peddler, Hawk, who was +talking. + +"I tell you, Oostogy, the miller's a fool. There's no new settlers +coming here, and nobody wants your land. There's hundreds and +thousands of acres beyond better than this. You'd better take my +offer. Look at that suit!" + +He held up short trousers of blue cloth worked with colored porcupine +quills, and a scarlet mantle glittering with beads and gold fringe. + +"I don't want it," grunted Oostogah. "Sell my land for big pile +money." + +"Oh, very well. I don't want to buy your land. There's thousands of +acres to be had for the asking, but there's not such a dress as that +in the United States. I had that dress made on purpose for you, +Oostogy. I said: 'Make me a dress for the son of a great chief. The +handsomest man'" (eying the lad from head to foot) "'that lives this +side of the great water.'" + +Oostogah grunted, but his eyes began to sparkle. + +"Here now, Oostogy, just try it on to please me. I'd like to see you +dressed like a chief for once." + +Oostogah, nothing loth, dropped his dirty blanket, and was soon rigged +in the glittering finery, while Hawk nodded in rapt admiration. + +"There's not a man in the country, red-skin or pale-face, but would +know you for the son of the great Denomah. Go look down in the creek, +Oostogy." + +Oostogah went, and came back, walking more slowly. He began to take +off his mantle. + +"There's a deputation from these Northern tribes going this winter to +see the Great Father at Washington. If Oostogy had a proper dress he +could go. But shall the son of Denomah come before the Great Father in +a torn horse-blanket?" + +"Your words are too many," said Oostogah. "I have made up my mind. I +will sell you the land for the clothes." + +Donee came up then, and stood directly before him, looking up at him. +But she said nothing. It is not the habit of Indian women and children +to speak concerning matters of importance. + +Oostogah pushed her out of the way, and, with the trader, went into +the hut to finish their bargain. + +In an hour or two her brother came to Donee. He had his new clothes in +a pack on his back. "Come," he said, pointing beyond the great river +to the dark woods. + +"We will come back here again, Oostogah?" + +"No; we will never come back." + +Donee went to the tree and looked down at the party she had made; at +the little dishes with the rose on each. But she did not lift one of +them up. She took off her pretty dress and laid it beside them, and, +going to the hut, put on her old rags again. Then she came out and +followed her brother, whose face was turned toward the great dark +woods in the west. + +When the miller's children came to the party that afternoon, a pig was +lying on Donee's red dress, and the dishes were scattered and broken. +But the hut was empty. + + * * * * * + +A year afterward, the miller came back from a long journey. After he +had kissed and hugged his wife and little ones, he said: "You +remember, wife, how Hawk cheated that poor Indian lad out of his +land?" + +"Yes; I always said it was the old story of the fox and the foolish +raven over again." + +"It was the old story of the white and the red man over again. But out +in an Indian village I found Donee sick and starving." + +The miller's wife jumped to her feet. The tears rushed to her eyes. +"What did you do? What did you do?" + +"Well, there wasn't but one thing to do, and I did that." He went out +to the wagon and carried in the little Indian girl, and laid her on +the bed. + +"Poor child! Poor child! Where is Oostogah?" + +The miller shook his head. "Don't ask any questions about him. The +raven flew away to the woods, and was never heard of again. Better if +that were the end of Oostogah." + +Donee, opening her tired eyes, saw the blue carpet and the white bed +where she lay, and the red dahlias shining in the sun and looking in +at the window, and beside her were the children, and the children's +mother smiling down on her with tears in her eyes. + + + + +THE PRIVATE THEATRICALS + +By Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney + + +Saturday was a day of hammering, basting, draping, dressing, +rehearsing, running from room to room. Upstairs, in Mrs. Green's +garret, Leslie Goldthwaite and Dakie Thayne, with a third party never +before introduced upon the stage, had a private practising; and at +tea-time, when the great hall was cleared, they got up there with Sin +Saxon and Frank Scherman, locked the doors, and in costume, with +regular accompaniment of bell and curtain, the performance was +repeated. + +Dakie Thayne was stage-manager and curtain-puller; Sin Saxon and Frank +Scherman represented audience, with clapping and stamping, and +laughter that suspended both,--making as nearly the noise of two +hundred as two could,--this being an essential part of the rehearsal +in respect to the untried nerves of the _debutant_, which might easily +be a little uncertain. + +"He stands fire like a Yankee veteran." + +"It's inimitable," said Sin Saxon, wiping the moist merriment from her +eyes. "And your cap, Leslie! And that bonnet! And this unutterable old +oddity of a gown! Who did contrive it all? and where did they come +from? You'll carry off the glory of the evening. It ought to be the +last." + +"No, indeed," said Leslie. "Barbara Frietchie must be last, of course. +But I'm so glad you think it will do. I hope they'll be amused." + +"Amused! If you could only see your own face!" + +"I see Sir Charles's, and that makes mine." + +The new performer, you perceive, was an actor with a title. + +That night's coach, driving up while the dress-rehearsal of the other +tableaux was going on at the hall, brought Cousin Delight to the Green +Cottage, and Leslie met her at the door. + +Sunday morning was a pause and rest and hush of beauty and joy. They +sat--Delight and Leslie--by their open window, where the smell of the +lately harvested hay came over from the wide, sunshiny entrance of the +great barn, and away beyond stretched the pine woods, and the hills +swelled near in dusky evergreen, and indigo shadows, and lessened far +down toward Winnipiseogee, to where, faint and tender and blue, the +outline of little Ossipee peeped in between great shoulders so +modestly,--seen only through the clearest air on days like this. +Leslie's little table, with fresh white cover, held a vase of ferns +and white convolvulus and beside this Cousin Delight's two books that +came out always from the top of her trunk,--her Bible and her little +"Daily Food." To-day the verses from Old and New Testaments were +these:--"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he +delighteth in his way." "Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as +wise, redeeming the time." + +They had a talk about the first,--"The steps,"--the little +details,--not merely the general trend and final issue; if, indeed, +these could be directed without the other. + +"You always make me see things, Cousin Delight," Leslie said. + +"It is very plain," Delight answered; "if people only would read the +Bible as they read even a careless letter from a friend, counting each +word of value, and searching for more meaning and fresh inference to +draw out the most. One word often answers great doubts and askings +that have troubled the world." + +Afterward, they walked round by a still wood-path under the Ledge to +the North Village, where there was a service. It was a plain little +church, with unpainted pews; but the windows looked forth upon a green +mountain-side, and whispers of oaks and pines and river-music crept +in, and the breath of sweet water-lilies, heaped in a great bowl upon +the communion-table of common stained cherry-wood, floated up and +filled the place. The minister, a quiet, gray-haired man, stayed his +foot an instant at that simple altar, before he went up the few steps +to the desk. He had a sermon in his pocket from the text, "The hairs +of your heads are all numbered." He changed it at the moment in his +mind, and, when presently he rose to preach, gave forth, in a tone +touched, through the fresh presence of that reminding beauty, with the +very spontaneousness of the Master's own saying,--"Consider the +lilies." And then he told them of God's momently thought and care. + +There were scattered strangers, from various houses, among the simple +rural congregation. Walking home through the pines again, Delight and +Leslie and Dakie Thayne found themselves preceded and followed along +the narrow way. Sin Saxon and Frank Scherman came up and joined them +when the wider openings permitted. + +Two persons just in front were commenting upon the sermon. + +"Very fair for a country parson," said a tall, elegant-looking man, +whose broad, intellectual brow was touched by dark hair slightly +frosted, and whose lip had the curve that betokens self-reliance and +strong decision,--"very fair. All the better for not flying too high. +Narrow, of course. He seems to think the Almighty has nothing grander +to do than to finger every little cog of the tremendous machinery of +the universe,--that he measures out the ocean of his purposes as we +drop a liquid from a phial. To me it seems belittling the Infinite." + +"I don't know whether it is littleness or greatness, Robert, that must +escape minutiae," said his companion, apparently his wife. "If we +could reach to the particles, perhaps we might move the mountains." + +"We never agree upon this, Margie. We won't begin again. To my mind, +the grand plan of things was settled ages ago,--the impulses generated +that must needs work on. Foreknowledge and intention, doubtless: in +that sense the hairs _were_ numbered. But that there is a special +direction and interference to-day for you and me--well, we won't +argue, as I said; but I never can conceive it so; and I think a wider +look at the world brings a question to all such primitive faith." + +The speakers turned down a side-way with this, leaving the ledge path +and their subject to our friends. Only to their thoughts at first; but +presently Cousin Delight said, in a quiet tone, to Leslie, "That +doesn't account for the steps, does it?" + +"I am glad it _can't_," said Leslie. + +Dakie Thayne turned a look toward Leslie, as if he would gladly know +of what she spoke,--a look in which a kind of gentle reverence was +strangely mingled with the open friendliness. I cannot easily indicate +to you the sort of feeling with which the boy had come to regard this +young girl, just above him in years and thought and in the attitude +which true womanhood, young or old, takes toward man. He had no +sisters; he had been intimately associated with no girl-companions; he +had lived with his brother and an uncle and a young aunt, Rose. Leslie +Goldthwaite's kindness had drawn him into the sphere of a new and +powerful influence,--something different in thought and purpose from +the apparent unthought about her; and this lifted her up in his regard +and enshrined her with a sort of pure sanctity. He was sometimes +really timid before her, in the midst of his frank chivalry. + +"I wish you'd tell me," he said suddenly, falling back with her as the +path narrowed again. "What are the 'steps?'" + +"It was a verse we found this morning,--Cousin Delight and I," Leslie +answered; and as she spoke the color came up full in her cheeks, and +her voice was a little shy and tremulous. "'The steps of a good man +are ordered by the Lord.' That one word seemed to make one certain. +'Steps,'--not path, nor the end of it; but all the way." Somehow she +was quite out of breath as she finished. + +Meantime Sin Saxon and Frank had got with Miss Goldthwaite, and were +talking too. + +"Set spinning," they heard Sin Saxon say, "and then let go. That was +his idea. Well! Only it seems to me there's been especial pains taken +to show us it can't be done. Or else, why don't they find out +perpetual motion? Everything stops after a while, unless--I can't talk +theologically, but I mean all right--you hit it again." + +"You've a way of your own of putting things, Asenath," said Frank +Scherman--with a glance that beamed kindly and admiringly upon her and +"her way,"--"but you've put that clear to me as nobody else ever did. +A proof set in the very laws themselves,--momentum that must lessen +and lose itself with the square of the distance. The machinery cavil +won't do." + +"Wheels; but a living spirit within the wheels," said Cousin Delight. + +"Every instant a fresh impulse; to think of it so makes it real, Miss +Goldthwaite,--and grand and awful." The young man spoke with a +strength in the clear voice that could be so light and gay. + +"And tender, too. 'Thou layest Thine hand upon me,'" said Delight +Goldthwaite. + +Sin Saxon was quiet; her own thought coming back upon her with a +reflective force, and a thrill at her heart at Frank Scherman's words. +Had these two only planned tableaux and danced Germans together +before? + +Dakie Thayne walked on by Leslie Goldthwaite's side, in his happy +content touched with something higher and brighter through that +instant's approach and confidence. If I were to write down his thought +as he walked, it would be with phrase and distinction peculiar to +himself and to the boy-mind,--"It's the real thing with her; it don't +make a fellow squirm like a pin put out at a caterpillar. She's +_good_; but she isn't _pious_!" + +This was the Sunday that lay between the busy Saturday and Monday. "It +is always so wherever Cousin Delight is," Leslie Goldthwaite said to +herself, comparing it with other Sundays that had gone. Yet she too, +for weeks before, by the truth that had come into her own life and +gone out from it, had been helping to make these moments possible. She +had been shone upon, and had put forth; henceforth she should scarcely +know when the fruit was ripening or sowing itself anew, or the good +and gladness of it were at human lips. + +She was in Mrs. Linceford's room on Monday morning, putting high +velvet-covered corks to the heels of her slippers, when Sin Saxon came +over hurriedly, and tapped at the door. + +"_Could_ you be _two_ old women?" she asked, the instant Leslie +opened. "Ginevra Thoresby has given out. She says it's her cold,--that +she doesn't feel equal to it; but the amount of it is, she got her +chill with the Shannons going away so suddenly, and the Amy Robsart +and Queen Elizabeth picture being dropped. There was nothing else to +put her in, and so she won't be Barbara." + +"Won't be Barbara Frietchie!" cried Leslie, with an astonishment as if +it had been angelhood refused. + +"No. Barbara Frietchie is only an old woman in a cap and kerchief, and +she just puts her head out of a window: the _flag_ is the whole of it, +Ginevra Thoresby says." + +"_May_ I do it? Do you think I can be different enough in the +two? Will there be time?" Leslie questioned eagerly. + +"We'll change the programme, and put 'Taking the Oath' between. The +caps can be different, and you can powder your hair for one, +and--_would_ it do to ask Miss Craydocke for a front for the other?" +Sin Saxon had grown delicate in her feeling for the dear old friend +whose hair had once been golden. + +"I'll tell her about it, and ask her to help me contrive. She'll be +sure to think of anything that can be thought of." + +"Only there's the dance afterward, and you had so much more costume +for the other," Sin Saxon said, demurringly. + +"Never mind. I shall _be_ Barbara; and Barbara wouldn't dance, I +suppose." + +"Mother Hubbard would, marvellously." + +"Never mind," Leslie answered again, laying down the little slipper, +finished. + +"She don't care _what_ she is, so that she helps along," Sin +Saxon said of her, rejoining the others in the hall. "I'm ashamed of +myself and all the rest of you, beside her. Now make yourselves as +fine as you please." + +We must pass over the hours as only stories and dreams do, and put +ourselves, at ten of the clock that night, behind the green curtain +and the footlights, in the blaze of the three rows of bright lamps, +that, one above another, poured their illumination from the left upon +the stage, behind the wide picture-frame. + +Susan Josselyn and Frank Scherman were just "posed" for "Consolation." +They had given Susan this part, after all, because they wanted Martha +for "Taking the Oath," afterward. Leslie Goldthwaite was giving a +hasty touch to the tent drapery and the gray blanket; Leonard +Brookhouse and Dakie Thayne manned the halyards for raising the +curtain; there was the usual scuttling about the stage for hasty +clearance; and Sin Saxon's hand was on the bell, when Grahame Lowe +sprang hastily in through the dressing-room upon the scene. + +"Hold on a minute," he said to Brookhouse. "Miss Saxon, General +Ingleside and party are over at Green's,--been there since nine +o'clock. Oughtn't we to send compliments or something, before we +finish up?" + +Then there was a pressing forward and an excitement. The wounded +soldier sprang from his couch; the nun came nearer, with a quick light +in her eye; Leslie Goldthwaite, in her mob cap, quilted petticoat, +big-flowered calico train, and high-heeled shoes; two or three +supernumeraries, in Rebel gray, with bayonets, coming on in "Barbara +Frietchie"; and Sir Charles, bouncing out from somewhere behind, to +the great hazard of the frame of lights,--huddled together upon the +stage and consulted. Dakie Thayne had dropped his cord and almost made +a rush off at the first announcement; but he stood now, with a +repressed eagerness that trembled through every fibre, and waited. + +"Would he come?" "Isn't it too late?" "Would it be any compliment?" +"Won't it be rude not to?" "All the patriotic pieces are just coming!" +"Will the audience like to wait?" "Make a speech and tell 'em. You, +Brookhouse." "O, he _must_ come! Barbara Frietchie and the flag! Just +think!" "Isn't it grand?" "O, I'm so frightened!" These were the +hurried sentences that made the buzz behind the scenes; while in front +"all the world wondered." Meanwhile, lamps trembled, the curtain +vibrated, the very framework swayed. + +"What is it? Fire?" queried a nervous voice from near the footlights. + +"This won't do," said Frank Scherman. "Speak to them, Brookhouse. +Dakie Thayne, run over to Green's, and say,--The ladies' compliments +to General Ingleside and friends, and beg the honor of their presence +at the concluding tableaux." + +Dakie was off with a glowing face, something like an odd, knowing +smile twinkling out from the glow also, as he looked up at Scherman +and took his orders. All this while he had said nothing. + +Leonard Brookhouse made his little speech, received with applause and +a cheer. Then they quieted down behind the scenes, and a rustle and +buzz began in front,--kept up for five minutes or so, in gentle +fashion, till two gentlemen, in plain clothes, walked quietly in at +the open door; at sight of whom, with instinctive certainty, the whole +assembly rose. Leslie Goldthwaite, peeping through the folds of the +curtain, saw a tall, grand-looking man, in what may be called the +youth of middle age, every inch a soldier, bowing as he was ushered +forward to a seat vacated for him, and followed by one younger, who +modestly ignored the notice intended for his chief. Dakie Thayne was +making his way, with eyes alight and excited, down a side passage to +his post. + +Then the two actors hurried once more into position; the stage was +cleared by a whispered peremptory order; the bell rung once, the tent +trembling with some one whisking further out of sight behind +it,--twice, and the curtain rose upon "Consolation." + +Lovely as the picture is, it was lovelier in the living tableau. There +was something deep and intense in the pale calm of Susan Josselyn's +face, which they had not counted on even when they discovered that +hers was the very face for the "Sister." Something made you thrill at +the thought of what those eyes would show, if the downcast, quiet lids +were raised. The earnest gaze of the dying soldier met more, perhaps, +in its uplifting; for Frank Scherman had a look, in this instant of +enacting, that he had never got before in all his practisings. The +picture was too real for applause,--almost, it suddenly seemed, for +representation. + +"Don't I know that face, Noll?" General Ingleside asked, in a low +tone, of his companion. + +Instead of answering at once, the younger man bent further forward +toward the stage, and his own very plain, broad, honest face, full +over against the downcast one of the Sister of Mercy, took upon itself +that force of magnetic expression which makes a look felt even across +a crowd of other glances, as if there were but one straight line of +vision, and that between such two. The curtain was going slowly down; +the veiling lids trembled, and the paleness replaced itself with a +slow-mounting flush of color over the features, still held motionless. +They let the cords run more quickly then. She was getting tired, they +said; the curtain had been up too long. Be that as it might, nothing +could persuade Susan Josselyn to sit again, and "Consolation" could +not be repeated. + +So then came "Mother Hubbard and her dog,"--the slow old lady and the +knowing beast that was always getting one step ahead of her. The +possibility had occurred to Leslie Goldthwaite as she and Dakie Thayne +amused themselves one day with Captain Green's sagacious Sir Charles +Grandison, a handsome black spaniel, whose trained accomplishment was +to hold himself patiently in any posture in which he might be placed, +until the word of release was given. You might stand him on his hind +legs, with paws folded on his breast; you might extend him on his +back, with helpless legs in air; you might put him in any attitude +possible to be maintained, and maintain it he would, faithfully, until +the signal was made. From this prompting came the Illustration of +Mother Hubbard. Also, Leslie Goldthwaite had seized the hidden +suggestion of application, and hinted it in certain touches of costume +and order of performance. Nobody would think, perhaps, at first, that +the striped scarlet and white petticoat under the tucked-up train, or +the common print apron of dark blue, figured with innumerable little +white stars, meant anything beyond the ordinary adjuncts of a +traditional old woman's dress; but when, in the second scene, the +bonnet went on,--an ancient marvel of exasperated front and crown, +pitched over the forehead like an enormous helmet, and decorated, upon +the side next the audience, with black and white eagle plumes +springing straight up from the fastening of an American shield,--above +all, when the dog himself appeared, "dressed in his clothes" (a cane, +an all-round white collar and a natty little tie, a pair of +three-dollar tasselled kid-gloves dangling from his left paw, and a +small monitor hat with a big spread-eagle stuck above the brim,--the +remaining details of costume being of no consequence),--when he stood +"reading the news" from a huge bulletin,--"LATEST BY CABLE FROM +EUROPE,"--nobody could mistake the personification of Old and Young +America. + +It had cost much pains and many dainty morsels, to drill Sir Charles, +with all the aid of his excellent fundamental education; and the great +fear had been that he might fail them at the last. But the scenes were +rapid, in consideration of canine infirmity. If the cupboard was +empty, Mother Hubbard's basket behind was not; he got his morsels +duly; and the audience was "requested to refrain from applause until +the end." Refrain from laughter they could not, as the idea dawned +upon them and developed; but Sir Charles was used to that in the +execution of his ordinary tricks; he could hardly have done without it +better than any other old actor. A dog knows when he is having his +day, to say nothing of doing his duty; and these things are as +sustaining to him as to anybody. This state of his mind, manifest in +his air, helped also to complete the Young America expression. Mother +Hubbard's mingled consternation and pride at each successive +achievement of her astonishing puppy were inimitable. Each separate +illustration made its point. Patriotism, especially, came in when the +undertaker, bearing the pall with red-lettered border,--Rebellion,--finds +the dog, with upturned, knowing eye, and parted jaws, suggestive as +much of a good grip as of laughter, half risen upon fore-paws, as far +from "dead" as ever, mounting guard over the old bone "Constitution." + +The curtain fell at last, amid peals of applause and calls for the +actors. + +Dakie Thayne had accompanied with the reading of the ballad, slightly +transposed and adapted. As Leslie led Sir Charles before the curtain, +in response to the continued demand, he added the concluding stanza,-- + + "The dame made a courtesy, + The dog made a bow; + The dame said, 'Your servant,' + The dog said, 'Bow-wow.'" + +Which, with a suppressed "Speak, sir!" from Frank Scherman, was +brought properly to pass. Done with cleverness and quickness from +beginning to end, and taking the audience utterly by surprise, +Leslie's little combination of wit and sagacity had been throughout a +signal success. The actors crowded round her. "We'd no idea of it!" +"Capital!" "A great hit!" they exclaimed. "Mother Hubbard is the star +of the evening," said Leonard Brookhouse. "No, indeed," returned +Leslie, patting Sir Charles's head,--"this is the dog-star." "Rather +a Sirius reflection upon the rest of us," rejoined Brookhouse, +shrugging his shoulders, as he walked off to take his place in the +"Oath," and Leslie disappeared to make ready for "Barbara Frietchie." + +Several persons, before and behind the curtain, were making up their +minds, just now, to a fresh opinion. There was nothing so very slow or +tame, after all, about Leslie Goldthwaite. Several others had known +that long ago. + +"Taking the Oath" was piquant and spirited. The touch of restive scorn +that could come out on Martha Josselyn's face just suited her part; +and Leonard Brookhouse was very cool and courteous, and handsome and +gentlemanly-triumphant as the Union officer. + +"Barbara Frietchie" was grand. Grahame Lowe played Stonewall Jackson. +They had improvised a pretty bit of scenery at the back, with a few +sticks, some paint, brown carpet-paper, and a couple of mosquito-bars;--a +Dutch gable with a lattice window, vines trained up over it, and +bushes below. It was a moving tableau, enacted to the reading of +Whittier's glorious ballad. "Only an old woman in a cap and kerchief, +putting her head out at a garret window,"--that was all; but the fire +was in the young eyes under the painted wrinkles and the snowy hair; +the arm stretched itself out quick and bravely at the very instant of +the pistol-shot that startled timid ears; one skilful movement +detached and seized the staff in its apparent fall, and the +liberty-colors flashed full in Rebel faces, as the broken lower +fragment went clattering to the stage. All depended on the one instant +action and expression. These were perfect. The very spirit of Barbara +stirred her representative. The curtain began to descend slowly, and +the applause broke forth before the reading ended. But a hand, held +up, hushed it till the concluding lines were given in thrilling tones, +as the tableau was covered from sight. + + "Barbara Frietchie's work is o'er, + And the Rebel rides on his raids no more. + + "Honor to her! and let a tear + Fall, for her sake, on Stonewall's bier. + + "Over Barbara Frietchie's grave, + Flag of Freedom and Union, wave! + + "Peace and order and beauty draw + Round thy symbol of light and law; + + "And ever the stars above look down + On thy stars below in Frederick town!" + +Then one great cheer broke forth, and was prolonged to three. + +"Not be Barbara Frietchie!" Leslie would not have missed that thrill +for the finest beauty-part of all. For the applause--that was for the +flag, of course, as Ginevra Thoresby said. + +The benches were slid out at a window upon a lower roof, the curtain +was looped up, and the footlights carried away; the "music" came up, +and took possession of the stage; and the audience hall resolved +itself into a ballroom. Under the chandelier, in the middle, a tableau +not set forth in the programme was rehearsed and added a few minutes +after. + +Mrs. Thoresby, of course, had been introduced to the general; Mrs. +Thoresby, with her bright, full, gray curls and her handsome figure, +stood holding him in conversation between introductions, graciously +waiving her privilege as new-comers claimed their modest word. Mrs. +Thoresby took possession; had praised the tableaux, as "quite +creditable, really, considering the resources we had," and was +following a slight lead into a long talk, of information and advice on +her part, about Dixville Notch. The general thought he should go +there, after a day or two at Outledge. + +Just here came up Dakie Thayne. The actors, in costume, were gradually +mingling among the audience, and Barbara Frietchie, in white hair, +from which there was not time to remove the powder, plain cap and +kerchief, and brown woolen gown, with her silken flag yet in her hand, +came with him. This boy, who "was always everywhere," made no +hesitation, but walked straight up to the central group, taking Leslie +by the hand. Close to the general, he waited courteously for a long +sentence of Mrs. Thoresby's to be ended, and then said, simply,--"Uncle +James, this is my friend Miss Leslie Goldthwaite. My brother, Dr. +Ingleside--why, where is Noll?" + +Dr. Oliver Ingleside had stepped out of the circle in the last half of +the long sentence. The Sister of Mercy--no longer in costume, however--had +come down the little flight of steps that led from the stage to the +floor. At their foot the young army surgeon was shaking hands with +Susan Josselyn. These two had had the chess-practice together--and +other practice--down there among the Southern hospitals. + +Mrs. Thoresby's face was very like some fabric subjected to chemical +experiment, from which one color and aspect has been suddenly and +utterly discharged to make room for something different and new. +Between the first and last there waits a blank. With this blank full +upon her, she stood there for one brief, unprecedented instant in her +life, a figure without presence or effect. I have seen a daguerreotype +in which were cap, hair, and collar, quite correct,--what should have +been a face rubbed out. Mrs. Thoresby rubbed herself out, and so +performed her involuntary tableau. + +"Of course I might have guessed. I wonder it never occurred to me," +Mrs. Linceford was replying, presently, to her vacuous inquiry. "The +name seemed familiar, too; only he called himself 'Dakie.' I remember +perfectly now. Old Jacob Thayne, the Chicago millionaire. He married +pretty little Mrs. Ingleside, the Illinois Representative's widow, +that first winter I was in Washington. Why, Dakie must be a dollar +prince!" + +He was just Dakie Thayne, though, for all that. He and Leslie and +Cousin Delight,--the Josselyns and the Inglesides,--dear Miss +Craydocke, hurrying up to congratulate,--Marmaduke Wharne looking on +without a shade of cynicism in the gladness of his face, and Sin Saxon +and Frank Scherman flitting up in the pauses of dance and promenade,--well, +after all, these were the central group that night. The pivot of the +little solar system was changed; but the chief planets made but slight +account of that; they just felt that it had grown very warm and +bright. + +"O Chicken Little!" Mrs. Linceford cried to Leslie Goldthwaite, giving +her a small shake with her good-night kiss at her door. "How did you +know the sky was going to fall? And how have you led us all this chase +to cheat Fox Lox at last?" + +But that wasn't the way Chicken Little looked at it. She didn't care +much for the bit of dramatic _dénouement_ that had come about by +accident,--like a story, Elinor said,--or the touch of poetic justice +that tickled Mrs. Linceford's world-instructed sense of fun. Dakie +Thayne wasn't a sum that needed proving. It was very nice that this +famous general should be his uncle,--but not at all strange: they were +just the sort of people he _must_ belong to. And it was nicest of all +that Dr. Ingleside and Susan Josselyn should have known each other,--"in +the glory of their lives," she phrased it to herself, with a little +flash of girl-enthusiasm and a vague suggestion of romance. + +"Why didn't you tell us?" Mrs. Linceford said to Dakie Thayne next +morning. "Everybody would have--" She stopped. She could not tell this +boy to his frank face that everybody would have thought more and made +more of him because his uncle had got brave stars on his shoulders, +and his father had died leaving two millions or so of dollars. + +"I know they would have," said Dakie Thayne. "That was just it. What +is the use of telling things? I'll wait till I've done something that +tells itself." + +There was a pretty general break-up at Outledge during the week +following. The tableaux were the _finale_ of the season's gayety,--of +this particular little episode, at least, which grew out of the +association together of these personages of our story. There might +come a later set, and later doings; but this last week of August sent +the mere summer-birds fluttering. Madam Routh must be back in New +York, to prepare for the reopening of her school; Mrs. Linceford had +letters from her husband, proposing to meet her by the first, in +N----, and so the Haddens would be off; the Thoresbys had stayed as +long as they cared to in any one place where there seemed no special +inducement; General Ingleside was going through the mountains to +Dixville Notch. Rose Ingleside,--bright and charming as her name,--just +a fit flower to put beside our Ladies' Delight,--finding out, at once, +as all girls and women did, her sweetness, and leaning more and more +to the rare and delicate sphere of her quiet attraction,--Oliver and +Dakie Thayne,--these were his family party; but there came to be +question about Leslie and Delight. Would not they make six? And since +Mrs. Linceford and her sisters must go, it seemed so exactly the thing +for them to fall into; otherwise Miss Goldthwaite's journey hither +would hardly seem to have been worth while. Early September was so +lovely among the hills; opportunities for a party to Dixville Notch +would not come every day; in short, Dakie had set his heart upon it, +Rose begged, the general was as pressing as true politeness would +allow, and it was settled. + +"Only" Sin Saxon said, suddenly, on being told, "I should like if you +would tell me, General Ingleside, the precise military expression +synonymous with 'taking the wind out of one's sails.' Because that's +just what you've done for me." + +"My dear Miss Saxon! In what way?" + +"Invited my party,--some of them,--and taken my road. That's all. I +spoke first, though I didn't speak out loud. See here!" And she +produced a letter from her mother, received that morning. "Observe the +date, if you please,--August 24. 'Your letter reached me yesterday' +And it had travelled round, as usual, two days in papa's pocket, +beside. I always allow for that. 'I quite approve your plan; provided, +as you say, the party be properly matronized, I--h'm--h'm!--That +refers to little explanations of my own. Well, all is, I was going to +do this very thing,--with enlargements. And now Miss Craydocke and I +may collapse." + +"Why? when with you and your enlargements we might make the most +admirable combination? At least, the Dixville road is open to all." + +"Very kind of you to say so,--the first part, I mean,--if you could +possibly have helped it. But there are insurmountable obstacles on that +Dixville road--to us. There's a lion in the way. Don't you see we should +be like the little ragged boys running after the soldier-company? We +couldn't think of putting ourselves in that 'bony light,' especially +before the eyes of Mrs.--Grundy." This last, as Mrs. Thoresby swept +impressively along the piazza in full dinner costume. + +"Unless you go first, and we run after you," suggested the general. + +"All the same. You talked Dixville to her the very first evening, you +know. No, nobody can have an original Dixville idea any more. And I've +been asking them,--the Josselyns, and Mr. Wharne and all, and was just +coming to the Goldthwaites; and now I've got them on my hands, and I +don't know where in the world to take them. That comes of keeping an +inspiration to ripen. Well, it's a lesson of wisdom! Only, as Effie +says about her housekeeping, the two dearest things in living are +butter and experience!" + +Amidst laughter and banter and repartee, they came to it, of course; +the most delightful combination and joint arrangement. Two wagons, the +general's and Dr. Ingleside's two saddle-horses, Frank Scherman's +little mountain mare, that climbed like a cat, and was sure-footed as +a chamois,--these with a side-saddle for the use of a lady sometimes +upon the last, make up the general equipment of the expedition. + +All Mrs. Grundy knew was that they were wonderfully merry and excited +together, until this plan came out as the upshot. + +The Josselyns had not quite consented at once, though their faces were +bright with a most thankful appreciation of the kindness that offered +them such a pleasure; nay, that entreated their companionship as a +thing so genuinely coveted to make its own pleasure complete. Somehow, +when the whole plan developed, there was a little sudden shrinking on +Sue's part, perhaps on similar grounds to Sin Saxon's perception of +insurmountable obstacles; but she was shyer than Sin of putting forth +her objections, and the general zeal and delight, and Martha's longing +look, unconscious of cause why not, carried the day. + +There had never been a blither setting off from the Giant's Cairn. All +the remaining guests were gathered to see them go. There was not a +mote in the blue air between Outledge and the crest of Washington. All +the subtile strength of the hills--ores and sweet waters and resinous +perfumes and breath of healing leaf and root distilled to absolute +purity in the clear ether that only sweeps from such bare, thunder-scoured +summits--made up the exhilarant draught in which they drank the +mountain-joy and received afar off its baptism of delight. + +It was beautiful to see the Josselyns so girlish and gay; it was +lovely to look at old Miss Craydocke, with her little tremors of +pleasure, and the sudden glistenings in her eyes; Sin Saxon's pretty +face was clear and noble, with its pure impulse of kindliness, and her +fun was like a sparkle upon deep waters. Dakie Thayne rushed about in +a sort of general satisfaction which would not let him be quiet +anywhere. Outsiders looked with a kind of new, half-jealous respect on +these privileged few who had so suddenly become the "General's party." +Sin Saxon whispered to Leslie Goldthwaite,--"It's neither his nor +mine, honeysuckle; it's yours,--Henny-penny and all the rest of it, as +Mrs. Linceford said." Leslie was glad with the crowning gladness of +her bright summer. + +"That girl has played her cards well," Mrs. Thoresby said of her, a +little below her voice, as she saw the general himself making her +especially comfortable with Cousin Delight in a back seat. + +"Particularly, my dear madam," said Marmaduke Wharne, coming close and +speaking with clear emphasis, "as she could not possibly have known +that she had a trump in her hand!" + + * * * * * + +To tell of all that week's journeying, and of Dixville Notch,--the +adventure, the brightness, the beauty, and the glory,--the sympathy of +abounding enjoyment, the waking of new life that it was to some of +them,--the interchange of thought, the cementing of friendships,--would +be to begin another story, possibly a yet longer one. Leslie's summer, +according to the calendar, is already ended. Much in this world must +pause unfinished, or come to abrupt conclusion. People "die suddenly +at last," after the most tedious illnesses. "Married and lived happy +ever after," is the inclusive summary that winds up many an old tale +whose time of action only runs through hours. If in this summer-time +with Leslie Goldthwaite your thoughts have broadened somewhat with +hers, some questions for you have been partly answered; if it has +appeared to you how a life enriches itself by drawing toward and going +forth into the life of others through seeing how this began with her, +it is no unfinished tale that I leave with you. + +A little picture I will give you farther on, a hint of something +farther yet, and say good by. + +Some of them came back to Outledge, and stayed far into the still rich +September. Delight and Leslie sat before the Green Cottage one +morning, in the heart of a golden haze and a gorgeous bloom. All +around the feet of the great hills lay the garlands of early-ripened +autumn. You see nothing like it in the lowlands;--nothing like the +fire of the maples, the carbuncle-splendor of the oaks, the flash of +scarlet sumachs and creepers, the illumination of every kind of little +leaf, in its own way, upon which the frost-touch comes down from those +tremendous heights that stand rimy in each morning's sun, trying on +white caps that by and by they shall pull down heavily over their +brows, till they cloak all their shoulders also in the like sculptured +folds, to stand and wait, blind, awful chrysalides, through the long +winter of their death and silence. + +Delight and Leslie had got letters from the Josselyns and Dakie Thayne. +There was news in them such as thrills always the half-comprehending +sympathies of girlhood. Leslie's vague suggestion of romance had +become fulfilment. Dakie Thayne was wild with rejoicing that dear old +Noll was to marry Sue. "She had always made him think of Noll, and his +ways and likings, ever since that day of the game of chess that by his +means came to grief. It was awful slang, but he could not help it: it +was just the very jolliest go!" + +Susan Josselyn's quiet letter said,--"That kindness which kept us on +and made it beautiful for us, strangers, at Outledge, has brought to +me, by God's providence, this great happiness of my life." + +After a long pause of trying to take it in, Leslie looked up. "What a +summer this has been! So full,--so much has happened! I feel as if I +had been living such a great deal!" + +"You have been living in others' lives. You have had a great deal to +do with what has happened." + +"O Cousin Delight! I have only been _among_ it! I could not _do_ +--except such a very little." + +"There is a working from us beyond our own. But if our working runs +with that--? You have done more than you will ever know, little one." +Delight Goldthwaite spoke very tenderly. Her own life, somehow, had +been closely touched, through that which had grown and gathered about +Leslie. "It depends on that abiding. 'In me, and I in you; so shall ye +bear much fruit.'" + +She stopped. She would not say more. Leslie thought her talking rather +wide of the first suggestion; but this child would never know, as +Delight had said, what a centre, in her simple, loving way, she had +been for the working of a purpose beyond her thought. + +Sin Saxon came across the lawn, crowned with gold and scarlet, +trailing creepers twined about her shoulders, and flames of beauty in +her full hands. "Miss Craydocke says she praised God with every leaf +she took. I'm afraid I forgot to--for the little ones. But I was so +greedy and so busy, getting them all for her. Come, Miss Craydocke; +we've got no end of pressing to do, to save half of them!" + +"She can't do enough for her. O Cousin Delight, the leaves _are_ +glorified, after all! Asenath never was so charming; and she is more +beautiful than ever!" + +Delight's glance took in also another face than Asenath's, grown into +something in these months that no training or taking thought could +have done for it. "Yes," she said, in the same still way in which she +had spoken before, "that comes, too,--as God wills. All things shall +be added." + + * * * * * + +My hint is of a Western home, just outside the leaping growth and +ceaseless stir of a great Western city; a large, low, cosy mansion, +with a certain Old-World mellowness and rest in its aspect,--looking +forth, even, as it does on one side, upon the illimitable sunset-ward +sweep of the magnificent promise of the New; on the other, it catches +a glimpse, beyond and beside the town, of the calm blue of a +fresh-water ocean. + +The place is "Ingleside"; the general will call it by no other than +the family name,--the sweet Scottish synonym for Home-corner. And +here, while I have been writing and you reading these pages, he has +had them all with him; Oliver and Susan, on their bridal journey, +which waited for summertime to come again, though they have been six +months married; Rose, of course, and Dakie Thayne, home in vacation +from a great school where he is studying hard, hoping for West Point +by and by; Leslie Goldthwaite, who is Dakie's inspiration still; and +our Flower, our Pansie, our Delight,--golden-eyed Lady of innumerable +sweet names. + +The sweetest and truest of all, says the brave soldier and high-souled +gentleman, is that which he has persuaded her to wear for life,--Delight +Ingleside. + + + + +A CASE OF COINCIDENCE + +By Rose Terry Cooke + + +She was a queer old lady, was Grandmother Grant; she was not a bit +like other grandmothers; she was short and fat and rosy as a winter +apple, with a great deal of snow-white hair set up in a big puff on +top of her head, and eyes as black as huckleberries, always puckered +up with smiles or laughter. + +She never would wear a cap. + +"I can't be bothered with 'em!" she said: and when Amelia Rutledge, +who was determined her grandma should, as she said, "look half-way +decent," made her two beautiful little mob caps, soft and fluffy, and +each with a big satin bow, one lavender and one white, put on to show +where the front was, Grandma never put them on right; the bow was over +one ear or behind, or the cap itself was awry, and in the end she +pulled them off and stuck them on a china jar in the parlor, or a tin +canister on the kitchen shelf, and left them there till flies and dust +ruined them. + +"Amelia's as obstinate as a pig!" said the old lady: "she would have +me wear 'em, and I wouldn't!" + +That was all, but it was enough; not a grandchild ever made her +another cap. Moreover Grandmother Grant always dressed in one fashion; +she had a calico dress for morning and a black silk for the afternoon, +made with an old-fashioned surplice waist, with a thick plaited ruff +about her throat; she sometimes tied a large white apron on, but only +when she went into the kitchen; and she wore a pocket as big as three +of yours, Matilda, tied on underneath and reached through a slit in +her gown. Therein she kept her keys, her smelling-bottle, her +pocket-book, her handkerchief and her spectacles, a bit of flagroot +and some liquorice stick. I mean when I say this, that all these +things belonged in her pocket, and she meant to keep them there; but +it was one peculiarity of the dear old lady, that she always lost her +necessary conveniences, and lost them every day. + +"Maria!" she would call out to her daughter in the next room, "have +you seen my spectacles?" + +"No, mother; when did you have them?" + +"Five minutes ago, darning Harry's stockings; but never mind, there's +another pair in the basket." + +In half an hour when Gerty came into her room for something she +needed, Grandmother would say: + +"Gerty, do look on the floor and see if my specs lie anywhere around." + +Gerty couldn't find them, and then Grandma would say: + +"Probably they dropped out on the grass under the window, you can see +when you go down; but give me my gold pair out of my upper drawer." + +And when Mrs. Maria went to call her mother down to dinner she would +find her hunting all about the room, turning her cushions over, +peering into the wood-basket, shaking out the silk quilt, and say +"What is it you want, mother?" + +"My specs, dear. I can't find one pair." + +"But there are three on your head now!" and Grandma would sit down and +laugh till she shook all over, as if it were the best joke in the +world to push your spectacles up over the short white curls on your +forehead, one pair after another, and forget all about them. + +She mislaid her handkerchief still oftener. Gerty would sometimes pick +up six of these useful articles in one day where the old lady dropped +them as she went about the house; but the most troublesome of all her +habits was a way she had of putting her pocket-book in some queer +place every night, or if ever she left home in the day-time, and then +utterly forgetting where she had secreted it from the burglars or +thieves she had all her life expected. + +The house she lived in was her own, but Doctor White who had married +her daughter Maria, rented it of her, and the rent paid her board; she +had a thousand dollars a year beside, half of which she reserved for +her dress and her charities, keeping the other half for her Christmas +gifts to her children and grandchildren. There were ten of these last, +and the ten always needed something. Gerty White, the doctor's +daughter, was twelve years old; she had three brothers: Tom, John, and +Harry, all older than she was. Mrs. Rutledge, who had been Annie +Grant, was a widow with three daughters--Sylvia, Amelia, and Anne, +these latter two now out in society and always glad of new dresses, +gloves, bonnets, ribbons, lace, and the thousand small fineries girls +never have to their full satisfaction. There were Thomas Grant's two +girls of thirteen and fifteen, Rosamond and Kate, and his little boy +Hal, crippled in his babyhood so that he must always go on crutches, +but as bright and happy as Grandma herself, and her prime favorite. + +Now it was Grandma's way to draw her money out of the bank two weeks +before Christmas, and go into Boston with Mrs. White to buy all the +things she had previously thought over for these ten and their +parents; and one winter she had made herself all ready to take the +ten-o'clock train, and had just taken her pocket-book out of the +drawer when she was called down-stairs to see a poor woman who had +come begging for some clothes for her husband. + +"Come right upstairs, Mrs. Slack," said Grandma. "I don't have many +applications for men's things, so I guess there's a coat of Mr. +Grant's put away in the camphor chest, and maybe a vest or so; you sit +right down by my fire whilst I go up to the garret and look." + +It took Grandma some time to find the clothes under all the shawls and +blankets in the chest, and when she had given them to Mrs. Slack she +had to hurry to the station with her daughter, and the cars being on +the track they did not stop to get tickets, but were barely in time to +find seats when the train rolled off. The conductor came round in a +few minutes and Grandma put her hand in her pocket, suddenly turned +pale, opened her big satchel and turned out all its contents, stood up +and shook her dress, looked on the floor, and when Mrs. White said in +amazement, "What _is_ the matter, mother?" she answered curtly, "I've +lost my pocket-book." + +"Was it in your pocket?" asked Maria. + +"Yes; at least I s'pose so: I certainly took it out of my drawer, for +I noticed how heavy 'twas; that new cashier gave me gold for most of +it, you see." + +"You'd have known then if you dropped it on the way, mother." + +"I should think so: any way, I can't go to Boston without it! We may +as well stop at the next station and go back." + +So back they went; asked at the ticket office if any such thing had +been picked up on the platform, and leaving a description of it, went +rather forlornly back to the house. Here a terrible upturning of +everything took place; drawers were emptied, cupboards ransacked, +trunks explored, even the camphor chest examined to its depths, and +everything in it shaken out. + +"You don't suspect Mrs. Slack?" inquired Maria. + +"Sally Slack! no, indeed. I've known her thirty year, Maria; she's +honest as the daylight." + +Still Maria thought it best to send for Mrs. Slack and inquire if she +had seen it when she was at the house. + +"Certain, certain!" answered the good woman. "I see Mis' Grant hev it +into her hand when she went up charmber; I hedn't took no notice of it +before, but she spoke up an' says, says she, 'I'll go right up now, +Mis' Slack, for I'm in some of a hurry, bein' that I'm a goin' in the +cars to Bosstown for to buy our folkses' Christmas things;' so then I +took notice 't she hed a pocket-book into her hand." + +This was valuable testimony, and Mrs. Slack's face of honest concern +and sympathy showed her innocence in the matter. Next day there was an +advertisement put in the paper, for the family concluded Grandma must +have dropped her money in the street going to the station, but the +advertisement proved as fruitless as the search, and for once in her +life the dear old lady was downcast enough. + +"The first time I never gave 'em a thing on Christmas! I do feel real +downhearted about it, Maria. There's Annie's three girls lotted so on +their gloves an' nicknacks for parties this winter, for I was goin' to +give them gold pieces so's they could get what they wanted sort of +fresh when they _did_ want it; and poor Gerty's new cloak!" + +"Oh, never mind that, mother. I can sponge and turn and fix over the +old one; a plush collar and cuffs will make it all right." + +"But there's the boys. Tom did want that set of tools and a bench for +'em; and I reckoned on seeing Harry's eyes shine over a real +Newfoundland dog. That makes me think; won't you write to that man in +New York? I've changed my mind about the dog. And Jack can't go to +Thomas's now for vacation; oh dear!" + +"_Don't_ worry, mother," said Maria; but Grandma went on: + +"Kate and Rosy too, they won't get their seal muffs and caps, and dear +little Hal! how he will long for the books I promised him. It's real +trying, Maria!" and Grandma wiped a tear from her eyes, a most unusual +symptom. + +But it was her way to make the best of things, and she sat down at +once to tell Thomas of her loss, and then put it out of her mind as +well as she might. + +It spoke well for all those ten grandchildren that they each felt far +more sorry for Grandmother Grant's disappointment than their own, and +all resolved to give her a present much nicer and more expensive than +ever before, pinching a little on their other gifts to the end; and +because they had to spare from their own presents for this laudable +purpose, it was natural enough that not one should tell another what +they meant to send her, lest it should seem too extravagant in +proportion to what the rest of the family received. Christmas morning +the arrival began. The stocking of Grandpa's which Gerty had insisted +on hanging to the knob of Grandma's door was full, and when she came +down to breakfast she brought it with her still unsearched, that the +family might enjoy her surprise. + +At the top a square parcel tied with blue ribbon was marked "from +Gerty," and proved to be a little velvet porte-monnaie. + +"Dear child! how thoughtful!" said Grandma, giving her a kiss, and not +observing that the doctor looked funnily at Mrs. White across the +table. + +The next package bore John's name and disclosed a pocket-book of +Russia leather. + +"So useful!" said Grandma, with a twinkle of gratitude in her kind old +eyes. + +Harry emitted a long low whistle, and his eyes shone as the next paper +parcel with his name on it showed an honest black leather pocket-book +with a steel clasp. + +Grandma had to laugh. Doctor White roared, and Tom looked a little +rueful as his bundle produced another wallet as like to Harry's as two +peas in a pod: + +"Dear boys!" said Grandma, shaking like a liberal bowl of jelly with +the laughter she tried to suppress in vain; but it was the boys' turn +to shout as further explorations into the foot of the old blue +stocking brought up a lovely seal-skin wallet from their mother, and +a voluminous yellow leather one from the doctor. + + "Six souls with but a single thought; + Six hearts that beat as one;" + +misquoted Mrs. Maria, and a chorus of laughter that almost rattled the +windows followed her. They were still holding their sides and bursting +out afresh every other minute, when little Sylvia Rutledge sailed into +the dining-room with a delicate basket in her hand. + +"Merry Christmas!" said she, "but you seem to have it already." + +The boys all rushed at once to explain. + +"Wait a minute," said she, "till I have given Grandma her gifts," and +she produced successively from her basket four parcels. + +Sylvia's held another velvet porte-monnaie; Annie's contained a second +of hand-painted kid, daisies on a black ground; and Amelia's was a +third pocket-book of gray canvas with Russia leather corners and +straps; while Mrs. Rutledge's tiny packet produced an old-fashioned +short purse, with steel fringe and clasp, which she had knit herself +for her mother. + +How can words tell the laughter which hailed this repetition? + +The boys rolled off their chairs and roared till their very sides +ached; tears streamed down Mrs. White's fair face; Grace gazed at the +presents with a look half rueful and half funny, while the doctor's +vigorous "haw! haw! haw!" could have been heard half a mile had it not +been happily the season of shut doors and windows, while Sylvia +herself perceiving the six pocket-books which had preceded her +basketful, appreciated the situation and laughed all the harder +because she was not tired with a previous fit of mirth, and Grandma +sat shaking and chuckling in her chair, out of breath to be sure, but +her face rosy and her eyes shining more than ever. + +Suddenly a loud knock at the front door interrupted their laughter. +Tom ran to admit the intruder; it was the expressman with a box from +New York directed in uncle Tom's hand to Mrs. J. G. Grant. + +"Something better than pocket-books this time, mother!" said the +doctor, as Tom ran for the screwdriver; but alas! the very first +bundle that rolled out and fell heavily to the floor, proved when +picked up to be indeed another pocket-book, cornered and clasped with +silver, and Grandma's initials on the clasp; beautiful as the gift was +it was thrust aside with a certain impatience, for the next package, +labelled "from Rosamond," but opened only to display the very +counterpart of Amelia's gift; and a paper box with Kate's script +outside held the recurrent pocket-book again in black velvet and gilt +corners, while a little carved white-wood box, the work of Hal's +patient fingers, showed within its lid a purse of silvered links which +had cost all his year's savings. + +This was the last touch. Hitherto their curiosity as one thing was +displayed after another had kept them in a sort of bubbling quiet, but +this final development was too much; they laughed so loud and so long +that old Hannah, hurrying from the kitchen and opening the door to see +what was the matter, looked thunderstruck as she beheld the whole +family shaking, choking, rolling about or holding on to each other in +roars of sidesplitting laughter, while fourteen purses and pocket-books +made the breakfast table look like a fancy fair. + +"I thought I heard a crackling of thorns, as scripter says," she +growled. "Be you a-going to set up a fancy store, Mis' White?" + +"Bring in breakfast, Hannah," said the doctor, recovering himself. +"It's a melancholy truth that we can't eat pocket-books!" + +For the satisfaction of the curious I must explain that the next May, +when a certain old clock on the landing of the garret stairs was taken +down to be put in order and made into a household god after the modern +rage for such things, right under it lay Grandma's pocket-book intact. + +"Well, now I remember!" said the astonished old lady, who never did +remember where she had hidden anything till somebody else found it. + +"I was goin' up to the chest to get out those things of husband's for +Sally Slack, and I thought I wouldn't leave my pocket-book in my room, +'twould be putting temptation in her way, which isn't really right if +a person is ever so honest; we're all frail as you may say when our +time comes, and I didn't have my cloak on to put it in the pocket, and +my under pocket was full, so I just slipped it under the clock case as +I went up, feeling certain sure I should remember it because I never +put it there before." + +But the family voted that no harm had been done after all, for next +Christmas the Rutledge girls each had a lovely silk party dress from +the double fund; Gracie's cloak was mated by the prettiest hat and +muff; Tom had his wild desire for a bicycle fulfilled; Harry owned a +real gold watch which was far better than a dog; and Jack's ten gold +eagles took him in the spring to Niagara and down the St. Lawrence, a +journey never to be forgotten. Kate and Rosamond had their sealskin +caps with muffs, gloves and velvet skirts to correspond with and +supplement their last year's jackets; and Hal not only had his +precious books, but a bookcase for them, and the pocket-books were +redistributed among their givers; so that in the end good and not evil +came of Grandma's losing her Christmas pocket-book! + + + + +THE FLIGHT OF THE DOLLS + +By Lucretia P. Hale + + +How could the heart of doll wish for anything more in such a +baby-house! It was fitted up in the most complete style; there were +coal-hods for all the grates, and gas-fixtures in the drawing-rooms, +and a register (which would not _rege_., however!), carpets on all the +floors, books on the centre-table; everything to make a sensible doll +comfortable. But they were not happy, these dolls, seven of them, not +counting the paper dolls. They were very discontented. They had always +been happy till the Spanish Doll had come among them, dressed in a +gypsy dress, yellow and black lace. But she had talked to them so much +about the world that all were anxious to go abroad and see it, +all,--from the large one that could open and shut her eyes, to the +littlest China that could not sit down. + +So they set out, one clear night. The Spanish Doll had put a chip in +the play-room window that made it easier to open; and the Large Doll +had slept outside the baby-house, so she opened the doors and let out +the others. All stepped safely upon the piazza. Where should they go +first? + +The first plan was for the lamb-pen, and they made for it directly. +The Spanish Doll walked through its slats; the Large Doll pushed in +the little ones, but when she came to go in herself, horrible to +say--she _stuck_! The Spanish Doll pulled, and the little dolls ran +out and pushed. No use! + +If Angelica Maria could have seen her Large Doll now! But no, Angelica +Maria's head was asleep on its pillow; she little knew of the escape +of her dolls! + +At last said the Large Doll, "Wake up the Lamb and tell him!" Which +they did, and he came and butted, till he butted the Large Doll out. +"It is no use," said the Large Doll, "we must try something else," and +the rest all came out of the pen. They went to the dovecote. The +Spanish Doll quickly climbed the ladder; so could the Large Doll. But +when she turned to help the little ones, her head was too heavy, and +she was not stiff enough to stoop. "We must try something else," said +she, and the Spanish Doll had to come down, scolding Spanish all the +way. Then they walked down the garden walk, all in a procession, the +Large Doll leading the way; they reached the arbor at the foot of the +garden. "Let us all sit in a row here," said the Large Doll. So they +got upon the seat, facing the door, running up a board that was laid +against the seat. Here they sat till the morning began to dawn. +Angelica Maria could have seen them now, but she was still fast asleep +on her pillow. + +"This will never do," exclaimed the Large Doll, as soon as light came, +"for they can see us from the play room, our eyes all in a row." They +must hide during the day time, and start on their journey when night +should come again. But where should they go? They walked up and down +the green alleys. The scarlet poppies nodded to them sleepily, and the +roses put out a thorn or two, to get them to stop. The little China +would have been very tired, but a broad-backed Toad kindly offered to +carry her. If Angelica Maria could have seen them now! + +"Let us speak to some of the animals," said the Large Doll, "and ask +where we shall hide." + +"Not the Cat," said a middle-sized Doll, "for she makes up faces." + +"Suppose we ask the birds," said the Large Doll, for they were just +waking up. The Spanish Doll soon made acquaintance with an Oriole, who +agreed to take her up to his nest for the day. It was just fitted up, +and Mrs. had not moved in. Fortunately the Spanish Doll was quite +slender, so the Oriole could lift her, and her dress matched his +feathers. The squirrels kindly took some of the others into their +nests under the beech-tree, and the Large Doll tucked the littlest +China into a fox-glove. "Where shall I go myself?" thought she. "There +is one comfort; if I want to go to sleep, I can shut my eyes, which +none of the rest can do wherever they are." So she walked round till +she came to a water-melon, with a three-cornered piece cut out. She +climbed up on a Rabbit's back, and looked in. A cat had eaten out the +inside. "This will do very well for me," said she, "and I feel like +having a nap by this time, if only somebody would pull my wire!" The +Rabbit knew of a dragon-fly who was strong in his feelers; but the +Large Doll had an objection to dragon-flies, so she flung herself in +with a jounce, and that closed her eyes. The Rabbit tucked in her +skirts, and there she was. + +Could Angelica Maria have seen them now! Some hidden among the low +branches of the spruces, where the robins had invited them; some still +chatting in the bushes, with the jays; the Spanish Doll swinging in +the Oriole's nest, way up in the elm. That was life! + +But Angelica Maria was calmly eating her breakfast. A friend had +invited her to a picnic for the day, so, instead of thinking of her +dolls she was planning what she should carry. + +One thought she did give to her Large Doll. She wished to take her to +the picnic. But, of course, she could not be found! If the Large Doll +had only known, how she would have regretted that she had run away! +For she was fond of picnics, and now she was sleeping in this damp +melon! + +But she knew nothing of it till the Spanish Doll came to wake her, and +tell her that all the family had gone away for the day. Far up in the +Oriole's nest in the elm tree, the Spanish Doll had seen them go. Now, +if ever, was the time for fun. So the Large Doll came out of her +melon, jumped open her eyes, assembled the rest, and asked what they +should do. A large Dor-bug who was going that way, advised them to try +the strawberry bed. "Oh, yes," all exclaimed, "the strawberry bed!" + +The procession was formed but two were missing! In passing the +fox-gloves, where the little China had been hidden, many had shut up +never to open again, and she could not be found. A middling-sized +Doll, with boots, was missing also! In vain they called; there was no +answer. + +The Spanish Doll ran up a nasturtium vine, to see that all was safe. +She sat on a scarlet nasturtium at the very top of the post, and +declared "all was quiet in the strawberry bed," and came down. + +What a jolly time they had among the strawberries! The Large Doll sat +under a vine, and the strawberries dropped into her mouth, and the +stiffer dolls stood up and helped themselves. Such fun as they had! +They got strawberries all over their faces, and their hands, and their +light dresses! This they liked so much, for they usually had to be +careful. How they chatted, and one told how the squirrels lived, and +another about the robins. And the Spanish Doll told how delightful it +was up in the Oriole's nest. She had half a mind to hire it for the +summer. All this was much more charming than their dull baby-house; +though the Large Doll declared she had been used all her life to +better society than she had yet found in the melon. + +But all this festivity was put an end to by a sudden shower. The +Spanish Doll, afraid for her black lace, made for a hen-coop, where +she had a battle with a Poland. The rest ran into the summer-house. + +As soon as the rain ceased, however, all came out from their +hiding-places. There was a beautiful rainbow in the sky, and as the +dolls walked down the alley, they suddenly saw that the garden gate +was open. They ran eagerly toward it, and soon were out in the Wide +World! They crossed the broad road, into the fields, into the meadows. +They stumbled through a potato-patch, and ran in and out of +cornstalks. In their hurry they had to stop to breathe now and then, +all but one Doll whose mouth was always open. They reached a little +stream and ran along its border, and never stopped till they came to +a shady place among some trees, by mossy rocks. Here they might be +safe, and here they stopped to think. + +Hunger was their first sensation. One of the dolls drew from her +pocket a pewter gridiron, which she had snatched from the kitchen fire +when they fled, the night before. There were three fish on it, one +red, one yellow, one blue. These they shared, and were satisfied for a +little while. How lovely was the spot, they began to say. How charming +it would be to set up housekeeping among the rushes. It was even +suggested that, from time to time, one of them might return to the +deserted baby-house, and bring from it comfortable furniture--a dish +here, a flat-iron there. But in the midst of their cheerful talk, a +terrible accident! + +The Spanish Doll was thirsty, and leaning over the edge of a brook, +she lost her balance, and fell into the water! The exhausted dolls all +rushed to the rescue. All their efforts were vain; but a large +Bull-frog kindly came to help, and lifted the Spanish Doll's head from +the stream, and propped it up against the reeds. But what a state she +was in! The bright color washed from her cheeks, her raven hair all +dimmed, the lustre of her eyes all gone. A fashionable Doll in vain +attempted consolation, suggesting the greater charms of light hair and +rats; in vain did the Large Doll speak of the romance of the +adventure, and call the Bullfrog their Don Quixote; a heavy gloom hung +over all. It was the Spanish Doll that had led them on, that had kept +up their spirits; now hers had failed, and with her feet still in the +water, she leaned her head wearily against the reeds. + +Suddenly voices were heard! Steps approached! Each doll rushed to a +hiding place. It was the voice of Angelica Maria herself! Some of the +picnic party had decided to walk down the stream, on their way home, +and Angelica Maria was among them. + +The Spanish Doll had drawn a reed across her face, to hide it, but the +Large Doll had not been able to fly quickly enough, and was left in +full view, leaning against a mullein. A blush suffused her cheek. What +was Angelica Maria's surprise! + +"Who can have brought my Large Doll here?" she exclaimed. "It must +have been the boys,"--meaning her brothers; "how wicked of them to +leave her out in that shower. And here are the twins, Euphrosyne and +Calliope, all hidden among the bushes, and dear little Eunice! They +look as if they had been in the wars! How could Tom have known we were +coming this way? How naughty of him!" + +"Perhaps he meant a little surprise," suggested her uncle. But +Angelica Maria picked up her dolls and fondled them, and were not they +glad of the rest, after that weary march? + +All but the Spanish Doll! Why had she not spoken? And would Angelica +Maria have known her Spanish Doll if she had? When the trees were left +all silent again, and the voices had died away, perhaps the Spanish +Doll was sorry she had hidden her face,--that she had not lifted up +her arms. But she was very proud. How could she have borne to be +recognized? For she felt that one of her feet was washed off by the +flowing stream, and her gay yellow and black dress soiled and torn. + +The Bull-frog at last succeeded in lifting her to the shore. A kindly +Musk-rat begged her to be his housekeeper; limping, she went into his +soft-lined house, and was grateful even for this humble abode. Often +she thought of the past, and cheered the simple fireside with tales of +adventure, with the grandeur of Life in a Baby-house, and how she +might have been the bride of an Oriole. But was she not missed in the +baby-house? Angelica Maria wept her loss, but her uncle consoled her +by telling her the Spanish Doll must have retired to one of her +castles in Spain. This cheered Angelica Maria, and she busied herself +in fitting new dresses for the poor travel-stained dolls she had left. + +So this was the end of the Flight of the Dolls. You can imagine +whether they ever tried it again, or rested satisfied with their +comfortable home. A few days after, Angelica Maria saw a little head +peeping out of a withered fox-glove. It was that of the littlest +China. She was much emaciated, having had nothing to eat but a few +drops of honey brought her by a benevolent Bee. Even these had cloyed. + +Years after, when the spout of the wood-house was cleared out, the +boots of a middling-sized Doll were seen. They belonged to the +middling-sized Doll with boots, who had clambered up to the dovecote, +and had lost her balance in the gutter. She had passed a miserable +existence, summer and winter, bewailing her fate, and looking at her +boots. + + + + +SOLOMON JOHN GOES FOR APPLES + +By Lucretia P. Hale + + +Solomon John agreed to ride to Farmer Jones's for a basket of apples, +and he decided to go on horseback. The horse was brought round to the +door. Now he had not ridden for a great while; and, though the little +boys were there to help him, he had great trouble in getting on the +horse. + +He tried a great many times, but always found himself facing the wrong +way, looking at the horse's tail. They turned the horse's head, first +up the street, then down the street; it made no difference; he always +made some mistake, and found himself sitting the wrong way. + +"Well," said he, at last, "I don't know as I care. If the horse has +his head in the right direction, that is the main thing. Sometimes I +ride this way in the cars, because I like it better. I can turn my +head easily enough, to see where we are going." So off he went, and +the little boys said he looked like a circus-rider, and they were much +pleased. + +He rode along out of the village, under the elms, very quietly. Pretty +soon he came to a bridge, where the road went across a little stream. +There a road at the side, leading down to the stream, because +sometimes waggoners watered their horses there. Solomon John's horse +turned off, too, to drink of the water. + +"Very well," said Solomon John, "I don't blame him for wanting to wet +his feet, and to take a drink, this hot day." + +When they reached the middle of the stream, the horse bent over his +head. + +"How far his neck comes into his back!" exclaimed Solomon John; and at +that very moment he found he had slid down over the horse's head, and +was sitting on a stone, looking into the horse's face. There were two +frogs, one on each side of him, sitting just as he was, which pleased +Solomon John, so he began to laugh instead of to cry. + +But the two frogs jumped into the water. + +"It is time for me to go on," said Solomon John. So he gave a jump, as +he had seen the frogs do; and this time he came all right on the +horse's back, facing the way he was going. + +"It is a little pleasanter," said he. + +The horse wanted to nibble a little of the grass by the side of the +way; but Solomon John remembered what a long neck he had, and would +not let him stop. + +At last he reached Farmer Jones, who gave him his basket of apples. + +Next he was to go on to a cider-mill, up a little lane by Farmer +Jones's house, to get a jug of cider. But as soon as the horse was +turned into the lane, he began to walk very slowly,--so slowly that +Solomon John thought he would not get there before night. He whistled, +and shouted, and thrust his knees into the horse, but still he would +not go. + +"Perhaps the apples are too heavy for him," said he. So he began by +throwing one of the apples out of the basket. It hit the fence by the +side of the road, and that started up the horse, and he went on +merrily. + +"That was the trouble," said Solomon John; "that apple was too heavy +for him." + +But very soon the horse began to go slower and slower. + +So Solomon John thought he would try another apple. This hit a large +rock, and bounded back under the horse's feet, and sent him off at a +great pace. But very soon he fell again into a slow walk. + +Solomon John had to try another apple. This time it fell into a pool +of water, and made a great splash, and set the horse out again for a +little while; he soon returned to a slow walk,--so slow that Solomon +John thought it would be to-morrow morning before he got to the +cider-mill. + +"It is rather a waste of apples," thought he; "but I can pick them up +as I come back, because the horse will be going home at a quick pace." + +So he flung out another apple; that fell among a party of ducks, and +they began to make such a quacking and a waddling, that it frightened +the horse into a quick trot. + +So the only way Solomon John could make his horse go was by flinging +his apples, now on one side, now on the other. One time he frightened +a cow, that ran along by the side of the road, while the horse raced +with her. Another time he started up a brood of turkeys, that gobbled +and strutted enough to startle twenty horses. In another place he came +near hitting a boy, who gave such a scream that it sent the horse off +at a furious rate. + +And Solomon John got quite excited himself, and he did not stop till +he had thrown away all his apples, and had reached the corner of the +cider-mill. + +"Very well," said he, "if the horse is so lazy, he won't mind my +stopping to pick up the apples on the way home. And I am not sure but +I shall prefer walking a little to riding the beast." + +The man came out to meet him from the cider-mill, and reached him the +jug. He was just going to take it, when he turned his horse's head +round, and, delighted at the idea of going home, the horse set off at +a full run without waiting for the jug. Solomon John clung to the +reins, and his knees held fast to the horse. He called out "Whoa! +whoa!" but the horse would not stop. + +He went galloping on past the boy, who stopped, and flung an apple at +him; past the turkeys, that came and gobbled at him; by the cow, that +turned and ran back in a race with them until her breath gave out; by +the ducks, that came and quacked at him; by an old donkey, that brayed +over the wall at him; by some hens, that ran into the road under the +horse's feet, and clucked at him; by a great rooster, that stood up on +a fence, and crowed at him; by Farmer Jones, who looked out to see +what had become of him; down the village street, and he never stopped +till he had reached the door of the house. + +Out came Mr. and Mrs. Peterkin, Agamemnon, Elizabeth Eliza, and the +little boys. + +Solomon John got off his horse all out of breath. + +"Where is the jug of cider?" asked Mrs. Peterkin. + +"It is at the cider-mill," said Solomon John. + +"At the mill!" exclaimed Mrs. Peterkin. + +"Yes," said Solomon John; "the little boys had better walk out for it; +they will enjoy it; and they had better take a basket; for on the way +they will find plenty of apples, scattered all along on either side of +the lane, and hens, and ducks, and turkeys, and a donkey." + +The little boys looked at each other, and went; but they stopped +first, and put on their india-rubber boots. + + + + +WILD ROBIN + +By Sophie May + + +In the green valley of the Yarrow, near the castle-keep of Norham, +dwelt an honest sonsy little family, whose only grief was an unhappy +son, named Robin. + +Janet, with jimp form, bonnie eyes, and cherry cheeks, was the best of +daughters: the boys, Sandie and Davie, were swift-footed, brave, kind, +and obedient; but Robin, the youngest, had a stormy temper, and, when +his will was crossed, he became as reckless as a reeling hurricane. +Once, in a passion, he drove two of his father's "kye," or cattle, +down a steep hill to their death. He seemed not to care for home or +kindred, and often pierced the tender heart of his mother with sharp +words. When she came at night, and "happed" the bed-clothes carefully +about his form, and then stooped to kiss his nut-brown cheeks, he +turned away with a frown, muttering, "Mither, let me be." + +It was a sad case with Wild Robin, who seemed to have neither love nor +conscience. + +"My heart is sair," sighed his mother, "wi' greeting over sich a son." + +"He hates our auld cottage and our muckle wark," said the poor father. +"Ah, weel! I could a'maist wish the fairies had him for a season, to +teach him better manners." + +This the gudeman said heedlessly, little knowing there was any danger +of Robin's being carried away to Elfland. Whether the fairies were at +that instant listening under the eaves, will never be known; but it +chanced, one day, that Wild Robin was sent across the moors to fetch +the kye. + +"I'll rin away," thought the boy: "'tis hard indeed if ilka day a +great lad like me must mind the kye. I'll gae aff; and they'll think +me dead." + +So he gaed, and he gaed, over round swelling hills, over old +battle-fields, past the roofless ruins of houses whose walls were +crowned with tall climbing grasses, till he came to a crystal sheet of +water, called St. Mary's Loch. Here he paused to take breath. The sky +was dull and lowering; but at his feet were yellow flowers, which +shone, on that gray day, like freaks of sunshine. + +He threw himself wearily upon the grass, not heeding that he had +chosen his couch within a little mossy circle known as a "fairy's +ring." Wild Robin knew that the country people would say the fays had +pressed that green circle with their light feet. He had heard all the +Scottish lore of brownies, elves, will-o'-the-wisps, and the strange +water-kelpies, who shriek with eldritch laughter. He had been told +that the queen of the fairies had coveted him from his birth, and +would have stolen him away, only that, just as she was about to seize +him from the cradle, he had _sneezed_; and from that instant the +fairy-spell was over, and she had no more control of him. + +Yet, in spite of all these stories, the boy was not afraid; and if he +had been informed that any of the uncanny people were, even now, +haunting his footsteps, he would not have believed it. + +"I see," said Wild Robin, "the sun is drawing his night-cap over his +eyes, and dropping asleep. I believe I'll e'en take a nap mysel', and +see what comes o' it." + +In two minutes he had forgotten St. Mary's Loch, the hills, the moors, +the yellow flowers. He heard, or fancied he heard, his sister Janet +calling him home. + +"And what have ye for supper?" he muttered between his teeth. + +"Parritch and milk," answered the lassie gently. + +"Parritch and milk! Whist! say nae mair! Lang, lang! may ye wait for +Wild Robin: he'll not gae back for oatmeal parritch!" + +Next a sad voice fell on his ear. + +"Mither's; and she mourns me dead!" thought he; but it was only the +far-off village-bell, which sounded like the echo of music he had +heard lang syne, but might never hear again. + +"D'ye think I'm not alive?" tolled the bell. "I sit all day in my +little wooden temple, brooding over the sins of the parish." + +"A brazen lie!" cried Robin. + +"Nay, the truth, as I'm a living soul! Wae worth ye, Robin Telfer: ye +think yersel' hardly used. Say, have your brithers softer beds than +yours? Is your ain father served with larger potatoes or creamier +buttermilk? Whose mither sae kind as yours, ungrateful chiel? Gae to +Elfland, Wild Robin; and dool and wae follow ye! dool and wae follow +ye!" + +The round yellow sun had dropped behind the hills; the evening breezes +began to blow; and now could be heard the faint trampling of small +hoofs, and the tinkling of tiny bridle-bells: the fairies were +trooping over the ground. First of all rode the queen. + + "Her skirt was of the grass-green silk, + Her mantle of the velvet fine; + At ilka tress of her horse's mane + Hung fifty silver bells and nine." + +But Wild Robin's closed eyes saw nothing; his sleep-sealed ears heard +nothing. The queen of the fairies dismounted, stole up to him, and +laid her soft fingers on his cheeks. + +"Here is a little man after my ain heart," said she: "I like his +knitted brow, and the downward curve of his lips. Knights, lift him +gently, set him on a red-roan steed, and waft him away to Fairy-land." + +Wild Robin was lifted as gently as a brown leaf borne by the wind; he +rode as softly as if the red-roan steed had been saddled with satin, +and shod with velvet. It even may be that the faint tinkling of the +bridle-bells lulled him into a deeper slumber; for when he awoke it +was morning in Fairy-land. + +Robin sprang from his mossy couch, and stared about him. Where was he? +He rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Dreaming, no doubt; but what +meant all these nimble little beings bustling hither and thither in +hot haste? What meant these pearl-bedecked caves, scarcely larger than +swallows' nests? these green canopies, overgrown with moss? He pinched +himself, and gazed again. Countless flowers nodded to him, and seemed, +like himself, on tiptoe with curiosity, he thought. He beckoned one of +the busy, dwarfish little brownies toward him. + +"I ken I'm talking in my sleep," said the lad; "but can ye tell me +what dell is this, and how I chanced to be in it?" + +The brownie might or might not have heard; but, at any rate, he +deigned no reply, and went on with his task, which was pounding seeds +in a stone mortar. + +"Am I Robin Telfer, of the Valley of Yarrow, and yet canna shake aff +my silly dreams?" + +"Weel, my lad," quoth the queen of the fairies, giving him a smart tap +with her wand, "stir yersel', and be at work; for naebody idles in +Elf-land." + +Bewildered Robin ventured a look at the little queen. By daylight she +seemed somewhat sleepy and tired; and was withal so tiny, that he +might almost have taken her between his thumb and finger, and twirled +her above his head; yet she poised herself before him on a +mullein-stalk and looked every inch a queen. + +Robin found her gaze oppressive; for her eyes were hard and cold and +gray, as if they had been little orbs of granite. + +"Get ye to work, Wild Robin!" + +"What to do?" meekly asked the boy, hungrily glancing at a few kernels +of rye which had rolled out of one of the brownie's mortars. + +"Are ye hungry, my laddie? Touch a grain of rye if ye dare! Shell +these dry beans; and if so be ye're starving, eat as many as ye can +boil in an acorn-cup." + +With these words she gave the boy a withered bean-pod, and, summoning +a meek little brownie, bade him see that the lad did not over-fill the +acorn-cup, and that he did not so much as peck at a grain of rye. + +Then glancing sternly at her prisoner, she withdrew, sweeping after +her the long train of her green robe. + +The dull days crept by, and still there seemed no hope that Wild Robin +would ever escape from his beautiful but detested prison. He had no +wings, poor laddie; and he could neither become invisible nor draw +himself through a keyhole bodily. + +It is true, he had mortal companions: many chubby babies; many +bright-eyed boys and girls, whose distracted parents were still +seeking them, far and wide, upon the earth. It would almost seem that +the wonders of Fairy-land might make the little prisoners happy. There +were countless treasures to be had for the taking, and the very dust +in the little streets was precious with specks of gold: but the poor +children shivered for the want of a mother's love; they all pined for +the dear home-people. + +If a certain task seemed to them particularly irksome, the heartless +queen was sure to find it out, and oblige them to perform it, day +after day. If they disliked any article of food, that, and no other, +were they forced to eat, or starve. + +Wild Robin, loathing his withered beans and unsalted broths, longed +intensely for one little breath of fragrant steam from the toothsome +parritch on his father's table, one glance at a roasted potato. He was +homesick for the gentle sister he had neglected, the rough brothers +whose cheeks he had pelted black and blue; and yearned for the very +chinks in the walls, the very thatch on the home-roof. + +Gladly would he have given every fairy-flower, at the root of which +clung a lump of gold ore, if he might have had his own coverlet +"happed" about him once more by the gentle hands he had despised. + +"Mither," he whispered in his dreams, "my shoon are worn, and my feet +bleed; but I'll soon creep hame, if I can. Keep the parritch warm for +me." + +Robin was as strong as a mountain-goat; and his strength was put to +the task of threshing rye, grinding oats and corn, or drawing water +from a brook. + +Every night, troops of gay fairies and plodding brownies stole off on +a visit to the upper world, leaving Robin and his companions in +ever-deeper despair. Poor Robin! he was fain to sing,-- + + "Oh that my father had ne'er on me smiled! + Oh that my mother had ne'er to me sung! + Oh that my cradle had never been rocked, + But that I had died when I was young!" + +Now, there was one good-natured brownie who pitied Robin. When he took +a journey to earth with his fellow-brownies, he often threshed rye for +the laddie's father, or churned butter in his good mother's dairy, +unseen and unsuspected. If the little creature had been watched, and +paid for these good offices, he would have left the farmhouse forever +in sore displeasure. + +To homesick Robin he brought news of the family who mourned him as +dead. He stole a silky tress of Janet's fair hair, and wondered to see +the boy weep over it; for brotherly affection is a sentiment which +never yet penetrated the heart of a brownie. The dull little sprite +would gladly have helped the poor lad to his freedom, but told him +that only on one night of the year was there the least hope, and that +was on Hallow-e'en, when the whole nation of fairies ride in +procession through the streets of earth. + +So Robin was instructed to spin a dream, which the kind brownie would +hum in Janet's ear while she slept. By this means the lassie would not +only learn that her brother was in the power of the elves, but would +also learn how to release him. + +Accordingly, the night before Hallow-e'en, the bonnie Janet dreamed +that the long-lost Robin was living in Elf-land, and that he was to +pass through the streets with a cavalcade of fairies. But, alas! how +should even a sister know him in the dim starlight, and among the +passing troops of elfish and mortal riders? The dream assured her that +she might let the first company go by, and the second; but Robin would +be one of the third:-- + + "First let pass the black, Janet, + And syne let pass the brown; + But grip ye to the milk-white steed, + And pull the rider down. + + For _I_ ride on the milk-white steed, + And aye nearest the town: + Because I was a christened lad + They gave me that renown. + + My right hand will be gloved, Janet; + My left hand will be bare; + And these the tokens I give thee, + No doubt I will be there. + + They'll shape me in your arms, Janet, + A toad, snake, and an eel; + But hold me fast, nor let me gang, + As you do love me weel. + + They'll shape me in your arms, Janet, + A dove, bat, and a swan: + Cast your green mantle over me, + I'll be myself again." + +The good sister Janet, far from remembering any of the old sins of her +brother, wept for joy to know that he was yet among the living. She +told no one of her strange dream; but hastened secretly to the Miles +Cross, saw the strange cavalcade pricking through the greenwood, and +pulled down the rider on the milk-white steed, holding him fast +through all his changing shapes. But when she had thrown her green +mantle over him, and clasped him in her arms as her own brother Robin, +the angry voice of the fairy queen was heard:-- + + "Up then spake the queen of fairies, + Out of a bush of rye, + 'You've taken away the bonniest lad + In all my companie. + + 'Had I but had the wit, yestreen, + That I have learned to-day, + I'd pinned the sister to her bed + Ere he'd been won away!'" + +However, it was too late now. Wild Robin was safe, and the elves had +lost their power over him forever. His forgiving parents and his +leal-hearted brothers welcomed him home with more than the old love. + +So grateful and happy was the poor laddie, that he nevermore grumbled +at his oatmeal parritch, or minded his kye with a scowling brow. + +But to the end of his days, when he heard mention of fairies and +brownies, his mind wandered off in a mizmaze. He died in peace, and +was buried on the banks of the Yarrow. + + + + +DEACON THOMAS WALES' WILL + +By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman + + +In the Name of God Amen! the Thirteenth Day of September One Thousand +Seven Hundred Fifty & eight, I, Thomas Wales of Braintree, in the +County of Suffolk & Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, +Gent--being in good health of Body and of Sound Disposing mind and +Memory, Thanks be given to God--Calling to mind my mortality, Do +therefore in my health make and ordain this my Last Will and +Testament. And First I Recommend my Soul into the hand of God who gave +it--Hoping through grace to obtain Salvation thro' the merits and +Mediation of Jesus Christ my only Lord and Dear Redeemer, and my body +to be Decently interd, at the Discretion of my Executer, believing at +the General Resurection to receive the Same again by the mighty Power +of God--And such worldly estate as God in his goodness hath graciously +given me after Debts, funeral Expenses &c, are Paid I give & Dispose +of the Same as Followeth-- + +_Imprimis_--I Give to my beloved Wife Sarah a good Sute of mourning +apparrel Such as she may Choose--also if she acquit my estate of Dower +and third-therin (as we have agreed) Then that my Executer return all +of Household movables she bought at our marriage & since that are +remaining, also to Pay to her or Her Heirs That Note of Forty Pound I +gave to her, when she acquited my estate and I hers. Before Division +to be made as herein exprest, also the Southwest fire-Room in my +House, a right in my Cellar, Halfe the Garden, also the Privilege of +water at the well & yard room and to bake in the oven what she hath +need of to improve her Life-time by her. + + * * * * * + +After this, followed a division of his property amongst his children, +five sons, and two daughters. The "Homeplace" was given to his sons +Ephraim and Atherton. Ephraim had a good house of his own, so he took +his share of the property in land, and Atherton went to live in the +old homestead. His quarters had been poor enough; he had not been so +successful as his brothers, and had been unable to live as well. It +had been a great cross to his wife, Dorcas, who was very high +spirited. She had compared, bitterly, the poverty of her household +arrangements with the abundant comfort of her sisters-in-law. + +Now, she seized eagerly at the opportunity of improving her style of +living. The old Wales house was quite a pretentious edifice for those +times. All the drawback to her delight was, that Grandma should have +the southwest fire-room. She wanted to set up her high-posted bedstead +with its enormous feather-bed in that, and have it for her fore-room. +Properly, it was the fore-room, being right across the entry from the +family sitting room. There was a tall chest of drawers that would fit +in so nicely between the windows, too. Take it altogether, she was +chagrined at having to give up the southwest room; but there was no +help for it--there it was in Deacon Wales' will. + +Mrs. Dorcas was the youngest of all the sons' wives, as her husband +was the latest born. She was quite a girl to some of them. Grandma had +never more than half approved of her. Dorcas was high-strung and +flighty, she said. She had her doubts about living happily with her. +But Atherton was anxious for this division of the property, and he was +her youngest darling, so she gave in. She felt lonely, and out of her +element, when everything was arranged, she established in the +southwest fire-room, and Atherton's family keeping house in the +others, though things started pleasantly and peaceably enough. + +It occurred to her that her son Samuel might have her own "help," a +stout woman, who had worked in her kitchen for many years, and she +take in exchange his little bound girl, Ann Ginnins. She had always +taken a great fancy to the child. There was a large closet out of the +southwest room, where she could sleep, and she could be made very +useful, taking steps, and running "arrants" for her. + +Mr. Samuel and his wife hesitated a little, when this plan was +proposed. In spite of the trouble she gave them, they were attached to +Ann, and did not like to part with her, and Mrs. Polly was just +getting her "larnt" her own ways, as she put it. Privately, she feared +Grandma would undo all the good she had done, in teaching Ann to be +smart and capable. Finally they gave in, with the understanding that +it was not to be considered necessarily a permanent arrangement, and +Ann went to live with the old lady. + +Mrs. Dorcas did not relish this any more than she did the appropriation +of the southwest fire-room. She had never liked Ann very well. Besides +she had two little girls of her own, and she fancied Ann rivaled them +in Grandma's affection. So, soon after the girl was established in the +house, she began to _show out_ in various little ways. + +Thirsey, her youngest child, was a mere baby, a round fat dumpling of +a thing. She was sweet, and good-natured, and the pet of the whole +family. Ann was very fond of playing with her, and tending her, and +Mrs. Dorcas began to take advantage of it. The minute Ann was at +liberty she was called upon to take care of Thirsey. The constant +carrying about such a heavy child soon began to make her shoulders +stoop and ache. Then Grandma took up the cudgels. She was smart and +high-spirited, but she was a very peaceable old lady on her own +account, and fully resolved "to put up with every thing from Dorcas, +rather than have strife in the family." She was not going to see this +helpless little girl imposed on, however. "The little gal ain't goin' +to get bent all over, tendin' that heavy baby, Dorcas," she +proclaimed. "You can jist make up your mind to it. She didn't come +here to do sech work." + +Dorcas had to make up her mind to it, but it rankled. + +Ann's principal duties were scouring "the brasses" in Grandma's room, +taking steps for her, and spinning her stint every day. Grandma set +smaller stints than Mrs. Polly. As time went on, she helped about the +cooking. She and Grandma cooked their own victuals, and ate from a +little separate table in the common kitchen. It was a very large room, +and might have accommodated several families, if they could have +agreed. There was a big oven, and a roomy fire-place. Good Deacon +Wales had probably seen no reason at all why his "beloved wife" should +not have her right therein with the greatest peace and concord. + +But it soon came to pass that Mrs. Dorcas' pots and kettles were all +prepared to hang on the trammels when Grandma's were, and an army of +cakes and pies marshalled to go in the oven when Grandma had proposed +to do some baking. Grandma bore it patiently for a long time; but Ann +was with difficulty restrained from freeing her small mind, and her +black eyes snapped more dangerously at every new offence. + +One morning, Grandma had two loaves of "riz bread," and some election +cakes, rising, and was intending to bake them in about an hour, when +they should be sufficiently light. What should Mrs. Dorcas do, but mix +up sour milk bread and some pies with the greatest speed, and fill up +the oven, before Grandma's cookery was ready! + +Grandma sent Ann out into the kitchen to put the loaves in the oven +and lo and behold! the oven was full. Ann stood staring for a minute, +with a loaf of election cake in her hands; that and the bread would be +ruined if they were not baked immediately, as they were raised enough. +Mrs. Dorcas had taken Thirsey and stepped out somewhere, and there was +no one in the kitchen. Ann set the election cake back on the table. +Then, with the aid of the tongs, she reached into the brick oven and +took out every one of Mrs. Dorcas' pies and loaves. Then she arranged +them deliberately in a pitiful semicircle on the hearth, and put +Grandma's cookery in the oven. + +She went back to the southwest room then, and sat quietly down to her +spinning. Grandma asked if she had put the things in, and she said +"Yes, ma'am," meekly. There was a bright red spot on each of her dark +cheeks. + +When Mrs. Dorcas entered the kitchen, carrying Thirsey wrapped up in +an old homespun blanket, she nearly dropped as her gaze fell on the +fireplace and the hearth. There sat her bread and pies, in the most +lamentable half-baked, sticky, doughy condition imaginable. She opened +the oven, and peered in. There were Grandma's loaves, all a lovely +brown. Out they came, with a twitch. Luckily, they were done. Her own +went in, but they were irretrievable failures. + +Of course, quite a commotion came from this. Dorcas raised her shrill +voice pretty high, and Grandma, though she had been innocent of the +whole transaction, was so blamed that she gave Dorcas a piece of her +mind at last. Ann surveyed the nice brown loaves, and listened to the +talk in secret satisfaction; but she had to suffer for it afterward. +Grandma punished her for the first time, and she discovered that that +kind old hand was pretty firm and strong. "No matter what you think, +or whether you air in the rights on't, or not, a little gal mustn't +ever sass her elders," said Grandma. + +But if Ann's interference was blamable, it was productive of one good +result--the matter came to Mr. Atherton's ears, and he had a stern +sense of justice when roused, and a great veneration for his mother. +His father's will should be carried out to the letter, he declared; +and it was. Grandma baked and boiled in peace, outwardly, at least, +after that. + +Ann was a great comfort to her; she was outgrowing her wild, +mischievous ways, and she was so bright and quick. She promised to be +pretty, too. Grandma compared her favorably with her own grandchildren, +especially Mrs. Dorcas' eldest daughter Martha, who was nearly Ann's +age. "Marthy's a pretty little gal enough," she used to say, "but she +ain't got the _snap_ to her that Ann has, though I wouldn't tell +Atherton's wife so, for the world." + +She promised Ann her gold beads, when she should be done with them, +under strict injunctions not to say anything about it till the time +came; for the others might feel hard as she wasn't her own flesh and +blood. The gold beads were Ann's ideals of beauty, and richness, +though she did not like to hear Grandma talk about being "done with +them." Grandma always wore them around her fair, plump old neck; she +had never seen her without her string of beads. + +As before said, Ann was now very seldom mischievous enough to make +herself serious trouble; but, once in a while, her natural +propensities would crop out. When they did, Mrs. Dorcas was +exceedingly bitter. Indeed, her dislike of Ann was, at all times, +smouldering, and needed only a slight fanning to break out. + +One stormy winter day, Mrs. Dorcas had been working till dark, making +candle-wicks. When she came to get tea, she tied the white fleecy +rolls together, a great bundle of them, and hung them up in the +cellar-way, over the stairs, to be out of the way. They were extra +fine wicks, being made of flax for the company candles. "I've got a +good job done," said Mrs. Dorcas, surveying them complacently. Her +husband had gone to Boston, and was not coming home till the next day, +so she had had a nice chance to work at them, without as much +interruption as usual. + +Ann, going down the cellar-stairs, with a lighted candle, after some +butter for tea, spied the beautiful rolls swinging overhead. What +possessed her to, she could not herself have told--she certainly had +no wish to injure Mrs. Dorcas' wicks--but she pinched up a little end +of the fluffy flax and touched her candle to it. She thought she would +see how that little bit would burn off. She soon found out. The flame +caught, and ran like lightning through the whole bundle. There was a +great puff of fire and smoke, and poor Mrs. Dorcas' fine candle-wicks +were gone. Ann screamed, and sprang down stairs. She barely escaped +the whole blaze coming in her face. + +"What's that!" shrieked Mrs. Dorcas, rushing to the cellar-door. Words +can not describe her feeling when she saw that her nice candle-wicks, +the fruit of her day's toil, were burnt up. + +If ever there was a wretched culprit that night, Ann was. She had not +meant to do wrong, but that, maybe, made it worse for her in one way. +She had not even gratified malice to sustain her. Grandma blamed her, +almost as severely as Mrs. Dorcas. She said she didn't know what would +"become of a little gal, that was so keerless," and decreed that she +must stay at home from school and work on candle-wicks till Mrs. +Dorcas' loss was made good to her. Ann listened ruefully. She was +scared and sorry, but that did not seem to help matters any. She did +not want any supper, and she went to bed early and cried herself to +sleep. + +Somewhere about midnight, a strange sound woke her up. She called out +to Grandma in alarm. The same sound had awakened her. "Get up, an' +light a candle, child," said she; "I'm afeard the baby's sick." + +Ann scarcely had the candle lighted, before the door opened, and Mrs. +Dorcas appeared in her nightdress--she was very pale, and trembling +all over. "Oh!" she gasped, "it's the baby. Thirsey's got the croup, +an' Atherton's away, and there ain't anybody to go for the doctor. O +what shall I do, what shall I do!" She fairly wrung her hands. + +"_Hev_ you tried the skunk's oil?" asked Grandma eagerly, +preparing to get up. + +"Yes, I have, I have! It's a good hour since she woke up, an' I've +tried everything. It hasn't done any good. I thought I wouldn't call +you, if I could help it, but she's worse--only hear her! An' +Atherton's away! Oh! what shall I do, what shall I do?" + +"Don't take on so, Dorcas," said Grandma, tremulously, but cheeringly. +"I'll come right along, an'--why, child, what air you goin' to do?" + +Ann had finished dressing herself, and now she was pinning a heavy +homespun blanket over her head, as if she were preparing to go out +doors. + +"I'm going after the doctor for Thirsey," said Ann, her black eyes +flashing with determination. + +"O will you, will you!" cried Mrs. Dorcas, catching at this new help. + +"Hush, Dorcas," said Grandma, sternly. "It's an awful storm out--jist +hear the wind blow! It ain't fit fur her to go. Her life's jist as +precious as Thirsey's." + +Ann said nothing more, but she went into her own little room with the +same determined look in her eyes. There was a door leading from this +room into the kitchen. Ann slipped through it hastily, lit a lantern +which was hanging beside the kitchen chimney, and was out doors in a +minute. + +The storm was one of sharp, driving sleet, which struck her face like +so many needles. The first blast, as she stepped outside the door, +seemed to almost force her back, but her heart did not fail her. The +snow was not so very deep, but it was hard walking. There was no +pretense of a path. The doctor lived half a mile away, and there was +not a house in the whole distance, save the Meeting House and +schoolhouse. It was very dark. Lucky it was that she had taken the +lantern; she could not have found her way without it. + +On kept the little slender, erect figure, with the fierce +determination in its heart, through the snow and sleet, holding the +blanket close over its head, and swinging the feeble lantern bravely. + +When she reached the doctor's house, he was gone. He had started for +the North Precinct early in the evening, his good wife said; he was +called down to Captain Isaac Lovejoy's, the house next to the North +Precinct Meeting House. She'd been sitting up waiting for him, it was +such an awful storm, and such a lonely road. She was worried, but she +didn't think he'd start for home that night; she guessed he'd stay at +Captain Lovejoy's till morning. + +The doctor's wife, holding her door open, as best she could, in the +violent wind, had hardly given this information to the little +snow-bedraggled object standing out there in the inky darkness, +through which the lantern made a faint circle of light, before she had +disappeared. + +"She went like a speerit," said the good woman, staring out into the +blackness in amazement. She never dreamed of such a thing as Ann's +going to the North Precinct after the doctor, but that was what the +daring girl had determined to do. She had listened to the doctor's +wife in dismay, but with never one doubt as to her own course of +proceeding. + +Straight along the road to the North Precinct she kept. It would have +been an awful journey that night for a strong man. It seemed +incredible that a little girl could have the strength or courage to +accomplish it. There were four miles to traverse in a black, howling +storm, over a pathless road, through forests, with hardly a house by +the way. + +When she reached Captain Isaac Lovejoy's house, next to the Meeting +House in the North Precinct of Braintree, stumbling blindly into the +warm, lighted kitchen, the captain and the doctor could hardly believe +their senses. She told the doctor about Thirsey; then she almost +fainted from cold and exhaustion. + +Good wife Lovejoy laid her on the settee, and brewed her some hot herb +tea. She almost forgot her own sick little girl, for a few minutes, in +trying to restore this brave child who had come from the South +Precinct in this dreadful storm to save little Thirsey Wales' life. + +When Ann came to herself a little, her first question was, if the +doctor were ready to go. + +"He's gone," said Mrs. Lovejoy, cheeringly. + +Ann felt disappointed. She had thought she was going back with him. +But that would have been impossible. She could not have stood the +journey for the second time that night, even on horseback behind the +doctor, as she had planned. + +She drank a second bowlful of herb tea, and went to bed with a hot +stone at her feet, and a great many blankets and coverlids over her. + +The next morning, Captain Lovejoy carried her home. He had a rough +wood sled, and she rode on that, on an old quilt; it was easier than +horseback, and she was pretty lame and tired. + +Mrs. Dorcas saw her coming and opened the door. When Ann came up on +the stoop, she just threw her arms around her and kissed her. + +"You needn't make the candle-wicks," said she. "It's no matter about +them at all. Thirsey's better this morning, an' I guess you saved her +life." + +Grandma was fairly bursting with pride and delight in her little gal's +brave feat, now that she saw her safe. She untied the gold beads on +her neck, and fastened them around Ann's. "There," said she, "you may +wear them to school to-day, if you'll be keerful." + +That day, with the gold beads by way of celebration, began a new era +in Ann's life. There was no more secret animosity between her and Mrs. +Dorcas. The doctor had come that night in the very nick of time. +Thirsey was almost dying. Her mother was fully convinced that Ann had +saved her life, and she never forgot it. She was a woman of strong +feelings, who never did things by halves, and she not only treated Ann +with kindness, but she seemed to smother her grudge against Grandma +for robbing her of the southwest fire-room. + + + + +DILL + +By Mary E. Wilkins Freeman + + +Dame Clementina was in her dairy, churning, and her little daughter +Nan was out in the flower-garden. The flower-garden was a little plot +back of the cottage, full of all the sweet, old-fashioned herbs. There +were sweet marjoram, sage, summer savory, lavender, and ever so many +others. Up in one corner, there was a little green bed of dill. + +Nan was a dainty, slim little maiden, with yellow, flossy hair in +short curls all over her head. Her eyes were very sweet and round and +blue, and she wore a quaint little snuff-colored gown. It had a very +short full waist, with low neck and puffed sleeves, and the skirt was +straight and narrow and down to her little heels. + +She danced around the garden, picking a flower here and there. She was +making a nosegay for her mother. She picked lavender and sweet-william +and pinks, and bunched them up together. + +Finally she pulled a little sprig of dill and ran, with that and the +nosegay, to her mother in the dairy. + +"Mother dear," said she, "here is a little nosegay for you; and what +was it I overheard you telling Dame Elizabeth about dill last night?" + +Dame Clementina stopped churning and took the nosegay. "Thank you, +Sweetheart, it is lovely," said she, "and, as for the dill--it is a +charmed plant, you know, like four-leaved clover." + +"Do you put it over the door?" asked Nan. + +"Yes. Nobody who is envious or ill-disposed, can enter into the house +if there is a sprig of dill over the door. Then I know another charm +which makes it stronger. If one just writes this verse: + + 'Alva, aden, winira mir, + Villawissen lingen; + Sanchta, wanchta, attazir, + Hor de mussen wingen' + +under the sprig of dill, every one envious, or evil-disposed, who +attempts to enter the house, will have to stop short, just where they +are, and stand there; they cannot move." + +"What does the verse mean?" asked Nan, with great eyes. + +"That, I do not know. It is written in a foreign language. But it is a +powerful charm." + +"O mother, will you write it off for me, if I will bring you a bit of +paper and a pen?" + +"Certainly," replied her mother, and wrote it off when Nan brought pen +and paper. + +"Now," said she, "you must run off and play again, and not hinder me +any longer, or I shall not get my butter made to-day." + +So Nan danced away with the verse, and the sprig of dill, and her +mother went on churning. + +She had a beautiful tall stone churn, with the sides all carved with +figures in relief. There were milkmaids and cows as natural as life +all around the churn. The dairy was charming too. The shelves were +carved stone; and the floor had a little silvery rill running right +through the middle of it, with green ferns at the sides. All along the +stone shelves were set pans full of yellow cream, and the pans were +all of solid silver, with a chasing of buttercups and daisies around +the brims. + +It was not a common dairy, and Dame Clementina was not a common +dairy-woman. She was very tall and stately, and wore her silver-white +hair braided around her head like a crown, with a high silver comb at +the top. She walked like a queen; indeed she was a noble count's +daughter. In her early youth, she had married a pretty young dairyman, +against her father's wishes; so she had been disinherited. The +dairyman had been so very poor and low down in the world, that the +count felt it his duty to cast off his daughter, lest she should do +discredit to his noble line. There was a much pleasanter, easier way +out of the difficulty, which the count did not see. Indeed, it was a +peculiarity of all his family that they never could see a way out of a +difficulty, high and noble as they were. The count only needed to have +given the poor young dairyman a few acres of his own land, and a few +bags of his own gold, and begged the king, with whom he had great +influence, to knight him, and all the obstacles would have been +removed; the dairyman would have been quite rich and noble enough for +his son-in-law. But he never thought of that, and his daughter was +disinherited. However, he made all the amends to her that he could, +and fitted her out royally for her humble station in life. He caused +this beautiful dairy to be built for her, and gave her the silver +milk-pans, and the carved stone churn. + +"My daughter shall not churn in a common wooden churn, or skim the +cream from wooden pans," he had said. + +The dairyman had been dead a good many years now, and Dame Clementina +managed the dairy alone. She never saw anything of her father, though +he lived in his castle not far off on a neighboring height. When the +sky was clear, she could see its stone towers against it. She had four +beautiful white cows, and Nan drove them to pasture; they were very +gentle. + +When Dame Clementina had finished churning, she went into the cottage. +As she stepped through the little door with clumps of sweet peas on +each side, she looked up. There was the sprig of dill and the magic +verse she had written under it. + +Nan was sitting at the window inside, knitting her stent on a blue +stocking. "Ah, Sweetheart," said her mother, laughing, "you have +little cause to pin the dill and the verse over our door. None is +likely to envy us, or to be ill disposed toward us." + +"O mother," said Nan, "I know it, but I thought it would be so nice to +feel sure. O there is Dame Golding coming after some milk. _Do_ you +suppose she will have to stop?" + +"What nonsense!" said her mother. They both of them watched Dame +Golding coming. All of a sudden, she stopped short, just outside. She +could go no further. She tried to lift her feet, but could not. + +"O mother!" cried Nan, "she has stopped!" + +The poor woman began to scream. She was frightened almost to death. +Nan and her mother were not much less frightened, but they did not +know what to do. They ran out, and tried to comfort her, and gave her +some cream to drink; but it did not amount to much. Dame Golding had +secretly envied Dame Clementina for her silver milk-pans. Nan and her +mother knew why their visitor was so suddenly rooted to the spot, of +course, but she did not. She thought her feet were paralyzed, and she +kept begging them to send for her husband. + +"Perhaps he can pull her away," said Nan, crying. How she wished she +had never pinned the dill and the verse over the door! So she set off +for Dame Golding's husband. He came running in a great hurry; but when +he had nearly reached his wife, and had his arms reached out to grasp +her, he, too, stopped short. He had envied Dame Clementina for her +beautiful white cows, and there he was fast, also. + +He began to groan and scream too. Nan and her mother ran into the +house and shut the door. They could not bear it. "What shall we do, if +any one else comes?" sobbed Nan. "O mother, there is Dame Dorothy +coming! And--yes--O she has stopped too!" Poor Dame Dorothy had envied +Dame Clementina a little for her flower-garden, which was finer than +hers, as she had to join Dame Golding and her husband. + +Pretty soon, another woman came, who had looked with envious eyes at +Dame Clementina, because she was a count's daughter; and another, who +had grudged her a fine damask petticoat which she had had before she +was disinherited, and still wore on holidays; and they both had to +stop. + +Then came three rough-looking men in velvet jackets and slouched hats, +who brought up short at the gate with a great jerk that nearly took +their breath away. They were robbers who were prowling about with a +view to stealing Dame Clementina's silver milk-pans some dark night. + +All through the day the people kept coming and stopping. It was +wonderful how many things poor Dame Clementina had to be envied by men +and women, and even children. They envied Nan for her yellow curls or +her blue eyes, or her pretty snuff-colored gown. When the sun set, the +yard in front of Dame Clementina's cottage was full of people. Lastly, +just before dark, the count himself came ambling up on a coal-black +horse. The count was a majestic old man dressed in velvet, with stars +on his breast. His white hair fell in long curls on his shoulders, and +he had a pointed beard. As he came to the gate, he caught a glimpse of +Nan in the door. + +"How I wish that little maiden was my child," said he. + +And, straightway, he stopped. His horse pawed and trembled when he +lashed him with a jewelled whip to make him go on; but he could not +stir forward one step. Neither could the count dismount from his +saddle; he sat there fuming with rage. + +Meanwhile, poor Dame Clementina and little Nan were overcome with +distress. The sight of their yard full of all these weeping people was +dreadful. Neither of them had any idea how to do away with the +trouble, because of their family inability to see their way out of a +difficulty. + +When supper time came, Nan went for the cows, and her mother milked +them into her silver milk pails, and strained off the milk into her +silver pans. Then they kindled up a fire and cooked some beautiful +milk porridge for the poor people in the yard, and then carried them +each a bowlful. + +It was a beautiful warm moonlight night, and all the winds were sweet +with roses and pinks; so the people could not suffer out of doors; but +the next morning it rained. + +"O mother," said Nan, "it is raining, and what will the poor people +do?" + +Dame Clementina would never have seen her way out of this difficulty, +had not Dame Golding cried out that her bonnet was getting wet, and +she wanted an umbrella. + +"Why you must go around to their houses of course, and get their +umbrellas for them," said Dame Clementina, "but first, give ours to +that old man on horseback." She did not know her father, so many years +had passed since she had seen him, and he had altered so. + +So Nan carried out their great yellow umbrella to the count, and went +around to the others' houses for their own umbrellas. It was pitiful +enough to see them standing all alone behind the doors. She could not +find three extra ones for the three robbers, and she felt badly about +that. + +Somebody suggested, however, that milk pans turned over their heads +would keep the rain off their slouched hats, at least; so she got a +silver milk-pan for an umbrella for each. They made such frantic +efforts to get away then, that they looked like jumping-jacks; but it +was of no use. + +Poor Dame Clementina and Nan after they had given more milk porridge +to the people, and done all they could for their comfort, stood +staring disconsolately out of the window at them under their dripping +umbrellas. The yard was fairly green and black and blue and yellow +with umbrellas. They wept at the sight, but they could not think of +any way out of the difficulty. The people themselves might have +suggested one, had they known the real cause; but they did not dare to +tell them how they were responsible for all the trouble; they seemed +so angry. + +About noon Nan spied their most particular friend, Dame Elizabeth, +coming. She lived a little way out of the village. Nan saw her +approaching the gate through the rain and mist, with her great blue +umbrella, and her long blue double cape and her poke bonnet; and she +cried out in the greatest dismay: "O mother, mother, there is our dear +Dame Elizabeth coming; she will have to stop too!" + +Then they watched her with beating hearts. Dame Elizabeth stared with +astonishment at the people, and stopped to ask them questions. But she +passed quite through their midst, and entered the cottage under the +sprig of dill, and the verse. She did not envy Dame Clementina or Nan, +anything. + +"Tell me what this means," said she. "Why are all these people +standing in your yard in the rain with umbrellas?" + +Then Dame Clementina and Nan told her. "And O what shall we do?" said +they. "Will these people have to stand in our yard forever?" + +Dame Elizabeth stared at them. The way out of the difficulty was so +plain to her, that she could not credit its not being plain to them. + +"Why," said she, "don't you _take down the sprig of dill and the +verse_?" + +"Why, sure enough!" said they in amazement. "Why didn't we think of +that before?" + +So Dame Clementina ran out quickly, and pulled down the sprig of dill +and the verse. + +Then the way the people hurried out of the yard! They fairly danced +and flourished their heels, old folks and all. They were so delighted +to be able to move, and they wanted to be sure they could move. The +robbers tried to get away unseen with their silver milk-pans, but some +of the people stopped them, and set the pans safely inside the dairy. +All the people, except the count, were so eager to get away, that they +did not stop to inquire into the cause of the trouble then. + +Afterward, when they did, they were too much ashamed to say anything +about it. + +It was a good lesson to them; they were not quite so envious after +that. Always, on entering any cottage, they would glance at the door, +to see if, perchance, there might be a sprig of dill over it. And, if +there was not, they were reminded to put away any envious feeling they +might have toward the inmates out of their hearts. + +As for the count, he had not been so much alarmed as the others, since +he had been to the wars and was braver. Moreover, he felt that his +dignity as a noble had been insulted. So he dismounted and fastened +his horse to the gate, and strode up to the door with his sword +clanking and the plumes on his hat nodding. + +"What," he begun; then he stopped short. He had recognized his +daughter in Dame Clementina. She recognized him at the same moment. "O +my dear daughter!" said he. "O my dear father!" said she. + +"And this is my little grandchild?" said the count; and he took Nan +upon his knee, and covered her with caresses. + +Then the story of the dill and the verse was told. "Yes," said the +count, "I truly was envious of you, Clementina, when I saw Nan." + +After a little, he looked at his daughter sorrowfully. "I should +dearly love to take you up to the castle with me, Clementina," said +he, "and let you live there always, and make you and the little child +my heirs. But how can I? You are disinherited, you know?" + +"I don't see any way," assented Dame Clementina, sadly. + +Dame Elizabeth was still there, and she spoke up to the count with a +curtesy. "Noble sir," said she, "why don't you make another will?" + +"Why, sure enough," cried the count with great delight, "why don't I? +I'll have my lawyer up to the castle to-morrow." + +He did immediately alter his will, and his daughter was no longer +disinherited. She and Nan went to live at the castle, and were very +rich and happy. Nan learned to play on the harp, and wore +snuff-colored satin gowns. She was called Lady Nan, and she lived a +long time, and everybody loved her. But never, so long as she lived, +did she pin the sprig of dill and the verse over the door again. She +kept them at the very bottom of a little satinwood box--the faded +sprig of dill wrapped round with the bit of paper on which was written +the charm-verse: + + "Alva, aden, winira mir, + Villawissen lingen; + Sanchta, wanchta, attazir, + Hor de mussen wingen." + + + + +BROWNIE AND THE COOK + +By Mrs. Dinah Mulock Craik + + +There was once a little Brownie, who lived--where do you think he +lived?--in a coal cellar. + +Now a coal cellar may seem a most curious place to choose to live in; +but then a Brownie is a curious creature--a fairy and yet not one of +that sort of fairies who fly about on gossamer wings, and dance in the +moonlight, and so on. He never dances; and as to wings, what use would +they be to him in a coal cellar? He is a sober, stay-at-home, +household elf--nothing much to look at, even if you did see him, which +you are not likely to do--only a little old man, about a foot high, +all dressed in brown, with a brown face and hands, and a brown peaked +cap, just the color of a brown mouse. And, like a mouse, he hides in +corners--especially kitchen corners, and only comes out after dark +when nobody is about, and so sometimes people call him Mr. Nobody. + +I said you were not likely to see him. I never did, certainly, and +never knew anybody that did; but still, if you were to go into +Devonshire, you would hear many funny stories about Brownies in +general, and so I may as well tell you the adventures of this +particular Brownie, who belonged to a family there; which family he +had followed from house to house most faithfully, for years and years. + +A good many people had heard him--or supposed they had--when there +were extraordinary noises about the house; noises which must have come +from a mouse or a rat--or a Brownie. But nobody had ever seen him +except the children,--the three little boys and three little girls,--who +declared he often came to play with them when they were alone, and was +the nicest companion in the world, though he was such an old +man--hundreds of years old! He was full of fun and mischief, and up to +all sorts of tricks, but he never did anybody any harm unless they +deserved it. + +Brownie was supposed to live under one particular coal, in the darkest +corner of the cellar, which was never allowed to be disturbed. Why he +had chosen it nobody knew, and how he lived there nobody knew either, +nor what he lived upon. Except that, ever since the family could +remember, there had always been a bowl of milk put behind the +coal-cellar door for the Brownie's supper. Perhaps he drank it--perhaps +he didn't: anyhow the bowl was always found empty next morning. The +old Cook, who had lived all her life in the family, had never once +forgotten to give Brownie his supper; but at last she died, and a +young Cook came in her stead, who was very apt to forget everything. +She was also both careless and lazy, and disliked taking the trouble +to put a bowl of milk in the same place every night for Mr. Nobody. +"She didn't believe in Brownies," she said; "she had never seen one, +and seeing's believing." So she laughed at the other servants, who +looked very grave, and put the bowl of milk in its place as often as +they could, without saying much about it. + +But once, when Brownie woke up, at his usual hour for rising--ten +o'clock at night, and looked round in search of his supper--which was, +in fact, his breakfast--he found nothing there. At first he could not +imagine such neglect, and went smelling and smelling about for his +bowl of milk--it was not always placed in the same corner now--but in +vain. + +"This will never do," said he; and being extremely hungry, began +running about the coal cellar to see what he could find. His eyes were +as useful in the dark as in the light--like a pussy-cat's; but there +was nothing to be seen--not even a potato paring, or a dry crust, or a +well-gnawed bone, such as Tiny, the terrier, sometimes brought into +the coal cellar and left on the floor--nothing, in short, but heaps of +coals and coal-dust; and even a Brownie cannot eat that, you know. + +"Can't stand this; quite impossible!" said the Brownie, tightening his +belt to make his poor little inside feel less empty. He had been +asleep so long--about a week I believe, as was his habit when there +was nothing to do--that he seemed ready to eat his own head, or his +boots, or anything. "What's to be done? Since nobody brings my supper, +I must go and fetch it." + +He spoke quickly, for he always thought quickly, and made up his mind +in a minute. To be sure, it was a very little mind, like his little +body; but he did the best he could with it, and was not a bad sort of +old fellow, after all. In the house he had never done any harm, and +often some good, for he frightened away all the rats, mice, and black +beetles. Not the crickets--he liked them, as the old Cook had done: +she said they were such cheerful creatures, and always brought luck to +the house. But the young Cook could not bear them, and used to pour +boiling water down their holes, and set basins of beer for them with +little wooden bridges up to the rim, that they might walk up, tumble +in, and be drowned. + +So there was not even a cricket singing in the silent house when +Brownie put his head out of his coal-cellar door, which, to his +surprise, he found open. Old Cook used to lock it every night, but the +young Cook had left that key, and the kitchen and pantry keys, too, +all dangling in the lock, so that any thief might have got in, and +wandered all over the house without being found out. + +"Hurrah, here's luck!" cried Brownie, tossing his cap up in the air, +and bounding right through the scullery into the kitchen. It was quite +empty, but there was a good fire burning itself out--just for its own +amusement, and the remains of a capital supper spread on the +table--enough for half a dozen people being left still. + +Would you like to know what there was? Devonshire cream, of course; +and part of a large dish of junket, which is something like curds and +whey. Lots of bread and butter and cheese, and half an apple pudding. +Also a great jug of cider and another of milk, and several half-full +glasses, and no end of dirty plates, knives, and forks. All were +scattered about the table in the most untidy fashion, just as the +servants had risen from their supper, without thinking to put anything +away. + +Brownie screwed up his little old face and turned up his button of a +nose, and gave a long whistle. You might not believe it, seeing he +lived in a coal cellar; but really he liked tidiness, and always +played his pranks upon disorderly or slovenly folk. + +"Whew!" said he; "here's a chance. What a supper I'll get now!" + +And he jumped on to a chair and thence to the table, but so quietly +that the large black cat with four white paws, called Muff, because +she was so fat and soft and her fur so long, who sat dozing in front +of the fire, just opened one eye and went to sleep again. She had +tried to get her nose into the milk jug, but it was too small; and the +junket dish was too deep for her to reach, except with one paw. She +didn't care much for bread and cheese and apple pudding, and was very +well fed besides; so, after just wandering round the table she had +jumped down from it again, and settled herself to sleep on the hearth. + +But Brownie had no notion of going to sleep. He wanted his supper, and +oh! what a supper he did eat! first one thing and then another, and +then trying everything all over again. And oh! what a lot he +drank!--first milk and then cider, and then mixed the two together in +a way that would have disagreed with anybody except a Brownie. As it +was, he was obliged to slacken his belt several times, and at last +took it off altogether. But he must have had a most extraordinary +capacity for eating and drinking--since, after he had nearly cleared +the table, he was just as lively as ever, and began jumping about on +the table as if he had had no supper at all. + +Now his jumping was a little awkward, for there happened to be a clean +white tablecloth: as this was only Monday, it had had no time to get +dirty--untidy as the Cook was. And you know Brownie lived in a coal +cellar, and his feet were black with running about in coal dust. So, +wherever he trod, he left the impression behind, until, at last, the +whole tablecloth was covered with black marks. + +Not that he minded this: in fact, he took great pains to make the +cloth as dirty as possible; and then laughing loudly, "Ho, ho, ho!" +leaped on to the hearth, and began teasing the cat; squeaking like a +mouse, or chirping like a cricket, or buzzing like a fly; and +altogether disturbing poor Pussy's mind so much that she went and hid +herself in the farthest corner and left him the hearth all to himself, +where he lay at ease till daybreak. + +Then, hearing a slight noise overhead, which might be the servants +getting up, he jumped on to the table again--gobbled up the few +remaining crumbs for his breakfast, and scampered off to his coal +cellar; where he hid himself under his big coal, and fell asleep for +the day. + +Well, the Cook came downstairs rather earlier than usual, for she +remembered she had to clear off the remains of supper; but lo and +behold, there was nothing left to clear! Every bit of food was eaten +up--the cheese looked as if a dozen mice had been nibbling at it, and +nibbled it down to the very rind; the milk and cider were all drunk--and +mice don't care for milk and cider, you know. As for the apple pudding, +it had vanished altogether; and the dish was licked as clean as if +Boxer, the yard dog, had been at it in his hungriest mood. + +"And my white tablecloth--oh, my clean white tablecloth! What can have +been done to it?" cried she in amazement. For it was all over little +black footmarks, just the size of a baby's foot--only babies don't +wear shoes with nails in them, and don't run about and climb on +kitchen tables after all the family have gone to bed. + +Cook was a little frightened; but her fright changed to anger when she +saw the large black cat stretched comfortably on the hearth. Poor Muff +had crept there for a little snooze after Brownie went away. + +"You nasty cat! I see it all now; it's you that have eaten up all the +supper; it's you that have been on my clean tablecloth with your dirty +paws." + +They were white paws, and as clean as possible; but Cook never thought +of that, any more than she did of the fact that cats don't usually +drink cider or eat apple pudding. + +"I'll teach you to come stealing food in this way; take that--and +that--and that!" + +Cook got hold of a broom and beat poor Pussy till the creature ran +mewing away. She couldn't speak, you know--unfortunate cat! and tell +people that it was Brownie who had done it all. + +Next night Cook thought she would make all safe and sure; so, instead +of letting the cat sleep by the fire, she shut her up in the chilly +coal cellar, locked the door, put the key in her pocket, and went off +to bed--leaving the supper as before. + +When Brownie woke up and looked out of his hole, there was, as usual, +no supper for him, and the cellar was close shut. He peered about, to +try and find some cranny under the door to creep out at, but there was +none. And he felt so hungry that he could almost have eaten the cat, +who kept walking to and fro in a melancholy manner--only she was +alive, and he couldn't well eat her alive; besides, he knew she was +old, and had an idea she might be too tough; so he merely said +politely, "How do you do, Mrs. Pussy?" to which she answered +nothing--of course. + +Something must be done, and luckily Brownies can do things which +nobody else can do. So he thought he would change himself into a +mouse, and gnaw a hole through the door. But then he suddenly +remembered the cat, who, though he had decided not to eat her, might +take this opportunity of eating him. So he thought it advisable to +wait till she was fast asleep, which did not happen for a good while. + +At length, quite tired with walking about, Pussy turned round on her +tail six times, curled down in a corner, and fell fast asleep. + +Immediately Brownie changed himself into the smallest mouse possible; +and, taking care not to make the least noise, gnawed a hole in the +door, and squeezed himself through, immediately turning into his +proper shape again, for fear of accidents. + +The kitchen fire was at its last glimmer; but it showed a better +supper than even last night, for the Cook had had friends with her--a +brother and two cousins--and they had been exceedingly merry. The food +they had left behind was enough for three Brownies at least, but this +one managed to eat it all up. Only once, in trying to cut a great +slice of beef, he let the carving-knife and fork fall with such a +clatter that Tiny, the terrier, who was tied up at the foot of the +stairs, began to bark furiously. However, he brought her her puppy, +which had been left in a basket in a corner of the kitchen, and so +succeeded in quieting her. + +After that he enjoyed himself amazingly, and made more marks than ever +on the white tablecloth; for he began jumping about like a pea on a +trencher, in order to make his particularly large supper agree with +him. + +Then, in the absence of the cat, he teased the puppy for an hour or +two, till, hearing the clock strike five, he thought it as well to +turn into a mouse again, and creep back cautiously into his cellar. He +was only just in time, for Muff opened one eye, and was just going to +pounce upon him, when he changed himself back into a Brownie. She was +so startled that she bounded away, her tail growing into twice its +natural size, and her eyes gleaming like round green globes. But +Brownie only said, "Ha, ha, ho!" and walked deliberately into his +hole. + +When Cook came downstairs and saw that the same thing had happened +again--that the supper was all eaten, and the tablecloth blacker than +ever with the extraordinary footmarks, she was greatly puzzled. Who +could have done all this? Not the cat, who came mewing out of the coal +cellar the minute she unlocked the door. Possibly a rat--but then +would a rat have come within reach of Tiny? + +"It must have been Tiny herself, or her puppy," which just came +rolling out of its basket over Cook's feet. "You little wretch! You +and your mother are the greatest nuisance imaginable. I'll punish +you!" + +And, quite forgetting that Tiny had been safely tied up all night, and +that her poor little puppy was so fat and helpless it could scarcely +stand on its legs, to say nothing of jumping on chairs and tables, she +gave them both such a thrashing that they ran howling together out of +the kitchen door, where the kind little kitchen maid took them up in +her arms. + +"You ought to have beaten the Brownie, if you could catch him," said +she in a whisper. "He'll do it again and again, you'll see, for he +can't bear an untidy kitchen. You'd better do as poor old Cook did, +and clear the supper things away, and put the odds and ends safe in +the larder; also," she added mysteriously, "if I were you, I'd put a +bowl of milk behind the coal-cellar door." + +"Nonsense!" answered the young Cook, and flounced away. But afterward +she thought better of it, and did as she was advised, grumbling all +the time, but doing it. + +Next morning the milk was gone! Perhaps Brownie had drunk it up; +anyhow nobody could say that he hadn't. As for the supper, Cook having +safely laid it on the shelves of the larder, nobody touched it. And +the tablecloth, which was wrapped up tidily and put in the dresser +drawer, came out as clean as ever, with not a single black footmark +upon it. No mischief being done, the cat and the dog both escaped +beating, and Brownie played no more tricks with anybody--till the next +time. + + + + +BROWNIE AND THE CHERRY TREE + +By Mrs. Dinah Mulock Craik + + +The "next time" was quick in coming, which was not wonderful, +considering there was a Brownie in the house. Otherwise the house was +like most other houses, and the family like most other families. The +children also: they were sometimes good, sometimes naughty, like other +children; but, on the whole, they deserved to have the pleasure of a +Brownie to play with them, as they declared he did--many and many a +time. + +A favorite play-place was the orchard, where grew the biggest cherry +tree you ever saw. They called it their "castle," because it rose up +ten feet from the ground in one thick stem, and then branched out into +a circle of boughs, with a flat place in the middle, where two or +three children could sit at once. There they often did sit, turn by +turn, or one at a time--sometimes with a book, reading; and the +biggest boy made a sort of rope ladder by which they could climb up +and down--which they did all winter, and enjoyed their "castle" very +much. + +But one day in spring they found their ladder cut away! The Gardener +had done it, saying it injured the tree, which was just coming into +blossom. Now this Gardener was a rather gruff man, with a growling +voice. He did not mean to be unkind, but he disliked children; he said +they bothered him. But when they complained to their mother about the +ladder, she agreed with Gardener that the tree must not be injured, as +it bore the biggest cherries in all the neighborhood--so big that the +old saying of "taking two bites at a cherry" came really true. + +"Wait till the cherries are ripe," said she; and so the little people +waited, and watched it through its leafing and blossoming--such sheets +of blossoms, white as snow!--till the fruit began to show, and grew +large and red on every bough. + +At last one morning the mother said, "Children, should you like to +help gather the cherries to-day?" + +"Hurrah!" they cried, "and not a day too soon; for we saw a flock of +starlings in the next field--and if we don't clear the tree, they +will." + +"Very well; clear it, then. Only mind and fill my baskets quite full, +for preserving. What is over you may eat, if you like." + +"Thank you, thank you!" and the children were eager to be off; but the +mother stopped them till she could get the Gardener and his ladder. + +"For it is he must climb the tree, not you; and you must do exactly as +he tells you; and he will stop with you all the time and see that you +don't come to harm." + +This was no slight cloud on the children's happiness, and they begged +hard to go alone. + +"Please, might we? We will be so good!" + +The mother shook her head. All the goodness in the world would not +help them if they tumbled off the tree, or ate themselves sick with +cherries. "You would not be safe, and I should be so unhappy!" + +To make mother "unhappy" was the worst rebuke possible to these +children; so they choked down their disappointment, and followed the +Gardener as he walked on ahead, carrying his ladder on his shoulder. +He looked very cross, and as if he did not like the children's company +at all. + +They were pretty good, on the whole, though they chattered a good +deal; but Gardener said not a word to them all the way to the orchard. +When they reached it, he just told them to "keep out of his way and +not worrit him," which they politely promised, saying among themselves +that they should not enjoy their cherry-gathering at all. But children +who make the best of things, and try to be as good as they can, +sometimes have fun unawares. + +When the Gardener was steadying his ladder against the trunk of the +cherry tree, there was suddenly heard the barking of a dog, and a very +fierce dog, too. First it seemed close beside them, then in the flower +garden, then in the fowl yard. + +Gardener dropped the ladder out of his hands. "It's that Boxer! He has +got loose again! He will be running after my chickens, and dragging +his broken chain all over my borders. And he is so fierce, and so +delighted to get free. He'll bite anybody who ties him up, except me." + +"Hadn't you better go and see after him?" + +Gardener thought it was the eldest boy who spoke, and turned around +angrily; but the little fellow had never opened his lips. + +Here there was heard a still louder bark, and from a quite different +part of the garden. + +"There he is--I'm sure of it! jumping over my bedding-out plants, and +breaking my cucumber frames. Abominable beast!--just let me catch +him!" + +Off Gardener darted in a violent passion, throwing the ladder down +upon the grass, and forgetting all about the cherries and the +children. + +The instant he was gone, a shrill laugh, loud and merry, was heard +close by, and a little brown old man's face peeped from behind the +cherry tree. + +"How d'ye do?--Boxer was me. Didn't I bark well? Now I'm come to play +with you." + +The children clapped their hands; for they knew that they were going +to have some fun if Brownie was there--he was the best little +playfellow in the world. And then they had him all to themselves. +Nobody ever saw him except the children. + +"Come on!" cried he, in his shrill voice, half like an old man's, half +like a baby's. "Who'll begin to gather the cherries?" + +They all looked blank; for the tree was so high to where the branches +sprung, and besides, their mother had said that they were not to +climb. And the ladder lay flat upon the grass--far too heavy for +little hands to move. + +"What! you big boys don't expect a poor little fellow like me to lift +the ladder all by myself? Try! I'll help you." + +Whether he helped or not, no sooner had they taken hold of the ladder +than it rose up, almost of its own accord, and fixed itself quite +safely against the tree. + +"But we must not climb--mother told us not," said the boys ruefully. +"Mother said we were to stand at the bottom and pick up the cherries." + +"Very well. Obey your mother. I'll just run up the tree myself." + +Before the words were out of his mouth Brownie had darted up the +ladder like a monkey, and disappeared among the fruit-laden branches. + +The children looked dismayed for a minute, till they saw a merry brown +face peeping out from the green leaves at the very top of the tree. + +"Biggest fruit always grows highest," cried the Brownie. "Stand in a +row, all you children. Little boys, hold out your caps: little girls, +make a bag of your pinafores. Open your mouths and shut your eyes, and +see what the queen will send you." + +They laughed and did as they were told; whereupon they were drowned in +a shower of cherries--cherries falling like hailstones, hitting them +on their heads, their cheeks, their noses--filling their caps and +pinafores and then rolling and tumbling on to the grass, till it was +strewn thick as leaves in autumn with the rosy fruit. + +What a glorious scramble they had--these three little boys and three +little girls! How they laughed and jumped and knocked heads together +in picking up the cherries, yet never quarreled--for there were such +heaps, it would have been ridiculous to squabble over them; and +besides, whenever they began to quarrel, Brownie always ran away. Now +he was the merriest of the lot; ran up and down the tree like a cat, +helped to pick up the cherries, and was first-rate at filling the +large market basket. + +"We were to eat as many as we liked, only we must first fill the +basket," conscientiously said the eldest girl; upon which they all set +to at once, and filled it to the brim. + +"Now we'll have a dinner-party," cried the Brownie; and squatted down +like a Turk, crossing his queer little legs, and sticking his elbows +upon his knees, in a way that nobody but a Brownie could manage. "Sit +in a ring! sit in a ring! and we'll see who can eat the fastest." + +The children obeyed. How many cherries they devoured, and how fast +they did it, passes my capacity of telling. I only hope they were not +ill next day, and that all the cherry-stones they swallowed by mistake +did not disagree with them. But perhaps nothing does disagree with one +when one dines with a Brownie. They ate so much, laughing in equal +proportion, that they had quite forgotten the Gardener--when, all of a +sudden, they heard him clicking angrily the orchard gate, and talking +to himself as he walked through. + +"That nasty dog! It wasn't Boxer, after all. A nice joke! to find him +quietly asleep in his kennel after having hunted him, as I thought, +from one end of the garden to the other! Now for the cherries and the +children--bless us! where are the children? And the cherries? Why, the +tree is as bare as a blackthorn in February! The starlings have been +at it, after all. Oh, dear! oh, dear!" + +"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" echoed a voice from behind the tree, followed by +shouts of mocking laughter. Not from the children--they sat as demure +as possible, all in a ring, with their hands before them, and in the +center the huge basket of cherries, piled as full as it could possibly +hold. But the Brownie had disappeared. + +"You naughty brats, I'll have you punished!" cried the Gardener, +furious at the laughter, for he never laughed himself. But as there +was nothing wrong, the cherries being gathered--a very large crop--and +the ladder found safe in its place--it was difficult to say what had +been the harm done and who had done it. + +So he went growling back to the house, carrying the cherries to the +mistress, who coaxed him into good temper again, as she sometimes did; +bidding also the children to behave well to him, since he was an old +man, and not really bad--only cross. As for the little folks, she had +not the slightest intention of punishing them; and, as for the +Brownie, it was impossible to catch him. So nobody was punished at +all. + + + + +THE OUPHE [Footnote: _Ouphe_, pronounced "oof," is an +old-fashioned word for goblin or elf.] OF THE WOOD + +By Jean Ingelow + + +"An Ouphe!" perhaps you exclaim, "and pray what might that be?" + +An Ouphe, fair questioner,--though you may never have heard of +him,--was a creature well known (by hearsay, at least) to your +great-great-grandmother. It was currently reported that every forest +had one within its precincts, who ruled over the woodmen, and exacted +tribute from them in the shape of little blocks of wood ready hewn for +the fire of his underground palace,--such blocks as are bought at +shops in these degenerate days, and called "kindling." + +It was said that he had a silver axe, with which he marked those trees +that he did not object to have cut down; moreover, he was supposed to +possess great riches, and to appear but seldom above ground, and when +he did to look like an old man in all respects but one, which was that +he always carried some green ash-keys about with him which he could +not conceal, and by which he might be known. + +Do I hear you say that you don't believe he ever existed? + +It matters not at all to my story whether you do or not. He certainly +does not exist now. The Commissioners of Woods and Forests have much +to answer for, if it was they who put an end to his reign; but I do +not think they did; it is more likely that the spelling-book used in +woodland districts disagreed with his constitution. + +After this short preface please to listen while I tell you that once +in a little black-timbered cottage, at the skirts of a wood, a young +woman sat before the fire rocking her baby, and, as she did so, +building a castle in the air: "What a good thing it would be," she +thought to herself, "if we were rich!" + +It had been a bright day, but the evening was chilly; and, as she +watched the glowing logs that were blazing on her hearth, she wished +that all the lighted part of them would turn to gold. + +She was very much in the habit--this little wife--of building castles +in the air, particularly when she had nothing else to do, or her +husband was late in coming home to his supper. Just as she was +thinking how late he was there was a tap at the door, and an old man +walked in, who said: + +"Mistress, will you give a poor man a warm at your fire?" + +"And welcome," said the young woman, setting him a chair. + +So he sat down as close to the fire as he could, and spread out his +hands to the flames. + +He had a little knapsack on his back, and the young woman did not +doubt that he was an old soldier. + +"Maybe you are used to the hot countries," she said. + +"All countries are much the same to me," replied the stranger. "I see +nothing to find fault with in this one. You have fine hawthorn-trees +hereabouts; just now they are as white as snow; and then you have a +noble wood behind you." + +"Ah, you may well say that," said the young woman. "It is a noble wood +to us; it gets us bread. My husband works in it." + +"And a fine sheet of water there is in it," continued the old man. "As +I sat by it to-day it was pretty to see those cranes, with red legs, +stepping from leaf to leaf of the water-lilies so lightly." + +As he spoke he looked rather wistfully at a little saucepan which +stood upon the hearth. + +"Why, I shouldn't wonder if you were hungry," said the young woman, +laying her baby in the cradle, and spreading a cloth on the round +table. "My husband will be home soon, and if you like to stay and sup +with him and me, you will be kindly welcome." + +The old man's eyes sparkled when she said this, and he looked so very +old and seemed so weak that she pitied him. He turned a little aside +from the fire, and watched her while she set a brown loaf on the +table, and fried a few slices of bacon; but all was ready, and the +kettle had been boiling some time before there were any signs of the +husband's return. + +"I never knew Will to be so late before," said the stranger. "Perhaps +he is carrying his logs to the saw-pits." + +"Will!" exclaimed the wife. "What, you know my husband, then? I +thought you were a stranger in these parts." + +"Oh, I have been past this place several times," said the old man, +looking rather confused; "and so, of course, I have heard of your +husband. Nobody's stroke in the wood is so regular and strong as his." + +"And I can tell you he is the handiest man at home," began his wife. + +"Ah, ah," said the old man, smiling at her eagerness; "and here he +comes, if I am not mistaken." + +At that moment the woodman entered. + +"Will," said his wife, as she took his bill-book from him, and hung up +his hat, "here's an old soldier come to sup with us, my dear." And as +she spoke, she gave her husband a gentle push toward the old man, and +made a sign that he should speak to him. + +"Kindly welcome, master," said the woodman. "Wife, I'm hungry; let's +to supper." + +The wife turned some potatoes out of the little saucepan, set a jug of +beer on the table, and they all began to sup. The best of everything +was offered by the wife to the stranger. The husband, after looking +earnestly at him for a few minutes, kept silence. + +"And where might you be going to lodge tonight, good man, if I'm not +too bold?" asked she. + +The old man heaved a deep sigh, and said he supposed he must lie out +in the forest. + +"Well, that would be a great pity," remarked his kind hostess. "No +wonder your bones ache if you have no better shelter." As she said +this, she looked appealingly at her husband. + +"My wife, I'm thinking, would like to offer you a bed," said the +woodman; "at least, if you don't mind sleeping in this clean kitchen, +I think that, we could toss you up something of that sort that you +need not disdain." + +"Disdain, indeed!" said the wife. "Why, Will, when there's not a +tighter cottage than ours in all the wood, and with a curtain, as we +have, and a brick floor, and everything so good about us--" + +The husband laughed; the old man looked on with a twinkle in his eye. + +"I'm sure I shall be humbly grateful," said he. + +Accordingly, when supper was over, they made him up a bed on the +floor, and spread clean sheets upon it of the young wife's own +spinning, and heaped several fresh logs on the fire. Then they wished +the stranger good night, and crept up the ladder to their own snug +little chamber. + +"Disdain, indeed!" laughed the wife, as soon as they shut the door. +"Why, Will, how could you say it? I should like to see him disdain me +and mine. It isn't often, I'll engage to say, that he sleeps in such a +well-furnished kitchen." + +The husband said nothing, but secretly laughed to himself. + +"What are you laughing at, Will?" said his wife, as she put out the +candle. + +"Why, you soft little thing," answered the woodman, "didn't you see +that bunch of green ash-keys in his cap; and don't you know that +nobody would dare to wear them but the Ouphe of the Wood? I saw him +cutting those very keys for himself as I passed to the sawmill this +morning, and I knew him again directly, though he has disguised +himself as an old man." + +"Bless us!" exclaimed the little wife; "is the Wood Ouphe in our +cottage? How frightened I am! I wish I hadn't put the candle out." + +The husband laughed more and more. + +"Will," said his wife, in a solemn voice, "I wonder how you dare +laugh, and that powerful creature under the very bed where you lie!" + +"And she to be so pitiful over him," said the woodman, laughing till +the floor shook under him, "and to talk and boast of our house, and +insist on helping him to more potatoes, when he has a palace of his +own, and heaps of riches! Oh, dear! oh, dear!" + +"Don't laugh, Will," said the wife, "and I'll make you the most +beautiful firmity [Footnote: _Firmity_: generally written frumenty; +wheat boiled in milk with sugar and fruit.] you ever tasted to-morrow. +Don't let him hear you laughing." + +"Why, he comes for no harm," said the woodman. "I've never cut down +any trees that he had not marked, and I've always laid his toll of the +wood, neatly cut up, beside his foot-path, so I am not afraid. +Besides, don't you know that he always pays where he lodges, and very +handsomely, too?" + +"Pays, does he?" said the wife. "Well, but he is an awful creature to +have so near one. I would much rather he had really been an old +soldier. I hope he is not looking after my baby; he shall not have +him, let him offer ever so much." + +The more the wife talked, the more the husband laughed at her fears, +till at length he fell asleep, whilst she lay awake, thinking and +thinking, till by degrees she forgot her fears, and began to wonder +what they might expect by way of reward. Hours appeared to pass away +during these thoughts. At length, to her great surprise, while it was +still quite dark, her husband called to her from below: + +"Come down, Kitty; only come down to see what the Ouphe has left us." + +As quickly as possible Kitty started up and dressed herself, and ran +down the ladder, and then she saw her husband kneeling on the floor +over the knapsack, which the Ouphe had left behind him. Kitty rushed +to the spot, and saw the knapsack bursting open with gold coins, which +were rolling out over the brick floor. Here was good fortune! She +began to pick them up, and count them into her apron. The more she +gathered, the faster they rolled, till she left off counting, out of +breath with joy and surprise. + +"What shall we do with all this money?" said the delighted woodman. + +They consulted for some time. At last they decided to bury it in the +garden, all but twenty pieces, which they would spend directly. +Accordingly they dug a hole and carefully hid the rest of the money, +and then the woodman went to the town, and soon returned laden with +the things they had agreed upon as desirable possessions; namely, a +leg of mutton, two bottles of wine, a necklace for Kitty, some tea and +sugar, a grand velvet waistcoat, a silver watch, a large clock, a red +silk cloak, and a hat and feather for the baby, a quilted petticoat, a +great many muffins and crumpets, a rattle, and two new pairs of shoes. + +How enchanted they both were! Kitty cooked the nice things, and they +dressed themselves in the finery, and sat down to a very good dinner. +But, alas! the woodman drank so much of the wine that he soon got +quite tipsy, and began to dance and sing. Kitty was very much shocked; +but when he proposed to dig up some more of the gold, and go to market +for some more wine and some more blue velvet waistcoats, she +remonstrated very strongly. Such was the change that had come over +this loving couple, that they presently began to quarrel, and from +words the woodman soon got to blows, and, after beating his little +wife, lay down on the floor and fell fast asleep, while she sat crying +in a corner. + +The next day they both felt very miserable, and the woodman had such +a terrible headache that he could neither eat nor work; but the day +after, being pretty well again, he dug up some more gold and went to +town, where he bought such quantities of fine clothes and furniture +and so many good things to eat, that in the end he was obliged to buy +a wagon to bring them home in, and great was the delight of his wife +when she saw him coming home on the top of it, driving the four gray +horses himself. + +They soon began to unpack the goods and lay them out on the grass, for +the cottage was far too small to hold them. + +"There are some red silk curtains with gold rods," said the woodman. + +"And grand indeed they are!" exclaimed his wife, spreading them over +the onion bed. + +"And here's a great looking-glass," continued the woodman, setting one +up against the outside of the cottage, for it would not go in the +door. + +So they went on handing down the things, and it took nearly the whole +afternoon to empty the wagon. No wonder, when it contained, among +other things, a coral and bells for the baby, and five very large +tea-trays adorned with handsome pictures of impossible scenery, two +large sofas covered with green damask, three bonnets trimmed with +feathers and flowers, two glass tumblers for them to drink out of,--for +Kitty had decided that mugs were very vulgar things,--six books bound +in handsome red morocco, a mahogany table, a large tin saucepan, a +spit and silver waiter, a blue coat with gilt buttons, a yellow +waistcoat, some pictures, a dozen bottles of wine, a quarter of lamb, +cakes, tarts, pies, ale, porter, gin, silk stockings, blue and red and +white shoes, lace, ham, mirrors, three clocks, a four-post bedstead, +and a bag of sugar candy. + +These articles filled the cottage and garden; the wagon stood outside +the paling. Though the little kitchen was very much encumbered with +furniture, they contrived to make a fire in it; and, having eaten a +sumptuous dinner, they drank each other's health, using the new +tumblers to their great satisfaction. + +"All these things remind me that we must have another house built," +said Kitty. + +"You may do just as you please about that, my dear," replied her +husband, with a bottle of wine in his hand. + +"My dear," said Kitty, "how vulgar you are! Why don't you drink out of +one of our new tumblers, like a gentleman?" + +The woodman refused, and said it was much more handy to drink it out +of the bottle. + +"Handy, indeed!" retorted Kitty; "yes, and by that means none will be +left for me." + +Thereupon another quarrel ensued, and the woodman, being by this time +quite tipsy, beat his wife again. The next day they went and got +numbers of workmen to build them a new house in their garden. It was +quite astonishing even to Kitty, who did not know much about building, +to see how quick these workmen were; in one week the house was ready. +But in the meantime the woodman, who had very often been tipsy, felt +so unwell that he could not look after them; therefore it is not +surprising that they stole a great many of his fine things while he +lay smoking on the green damask sofa which stood on the carrot bed. +Those articles which the workmen did not steal the rain and dust +spoilt; but that they thought did not much matter, for still more than +half the gold was left; so they soon furnished the new house. And now +Kitty had a servant, and used to sit every morning on a couch dressed +in silks and jewels till dinner-time, when the most delicious hot +beefsteaks and sausage pudding or roast goose were served up, with +more sweet pies, fritters, tarts, and cheese-cakes than they could +possibly eat. As for the baby, he had three elegant cots, in which he +was put to sleep by turns; he was allowed to tear his picture-books as +often as he pleased, and to eat so many sugar-plums and macaroons that +they often made him quite ill. + +The woodman looked very pale and miserable, though he often said what +a fine thing it was to be rich. He never thought of going to his work, +and used generally to sit in the kitchen till dinner was ready, +watching the spit. Kitty wished she could see him looking as well and +cheerful as in old days, though she felt naturally proud that her +husband should always be dressed like a gentleman, namely, in a blue +coat, red waistcoat, and top-boots. + +He and Kitty could never agree as to what should be done with the rest +of the money; in fact, no one would have known them for the same +people; they quarrelled almost every day, and lost nearly all their +love for one another. Kitty often cried herself to sleep--a thing she +had never done when they were poor; she thought it was very strange +that she should be a lady, and yet not be happy. Every morning when +the woodman was sober they invented new plans for making themselves +happy, yet, strange to say, none of them succeeded, and matters grew +worse and worse. At last Kitty thought she should be happy if she had +a coach; so she went to the place where the knapsack was buried, and +began to dig; but the garden was so trodden down that she could not +dig deep enough, and soon got tired of trying. At last she called the +servant, and told her the secret as to where the money was, promising +her a gold piece if she could dig it up. The servant dug with all her +strength, and with a great deal of trouble they got the knapsack up, +and Kitty found that not many gold pieces were left. + +However, she resolved to have the coach, so she took them and went to +the town, where she bought a yellow chariot, with a most beautiful +coat of arms upon it, and two cream-colored horses to draw it. + +In the meantime the maid ran to the magistrates, and told them she had +discovered something very dreadful, which was, that her mistress had +nothing to do but dig in the ground and that she could make money +come--coined money: "which," said the maid, "is a very terrible thing, +and it proves that she must be a witch." + +The mayor and aldermen were very much shocked, for witches were +commonly believed in in those days; and when they heard that Kitty had +dug up money that very morning, and bought a yellow coach with it, +they decided that the matter must be investigated. + +When Kitty drove up to her own door, she saw the mayor and aldermen +standing in the kitchen waiting for her. + +She demanded what they wanted, and they said they were come in the +king's name to search the house. + +Kitty immediately ran up-stairs and took the baby out of his cradle, +lest any of them should steal him, which, of course, seemed a very +probable thing for them to do. Then she went to look for her husband, +who, shocking to relate, was quite tipsy, quarrelling and arguing with +the mayor, and she actually saw him box an alderman's ears. + +"The thing is proved," said the indignant mayor; "this woman is +certainly a witch." + +Kitty was very much bewildered at this; but how much more when she saw +her husband seize the mayor--yes, the very mayor himself--and shake +him so hard that he actually shook his head off, and it rolled under +the dresser! "If I had not seen this with my own eyes," said Kitty, "I +could not have believed it--even now it does not seem at all real." + +All the aldermen wrung their hands. + +"Murder! murder!" cried the maid. + +"Yes," said the aldermen, "this woman and her husband must immediately +be put to death, and the baby must be taken from them and made a +slave." + +In vain Kitty fell on her knees; the proofs of their guilt were so +plain that there was no hope for mercy; and they were just going to be +led out to execution when--why, then she opened her eyes, and saw that +she was lying in bed in her own little chamber where she had lived and +been so happy; her baby beside her in his wicker [Footnote: _Wicker_: +made of willow twigs like a basket.] cradle was crowing and sucking +his fingers. + +"So, then, I have never been rich, after all," said Kitty; "and it was +all only a dream! I thought it was very strange at the time that a +man's head should roll off." + +And she heaved a deep sigh, and put her hand to her face, which was +wet with the tears she had shed when she thought that she and her +husband were going to be executed. + +"I am very glad, then, my husband is not a drunken man; and he does +_not_ beat me; but he goes to work every day, and I am as happy as a +queen." + +Just then she heard her husband's good-tempered voice whistling as he +went down the ladder. + +"Kitty, Kitty," said he, "come, get up, my little woman; it's later +than usual, and our good visitor will want his breakfast." + +"Oh, Will, Will, do come here," answered the wife; and presently her +husband came up again, dressed in his fustian jacket, and looking +quite healthy and good-tempered--not at all like the pale man in the +blue coat, who sat watching the meat while it roasted. + +"Oh, Will, I have had such a frightful dream," said Kitty, and she +began to cry; "we are not going to quarrel and hate each other, are +we?" + +"Why, what a silly little thing thou art to cry about a dream," said +the woodman, smiling. "No, we are not going to quarrel as I know of. +Come, Kitty, remember the Ouphe." + +"Oh, yes, yes, I remember," said Kitty, and she made haste to dress +herself and come down. + +"Good morning, mistress; how have you slept?" said the Ouphe, in a +gentle voice, to her. + +"Not so well as I could have wished, sir," said Kitty. + +The Ouphe smiled. "_I_ slept very well," he said. "The supper was +good, and kindly given, without any thought of reward." + +"And that is the certain truth," interrupted Kitty: "I never had the +least thought what you were till my husband told me." + +The woodman had gone out to cut some fresh cresses for his guest's +breakfast. + +"I am sorry, mistress," said the Ouphe, "that you slept uneasily--my +race are said sometimes by their presence to affect the dreams of you +mortals, Where is my knapsack? Shall I leave it behind me in payment +of bed and board?" + +"Oh, no, no, I pray you don't," said the little wife, blushing and +stepping back; "you are kindly welcome to all you have had, I'm sure: +don't repay us so, sir." + +"What, mistress, and why not?" asked the Ouphe, smiling. "It is as +full of gold pieces as it can hold, and I shall never miss them." + +"No, I entreat you, do not," said Kitty, "and do not offer it to my +husband, for maybe he has not been warned as I have." + +Just then the woodman came in. + +"I have been thanking your wife for my good entertainment," said the +Ouphe, "and if there is anything in reason that I can give either of +you--" + +"Will, we do very well as we are," said his wife, going up to him and +looking anxiously in his face. + +"I don't deny," said the woodman, thoughtfully, "that there are one or +two things I should like my wife to have, but somehow I've not been +able to get them for her yet." + +"What are they?" asked the Ouphe. + +"One is a spinning-wheel," answered the woodman; "she used to spin a +good deal when she was at home with her mother." + +"She shall have a spinning-wheel," replied the Ouphe; "and is there +nothing else, my good host?" + +"Well," said the woodman, frankly, "since you are so obliging, we +should like a hive of bees." + +"The bees you shall have also; and now, good morning both, and a +thousand thanks to you." + +So saying, he took his leave, and no pressing could make him stay to +breakfast. + +"Well," thought Kitty, when she had had a little time for reflection, +"a spinning-wheel is just what I wanted; but if people had told me +this time yesterday morning that I should be offered a knapsack full +of money, and should refuse it, I could not possibly have believed +them!" + + + + +THE PRINCE'S DREAM + +By Jean Ingelow + + +If we may credit the fable, there is a tower in the midst of a great +Asiatic plain, wherein is confined a prince who was placed there in +his earliest infancy, with many slaves and attendants, and all the +luxuries that are compatible with imprisonment. + +Whether he was brought there from some motive of state, whether to +conceal him from enemies, or to deprive him of rights, has not +transpired; but it is certain that up to the date of this little +history he had never set his foot outside the walls of that high +tower, and that of the vast world without he knew only the green +plains which surrounded it; the flocks and the birds of that region +were all his experience of living creatures, and all the men he saw +outside were shepherds. + +And yet he was not utterly deprived of change, for sometimes one of +his attendants would be ordered away, and his place would be supplied +by a new one. The prince would never weary of questioning this fresh +companion, and of letting him talk of cities, of ships, of forests, of +merchandise, of kings; but though in turns they all tried to satisfy +his curiosity, they could not succeed in conveying very distinct +notions to his mind; partly because there was nothing in the tower to +which they could compare the external world, partly because, having +chiefly lived lives of seclusion and indolence in Eastern palaces, +they knew it only by hearsay themselves. + +At length, one day, a venerable man of a noble presence was brought to +the tower, with soldiers to guard him and slaves to attend him. The +prince was glad of his presence, though at first he seldom opened his +lips, and it was manifest that confinement made him miserable. With +restless feet he would wander from window to window of the stone +tower, and mount from story to story; but mount as high as he would +there was still nothing to be seen but the vast, unvarying plain, +clothed with scanty grass, and flooded with the glaring sunshine; +flocks and herds and shepherds moved across it sometimes, but nothing +else, not even a shadow, for there was no cloud in the sky to cast +one. The old man, however, always treated the prince with respect, and +answered his questions with a great deal of patience, till at length +he found a pleasure in satisfying his curiosity, which so much pleased +the poor young prisoner, that, as a great condescension, he invited +him to come out on the roof of the tower and drink sherbet with him in +the cool of the evening, and tell him of the country beyond the +desert, and what seas are like, and mountains, and towns. + +"I have learnt much from my attendants, and know this world pretty +well by hearsay," said the prince, as they reclined on the rich carpet +which was spread on the roof. + +The old man smiled, but did not answer; perhaps because he did not +care to undeceive his young companion, perhaps because so many slaves +were present, some of whom were serving them with fruit, and others +burning rich odors on a little chafing-dish that stood between them. + +"But there are some words to which I never could attach any particular +meaning," proceeded the prince, as the slaves began to retire, "and +three in particular that my attendants cannot satisfy me upon, or are +reluctant to do so." + +"What words are those, my prince?" asked the old man. The prince +turned on his elbow to be sure that the last slave had descended the +tower stairs, then replied: + +"O man of much knowledge, the words are these--Labor, and Liberty, and +Gold." + +"Prince," said the old man, "I do not wonder that it has been hard to +make thee understand the first, the nature of it, and the cause why +most men are born to it; as for the second, it would be treason for +thee and me to do more than whisper it here, and sigh for it when none +are listening; but the third need hardly puzzle thee; thy hookah +[Footnote: _Hookah_: a kind of pipe for smoking tobacco, used in +Eastern Europe and Asia.] is bright with it; all thy jewels are set in +it; gold is inlaid in the ivory of thy bath; thy cup and thy dish are +of gold, and golden threads are wrought into thy raiment." + +"That is true," replied the prince, "and if I had not seen and handled +this gold, perhaps I might not find its merits so hard to understand; +but I possess it in abundance, and it does not feed me, nor make music +for me, nor fan me when the sun is hot, nor cause me to sleep when I +am weary; therefore when my slaves have told me how merchants go out +and brave the perilous wind and sea, and live in the unstable ships, +and run risks from shipwreck and pirates, and when, having asked them +why they have done this, they have answered, 'For gold,' I have found +it hard to believe them; and when they have told me how men have lied, +and robbed, and deceived; how they have murdered one another, and +leagued together to depose kings, to oppress provinces, and all for +gold; then I have said to myself, either my slaves have combined to +make me believe that which is not, or this gold must be very different +from the yellow stuff that this coin is made of, this coin which is of +no use but to have a hole pierced through it and hang to my girdle, +that it may tinkle when I walk." + +"Notwithstanding this," said the old man, "nothing can be done without +gold; for it is better than bread, and fruit, and music, for it can +buy them all, since all men love it, and have agreed to exchange it +for whatever they may need." + +"How so?" asked the prince. + +"If a man has many loaves he cannot eat them all," answered the old +man; "therefore he goes to his neighbor and says, 'I have bread and +thou hast a coin of gold--let us exchange;' so he receives the gold +and goes to another man, saying, 'Thou hast two houses and I have +none; lend me one of thy houses to live in, and I will give thee my +gold;' thus again they exchange." + +"It is well," said the prince; "but in time of drought, if there is no +bread in a city, can they make it of gold?" + +"Not so," answered the old man, "but they must send their gold to a +city where there is food, and bring that back instead of it." + +"But if there was a famine all over the world," asked the prince, +"what would they do then?" + +"Why, then, and only then," said the old man, "they must starve, and +the gold would be nought, for it can only be changed for that which +_is_; it cannot make that which _is not_." + +"And where do they get gold?" asked the prince. "Is it the precious +fruit of some rare tree, or have they whereby they can draw it down +from the sky at sunset?" + +"Some of it," said the old man, "they dig out of the ground." + +Then he told the prince of ancient rivers running through terrible +deserts, whose sands glitter with golden grains and are yellow in the +fierce heat of the sun, and of dreary mines where the Indian slaves +work in gangs tied together, never seeing the light of day; and lastly +(for he was a man of much knowledge, and had travelled far), he told +him of the valley of the Sacramento in the New World, and of those +mountains where the people of Europe send their criminals, and where +now their free men pour forth to gather gold, and dig for it as hard +as if for life; sitting up by it at night lest any should take it from +them, giving up houses and country, and wife and children, for the +sake of a few feet of mud, whence they dig clay that glitters as they +wash it; and how they sift it and rock it as patiently as if it were +their own children in the cradle, and afterward carry it in their +bosoms, and forego on account of it safety and rest. + +"But, prince," he went on, seeing that the young man was absorbed in +his narrative, "if you would pass your word to me never to betray me, +I would procure for you a sight of the external world, and in a trance +you should see those places where gold is dug, and traverse those +regions forbidden to your mortal footsteps." + +Upon this, the prince threw himself at the old man's feet, and +promised heartily to observe the secrecy required, and entreated that, +for however short a time, he might be suffered to see this wonderful +world. + +Then, if we may credit the story, the old man drew nearer to the +chafing-dish which stood between them, and having fanned the dying +embers in it, cast upon them a certain powder and some herbs, from +whence as they burnt a peculiar smoke arose. As their vapors spread, +he desired the prince to draw near and inhale them, and then (says the +fable) assured him that when he should sleep he would find himself, in +his dream, at whatever place he might desire, with this strange +advantage, that he should see things in their truth and reality as +well as in their outward shows. + +So the prince, not without some fear, prepared to obey; but first he +drank his sherbet, and handed over the golden cup to the old man by +way of recompense; then he reclined beside the chafing-dish and +inhaled the heavy perfume till he became overpowered with sleep, and +sank down upon the carpet in a dream. + +The prince knew not where he was, but a green country was floating +before him, and he found himself standing in a marshy valley where a +few wretched cottages were scattered here and there with no means of +communication. There was a river, but it had overflowed its banks and +made the central land impassable, the fences had been broken down by +it, and the fields of corn laid low; a few wretched peasants were +wandering about there; they looked half-clad and half-starved. "A +miserable valley, indeed!" exclaimed the prince; but as he said it a +man came down from the hills with a great bag of gold in his hand. + +"This valley is mine," said he to the people; "I have bought it for +gold. Now make banks that the river may not overflow, and I will give +you gold; also make fences and plant fields, and cover in the roofs of +your houses, and buy yourselves richer clothing." So the people did +so, and as the gold got lower in the bag the valley grew fairer and +greener, till the prince exclaimed, "O gold, I see your value now! O +wonderful, beneficent gold!" + +But presently the valley melted away like a mist, and the prince saw +an army besieging a city; he heard a general haranguing his soldiers +to urge them on, and the soldiers shouting and battering the walls; +but shortly, when the city was well-nigh taken, he saw some men +secretly giving gold among the soldiers, so much of it that they threw +down their arms to pick it up, and said that the walls were so strong +that they could not throw them down. "O powerful gold!" thought the +prince; "thou art stronger than the city walls!" + +After that it seemed to him that he was walking about in a desert +country, and in his dream he thought, "Now I know what labor is, for I +have seen it, and its benefits; and I know what liberty is, for I have +tasted it; I can wander where I will, and no man questions me; but +gold is more strange to me than ever, for I have seen it buy both +liberty and labor." Shortly after this he saw a great crowd digging +upon a barren hill, and when he drew near he understood that he was to +see the place whence the gold came. + +He came up and stood a long time watching the people as they toiled +ready to faint in the sun, so great was the labor of digging up the +gold. + +He saw some who had much and could not trust any one to help them to +carry it, binding it in bundles over their shoulders, and bending and +groaning under its weight; he saw others hide it in the ground, and +watch the place, clothed in rags, that none might suspect that they +were rich; but some, on the contrary, who had dug up an unusual +quantity, he saw dancing and singing, and vaunting their success, till +robbers waylaid them when they slept, and rifled their bundles and +carried their golden sand away. + +"All these men are mad," thought the prince, "and this pernicious gold +has made them so." + +After this, as he wandered here and there, he saw groups of people +smelting the gold under the shadow of the trees, and he observed that +a dancing, quivering vapor rose up from it which dazzled their eyes, +and distorted everything that they looked at; arraying it also in +different colors from the true one. + +He observed that this vapor from the gold caused all things to rock +and reel before the eyes of those who looked through it, and also, by +some strange affinity, it drew their hearts toward those who carried +much gold on their persons, so that they called them good and +beautiful; it also caused them to see darkness and dulness in the +faces of those who had carried none. "This," thought the prince, "is +very strange;" but not being able to explain it, he went still +farther, and there he saw more people. Each of these had adorned +himself with a broad golden girdle, and was sitting in the shade, +while other men waited on them. + +"What ails these people?" he inquired of one who was looking on, for +he observed a peculiar air of weariness and dulness in their faces. He +was answered that the girdles were very tight and heavy, and being +bound over the regions of the heart, were supposed to impede its +action, and prevent it from beating high, and also to chill the +wearer, as, being of opaque material, the warm sunshine of the earth +could not get through to warm them. + +"Why, then, do they not break them asunder," exclaimed the prince, +"and fling them away?" + +"Break them asunder!" cried the man; "why, what a madman you must be; +they are made of the purest gold!" + +"Forgive my ignorance," replied the prince; "I am a stranger." + +So he walked on, for feelings of delicacy prevented him from gazing +any longer at the men with the golden girdles; but as he went he +pondered on the misery he had seen, and thought to himself that this +golden sand did more mischief than all the poisons of the apothecary; +for it dazzled the eyes of some, it strained the hearts of others, it +bowed down the heads of many to the earth with its weight; it was a +sore labor to gather it, and when it was gathered the robber might +carry it away; it would be a good thing, he thought, if there were +none of it. + +After this he came to a place where were sitting some aged widows and +some orphan children of the gold-diggers, who were helpless and +destitute; they were weeping and bemoaning themselves, but stopped at +the approach of a man whose appearance attracted the prince, for he +had a very great bundle of gold on his back, and yet it did not bow +him down at all; his apparel was rich, but he had no girdle on, and +his face was anything but sad. + +"Sir," said the prince to him, "you have a great burden; you are +fortunate to be able to stand under it." + +"I could not do so," he replied, "only that as I go on I keep +lightening it;" and as he passed each of the widows, he threw gold to +her, and, stooping down, hid pieces of it in the bosoms of the +children. + +"You have no girdle," said the prince. + +"I once had one," answered the gold-gatherer; "but it was so tight +over my breast that my heart grew cold under it, and almost ceased to +beat. Having a great quantity of gold on my back, I felt almost at the +last gasp; so I threw off my girdle, and being on the bank of a river, +which I knew not how to cross, I was about to fling it in, I was so +vexed! 'But no,' thought I, 'there are many people waiting here to +cross besides myself. I will make my girdle into a bridge, and we will +cross over on it.'" + +"Turn your girdle into a bridge!" said the prince, doubtfully, for he +did not quite understand. + +The man explained himself. + +"And, then, sir, after that," he continued, "I turned one-half of my +burden into bread, and gave it to these poor people. Since then I have +not been oppressed by its weight, however heavy it may have been; for +few men have a heavier one. In fact, I gather more from day to day." + +As the man kept speaking, he scattered his gold right and left with a +cheerful countenance, and the prince was about to reply, when suddenly +a great trembling under his feet made him fall to the ground. The +refining fires of the gold-gatherers sprang up into flames, and then +went out; night fell over everything on the earth, and nothing was +visible in the sky but the stars of the southern cross. + +"It is past midnight," thought the prince, "for the stars of the cross +begin to bend." + +He raised himself upon his elbow, and tried to pierce the darkness, +but could not. At length a slender blue flame darted out, as from +ashes in a chafing-dish, and by the light of it he saw the strange +pattern of his carpet and the cushions lying about. He did not +recognize them at first, but presently he knew that he was lying in +his usual place, at the top of his tower. + +"Wake up, prince," said the old man. + +The prince sat up and sighed, and the old man inquired what he had +seen. + +"O man of much learning!" answered the prince, "I have seen that this +is a wonderful world; I have seen the value of labor, and I know the +uses of it; I have tasted the sweetness of liberty, and am grateful, +though it was but in a dream; but as for that other word that was so +great a mystery to me, I only know this, that it must remain a mystery +forever, since I am fain to believe that all men are bent on getting +it; though, once gotten, it causeth them endless disquietude, only +second to their discomfort that are without it. I am fain to believe +that they can procure with it whatever they most desire, and yet that +it cankers their hearts and dazzles their eyes; that it is their +nature and their duty to gather it; and yet that, when once gathered, +the best thing they can do is to scatter it!" + +The next morning, when he awoke, the old man was gone. He had taken +with him the golden cup. And the sentinel was also gone, none knew +whither. Perhaps the old man had turned his golden cup into a golden +key. + + + + +A LOST WAND + +By Jean Ingelow + + +More than a hundred years ago, at the foot of a wild mountain in +Norway, stood an old castle, which even at the time I write of was so +much out of repair as in some parts to be scarcely habitable. + +In a hall of this castle a party of children met once on Twelfth-night +to play at Christmas games and dance with little Hulda, the only child +of the lord and lady. + +The winters in Norway are very cold, and the snow and ice lie for +months on the ground; but the night on which these merry children met +it froze with more than ordinary severity, and a keen wind shook the +trees without, and roared in the wide chimneys like thunder. + +Little Hulda's mother, as the evening wore on, kept calling on the +servants to heap on fresh logs of wood, and these, when the long +flames crept around them, sent up showers of sparks that lit up the +brown walls, ornamented with the horns of deer and goats, and made it +look as cheerful and gay as the faces of the children. Hulda's +grandmother had sent her a great cake, and when the children had +played enough at all the games they could think of, the old gray-headed +servants brought it in and set it on the table, together with a great +many other nice things such as people eat in Norway--pasties made of +reindeer meat, and castles of the sweet pastry sparkling with sugar +ornaments of ships and flowers and crowns, and cranberry pies, and +whipped cream as white as the snow outside; but nothing was admired so +much as the great cake, and when the children saw it they set up a +shout which woke the two hounds who were sleeping on the hearths, and +they began to bark, which roused all the four dogs in the kennels +outside who had not been invited to see either the cake or the games, +and they barked, too, shaking and shivering with cold, and then a +great lump of snow slid down from the roof, and fell with a dull sound +like distant thunder on the pavement of the yard. + +"Hurrah!" cried the children, "the dogs and the snow are helping us to +shout in honor of the cake." + +All this time more and more nice things were coming in--fritters, +roasted grouse, frosted apples, and buttered crabs. As the old +servants came shivering along the passages, they said, "It is a good +thing that children are not late with their suppers; if the confects +had been kept long in the larder they would have frozen on the +dishes." + +Nobody wished to wait at all; so, as soon as the supper was ready, +they all sat down, more wood was heaped on to the fire, and when the +moon shone in at the deep casements, and glittered on the dropping +snowflakes outside, it only served to make the children more merry +over their supper to think how bright and warm everything was inside. + +This cake was a real treasure, such as in the days of the fairies, who +still lived in certain parts of Norway, was known to be of the kind +they loved. A piece of it was always cut and laid outside in the snow, +in case they should wish to taste it. Hulda's grandmother had also +dropped a ring into this cake before it was put into the oven, and it +is well known that whoever gets such a ring in his or her slice of +cake has only to wish for something directly, and the fairies are +bound to give it, _if they possibly can_. There have been cases +known when the fairies could not give it, and then, of course, they +were not to blame. + +On this occasion the children said: "Let us all be ready with our +wishes, because sometimes people have been known to lose them from +being so long making up their minds when the ring has come to them." + +"Yes," cried the eldest boy. "It does not seem fair that only one +should wish. I am the eldest. I begin. I shall wish that Twelfth-night +would come twice a year." + +"They cannot give you that, I am sure," said Friedrich, his brother, +who sat by him. + +"Then," said the boy, "I wish father may take me with him the next +time he goes out bear-shooting." + +"I wish for a white kitten with blue eyes," said a little girl whose +name was Therese. + +"I shall wish to find an amber necklace that does not belong to any +one," said another little girl. + +"I wish to be a king," said a boy whose name was Karl. "No, I think I +shall wish to be the burgomaster, that I may go on board the ships in +the harbor, and make their captains show me what is in them. I shall +see how the sailors make their sails go up." + +"I shall wish to marry Hulda," said another boy; "when I am a man, I +mean. And besides that, I wish I may find a black puppy in my room at +home, for I love dogs." + +"But that is not fair," said the other children. "You must only wish +for one thing, as we did." + +"But I really wish for both," said the boy. + +"If you wish for both perhaps you will get neither," said little +Hulda. + +"Well, then," answered the boy, "I wish for the puppy." + +And so they all went on wishing till at last it came to Hulda's turn. + +"What do you wish for, my child?" said her mother. + +"Not for anything at all," she answered, shaking her head. + +"Oh, but you must wish for something!" cried all the children. + +"Yes," said her mother, "and I am now going to cut the cake. See, +Hulda, the knife is going into it. Think of something." + +"Well, then," answered the little girl, "I cannot think of anything +else, so I shall wish that you may all have your wishes." + +Upon this the knife went crunching down into the cake, the children +gave three cheers, and the white waxen tulip bud at the top came +tumbling on the table, and while they were all looking it opened its +leaves, and out of the middle of it stepped a beautiful little fairy +woman, no taller than your finger. + +She had a white robe on, a little crown on her long yellow hair; there +were two wings on her shoulders, just like the downy brown wings of +a butterfly, and in her hand she had a little sceptre sparkling with +precious stones. + +"Only one wish," she said, jumping down on to the table, and speaking +with the smallest little voice you ever heard. "Your fathers and +mothers were always contented if we gave them one wish every year." + +As she spoke, Hulda's mother gave a slice of cake to each child, and, +when Hulda took hers, out dropped the ring, and fell clattering on her +platter. + +"Only one wish," repeated the fairy. And the children were all so much +astonished (for even in those days fairies were but rarely seen) that +none of them spoke a word, not even in a whisper. "Only one wish. +Speak, then, little Hulda, for I am one of that race which delights to +give pleasure and to do good. Is there really nothing that you wish, +for you shall certainly have it if there is?" + +"There was nothing, dear fairy, before I saw you," answered the little +girl, in a hesitating tone. + +"But now there is?" asked the fairy. "Tell it me, then, and you shall +have it." + +"I wish for that pretty little sceptre of yours," said Hulda, pointing +to the fairy's wand. + +The moment Hulda said this the fairy shuddered and became pale, her +brilliant colors faded, and she looked to the children's eyes like a +thin white mist standing still in her place. The sceptre, on the +contrary, became brighter than ever, and the precious stones glowed +like burning coals. + +"Dear child," she sighed, in a faint, mournful voice, "I had better +have left you with the gift of your satisfied, contented heart, than +thus have urged you to form a wish to my destruction. Alas! alas! my +power and my happiness fade from me, and are as if they had never +been. My wand must now go to you, who can make no use of it, and I +must flutter about forlornly and alone in the cold world, with no more +ability to do good, and waste away my time--a helpless and defenceless +thing." + +"Oh, no, no!" replied little Hulda. "Do not speak so mournfully, dear +fairy. I did not wish at first to ask for it. I will not take the wand +if it is of value to you, and I should be grieved to have it against +your will." + +"Child," said the fairy, "you do not know our nature. I have said +whatever you wished should be yours. I cannot alter this decree; it +_must_ be so. Take my wand; and I entreat you to guard it +carefully, and never to give it away lest it should get into the hands +of my enemy; for if once it should, I shall become his miserable +little slave. Keep my wand with care; it is of no use to you, but in +the course of years it is possible I may be able to regain it, and on +Midsummer night I shall for a few hours return to my present shape, +and be able for a short time to talk with you again." + +"Dear fairy," said little Hulda, weeping, and putting out her hand for +the wand, which the fairy held to her, "is there nothing else that I +can do for you?" + +"Nothing, nothing," said the fairy, who had now become so transparent +and dim that they could scarcely see her; only the wings on her +shoulders remained, and their bright colors had changed to a dusky +brown. "I have long contended with my bitter enemy, the chief of the +tribe of the gnomes--the ill-natured, spiteful gnomes. Their desire is +as much to do harm to mortals as it is mine to do them good. If now he +should find me I shall be at his mercy. It was decreed long ages ago +that I should one day lose my wand, and it depends in some degree upon +you, little Hulda, whether I shall ever receive it again. Farewell." + +And now nothing was visible but the wings: the fairy had changed into +a moth, with large brown wings freckled with dark eyes, and it stood +trembling upon the table, till at length, when the children had +watched it some time, it fluttered toward the window and beat against +the panes, as if it wished to be released, so they opened the casement +and let it out in the wind and cold. + +Poor little thing! They were very sorry for it; but after a while they +nearly forgot it, for they were but children. Little Hulda only +remembered it, and she carefully enclosed the beautiful sceptre in a +small box. But Midsummer day passed by, and several other Midsummer +days, and still Hulda saw nothing and heard nothing of the fairy. She +then began to fear that she must be dead, and it was a long time since +she had looked at the wand, when one day in the middle of the Norway +summer, as she was playing in one of the deep bay windows of the +castle, she saw a pedlar with a pack on his back coming slowly up the +avenue of pine-trees, and singing a merry song. + +"Can I speak to the lady of this castle?" he said to Hulda, making at +the same time a very low bow. + +Hulda did not much like him, he had such restless black eyes and such +a cunning smile. His face showed that he was a foreigner; it was as +brown as a nut. His dress also was very strange; he wore a red turban, +and had large earrings in his ears, and silver chains wound round and +round his ankles. + +Hulda replied that her mother was gone to the fair at Christiania, and +would not be back for several days. + +"Can I then speak with the lord of the castle?" asked the pedlar. + +"My father is gone out to fish in the fiord," replied little Hulda; +"he will not return for some time, and the maids and the men are all +gone to make hay in the fields; there is no one left at home but me +and my old nurse." + +The pedlar was very much delighted to hear this. However, he pretended +to be disappointed. + +"It is very unfortunate," he said, "that your honored parents are not +at home, for I have got some things here of such wonderful beauty that +nothing could have given them so much pleasure as to have feasted +their eyes with the sight of them--rings, bracelets, lockets, +pictures--in short, there is nothing beautiful that I have not got in +my pack, and if your parents could have seen them they would have +given all the money they had in the world rather than not have bought +some of them." + +"Good pedlar," said little Hulda, "could you not be so very kind as +just to let me have a sight of them?" + +The pedlar at first pretended to be unwilling, but after he had looked +all across the wide heath and seen that there was no one coming, and +that the hounds by the doorway were fast asleep in the sun, and the +very pigeons on the roof had all got their heads under their wings, he +ventured to step across the threshold into the bay window, and begin +to open his pack and display all his fine things, taking care to set +them out in the sunshine, which made them glitter like glowworms. + +Little Hulda had never seen anything half so splendid before. There +were little glasses set round with diamonds, and hung with small +tinkling bells which made delightful music whenever they were shaken; +ropes of pearls which had a more fragrant scent than bean-fields or +hyacinths; rings, the precious stones of which changed color as you +frowned or smiled upon them; silver boxes that could play tunes; +pictures of beautiful ladies and gentlemen, set with emeralds, with +devices in coral at the back; little golden snakes, with brilliant +eyes that would move about; and so many other rare and splendid jewels +that Hulda was quite dazzled, and stood looking at them with blushing +cheeks and a beating heart, so much she wished that she might have one +of them. + +"Well, young lady," said the cunning pedlar, "how do you find these +jewels? Did I boast too much of their beauty?" + +"Oh, no!" said Hulda, "I did not think there had been anything so +beautiful in the world. I did not think even our queen had such fine +jewels as these. Thank you, pedlar, for the sight of them." + +"Will you buy something, then, of a poor man?" answered the pedlar. +"I've travelled a great distance, and not sold anything this many a +day." + +"I should be very glad to buy," said little Hulda, "but I have +scarcely any money; not half the price of one of these jewels, I am +sure." + +Now there was lying on the table an ancient signet-ring set with a +large opal. + +"Maybe the young lady would not mind parting with this?" said he, +taking it up. "I could give her a new one for it of the latest +fashion." + +"Oh, no, thank you!" cried Hulda, hastily, "I must not do so. This +ring is my mother's, and was left her by my grandmother." + +The pedlar looked disappointed. However, he put the ring down, and +said, "But if my young lady has no money, perhaps she has some old +trinkets or toys that she would not mind parting with--a coral and +bells, or a silver mug, or a necklace, or, in short, anything that she +keeps put away, and that is of no use to her?" + +"No," said the little girl, "I don't think I have got anything of the +kind. Oh, yes! to be sure, I have got somewhere up-stairs a little +gold wand, which I was told not to give away; but I'm afraid she who +gave it me must have been dead a long while, and it is of no use +keeping it any longer." + +Now this pedlar was the fairy's enemy. He had long suspected that the +wand must be concealed somewhere in that region, and near the sea, and +he had disguised himself, and gone out wandering among the farmhouses +and huts and castles to try if he could hear some tidings of it, and +get it if possible into his power. The moment he heard Hulda mention +her gold wand, he became excessively anxious to see it. He was a +gnome, and when his malicious eyes gleamed with delight they shot out +a burning ray, which scorched the hound who was lying asleep close at +hand, and he sprang up and barked at him. + +"Peace, peace, Rhan!" cried little Hulda; "lie down, you unmannerly +hound!" The dog shrank back again growling, and the pedlar said in a +careless tone to Hulda: + +"Well, lady, I have no objection just to look at the little gold wand, +and see if it is worth anything." + +"But I am not sure that I could part with it," said Hulda. + +"Very well," replied the pedlar, "as you please; but I may as well +look at it. I should hope these beautiful things need not go begging." +As he spoke he began carefully to lock up some of the jewels in their +little boxes, as if he meant to go away. + +"Oh, don't go," cried Hulda. "I am going upstairs to fetch my wand. I +shall not be long; pray wait for me." + +Nothing was further from the pedlar's thought than to go away, and +while little Hulda was running up to look for the wand he panted so +hard for fear that after all he might not be able to get it that he +woke the other hound, who came up to him, and smelt his leg. + +"What sort of a creature is this?" said the old hound to his +companion, speaking, of course, in the dogs' language. + +"I'm sure I can't say," answered the other. "I wonder what he is made +of,--he smells of mushrooms! quite earthy, I declare! as if he had +lived underground all his life." + +"Let us stand one on each side of him, and watch that he doesn't steal +anything." + +So the two dogs stood staring at him; but the pedlar was too cunning +for them. He looked out of the window, and said, "I think I see the +master coming," upon which they both turned to look across the heath, +and the pedlar snatched up the opal ring, and hid it in his vest. When +they turned around he was folding up his trinkets again as calmly as +possible. "One cannot be too careful to count one's goods," he said, +gravely. "Honest people often get cheated in houses like these, and +honest as these two dogs look, I know where one of them hid that +leg-of-mutton bone that he stole yesterday!" Upon hearing this the +dogs sneaked under the table ashamed of themselves. "I would not have +it on my conscience that I robbed my master for the best bone in the +world," continued the pedlar, and as he said this he took up a little +silver horn belonging to the lord of the castle, and, having tapped it +with his knuckle to see whether the metal was pure, folded it up in +cotton, and put it in his pack with the rest of his curiosities. + +Presently Hulda came down with a little box in her hand, out of which +she took the fairy's wand. + +The pedlar was so transported at the sight of it that he could +scarcely conceal his joy; but he knew that unless he could get it by +fair means it would be of no use to him. + +"How dim it looks!" said little Hulda; "the stones used to be so very +bright when first I had it." + +"Ah! that is a sign that the person who gave it you is dead," said the +deceitful pedlar. + +"I am sorry to hear she is dead," said Hulda, with a sigh. "Well, +then, pedlar, as that is the case, I will part with the wand if you +can give me one of your fine bracelets instead of it." + +The pedlar's hand trembled with anxiety, as he held it out for the +wand, but the moment he had got possession of it all his politeness +vanished. + +"There," he said, "you have got a very handsome bracelet in your hand. +It is worth a great deal more than the wand. You may keep it. I have +no time to waste; I must be gone." So saying, he hastily snatched up +the rest of his jewels, thrust them into his pack, and slung it over +his shoulder, leaving Hulda looking after him with the bracelet in her +hand. She saw him walk rapidly along the heath till he came to a +gravel-pit, very deep, and with overhanging sides. He swung himself +over by the branches of the trees. + +"What can he be going to do there?" she said to herself. "But I will +run after him, for I don't like this bracelet half so well as some of +the others." + +So Hulda ran till she came to the edge of the gravel-pit, but was so +much surprised that she could not say a word. There were the great +footmarks made by the pedlar down the steep sides of the pit; and at +the bottom she saw him sitting in the mud, digging a hole with his +hands. + +"Hi!" he said, putting his head down. "Some of you come up. I've got +the wand at last. Come and help me down with my pack." + +"I'm coming," answered a voice, speaking under the ground; and +presently up came a head, all covered with earth, through the hole the +pedlar had made. It was shaggy with hair, and had two little bright +eyes, like those of a mole. Hulda thought she had never seen such a +curious little man. He was dressed in brown clothes, and had a +red-peaked cap on his head; and he and the pedlar soon laid the pack +at the bottom of the hole, and began to stamp upon it, dancing and +singing with great vehemence. As they went on the pack sank lower and +lower, till at last, as they still stood upon it, Hulda could see only +their heads and shoulders. In a little time longer she could only see +the top of the red cap; and then the two little men disappeared +altogether, and the ground closed over them, and the white nettles and +marsh marigolds waved their heads over the place as if nothing had +happened. + +Hulda walked away sadly and slowly. She looked at the beautiful +bracelet, and wished she had not parted with the wand for it, for she +now began to fear that the pedlar had deceived her. Nevertheless, who +would not be delighted to have such a fine jewel? It consisted of a +gold hoop, set with turquoise, and on the clasp was a beautiful bird, +with open wings, all made of gold, and which quivered as Hulda carried +it. Hulda looked at its bright eyes--ruby eyes, which sparkled in the +sunshine--and at its crest, all powdered with pearls, and she forgot +her regret. + +"My beautiful bird!" she said, "I will not hide you in a dark box, as +the pedlar did. I will wear you on my wrist, and let you see all my +toys, and you shall be carried every day into the garden, that the +flowers may see how elegant you are. But stop! I think I see a little +dust on your wings. I must rub it off." So saying, Hulda took up her +frock and began gently rubbing the bird's wings, when, to her utter +astonishment, it opened its pretty beak and sang: + + "My master, oh, my master, + The brown hard-hearted gnome, + He goes down faster, faster, + To his dreary home. + Little Hulda sold her + Golden wand for me, + Though the fairy told her + That must never be-- + Never--she must never + Let the treasure go. + Ah! lost forever, + Woe! woe! woe!" + +The bird sang in such a sorrowful voice, and fluttered its golden +wings so mournfully, that Hulda wept. + +"Alas! alas!" she said, "I have done very wrong. I have lost the wand +forever! Oh, what shall I do, dear little bird? Do tell me." + +But the bird did not sing again, and it was now time to go to bed. The +old nurse came out to fetch Hulda. She had been looking all over the +castle for her, and been wondering where she could have hidden +herself. + +In Norway, at midsummer, the nights are so short that the sun only +dips under the hills time enough to let one or two stars peep out +before he appears again. The people, therefore, go to bed in the broad +sunlight. + +"Child," said the old nurse, "look how late you are--it is nearly +midnight. Come, it is full time for bed. This is Midsummer day." + +"Midsummer day!" repeated Hulda. "Ah, how sorry I am! Then this is a +day when I might have seen the fairy. How very, very foolish I have +been!" + +Hulda laid her beautiful bracelet upon a table in her room, where she +could see it, and kissed the little bird before she got into bed. She +had been asleep a long time when a little sobbing voice suddenly awoke +her, and she sat up to listen. The house was perfectly still; her cat +was curled up at the door, fast asleep; her bird's head was under its +wing; a long sunbeam was slanting down through an opening in the green +window-curtain, and the motes danced merrily in it. + +"What could that noise have been?" said little Hulda, lying down +again. She had no sooner laid her head on the pillow than she heard it +again; and, turning round quickly to look at the bracelet, she saw the +little bird fluttering its wings, and close to it, with her hands +covering her face, the beautiful, long lost fairy. + +"Oh, fairy, fairy! what have I done!" said Hulda. "You will never see +your wand again. The gnome has got it, and he has carried it down +under the ground, where he will hide it from us forever." + +The fairy could not look up, nor answer. She remained weeping, with +her hands before her till the little golden bird began to chirp. + +"Sing to us again, I pray you, beautiful bird!" said Hulda; "for you +are not friendly to the gnome. I am sure you are sorry for the poor +fairy." + +"Child," said the fairy, "be cautious what you say--that gnome is my +enemy; he disguised himself as a pedlar the better to deceive you, and +now he has got my wand he can discover where I am; he will be +constantly pursuing me, and I shall have no peace; if once I fall into +his hands, I shall be his slave forever. The bird is not his friend, +for the race of gnomes have no friends. Speak to it again, and see if +it will sing to you, for you are its mistress." + +"Sing to me, sweet bird," said Hulda, in a caressing tone, and the +little bird quivered its wings and bowed its head several times; then +it opened its beak and sang: + + "Where's the ring? + Oh the ring, my master stole the ring, + And he holds it while I sing, + In the middle of the world. + Where's the ring? + Where the long green Lizard curled + All its length, and made a spring + Fifty leagues along. + There he stands, + With his brown hands, + And sings to the Lizard a wonderful song. + And he gives the white stone to that Lizard fell, + For he fears it--and loves it parsing well." + +"What!" said Hulda, "did the pedlar steal my mother's ring--that old +opal ring which I told him I could not let him have?" + +"Child," replied the fairy, "be not sorry for his treachery; this +theft I look to for my last hope for recovering the wand." + +"How so?" asked Hulda. + +"It is a common thing among mortals," replied the fairy, "to say the +thing which is not true, and do the thing which is not honest; but +among the other races of beings who inhabit this world the penalty of +mocking and imitating the vices of you, the superior race, is, that if +ever one of us can be convicted of it, that one, be it gnome, sprite, +or fairy, is never permitted to appear in the likeness of humanity +again, nor to walk about on the face of the land which is your +inheritance. Now the gnomes hate one another, and if it should be +discovered by the brethren of this my enemy that he stole the opal +ring, they will not fail to betray him. There is, therefore, no doubt, +little Hulda, that he carries both the ring and the wand about with +him wherever he goes, and if in all your walks and during your whole +life you should see him again, and go boldly up to him and demand the +stolen stone, he will be compelled instantly to burrow his way down +again into the earth, and leave behind him all his ill-gotten gains." + +"There is, then, still some hope," said Hulda, in a happier voice; +"but where, dear fairy, have you hidden yourself so long?" + +"I have passed a dreary time," replied the fairy. "I have been +compelled to leave Europe and fly across to Africa, for my enemy +inhabits that great hollow dome which is the centre of the earth, and +he can only come up in Europe; but my poor little brown wings were +often so weary in my flight across the sea that I wished, like the +birds, I could drop into the waves and die; for what was to me the use +of immortality when I could no longer soothe the sorrow of mortals? +But I cannot die; and after I had fluttered across into Egypt, where +the glaring light of the sun almost blinded me, I was thankful to find +a ruined tomb or temple underground, where great marble sarcophagi +were ranged around the walls, and where in the dusky light I could +rest from my travels, in a place where I only knew the difference +between night and day by the redness of the one sunbeam which stole in +through a crevice, and the silvery blue of the moonbeam that succeeded +it. + +"In that temple there was no sound but the rustling of the bat's wings +as they flew in before dawn, or sometimes the chirping of a swallow +which had lost its way, and was frightened to see all the grim marble +faces gazing at it. But the quietness did me good, and I waited, +hoping that the young King of Sweden would marry, and that an heir +would be born to him (for I am a Swedish fairy), and then I should +recover my liberty according to an ancient statute of the fairy realm, +and my wand would also come again into my possession; but alas! he is +dead, and the reason you see me to-day is, that, like the rest of my +race, I am come to strew leaves on his grave and recount his virtues. +I must now return, for the birds are stirring; I hear the cows lowing +to be milked, and the maids singing as they go out with their pails. +Farewell, little Hulda; guard well the bracelet; I must to my ruined +temple again. Happy for me will be the day when you see my enemy (if +that day ever comes); the bird will warn you of his neighborhood by +pecking your hand. + +"One moment stay, dear fairy," said Hulda. "Where am I most likely to +see the gnome?" + +"In the south," replied the fairy, "for they love hot sunshine. I can +stay no longer. Farewell." + +So saying, the fairy again became a moth and fluttered to the window. +Little Hulda opened it, the brown moth settled for a moment upon her +lips as if it wished to kiss her, and then it flew out into the +sunshine, away and away. + +Little Hulda watched her till her pretty wings were lost in the blue +distance; then she turned and took her bracelet, and put it on her +wrist, where, from that day forward, she always wore it night and day. + +Hulda now grew tall, and became a fair young maiden, and she often +wished for the day when she might go down to the south, that she might +have a better chance of seeing the cruel gnome, and as she sat at work +in her room alone she often asked the bird to sing to her, but he +never sang any other songs than the two she had heard at first. + +And now two full years had passed away, and it was again the height of +the Norway summer, but the fairy had not made her appearance. + +As the days began to shorten, Hulda's cheeks lost their bright color, +and her steps their merry lightness; she became pale and wan. Her +parents were grieved to see her change so fast, but they hoped, as the +weary winter came on, that the cheerful fire and gay company would +revive her; but she grew worse and worse, till she could scarcely walk +alone through the rooms where she had played so happily, and all the +physicians shook their heads and said, "Alas! alas! the lord and lady +of the castle may well look sad: nothing can save their fair daughter, +and before the spring comes she will sink into an early grave." + +The first yellow leaves now began to drop, and showed that winter was +near at hand. + +"My sweet Hulda," said her mother to her one day, as she was lying +upon a couch looking out into the sunshine, "is there anything you can +think of that would do you good, or any place we can go to that you +think might revive you?" + +"I had only one wish," replied Hulda, "but that, dear mother, I cannot +have." + +"Why not, dear child?" said her father. "Let us hear what your wish +was." + +"I wished that before I died I might be able to go into the south and +see that wicked pedlar, that if possible I might repair the mischief I +had done to the fairy by restoring her the wand." + +"Does she wish to go into the south?" said the physicians. "Then it +will be as well to indulge her, but nothing can save her life; and if +she leaves her native country she will return to it no more." + +"I am willing to go," said Hulda, "for the fairy's sake." + +So they put her on a pillion, and took her slowly on to the south by +short distances, as she could bear it. And as she left the old castle, +the wind tossed some yellow leaves against her, and then whirled them +away across the heath to the forest. Hulda said: + + "Yellow leaves, yellow leaves, + Whither away? + Through the long wood paths + How fast do ye stray!" + +The yellow leaves answered: + + "We go to lie down + Where the spring snowdrops grow, + Their young roots to cherish + Through frost and through snow." + +Then Hulda said again to the leaves: + + "Yellow leaves, yellow leaves, + Faded and few, + What will the spring flowers + Matter to you?" + +And the leaves said: + + "We shall not see them, + When gaily they bloom, + But sure they will love us + For guarding their tomb." + +Then Hulda said: + +"The yellow leaves are like me: I am going away from my place for the +sake of the poor fairy, who now lies hidden in the dark Egyptian ruin; +but if I am so happy as to recover her wand by my care, she will come +back glad and white, like the snowdrops when winter is over, and she +will love my memory when I am laid asleep in my tomb." + +So they set out on their journey, and every day went a little distance +toward the south, till at last, on Christmas Eve, they came to an +ancient city at the foot of a range of mountains. + +"What a strange Christmas this is!" said Hulda, when she looked out +the next morning. "Let us stay here, mother, for we are far enough to +the south. Look how the red berries hang on yonder tree, and these +myrtles on the porch are fresh and green, and a few roses bloom still +on the sunny side of the window." + +It was so fine and warm that the next day they carried Hulda to a +green bank where she could sit down. + +It was close by some public gardens, and the people were coming and +going. She fell into a doze as she sat with her mother watching her, +and in her half-dream she heard the voices of the passers-by, and what +they said about her, till suddenly a voice which she remembered made +her wake with a start, and as she opened her frightened eyes, there, +with his pack on his back, and his cunning eyes fixed upon her, stood +the pedlar. + +"Stop him!" cried Hulda, starting up. "Mother, help me to run after +him!" + +"After whom, my child?" asked her mother. + +"After the pedlar," said Hulda. "He was here but now, but before I had +time to speak to him, he stepped behind that thorn-bush and +disappeared." + +"So that is Hulda," said the pedlar to himself, as he went down the +steep path into the middle of the world. "She looks as if a few days +more would be all she has to live. I will not come here any more till +the spring, and then she will be dead, and I shall have nothing to +fear." + +But Hulda did not die. See what a good thing it is to be kind. The +soft, warm air of the south revived her by degrees--so much, that by +the end of the year she could walk in the public garden and delight in +the warm sunshine; in another month she could ride with her father to +see all the strange old castles in that neighborhood, and by the end +of February she was as well as ever she had been in her life; and all +this came from her desire to do good to the fairy by going to the +south. + +"And now," thought the pedlar, "there is no doubt that the daisies are +growing on Hulda's grave by this time, so I will go up again to the +outside of the world, and sell my wares to the people who resort to +those public places." + +So one day when in that warm climate the spring flowers were already +blooming on the hillsides, up he came close to the ruined walls of a +castle, and set his pack down beside him to rest after the fatigues +of his journey. + +"This is a cool, shady place," he said, looking round, "and these dark +yew-trees conceal it very well from the road. I shall come here always +in the middle of the day, when the sun is too hot, and count over my +gains. How hard my mistress, the Lizard, makes me work! Who would have +thought she would have wished to deck her green head with opals down +there, where there are only a tribe of brown gnomes to see her? But I +have not given her that one out of the ring which I stole, nor three +others that I conjured out of the crozier of the priest as I knelt at +the altar, and they thought I was rehearsing a prayer to the Virgin." + +After resting some time, the pedlar took up his pack and went boldly +on to the gardens, never doubting but that Hulda was dead; but it so +happened that at that moment Hulda and her mother sat at work in a +shady part of the garden under some elder-trees. + +"What is the matter, my sweet bird?" said Hulda, for the bird pecked +her wrist, and fluttered its wings, and opened its beak as if it were +very much frightened. + +"Let us go, mother, and look about us," said Hulda. + +So they both got up and wandered all over the gardens; but the pedlar, +in the meantime, had walked on toward the town, and they saw nothing +of him. + +"Sing to me, my sweet bird," said Hulda that night as she lay down to +sleep. "Tell me _why_ you pecked my wrist." + +Then the bird sang to her: + + "Who came from the ruin, the ivy-clad ruin, + With old shaking arches, all moss overgrown, + Where the flitter-bat hideth, + The limber snake glideth, + And chill water drips from the slimy green stone?" + +"Who did?" asked Hulda. "Not the pedlar, surely? Tell me, my pretty +bird." But the bird only chirped a little and fluttered its golden +wings, so Hulda ceased to ask it, and presently fell asleep, but the +bird woke her by pecking her wrist very early, almost before sunrise, +and sang: + + "Who dips a brown hand in the chill shaded water + The water that drips from a slimy green stone? + Who flings his red cap + At the owlets that flap + Their white wings in his face as he sits there alone?" + +Hulda, upon hearing this, arose in great haste and dressed herself; +then she went to her father and mother, and entreated that they would +come with her to the old ruin. It was now broad day, so they all three +set out together. It was a very hot morning, the dust lay thick upon +the road, and there was not air enough to stir the thick leaves of the +trees which hung overhead. + +They had not gone far before they found themselves in a crowd of +people, all going toward the castle ruin, for there, they told Hulda, +the pedlar, the famous pedlar from the north, who sold such fine +wares, was going to perform some feats of jugglery of most surprising +cleverness. + +"Child," whispered Hulda's mother, "nothing could be more fortunate +for us; let us mingle with the crowd and get close to the pedler." + +Hulda assented to her mother's wish, but the heat and dust, together +with her own intense desire to rescue the lost wand, made her tremble +so that she had great difficulty in walking. They went among gypsies, +fruit-women, peasant girls, children, travelling musicians, common +soldiers, and laborers; the heat increased, and the dust and the +noise, and at last Hulda and her parents were borne forward into the +old ruin among a rush of people running and huzzaing, and heard the +pedlar shout to them: + +"Keep back, good people; leave a space before me; leave a large space +between me and you." + +So they pressed back again, jostling and crowding each other, and left +an open space before him from which he looked at them with his cunning +black eyes, and with one hand dabbling in the cold water of the spring. + +The place was open to the sky, and the broken arches and walls were +covered with thick ivy and wall flowers. The pedlar sat on a large +gray stone, with his red cap on and his brown fingers adorned with +splendid rings, and he spread them out and waved his hands to the +people with ostentatious ceremony. + +"Now, good people," he said, without rising from his seat, "you are +about to see the finest, rarest, and most wonderful exhibition of the +conjuring art ever known!" + +"Stop!" cried a woman's voice from the crowd, and a young girl rushed +wildly forward from the people, who had been trying to hold her back. + +"I impeach you before all these witnesses!" she cried, seizing him by +the hand. "See justice done, good people. I impeach you, pedlar. +Where's the ring--my mother's ring--which you stole on Midsummer's day +in the castle?" + +"Good people," said the pedlar, pulling his red cap over his face, and +speaking in a mild, fawning voice, "I hope you'll protect me. I hope +you won't see me insulted." + +"My ring, my ring!" cried Hulda; "he wore it on his finger but now!" + +"Show your hand like a man!" said the people. "If the lady says +falsely, can't you face her and tell her so? Never hold it down so +cowardly!" + +The pedlar had tucked his feet under him, and when the people cried +out to him to let the rings on his hand be seen, he had already +burrowed with them up to his knees in the earth. + +"Oh, he will go down into the earth!" cried Hulda. "But I will not let +go! Pedlar, pedlar, it is useless! If I follow you before the Lizard, +your mistress, I will not let go!" + +The pedlar turned his terrified, cowardly eyes upon Hulda, and sank +lower and lower. The people were too frightened to move. + +"Stop, child," cried her mother. "Oh, he will go down and drag thee +with him." + +But Hulda would not and could not let go. The pedlar had now sunk up +to his waist. Her mother wrung her hands, and in an instant the earth +closed upon them both, and, after falling in the dark down a steep +abyss, they found themselves, not at all the worse, standing in a +dimly lighted cave with a large table in it piled with mouldy books. +Behind the table was a smooth and perfectly round hole in the wall +about the size of a cartwheel. + +Hulda looked that way, and saw how intensely dark it was through this +hole, and she was wondering where it led to when an enormous green +Lizard put its head through into the cave, and gazed at her with its +great brown eyes. + +"What is thy demand, fine child of the daylight?" said the Lizard. + +"Princess," replied Hulda, "I demand that this thy servant should give +up to me a ring which he stole in my father's castle when I was a +child." + +The pedlar no sooner heard Hulda boldly demand her rights than he fell +on his knees and began to cry for mercy. + +"Mercy rests with this maiden," said the Lizard. At the same time she +darted out her tongue, which was several yards in length and like a +scarlet thread, and with it stripped the ring from the gnome's finger +and gave it to Hulda. + +"Speak, maiden, what reparation do you demand of this culprit, and +what shall be his punishment?" + +"Great princess," replied Hulda, "let him restore to me a golden wand +which I sold to him, for it belongs to a fairy whom he has long +persecuted." + +"Here it is, here it is!" cried the cowardly gnome, putting his hand +into his bosom and pulling it out, shaking all the time, and crying +out most piteously, "Oh, don't let me be banished from the sunshine!" + +"After this double crime no mercy can be shown you," said the Lizard, +and she twined her scarlet tongue round him, and drew him through the +hole to herself. At the same instant it closed, and a crack came in +the roof of the cave, through which the sunshine stole, and as Hulda +looked up in flew a brown moth and settled on the magic bracelet. She +touched the moth with the wand, and instantly it stood upon her +wrist--a beautiful and joyous fairy. She took her wand from Hulda's +hand, and stood for a moment looking gratefully in her face without +speaking. Then she said to the wand: + +"Art thou my own again, and wilt thou serve me?" + +"Try me," said the wand. + +So she struck the wall with it, and said, "Cleave, wall!" and a hole +came in the wall large enough for Hulda to creep through, and she +found herself at the foot of a staircase hewn in the rock, and, after +walking up it for three hours, she came out in the old ruined castle, +and was astonished to see that the sun had set. The moment she +appeared her father and mother, who had given her over for lost, +clasped her in their arms and wept for joy as they embraced her. + +"My child," said her father, "how happy thou lookest, not as if thou +hadst been down in the dark earth!" + +Hulda kissed her parents and smiled upon them; then she turned to look +for the fairy, but she was gone. So they all three walked home in the +twilight, and the next day Hulda set out again with her parents to +return to the old castle in Norway. As for the fairy, she was happy +from that day in the possession of her wand; but the little golden +bird folded its wings and never sang any songs again. + + + + +SNAP-DRAGONS--A TALE OF CHRISTMAS EVE + +By Juliana Horatia Ewing + + +Once upon a time there lived a certain family of the name of Skratdj. +(It has a Russian or Polish look, and yet they most certainly lived in +England.) They were remarkable for the following peculiarity: They +seldom seriously quarrelled, but they never agreed about anything. It +is hard to say whether it were more painful for their friends to hear +them constantly contradicting each other, or gratifying to discover +that it "meant nothing," and was "only their way." + +It began with the father and mother. They were a worthy couple, and +really attached to each other. They had a habit of contradicting each +other's statements, and opposing each other's opinions, which, though +mutually understood and allowed for in private, was most trying to the +bystanders in public. If one related an anecdote, the other would +break in with half a dozen corrections of trivial details of no +interest or importance to any one, the speakers included. For +instance: Suppose the two dining in a strange house, and Mrs. Skratdj +seated by the host, and contributing to the small talk of the +dinner-table. Thus: + +"Oh, yes. Very changeable weather indeed. It looked quite promising +yesterday morning in the town, but it began to rain at noon." + +"A quarter-past eleven, my dear," Mr. Skratdj's voice would be heard +to say from several chairs down, in the corrective tones of a husband +and father; "and really, my dear, so far from being a promising +morning, I must say it looked about as threatening as it well could. +Your memory is not always accurate in small matters, my love." + +But Mrs. Skratdj had not been a wife and a mother for fifteen years, +to be snuffed out at one snap of the marital snuffers. As Mr. Skratdj +leaned forward in his chair, she leaned forward in hers, and defended +herself across the intervening couples. + +"Why, my dear Mr. Skratdj, you said yourself the weather had not been +so promising for a week." + +"What I said, my dear, pardon me, was that the barometer was higher +than it had been for a week. But, as you might have observed if these +details were in your line, my love, which they are not, the rise was +extraordinarily rapid, and there is no surer sign of unsettled +weather. But Mrs. Skratdj is apt to forget these unimportant trifles," +he added, with a comprehensive smile round the dinner-table; "her +thoughts are very properly absorbed by the more important domestic +questions of the nursery." + +"Now I think that's rather unfair on Mr. Skratdj's part," Mrs. Skratdj +would chirp, with a smile quite as affable and as general as her +husband's. "I'm sure he's _quite_ as forgetful and inaccurate as _I_ +am. And I don't think _my_ memory is at _all_ a bad one." + +"You forgot the dinner-hour when we were going out to dine last week, +nevertheless," said Mr. Skratdj. + +"And you couldn't help me when I asked you," was the sprightly retort. +"And I'm sure it's not like you to forget anything about _dinner_, my +dear." + +"The letter was addressed to you," said Mr. Skratdj. + +"I sent it to you by Jemima," said Mrs. Skratdj. + +"I didn't read it," said Mr. Skratdj. + +"Well, you burnt it," said Mrs. Skratdj; "and, as I always say, +there's nothing more foolish than burning a letter of invitation +before the day, for one is certain to forget." + +"I've no doubt you always do say it," Mr. Skratdj remarked, with a +smile, "but I certainly never remember to have heard the observation +from your lips, my love." + +"Whose memory's in fault there?" asked Mrs. Skratdj, triumphantly; and +as at this point the ladies rose, Mrs. Skratdj had the last word. + +Indeed, as may be gathered from this conversation, Mrs. Skratdj was +quite able to defend herself. When she was yet a bride, and young and +timid, she used to collapse when Mr. Skratdj contradicted her +statements, and set her stories straight in public. Then she hardly +ever opened her lips without disappearing under the domestic +extinguisher. But in the course of fifteen years she had learned that +Mr. Skratdj's bark was a great deal worse than his bite. (If, indeed, +he had a bite at all.) Thus snubs that made other people's ears +tingle, had no effect whatever on the lady to whom they were +addressed, for she knew exactly what they were worth, and had by this +time become fairly adept at snapping in return. In the days when she +succumbed she was occasionally unhappy, but now she and her husband +understood each other, and, having agreed to differ, they, +unfortunately, agreed also to differ in public. + +Indeed, it was the bystanders who had the worst of it on these +occasions. To the worthy couple themselves the habit had become second +nature, and in no way affected the friendly tenor of their domestic +relations. They would interfere with each other's conversation, +contradicting assertions, and disputing conclusions for a whole +evening; and then, when all the world and his wife thought that these +ceaseless sparks of bickering must blaze up into a flaming quarrel as +soon as they were alone, they would bowl amicably home in a cab, +criticizing the friends who were commenting upon them, and as little +agreed about the events of the evening as about the details of any +other events whatever. + +Yes; the bystanders certainly had the worst of it. Those who were near +wished themselves anywhere else, especially when appealed to. Those +who were at a distance did not mind so much. A domestic squabble at a +certain distance is interesting, like an engagement viewed from a +point beyond the range of guns. In such a position one may some day be +placed oneself! Moreover, it gives a touch of excitement to a dull +evening to be able to say _sotto voce_ to one's neighbor, "Do listen! +The Skratdjs are at it again!" Their unmarried friends thought a +terrible abyss of tyranny and aggravation must lie beneath it all, and +blessed their stars that they were still single and able to tell a +tale their own way. The married ones had more idea of how it really +was, and wished in the name of common sense and good taste that +Skratdj and his wife would not make fools of themselves. + +So it went on, however; and so, I suppose, it goes on still, for not +many bad habits are cured in middle age. + +On certain questions of comparative speaking their views were never +identical. Such as the temperature being hot or cold, things being +light or dark, the apple-tarts being sweet or sour. So one day Mr. +Skratdj came into the room, rubbing his hands, and planting himself at +the fire with "Bitterly cold it is to-day, to be sure." + +"Why, my dear William," said Mrs. Skratdj, "I'm sure you must have got +a cold; I feel a fire quite oppressive myself." + +"You were wishing you'd a sealskin jacket yesterday, when it wasn't +half as cold as it is to-day," said Mr. Skratdj. + +"My dear William! Why, the children were shivering the whole day, and +the wind was in the north." + +"Due east, Mrs. Skratdj." + +"I know by the smoke," said Mrs. Skratdj, softly, but decidedly. + +"I fancy I can tell an east wind when I feel it," said Mr. Skratdj, +jocosely, to the company. + +"I told Jemima to look at the weathercock," murmured Mrs. Skratdj. + +"I don't care a fig for Jemima," said her husband. + +On another occasion Mrs. Skratdj and a lady friend were conversing. + +* * * "We met him at the Smith's--a gentlemanlike, agreeable man, +about forty," said Mrs. Skratdj, in reference to some matter +interesting to both ladies. + +"Not a day over thirty-five," said Mr. Skratdj, from behind his +newspaper. + +"Why, my dear William, his hair's gray," said Mrs. Skratdj. + +"Plenty of men are gray at thirty," said Mr. Skratdj. "I knew a man +who was gray at twenty-five." + +"Well, forty or thirty-five, it doesn't much matter," said Mrs. +Skratdj, about to resume her narration. + +"Five years matters a good deal to most people at thirty-five," said +Mr. Skratdj, as he walked towards the door. "They would make a +remarkable difference to me, I know;" and with a jocular air Mr. +Skratdj departed, and Mrs. Skratdj had the rest of the anecdote her +own way. + + * * * * * + +The Spirit of Contradiction finds a place in most nurseries, though to +a very varying degree in different ones. Children snap and snarl by +nature, like young puppies; and most of us can remember taking part in +some such spirited dialogues as the following: + + "I will." + "You can't." + + "You shall." + "I won't." + + "You daren't." + "I dare." + + "I'll tell mamma." + "I don't care if you do." + +It is the part of wise parents to repress these squibs and crackers of +juvenile contention, and to enforce that slowly learned lesson, that +in this world one must often "pass over" and "put up with" things in +other people, being oneself by no means perfect. Also that it is a +kindness, and almost a duty, to let people think and say and do things +in their own way occasionally. + +But even if Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj had ever thought of teaching all this +to their children, it must be confessed that the lesson would not have +come with a good grace from either of them, since they snapped and +snarled between themselves as much or more than their children in the +nursery. + +The two elders were the leaders in the nursery squabbles. Between +these, a boy and a girl, a ceaseless war of words was waged from +morning to night. And as neither of them lacked ready wit, and both +were in constant practice, the art of snapping was cultivated by them +to the highest pitch. + +It began at breakfast, if not sooner. + +"You've taken my chair." + +"It's not your chair." + +"You know it's the one I like, and it was in my place." + +"How do you know it was in your place?" + +"Never mind. I do know." + +"No, you don't." + +"Yes, I do." + +"Suppose I say it was in my place." + +"You can't, for it wasn't." + +"I can, if I like." + +"Well, was it?" + +"I sha'n't tell you." + +"Ah! that shows it wasn't." + +"No, it doesn't." + +"Yes, it does." Etc., etc., etc. + +The direction of their daily walks was a fruitful subject of +difference of opinion. + +"Let's go on the Common to-day, nurse?" + +"Oh, don't let's go there; we're always going on the Common." + +"I'm sure we're not. We've not been there for ever so long." + +"Oh, what a story! We were there on Wednesday. Let's go down Gipsey +Lane. We never go down Gipsey Lane." + +"Why, we're always going down Gipsey Lane. And there's nothing to see +there." + +"I don't care. I won't go on the Common, and I shall go and get papa to +say we're to go down Gipsey Lane. I can run faster than you." + +"That's very sneaking; but I don't care." + +"Papa! papa! Polly's called me a sneak." + +"No, I didn't, papa." + +"You did." + +"No, I didn't. I only said it was sneaking of you to say you'd run +faster than me, and get papa to say we were to go down Gipsey Lane." + +"Then you did call him sneaking," said Mr. Skratdj. "And you're a very +naughty, ill-mannered little girl. You're getting very troublesome, +Polly, and I shall have to send you to school, where you'll be kept in +order. Go where your brother wishes at once." + +For Polly and her brother had reached an age when it was convenient, +if possible, to throw the blame of all nursery differences on Polly. +In families where domestic discipline is rather fractious than firm, +there comes a stage when the girls almost invariably go to the wall, +because they will stand snubbing, and the boys will not. Domestic +authority, like some other powers, is apt to be magnified on the +weaker class. + +But Mr. Skratdj would not always listen even to Harry. + +"If you don't give it me back directly, I'll tell about your eating +the two magnum-bonums in the kitchen garden on Sunday," said Master +Harry, on one occasion. + + "'Telltale tit! + Your tongue shall be slit, + And every dog in the town shall have a little bit,'" + +quoted his sister. + +"Ah! You've called me a telltale. Now I'll go and tell papa. You got +into a fine scrape for calling me names the other day." + +"Go, then! I don't care." + +"You wouldn't like me to go, I know." + +"You daren't. That's what it is." + +"I dare." + +"Then why don't you?" + +"Oh, I am going; but you'll see what will be the end of it." + +Polly, however, had her own reasons for remaining stolid, and Harry +started. But when he reached the landing he paused. Mr. Skratdj had +especially announced that morning that he did not wish to be +disturbed, and though he was a favorite, Harry had no desire to invade +the dining-room at this crisis. So he returned to the nursery, and +said, with a magnanimous air, "I don't want to get you into a scrape, +Polly. If you'll beg my pardon I won't go." + +"I'm sure I sha'n't," said Polly, who was equally well informed as to +the position of affairs at headquarters. "Go, if you dare." + +"I won't if you want me not," said Harry, discreetly waiving the +question of apologies. + +"But I'd rather you went," said the obdurate Polly. "You're always +telling tales. Go and tell now, if you're not afraid." + +So Harry went. But at the bottom of the stairs he lingered again, and +was meditating how to return with most credit to his dignity, when +Polly's face appeared through the banisters, and Polly's sharp tongue +goaded him on. + +"Ah! I see you. You're stopping. You daren't go." + +"I dare," said Harry; and at last he went. + +As he turned the handle of the door, Mr. Skratdj turned round. + +"Please, papa--" Harry began. + +"Get away with you!" cried Mr. Skratdj. "Didn't I tell you I was not +to be disturbed this morning? What an extraor--" + +But Harry had shut the door, and withdrawn precipitately. + +Once outside, he returned to the nursery with dignified steps, and an +air of apparent satisfaction, saying: + +"You're to give me the bricks, please." + +"Who says so?" + +"Why, who should say so? Where have I been, pray?" + +"I don't know, and I don't care." + +"I've been to papa. There!" + +"Did he say I was to give up the bricks?" + +"I've told you." + +"No, you've not." + +"I sha'n't tell you any more." + +"Then I'll go to papa and ask." + +"Go by all means." + +"I won't if you'll tell me truly." + +"I sha'n't tell you anything. Go and ask, if you dare," said Harry, +only too glad to have the tables turned. + +Polly's expedition met with the same fate, and she attempted to cover +her retreat in a similar manner. + +"Ah! you didn't tell." + +"I don't believe you asked papa." + +"Don't you? Very well!" + +"Well, did you?" + +"Never mind." Etc., etc., etc. + +Meanwhile Mr. Skratdj scolded Mrs. Skratdj for not keeping the +children in better order. And Mrs. Skratdj said it was quite +impossible to do so when Mr. Skratdj spoilt Harry as he did, and +weakened her (Mrs. Skratdj's) authority by constant interference. + +Difference of sex gave point to many of these nursery squabbles, as it +so often does to domestic broils. + +"Boys never will do what they're asked," Polly would complain. + +"Girls ask such unreasonable things," was Harry's retort. + +"Not half so unreasonable as the things you ask." + +"Ah! that's a different thing! Women have got to do what men tell +them, whether it's reasonable or not." + +"No, they've not!" said Polly. "At least, that's only husbands and +wives." + +"All women are inferior animals," said Harry. + +"Try ordering mamma to do what you want, and see!" said Polly. + +"Men have got to give orders, and women have to obey," said Harry, +falling back on the general principle. "And when I get a wife, I'll +take care I make her do what I tell her. But you'll have to obey your +husband when you get one." + +"I won't have a husband, and then I can do as I like." + +"Oh, won't you? You'll try to get one, I know. Girls always want to be +married." + +"I'm sure I don't know why," said Polly; "they must have had enough of +men if they have brothers." + +And so they went on, _ad infinitum_, with ceaseless arguments +that proved nothing and convinced nobody, and a continual stream of +contradiction that just fell short of downright quarreling. + +Indeed, there was a kind of snapping even less near to a dispute than +in the cases just mentioned. The little Skratdjs, like some other +children, were under the unfortunate delusion that it sounds clever to +hear little boys and girls snap each other up with smart sayings, and +old and rather vulgar play upon words, such as: + +"I'll give you a Christmas box. Which ear will you have it on?" + +"I won't stand it." + +"Pray take a chair." + +"You shall have it to-morrow." + +"To-morrow never comes." + +And so if a visitor kindly began to talk to one of the children, +another was sure to draw near and "take up" all the first child's +answers, with smart comments and catches that sounded as silly as they +were tiresome and impertinent. + +And ill-mannered as this was, Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj never put a stop to +it. Indeed, it was only a caricature of what they did themselves. But +they often said, "We can't think how it is the children are always +squabbling!" + + * * * * * + +It is wonderful how the state of mind of a whole household is +influenced by the heads of it. Mr. Skratdj was a very kind master, and +Mrs. Skratdj was a very kind mistress, and yet their servants lived in +a perpetual fever of irritability that fell just short of discontent. +They jostled each other on the back stairs, said harsh things in the +pantry, and kept up a perennial warfare on the subject of the duty of +the sexes with the general man servant. They gave warning on the +slightest provocation. + +The very dog was infected by the snapping mania. He was not a brave +dog, he was not a vicious dog, and no high breeding sanctioned his +pretensions to arrogance. But, like his owners, he had contracted a +bad habit, a trick, which made him the pest of all timid visitors, and +indeed of all visitors whatsoever. + +The moment any one approached the house, on certain occasions when he +was spoken to, and often in no traceable connection with any cause at +all, Snap, the mongrel, would rush out, and bark in his little sharp +voice--"Yap! yap! yap!" If the visitor made a stand, he would bound +away sideways on his four little legs; but the moment the visitor went +on his way again, Snap was at his heels--"Yap! yap! yap!" He barked at +the milkman, the butcher's boy, and the baker, though he saw them +every day. He never got used to the washerwoman, and she never got +used to him. She said he "put her in mind of that there black dog in +the 'Pilgrim's Progress.'" He sat at the gate in summer, and yapped at +every vehicle and every pedestrian who ventured to pass on the high +road. He never but once had the chance of barking at burglars; and +then, though he barked long and loud, nobody got up, for they said, +"It's only Snap's way." The Skratdjs lost a silver teapot, a Stilton +cheese, and two electro christening mugs on this occasion; and Mr. and +Mrs. Skratdj dispute who it was who discouraged reliance on Snap's +warning to the present day. + +One Christmas time, a certain hot-tempered gentleman came to visit the +Skratdjs,--a tall, sandy, energetic young man, who carried his own bag +from the railway. The bag had been crammed rather than packed, after +the wont of bachelors; and you could see where the heel of a boot +distended the leather, and where the bottle of shaving-cream lay. As +he came up to the house, out came Snap as usual--"Yap! yap! yap!" Now +the gentleman was very fond of dogs, and had borne this greeting some +dozen of times from Snap, who for his part knew the visitor quite as +well as the washerwoman, and rather better than the butcher's boy. The +gentleman had good, sensible, well-behaved dogs of his own, and was +greatly disgusted with Snap's conduct. Nevertheless he spoke kindly to +him; and Snap, who had had many a bit from his plate, could not help +stopping for a minute to lick his hand. But no sooner did the +gentleman proceed on his way, than Snap flew at his heels in the usual +fashion-- + + "Yap! Yap! Yap!" + +On which the gentleman--being hot-tempered, and one of those people with +whom it is (as they say) a word and a blow, and the blow first--made +a dash at Snap, and Snap taking to his heels, the gentleman flung his +carpet-bag after him. The bottle of shaving-cream hit upon a stone and +was smashed. The heel of the boot caught Snap on the back and sent him +squealing to the kitchen. And he never barked at that gentleman again. + +If the gentleman disapproved of Snap's conduct, he still less liked +the continual snapping of the Skratdj family themselves. He was an old +friend of Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj, however, and knew that they were +really happy together, and that it was only a bad habit which made +them constantly contradict each other. It was in allusion to their +real affection for each other, and their perpetual disputing, that he +called them the "Snapping Turtles." + +When the war of words waxed hottest at the dinner-table between his +host and hostess, he would drive his hands through his shock of sandy +hair, and say, with a comical glance out of his umber eyes: "Don't +flirt, my friends. It makes a bachelor feel awkward." + +And neither Mr. nor Mrs. Skratdj could help laughing. + +With the little Skratdjs his measures were more vigorous. He was very +fond of children, and a good friend to them. He grudged no time or +trouble to help them in their games and projects, but he would not +tolerate their snapping up each other's words in his presence. He was +much more truly kind than many visitors, who think it polite to smile +at the sauciness and forwardness which ignorant vanity leads children +so often to "show off" before strangers. These civil acquaintances +only abuse both children and parents behind their backs, for the very +bad habits which they help to encourage. + +The hot-tempered gentleman's treatment of his young friends was very +different. One day he was talking to Polly, and making some kind +inquiries about her lessons, to which she was replying in a quiet and +sensible fashion, when up came Master Harry, and began to display his +wit by comments on the conversation, and by snapping at and +contradicting his sister's remarks, to which she retorted; and the +usual snap-dialogue went on as usual. + +"Then you like music?" said the hot-tempered gentleman. + +"Yes, I like it very much," said Polly. + +"Oh, do you?" Harry broke in. "Then what are you always crying over it +for?" + +"I'm not always crying over it." + +"Yes, you are." + +"No, I'm not. I only cry sometimes, when I stick fast." + +"Your music must be very sticky, for you're always stuck fast." + +"Hold your tongue!" said the hot-tempered gentleman. + +With what he imagined to be a very waggish air, Harry put out his +tongue, and held it with his finger and thumb. It was unfortunate that +he had not time to draw it in again before the hot-tempered gentleman +gave him a stinging box on the ear, which brought his teeth rather +sharply together on the tip of his tongue, which was bitten in +consequence. + +"It's no use _speaking_," said the hot-tempered gentleman, +driving his hands through his hair. + +Children are like dogs: they are very good judges of their real +friends. Harry did not like the hot-tempered gentleman a bit the less +because he was obliged to respect and obey him; and all the children +welcomed him boisterously when he arrived that Christmas which we have +spoken of in connection with his attack on Snap. + +It was on the morning of Christmas Eve that the china punch-bowl was +broken. Mr. Skratdj had a warm dispute with Mrs. Skratdj as to whether +it had been kept in a safe place; after which both had a brisk +encounter with the housemaid, who did not know how it happened; and +she, flouncing down the back passage, kicked Snap, who forthwith flew +at the gardener as he was bringing in the horseradish for the beef; +who, stepping backwards, trod upon the cat; who spit and swore, and +went up the pump with her tail as big as a fox's brush. + +To avoid this domestic scene, the hot-tempered gentleman withdrew to +the breakfast-room and took up a newspaper. By and by, Harry and Polly +came in, and they were soon snapping comfortably over their own +affairs in a corner. + +The hot-tempered gentleman's umber eyes had been looking over the top +of his newspaper at them for some time, before he called, "Harry, my +boy!" + +And Harry came up to him. + +"Show me your tongue, Harry," said he. + +"What for?" said Harry; "you're not a doctor." + +"Do as I tell you," said the hot-tempered gentleman; and as Harry saw +his hand moving, he put his tongue out with all possible haste. The +hot-tempered gentleman sighed. "Ah!" he said in depressed tones; "I +thought so!--Polly, come and let me look at yours." + +Polly, who had crept up during this process, now put out hers. But the +hot-tempered gentleman looked gloomier still, and shook his head. + +"What is it?" cried both the children, "What do you mean?" And they +seized the tips of their tongues in their fingers, to feel for +themselves. + +But the hot-tempered gentleman went slowly out of the room without +answering; passing his hands through his hair, and saying, "Ah! hum!" +and nodding with an air of grave foreboding. + +Just as he crossed the threshold, he turned back, and put his head +into the room. "Have you ever noticed that your tongues are growing +pointed?" he asked. + +"No!" cried the children with alarm. "Are they?" + +"If ever you find them becoming forked," said the gentleman in solemn +tones, "let me know." + +With which he departed, gravely shaking his head. + +In the afternoon the children attacked him again. + +"_Do_ tell us what's the matter with our tongues." + +"You were snapping and squabbling just as usual this morning," said +the hot-tempered gentleman. + +"Well, we forgot," said Polly. "We don't mean anything, you know. But +never mind that now, please. Tell us about our tongues. What is going +to happen to them?" + +"I'm very much afraid," said the hot-tempered gentleman, in solemn, +measured tones, "that you are both of you--fast--going--to--the--" + +"Dogs?" suggested Harry, who was learned in cant expressions. + +"Dogs!" said the hot-tempered gentleman, driving his hands through his +hair. "Bless your life, no! Nothing half so pleasant! (That is, unless +all dogs were like Snap, which mercifully they are not.) No, my sad +fear is, that you are both of you--rapidly--going--_to the +Snap-Dragons_!" + +And not another word would the hot-tempered gentleman say on the +subject. + +In the course of a few hours Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj recovered their +equanimity. The punch was brewed in a jug, and tasted quite as good as +usual. The evening was very lively. There were a Christmas tree, Yule +cakes, log, and candles, furmety, and snap-dragon after supper. When +the company were tired of the tree, and had gained an appetite by the +hard exercise of stretching to high branches, blowing out "dangerous" +tapers, and cutting ribbon and pack-threads in all directions, supper +came, with its welcome cakes, and furmety, and punch. And when furmety +somewhat palled upon the taste (and it must be admitted to boast more +sentiment than flavor as a Christmas dish), the Yule candles were +blown out and both the spirits and the palates of the party were +stimulated by the mysterious and pungent pleasures of snap-dragon. + +Then, as the hot-tempered gentleman warmed his coat tails at the Yule +log, a grim smile stole over his features as he listened to the sounds +in the room. In the darkness the blue flames leaped and danced, the +raisins were snapped and snatched from hand to hand, scattering +fragments of flame hither and thither. The children shouted as the +fiery sweetmeats burnt away the mawkish taste of the furmety. Mr. +Skratdj cried that they were spoiling the carpet; Mrs. Skratdj +complained that he had spilled some brandy on her dress. Mr. Skratdj +retorted that she should not wear dresses so susceptible of damage in +the family circle. Mrs. Skratdj recalled an old speech of Mr. Skratdj +on the subject of wearing one's nice things for the benefit of one's +family and not reserving them for visitors. Mr. Skratdj remembered +that Mrs. Skratdj's excuse for buying that particular dress when she +did not need it, was her intention of keeping it for the next year. +The children disputed as to the credit for courage and the amount of +raisins due to each. Snap barked furiously at the flames; and the +maids hustled each other for good places in the doorway, and would not +have allowed the man servant to see at all, but he looked over their +heads. + +"St! St! At it! At it!" chuckled the hot-tempered gentleman in +undertones. And when he said this, it seemed as if the voices of Mr. +and Mrs. Skratdj rose higher in matrimonial repartee, and the +children's squabbles became louder, and the dog yelped as if he were +mad, and the maids' contest was sharper; whilst the snap-dragon flames +leaped up and up, and blue fire flew about the room like foam. + +At last the raisins were finished, the flames were all put out, and +the company withdrew to the drawing-room. Only Harry lingered. + +"Come along, Harry," said the hot-tempered gentleman. + +"Wait a minute," said Harry. + +"You had better come," said the gentleman. + +"Why?" said Harry. + +"There's nothing to stop for. The raisins are eaten, the brandy is +burnt out." + +"No, it's not," said Harry. + +"Well, almost. It would be better if it were quite out. Now come. It's +dangerous for a boy like you to be alone with the Snap-Dragons +tonight." + +"Fiddlesticks!" said Harry. + +"Go your own way, then!" said the hot-tempered gentleman; and he +bounced out of the room, and Harry was left alone. + + * * * * * + +He crept up to the table, where one little pale blue flame flickered +in the snap-dragon dish. + +"What a pity it should go out!" said Harry. At this moment the brandy +bottle on the sideboard caught his eye. + +"Just a little more," murmured Harry to himself; and he uncorked the +bottle, and poured a little brandy on to the flame. + +Now, of course, as soon as the brandy touched the fire, all the brandy +in the bottle blazed up at once, and the bottle split to pieces; and +it was very fortunate for Harry that he did not get seriously hurt. A +little of the hot brandy did get into his eyes, and made them smart, +so that he had to shut them for a few seconds. + +But when he opened them again what a sight he saw! All over the room +the blue flames leaped and danced as they had leaped and danced in the +soup-plate with the raisins. And Harry saw that each successive flame +was the fold in the long body of a bright-blue Dragon, which moved +like the body of a snake. And the room was full of these Dragons. In +the face they were like the dragons one sees made of very old blue and +white china; and they had forked tongues like the tongues of serpents. +They were most beautiful in color, being sky-blue. Lobsters who have +just changed their coats are very handsome, but the violet and indigo +of a lobster's coat is nothing to the brilliant sky-blue of a +Snap-Dragon. + +How they leaped about! They were forever leaping over each other like +seals at play. But if it was "play" at all with them, it was of a very +rough kind; for as they jumped, they snapped and barked at each other, +and their barking was like that of the barking Gnu in the Zoological +Gardens; and from time to time they tore the hair out of each other's +heads with their claws, and scattered it about the floor. And as it +dropped it was like the flecks of flame people shake from their +fingers when they are eating snap-dragon raisins. + +Harry stood aghast. + +"What fun!" said a voice close by him; and he saw that one of the +Dragons was lying near, and not joining in the game. He had lost one +of the forks of his tongue by accident, and could not bark for a +while. + +"I'm glad you think it funny," said Harry; "I don't." + +"That's right. Snap away!" sneered the Dragon. "You're a perfect +treasure. They'll take you in with them the third round." + +"Not those creatures?" cried Harry. + +"Yes, those creatures. And if I hadn't lost my bark, I'd be the first +to lead you off," said the Dragon. "Oh, the game will exactly suit +you." + +"What is it, please?" Harry asked. + +"You'd better not say 'please' to the others," said the Dragon, "if +you don't want to have all your hair pulled out. The game is this: You +have always to be jumping over somebody else, and you must either talk +or bark. If anybody speaks to you, you must snap in return. I need not +explain what _snapping_ is. You _know_. If any one by accident gives +a civil answer, a clawful of hair is torn out of his head to stimulate +his brain. Nothing can be funnier." + +"I dare say it suits you capitally," said Harry; "but I'm sure we +shouldn't like it. I mean men and women and children. It wouldn't do +for us at all." + +"Wouldn't it?" said the Dragon. "You don't know how many human beings +dance with Dragons on Christmas Eve. If we are kept going in a house +till after midnight, we can pull people out of their beds, and take +them to dance in Vesuvius." + +"Vesuvius!" cried Harry. + +"Yes, Vesuvius. We come from Italy originally, you know. Our skins are +the color of the Bay of Naples. We live on dry grapes and ardent +spirits. We have glorious fun in the mountain sometimes. Oh! what +snapping, and scratching, and tearing! Delicious! There are times when +the squabbling becomes too great, and Mother Mountain won't stand it, +and spits us all out, and throws cinders after us. But this is only at +times. We had a charming meeting last year. So many human beings, and +how they _can_ snap! It was a choice party. So very select. We always +have plenty of saucy children, and servants. Husbands and wives, too, +and quite as many of the former as the latter, if not more. But +besides these, we had two vestry-men, a country postmaster, who +devoted his talents to insulting the public instead of to learning the +postal regulations, three cabmen and two 'fares,' two young shop-girls +from a Berlin wool shop in a town where there was no competition, four +commercial travellers, six landladies, six Old Bailey lawyers, several +widows from almshouses, seven single gentlemen, and nine cats, who +swore at everything; a dozen sulphur-colored screaming cockatoos; a +lot of street children from a town; a pack of mongrel curs from the +colonies, who snapped at the human beings' heels, and five elderly +ladies in their Sunday bonnets, with prayer-books, who had been +fighting for good seats in church." + +"Dear me!" said Harry. + +"If you can find nothing sharper to say than 'Dear me,'" said the +Dragon, "you will fare badly, I can tell you. Why, I thought you'd a +sharp tongue, but it's not forked yet, I see. Here they are, however. +Off with you! And if you value your curls--snap!" + +And before Harry could reply, the Snap-Dragons came on their third +round, and as they passed they swept Harry with them. + +He shuddered as he looked at his companions. They were as transparent +as shrimps, but of this lovely cerulean blue. And as they leaped they +barked--"Howf! Howf!"--like barking Gnus; and when they leaped Harry +had to leap with them. Besides barking, they snapped and wrangled with +each other; and in this Harry must join also. + +"Pleasant, isn't it?" said one of the blue Dragons. + +"Not at all," snapped Harry. + +"That's your bad taste," snapped the blue Dragon. + +"No, it's not!" snapped Harry. + +"Then it's pride and perverseness. You want your hair combing." + +"Oh, please don't!" shrieked Harry, forgetting himself. On which the +Dragon clawed a handful of hair out of his head, and Harry screamed, +and the blue Dragons barked and danced. + +"That made your hair curl, didn't it?" asked another Dragon, leaping +over Harry. + +"That's no business of yours," Harry snapped, as well as he could for +crying. + +"It's more my pleasure than business," retorted the Dragon. + +"Keep it to yourself, then," snapped Harry. + +"I mean to share it with you, when I get hold of your hair," snapped +the Dragon. + +"Wait till you get the chance," Harry snapped, with desperate presence +of mind. + +"Do you know whom you're talking to?" roared the Dragon; and he opened +his mouth from ear to ear, and shot out his forked tongue in Harry's +face; and the boy was so frightened that he forgot to snap, and cried +piteously: + +"Oh, I beg your pardon, please don't!" + +On which the blue Dragon clawed another handful of hair out of his +head, and all the Dragons barked as before. + +How long the dreadful game went on Harry never exactly knew. Well +practised as he was in snapping in the nursery, he often failed to +think of a retort, and paid for his unreadiness by the loss of his +hair. Oh, how foolish and wearisome all this rudeness and snapping now +seemed to him! But on he had to go, wondering all the time how near it +was to twelve o'clock, and whether the Snap-Dragons would stay till +midnight and take him with them to Vesuvius. + +At last, to his joy, it became evident that the brandy was coming to +an end. The Dragons moved slower, they could not leap so high, and at +last one after another they began to go out. + +"Oh, if they only all of them get away before twelve!" thought poor +Harry. + +At last there was only one. He and Harry jumped about and snapped and +barked, and Harry was thinking with joy that he was the last, when the +clock in the hall gave that whirring sound which clocks do before they +strike, as if it were clearing its throat. + +"Oh, _please_ go!" screamed Harry, in despair. + +The blue Dragon leaped up, and took such a clawful of hair out of the +boy's head, that it seemed as if part of the skin went, too. But that +leap was his last. He went out at once, vanishing before the first +stroke of twelve. And Harry was left on his face in the darkness. + +When his friends found him there was blood on his forehead. Harry +thought it was where the Dragon had clawed him, but they said it was +a cut from a fragment of the broken brandy bottle. The Dragons had +disappeared as completely as the brandy. + +Harry was cured of snapping. He had had quite enough of it for a +lifetime, and the catch contradictions of the household now made him +shudder. Polly had not had the benefit of his experiences, and yet she +improved also. + +In the first place, snapping, like other kinds of quarrelling, +requires two parties to it, and Harry would never be a party to +snapping any more. And when he gave civil and kind answers to Polly's +smart speeches, she felt ashamed of herself, and did not repeat them. + +In the second place, she heard about the Snap-Dragons. Harry told all +about it to her and to the hot-tempered gentleman. + +"Now do you think it's true?" Polly asked the hot-tempered gentleman. + +"Hum! Ha!" said he, driving his hands through his hair. "You know I +warned you you were going to the Snap-Dragons." + + * * * * * + +Harry and Polly snubbed "the little ones" when they snapped, and +utterly discountenanced snapping in the nursery. The example and +admonitions of elder children are a powerful instrument of nursery +discipline, and before long there was not a "sharp tongue" among all +the little Skratdjs. + +But I doubt if the parents ever were cured. I don't know if they heard +the story. Besides, bad habits are not easily cured when one is old. + +I fear Mr. and Mrs. Skratdj have yet got to dance with the Dragons. + + + + +UNCLE JACK'S STORY + +By Mrs. E. M. Field + + +"Once upon a time," began Uncle Jack, "since we know no fairy stories +are worth hearing unless they begin with 'once upon a time.' + +"Once upon a time there was a country ruled over by a king and queen +who had no children. Having no children of their own, these sovereigns +thought other people's children a nuisance. I am afraid they were like +the fox, who said the grapes were sour because he could not reach +them, for it was well-known that they wanted some of these 'torments' +very badly themselves." + +"Don't call us torments, Uncle Jack," interrupted his little niece. + +"Well, you see, madam, historians must be truthful. I am bound to say +that the king and queen passed a law in which the children were +described as 'pickles, torments, plagues, bothers, nuisances, +worries,' and by twenty-four other titles of respect which I have +forgotten. This law enacted: + +"First--That the children were to be seen and not heard. Wherefore all +children under the age of sixteen were to speak in a whisper and laugh +in a whisper." + +"They couldn't, Uncle Jack," broke in Bryda, "they could only smile!" + +"Or grin," said Uncle Jack. "So you think that a cruel law, Bryda? + +"Secondly--As the sight of a child set the royal teeth on edge, no +child was to be allowed to set foot out of doors, unless between the +hours of twelve and one on any night when there was neither moon or +stars." + +"At that rate they would _never_ go out" said Bryda. + +"Well, you see this was a law for the abolition of children; so they +were to be suppressed as much as possible, of course. + +"Then thirdly, the law declared--That, as little pitchers have long +ears, no child should ever hear the conversation of grown-up people. +Therefore children were never to be admitted into any sitting-room +used by the elders of the family, nor into any kitchen or room +occupied by servants." + +"O-o-oh!" said Bryda; "did they keep them in the coal-cellar?" + +"In some houses, perhaps. + +"Fourthly--Forasmuch as play was not a profitable occupation, and led +to noise and laughter, all play-time and holidays should at once be +abolished." + +"That was a very bad law," said Bryda warmly. + +"Well, the law was passed, and was soon carried out; and any one +coming to the city would have thought there were no children, so +carefully were they kept out of sight. All the toy-shops were closed, +and confectioners were ordered, under pain of death, neither to make +nor sell goodies. But one thing the king had forgotten, and that was +that, after all, there were _more_ children than grown people in +the country. One family had nine children, another six, and so on; so +that, counting the boarding-schools, there were just three times as +many children as grown people in the capital. Well, after about a week +of this treatment (for the parents were compelled under threat of +instant execution to carry it out), it happened that there came a +night when at twelve o'clock, though it was not raining, there was +neither moon nor star to be seen. So all the children in the city +rushed forth into the park with Chinese lanterns in their hands, +making quite a fairy gathering under the trees. Ob, how delicious it +was! They ran and shouted, and played games and laughed, till suddenly +one o'clock struck; and all the king's horses, and all the king's men, +came to drive them to their homes again. But there were hundreds and +hundreds of children, and only a few soldiers with wooden swords; for +this was a very peaceable nation, and armed even its police with only +birch rods. So one of the biggest boys blew a tin trumpet, and called +all the children to him. + +"'I vote we rebel,' he said. 'We will not stand this any more; let us +drive away all the grown-ups, and have the town altogether to +ourselves.' + +"Now it so happened that a fairy had been watching all that went on in +the town, and was not at all pleased. So when she heard this bold boy +speak she thought it would be a good thing to let this rebellion be +carried out. 'Serve 'em right,' she said; 'young and old shall all +learn a lesson.' + +"So she collected a few thousand fairies, and they flew to all the +king's men, and whispered in their left ears dreadful things, which +frightened them terribly and made them believe an immense army, +instead of the troops of children, was coming to crush them all. Then +the fairies whispered in their right ears that it would be wise to fly +to a neighboring mountain where there was a large old fort, and there +take refuge. So they galloped off as fast as the king's horses would +carry them. Then the fairies flew all over the town and whispered the +same things to all the grown-up people--fathers and mothers, old maids +and old bachelors--till they, too, tumbled out of bed, dressed in a +terrible hurry, and fled to the mountain. Even the king jumped out of +bed, tied up his crown in his pocket-handkerchief, and ran for his +life in his dressing-gown, while two lords in waiting, or gentlemen of +the bedchamber, rushed after him with the royal mantle of ermine, and +the scepter and golden ball. The lord chancellor filled his pockets +with new sovereigns from the mint (for he slept there to look after +the money) and then he too ran, but rather slowly, for he had the +woolsack on his back, and it was pretty heavy. When they asked him why +he took the trouble he answered that he thought the ground might be +damp, and he already had a cold in his head. + +"Well, all the elders being gone, the children were left in possession +of the city, at which you may well suppose they were greatly +astonished. They went on with their games for a while; but then the +lanterns began to go out, and one after another they grew very sleepy. +So the boy with the tin trumpet blew it again, and commanded that +every one should now go to bed, and that a meeting should be held at +twelve o'clock next day in the park, at which every child should +appear. + +"Appear they did, in their Sunday clothes, those of them at least who +cared for finery; there were no mothers or nurses to object. All were +in great delight at having no one to rule them. + +"'I shall never go to bed at eight!' said one. + +"'I shall never eat rice pudding-horrid stuff!' + +"'I shall never take any more doses!' + +"'I shall never do any more lessons!' + +"'Nor I! nor I! nor I!' shouted one after another; 'we shall all do +only what we like! How happy we shall be!' + +"Only one little maid whispered, with a tear trembling on the long +lashes of her blue eyes, 'Dottie wants mother!' But Dottie was soon +comforted, and ran about as merrily as ever. + +"Meantime the elder boys and girls held a very noisy parliament, in +which there were never less than five speaking at once. After a great +deal of chatter they determined to set up a queen; and a very pretty +little girl called May was chosen, and crowned with a crown of +flowers. + +"Next, Queen May and her council of six, three boys and three girls, +ordered that a big bonfire should be made of all lesson-books and +pinafores, for they thought pinafores were signs of an inferior state, +of being under command, as servants sometimes think their caps are. + +"The next law was that all the raspberry jam in the city should be set +aside for the use of the queen and her court, and for those who were +invited to the royal tea parties. There was a little grumbling about +this, but finally the grumblers gave in. All this time troops of +children came pouring in from the neighboring villages with pinafores +on the end of broomsticks as flags of rebellion. Being pretty hungry, +they dispersed for dinner, which in most of the houses was a very +curious meal, as, of course, no one could cook, so they had to forage +in the kitchens and storerooms, while bands of hungry young folks +stormed the confectioners' shops, and dined off ices and +wedding-cakes. + +"Then they opened the toy-shops and put them in charge of parties of +children and gradually the other shops were treated in the same way, +for buying and selling is always a game children like, and it was such +a treat to have real things to sell. Only money was such a trouble: +they were always forgetting to bring any, and the young shopkeepers +never were sure if a shilling or a sovereign was the right price for a +thing. Therefore they concluded to do without it; and costly things +were bought for kisses, while cheap ones were to be had for saying, +'If you please,' or, if they were very small, as a penny bun, for +instance, then 'please' was enough." + +"How nice!" said Bryda. + +"Well, for a whole week there never was such happiness as the children +enjoyed. Games from morning to night, bread and jam three times a day, +no lessons, no forbidden things, and a queen of their own age in place +of the tyrant king. + +"But when a week was over some little murmurs began to arise. Every +morning, I ought to say, the queen sat on her throne in the royal +palace, to receive any of her subjects who liked playing at being +courtiers, and she and her council then settled any difficulty that +arose about rules of games, about the way to make the best toffee and +any other important question. + +"On this particular morning, then, rather more than a week after the +establishment of the Children's Kingdom, a very large throng entered +the queen's presence. Foremost came a troop of boys and girls, who led +in a pale, serious-looking boy as a prisoner, and brought him to Queen +May's feet. + +"'What is the charge against this prisoner?' asked the queen, with +dignity. 'Don't all speak at once,' she added, so hastily that several +courtiers giggled. + +"'Please your majesty,' said a boy, stepping forward, 'we caught him +in the act--the very act--of learning lessons!' + +"'Lessons!' cried the whole court, in every tone of disgust, anger, +grief and dismay. + +"'Lessons!' screamed the queen, and at once fainted away." + +"She didn't!" said Bryda indignantly. + +"Don't you think the shock was great enough?" asked Uncle Jack. +"Besides, she felt it part of her royal duty, perhaps. + +"Anyhow, they tickled her with feathers, and put burned cork to her +nose till she had a black mustache; and one boy brought a red-hot +poker, which he said he had heard was a good thing, though he did not +quite know how it was applied. + +"It was the best remedy, certainly, for on its appearance the queen +jumped up shrieking, and declared she was perfectly well. + +"Then the queen proceeded to try the prisoner, and requested the whole +court to act as jury. It was a very sad case of youthful depravity--the +criminal had carefully kept this one book, 'Somebody's Arithmetic,' or +'Mangnall's Questions,' to gloat over in secret; and even now was not +at all penitent, but declared, when asked what he had to say for +himself, that it was 'stupid, and a bore,' to play games all day long, +and he was sick of them. + +"The jury could not agree as to what was to be done with such an +offender, and so he was allowed to go, and bidden 'not to do it +again,' and the queen went on to the next difficulty. Here the +throne-room became quite full of children, all in great perplexity; +for the matter was this, that the food supply was running short. The +confectioners' shops were nearly empty; there was plenty of jam, but +very little bread; and one or two boys, who had breakfasted on jam out +of a pot, eaten with a spoon, said. 'They didn't know how it could be, +but somehow they thought it did not quite agree with them.' + +"This was really very serious. Could no one cook? + +"Well several had tried to make puddings; but somehow, though they +ought to have been quite right, _something_ was wrong, and no one +would eat them. One girl had bravely made some apple-dumplings, and +baked them quite brown; but then she could not find out how to get the +apple in, so they were no more than hard balls, and not real +apple-dumplings at all. + +"'What are we going to do?' said Queen May sorrowfully. + +"A dead silence reigned. + +"'I know!' said a boy called Eric, starting forward suddenly, and all +eyes turned to this owner of a bright idea. 'I know!' he said, +brandishing a many-bladed knife; 'I'll kill a pig!' + +"A murmur of horror arose from the girls. + +"'Oh, no!' said Queen May politely; 'my faithful subject, we will not +let you make yourself so miserable.' + +"'Oh, _I_ don't mind!' cried Eric; 'really, you know, I should _like_ +it!' + +"I'll hold him for you!' cried several boys at once. + +"'Quite as if they liked it,' whispered the girls. + +"But Queen May interposed, and said the court should break up and go +to blind-man's-buff. At the same hour next day any one who had a +bright idea should come and tell it. For the rest of the day she, at +least, did not mean to bother her head. If a pig were killed, it would +have to be cooked. And shaking her curls, which were like a crown of +gold, Queen May jumped off her throne and ran out into the park. + +"Presently the Fairy Set-'em-right came flying over the town, and saw +all the children running about and shrieking with laughter. + +"'Bless my broomstick!' she said, for she had borrowed one from a +witch to fly upon, saying she had rheumatism in her left wing. 'Bless +my broomstick! this won't do at all!' + +"She did not notice that a great many children were standing about in +groups, whispering--what they dared not say aloud--that they were +getting tired of games all day, and of nothing to eat but sweet cakes +and jam at meals. + +"'I should really, really and truly, like some boiled mutton,' said +Master Archie, who was known to have had a special dislike to that +dish. + +"'I know what I shall do,' said the fairy; 'I shall make these +children feel like grown-ups, and then I shall fly off to the +mountains, and make the grown-ups feel like children; and if _that_ +doesn't bring them to their senses, I am sure I don't know what will.' + +"So the Fairy Set-'em-right waved her hand over the troop of children, +'You shall all feel like grown-up people,' she said. + +"In a few minutes a strange change began to come over them all. A +great game of 'blind-man's-buff' was going on, when suddenly several +of the girls put themselves into very stiff, solemn attitudes, just +like old maids, and said, 'Really, they thought they were almost +afraid they could not play any more. Such games, especially at their +time of life, were hardly quite proper.' So they would not go on. + +"Others, again, declared that there was nothing they so thoroughly +enjoyed as watching people playing at these kind of amusements; but +for themselves--well, if the others did not mind, they would like just +to sit quietly and watch. So they did, and presently some of the boys +began stroking that part of their faces where a mustache might some +day grow, and remarking that 'Haw! don't know, you know--a--this sort +of thing was all very well for schoolboys, but really--a--we could +not, you know.'" + +This sentence Uncle Jack brought out with a very funny drawl, the boys +being turned into dreadfully fashionable fellows. + +"The crowning point," continued Uncle Jack, "was reached when the +blind man, pushing down his bandage, stood still, and addressed this +altered crowd very seriously indeed. 'What miserable folly is this?' +he asked. 'Shall we mortals waste our precious flying moments in--in +what, my brethren?' + +"You see he had turned into a preacher," explained Uncle Jack. + +"'In what a miserable, frivolous occupation! catching each other!--nay, +only _trying_ to catch each other! Poor fools and blind! let us cease, +I say--' But he had no one to say it to, for the whole audience had +gone off in different directions, and the preacher had only his little +brother of five left to listen to his wise words. 'Come along, Tommy,' +said he, 'I will try and find some one for you to play with, little +man.' + +"'Play with!' answered the little brother in a tone of utter surprise. +'My dear sir, I have no time to play. Letters, telegrams, appointments +by scores fill my time. Let me tell you, sir, there is no busier man +than your humble servant in the whole country.' + +"With which he turned about and strode off with the longest strides +his little legs in their blue sailor trousers could take; for he had +become a man of business. + +"'This is too absurd,' muttered the elder, and went off to look for +the church of which he was vicar. + +"The same remarkable change came over all the children. One little +brat who was busy teasing an unfortunate kitten stopped suddenly, and +rushed off in search of pen and paper, with which he returned, and +began at once to compose an ode 'To Tabitha.' + + "'Fairest pussy ever seen! + With thine eyes of clearest green, + Fly me not.' + +That was how it began, for he had become a poet." + +"I thought poets wrote about knights and ladies, and green fields and +the moon," remonstrated Bryda. + +"So they do. But sometimes they want a new subject, and this young +genius thought he had found one. + +"Well, all the children, without losing their child faces and figures, +turned into the sort of people they would be when they were grown up. +So of course their games seemed very dull, and they wanted grown-up +occupations. But not knowing quite how to set to work, they were all +lounging vaguely about, when the clear notes of a bugle sounded +through the city. + +"This was the well-known signal for the assembling of the whole +population in the park, and off went all these queer grown-up children +to the place of meeting. Here they were met by Queen May, who sat on a +garden-chair with her court around her, all looking very solemn. + +"'My faithful subjects,' said the queen, 'I have sent for you to +consider a very grave question. I regret to state that the affairs of +this kingdom are in a condition which will, perhaps, be best described +as unsatisfactory.' + +"'Hear, hear!' said a gentleman of four, bowing gravely. + +"'Hear, hear!' echoed many voices. + +"'Perhaps the most unsatisfactory point is,' went on Queen May, who, +you see, talked in very grown-up language, 'is, I say, the banishment +of a large portion of the population; that portion, in fact, which we +were formerly accustomed to call our elders and betters.' + +"Cries of 'No, no!' + +"Queen May went on to explain that after all they got on badly without +these elders. With all their efforts the young folks had not strength +or skill to do a variety of things, without which the round of life +seemed likely soon to come to a standstill. So she proposed that she +and all who would go should start at once for the mountain and fetch +home the exiles. + +"There was some murmuring at this. The old law might be carried out, +and the children made wretched again. + +"'And--why, bless me,' said an elderly person of nine, as he fixed on +a double eyeglass with gold rims, 'they might actually want to send +me, me! to bed at eight o'clock!' + +"'Proper conditions would be made,' the queen said. + +"One after another all the objections were overcome, and a long +procession started, with Queen May, mounted on a white pony, at its +head. + +"On arriving at the mountain they were greatly surprised to meet the +king, that stern tyrant who wanted to stop all fun, running as hard as +his legs could carry his fat body, with his crown on the back of his +head, and a green net-bag tied on to the end of his scepter, chasing +a white butterfly. + +"'Please, your majesty,' began Queen May shyly; but the king only +looked round for a moment, and ran on, then tumbled over a furzebush, +so that his crown rolled far away, and the butterfly escaped, while +he lay there kicking. + +"The children were very much surprised at this, and thought the king +must have gone mad, and, in fact, they felt very penitent, for they +supposed his hurried flight must have been too much for the brain, so +they were to blame for this terrible alteration. + +"A little further on, however, they were still more surprised to see +a circle of the most serious old maids in the whole capital, ladies +whose time was mostly spent in making flannel garments for the poor, +or sitting at neat tea tables with neat curls on each side of their +faces, and a neat cat, curled on a neat cushion, in a neat chair, +close at hand, and these old ladies were all screaming and laughing +like children. + +"These very respectable old ladies now looked anything but neat! Their +curls were flying in all directions, and they were screaming with +laughter, pinching each other, and making all sorts of silly jokes +over a furious game of 'hunt the slipper.' For you see they had gone +back to what they used to like when they were children. + +"Queen May looked at them gravely. + +"'Dear friends,' she said, 'at your age, is this decorous? Is it +proper? Is it even ladylike?' + +"'There it is! Catch it! Catch it!' cried one of the old ladies. + +"'Come and play with us!' cried another. + +"None of the rest paid any attention to the serious looks of the +grown-up children who went sadly on toward the fort, hoping to find +some one more reasonable. + +"The next person they saw was the lord chancellor, a bald, stout old +gentleman, who was sitting on the woolsack, which, you remember, he +had carried away on his back. He was very busy with a pipe, and the +children thought he was smoking, and grew more hopeful. He might have +some trace of good sense left, they thought, if he could care for such +a grown-up pursuit." + +Here Uncle Jack offered his cigar to Bryda politely; but she made a +face and turned her head away. + +"I don't want to be so grown-up as _that_," she said. + +"Oh!" said Uncle Jack, with his funny face, that he always put on to +tease Bryda. "Oh, I thought you wanted to grow up all of a sudden." + +"Well--only for some things," answered she, feeling that Uncle Jack +was taking a mean advantage in remembering her sayings, and bringing +them up again. "Please go on," she added hastily. + +Uncle Jack winked at her very slowly and solemnly; then took a good +puff at his cigar, and went on: + +"When they came up he was found to be blowing soap-bubbles! + +"'A-ah!' he spluttered, trying to talk with the pipe in his mouth. +'D-don't break it, please! There!' as the bubble burst and vanished; +'it's too bad, I declare! Directly I got a really good one, big and +bright, that always happens. Have a try,' he added, offering Queen May +the pipe. + +"'I say, my lord,' said the major-general commanding the royal army, +coming up at the moment, 'can you tell me how to mend lead soldiers? +I've tried gum and glue, and one of the maids of honor tried to sew +one, but somehow they don't join properly. It's a horrid bore, and +that fellow, the speaker, won't let me have a ride on his +rocking-horse. I'd punch him, only he's six feet three, and as broad +as he's long. So I don't know what to play at.' + +"'It _is_ slow,' answered the lord chancellor, pityingly. 'Never +mind, old chap, come up to the fort and we'll make some toffee.' + +"So the elderly gentlemen went off arm-in-arm, and Queen May shook her +head sadly. + +"'They are all mad, poor things! What are we to do?' + +"'Hi! hi!' cried a voice, and looking round they saw that tall, +handsome nobleman, the master of the horse, running toward them as +fast as he could. At last, perhaps, they had found some one to speak +sensibly to. + +"'Hi! you fellows,' he cried breathlessly; 'stop a minute, will you? +Is that a circus pony? and can he do tricks? Sit up with a hat on, and +drink out of teacups, I mean.' + +"'Certainly not,' replied Queen May, with her utmost dignity. 'I +hardly understand, Lord Moyers, how you can ask such a strange +question. Did you ever see a lady, especially if she were a crowned +queen, riding a circus pony?' + +"Lord Moyers giggled, and turned head-over-heels on the spot, after +which he rushed off again to join the rest of the House of Lords, who +were playing 'hi! cockalorum,' close by. + +"The procession went on very sorrowfully toward the fort. It grieved +them to see this frivolity in those to whom they had been taught to +look up. + +"'Alas, my country!' sighed Eric, the boy who, you remember, had +proposed to kill the pig before he was touched with the fairy wand. + +"Perhaps it was on arriving at the gates of the fort that the very +strangest sight was seen. The queen was a very stout and middle-aged +person, of rather stern countenance, and here she was busy with a +skipping rope--her hair loose, her royal robes tucked up, and her +crown on one side. + +"'It's the best fun and the finest exercise in the world,' she gasped. +'If I could only skip twice to one turn of the rope!' + +"And on she went, while the children watched. But there was something +so utterly ridiculous about the sight that Queen May and her +followers, after various vain efforts to suppress their mirth, burst +into one peal of laughter, which rang merrily through the old fort, +and over the hillside. + +"It broke the charm, and in a moment the children became children +again, and the grown people became as they were before. + +"There was a large flat field on the mountain top, in front of the +gates of the old fort, and here all the exiles wore in a few minutes +assembled. + +"The king was about to address them, when in a moment, no one knowing +how she came there, the Fairy Set-'em-right stood among them, close +beside his majesty. + +"'You have all learned a lesson, and I will put it into words for +you,' she said." + +"Oh, dear!" interrupted Bryda, "here comes the moral! Don't make a +very hard one, Uncle Jack, please!" + +He laughed. "I must finish this truthful story truthfully, miss. + +"She said, turning to the king and queen: + +"'Your fault was that you forgot you once were young yourselves.'" + +Bryda nodded her head very wisely. + +"'And you, children, forgot that you could not do without old people. +That wicked law is at once repealed.' + +"'Certainly, ma'am,' said the king, bowing. + +"'Children are to be children, and behave as such, and be treated as +such. Parents are parents, the children are not to forget that. Now go +home all of you, and don't forget this one caution, _I've got my eye +on you_.' + +"With these awful words the fairy vanished. And that's the end of the +story." + +"And a very nice ending, too!" said Bryda. + +[Illustration with caption: IS THERE A PECULIAR FLAVOR IN WHAT YOU +SPRINKLE FROM YOUR TORCH? ASKED SCROOGE--page 271 _From the drawing +by T Leech_] + + + + +BRDYA'S DREADFUL SCRAPE + +By Mrs. E. M. Field + + +Bryda was awakened from her pleasant morning sleep by a strange sound. +Her window was partly open, but something struck against the upper +sash; it was not a bird that had lost its way, nor a wasp come to look +for jam, for as Bryda raised her head something that could only be a +handful of light gravel or shot struck the window again, and at the +same time a clear, shrill whistle sounded outside. + +Bryda hastily sprang up. One does not care much about dress at nine +years old, so in white nightdress and dark twisted hair she fearlessly +put her head out of the window, and saw, to her delight, her cousin, +Maurice Gray, a boy some two years younger than herself, with his +queer, ugly little Scotch terrier, Toby, standing on the lawn. She +need not be sad for want of a playmate to-day. + +"Get up and dress!" cried Maurice. "Aren't you ashamed, my Lady +Lie-in-bed? Come out directly!" + +Bryda did not need a second invitation. A very short time indeed +passed before she was by Maurice's side. + +His father had brought him over, he said; his father wanted to see +grandfather about some business, so he had started off very early. +Maurice was dreadfully hungry, and, as the grannies never breakfasted +till ten, he and Bryda each got a thick slice of bread and jam from +the good-natured cook, and then went off to the garden, Bryda running +races with Toby, who mostly had the best of it. You see he had four +legs to Bryda's two. + +They went to the vinery, and acted a little play, which, however, +wanted a few more actors sadly. It was so puzzling for Bryda to be +both the imprisoned princess and the ogre at once; and when Maurice, +the valiant knight, slew Toby for a dragon, and stepped over his +corpse (or would have done, if Toby had been a little more dead, and +not run away every other minute), it got really puzzling, and it was +well that the breakfast-bell rang at that moment. + +Breakfast was rather a long, dull affair. Uncle James, Maurice's +father, explained to grandfather a great deal about a drainage scheme; +and grandmother, every five minutes, asked her maid Martha, who stood +behind her chair, to tell her what it was all about, which Martha had +to do in very loud whispers over and over again. + +Maurice and Bryda were very glad to run out again, with special +directions from grandmother to keep off wet grass, and not get into +mischief. This, they thought, could not possibly happen. This time +they rambled into the farmyard. Bryda would not look for more kittens, +but tried to make friends with some small balls of fluff, which meant +some day to be turkeys. At one corner of the yard was a deep tank, or +little pond, full of a dark brown, rather thick fluid, which was used +in the garden and fields, and had a great effect in the way of making +things grow. Bryda and her cousin stood looking at it. + +"I declare," said Bryda, "it's like the Styx!" + +"I don't see any sticks," said ignorant Maurice, who had never learned +that the old heathens believed the souls of dead people went in a +ferryboat across a dark river called the Styx, and that the old man +who rowed the boat was called Charon. + +Bryda thought it would be capital fun to act this little scene. +Certainly the treacle-colored stuff in the pool looked nasty enough to +do very well for this dark river. + +As to Maurice, he was younger than his cousin, and when they were +together she always invented the games, although he had been to school +already, and thought girls generally were very little use. + +So when Bryda explained what she wanted to do, he only said that he +did not know how to act a story that he had never heard; to which +Bryda only answered quietly, and as if it were a fact no one could +think of doubting for a moment, "You don't know anything about +anything, Maurice. Sit down there--no! not on a cabbage, but on the +wheelbarrow--and I will tell you all about it." + +So she told him the story, in the middle of which the wheelbarrow +upset, because Maurice laughed. So he sat on a log of wood, and Bryda +picked up the wheelbarrow, got into it, and began in the words of one +of her lesson-books, with a little alteration to suit the occasion. + +"Friend! Roman! Countryman! lend me your ears! I am Charon--" + +"What?" asked Maurice. + +"Don't spoil my speech! You may only say 'Hear, hear!' as they do in +Parliament." + +"But suppose I don't want to hear?" + +Bryda had no notion of what they would do under such unlikely +circumstances; so, after thinking a little, she merely said, "Don't be +silly, Maurice!" And that sort of answer puts an end to any argument +quite easily. + +"This is my dog Cerberus, with three heads," went on Bryda, pointing +to Toby. + +"My! what a lot of bones he would eat!" said his master. + +Bryda suddenly jumped down from her rather unsteady pulpit. + +"Oh, we _will_ have fun! Here, Maurice, put on my white pinafore. +You shall be a ghost, and I will get into the tub with my dog +Cerberus, and ferry you over the river," she said. + +"It won't hold two," said Maurice, looking rather doubtfully at the +rotten tub which Bryda pushed into the filthy waters, making a splash +and a most horrible smell as it went in. + +"Oh, ghosts don't want much room! Now, Cerberus, in you go!" and in +the poor dog went, hastily and ungracefully; being, in fact, thrown in +head foremost. + +After one howl he resigned himself, and lay down at the bottom of the +tub, into which unsteady boat Bryda, armed with her own small spade, +followed with Maurice's help. + +Having balanced herself by crouching down, so as to bring the center +of gravity to the right place, she proceeded to paddle, or, as she +called it, to row with the little wooden spade, splashing a good deal, +and, of course, making the tub turn round and round, and wriggle very +uncomfortably in the pool. "Well, it doesn't matter," said Charon, +giving up in despair, and looking very red in the face. "We can +pretend I crossed the Styx to fetch you. Now I must speak to the soul +in Latin, because, of course, Charon and Cerberus talked Latin +always." + +"I suppose Cerberus barked in Latin--all three mouths at once," said +Maurice; "what a horrid row it must have been!" + +"Now talk away," said Bryda. + +"But we don't know Latin; I've only just begun at _hic, haec, hoc_." + +"_That_ doesn't matter; we must make it up, of course. If we put 'us' +or 'o' at the end of every word it will sound exactly like the stuff +Cousin Ronald learns. Now: Poor-us soul-us, do-us you-us want-o to cross +over-o?" + +"Yes-o," replied Maurice promptly. + +"Then-us come-o--oh! oh!" screamed Bryda, making the last word very +long indeed; for she trod on the _one_ tail of the dog Cerberus, +causing that remarkable animal to jump up howling. Charon's ferryboat +was not built to allow of athletic sports on board, so it went over, +and Bryda went in. + +Oh, dear! what word can describe the filthy mess into which Bryda was +plunged up to her waist! the smell of it, and the chill, horrible +feeling! Fortunately, she had just taken Maurice's hand, to help in +"the soul," who indeed felt very lucky to escape such a voyage! +Maurice was able to help her, but, soaked to the waist and ready to +cry, she scrambled up to dry land. + +By way of mending matters, the dog Cerberus, who may be supposed to +have become Toby again, had gone in altogether, and was rather pleased +with himself. So he came and had a good shake close to Bryda, so as to +splash all the rest of her small person, and then ran round and round, +expressing his delight by all sorts of queer noises. + +But, oh! here was a mess! And this after the trouble of yesterday, and +all Bryda's good resolutions! It was too dreadful, and tears came fast +to her eyes. + +But kind Maurice, instead of laughing, pitied her. "Don't cry," he +said; "can't you _wash_?" + +"I might _run_," said Bryda dolefully, remembering what dreadful +things happened to frocks that "ran." + +"That stuff might run off," said Maurice; "come on." + +And she followed meekly to the nearest greenhouse, where was a large +tub of fresh water, and beside it a big squirt or syringe used for +watering plants high up in the greenhouse. + +"Oh, Maurice dear, I never will call you stupid again!" cried Bryda, +delighted, as Maurice filled the syringe and set to work upon her. +What fun that was! It was almost worth the fright of that horrid +splash, and almost--not quite, perhaps--worth the disgrace Bryda would +certainly be in with nurse. Such peals of laughter followed each shower +that the quiet cows in the fields beyond lifted up their great heavy +heads, and stared with brown eyes of mild astonishment. + +Can you imagine the sort of figure Bryda was when grandmother came out +in her wheel-chair to take a turn in the sunshine? Soaked from head to +foot; streams of clean water, and others of the horribly smelling +stuff into which she had plunged, pouring off her in all directions! +She did indeed look a miserable little guilty thing, hanging her head +while grandmother looked at her through her gold eyeglass, evidently +so surprised and shocked that she could find no words for a few +minutes, and at last could only tell her she must never! never! never! +do such dreadful things again. If she did, the consequences would be + + * * * * * + +This row of stars must stand for those dreadful consequences, for +Bryda never heard them! Uncle James and grandfather had come up by +this time, and she fled, as fast as wet, clinging clothes would let +her, to the house. It was "out of the frying-pan into the fire," +though, for nurse's wrath was really something too dreadful; and the +way in which she ended, by saying that she supposed Miss Bryda would +like better to make mud pies in the streets than to play with other +Christians, hurt the child's feelings dreadfully. I am sorry to say +she walked out of the nursery with damp, smooth hair and a clean +frock, but with her head so very much in the air that her namesake, +Saint Bride, or Bridget, or Bryda, would have been quite shocked. + +"You see, Cousin Salome," she said afterwards, "it was such a dose of +disgraces, and I meant to be so wise, and clever, and useful." + +"Did you ask to be made wise, and clever, and useful?" asked Salome +gently. + +Bryda hung her head. She had forgotten that, I am afraid she dressed +so quickly in the morning to join Maurice that she never remembered +to ask the Helper of the helpless to make her what she would like to +be. + +"I have been so miserable, Cousin Salome," she added; "I don't believe +Mary Queen of Scots could have been more wretched if she had had her +head cut off three times running." + +How this was to be managed did not seem to strike Bryda as puzzling. +She and Maurice had so often acted the execution of Mary of Scotland, +with an armchair for the block, and an umbrella for an ax, that they +were quite used to the queen having her head cut off very often +without minding it in the least, or being any the worse for it +afterward. + +But, certainly, it is very tiresome when our most amusing games end in +some mischief that we never dreamed of doing! It was not so very long +before this dreadful accident in the tub that Bryda, who had been +reading English history, told Maurice they would act King Canute and +his courtiers on the seashore. + +So she put two chairs, and collected all the water she could from +every jug and water-bottle she could find, so as nearly to fill a bath +placed in front of the two chairs on which she and Maurice sat. + +"So they put chairs close by the seashore as the tide came in," +related Bryda, "and the little waves came nearer and nearer. And the +courtiers said, 'Oh king, let us move a little higher up.' But Canute +said, 'Why should we? Did you not say I was such a great king that no +doubt even the sea would obey me?' And the courtiers held their stupid +tongues, for they knew very well that they had said so. But the tide +kept on coming, and presently the courtiers got up and ran away, for +the water was halfway up the legs of their chairs, and they had +already been sitting with their knees up to their noses." + +But here Bryda, trying to get herself into this graceful position, +lost her balance, and rolled off her chair, falling on the edge of the +bath; which, of course, upset, and made a higher tide in the nursery +than had ever been seen there before, for the water flowed in every +direction, and the children, ashamed and frightened though they were, +could not help laughing at the way in which a pair of Bryda's shoes +floated about like little canoes, till one that had a hole at the side +turned over and went down. + +This happened at Bryda's own home, before her father and mother went +away. Mother was not pleased, of course; but still she was not quite +so dreadfully shocked as the grannies were at the adventure in the old +tub. + + + + +THE CRATCHITS' CHRISTMAS DINNER + +By Charles Dickens + + +Scrooge stood with the Ghost of Christmas Present in the city streets +on Christmas morning, where (for the weather was severe) the people +made a rough, but brisk and not unpleasant kind of music, in scraping +the snow from the pavement in front of their dwellings, and from the +tops of their houses: whence it was mad delight to the boys to see it +come plumping down into the road below, and splitting into artificial +little snowstorms. + +The house fronts looked black enough, and the windows blacker, +contrasting with the smooth white sheet of snow upon the roofs, and +with the dirtier snow upon the ground; which last deposit had been +plowed up in deep furrows by the heavy wheels of carts and wagons; +furrows that crossed and recrossed each other hundreds of times where +the great streets branched off, and made intricate channels, hard to +trace, in the thick yellow mud and icy water. The sky was gloomy, and +the shortest streets were choked up with a dingy mist, half thawed +half frozen, whose heavier particles descended in a shower of sooty +atoms, as if all the chimneys in Great Britain had, by one consent, +caught fire, and were blazing away to their dear hearts' content. +There was nothing very cheerful in the climate or the town, and yet +was there an air of cheerfulness abroad that the clearest summer air +and brightest summer sun might have endeavored to diffuse in vain. + +For, the people who were shovelling away on the house-tops were jovial +and full of glee; calling out to one another from the parapets, and +now and then exchanging a facetious snowball--better-natured missile +far than many a wordy jest--laughing heartily if it went right and not +less heartily if it went wrong. The poulterers' shops were still half +open, and the fruiterers' were radiant in their glory. There were +great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the +waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling +out into the street in their apoplectic opulence. There were ruddy, +brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of +their growth like Spanish friars; and winking from their shelves in +wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely +at the hung-up mistletoe. There were pears and apples, clustered high +in blooming pyramids; there were bunches of grapes, made, in the +shopkeepers' benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks, that +people's mouths might water gratis as they passed; there were piles of +filberts, mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient +walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle-deep through +withered leaves; there were Norfolk Biffins, squab, and swarthy, +setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great +compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching +to be carried home in paper bags and eaten after dinner. The very gold +and silver fish, set forth among these choice fruits in a bowl, though +members of a dull and stagnant-blooded race, appeared to know that +there was something going on; and, to a fish, went gasping round and +round their little world in slow and passionless excitement. + +The grocers'! oh, the grocers'! nearly closed, with perhaps two +shutters down, or one; but through those gaps such glimpses! It was +not alone that the scales descending on the counter made a merry +sound, or that the twine and roller parted company so briskly, or that +the canisters were rattled up and down like juggling tricks, or even +that the blended scents of tea and coffee were so grateful to the +nose, or even that the raisins were so plentiful and rare, the almonds +so extremely white, the sticks of cinnamon so long and straight, the +other spices so delicious, the candied fruits so caked and spotted +with molten sugar as to make the coldest lookers-on feel faint and +subsequently bilious. Nor was it that the figs were moist and pulpy, +or that the French plums blushed in modest tartness from their +highly-decorated boxes, or that everything was good to eat and in its +Christmas dress: but the customers were all so hurried and so eager in +the hopeful promise of the day, that they tumbled up against each +other at the door, clashing their wicker baskets wildly, and left +their purchases upon the counter, and came running back to fetch them, +and committed hundreds of the like mistakes in the best humor +possible; while the grocer and his people were so frank and fresh that +the polished hearts with which they fastened their aprons behind might +have been their own, worn outside for general inspection, and for +Christmas daws to peck at if they chose. + +But soon the steeples called good people all, to church and chapel, +and away they came, flocking through the streets in their best +clothes, and with their gayest faces. And at the same time there +emerged from scores of by-streets, lanes, and nameless turnings, +innumerable people, carrying their dinners to the bakers' shops. The +sight of these poor revellers appeared to interest the Spirit very +much, for he stood with Scrooge beside him in a baker's doorway, and +taking off the covers as their bearers passed, sprinkled incense on +their dinners from his torch. And it was a very uncommon kind of +torch, for once or twice when there were angry words between some +dinner-carriers who had jostled with each other, he shed a few drops +of water on them from it, and their good humor was restored directly. + +For they said, it was a shame to quarrel upon Christmas Day. And so it +was! God love it, so it was! + +In time the bells ceased, and the bakers' were shut up; and yet there +was a genial shadowing forth of all these dinners and the progress of +their cooking, in the thawed blotch of wet above each baker's oven; +where the pavements smoked as if its stones were cooking too. + +"Is there a peculiar flavor in what you sprinkle from your torch?" +asked Scrooge. + +"There is. My own." + +"Would it apply to any kind of dinner on this day?" asked Scrooge. + +"To any kindly given. To a poor one most." + +"Why to a poor one most?" asked Scrooge. + +"Because it needs it most." + +"Spirit," said Scrooge, after a moment's thought, "I wonder you, of +all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp +these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment." + +"I!" cried the Spirit. + +"You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, +often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all," said +Scrooge. "Wouldn't you?" + +"I!" cried the Spirit. + +"You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day?" said Scrooge. +"And it comes to the same thing." + +"_I_ seek!" exclaimed the Spirit. + +"Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your name, or at least +in that of your family," said Scrooge. + +"There are some upon this earth of yours," returned the Spirit, "who +lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, +ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are +as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. +Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us." + +Scrooge promised that he would; and they went on, invisible, as they +had been before, into the suburbs of the town. It was a remarkable +quality of the Ghost (which Scrooge had observed at the baker's), that +notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any +place with ease; and that he stood beneath a low roof quite as +gracefully and like a supernatural creature, as it was possible he +could have done in any lofty hall. + +And perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off +this power of his, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty +nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to +Scrooge's clerk's; for there he went, and took Scrooge with him, +holding to his robe; and on the threshold of the door the Spirit +smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit's dwelling with the +sprinklings of his torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen "Bob" a +week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but fifteen copies of his +Christian name; and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed his +four-roomed house! + +Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but poorly in +a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribbons, which are cheap and make a +goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted by Belinda +Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribbons; while Master +Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and +getting the corners of his monstrous shirt collar (Bob's private +property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into +his mouth, rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned +to show his linen in the fashionable parks. And now two smaller +Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the +baker's they had smelled the goose, and known it for their own; and +basking in luxurious thoughts of sage-and-onion, these young Cratchits +danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the +skies, while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) +blew the fire, until the slow potatoes bubbling up, knocked loudly at +the saucepan-lid to be let out and peeled. + +"What has ever got your precious father then?" said Mrs. Cratchit. +"And your brother, Tiny Tim! And Martha warn't as late last Christmas +Day by half-an-hour!" + +"Here's Martha, mother!" said a girl, appearing as she spoke. + +"Here's Martha, mother!" cried the two young Cratchits. "Hurrah! +There's _such_ a goose, Martha!" + +"Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!" said Mrs. +Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl and +bonnet for her with officious zeal. + +"We'd a deal of work to finish up last night," replied the girl, "and +had to clear away this morning, mother!" + +"Well! Never mind so long as you are come," said Mrs. Cratchit. "Sit +ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye!" + +"No, no! There's father coming," cried the two young Cratchits, who +were everywhere at once. "Hide, Martha, hide!" + +So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with at +least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, hanging down +before him; and his threadbare clothes darned up and brushed, to look +seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore +a little crutch, and had his limbs supported by an iron frame! + +"Why, where's our Martha?" cried Bob Cratchit, looking round. + +"Not coming," said Mrs. Cratchit. + +"Not coming!" said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits; +for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from church, and had +come home rampant. "Not coming upon Christmas Day!" + +Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; +so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and ran into +his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, and bore him +off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the +copper. + +"And how did little Tim behave?" asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had +rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter to his +heart's content. + +"As good as gold," said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, +sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever +heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in +the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them +to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk and blind +men see." + +Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more +when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. + +His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny +Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister +to his stool before the fire; and while Bob, turning up his cuffs--as +if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made more shabby--compounded +some hot mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round +and round and put it on the hob to simmer; Master Peter, and the two +ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they +soon returned in high procession. + +Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of +all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter +of course--and in truth it was something very like it in that house. +Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready beforehand in a little saucepan) +hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigor; +Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot +plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; +the two young Cratchits set chairs for everybody, not forgetting +themselves, and mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into +their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came +to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It +was succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly +all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; but +when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued +forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny +Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the table with the +handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah! + +There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever +was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and +cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by the +apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the +whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight +(surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it +all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the younger Cratchits +in particular, were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows! But +now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the +room alone--too nervous to bear witness--to take the pudding up and +bring it in. + +Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in +turning out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the +backyard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose--a +supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid! All sorts +of horrors were supposed. + +Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A +smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an +eating-house and a pastrycook's next door to each other, with a +laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute +Mrs. Cratchit entered--flushed, but smiling proudly--with the pudding, +like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of +half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly +stuck into the top. + +Oh, a wonderful pudding! Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he +regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since +their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was off her +mind, she would confess she had had her doubts about the quantity of +flour. Everybody had something to say about it, but nobody said or +thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. It would +have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to +hint at such a thing. + +At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth +swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being tasted, and +considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, and a +shovelful of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew +round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a +one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow stood the family display of glass. +Two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle. + +These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden +goblets would have done; and Bob served it out with beaming looks, +while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and cracked noisily. Then +Bob proposed: + +"A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!" + +Which all the family re-echoed. + +"God bless us every one!" said Tiny Tim, the last of all. + + + + +EMBELLISHMENT + +By Jacob Abbott + + +One day Beechnut, who had been ill, was taken by Phonny and Madeline +for a drive. When Phonny and Madeline found themselves riding quietly +along in the waggon in Beechnut's company, the first thought which +occurred to them, after the interest and excitement awakened by the +setting out had passed in some measure away, was that they would ask +him to tell them a story. This was a request which they almost always +made in similar circumstances. In all their rides and rambles +Beechnut's stories were an unfailing resource, furnishing them with an +inexhaustible fund of amusement sometimes, and sometimes of +instruction. + +"Well," said Beechnut, in answer to their request, "I will tell you +now about my voyage across the Atlantic Ocean." + +"Yes," exclaimed Madeline, "I should like to hear about that very much +indeed." + +"Shall I tell the story to you just as it was," asked Beechnut, "as a +sober matter of fact, or shall I embellish it a little?" + +"I don't know what you mean by embellishing it," said Madeline. + +"Why, not telling exactly what is true," said Beechnut, "but inventing +something to add to it, to make it interesting." + +"I want to have it true," said Madeline, "and interesting, too." + +"But sometimes," replied Beechnut, "interesting things don't happen, +and in such cases, if we should only relate what actually does happen, +the story would be likely to be dull." + +"I think you had better embellish the story a little," said Phonny--"just +a _little_, you know." + +"I don't think I can do that very well," replied Beechnut. "If I +attempt to relate the actual facts, I depend simply on my memory, and +I can confine myself to what my memory teaches; but if I undertake to +follow my invention, I must go wherever it leads me." + +"Well," said Phonny, "I think you had better embellish the story, at +any rate, for I want it to be interesting." + +"So do I," said Madeline. + +"Then," said Beechnut, "I will give you an embellished account of my +voyage across the Atlantic. But, in the first place, I must tell you +how it happened that my father decided to leave Paris and come to +America. It was mainly on my account. My father was well enough +contented with his situation so far as he himself was concerned, and +he was able to save a large part of his salary, so as to lay up a +considerable sum of money every year; but he was anxious about me. + +"There seemed to be nothing," continued Beechnut, "for me to do, and +nothing desirable for me to look forward to, when I should become a +man. My father thought, therefore, that, though it would perhaps be +better for _him_ to remain in France, it would probably be better for +_me_ if he should come to America, where he said people might rise in +the world, according to their talents, thrift, and industry. He was +sure, he said, that I should rise, for, you must understand, he +considered me an extraordinary boy." + +"Well," said Phonny, "_I_ think you were an extraordinary boy." + +"Yes, but my father thought," rejoined Beechnut, "that I was something +very extraordinary indeed. He thought I was a genius." + +"So do I," said Phonny. + +"He said," continued Beechnut, "he thought it would in the end be a +great deal better for him to come to America, where I might become a +man of some consequence in the world, and he said that he should enjoy +his own old age a great deal better, even in a strange land, if he +could see me going on prosperously in life, than to remain all his +days in that porter's lodge. + +"All the money that my father had saved," Beechnut continued, "he got +changed into gold at an office in the Boulevards; but then he was very +much perplexed to decide how it was best to carry it." + +"Why did he not pack it up in his chest?" asked Phonny. + +"He was afraid," replied Beechnut, "that his chest might be broken +open, or unlocked by false keys, on the voyage, and that the money +might be thus stolen away; so he thought that he would try to hide it +somewhere in some small thing that he could keep with him all the +voyage." + +"Could not he keep his chest with him all the voyage?" asked Phonny. + +"No," said Beechnut; "the chests, and all large parcels of baggage +belonging to the passengers, must be sent down into the hold of the +ship out of the way. It is only a very little baggage that the people +are allowed to keep with them between the decks. My father wished very +much to keep his gold with him, and yet he was afraid to keep it in a +bag, or in any other similar package, in his little trunk, for then +whoever saw it would know that it was gold, and so perhaps form some +plan to rob him of it. + +"While we were considering what plan it would be best to adopt for the +gold, Arielle, who was the daughter of a friend of ours, proposed to +hide it in my _top_. I had a very large top which my father had made +for me. It was painted yellow outside, with four stripes of bright +blue passing down over it from the stem to the point. When the top was +in motion, both the yellow ground and the blue stripes entirely +disappeared, and the top appeared to be of a uniform green colour. +Then, when it came to its rest again, the original colours would +reappear." + +"How curious!" said Madeline. "Why would it do so?" + +"Why, when it was revolving," said Beechnut, "the yellow and the blue +were blended together in the eye, and that made green. Yellow and blue +always make green. Arielle coloured my top, after my father had made +it, and then my father varnished it over the colours, and that fixed +them. + +"This top of mine was a monstrous large one, and being hollow, Arielle +thought that the gold could all be put inside. She said she thought +that that would be a very safe hiding-place, too, since nobody would +think of looking into a top for gold. But my father said that he +thought that the space would not be quite large enough, and then if +anybody should happen to see the top, and should touch it, the weight +of it would immediately reveal the secret. + +"At last my father thought of a plan which he believed would answer +the purpose very perfectly. We had a very curious old clock. It was +made by my grandfather, who was a clockmaker in Geneva. There was a +little door in the face of the clock, and whenever the time came for +striking the hours, this door would open, and a little platform would +come out with a tree upon it. There was a beautiful little bird upon +the tree, and when the clock had done striking, the bird would flap +its wings and sing. Then the platform would slide back into its place, +the door would shut, and the clock go on ticking quietly for another +hour. + +"This clock was made to go," continued Beechnut, "as many other clocks +are, by two heavy weights, which were hung to the wheel-work by strong +cords. The cords were wound round some of the wheels, and as they +slowly descended by their weight, they made the wheels go round. There +was a contrivance inside the clock to make the wheels go slowly and +regularly, and not spin round too fast, as they would have done if the +weights had been left to themselves. This is the way that clocks are +often made. + +"Now, my father," continued Beechnut, "had intended to take this old +family clock with him to America, and he now conceived the idea of +hiding his treasure in the weights. The weights were formed of two +round tin canisters filled with something very heavy. My father said +he did not know whether it was shot or sand. He unsoldered the bottom +from these canisters, and found that the filling was shot. He poured +out the shot, put his gold pieces in in place of it, and then filled +up all the interstices between and around the gold pieces with sand, +to prevent the money from jingling. Then he soldered the bottom of the +canisters on again, and no one would have known that the weights were +anything more than ordinary clock-weights. He then packed the clock in +a box, and put the box in his trunk. It did not take up a great deal +of room, for he did not take the case of the clock, but only the face +and the works and the two weights, which last he packed carefully and +securely in the box, one on each side of the clock itself. + +"When we got to Havre, all our baggage was examined at the +custom-house, and the officers allowed it all to pass. When they came +to the clock, my father showed them the little door and the bird +inside, and they said it was very curious. They did not pay any +attention to the weights at all. + +"When we went on board of the vessel our chests were put by the side +of an immense heap of baggage upon the deck, where some seamen were at +work lowering it down into the hold through a square opening in the +deck of the ship. As for the trunk, my father took that with him to +the place where he was going to be himself during the voyage. This +place was called the steerage. It was crowded full of men, women, and +children, all going to America. Some talked French, some German, some +Dutch, and there were ever so many babies that were too little to talk +at all. Pretty soon the vessel sailed. + +"We did not meet with anything remarkable on the voyage, except that +once we saw an iceberg." + +"What is that?" asked Madeline. + +"It is a great mountain of ice," replied Beechnut, "floating about in +the sea on the top of the water. I don't know how it comes to be +there." + +"I should not think it would float upon the top of the water," said +Phonny. "All the ice that I ever saw in the water sinks into it." + +"It does not sink to the bottom," said Madeline. + +"No," replied Phonny, "but it sinks down until the top of the ice is +just level with the water. But Beechnut says that his iceberg rose up +like a mountain." + +"Yes," said Beechnut, "it was several hundred feet high above the +water, all glittering in the sun. And I think that if you look at any +small piece of ice floating in the water, you will see that a small +part of it rises above the surface." + +"Yes," said Phonny, "a very little." + +"It is a certain proportion of the whole mass," rejoined Beechnut. +"They told us on board our vessel that about one-tenth part of the +iceberg was above the water; the rest--that is, nine-tenths--was under +it; so you see what an enormous big piece of ice it must have been +to have only one-tenth part of it tower up so high. + +"There was one thing very curious and beautiful about our iceberg," +said Beechnut. "We came in sight of it one day about sunset, just +after a shower. The cloud, which was very large and black, had passed +off into the west, and there was a splendid rainbow upon it. It +happened, too, that when we were nearest to the iceberg it lay toward +the west, and, of course, toward the cloud, and it appeared directly +under the rainbow, and the iceberg and the rainbow made a most +magnificent spectacle. The iceberg, which was very bright and dazzling +in the evening sun, looked like an enormous diamond, with the rainbow +for the setting." + +"How curious!" said Phonny. + +"Yes," said Beechnut, "and to make it more remarkable still, a whale +just then came along directly before the iceberg, and spouted there +two or three times; and as the sun shone very brilliantly upon the jet +of water which the whale threw into the air, it made a sort of silver +rainbow below in the centre of the picture." + +"How beautiful it must have been!" said Phonny. + +"Yes," rejoined Beechnut, "very beautiful indeed. We saw a great many +beautiful spectacles on the sea; but then, on the other hand, we saw +some that were dreadful." + +"Did you?" asked Phonny. "What?" + +"Why, we had a terrible storm and shipwreck at the end," said +Beechnut. "For three days and three nights the wind blew almost a +hurricane. They took in all the sails, and let the ship drive before +the gale under bare poles. She went on over the seas for five hundred +miles, howling all the way like a frightened dog." + +"Were you frightened?" asked Phonny. + +"Yes," said Beechnut. "When the storm first came on, several of the +passengers came up the hatchways and got up on the deck to see it; and +then we could not get down again, for the ship gave a sudden pitch +just after we came up, and knocked away the step-ladder. We were +terribly frightened. The seas were breaking over the forecastle and +sweeping along the decks, and the shouts and outcries of the captain +and the sailors made a dreadful din. At last they put the step-ladder +in its place again, and we got down. Then they put the hatches on, and +we could not come out any more." + +"The hatches?" said Phonny. "What are they?" + +"The hatches," replied Beechnut, "are a sort of scuttle-doors that +cover over the square openings in the deck of a ship. They always have +to put them on and fasten them down in a great storm." + +Just at this time the party happened to arrive at a place where two +roads met, and as there was a broad and level space of ground at the +junction, where it would be easy to turn the waggon, Beechnut said +that he thought it would be better to make that the end of their ride, +and so turn round and go home. Phonny and Madeline were quite desirous +of going a little farther, but Beechnut thought that he should be +tired by the time he reached the house again. + +"But you will not have time to finish the story," said Phonny. + +"Yes," replied Beechnut; "there is very little more to tell. It is +only to give an account of our shipwreck." + +"Why, did you have a shipwreck?" exclaimed Phonny. + +"Yes," said Beechnut. "When you have turned the waggon, I will tell +you about it." + +So Phonny, taking a great sweep, turned the waggon round, and the +party set their faces toward home. The Marshal was immediately going +to set out upon a trot, but Phonny held him back by pulling upon the +reins and saying: + +"Steady, Marshal! steady! You have got to walk all the way home." + +"The storm drove us upon the Nova Scotia coast," said Beechnut, +resuming his story. "We did not know anything about the great danger +that we were in until just before the ship went ashore. When we got +near the shore the sailors put down all the anchors; but they would +not hold, and at length the ship struck. Then there followed a +dreadful scene of consternation and confusion. Some jumped into the +sea in their terror, and were drowned. Some cried and screamed, and +acted as if they were insane. Some were calm, and behaved rationally. +The sailors opened the hatches and let the passengers come up, and we +got into the most sheltered places that we could find about the decks +and rigging and tied ourselves to whatever was nearest at hand. My +father opened his trunk and took out his two clock-weights, and gave +me one of them; the other he kept himself. He told me that we might as +well try to save them, though he did not suppose that we should be +able to do so. + +"Pretty soon after we struck the storm seemed to abate a little. The +people of the country came down to the shore and stood upon the rocks +to see if they could do anything to save us. We were very near the +shore, but the breakers and the boiling surf were so violent between +us and the land that whoever took to the water was sure to be dashed +in pieces. So everybody clung to the ship, waiting for the captain to +contrive some way to get us to the shore." + +"And what did he do?" asked Phonny. + +"He first got a long line and a cask, and he fastened the end of the +long line to the cask, and then threw the cask overboard. The other +end of the line was kept on board the ship. The cask was tossed about +upon the waves, every successive surge driving it in nearer and nearer +to the shore, until at last it was thrown up high upon the rocks. The +men upon the shore ran to seize it, but before they could get hold of +it the receding wave carried it back again among the breakers, where +it was tossed about as if it had been a feather, and overwhelmed with +the spray. Presently away it went again up upon the shore, and the men +again attempted to seize it. This was repeated two or three times. At +last they succeeded in grasping hold of it, and they ran up with it +upon the rocks, out of the reach of the seas. + +"The captain then made signs to the men to pull the line in toward the +shore. He was obliged to use signs, because the roaring and thundering +of the seas made such a noise that nothing could be heard. The sailors +had before this, under the captain's direction, fastened a much +stronger line--a small cable, in fact--to the end of the line which +had been attached to the barrel. Thus, by pulling upon the smaller +line, the men drew one end of the cable to the shore. The other end +remained on board the ship, while the middle of it lay tossing among +the breakers between the ship and the shore. + +"The seamen then carried that part of the cable which was on shipboard +up to the masthead, while the men on shore made their end fast to a +very strong post which they set in the ground. The seamen drew the +cable as tight as they could, and fastened their end very strongly to +the masthead. Thus the line of the cable passed in a gentle slope from +the top of the mast to the land, high above all the surges and spray. +The captain then rigged what he called a sling, which was a sort of +loop of ropes that a person could be put into and made to slide down +in it on the cable to the shore. A great many of the passengers were +afraid to go in this way, but they were still more afraid to remain on +board the ship." + +"What were they afraid of?" asked Phonny. + +"They were afraid," replied Beechnut, "that the shocks of the seas +would soon break the ship to pieces, and then they would all be thrown +into the sea together. In this case they would certainly be destroyed, +for if they were not drowned, they would be dashed to pieces on the +rocks which lined the shore. + +"Sliding down the line seemed thus a very dangerous attempt, but they +consented one after another to make the trial, and thus we all escaped +safe to land." + +"And did you get the clock-weights safe to the shore?" asked Phonny. + +"Yes," replied Beechnut, "and as soon as we landed we hid them in the +sand. My father took me to a little cove close by, where there was not +much surf, as the place was protected by a rocky point of land which +bounded it on one side. Behind this point of land the waves rolled up +quietly upon a sandy beach. My father went down upon the slope of this +beach, to a place a little below where the highest waves came, and +began to dig a hole in the sand. He called me to come and help him. +The waves impeded our work a little, but we persevered until we had +dug a hole about a foot deep. We put our clock-weights into this hole +and covered them over. We then ran back up upon the beach. The waves +that came up every moment over the place soon smoothed the surface of +the sand again, and made it look as if nothing had been done there. My +father measured the distance from the place where he had deposited his +treasure up to a certain great white rock upon the shore exactly +opposite to it, so as to be able to find the place again, and then we +went back to our company. They were collected on the rocks in little +groups, wet and tired, and in great confusion, but rejoiced at having +escaped with their lives. Some of the last of the sailors were then +coming over in the sling. The captain himself came last of all. + +"There were some huts near the place on the shore, where the men made +good fires, and we warmed and dried ourselves. The storm abated a +great deal in a few hours, and the tide went down, so that we could go +off to the ship before night to get some provisions. The next morning +the men could work at the ship very easily, and they brought, all the +passengers' baggage on shore. My father got his trunk with the clock +in it. A day or two afterward some sloops came to the place, and took +us all away to carry us to Quebec. Just before we embarked on board +the sloops, my father and I, watching a good opportunity, dug up our +weights out of the sand, and put them back safely in their places in +the clock-box." + +"Is that the end?" asked Phonny, when Beechnut paused. + +"Yes," replied Beechnut, "I believe I had better make that the end." + +"I think it is a very interesting and well-told story," said Madeline. +"And do you feel very tired?" + +"No," said Beechnut. "On the contrary, I feel all the better for my +ride. I believe I will sit up a little while." + +So saying, he raised himself in the waggon and sat up, and began to +look about him. + +"What a wonderful voyage you had, Beechnut!" said Phonny. "But I never +knew before that you were shipwrecked." + +"Well, in point of fact," replied Beechnut, "I never was shipwrecked." + +"Never was!" exclaimed Phonny. "Why, what is all this story that you +have been telling us, then?" + +"Embellishment," said Beechnut quietly. + +"Embellishment!" repeated Phonny, more and more amazed. + +"Yes," said Beechnut. + +"Then you were not wrecked at all?" said Phonny. + +"No," replied Beechnut. + +"And how did you get to the land?" asked Phonny. + +"Why, we sailed quietly up the St. Lawrence," replied Beechnut, "and +landed safely at Quebec, as other vessels do." + +"And the clock-weights?" asked Phonny. + +"All embellishment," said Beechnut. "My father had no such clock, in +point of fact. He put his money in a bag, his bag in his chest, and +his chest in the hold, and it came as safe as the captain's sextant." + +"And the iceberg and the rainbow?" said Madeline. + +"Embellishment, all embellishment," said Beechnut. + +"Dear me!" said Phonny, "I thought it was all true." + +"Did you?" said Beechnut. "I am sorry that you were so deceived, and +I am sure it was not my fault, for I gave you your choice of a true +story or an invention, and you chose the invention." + +"Yes," said Phonny, "so we did." + + + + +THE GREAT STONE FACE + +By Nathaniel Hawthorne + + +One afternoon, when the sun was going down, a mother and her little +boy sat at the door of their cottage, talking about the Great Stone +Face. They had but to lift their eyes, and there it was plainly to be +seen, though miles away, with the sunshine brightening all its +features. + +And what was the Great Stone Face? + +Embosomed among a family of lofty mountains, there was a valley so +spacious that it contained many thousand inhabitants. Some of these +good people dwelt in log huts, with the black forest all around them, +on the steep and difficult hillsides. Others had their homes in +comfortable farmhouses, and cultivated the rich soil on the gentle +slopes or level surfaces of the valley. Others, again, were +congregated into populous villages, where some wild, highland rivulet, +tumbling down from its birthplace in the upper mountain region, had +been caught and tamed by human cunning, and compelled to turn the +machinery of cotton factories. The inhabitants of this valley, in +short, were numerous, and of many modes of life. But all of them, +grown people and children, had a kind of familiarity with the Great +Stone Face, although some possessed the gift of distinguishing this +grand natural phenomenon more perfectly than many of their neighbors. + +The Great Stone Face, then, was a work of Nature in her mood of +majestic playfulness, formed on the perpendicular side of a mountain +by some immense rocks, which had been thrown together in such a +position as, when viewed at a proper distance, precisely to resemble +the features of the human countenance. It seemed as if an enormous +giant, or a Titan, had sculptured his own likeness on the precipice. +There was the broad arch of the forehead, a hundred feet in height; +the nose, with its long bridge; and the vast lips, which, if they +could have spoken, would have rolled their thunder accents from one +end of the valley to the other. True it is, that if the spectator +approached too near, he lost the outline of the gigantic visage, and +could discern only a heap of ponderous and gigantic rocks, piled in +chaotic ruin one upon another. Retracing his steps, however, the +wondrous features would again be seen; and the further he withdrew +from them, the more like a human face, with all its original divinity +intact, did they appear; until, as it grew dim in the distance, with +the clouds and glorified vapor of the mountains clustering about it, +the Great Stone Face seemed positively to be alive. + +It was a happy lot for children to grow up to manhood or womanhood +with the Great Stone Face before their eyes, for all the features were +noble, and the expression was at once grand and sweet, as if it were +the glow of a vast, warm heart, that embraced all mankind in its +affections, and had room for more. It was an education only to look at +it. According to the belief of many people, the valley owed much of +its fertility to this benign aspect that was continually beaming over +it, illuminating the clouds, and infusing its tenderness into the +sunshine. + +As we began with saying, a mother and her little boy sat at their +cottage-door, gazing at the Great Stone Face, and talking about it. +The child's name was Ernest. + +"Mother," said he, while the Titanic visage smiled on him, "I wish +that it could speak, for it looks so very kindly that its voice must +needs be pleasant. If I were to see a man with such a face, I should +love him dearly." + +"If an old prophecy should come to pass," answered his mother, "we may +see a man, some time or other, with exactly such a face as that." + +"What prophecy do you mean, dear mother?" eagerly inquired Ernest. +"Pray tell me all about it!" + +So his mother told him a story that her own mother had told to her, +when she herself was younger than little Ernest; a story, not of +things that were past, but of what was yet to come; a story, +nevertheless, so very old, that even the Indians, who formerly +inhabited this valley, had heard it from their forefathers, to whom, +as they affirmed, it had been murmured by the mountain streams, and +whispered by the wind among the tree-tops. The purport was that, at +some future day, a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined +to become the greatest and noblest personage of his time, and whose +countenance, in manhood, should bear an exact resemblance to the Great +Stone Face. Not a few old-fashioned people, and young ones likewise, +in the ardor of their hopes, still cherished an enduring faith in this +old prophecy. But others, who had seen more of the world, had watched +and waited till they were weary, and had beheld no man with such a +face, nor any man that proved to be much greater or nobler than his +neighbors, concluded it to be nothing but an idle tale. At all events, +the great man of the prophecy had not yet appeared. + +"O mother, dear mother!" cried Ernest, clapping his hands above his +head, "I do hope that I shall live to see him!" + +His mother was an affectionate and thoughtful woman, and felt that it +was wisest not to discourage the generous hopes of her little boy. So +she only said to him, "Perhaps you may." + +And Ernest never forgot the story that his mother told him. It was +always in his mind, whenever he looked upon the Great Stone Face. He +spent his childhood in the log-cottage where he was born, and was +dutiful to his mother, and helpful to her in many things, assisting +her much with his little hands, and more with his loving heart. In +this manner, from a happy yet often pensive child, he grew up to be a +mild, quiet, unobtrusive boy, and sun-browned with labor in the +fields, but with more intelligence brightening his aspect than is seen +in many lads who have been taught at famous schools. Yet Ernest had +had no teacher, save only that the Great Stone Face became one to him. +When the toil of day was over, he would gaze at it for hours, until he +began to imagine that those vast features recognized him, and gave him +a smile of kindness and encouragement, responsive to his own look of +veneration. We must not take upon us to affirm that this was a +mistake, although the Face may have looked no more kindly at Ernest +than at all the world besides. But the secret was, that the boy's +tender and confiding simplicity discerned what other people could not +see; and thus the love, which was meant for all, became his peculiar +portion. + +About this time, there went a rumor throughout the valley, that the +great man, foretold from ages ago, who was to bear a resemblance to +the Great Stone Face, had appeared at last. It seems that, many years +before, a young man had migrated from the valley and settled at a +distant seaport, where, after getting together a little money, he had +set up as a shopkeeper. His name--but I could never learn whether it +was his real one, or a nickname that had grown out of his habits and +success in life--was Gathergold. Being shrewd and active, and endowed +by Providence with that inscrutable faculty which develops itself in +what the world calls luck, he became an exceedingly rich merchant, and +owner of a whole fleet of bulky-bottomed ships. All the countries of +the globe appeared to join hands for the mere purpose of adding heap +after heap to the mountainous accumulation of this one man's wealth. +The cold regions of the north, almost within the gloom and shadow of +the Arctic Circle, sent him their tribute in the shape of furs; hot +Africa sifted for him the golden sands of her rivers, and gathered up +the ivory tusks of her great elephants out of the forests; the East +came bringing him the rich shawls, and spices, and teas, and the +effulgence of diamonds, and the gleaming purity of large pearls. The +ocean, not to be behindhand with the earth, yielded up her mighty +whales, that Mr. Gathergold might sell their oil, and make a profit on +it. Be the original commodity what it might, it was gold within his +grasp. It might be said of him, as of Midas in the fable, that +whatever he touched with his finger immediately glistened, and grew +yellow, and was changed at once into sterling metal, or, which suited +him still better, into piles of coin. And, when Mr. Gathergold had +become so very rich that it would have taken him a hundred years only +to count his wealth, he bethought himself of his native valley, and +resolved to go back thither, and end his days where he was born. With +this purpose in view, he sent a skilful architect to build him such a +palace as should be fit for a man of his vast wealth to live in. + +As I have said above, it had already been rumored in the valley that +Mr. Gathergold had turned out to be the prophetic personage so long +and vainly looked for, and that his visage was the perfect and +undeniable similitude of the Great Stone Face. People were the more +ready to believe that this must needs be the fact, when they beheld +the splendid edifice that rose, as if by enchantment, on the site of +his father's old weather-beaten farmhouse. The exterior was of marble, +so dazzlingly white that it seemed as though the whole structure might +melt away in the sunshine, like those humbler ones which Mr. +Gathergold, in his young play-days, before his fingers were gifted +with the touch of transmutation, had been accustomed to build of snow. +It had a richly ornamented portico, supported by tall pillars, beneath +which was a lofty door, studded with silver knobs, and made of a kind +of variegated wood that had been brought from beyond the sea. The +windows, from the floor to the ceiling of each stately apartment, were +composed, respectively, of but one enormous pane of glass, so +transparently pure that it was said to be a finer medium than even the +vacant atmosphere. Hardly anybody had been permitted to see the +interior of this palace; but it was reported, and with good semblance +of truth, to be far more gorgeous than the outside, insomuch that +whatever was iron or brass in other houses was silver or gold in this; +and Mr. Gathergold's bedchamber, especially, made such a glittering +appearance that no ordinary man would have been able to close his eyes +there. But, on the other hand, Mr. Gathergold was now so inured to +wealth, that perhaps he could not have closed his eyes unless where +the gleam of it was certain to find its way beneath his eyelids. + +In due time, the mansion was finished; next came the upholsterers, +with magnificent furniture; then a whole troop of black and white +servants, the harbingers of Mr. Gathergold, who, in his own majestic +person, was expected to arrive at sunset. Our friend Ernest, +meanwhile, had been deeply stirred by the idea that the great man, the +noble man, the man of prophecy, after so many ages of delay, was at +length to be made manifest to his native valley. He knew, boy as he +was, that there were a thousand ways in which Mr. Gathergold, with his +vast wealth, might transform himself into an angel of beneficence, and +assume a control over human affairs as wide and benignant as the smile +of the Great Stone Face. Full of faith and hope, Ernest doubted not +that what the people said was true, and that now he was to behold the +living likeness of those wondrous features on the mountain side. While +the boy was still gazing up the valley, and fancying, as he always +did, that the Great Stone Face returned his gaze and looked kindly at +him, the rumbling of wheels was heard, approaching swiftly along the +winding road. + +"Here he comes!" cried the group of people who were assembled to +witness the arrival. "Here comes the great Mr. Gathergold!" + +A carriage, drawn by four horses, dashed round the turn of the road. +Within it, thrust partly out of the window, appeared the physiognomy +of a little old man, with a skin as yellow as if his own Midas-hand +had transmuted it. He had a low forehead, small, sharp eyes, puckered +about with innumerable wrinkles, and very thin lips, which he made +still thinner by pressing them forcibly together. + +"The very image of the Great Stone Face!" shouted the people. "Sure +enough, the old prophecy is true; and here we have the great man come, +at last!" + +And, what greatly perplexed Ernest, they seemed actually to believe +that here was the likeness which they spoke of. By the roadside there +chanced to be an old beggar-woman and two little beggar-children, +stragglers from some far-off region, who, as the carriage rolled +onward, held out their hands and lifted up their doleful voices, most +piteously beseeching charity. A yellow claw--the very same that had +clawed together so much wealth--poked itself out of the coach window, +and dropped some copper coins upon the ground; so that, though the +great man's name seems to have been Gathergold, he might just as +suitably have been nicknamed Scattercopper. Still, nevertheless, with +an earnest shout, and evidently with as much good faith as ever, the +people bellowed-- + +"He is the very image of the Great Stone Face!" + +But Ernest turned sadly from the wrinkled shrewdness of that sordid +visage, and gazed up the valley, where, amid a gathering mist, gilded +by the last sunbeams, he could still distinguish those glorious +features which had impressed themselves into his soul. Their aspect +cheered him. What did the benign lips seem to say? + +"He will come! Fear not, Ernest; the man will come!" + +The years went on, and Ernest ceased to be a boy. He had grown to be a +young man now. He attracted little notice from the other inhabitants +of the valley; for they saw nothing remarkable in his way of life, +save that, when the labor of the day was over, he still loved to go +apart and gaze and meditate upon the Great Stone Face. According to +their idea of the matter, it was a folly, indeed, but pardonable, +inasmuch as Ernest was industrious, kind, and neighborly, and +neglected no duty for the sake of indulging this idle habit. They knew +not that the Great Stone Face had become a teacher to him, and that +the sentiment which was expressed in it would enlarge the young man's +heart, and fill it with wider and deeper sympathies than other hearts. +They knew not that thence would come a better wisdom than could be +learned from books, and a better life than could be molded on the +defaced example of other human lives. Neither did Ernest know that the +thoughts and affections which came to him so naturally, in the fields +and at the fireside, and wherever he communed with himself, were of a +higher tone than those which all men shared with him. A simple +soul--simple as when his mother first taught him the old prophecy--he +beheld the marvellous features beaming adown the valley, and still +wondered that their human counterpart was so long in making his +appearance. + +By this time poor Mr. Gathergold was dead and buried; and the oddest +part of the matter was, that his wealth, which was the body and spirit +of his existence, had disappeared before his death, leaving nothing of +him but a living skeleton, covered over with a wrinkled, yellow skin. +Since the melting away of his gold, it had been very generally +conceded that there was no such striking resemblance, after all, +between the ignoble features of the ruined merchant and that majestic +face upon the mountain-side. So the people ceased to honor him during +his lifetime, and quietly consigned him to forgetfulness after his +decease. Once in a while, it is true, his memory was brought up in +connection with the magnificent palace which he had built, and which +had long ago been turned into a hotel for the accommodation of +strangers, multitudes of whom came, every summer, to visit that famous +natural curiosity, the Great Stone Face. Thus, Mr. Gathergold being +discredited and thrown into the shade, the man of prophecy was yet to +come. + +It so happened that a native-born son of the valley, many years +before, had enlisted as a soldier, and, after a great deal of hard +fighting, had now become an illustrious commander. Whatever he may be +called in history, he was known in camps and on the battle-field under +the nickname of Old Blood-and-Thunder. This war-worn veteran, being +now infirm with age and wounds, and weary of the turmoil of a military +life, and of the roll of the drum and the clangor of the trumpet, that +had so long been ringing in his ears, had lately signified a purpose +of returning to his native valley, hoping to find repose where he +remembered to have left it. The inhabitants, his old neighbors and +their grown-up children, were resolved to welcome the renowned warrior +with a salute of cannon and a public dinner; and all the more +enthusiastically, it being affirmed that now, at last, the likeness of +the Great Stone Face had actually appeared. An aid-de-camp of Old +Blood-and-Thunder, travelling through the valley, was said to have +been struck with the resemblance. Moreover the schoolmates and early +acquaintances of the general were ready to testify, on oath, that, to +the best of their recollection, the aforesaid general had been +exceedingly like the majestic image, even when a boy, only that the +idea had never occurred to them at that period. Great, therefore, was +the excitement throughout the valley; and many people, who had never +once thought of glancing at the Great Stone Face for years before, now +spent their time in gazing at it, for the sake of knowing exactly how +General Blood-and-Thunder looked. + +On the day of the great festival, Ernest, with all the other people of +the valley, left their work, and proceeded to the spot where the +sylvan banquet was prepared. As he approached, the loud voice of the +Rev. Dr. Battleblast was heard, beseeching a blessing on the good +things set before them, and on the distinguished friend of peace in +whose honor they were assembled. The tables were arranged in a cleared +space of the woods, shut in by the surrounding trees, except where a +vista opened eastward, and afforded a distant view of the Great Stone +Face. Over the general's chair, which was a relic from the home of +Washington, there was an arch of verdant boughs, with the laurel +profusely intermixed, and surmounted by his country's banner, beneath +which he had won his victories. Our friend Ernest raised himself on +his tip-toes, in hopes to get a glimpse of the celebrated guest; but +there was a mighty crowd about the tables anxious to hear the toasts +and speeches, and to catch any word that might fall from the general +in reply; and a volunteer company, doing duty as a guard, pricked +ruthlessly with their bayonets at any particularly quiet person among +the throng. So Ernest, being of an unobtrusive character, was thrust +quite into the background, where he could see no more of Old +Blood-and-Thunder's physiognomy than if it had been still blazing on +the battle-field. To console himself, he turned toward the Great Stone +Face, which, like a faithful and long-remembered friend, looked back +and smiled upon him through the vista of the forest. Meantime, +however, he could overhear the remarks of various individuals, who +were comparing the features of the hero with the face on the distant +mountain-side. + +"'Tis the same face, to a hair!" cried one man, cutting a caper for +joy. + +"Wonderfully like, that's a fact!" responded another. + +"Like! why, I call it Old Blood-and-Thunder himself, in a monstrous +looking-glass!" cried a third. "And why not? He's the greatest man of +this or any other age, beyond a doubt." + +And then all three of the speakers gave a great shout, which +communicated electricity to the crowd, and called forth a roar from a +thousand voices, that went reverberating for miles among the +mountains, until you might have supposed that the Great Stone Face had +poured its thunder-breath into the cry. All these comments, and this +vast enthusiasm, served the more to interest our friend; nor did he +think of questioning that now, at length, the mountain-visage had +found its human counterpart. It is true, Ernest had imagined that this +long-looked-for personage would appear in the character of a man of +peace, uttering wisdom, and doing good, and making people happy. But, +taking an habitual breadth of view, with all his simplicity, he +contended that Providence should choose its own method of blessing +mankind, and could conceive that this great end might be effected even +by a warrior and a bloody sword, should inscrutable wisdom see fit to +order matters so. + +"The general! the general!" was now the cry. "Hush! silence! Old +Blood-and-Thunder's going to make a speech." + +Even so; for, the cloth being removed, the general's health had been +drunk amid shouts of applause, and he now stood upon his feet to thank +the company. Ernest saw him. There he was, over the shoulders of the +crowd, from the two glittering epaulets and embroidered collar upward, +beneath the arch of green boughs with intertwined laurel, and the +banner drooping as if to shade his brow! And there, too, visible in +the same glance, through the vista of the forest, appeared the Great +Stone Face! And was there, indeed, such a resemblance as the crowd had +testified? Alas, Ernest could not recognize it! He beheld a war-worn +and weather-beaten countenance, full of energy, and expressive of an +iron will; but the gentle wisdom, the deep, broad, tender sympathies, +were altogether wanting in Old Blood-and-Thunder's visage; and even if +the Great Stone Face had assumed his look of stern command, the milder +traits would still have tempered it. + +"This is not the man of prophecy," sighed Ernest, to himself, as he +made his way out of the throng. "And must the world wait longer yet?" + +The mists had congregated about the distant mountain-side, and there +were seen the grand and awful features of the Great Stone Face, awful +but benignant, as if a mighty angel were sitting among the hills, and +enrobing himself in a cloud-vesture of gold and purple. As he looked, +Ernest could hardly believe but that a smile beamed over the whole +visage, with a radiance still brightening, although without motion of +the lips. It was probably the effect of the western sunshine, melting +through the thinly diffused vapors that had swept between him and the +object that he gazed at. But--as it always did--the aspect of his +marvellous friend made Ernest as hopeful as if he had never hoped in +vain. + +"Fear not, Ernest," said his heart, even as if the Great Face were +whispering him--"fear not, Ernest; he will come." + +More years sped swiftly and tranquilly away. Ernest still dwelt in +his native valley, and was now a man of middle age. By imperceptible +degrees, he had become known among the people. Now, as heretofore, he +labored for his bread, and was the same simple-hearted man that he had +always been. But he had thought and felt so much, he had given so many +of the best hours of his life to unworldly hopes for some great good +to mankind, that it seemed as though he had been talking with the +angels, and had imbibed a portion of their wisdom unawares. It was +visible in the calm and well-considered beneficence of his daily life, +the quiet stream of which had made a wide green margin all along its +course. Not a day passed by, that the world was not the better because +this man, humble as he was, had lived. He never stepped aside from his +own path, yet would always reach a blessing to his neighbor. Almost +involuntarily, too, he had become a preacher. The pure and high +simplicity of his thought, which, as one of its manifestations, took +shape in the good deeds that dropped silently from his hand, flowed +also forth in speech. He uttered truths that wrought upon and molded +the lives of those who heard him. His auditors, it may be, never +suspected that Ernest, their own neighbor and familiar friend, was +more than an ordinary man; least of all did Ernest himself suspect it; +but, inevitably as the murmur of a rivulet, came thoughts out of his +mouth that no other human lips had spoken. + +When the people's minds had had a little time to cool, they were ready +enough to acknowledge their mistake in imagining a similarity between +General Blood-and-Thunder's truculent physiognomy and the benign +visage on the mountain-side. But now, again, there were reports and +many paragraphs in the newspapers, affirming that the likeness of the +Great Stone Face had appeared upon the broad shoulders of a certain +eminent statesman. He, like Mr. Gathergold and Old Blood-and-Thunder, +was a native of the valley, but had left it in his early days, and +taken up the trades of law and politics. Instead of the rich man's +wealth and the warrior's sword, he had but a tongue, and it was +mightier than both together. So wonderfully eloquent was he, that +whatever he might choose to say, his auditors had no choice but to +believe him; wrong looked like right, and right like wrong; for when +it pleased him, he could make a kind of illuminated fog with his mere +breath, and obscure the natural daylight with it. His tongue, indeed, +was a magic instrument: sometimes it rumbled like the thunder; +sometimes it warbled like the sweetest music. It was the blast of +war--the song of peace; and it seemed to have a heart in it, when +there was no such matter. In good truth, he was a wondrous man; and +when his tongue had acquired him all other imaginable success--when it +had been heard in halls of state, and in the courts of princes and +potentates--after it had made him known all over the world, even as a +voice crying from shore to shore--it finally persuaded his countrymen +to select him for the presidency. Before this time--indeed, as soon as +he began to grow celebrated--his admirers had found out the +resemblance between him and the Great Stone Face; and so much were +they struck by it, that throughout the country this distinguished +gentleman was known by the name of Old Stony Phiz. The phrase was +considered as giving a highly favorable aspect to his political +prospects; for, as is likewise the case with the Popedom, nobody ever +becomes president without taking a name other than his own. + +While his friends were doing their best to make him president, Old +Stony Phiz, as he was called, set out on a visit to the valley where +he was born. Of course, he had no other object than to shake hands +with his fellow-citizens, and neither thought nor cared about any +effect which his progress through the country might have upon the +election. Magnificent preparations were made to receive the +illustrious statesman; a cavalcade of horsemen set forth to meet him +at the boundary line of the State, and all the people left their +business and gathered along the wayside to see him pass. Among these +was Ernest. Though more than once disappointed, as we have seen, he +had such a hopeful and confiding nature, that he was always ready to +believe in whatever seemed beautiful and good. He kept his heart +continually open, and thus was sure to catch the blessing from on +high, when it should come. So now again, as buoyantly as ever, he went +forth to behold the likeness of the Great Stone Face. + +The cavalcade came prancing along the road, with a great clattering +of hoofs and a mighty cloud of dust, which rose up so dense and high +that the visage of the mountain-side was completely hidden from +Ernest's eyes. All the great men of the neighborhood were there on +horseback: militia officers, in uniform; the member of Congress; the +sheriff of the county; the editors of newspapers; and many a farmer, +too, had mounted his patient steed, with his Sunday coat upon his +back. It really was a very brilliant spectacle, especially as there +were numerous banners flaunting over the cavalcade, on some of which +were gorgeous portraits of the illustrious statesman and the Great +Stone Face, smiling familiarly at one another, like two brothers. If +the pictures were to be trusted, the mutual resemblance, it must be +confessed, was marvellous. We must not forget to mention that there +was a band of music, which made the echoes of the mountains ring and +reverberate with the loud triumph of its strains; so that airy and +soul-thrilling melodies broke out among all the heights and hollows, +as if every nook of his native valley had found a voice, to welcome +the distinguished guest. But the grandest effect was when the far-off +mountain precipice flung back the music; for then the Great Stone Face +itself seemed to be swelling the triumphant chorus, in acknowledgment +that, at length, the man of prophecy was come. + +All this while the people were throwing up their hats and shouting, +with enthusiasm so contagious that the heart of Ernest kindled up, and +he likewise threw up his hat, and shouted, as loudly as the loudest, +"Huzza for the great man! Huzza for Old Stony Phiz!" But as yet he had +not seen him. + +"Here he is, now!" cried those who stood near Ernest. "There! There! +Look at Old Stony Phiz and then at the Old Man of the Mountain, and +see if they are not as like as two twin-brothers!" + +In the midst of all this gallant array, came an open barouche, drawn +by four white horses; and in the barouche, with his massive head +uncovered, sat the illustrious statesman, Old Stony Phiz himself. + +"Confess it," said one of Ernest's neighbors to him, "the Great Stone +Face has met its match at last!" + +Now, it must be owned that, at his first glimpse of the countenance +which was bowing and smiling from the barouche, Ernest did fancy that +there was a resemblance between it and the old familiar face upon the +mountain-side. The brow, with its massive depth and loftiness, and all +the other features, indeed, were boldly and strongly hewn, as if in +emulation of a more than heroic, of a Titanic model. But the sublimity +and stateliness, the grand expression of a divine sympathy, that +illuminated the mountain visage, and etherealized its ponderous +granite substance into spirit, might here be sought in vain. Something +had been originally left out, or had departed. And therefore the +marvellously gifted statesman had always a weary gloom in the deep +caverns of his eyes, as of a child that has outgrown its playthings, +or a man of mighty faculties and little aims, whose life, with all its +high performances, was vague and empty, because no high purpose had +endowed it with reality. + +Still, Ernest's neighbor was thrusting his elbow into his side, and +pressing him for an answer. + +"Confess! confess! Is not he the very picture of your Old Man of the +Mountain?" + +"No!" said Ernest, bluntly, "I see little or no likeness." + +"Then so much the worse for the Great Stone Face!" answered his +neighbor; and again he set up a shout for Old Stony Phiz. + +But Ernest turned away, melancholy, and almost despondent: for this +was the saddest of his disappointments, to behold a man who might have +fulfilled the prophecy, and had not willed to do so. Meantime, the +cavalcade, the banners, the music, and the barouches swept past him, +with the vociferous crowd in the rear, leaving the dust to settle +down, and the Great Stone Face to be revealed again, with the grandeur +that it had worn for untold centuries. + +"Lo, here I am, Ernest!" the benign lips seemed to say. "I have waited +longer than thou, and am not yet weary. Fear not; the man will come." + +The years hurried onward, treading in their haste on one another's +heels. And now they began to bring white hairs, and scatter them over +the head of Ernest; they made reverend wrinkles across his forehead, +and furrows in his cheeks. He was an aged man. But not in vain had he +grown old: more than the white hairs on his head were the sage +thoughts in his mind; his wrinkles and furrows were inscriptions that +Time had graved, and in which he had written legends of wisdom that +had been tested by the tenor of a life. And Ernest had ceased to be +obscure. Unsought for, undesired, had come the fame which so many +seek, and made him known in the great world, beyond the limits of the +valley in which he had dwelt so quietly. College professors, and even +the active men of cities, came from far to see and converse with +Ernest; for the report had gone abroad that this simple husbandman had +ideas unlike those of other men, not gained from books, but of a +higher tone--a tranquil and familiar majesty, as if he had been +talking with the angels as his daily friends. Whether it were sage, +statesman, or philanthropist, Ernest received these visitors with the +gentle sincerity that had characterized him from boyhood, and spoke +freely with them of whatever came uppermost, or lay deepest in his +heart or their own. While they talked together, his face would kindle, +unawares, and shine upon them, as with a mild evening light. Pensive +with the fulness of such discourse, his guests took leave and went +their way; and passing up the valley, paused to look at the Great +Stone Face, imagining that they had seen its likeness in a human +countenance, but could not remember where. + +While Ernest had been growing up and growing old, a bountiful +Providence had granted a new poet to this earth. He, likewise, was a +native of the valley, but had spent the greater part of his life at a +distance from that romantic region, pouring out his sweet music amid +the bustle and din of cities. Often, however, did the mountains which +had been familiar to him in his childhood lift their snowy peaks into +the clear atmosphere of his poetry. Neither was the Great Stone Face +forgotten, for the poet had celebrated it in an ode, which was grand +enough to have been uttered by its own majestic lips. This man of +genius, we may say, had come down from heaven with wonderful +endowments. If he sang of a mountain, the eyes of all mankind beheld a +mightier grandeur reposing on its breast, or soaring to its summit, +than had before been seen there. If his theme were a lovely lake, a +celestial smile had now been thrown over it, to gleam forever on its +surface. If it were the vast old sea, even the deep immensity of its +dread bosom seemed to swell the higher, as if moved by the emotions of +the song. Thus the world assumed another and a better aspect from the +hour that the poet blessed it with his happy eyes. The Creator had +bestowed him, as the last best touch to his own handiwork. Creation +was not finished till the poet came to interpret, and so complete it. + +The effect was no less high and beautiful, when his human brethren +were the subject of his verse. The man or woman, sordid with the +common dust of life, who crossed his daily path, and the little child +who played in it, were glorified if he beheld them in his mood of +poetic faith. He showed the golden links of the great chain that +intertwined them with an angelic kindred; he brought out the hidden +traits of a celestial birth that made them worthy of such kin. Some, +indeed, there were, who thought to show the soundness of their +judgment by affirming that all the beauty and dignity of the natural +world existed only in the poet's fancy. Let such men speak for +themselves, who undoubtedly appear to have been spawned forth by +Nature with a contemptuous bitterness; she having plastered them up +out of her refuse stuff, after all the swine were made. + +As respects all things else, the poet's ideal was the truest truth. + +The songs of this poet found their way to Ernest. He read them after +his customary toil, seated on the bench before his cottage-door, where +for such a length of time he had filled his repose with thought, by +gazing at the Great Stone Face. And now as he read stanzas that caused +the soul to thrill within him, he lifted his eyes to the vast +countenance beaming on him so benignantly. + +"O majestic friend," he murmured, addressing the Great Stone Face, "is +not this man worthy to resemble thee?" + +The Face seemed to smile, but answered not a word. + +Now it happened that the poet, though he dwelt so far away, had not +only heard of Ernest, but had meditated much upon his character, until +he deemed nothing so desirable as to meet this man, whose untaught +wisdom walked hand in hand with the noble simplicity of his life. One +summer morning, therefore, he took passage by the railroad, and in the +decline of the afternoon, alighted from the cars at no great distance +from Ernest's cottage. The great hotel, which had formerly been the +palace of Mr. Gathergold, was close at hand, but the poet, with his +carpet-bag on his arm, inquired at once where Ernest dwelt, and was +resolved to be accepted as his guest. + +Approaching the door, he there found the good old man, holding a +volume in his hand, which alternately he read, and then, with a finger +between the leaves, looked lovingly at the Great Stone Face. + +"Good evening," said the poet. "Can you give a traveller a night's +lodging?" + +"Willingly," answered Ernest; and then he added, smiling, "Methinks I +never saw the Great Stone Face look so hospitably at a stranger." + +The poet sat down on the bench beside him, and he and Ernest talked +together. Often had the poet held intercourse with the wittiest and +the wisest, but never before with a man like Ernest, whose thoughts +and feelings gushed up with such a natural freedom, and who made great +truths so familiar by his simple utterance of them. Angels, as had +been so often said, seemed to have wrought with him at his labor in +the fields; angels seemed to have sat with him by the fireside; and, +dwelling with angels as friend with friends, he had imbibed the +sublimity of their ideas, and imbued it with the sweet and lowly charm +of household words. So thought the poet. And Ernest, on the other +hand, was moved and agitated by the living images which the poet flung +out of his mind, and which peopled all the air about the cottage-door +with shapes of beauty, both gay and pensive. The sympathies of these +two men instructed them with a profounder sense than either could have +attained alone. Their minds accorded into one strain, and made +delightful music which neither of them could have claimed as all his +own, nor distinguished his own share from the other's. They led one +another, as it were, into a high pavilion of their thoughts, so +remote, and hitherto so dim, that they had never entered it before, +and so beautiful that they desired to be there always. + +As Ernest listened to the poet, he imagined that the Great Stone Face +was bending forward to listen too. He gazed earnestly into the poet's +glowing eyes. + +"Who are you, my strangely gifted guest?" he said. + +The poet laid his finger on the volume that Ernest had been reading. + +"You have read these poems," said he. "You know me, then--for I wrote +them." + +Again, and still more earnestly than before, Ernest examined the poet's +features; then turned toward the Great Stone Face; then back, with an +uncertain aspect, to his guest. But his countenance fell; he shook his +head, and sighed. + +"Wherefore are you sad?" inquired the poet. + +"Because," replied Ernest, "all through life I have awaited the +fulfilment of a prophecy; and, when I read these poems, I hoped that +it might be fulfilled in you." + +"You hoped," answered the poet, faintly smiling, "to find in me the +likeness of the Great Stone Face. And you are disappointed, as +formerly with Mr. Gathergold, and Old Blood-and-Thunder, and Old Stony +Phiz. Yes, Ernest, it is my doom. You must add my name to the +illustrious three, and record another failure of your hopes. For--in +shame and sadness do I speak it, Ernest--I am not worthy to be +typified by yonder benign and majestic image." + +"And why?" asked Ernest. He pointed to the volume. "Are not those +thoughts divine?" + +"They have a strain of the Divinity," replied the poet. "You can hear +in them the far-off echo of a heavenly song. But my life, dear Ernest, +has not corresponded with my thought. I have had grand dreams, but +they have been only dreams, because I have lived--and that, too, by my +own choice--among poor and mean realities. Sometimes even--shall I +dare to say it?--I lack faith in the grandeur, the beauty, and the +goodness, which my own works are said to have made more evident in +nature and in human life. Why, then, pure seeker of the good and true, +shouldst thou hope to find me, in yonder image of the divine?" + +The poet spoke sadly, and his eyes were dim with tears. So, likewise, +were those of Ernest. + +At the hour of sunset, as had long been his frequent custom, Ernest +was to discourse to an assemblage of the neighboring inhabitants in +the open air. + +He and the poet, arm in arm, still talking together as they went +along, proceeded to the spot. It was a small nook among the hills, +with a gray precipice behind, the stern front of which was relieved by +the pleasant foliage of many creeping plants, that made a tapestry for +the naked rock, by hanging their festoons from all its rugged angles. +At a small elevation above the ground, set in a rich framework of +verdure, there appeared a niche, spacious enough to admit a human +figure, with freedom for such gestures as spontaneously accompany +earnest thought and genuine emotion. Into this natural pulpit Ernest +ascended, and threw a look of familiar kindness around upon his +audience. They stood, or sat, or reclined upon the grass, as seemed +good to each, with the departing sunshine falling obliquely over them, +and mingling its subdued cheerfulness with the solemnity of a grove of +ancient trees, beneath and amid the boughs of which the golden rays +were constrained to pass. In another direction was seen the Great +Stone Face, with the same cheer, combined with the same solemnity, in +its benignant aspect. + +Ernest began to speak, giving to the people of what was in his heart +and mind. His words had power, because they accorded with his +thoughts; and his thoughts had reality and depth, because they +harmonized with the life which he had always lived. It was not mere +breath that this preacher uttered; they were the words of life, +because a life of good deeds and holy love was melted into them. +Pearls, pure and rich, had been dissolved into this precious draught. +The poet, as he listened, felt that the being and character of Ernest +were a nobler strain of poetry than he had ever written. His eyes +glistening with tears, he gazed reverentially at the venerable man, +and said within himself that never was there an aspect so worthy of a +prophet and a sage as that mild, sweet, thoughtful countenance, with +the glory of white hair diffused about it. At a distance, but +distinctly to be seen, high up in the golden light of the setting sun, +appeared the Great Stone Face, with hoary mists around it, like the +white hairs around the brow of Ernest. Its look of grand beneficence +seemed to embrace the world. + +At that moment, in sympathy with a thought which he was about to +utter, the face of Ernest assumed a grandeur of expression, so imbued +with benevolence, that the poet, by an irresistible impulse, threw his +arms aloft, and shouted: + +"Behold! Behold! Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone +Face!" + +Then all the people looked, and saw that what the deep-sighted poet +said was true. The prophecy was fulfilled. But Ernest, having finished +what he had to say, took the poet's arm, and walked slowly homeward, +still hoping that some wiser and better man than himself would by and +by appear, bearing a resemblance to the GREAT STONE FACE. + + + + +THE KING OF THE GOLDEN RIVER + +By John Ruskin + + +In a secluded and mountainous part of Stiria there was, in old time, +a valley of the most surprising and luxuriant fertility. It was +surrounded, on all sides, by steep and rocky mountains, rising into +peaks, which were always covered with snow, and from which a number of +torrents descended in constant cataracts. One of these fell westward, +over the face of a crag so high, that, when the sun had set to +everything else, and all below was darkness, his beams still shone +full upon this waterfall, so that it looked like a shower of gold. It +was therefore, called by the people of the neighbourhood, the Golden +River. It was strange that none of these streams fell into the valley +itself. They all descended on the other side of the mountains, and +wound away through broad plains and by populous cities. But the clouds +were drawn so constantly to the snowy hills, and rested so softly in +the circular hollow, that in time of drought and heat, when all the +country round was burnt up, there was still rain in the little valley; +and its crops were so heavy, and its hay so high, and its apples so +red, and its grapes so blue, and its wine so rich, and its honey so +sweet, that it was a marvel to every one who beheld it, and was +commonly called the Treasure Valley. + +The whole of this little valley belonged to three brothers, called +Schwartz, Hans, and Gluck. Schwartz and Hans, the two elder brothers, +were very ugly men, with over-hanging eyebrows and small dull eyes, +which were always half shut, so that you couldn't see into _them_, and +always fancied they saw very far into _you_. They lived by farming the +Treasure Valley, and very good farmers they were. They killed +everything that did not pay for its eating. They shot the blackbirds, +because they pecked the fruit; and killed the hedgehogs, lest they +should suck the cows; they poisoned the crickets for eating the crumbs +in the kitchen; and smothered the cicadas, which used to sing all +summer in the lime trees. They worked their servants without any +wages, till they would not work any more, and then quarrelled with +them, and turned them out of doors without paying them. It would have +been very odd, if with such a farm, and such a system of farming, they +hadn't got very rich; and very rich they _did_ get. They generally +contrived to keep their corn by them till it was very dear, and then +sell it for twice its value; they had heaps of gold lying about on +their floors, yet it was never known that they had given so much as a +penny or a crust in charity; they never went to mass; grumbled +perpetually at paying tithes; and were, in a word, of so cruel and +grinding a temper, as to receive from all those with whom they had any +dealings, the nickname of the "Black Brothers." + +[Illustration: GLUCK PUT HIS HEAD OUT TO SEE WHO IT WAS--page 324 From +the drawing by Richard Doyle] + +The youngest brother, Gluck, was as completely opposed, in both +appearance and character, to his seniors as could possibly be imagined +or desired. He was not above twelve years old, fair, blue-eyed, and +kind in temper to every living thing. He did not, of course, agree +particularly well with his brothers, or rather, they did not agree +with _him_. He was usually appointed to the honorable office of +turnspit, when there was anything to roast, which was not often; for, to +do the brothers justice, they were hardly less sparing upon themselves +than upon other people. + +At other times he used to clean the shoes, floors, and sometimes the +plates, occasionally getting what was left on them, by way of +encouragement, and a wholesome quantity of dry blows, by way of +education. + +Things went on in this manner for a long time. At last came a very wet +summer, and everything went wrong in the country around. The hay had +hardly been got in, when the haystacks were floated bodily down to the +sea by an inundation; the vines were cut to pieces with the hail; the +corn was all killed by a black blight; only in the Treasure Valley, as +usual, all was safe. As it had rain when there was rain nowhere else, +so it had sun when there was sun nowhere else. Everybody came to buy +corn at the farm, and went away pouring maledictions on the Black +Brothers. They asked what they liked, and got it, except from the poor +people, who could only beg, and several of whom were starved at their +very door, without the slightest regard or notice. + +It was drawing towards winter, and very cold weather, when one day +the two elder brothers had gone out, with their usual warning to +little Gluck, who was left to mind the roast, that he was to let +nobody in, and give nothing out. Gluck sat down quite close to the +fire, for it was raining very hard, and the kitchen walls were by no +means dry or comfortable looking. He turned and turned, and the roast +got nice and brown. "What a pity," thought Gluck, "my brothers never +ask anybody to dinner. I'm sure, when they've got such a nice piece of +mutton as this, and nobody else has got so much as a piece of dry +bread, it would do their hearts good to have somebody to eat it with +them." + +Just as he spoke, there came a double knock at the house door, yet +heavy and dull, as though the knocker had been tied up--more like a +puff than a knock. + +"It must be the wind," said Gluck; "nobody else would venture to knock +double knocks at our door." + +No; it wasn't the wind: there it came again very hard, and what was +particularly astounding, the knocker seemed to be in a hurry, and not +to be in the least afraid of the consequences. Gluck went to the +window, opened it, and put his head out to see who it was. + +It was the most extraordinary looking little gentleman he had ever +seen in his life. He had a very large nose, slightly brass-coloured; +his cheeks were very round, and very red, and might have warranted a +supposition that he had been blowing a refractory fire for the last +eight-and-forty hours; his eyes twinkled merrily through long silky +eyelashes, his moustaches curled twice round like a corkscrew on each +side of his mouth, and his hair, of a curious mixed pepper-and-salt +colour, descended far over his shoulders. He was about four feet six +in height, and wore a conical pointed cap of nearly the same altitude, +decorated with a black feather some three feet long. His doublet was +prolonged behind into something resembling a violent exaggeration of +what is now termed a "swallow tail," but was much obscured by the +swelling folds of an enormous black, glossy-looking cloak, which must +have been very much too long in calm weather, as the wind, whistling +round the old house, carried it clear out from the wearer's shoulders +to about four times his own length. + +Gluck was so perfectly paralyzed by the singular appearance of his +visitor, that he remained fixed without uttering a word, until the old +gentleman, having performed another, and a more energetic concerto on +the knocker, turned round to look after his fly-away cloak. In so +doing he caught sight of Gluck's little yellow head jammed in the +window, with its mouth and eyes very wide open indeed. + +"Hullo!" said the little gentleman, "that's not the way to answer the +door: I'm wet, let me in." + +To do the little gentleman justice, he _was_ wet. His feather hung +down between his legs like a beaten puppy's tail, dripping like an +umbrella; and from the ends of his moustaches the water was running +into his waistcoat pockets, and out again like a mill stream. + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Gluck, "I'm very sorry, but I really can't." + +"Can't what!" said the old gentleman. + +"I can't let you in, sir,--I can't, indeed; my brothers would beat me +to death, sir, if I thought of such a thing. What do you want, sir?" + +"Want?" said the old gentleman, petulantly. "I want fire, and shelter; +and there's your great fire there blazing, cracking, and dancing on +the walls, with nobody to feel it. Let me in, I say; I only want to +warm myself." + +Gluck had had his head, by this time, so long out of the window, that +he began to feel it was really unpleasantly cold, and when he turned, +and saw the beautiful fire rustling and roaring, and throwing long +bright tongues up the chimney, as if it were licking its chops at the +savoury smell of the leg of mutton, his heart melted within him that +it should be burning away for nothing. "He does look _very_ wet," said +little Gluck; "I'll just let him in for a quarter of an hour." Round +he went to the door, and opened it; and as the little gentleman walked +in, there came a gust of wind through the house that made the old +chimneys totter. + +"That's a good boy," said the little gentleman. "Never mind your +brothers. I'll talk to them." + +"Pray, sir, don't do any such thing," said Gluck. "I can't let you +stay till they come; they'd be the death of me." + +"Dear me," said the old gentleman. "I'm very sorry to hear that. How +long may I stay?" + +"Only till the mutton's done, sir," replied Gluck, "and it's very +brown." + +Then the old gentleman walked into the kitchen, and sat himself down +on the hob, with the top of his cap accommodated up the chimney, for +it was a great deal too high for the roof. + +"You'll soon dry there, sir," said Gluck, and sat down again to turn +the mutton. But the old gentleman did _not_ dry there, but went on +drip, drip, dripping among the cinders, and the fire fizzed, and +sputtered, and began to look very black, and uncomfortable: never was +such a cloak; every fold in it ran like a gutter. + +"I beg pardon, sir," said Gluck at length, after watching the water +spreading in long quicksilver-like streams over the floor for a +quarter of an hour; "mayn't I take your cloak?" + +"No, thank you," said the old gentleman. + +"Your cap, sir?" + +"I am all right, thank you," said the old gentleman rather gruffly. + +"But,--sir,--I'm very sorry," said Gluck, hesitatingly; "but--really, +sir,--you're--putting the fire out." + +"It'll take longer to do the mutton, then," replied his visitor drily. + +Gluck was very much puzzled by the behaviour of his guest; it was such +a strange mixture of coolness and humility. + +He turned away at the string meditatively for another five minutes. + +"That mutton looks very nice," said the old gentleman at length. +"Can't you give me a little bit?" + +"Impossible, sir," said Gluck. + +"I'm very hungry," continued the old gentleman: "I've had nothing to +eat yesterday, nor to-day. They surely couldn't miss a bit from the +knuckle!" + +He spoke in so very melancholy a tone, that it quite melted Gluck's +heart. "They promised me one slice to-day, sir," said he; "I can give +you that, but not a bit more." + +"That's a good boy," said the old gentleman again. + +Then Gluck warmed a plate, and sharpened a knife. "I don't care if I +do get beaten for it," thought he. Just as he had cut a large slice +out of the mutton, there came a tremendous rap at the door. The old +gentleman jumped off the hob, as if it had suddenly become +inconveniently warm. Gluck fitted the slice into the mutton again, +with desperate efforts at exactitude, and ran to open the door. + +"What did you keep us waiting in the rain for?" said Schwartz, as he +walked in, throwing his umbrella in Gluck's face. "Ay! what for, +indeed, you little vagabond?" said Hans, administering an educational +box on the ear, as he followed his brother into the kitchen. + +"Bless my soul!" said Schwartz when he opened the door. + +"Amen," said the little gentleman, who had taken his cap off, and was +standing in the middle of the kitchen, bowing with the utmost possible +velocity. + +"Who's that?" said Schwartz, catching up a rolling-pin, and turning to +Gluck with a fierce frown. + +"I don't know, indeed, brother," said Gluck in great terror. + +"How did he get in?" roared Schwartz. + +"My dear brother," said Gluck, deprecatingly, "he was so _very_ wet!" + +The rolling-pin was descending on Gluck's head; but, at the instant, +the old gentleman interposed his conical cap, on which it crashed with +a shock that shook the water out of it all over the room. What was +very odd, the rolling-pin no sooner touched the cap, than it flew out +of Schwartz's hand, spinning like a straw in a high wind, and fell +into the corner at the further end of the room. + +"Who are you, sir?" demanded Schwartz, turning upon him. + +"What's your business?" snarled Hans. + +"I'm a poor old man, sir," the little gentleman began very modestly, +"and I saw your fire through the window, and begged shelter for a +quarter of an hour." + +"Have the goodness to walk out again, then," said Schwartz. "We've +quite enough water in our kitchen, without making it a drying house." + +"It is a cold day to turn an old man out in, sir; look at my grey +hairs." They hung down to his shoulders, as I told you before. + +"Ay!" said Hans, "there are enough of them to keep you warm. Walk!" + +"I'm very, very hungry, sir; couldn't you spare me a bit of bread +before I go?" + +"Bread, indeed!" said Schwartz; "do you suppose we've nothing to do +with our bread, but to give it to such red-nosed fellows as you?" + +"Why don't you sell your feather?" said Hans, sneeringly. "Out with +you," + +"A little bit," said the old gentleman. + +"Be off!" said Schwartz. + +"Pray, gentlemen." + +"Off, and be hanged!" cried Hans, seizing him by the collar. But he +had no sooner touched the old gentleman's collar, than away he went +after the rolling-pin, spinning round and round, till he fell into the +corner on top of it. Then Schwartz was very angry, and ran at the old +gentleman to turn him out; but he also had hardly touched him, when +away he went after Hans and the rolling-pin, and hit his head against +the wall as he tumbled into the corner. + +And so there they lay, all three. + +Then the old gentleman spun himself round with velocity in the +opposite direction; continued to spin until his long cloak was all +wound neatly about him; clapped his cap on his head, very much on one +side (for it could not stand upright without going through the +ceiling), gave an additional twist to his corkscrew moustaches, and +replied with perfect coolness: "Gentlemen, I wish you a very good +morning. At twelve o'clock to-night I'll call again; after such a +refusal of hospitality as I have just experienced, you will not be +surprised if that visit is the last I ever pay you." + +"If ever I catch you here again," muttered Schwartz, coming, half +frightened, out of the corner--but, before he could finish his +sentence, the old gentleman had shut the house door behind him with a +great bang: and there drove past the window, at the same instant, a +wreath of ragged cloud, that whirled and rolled away down the valley +in all manner of shapes; turning over and over in the air; and melting +away at last in a gush of rain. + +"A very pretty business, indeed, Mr. Gluck!" said Schwartz. "Dish the +mutton, sir. If ever I catch you at such a trick again--bless me, why, +the mutton's been cut!" + +"You promised me one slice, brother, you know," said Gluck. + +"Oh! and you were cutting it hot, I suppose, and going to catch all +the gravy. It'll be long before I promise you such a thing again. +Leave the room, sir; and have the kindness to wait in the coal-cellar +till I call you." + +Gluck left the room melancholy enough. The brothers ate as much mutton +as they could, locked the rest in the cupboard, and proceeded to get +very drunk after dinner. + +Such a night as it was! Howling wind, and rushing rain, without +intermission. The brothers had just sense enough left to put up all +the shutters, and double bar the door, before they went to bed. They +usually slept in the same room. As the clock struck twelve, they were +both awakened by a tremendous crash. Their door burst open with a +violence that shook the house from top to bottom. + +"What's that?" cried Schwartz, starting up in his bed. + +"Only I," said the little gentleman. + +The two brothers sat up on their bolster, and stared into the +darkness. The room was full of water, and by a misty moon-beam, which +found its way through a hole in the shutter, they could see in the +midst of it an enormous foam globe, spinning round, and bobbing up and +down like a cork, on which, as on a most luxurious cushion, reclined +the little old gentleman, cap and all. There was plenty of room for it +now, for the roof was off. + +"Sorry to incommode you," said their visitor, ironically. "I'm afraid +your beds are dampish; perhaps you had better go to your brother's +room: I've left the ceiling on, there." + +They required no second admonition, but rushed into Gluck's room, wet +through, and in an agony of terror. + +"You'll find my card on the kitchen table," the old gentleman called +after them. "Remember, the _last_ visit." + +"Pray Heaven it may!" said Schwartz, shuddering. And the foam globe +disappeared. + +Dawn came at last, and the two brothers looked out of Gluck's little +window in the morning. The Treasure Valley was one mass of ruin and +desolation. The inundation had swept away trees, crops, and cattle, +and left in their stead a waste of red sand and grey mud. The two +brothers crept shivering and horror-struck into the kitchen. The water +had gutted the whole first floor; corn, money, almost every movable +thing had been swept away, and there was left only a small white card +on the kitchen table. On it, in large, breezy, long-legged letters, +were engraved the words:-- + + SOUTH-WEST WIND, ESQUIRE + +South-West Wind, Esquire, was as good as his word. After the momentous +visit above related, he entered the Treasure Valley no more; and, what +was worse, he had so much influence with his relations, the West Winds +in general, and used it so effectually, that they all adopted a +similar line of conduct. So no rain fell in the valley from one year's +end to another. Though everything remained green and flourishing in +the plains below, the inheritance of the three brothers was a desert. +What had once been the richest soil in the kingdom, became a shifting +heap of red sand; and the brothers, unable longer to contend with the +adverse skies, abandoned their valueless patrimony in despair, to seek +some means of gaining a livelihood among the cities and people of the +plains. + +All their money was gone, and they had nothing left but some curious +old-fashioned pieces of gold plate, the last remnants of their +ill-gotten wealth. + +"Suppose we turn goldsmiths?" said Schwartz to Hans, as they entered +the large city. "It is a good knave's trade; we can put a great deal +of copper into the gold, without any one's finding it out." + +The thought was agreed to be a very good one; they hired a furnace, +and turned goldsmiths. But two slight circumstances affected their +trade: the first, that people did not approve of the coppered gold; +the second, that the two elder brothers, whenever they had sold +anything, used to leave little Gluck to mind the furnace, and go and +drink out the money in the ale-house next door. So they melted all +their gold, without making money enough to buy more, and were at last +reduced to one large drinking mug, which an uncle of his had given to +little Gluck, and which he was very fond of, and would not have parted +with for the world; though he never drank anything out of it but milk +and water. The mug was a very odd mug to look at. The handle was +formed of two wreaths of flowing golden hair, so finely spun that it +looked more like silk than metal, and these wreaths descended into, +and mixed with, a beard and whiskers of the same exquisite +workmanship, which surrounded and decorated a very fierce little face, +of the reddest gold imaginable, right in the front of the mug, with a +pair of eyes in it which seemed to command its whole circumference. It +was impossible to drink out of the mug without being subjected to an +intense gaze out of the side of these eyes; and Schwartz positively +averred, that once, after emptying it, full of Rhenish, seventeen +times, he had seen them wink! When it came to the mug's turn to be +made into spoons, it half broke poor little Gluck's heart; but the +brothers only laughed at him, tossed the mug into the melting-pot, and +staggered out to the ale-house: leaving him, as usual, to pour the +gold into bars, when it was all ready. + +When they were gone, Gluck took a farewell look at his old friend in +the melting-pot. The flowing hair was all gone; nothing remained but +the red nose, and the sparkling eyes, which looked more malicious than +ever. "And no wonder," thought Gluck, "after being treated in that +way." He sauntered disconsolately to the window, and sat himself down +to catch the fresh evening air, and escape the hot breath of the +furnace. Now this window commanded a direct view of the range of +mountains, which, as I told you before, overhung the Treasure Valley, +and more especially of the peak from which fell the Golden River. It +was just at the close of the day, and, when Gluck sat down at the +window, he saw the rocks of the mountain tops, all crimson and purple +with the sunset; and there were bright tongues of fiery cloud burning +and quivering about them; and the river, brighter than all, fell, in +a waving column of pure gold, from precipice to precipice, with the +double arch of a broad purple rainbow stretched across it, flushing +and fading alternately in the wreaths of spray. + +"Ah!" said Gluck aloud, after he had looked at it for a while, "if +that river were really all gold, what a nice thing it would be." + +"No, it wouldn't, Gluck," said a clear, metallic voice, close at his +ear. + +"Bless me, what's that?" exclaimed Gluck, jumping up. There was nobody +there. He looked round the room, and under the table, and a great many +times behind him, but there was certainly nobody there, and he sat +down again at the window. + +This time he didn't speak, but he couldn't help thinking again that it +would be very convenient if the river were really all gold. + +"Not at all, my boy," said the same voice, louder than before. + +"Bless me!" said Gluck again, "what _is_ that?" He looked again into +all the corners and cupboards, and then began turning round and round +as fast as he could in the middle of the room, thinking there was +somebody behind him, when the same voice struck again on his ear. It +was singing now, very merrily, "Lala-lira-la;" no words, only a soft +running effervescent melody, something like that of a kettle on the +boil. Gluck looked out of the window. No, it was certainly in the +house. Up stairs, and down stairs. No, it was certainly in that very +room, coming in quicker time and clearer notes every moment. +"Lala-lira-la." All at once it struck Gluck that it sounded louder +near the furnace. He ran to the opening and looked in; yes, he saw +right, it seemed to be coming, not only out of the furnace, but out of +the pot. He uncovered it, and ran back in a great fright, for the pot +was certainly singing! He stood in the farthest corner of the room, +with his hands up and his mouth open, for a minute or two, when the +singing stopped, and the voice became clear and pronunciative. + +"Hullo!" said the voice. + +Gluck made no answer. + +"Hullo! Gluck, my boy," said the pot again. + +Gluck summoned all his energies, walked straight up to the crucible, +drew it out of the furnace, and looked in. The gold was all melted, +and its surface as smooth and polished as a river; but instead of +reflecting little Gluck's head, as he looked in he saw meeting his +glance from beneath the gold, the red nose and sharp eyes of his old +friend of the mug, a thousand times redder and sharper than ever he +had seen them in his life. + +"Come, Gluck, my boy," said the voice out of the pot again, "I'm all +right; pour me out." + +But Gluck was too much astonished to do anything of the kind. + +"Pour me out, I say," said the voice, rather gruffly. Still Gluck +couldn't move. + +"_Will_ you pour me out?" said the voice, passionately. "I'm too hot." + +By a violent effort, Gluck recovered the use of his limbs, took hold +of the crucible and sloped it, so as to pour out the gold. But, +instead of a liquid stream, there came out, first a pair of pretty +little yellow legs, then some coat tails, then a pair of arms stuck +a-kimbo, and finally the well-known head of his friend the mug; all +which articles, uniting as they rolled out, stood up energetically on +the floor, in the shape of a little golden dwarf, about a foot and a +half high. + +"That's right!" said the dwarf, stretching out first his legs, and +then his arms, and then shaking his head up and down, and as far round +as it would go, for five minutes without stopping, apparently with the +view of ascertaining if he were quite correctly put together, while +Gluck stood contemplating him in speechless amazement. He was dressed +in a slashed doublet of spun gold, so fine in its texture, that the +prismatic colours gleamed over it as if on a surface of mother of +pearl; and, over this brilliant doublet, his hair and beard fell full +half way to the ground in waving curls, so exquisitely delicate, that +Gluck could hardly tell where they ended; they seemed to melt into +air. The features of the face, however, were by no means finished with +the same delicacy; they were rather coarse, slightly inclining to +coppery in complexion, and indicative, in expression, of a very +pertinacious and intractable disposition in their small proprietor. +When the dwarf had finished his self-examination, he turned his small +sharp eyes full on Gluck, and stared at him deliberately for a minute +or two. "No, it wouldn't, Gluck, my boy," said the little man. + +This was certainly rather an abrupt and unconnected mode of commencing +conversation. It might indeed be supposed to refer to the course of +Gluck's thoughts, which had first produced the dwarf's observations +out of the pot; but whatever it referred to, Gluck had no inclination +to dispute the dictum. + +"Wouldn't it, sir?" said Gluck, very mildly and submissively indeed. + +"No," said the dwarf, conclusively, "no, it wouldn't." And with that +the dwarf pulled his cap hard over his brows, and took two turns, of +three feet long, up and down the room, lifting his legs up very high, +and setting them down very hard. This pause gave time for Gluck to +collect his thoughts a little, and, seeing no great reason to view his +diminutive visitor with dread, and feeling his curiosity overcome his +amazement, he ventured on a question of peculiar delicacy. + +"Pray, sir," said Gluck, rather hesitatingly, "were you my mug?" + +On which the little man turned sharp round, walked straight up to +Gluck, and drew himself up to his full height. "I," said the little +man, "am the King of the Golden River." Whereupon he turned about +again, and took two more turns, some six feet long, in order to allow +time for the consternation which this announcement produced in his +auditor to evaporate. + +After which, he again walked up to Gluck and stood still, as if +expecting some comment on his communication. + +Gluck determined to say something at all events. "I hope your majesty +is very well," said Gluck. + +"Listen!" said the little man, deigning no reply to this polite +inquiry. "I am the King of what you mortals call the Golden River. The +shape you saw me in, was owing to the malice of a stronger king, from +whose enchantments you have this instant freed me. What I have seen of +you, and your conduct to your wicked brothers, renders me willing to +serve you; therefore, attend to what I tell you. Whoever shall climb +to the top of that mountain from which you see the Golden River issue, +and shall cast into the stream at its source, three drops of holy +water, for him, and for him only, the river shall turn to gold. But no +one failing in his first, can succeed in a second attempt; and if any +one shall cast unholy water into the river, it will overwhelm him, and +he will become a black stone." So saying, the King of the Golden River +turned away and deliberately walked into the centre of the hottest +flame of the furnace. His figure became red, white, transparent, +dazzling,--a blaze of intense light,--rose, trembled, and disappeared. +The King of the Golden River had evaporated. + +"Oh!" cried poor Gluck, running to look up the chimney after him; "Oh, +dear, dear, dear me! My mug! my mug! my mug!" + +The King of the Golden River had hardly made the extraordinary exit +related in the last chapter, before Hans and Schwartz came roaring +into the house, very savagely drunk. The discovery of the total loss +of their last piece of plate had the effect of sobering them just +enough to enable them to stand over Gluck, beating him very steadily +for a quarter of an hour; at the expiration of which period they +dropped into a couple of chairs, and requested to know what he had got +to say for himself. Gluck told them his story, of which, of course, +they did not believe a word. They beat him again, till their arms were +tired, and staggered to bed. In the morning, however, the steadiness +with which he adhered to his story obtained him some degree of +credence; the immediate consequence of which was, that the two +brothers, after wrangling a long time on the knotty question, which of +them should try his fortune first, drew their swords and began +fighting. The noise of the fray alarmed the neighbours, who, finding +they could not pacify the combatants, sent for the constable. + +Hans, on hearing this, contrived to escape, and hid himself; but +Schwartz was taken before the magistrate, fined for breaking the +peace, and, having drunk out his last penny the evening before, was +thrown into prison till he should pay. + +When Hans heard this, he was much delighted, and determined to set out +immediately for the Golden River. How to get the holy water, was the +question. He went to the priest, but the priest could not give any +holy water to so abandoned a character. So Hans went to vespers in the +evening for the first time in his life, and, under pretence of +crossing himself, stole a cupful, and returned home in triumph. + +Next morning he got up before the sun rose, put the holy water into a +strong flask, and two bottles of wine and some meat in a basket, slung +them over his back, took his alpine staff in his hand, and set off for +the mountains. + +On his way out of the town he had to pass the prison, and as he looked +in at the windows, whom should he see but Schwartz himself peeping out +of the bars, and looking very disconsolate. + +"Good morning, brother," said Hans; "have you any message for the King +of the Golden River?" + +Schwartz gnashed his teeth with rage, and shook the bars with all his +strength; but Hans only laughed at him, and advising him to make +himself comfortable till he came back again, shouldered his basket, +shook the bottle of holy water in Schwartz's face till it frothed +again, and marched off in the highest spirits in the world. + +It was, indeed, a morning that might have made any one happy, even +with no Golden River to seek for. Level lines of dewy mist lay +stretched along the valley, out of which rose the massy mountains--their +lower cliffs in pale grey shadow, hardly distinguishable from the +floating vapour, but gradually ascending till they caught the +sunlight, which ran in sharp touches of ruddy colour, along the +angular crags, and pierced, in long level rays, through their fringes +of spear-like pine. Far above, shot up red splintered masses of +castellated rock, jagged and shivered into myriads of fantastic forms, +with here and there a streak of sunlit snow, traced down their chasms +like a line of forked lightning; and, far beyond, and far above all +these, fainter than the morning cloud, but purer and changeless, +slept, in the blue sky, the utmost peaks of the eternal snow. + +The Golden River, which sprang from one of the lower and snowless +elevations, was now nearly in shadow; all but the uppermost jets of +spray, which rose like slow smoke above the undulating line of the +cataract, and floated away in feeble wreaths upon the morning wind. + +On this object, and on this alone, Hans' eyes and thoughts were fixed; +forgetting the distance he had to traverse, he set off at an imprudent +rate of walking, which greatly exhausted him before he had scaled the +first range of the green and low hills. He was, moreover, surprised, +on surmounting them, to find that a large glacier, of whose existence, +notwithstanding his previous knowledge of the mountains, he had been +absolutely ignorant, lay between him and the source of the Golden +River. He entered on it with the boldness of a practised mountaineer; +yet he thought he had never traversed so strange or so dangerous a +glacier in his life. The ice was excessively slippery, and out of all +its chasms came wild sounds of gushing water; not monotonous or low, +but changeful and loud, rising occasionally into drifting passages of +wild melody, then breaking off into short melancholy tones, or sudden +shrieks, resembling those of human voices in distress or pain. The ice +was broken into thousands of confused shapes, but none, Hans thought, +like the ordinary forms of splintered ice. There seemed a curious +_expression_ about all their outlines--a perpetual resemblance to +living features, distorted and scornful. Myriads of deceitful shadows, +and lurid lights, played and floated about and through the pale blue +pinnacles, dazzling and confusing the sight of the traveller; while +his ears grew dull and his head giddy with the constant gush and roar +of the concealed waters. These painful circumstances increased upon +him as he advanced; the ice crashed and yawned into fresh chasms at +his feet, tottering spires nodded around him, and fell thundering +across his path; and though he had repeatedly faced these dangers on +the most terrific glaciers, and in the wildest weather, it was with a +new and oppressive feeling of panic terror that he leaped the last +chasm, and flung himself, exhausted and shuddering, on the firm turf +of the mountain. + +He had been compelled to abandon his basket of food, which became a +perilous incumbrance on the glacier, and had now no means of +refreshing himself but by breaking off and eating some of the pieces +of ice. This, however, relieved his thirst; an hour's repose recruited +his hardy frame, and with the indomitable spirit of avarice, he +resumed his laborious journey. + +His way now lay straight up a ridge of bare red rocks, without a blade +of grass to ease the foot, or a projecting angle to afford an inch of +shade from the south sun. It was past noon, and the rays beat +intensely upon the steep path, while the whole atmosphere was +motionless, and penetrated with heat. Intense thirst was soon added to +the bodily fatigue with which Hans was now afflicted; glance after +glance he cast on the flask of water which hung at his belt. "Three +drops are enough," at last thought he; "I may, at least, cool my lips +with it." + +He opened the flask, and was raising it to his lips, when his eye fell +on an object lying on the rock beside him; he thought it moved. It was +a small dog, apparently in the last agony of death from thirst. Its +tongue was out, its jaws dry, its limbs extended lifelessly, and a +swarm of black ants were crawling about its lips and throat. Its eye +moved to the bottle which Hans held in his hand. He raised it, drank, +spurned the animal with his foot, and passed on. And he did not know +how it was, but he thought that a strange shadow had suddenly come +across the blue sky. + +The path became steeper and more rugged every moment; and the high +hill air, instead of refreshing him, seemed to throw his blood into a +fever. The noise of the hill cataracts sounded like mockery in his +ears; they were all distant, and his thirst increased every moment. +Another hour passed, and he again looked down to the flask at his +side; it was half empty; but there was much more than three drops in +it. He stopped to open it, and again, as he did so, something moved in +the path above him. + +It was a fair child, stretched nearly lifeless on the rock, its breast +heaving with thirst, its eyes closed, and its lips parched and +burning. Hans eyed it deliberately, drank, and passed on. And a dark +grey cloud came over the sun, and long, snakelike shadows crept up +along the mountain sides. Hans struggled on. The sun was sinking, but +its descent seemed to bring no coolness; the leaden weight of the dead +air pressed upon his brow and heart, but the goal was near. He saw the +cataract of the Golden River springing from the hill-side, scarcely +five hundred feet above him. He paused for a moment to breathe, and +sprang on to complete his task. + +At this instant a faint cry fell on his ear. He turned and saw a +grey-haired old man extended on the rocks. His eyes were sunk, his +features deadly pale, and gathered into an expression of despair. +"Water!" he stretched his arms to Hans, and cried feebly, "Water! I am +dying." + +"I have none," replied Hans; "thou hast had thy share of life." He +strode over the prostrate body, and darted on. And a flash of blue +lightning rose out of the East, shaped like a sword; it shook thrice +over the whole heaven, and left it dark with one heavy, impenetrable +shade. The sun was setting; it plunged towards the horizon like a +red-hot ball. + +The roar of the Golden River rose on Hans' ear. He stood at the brink +of the chasm through which it ran. + +Its waves were filled with the red glory of the sunset: they shook +their crests like tongues of fire, and flashes of bloody light gleamed +along their foam. Their sound came mightier and mightier on his +senses; his brain grew giddy with the prolonged thunder. Shuddering he +drew the flask from his girdle, and hurled it into the center of the +torrent. As he did so, an icy chill shot through his limbs: he +staggered, shrieked, and fell. The waters closed over his cry. And the +moaning of the river rose wildly into the night, as it gushed over + + THE BLACK STONE + + * * * * * + +Poor little Gluck waited very anxiously alone in the house, for Hans' +return. Finding he did not come back, he was terribly frightened, and +went and told Schwartz in the prison, all that had happened. Then +Schwartz was very much pleased, and said that Hans must certainly have +been turned into a black stone, and he should have all the gold to +himself. But Gluck was very sorry, and cried all night. When he got up +in the morning, there was no bread in the house, nor any money; so +Gluck went, and hired himself to another goldsmith, and he worked so +hard, and so neatly, and so long every day, that he soon got money +enough together to pay his brother's fine; and he went, and gave it +all to Schwartz, and Schwartz got out of prison. Then Schwartz was +quite pleased, and said he should have some of the gold of the river. +But Gluck only begged he would go and see what had become of Hans. + +Now when Schwartz had heard that Hans had stolen the holy water, he +thought to himself that such a proceeding might not be considered +altogether correct by the King of the Golden River, and determined to +manage matters better. So he took some more of Gluck's money, and went +to a bad man, who gave him some holy water very readily for it. Then +Schwartz was sure it was all quite right. So Schwartz got up early in +the morning before the sun rose, and took some bread and wine, in a +basket, and put his holy water in a flask, and set off for the +mountains. Like his brother he was much surprised at the sight of the +glacier, and had great difficulty in crossing it, even after leaving +his basket behind him. The day was cloudless, but not bright: there +was a heavy purple haze hanging over the sky, and the hills looked +lowering and gloomy. And as Schwartz climbed the steep rock path, the +thirst came upon him, as it had upon his brother, until he lifted his +flask to his lips to drink. Then he saw the fair child lying near him +on the rocks, and it cried to him, and moaned for water. + +"Water, indeed," said Schwartz; "I haven't half enough for myself," +and passed on. And as he went he thought the sunbeams grew more dim, +and he saw a low bank of black cloud rising out of the West; and, when +he had climbed for another hour, the thirst overcame him again, and he +would have drunk. + +Then he saw the old man lying before him on the path, and heard him +cry out for water. "Water, indeed," said Schwartz, "I haven't half +enough for myself," and on he went. + +Then again the light seemed to fade from before his eyes, and he +looked up, and, behold, a mist, of the colour of blood, had come over +the sun; and the bank of black cloud had risen very high, and its +edges were tossing and tumbling like the waves of the angry sea. And +they cast long shadows, which flickered over Schwartz's path. + +Then Schwartz climbed for another hour, and again his thirst returned; +and as lifted his flask to his lips he thought he saw his brother Hans +lying exhausted on the path before him, and, as he gazed, the figure +stretched its arms to him, and cried for water. "Ha, ha," laughed +Schwartz, "are you there? Remember the prison bars, my boy. Water, +indeed! Do you suppose I carried it all the way up here for _you_?" + +And he strode over the figure; yet, as he passed, he thought he saw a +strange expression of mockery about its lips. And, when he had gone a +few yards farther, he looked back; but the figure was not there. + +And a sudden horror came over Schwartz, he knew not why; but the +thirst for gold prevailed over his fear, and he rushed on. And the +bank of black cloud rose to the zenith, and out of it came bursts of +spiry lightning, and waves of darkness seemed to heave and float +between their flashes, over the whole heavens. And the sky where the +sun was setting was all level, and like a lake of blood; and a strong +wind came out of that sky, tearing its crimson clouds into fragments, +and scattering them far into the darkness. And when Schwartz stood by +the brink of the Golden River, its waves were black, like thunder +clouds, but their foam was like fire; and the roar of the waters +below, and the thunder above met, as he cast the flask into the +stream. + +And, as he did so, the lightning glared in his eyes, and the earth +gave way beneath him, and the waters closed over his cry. And the +moaning of the river rose wildly into the night, as it gushed over the + + TWO BLACK STONES + + * * * * * + +When Gluck found that Schwartz did not come back, he was very sorry, +and did not know what to do. He had no money, and was obliged to go +and hire himself again to the goldsmith, who worked him very hard, and +gave him very little money. So, after a month or two Gluck grew tired, +and made up his mind to go and try his fortune with the Golden River. +"The little king looked very kind," thought he. "I don't think he will +turn me into a black stone." So he went to the priest, and the priest +gave him some holy water as soon as he asked for it. Then Gluck took +some bread in his basket, and the bottle of water, and set off very +early for the mountains. + +If the glacier had occasioned a great deal of fatigue to his brothers, +it was twenty times worse for him, who was neither so strong nor so +practised on the mountains. He had several very bad falls, lost his +basket and bread, and was very much frightened at the strange noises +under the ice. He lay a long time to rest on the grass, after he had +got over, and began to climb the hill just in the hottest part of the +day. When he had climbed for an hour, he got dreadfully thirsty, and +was going to drink like his brothers, when he saw an old man coming +down the path above him, looking very feeble, and leaning on a staff. +"My son," said the old man, "I am faint with thirst; give me some of +that water." Then Gluck looked at him, and when he saw that he was +pale and weary, he gave him the water; "Only pray don't drink it all," +said Gluck. But the old man drank a great deal, and gave him back the +bottle two-thirds empty. Then he bade him good speed, and Gluck went +on again merrily. And the path became easier to his feet, and two or +three blades of grass appeared upon it, and some grasshoppers began +singing on the bank beside it; and Gluck thought he had never heard +such merry singing. + +Then he went on for another hour, and the thirst increased on him so +that he thought he should be forced to drink. But, as he raised the +flask, he saw a little child lying panting by the road-side, and it +cried out piteously for water. Then Gluck struggled with himself, and +determined to bear the thirst a little longer; and he put the bottle +to the child's lips, and it drank it all but a few drops. Then it +smiled on him, and got up, and ran down the hill; and Gluck looked +after it, till it became as small as a little star, and then turned +and began climbing again. And then there were all kinds of sweet +flowers growing on the rocks, bright green moss, with pale pink starry +flowers, and soft belled gentians, more blue than the sky at its +deepest, and pure white transparent lilies. And crimson and purple +butterflies darted hither and thither, and the sky sent down such pure +light, that Gluck had never felt so happy in his life. + +Yet, when he had climbed for another hour, his thirst became +intolerable again; and, when he looked at his bottle, he saw that +there were only five or six drops left in it, and he could not venture +to drink. And, as he was hanging the flask to his belt again, he saw a +little dog lying on the rocks, gasping for breath--just as Hans had +seen it on the day of his ascent. And Gluck stopped and looked at it, +and then at the Golden River, not five hundred yards above him; and he +thought of the dwarf's words, "that no one could succeed, except in +his first attempt;" and he tried to pass the dog, but it whined +piteously, and Gluck stopped again. "Poor beastie," said Gluck, "it'll +be dead when I come down again, if I don't help it." Then he looked +closer and closer at it, and its eye turned on him so mournfully, that +he could not stand it. "Confound the king and his gold too," said +Gluck; and he opened the flask, and poured all the water into the +dog's mouth. + +The dog sprang up and stood on its hind legs. Its tail disappeared, +its ears became long, longer, silky, golden; its nose became very red, +its eyes became very twinkling; in three seconds the dog was gone, and +before Gluck stood his old acquaintance, the King of the Golden River. + +"Thank you," said the monarch; "but don't be frightened, it's all +right;" for Gluck showed manifest symptoms of consternation at this +unlooked-for reply to his last observation. "Why didn't you come +before," continued the dwarf, "instead of sending me those rascally +brothers of yours, for me to have the trouble of turning into stones? +Very hard stones they make too." + +"Oh dear me!" said Gluck, "have you really been so cruel?" + +"Cruel!" said the dwarf, "they poured unholy water into my stream; do +you suppose I'm going to allow that?" + +"Why," said Gluck, "I am sure, sir--your majesty, I mean--they got the +water out of the church font." + +"Very probably," replied the dwarf; "but," and his countenance grew +stern as he spoke, "the water which has been refused to the cry of the +weary and dying, is unholy, though it had been blessed by every saint +in heaven; and the water which is found in the vessel of mercy is +holy, though it had been defiled with corpses." + +So saying, the dwarf stooped and plucked a lily that grew at his feet. +On its white leaves there hung three drops of clear dew. And the dwarf +shook them into the flask which Gluck held in his hand. "Cast these +into the river," he said, "and descend on the other side of the +mountains into the Treasure Valley. And so good speed." + +As he spoke, the figure of the dwarf became indistinct. The playing +colours of his robe formed themselves into a prismatic mist of dewy +light: he stood for an instant veiled with them as with the belt of a +broad rainbow. The colours grew faint, the mist rose into the air; the +monarch had evaporated. + +And Gluck climbed to the brink of the Golden River, and its waves were +as clear as crystal, and as brilliant as the sun. And, when he cast +the three drops of dew into the stream, there opened where they fell, +a small circular whirlpool, into which the waters descended with a +musical noise. + +Gluck stood watching it for some time, very much disappointed, because +not only the river was not turned into gold, but its waters seemed +much diminished in quantity. Yet he obeyed his friend the dwarf, and +descended the other side of the mountains, towards the Treasure +Valley; and, as he went, he thought he heard the noise of water +working its way under the ground. And, when he came in sight of the +Treasure Valley, behold, a river, like the Golden River, was springing +from a new cleft of the rocks above it, and was flowing in innumerable +streams among the dry heaps of red sand. + +And as Gluck gazed, fresh grass sprang beside the new streams, and +creeping plants grew, and climbed among the moistening soil. Young +flowers opened suddenly along the river sides, as stars leap out when +twilight is deepening, and thickets of myrtle, and tendrils of vine, +cast lengthening shadows over the valley as they grew. And thus the +Treasure Valley became a garden again, and the inheritance, which had +been lost by cruelty, was regained by love. + +And Gluck went, and dwelt in the valley, and the poor were never +driven from his door: so that his barns became full of corn, and his +house of treasure. And, for him, the river had, according to the +dwarf's promise, become a River of Gold. + +And, to this day, the inhabitants of the valley point out the place +where the three drops of holy dew were cast into the stream, and trace +the course of the Golden River under the ground, until it emerges in +the Treasure Valley. And at the top of the cataract of the Golden +River, are still to be seen TWO BLACK STONES, round which the waters +howl mournfully every day at sunset; and these stones are still called +by the people of the valley + + THE BLACK BROTHERS + + + + +THE TWO GIFTS + +By Lillian M. Gask + + +A heavy snow-storm was raging, and great soft flakes fell through the +air like feathers shaken from the wings of an innumerable host of +angels. By the side of the roadway sat a poor old woman, her scanty +clothing affording but poor protection from the icy blast of the wind. +She was very hungry, for she had tasted no food that day, but her +faded eyes were calm and patient, telling of an unwavering trust in +Providence. Perhaps, she thought, some traveller might come that way +who would take compassion on her, and give her alms; then she could +return to the garret that she called "home," with bread to eat, and +fuel to kindle a fire. + +The day drew in, and still she sat and waited. At last a traveller +approached. The thick snow muffled every sound, and she was not aware +of his coming until his burly figure loomed before her. Her plaintive +voice made him turn with a start. + +"Poor woman," he cried, pausing to look at her very pityingly. "It is +hard for you to be out in such weather as this." Then he passed on, +without giving her anything; his conscience told him that he ought to +have relieved her, but he did not feel inclined to take off his thick +glove in that bitter cold, and without doing this he could not have +found a coin. + +The poor woman was naturally disappointed, but she was grateful for +his kind words. By-and-by another traveller appeared. This one was +driving in a splendid carriage, warmly wrapped in a great fur cloak. +As he caught sight of the poor creature by the roadside, he felt +vaguely touched by the contrast of his own comfort with her misery. +Obeying a sudden impulse, with one hand he let down the carriage +window and signed to his coachman to stop, and with the other felt in +his pocket. The poor old woman hurried up to the carriage, a thrill of +hope bringing a tinge of colour to her pale and withered cheeks. + +"How terribly cold it is!" exclaimed the rich man, and as he took his +hand from his pocket, and held out a coin to her, he noticed that +instead of silver he was about to give her a piece of gold. + +"Dear me! That is far too much," he cried, but before he could return +it to his pocket, the coin slipped through his fingers, and fell in +the snow. A rough blast of wind made his teeth chatter, and pulling up +the window in a great hurry, with a little shiver he drew the fur rug +closely round him. + +"It certainly was too much," he murmured philosophically, as the +carriage rolled on, "but then I am very rich, and can afford to do a +generous action now and then." + +When his comfortable dinner was over, and he was sitting in front of a +blazing fire, he thought once more of the poor old woman. + +"It is not nearly so cold as I thought," he remarked as he settled +himself more comfortably in his deep arm-chair. "I certainly gave that +old creature too much. However, what's done, is done, and I hope she +will make good use of it. I was generous, very generous indeed, and no +doubt God will reward me." + +Meanwhile the other traveller had also reached his journey's end; and +he too had found a blazing fire and good dinner awaiting him. He could +not enjoy it, however, for he was haunted by the remembrance of that +bent and shrunken figure in the waste of snow, and felt very +remorseful for not having stopped to help her. At last he could bear +it no longer. + +"Bring another plate," he said, calling the servant to him. "There +will be two to dine instead of one. I shall be back soon." + +Saying this, he hurried through the darkness to the spot where he had +left the old woman; she was still there, feebly searching amongst the +snow. + +"What are you looking for?" he asked. + +"I am trying to find a piece of money, which a gentleman threw me from +his carriage window," she told him falteringly, scarcely able to speak +from cold and hunger. It was no wonder, he thought, that she had not +found it, for her hands were numbed and half frozen, and she was not +only old, but nearly blind. + +"I am afraid you will never find it now," he said. "But come with me," +he added consolingly, "I will take you to my inn, where there is a +bright fire and a good dinner waiting for both of us. You shall be my +guest, and I will see that you have a comfortable night's lodging." + +The poor old woman could scarcely believe her good fortune, as she +tremblingly prepared to follow her new friend. Noticing that she was +lame as well as nearly blind, he took her arm, and with slow and +patient steps led her to the hotel. + +When the recording angel wrote that night in the Book of Heaven, he +made no mention of the piece of gold which the wealthy traveller had +given by mistake, for only a worthy motive gains credit in that Book; +but amidst the good deeds that had been wrought that day, he gave a +foremost place to that of the man who had repented of his hardness, +and faced once more the bitter cold that he might share his comforts +with a fellow-creature so much less fortunate than himself. + + + + +THE BAR OF GOLD + +By Lillian M. Gask + + +Long years ago there lived a poor labouring man who never knew what it +was to sleep in peace. Whether the times were good or bad, he was +haunted by fears for the morrow, and this constant worrying caused him +to look so thin and worn that the neighbouring farmers hesitated to +give him work. He was steady and frugal, and had never been known to +waste his time in the village inn, or indulge in foolish pleasures--in +fact, a worthier man could not be found, and his friends agreed in +saying that he certainly deserved success, though this never came his +way. + +One day as he sat by the roadside with his head on his hands, a kindly +and charitable doctor from the town close by stopped his carriage to +ask him what was the matter. + +"You seem in trouble, my good man," he said. "Tell me what I can do to +help you." + +Encouraged by the sympathy in his voice, "Weeping John," as he was +called, poured out his woes, to which the doctor listened with much +attention. + +"If I should fall sick," the poor man finished by saying, "what would +happen to my little children, and the wife whom I love more dearly +than life itself? They would surely starve, for even as it is they +often go hungry to bed. Surely a more unfortunate man has never been +born--I toil early and late, and this is my reward." And once more he +buried his face in his hands, while bitter sobs shook his ill-clad +shoulders. + +"Come, come!" said the doctor briskly. "Get up at once, man, and I +will do my best for you. I can see that if you do not kill worry, +worry will kill you." Helping the poor fellow into his carriage, he +told the coachman to drive straight home, and when they arrived at his +comfortable mansion, he led him into his surgery. + +"See here," he cried, pointing to a shining bar in a glass case, "that +bar of gold was bequeathed to me by my father, who was once as poor as +you are now. By means of the strictest economy, and hard work, he +managed to save sufficient money to purchase this safeguard against +want. When it came to me, I, too, was poor, but by following his +example, and keeping a brave heart, in cloud and storm as well as +sunshine, I have now amassed a fortune that is more than sufficient +for my needs. Therefore, I will now hand over to you the bar of gold, +since I no longer require it. Its possession will give you confidence +for the future. Do not break into it if you can avoid it, and remember +that sighing and weeping should be left to weak women and girls." + +The labourer thanked him with much fervour, and hiding the bar of gold +beneath his coat, sped joyfully homeward. + +As he and his wife sat over the fire, which they were now no longer +afraid to replenish, he told her all that the good doctor had said, +and they agreed that unless the worst came to the worst, they would +never touch that bar of gold. + +"The knowledge that we have it, safely hidden in the cellar," said his +wife, "will keep from us all anxiety. And now, John, you must do your +best to make a fortune, so that we may be able to hand it on to our +dear children." + +From that day John was a changed man. He sang and whistled merrily as +he went about his work, and bore himself like a prosperous citizen. +His cheeks filled out, and his eye grew bright; no longer did he waste +his leisure in lamentations, but dug and planted his little garden +until it yielded him richly of the fruits of the earth, and the +proceeds helped to swell the silver coins in his good wife's stocking. +The farmer who had before employed him when short of hands, was so +impressed with his altered looks that he took him permanently into his +service, and with regular food and sufficient clothing John's delicate +children grew strong and hardy. + +"That bar of gold has brought us luck," he would sometimes say +blithely to his wife, who held her tongue like a wise woman, although +she was tempted to remind him that the "luck" had come since he had +given up weeping and lamentations concerning the future. + +One summer's evening, long afterwards, as they sat in the wide porch, +while their grandchildren played in the meadow beyond, and the lowing +of the cows on their peaceful farm mingled with the little people's +merry shouts, a stranger came up the pathway and begged for alms. +Though torn and tattered, and gaunt with hunger, he had an air of +gentleness and refinement, and, full of compassion, the worthy couple +invited him in to rest. They set before him the best they had, and +when he tried to express his gratitude, John laid his hand on his +shoulder. + +"My friend," he said, "Providence has been good to us, and blessed the +labour of our hands. In times gone by, however, I was as wretched as +you appeared to be when you crossed the road, and it is owing to a +stranger's kindness that I am in my present position." He went on to +tell him of the bar of gold, and, after a long look at his wife, who +nodded her head as if well pleased, he went and fetched it from the +cellar, where it had lain hidden all these years. + +"There!" he exclaimed. "I am going to give it to you. I shall not want +it now, and my children are all well settled. It is fitting that you +should have it, since your need is very great." + +Now the stranger understood the science of metals, for he was a +learned man who had fallen on evil times. As he took the gleaming bar +in his hands, while murmuring his astonished thanks, he knew by its +weight that it was not gold. + +"You have made a mistake, my friends," he cried. "This bar is not what +you think it, though I own that most men would be deceived." + +Greatly surprised, the old woman took it from him, and polished it +with her apron in order to show him how brightly it gleamed. As she +did so, an inscription appeared, which neither she nor her husband had +noticed before. Both listened with great interest as the stranger read +it out for them. + +"It is less a matter of actual want," it ran, "than the fear of what +the morrow will bring, which causes the unhappiness of the poor. Then +tread the path of life with courage, for it is clear that at last you +will reach the end of your journey." + +When the stranger paused there was a dead silence, for the old man and +woman were thinking many things, and words do not come quickly when +one is deeply moved. At last John offered the stranger a tremulous +apology for the disappointment he must now be suffering through their +innocent mistake. + +"On the contrary," he replied warmly, "the lesson that bar has taught +me is worth far more than any money that you could give me. I shall +make a new start in life, and, remembering that we fail through fear, +will henceforth bear myself as a brave man should." + +So saying, he bade them adieu, and passed out into the fragrant +twilight. + + + + +UNCLE DAVID'S NONSENSICAL STORY + +By Catherine Sinclair + + +In the days of yore children were not all such clever, good, sensible +people as they are now. Lessons were then considered rather a plague, +sugar-plums were still in demand, holidays continued yet in fashion, +and toys were not then made to teach mathematics, nor story-books to +give instruction in chemistry and navigation. These were very strange +times, and there existed at that period a very idle, greedy, naughty +boy, such as we never hear of in the present day. His father and +mother were--no matter who, and he lived--no matter where. His name +was Master No-book, and he seemed to think his eyes were made for +nothing but to stare out of the windows, and his mouth for no other +purpose but to eat. This young gentleman hated lessons like mustard, +both of which brought tears into his eyes, and during school hours he +sat gazing at his books, pretending to be busy, while his mind +wandered away to wish impatiently for dinner, and to consider where he +could get the nicest pies, pastry, ices, and jellies, while he smacked +his lips at the very thoughts of them. + +Whenever Master No-book spoke it was always to ask for something, and +you might continually hear him say in a whining tone of voice: +"Father, may I take this piece of cake?" "Aunt Sarah, will you give me +an apple?" "Mother, do send me the whole of that plum-pudding." +Indeed, very frequently, when he did not get permission to gormandize, +this naughty glutton helped himself without leave. Even his dreams +were like his waking hours, for he had often a horrible nightmare +about lessons, thinking he was smothered with Greek lexicons or pelted +out of the school with a shower of English grammars, while one night +he fancied himself sitting down to devour an enormous plum-cake, and +all on a sudden it became transformed into a Latin dictionary. + +One afternoon Master No-book, having played truant all day from +school, was lolling on his mother's best sofa in the drawing-room with +his leather boots tucked up on the satin cushions, and nothing to do +but to suck a few oranges, and nothing to think of but how much sugar +to put upon them, when suddenly an event took place which filled him +with astonishment. + +A sound of soft music stole into the room, becoming louder and louder +the longer he listened, till at length, in a few moments afterwards, a +large hole burst open in the wall of his room, and there stepped into +his presence two magnificent fairies, just arrived from their castles +in the air, to pay him a visit. They had travelled all the way on +purpose to have some conversation with Master No-book, and immediately +introduced themselves in a very ceremonious manner. + +The fairy Do-nothing was gorgeously dressed with a wreath of flaming +gas round her head, a robe of gold tissue, a necklace of rubies, and +a bouquet in her hand of glittering diamonds. Her cheeks were rouged +to the very eyes, her teeth were set in gold, and her hair was of a +most brilliant purple; in short, so fine and fashionable-looking a +fairy was never seen in a drawing-room before. The fairy Teach-all, +who followed next, was simply dressed in white muslin, with bunches of +natural flowers in her light-brown hair, and she carried in her hand a +few neat small volumes, which Master No-book looked at with a shudder +of aversion. + +The two fairies now informed him that they very often invited large +parties of children to spend some time at their palaces, but as they +lived in quite an opposite direction, it was necessary for their young +guests to choose which it would be best to visit first; therefore they +had now come to inquire of Master No-book whom he thought it would be +most agreeable to accompany on the present occasion. + +"In my house," said the fairy Teach-all, speaking with a very sweet +smile and a soft, pleasing voice, "you shall be taught to find +pleasure in every sort of exertion, for I delight in activity and +diligence. My young friends rise at seven every morning, and amuse +themselves with working in a beautiful garden of flowers, rearing +whatever fruit they wish to eat, visiting among the poor, associating +pleasantly together, studying the arts and sciences, and learning to +know the world in which they live, and to fulfil the purposes for +which they have been brought into it. In short, all our amusements +tend to some useful object, either for our own improvement or the good +of others, and you will grow wiser, better, and happier every day you +remain in the palace of Knowledge." + +"But in Castle Needless, where I live," interrupted the fairy +Do-nothing, rudely pushing her companion aside with an angry, +contemptuous look, "we never think of exerting ourselves for anything. +You may put your head in your pocket and your hands in your sides as +long as you choose to stay. No one is ever even asked a question, that +he may be spared the trouble of answering. We lead the most +fashionable life imaginable, for nobody speaks to anybody. Each of my +visitors is quite an exclusive, and sits with his back to as many of +the company as possible, in the most comfortable arm-chair that can be +contrived. There, if you are only so good as to take the trouble of +wishing for anything, it is yours without even turning an eye round to +look where it comes from. Dresses are provided of the most magnificent +kind, which go on themselves, without your having the smallest +annoyance with either buttons or strings; games which you can play +without an effort of thought; and dishes dressed by a French cook, +smoking hot under your nose, from morning till night; while any rain +we have is either made of lemonade or lavender-water, and in winter it +generally snows iced punch for an hour during the forenoon." + +Nobody need be told which fairy Master No-book preferred, and quite +charmed at his own good fortune in receiving so agreeable an +invitation, he eagerly gave his hand to the splendid new acquaintance +who promised him so much pleasure and ease, and gladly proceeded in a +carriage lined with velvet, stuffed with downy pillows, and drawn by +milk-white swans, to that magnificent residence, Castle Needless, +which was lighted by a thousand windows during the day, and by a +million of lamps every night. + +Here Master No-book enjoyed a constant holiday and a constant feast, +while a beautiful lady covered with jewels was ready to tell him +stories from morning till night, and servants waited to pick up his +playthings if they fell, or to draw out his purse or his +pocket-handkerchief when he wished to use them. + +Thus Master No-book lay dozing for hours and days on rich embroidered +cushions, never stirring from his place, but admiring the view of +trees covered with the richest burnt almonds, grottoes of sugar-candy, +a _jet d'eau_ of champagne, a wide sea which tasted of sugar instead +of salt, and a bright, clear pond, filled with gold fish that let +themselves be caught whenever he pleased. Nothing could be more +complete, and yet, very strange to say, Master No-book did not seem +particularly happy. This appears exceedingly unreasonable, when so +much trouble was taken to please him; but the truth is that every day +he became more fretful and peevish. No sweetmeats were worth the +trouble of eating, nothing was pleasant to play at, and in the end he +wished it were possible to sleep all day, as well as all night. + +Not a hundred miles from the fairy Do-nothing's palace there lived a +most cruel monster called the giant Snap-'em-up, who looked, when he +stood up, like the tall steeple of a great church, raising his head so +high that he could peep over the loftiest mountains, and was obliged +to climb up a ladder to comb his own hair. + +Every morning regularly this prodigiously great giant walked round the +world before breakfast for an appetite, after which he made tea in a +large lake, used the sea as a slop-basin, and boiled his kettle on +Mount Vesuvius. He lived in great style, and his dinners were most +magnificent, consisting very often of an elephant roasted whole, +ostrich patties, a tiger smothered in onions, stewed lions, and whale +soup; but for a side-dish his greatest favourite consisted of little +boys, as fat as possible, fried in crumbs of bread, with plenty of +pepper and salt. + +No children were so well fed or in such good condition for eating as +those in the fairy Do-nothing's garden, who was a very particular +friend of the giant Snap-'em-up, and who sometimes laughingly said +she would give him a license, and call her own garden his "preserve," +because she always allowed him to help himself, whenever he pleased, +to as many of her visitors as he chose, without taking the trouble +even to count them; and in return for such extreme civility, the giant +very frequently invited her to dinner. + +Snap-'em-up's favourite sport was to see how many brace of little boys +he could bag in a morning; so, in passing along the streets, he peeped +into all the drawing-rooms, without having occasion to get upon +tiptoe, and picked up every young gentleman who was idly looking out +of the windows, and even a few occasionally who were playing truant +from school; but busy children seemed always somehow quite out of his +reach. + +One day, when Master No-book felt even more lazy, more idle, and more +miserable than ever, he lay beside a perfect mountain of toys and +cakes, wondering what to wish for next, and hating the very sight of +everything and everybody. At last he gave so loud a yawn of weariness +and disgust that his jaw very nearly fell out of joint, and then he +sighed so deeply that the giant Snap-'em-up heard the sound as he +passed along the road after breakfast, and instantly stepped into the +garden, with his glass at his eye, to see what was the matter. +Immediately, on observing a large, fat, overgrown boy, as round as a +dumpling, lying on a bed of roses, he gave a cry of delight, followed +by a gigantic peal of laughter, which was heard three miles off, and +picking up Master No-book between his finger and thumb, with a pinch +that very nearly broke his ribs, he carried him rapidly towards his +own castle, while the fairy Do-nothing laughingly shook her head as he +passed, saying: + +"That little man does me a great credit. He has only been fed for a +week, and is as fat already as a prize ox. What a dainty morsel he +will be! When do you dine to-day, in case I should have time to look +in upon you?" + +On reaching home the giant immediately hung up Master No-book by the +hair of his head, on a prodigious hook in the larder, having first +taken some large lumps of nasty suet, forcing them down his throat to +make him become still fatter, and then stirring the fire, that he +might be almost melted with heat, to make his liver grow larger. On a +shelf quite near Master No-book perceived the bodies of six other +boys, whom he remembered to have seen fattening in the fairy +Do-nothing's garden, while he recollected how some of them had +rejoiced at the thoughts of leading a long, useless, idle life, with +no one to please but themselves. + +The enormous cook now seized hold of Master No-book, brandishing her +knife with an aspect of horrible determination, intending to kill him, +while he took the trouble of screaming and kicking in the most +desperate manner, when the giant turned gravely round, and said that, +as pigs were considered a much greater dainty when whipped to death +than killed in any other way, he meant to see whether children might +not be improved by it also; therefore she might leave that great hog +of a boy till he had time to try the experiment, especially as his own +appetite would be improved by the exercise. This was a dreadful +prospect for the unhappy prisoner, but meantime it prolonged his life +a few hours, as he was immediately hung up in the larder and left to +himself. There, in torture of mind and body, like a fish upon a hook, +the wretched boy began at last to reflect seriously upon his former +ways, and to consider what a happy home he might have had, if he could +only have been satisfied with business and pleasure succeeding each +other, like day and night, while lessons might have come in as a +pleasant sauce to his play-hours, and his play-hours as a sauce to his +lessons. + +In the midst of many reflections, which were all very sensible, though +rather too late, Master No-book's attention became attracted by the +sound of many voices laughing, talking, and singing, which caused him +to turn his eyes in a new direction, when, for the first time, he +observed that the fairy Teach-all's garden lay upon a beautiful +sloping bank not far off. There a crowd of merry, noisy, rosy-cheeked +boys were busily employed, and seemed happier than the day was long, +while poor Master No-book watched them during his own miserable hours, +envying the enjoyment with which they raked the flower-borders, +gathered the fruit, carried baskets of vegetables to the poor, worked +with carpenter's tools, drew pictures, shot with bows-and-arrows, +played at cricket, and then sat in the sunny arbours learning their +tasks, or talking agreeably together, till at length, a dinner-bell +having been rung, the whole party sat merrily down with hearty +appetites and cheerful good-humour, to an entertainment of plain roast +meat and pudding, where the fairy Teach-all presided herself, and +helped her guests moderately to as much as was good for each. + +Large tears rolled down the cheeks of Master No-book while watching +this scene, and remembering that if he had known what was best for +him, he might have been as happy as the happiest of these excellent +boys, instead of suffering ennui and weariness, as he had done at the +fairy Do-nothing's, ending in a miserable death. But his attention was +soon after most alarmingly roused by hearing the giant Snap-'em-up +again in conversation with his cook, who said that, if he wished for +a good large dish of scalloped children at dinner, it would be +necessary to catch a few more, as those he had already provided would +scarcely be a mouthful. + +As the giant kept very fashionable hours, and always waited dinner for +himself till nine o'clock, there was still plenty of time; so, with a +loud grumble about the trouble, he seized a large basket in his hand, +and set off at a rapid pace towards the fairy Teach-all's garden. It +was very seldom that Snap-'em-up ventured to think of foraging in this +direction, as he never once succeeded in carrying off a single captive +from the enclosure, it was so well fortified and so bravely defended; +but on this occasion, being desperately hungry, he felt as bold as a +lion, and walked, with outstretched hands, straight towards the fairy +Teach-all's dinner-table, taking such prodigious strides that he +seemed almost as if he would trample on himself. + +A cry of consternation arose the instant this tremendous giant +appeared, and, as usual on such occasions, when he had made the same +attempt before, a dreadful battle took place. Fifty active little boys +bravely flew upon the enemy, armed with their dinner-knives, and +looked like a nest of hornets, stinging him in every direction, till +he roared with pain, and would have run away; but the fairy Teach-all, +seeing his intention, rushed forward with the carving-knife, and +brandishing it high over her head, she most courageously stabbed him +to the heart. + +If a great mountain had fallen to the earth it would have seemed like +nothing in comparison with the giant Snap-'em-up, who crushed two or +three houses to powder beneath him, and upset several fine monuments +that were to have made people remembered for ever. But all this would +have seemed scarcely worth mentioning had it not been for a still +greater event which occurred on the occasion, no less than the death +of the fairy Do-nothing, who had been indolently looking on at this +great battle without taking the trouble to interfere, or even to care +who was victorious; but being also lazy about running away, when the +giant fell, his sword came with so violent a stroke on her head that +she instantly expired. + +Thus, luckily for the whole world, the fairy Teach-all got possession +of immense property, which she proceeded without delay to make the +best use of in her power. + +In the first place, however, she lost no time in liberating Master +No-book from his hook in the larder, and gave him a lecture on +activity, moderation, and good conduct, which he never afterwards +forgot; and it was astonishing to see the change that took place +immediately in his whole thoughts and actions. From this very hour +Master No-book became the most diligent, active, happy boy in the +fairy Teach-all's garden; and on returning home a month afterwards, he +astonished all the masters at school by his extraordinary reformation. +The most difficult lessons were a pleasure to him, he scarcely ever +stirred without a book in his hand, never lay on a sofa again, would +scarcely even sit on a chair with a back to it, but preferred a +three-legged stool, detested holidays, never thought any exertion a +trouble, preferred climbing over the top of a hill to creeping round +the bottom, always ate the plainest food in very small quantities, +joined a temperance society, and never tasted a morsel till he had +worked very hard and got an appetite. + +Not long after this an old uncle, who had formerly been ashamed of +Master No-book's indolence and gluttony, became so pleased at the +wonderful change that on his death he left him a magnificent estate, +desiring that he should take his name; therefore, instead of being any +longer one of the No-book family, he is now called Sir Timothy +Blue-stocking, a pattern to the whole country around for the good he +does to everyone, and especially for his extraordinary activity, +appearing as if he could do twenty things at once. Though generally +very good-natured and agreeable, Sir Timothy is occasionally observed +in a violent passion, laying about him with his walking-stick in the +most terrific manner, and beating little boys within an inch of their +lives; but on inquiry it invariably appears that he has found them out +to be lazy, idle, or greedy; for all the industrious boys in the +parish are sent to get employment from him, while he assures them that +they are far happier breaking stones on the road than if they were +sitting idly in a drawing-room with nothing to do. + + + + +THE GRAND FEAST + +By Catherine Sinclair + + +Lady Harriet Graham was an extremely thin, delicate, old lady, with a +very pale face and a sweet, gentle voice, which the children delighted +to hear; for it always spoke kindly to them, and sounded like music, +after the loud, rough tones of Mrs. Crabtree. She wore her own gray +hair, which had become almost as white as the widow's cap which +covered her head. The rest of her dress was generally black velvet, +and she usually sat in a comfortable arm-chair by the fireside, +watching her grandchildren at play, with a large work-bag by her side, +and a prodigious Bible open on the table before her. Lady Harriet +often said that it made her young again to see the joyous gambols of +Harry and Laura; and when unable any longer to bear their noise, she +sometimes kept them quiet by telling them the most delightful stories +about what happened to herself when she was young. + +Once upon a time, however, Lady Harriet suddenly became so very ill, +that Dr. Bell said she must spend a few days in the country, for +change of air, and accordingly she determined on passing a quiet week +at Holiday House with her relations, Lord and Lady Rockville. +Meanwhile, Harry and Laura were to be left under the sole care of Mrs. +Crabtree, so it might have been expected that they would both feel +more frightened of her, now that she was reigning monarch of the +house, than ever. Harry would obey those he loved, if they only held +up a little finger; but all the terrors of Mrs. Crabtree, and her +cat-o'-nine-tails, were generally forgotten soon after she left the +room; therefore he thought little at first about the many threats she +held out, if he behaved ill, but he listened most seriously when his +dear, sick grandmamma told him, in a faint, weak voice, on the day of +her departure from home, how very well he ought to behave in her +absence, as no one remained but the maids to keep him in order, and +that she hoped Mrs. Crabtree would write her a letter full of good +news about his excellent conduct. + +Harry felt as if he would gladly sit still without stirring till his +grandmamma came back, if that could only please her; and there never +was any one more determined to be a good boy than he, at the moment +when Lady Harriet's carriage came round to the door. Laura, Frank, and +Harry helped to carry all the pillows, boxes, books, and baskets which +were necessary for the journey, of which there seemed to be about +fifty; then they arranged the cushions as comfortably as possible, and +watched very sorrowfully when their grandmamma, after kindly embracing +them both, was carefully supported by Major Graham and her own maid +Harrison into the chariot. Uncle David gave each of the children a +pretty picture-book before taking leave, and said, as he was stepping +into the carriage, "Now, children, I have only one piece of serious, +important advice to give you all, so attend to me! Never crack nuts +with your teeth." + +When the carriage had driven off, Mrs. Crabtree became so busy +scolding Betty, and storming at Jack the footboy, for not cleaning her +shoes well enough, that she left Harry and Laura standing in the +passage, not knowing exactly what they ought to do first, and Frank, +seeing them looking rather melancholy and bewildered at the loss of +their grandmamma, stopped a moment as he passed on the way to school, +and said in a very kind, affectionate voice: + +"Now, Harry and Laura, listen both of you--here is a grand opportunity +to show everybody that we can be trusted to ourselves, without getting +into any scrapes, so that if grandmamma is ever ill again and obliged +to go away, she need not feel so sad and anxious as she did to-day. I +mean to become nine times more attentive to my lessons than usual this +morning, to show how trustworthy we are, and if you are wise, pray +march straight up to the nursery yourselves. I have arranged a gown +and cap of Mrs. Crabtree's on the large arm-chair, to look as like +herself as possible, that you may be reminded how soon she will come +back, and you must not behave like the mice when the cat is out. +Good-bye! Say the alphabet backwards, and count your fingers for half +an hour; but when Mrs. Crabtree appears again, pray do not jump out of +the window for joy." + +Harry and Laura were proceeding directly towards the nursery, as Frank +had recommended, when unluckily they observed, in passing the +drawing-room door, that it was wide open; so Harry peeped in, and they +began idly wandering round the tables and cabinets. Not ten minutes +elapsed before they both commenced racing about as if they were mad, +perfectly screaming with joy, and laughing so loudly at their own +funny tricks that an old gentleman who lived next door very nearly +sent in a message to ask what the joke was. + +Presently Harry and Laura ran up and down stairs till the housemaid +was quite fatigued with running after them. They jumped upon the fine +damask sofas in the drawing-room, stirred the fire till it was in a +blaze, and rushed out on the balcony upsetting one or two geraniums +and a myrtle. They spilt Lady Harriet's perfumes over their +handkerchiefs,--they looked into all the beautiful books of +pictures,--they tumbled many of the pretty Dresden china figures on +the floor,--they wound up the little French clock till it was +broken,--they made the musical work-box play its tunes, and set the +Chinese mandarins a-nodding, till they very nearly nodded their heads +off. In short, so much mischief has seldom been done in so short a +time, till at last Harry, perfectly worn out with laughing and +running, threw himself into a large arm-chair, and Laura, with her +ringlets tumbling in frightful confusion over her face, and the beads +of her coral necklace rolling on the floor, tossed herself into a sofa +beside him. + +"Oh what fun!" cried Harry, in an ecstasy of delight. "I wish Frank +had been here, and crowds of little boys and girls, to play with us +all day! It would be a good joke, Laura, to write and ask all our +little cousins and companions to drink tea here to-morrow evening! +Their mammas could never guess we had not leave from grandmamma to +invite everybody, so I daresay we might gather quite a large party! +Oh how enchanting!" + +Laura laughed heartily when she heard this proposal of Harry's; and +without hesitating a moment about it, she joyously placed herself +before Lady Harriet's writing-table, and scribbled a multitude of +little notes, in large text, to more than twenty young friends, all of +whom had at other times been asked by Lady Harriet to spend the +evening with her. + +Laura felt very much puzzled to know what was usually said in a card +of invitation; but after many consultations, she and Harry thought at +last that it was very nicely expressed, for they wrote these words +upon a large sheet of paper to each of their friends: + + +"Master Harry Graham and Miss Laura wish you to have the honor of +drinking tea with us to-morrow at six o'clock. + (Signed) HARRY and LAURA." + +Laura afterwards singed a hole in her muslin frock while lighting one +of the vesta matches to seal these numerous notes, and Harry dropped +some burning sealing-wax on his hand in the hurry of assisting her; +but he thought that little accident no matter, and ran away to see if +the cards could be sent off immediately. + +Now there lived in the house a very old footman, called Andrew, who +remembered Harry and Laura since they were quite little babies; and he +often looked exceedingly sad and sorry when they suffered punishment +from Mrs. Crabtree. He was ready to do anything in the world when it +pleased the children, and would have carried a message to the moon, if +they had only shown him the way. Many odd jobs and private messages he +had already been employed in by Harry, who now called Andrew upstairs, +entreating him to carry out all those absurd notes as fast as +possible, and to deliver them immediately, as they were of the +greatest consequence. Upon hearing this, old Andrew lost not a moment, +but threw on his hat, and instantly started off, looking like the +twopenny postman, he carried such a prodigious parcel of invitations; +while Harry and Laura stood at the drawing-room window, almost +screaming with joy when they saw him set out, and when they observed +that, to oblige them, he actually ran along the street at a sort of +trot, which was as fast as he could possibly go. Presently, however, +he certainly did stop for a single minute, and Laura saw that it was +in order to take a peep into one of the notes, that he might ascertain +what they were all about; but as he never carried any letters without +doing so, she thought that quite natural, and was only very glad when +he had finished, and rapidly pursued his way again. + +Next morning, Mrs. Crabtree and Betty became very much surprised to +observe what a number of smart livery-servants knocked at the street +door, and gave in cards; but their astonishment became still greater +when old Andrew brought up a whole parcel of them to Harry and Laura, +who immediately broke the seals, and read the contents in a corner +together. + +"What are you about there, Master Graham?" cried Mrs. Crabtree, +angrily. "How dare anybody venture to touch your grandmamma's +letters?" + +"They are not for grandmamma!--they are all for us! every one of +them!" answered Harry, dancing about the room with joy, and waving the +notes over his head! "Look at this direction! For Master and Miss +Graham! put on your spectacles, and read it yourself, Mrs. Crabtree! +What delightful fun! the house will be as full as an egg!" + +Mrs. Crabtree seemed completely puzzled what to think of all this, and +looked so much as if she did not know exactly what to be angry at, and +so ready to be in a passion if possible, that Harry burst out +a-laughing, while he said, "Only think, Mrs. Crabtree! here is +everybody coming to tea with us!--all my cousins, besides Peter Grey, +John Stewart, Charles Forrester, Anna Perceval, Diana Wentworth, John +Fordyce, Edmund Ashford, Frank Abercromby, Ned Russell, and Tom--" + +"The boy is distracted!" exclaimed Betty, staring with astonishment. +"What does all this mean, Master Harry?" + +"And who gave you leave to invite company into your grandmamma's +house?" cried Mrs. Crabtree, snatching up all the notes, and angrily +thrusting them into the fire. "I never heard of such doings in all my +life before, Master Harry! but as sure as eggs are eggs you shall +repent of this, for not one morsel of cake or anything else shall you +have to give any of the party; no, not so much as a crust of bread, or +a thimbleful of tea!" + +Harry and Laura had never thought of such a catastrophe as this +before; they always saw a great table covered with everything that +could be named for tea, whenever their little friends came to visit +them, and whether it rose out of the floor, or was brought by +Aladdin's lamp, they never considered it possible that the table would +not be provided as usual on such occasions; so this terrible speech of +Mrs. Crabtree's frightened them out of their wits. What was to be +done? They both knew by experience that she always did what she +threatened, or something a great deal worse, so they began by bursting +into tears, and begging Mrs. Crabtree for this once to excuse them and +to give some cakes and tea to their little visitors; but they might as +well have spoken to one of the Chinese mandarins, for she only shook +her head with a positive look, declaring over and over again that +nothing should appear upon the table except what was always brought up +for their own supper--two biscuits and two cups of milk. + +"Therefore say no more about it!" added she, sternly. "I am your best +friend, Master Harry, trying to teach you and Miss Laura your duty; so +save your breath to cool your porridge." + +Poor Harry and Laura looked perfectly ill with fright and vexation +when they thought of what was to happen next, while Mrs. Crabtree sat +down to her knitting, grumbling to herself, and dropping her stitches +every minute, with rage and irritation. Old Andrew felt exceedingly +sorry after he heard what distress and difficulty Harry was in; and +when the hour for the party approached, he very good-naturedly spread +out a large table in the dining-room, where he put down as many cups, +saucers, plates, and spoons as Laura chose to direct; but in spite of +all his trouble, though it looked very grand, there was nothing +whatever to eat or drink except the two dry biscuits, and the two +miserable cups of milk, which seemed to become smaller every time that +Harry looked at them. + +Presently the clock struck six, and Harry listened to the hour very +much as a prisoner would do in the condemned cell in Newgate, feeling +that the dreaded time was at last arrived. Soon afterwards several +handsome carriages drove up to the door, filled with little masters +and misses, who hurried joyfully into the house, talking and laughing +all the way upstairs, while poor Harry and Laura almost wished the +floor would open and swallow them up; so they shrunk into a distant +corner of the room, quite ashamed to show their faces. + +The young ladies were all dressed in their best frocks, with pink +sashes and pink shoes; while the little boys appeared in their holiday +clothes, with their hair newly brushed and their faces washed. The +whole party had dined at two o'clock, so they were as hungry as hawks, +looking eagerly round, whenever they entered, to see what was on the +tea-table, and evidently surprised that nothing had yet been put down. +Laura and Harry soon afterwards heard their visitors whispering to +each other about Norwich buns, rice-cakes, sponge-biscuits, and +macaroons; while Peter Grey was loud in praise of a party at George +Lorraine's the night before, where an immense plum-cake had been +sugared over like a snowstorm, and covered with crowds of beautiful +amusing mottoes; not to mention a quantity of noisy crackers that +exploded like pistols; besides which, a glass of hot jelly had been +handed to each little guest before he was sent home. + +Every time the door opened, all eyes were anxiously turned round, +expecting a grand feast to be brought in; but quite the contrary--it +was only Andrew showing up more hungry visitors; while Harry felt so +unspeakably wretched, that, if some kind fairy could only have turned +him into a Norwich bun at the moment, he would gladly have consented +to be cut in pieces, that his ravenous guests might be satisfied. + +Charles Forrester was a particularly good-natured boy, so Harry at +last took courage and beckoned him into a remote corner of the room, +where he confessed, in whispers, the real state of affairs about tea, +and how sadly distressed he and Laura felt, because they had nothing +whatever to give among so many visitors, seeing that Mrs. Crabtree +kept her determination of affording them no provisions. + +"What is to be done?" said Charles, very anxiously, as he felt +extremely sorry for his little friends. "If mamma had been at home, +she would gladly have sent whatever you liked for tea, but unluckily +she is dining out! I saw a loaf of bread lying on a table at home this +evening, which she would make you quite welcome to! Shall I run home, +as fast as possible, to fetch it? That would, at any rate, be better +than nothing!" + +Poor Charles Forrester was very lame; therefore while he talked of +running, he could hardly walk; but Lady Forrester's house stood so +near that he soon reached home, when, snatching up the loaf, he +hurried back towards the street with his prize, quite delighted to see +how large and substantial it looked. Scarcely had he reached the door, +however, before the housekeeper ran hastily out, saying: + +"Stop, Master Charles! stop! sure you are not running away with the +loaf for my tea; and the parrot must have her supper too. What do you +want with that there bread?" + +"Never mind, Mrs. Comfit!" answered Charles, hastening on faster than +ever, while he grasped the precious loaf more firmly in his hand, and +limped along at a prodigious rate: "Polly is getting too fat, so she +will be the better of fasting for one day." + +Mrs. Comfit, being enormously fat herself, became very angry at this +remark, so she seemed quite desperate to recover the loaf, and hurried +forward to overtake Charles; but the old housekeeper was so heavy and +breathless, while the young gentleman was so lame, that it seemed an +even chance which won the race. Harry stood at his own door, +impatiently hoping to receive the prize, and eagerly stretched out his +arms to encourage his friend, while it was impossible to say which of +the runners might arrive first. Harry had sometimes heard of a race +between two old women tied up in sacks, and he thought they could +scarcely move with more difficulty; but at the very moment when +Charles had reached the door, he stumbled over a stone, and fell on +the ground. Mrs. Comfit then instantly rushed up, and, seizing the +loaf, she carried it off in triumph, leaving the two little friends +ready to cry with vexation, and quite at a loss what plan to attempt +next. + +Meantime a sad riot had arisen in the dining-room, where the boys +called loudly for their tea; and the young ladies drew their chairs +all round the table, to wait till it was ready. Still nothing +appeared; so everybody wondered more and more how long they were to +wait for all the nice cakes and sweetmeats which must, of course, be +coming; for the longer they were delayed, the more was expected. + +The last at a feast, and the first at a fray, was generally Peter +Grey, who now lost patience, and seized one of the two biscuits, which +he was in the middle of greedily devouring, when Laura returned with +Harry to the dining-room, and observed what he had done. + +"Peter Grey," said she, holding up her head, and trying to look very +dignified, "you are an exceedingly naughty boy, to help yourself! As a +punishment for being so rude, you shall have nothing more to eat all +this evening." + +"If I do not help myself, nobody else seems likely to give me any +supper! I appear to be the only person who is to taste anything +to-night," answered Peter, laughing; while the impudent boy took a cup +of milk, and drunk it off, saying, "Here's to your very good health, +Miss Laura, and an excellent appetite to everybody!" + +Upon hearing this absurd speech all the other boys began laughing, and +made signs, as if they were eating their fingers off with hunger. Then +Peter called Lady Harriet's house "Famine Castle," and pretended he +would swallow the knives, like an Indian juggler. + +"We must learn to live upon air, and here are some spoons to eat it +with," said John Fordyce. "Harry! shall I help you to a mouthful of +moonshine?" + +"Peter, would you like a roasted fly?" asked Frank Abercromby, +catching one on the window. "I daresay it is excellent for hungry +people,--or a slice of buttered wall?" + +"Or a stewed spider?" asked Peter. "Shall we all be cannibals, and eat +one another?" + +"What is the use of all those forks, when there is nothing to stick +upon them?" asked George Maxwell, throwing them about on the floor. +"No buns!--no fruit!--no cakes?--no nothing!" + +"What are we to do with those tea-cups, when there is no tea?" cried +Frank Abercromby, pulling the table-cloth, till the whole affair fell +prostrate on the floor. After this, these riotous boys tossed the +plates in the air, and caught them, becoming at last so outrageous +that poor old Andrew called them a "meal mob!" Never was there so much +broken china seen in a dining-room before. It all lay scattered on the +floor in countless fragments, looking as if there had been a bull in a +china-shop, when suddenly Mrs. Crabtree herself opened the door and +walked in, with an aspect of rage enough to petrify a milestone. Now +old Andrew had long been trying all in his power to render the boys +quiet and contented. He had made them a speech,--he had chased the +ringleaders all round the room,--and he had thrown his stick at Peter, +who seemed the most riotous,--but all in vain; they became worse and +worse, laughing into fits, and calling Andrew "the police officer and +the bailiff." It was a very different story, however, when Mrs. +Crabtree appeared, so flaming with fury she might have blown up a +powder-mill. + +Nobody could help being afraid of her. Even Peter himself stood stock +still, and seemed withering away to nothing when she looked at him; +and when she began to scold in her most furious manner, not a boy +ventured to look off the ground. A large pair of tawse then became +visible in her hand, so every heart sunk with fright, and the riotous +visitors began to get behind each other, and to huddle out of sight as +much as possible, whispering, and pushing, and fighting, in a +desperate scuffle to escape. + +"What is all this?" cried she at the full pitch of her voice; "has +bedlam broke loose? Who smashed these cups! I'll break his head for +him, let me tell you that! Master Peter, you should be hissed out of +the world for your misconduct; but I shall certainly whip you round +the room like a whipping-top." + +At this moment Peter observed that the dining-room window, which was +only about six feet from the ground, had been left wide open; so +instantly seizing the opportunity, he threw himself out with a single +bound, and ran laughing away. All the other boys immediately followed +his example, and disappeared by the same road; after which, Mrs. +Crabtree leaned far out of the window and scolded loudly, as long as +they remained in sight, till her face became red, and her voice +perfectly hoarse. + +Meantime the little misses sat soberly down before the empty table, +and talked in whispers to each other, waiting, till their maids came +to take them home, after which they all hurried away as fast as +possible, hardly waiting to say "Good-bye!" and intending to ask for +some supper at home. + +During that night, long after Harry and Laura had been scolded, +whipped, and put to bed, they were each heard in different rooms +sobbing and crying as if their very hearts would break, while Mrs. +Crabtree grumbled and scolded to herself, saying she must do her duty, +and make them good children, though she were to flay them alive first. + +When Lady Harriet returned home some days afterwards, she heard an +account of Harry and Laura's misconduct from Mrs. Crabtree, and the +whole story was such a terrible case against them, that their poor +grandmamma became perfectly astonished and shocked, while even Uncle +David was preparing to be very angry; but before the culprits +appeared, Frank most kindly stepped forward, and begged that they +might be pardoned for this once, adding all in his power to excuse +Harry and Laura, by describing how very penitent they had become, and +how very severely they had already been punished. + +Frank then mentioned all that Harry had told him about the starving +party, which he related with so much humor and drollery that Lady +Harriet could not help laughing; so then he saw that a victory had +been gained, and ran to the nursery for the two little prisoners. + +Uncle David shook his walking-stick at them, and made a terrible face, +when they entered; but Harry jumped upon his knee with joy at seeing +him again while Laura forgot all her distress, and rushed up to Lady +Harriet, who folded her in her arms and kissed her most +affectionately. + +Not a word was said that day about the tea-party, but next morning +Major Graham asked Harry very gravely, "if he had read in the +newspaper the melancholy accounts about several of his little +companions, who were ill and confined to bed from having eaten too +much at a certain tea-party on Saturday last. Poor Peter Grey has been +given over; and Charles Forrester, it is feared, may be not able to +eat another loaf of bread for a fortnight!" + +"Oh, Uncle David, it makes me ill whenever I think of that party!" +said Harry, coloring perfectly scarlet; "that was the most miserable +evening of my life!" + +"I must say it was not quite fair in Mrs. Crabtree to starve all the +strange little boys and girls who came as visitors to my house, +without knowing who had invited them," observed Lady Harriet. +"Probably those unlucky children will never forget, as long as they +live, that scanty supper in our dining-room." + +And it turned out exactly as Lady Harriet had predicted; for though +they were all asked to tea, in proper form, the very next Saturday, +when Major Graham showered torrents of sugar-plums on the table, while +the children scrambled to pick them up, and the sideboard almost broke +down afterwards under the weight of buns, cakes, cheese-cakes, +biscuits, fruit, and preserves, which were heaped upon each other--yet, +for years afterwards, Peter Grey, whenever he ate a particularly +enormous dinner, always observed, that he must make up for having once +been starved at Harry Graham's; and whenever any one of those little +boys or girls again happened to meet Harry or Laura, they were sure to +laugh and say, "When are you going to give us another + + GRAND FEAST?" + + + + +THE STORY OF FAIRYFOOT + +By Frances Browne + + +Once upon a time there stood far away in the west country a town +called Stumpinghame. It contained seven windmills, a royal palace, a +market place, and a prison, with every other convenience befitting the +capital of a kingdom. A capital city was Stumpinghame, and its +inhabitants thought it the only one in the world. It stood in the +midst of a great plain, which for three leagues round its walls was +covered with corn, flax, and orchards. Beyond that lay a great circle +of pasture land, seven leagues in breadth, and it was bounded on all +sides by a forest so thick and old, that no man in Stumpinghame knew +its extent. + +Whether it was the nature of the place or the people, I cannot tell, +but great feet had been the fashion there time immemorial, and the +higher the family the larger were they. It was, therefore, the aim of +everybody above the degree of shepherds, and such-like rustics, to +swell out and enlarge their feet by way of gentility; and so +successful were they in these undertakings that, on a pinch, +respectable people's slippers would have served for panniers. + +Stumpinghame had a king of its own, and his name was Stiffstep; his +family was very ancient and large-footed. His subjects called him Lord +of the World, and he made a speech to them every year concerning the +grandeur of his mighty empire. His queen, Hammerheel, was the greatest +beauty in Stumpinghame. Her majesty's shoe was not much less than a +fishing-boat; their six children promised to be quite as handsome, and +all went well till the birth of their seventh son. + +For a long time nobody about the palace could understand what was the +matter--the ladies-in-waiting looked so astonished, and the king so +vexed; but at last it was whispered through the city that the queen's +seventh child had been born with such miserably small feet that they +resembled nothing ever seen or heard of in Stumpinghame, except the +feet of the fairies. + +The chronicles furnished no example of such an affliction ever before +happening in the royal family. + +The common people thought it portended some great calamity to the +city; the learned men began to write books about it; and all the +relations of the king and queen assembled at the palace to mourn with +them over their singular misfortune. The whole court and most of the +citizens helped in this mourning, but when it had lasted seven days +they all found out it was of no use. So the relations went to their +homes, and the people took to their work. If the learned men's books +were written, nobody ever read them; and to cheer up the queen's +spirits, the young prince was sent privately out to the pasture lands, +to be nursed among the shepherds. + +The chief man there was called Fleecefold, and his wife's name was +Rough Ruddy. They lived in a snug cottage with their son Blackthorn +and their daughter Brownberry, and were thought great people, because +they kept the king's sheep. Moreover, Fleecefold's family were known +to be ancient; and Rough Ruddy boasted that she had the largest feet +in all the pastures. The shepherds held them in high respect, and it +grew still higher when the news spread that the king's seventh son had +been sent to their cottage. People came from all quarters to see the +young prince, and great were the lamentations over his misfortune in +having such small feet. + +The king and queen had given him fourteen names, beginning with +Augustus--such being the fashion in that royal family; but the honest +country people could not remember so many; besides, his feet were the +most remarkable thing about the child, so with one accord they called +him Fairyfoot. At first it was feared this might be high treason, but +when no notice was taken by the king or his ministers, the shepherds +concluded it was no harm, and the boy never had another name +throughout the pastures. At court it was not thought polite to speak +of him at all. They did not keep his birthday, and he was never sent +for at Christmas, because the queen and her ladies could not bear the +sight. Once a year the undermost scullion was sent to see how he did, +with a bundle of his next brother's cast-off clothes; and, as the king +grew old and cross, it was said he had thoughts of disowning him. + +So Fairyfoot grew in Fleecefold's cottage. Perhaps the country air +made him fair and rosy--for all agreed that he would have been a +handsome boy but for his small feet, with which nevertheless he +learned to walk, and in time to run and to jump, thereby amazing +everybody, for such doings were not known among the children of +Stumpinghame. The news of court, however, travelled to the shepherds, +and Fairyfoot was despised among them. The old people thought him +unlucky; the children refused to play with him. Fleecefold was ashamed +to have him in his cottage, but he durst not disobey the king's +orders. Moreover, Blackthorn wore most of the clothes brought by the +scullion. At last, Rough Ruddy found out that the sight of such horrid +jumping would make her children vulgar; and, as soon as he was old +enough, she sent Fairyfoot every day to watch some sickly sheep that +grazed on a wild, weedy pasture, hard by the forest. + +Poor Fairyfoot was often lonely and sorrowful; many a time he wished +his feet would grow larger, or that people wouldn't notice them so +much; and all the comfort he had was running and jumping by himself in +the wild pasture, and thinking that none of the shepherds' children +could do the like, for all their pride of their great feet. + +Tired of this sport, he was lying in the shadow of a mossy rock one +warm summer's noon, with the sheep feeding around, when a robin, +pursued by a great hawk, flew into the old velvet cap which lay on the +ground beside him. Fairyfoot covered it up, and the hawk, frightened +by his shout, flew away. + +"Now you may go, poor robin!" he said, opening the cap: but instead of +the bird, out sprang a little man dressed in russet-brown, and looking +as if he were an hundred years old. Fairyfoot could not speak for +astonishment, but the little man said-- + +"Thank you for your shelter, and be sure I will do as much for you. +Call on me if you are ever in trouble; my name is Robin Goodfellow;" +and darting off, he was out of sight in an instant. For days the boy +wondered who that little man could be, but he told nobody, for the +little man's feet were as small as his own, and it was clear he would +be no favourite in Stumpinghame. Fairyfoot kept the story to himself, +and at last midsummer came. That evening was a feast among the +shepherds. There were bonfires on the hills, and fun in the villages. +But Fairyfoot sat alone beside his sheepfold, for the children of his +village had refused to let him dance with them about the bonfire, and +he had gone there to bewail the size of his feet, which came between +him and so many good things. Fairyfoot had never felt so lonely in all +his life, and remembering the little man, he plucked up spirit, and +cried-- + +"Ho! Robin Goodfellow!" + +"Here I am," said a shrill voice at his elbow; and there stood the +little man himself. + +"I am very lonely, and no one will play with me, because my feet are +not large enough," said Fairyfoot. + +"Come then and play with us," said the little man. "We lead the +merriest lives in the world, and care for nobody's feet; but all +companies have their own manners, and there are two things you must +mind among us; first, do as you see the rest doing; and secondly, +never speak of anything you may hear or see, for we and the people of +this country have had no friendship ever since large feet came in +fashion." + +"I will do that, and anything more you like," said Fairyfoot; and the +little man taking his hand, led him over the pasture into the forest, +and along a mossy path among old trees wreathed with ivy (he never +knew how far), till they heard the sound of music, and came upon a +meadow where the moon shone as bright as day, and all the flowers of +the year--snowdrops, violets, primroses, and cowslips--bloomed +together in the thick grass. There were a crowd of little men and +women, some clad in russet colour, but far more in green, dancing +round a little well as clear as crystal. And under great rose-trees +which grew here and there in the meadow, companies were sitting round +low tables covered with cups of milk, dishes of honey, and carved +wooden flagons filled with clear red wine. The little man led +Fairyfoot up to the nearest table, handed him one of the flagons, and +said-- + +"Drink to the good company!" + +Wine was not very common among the shepherds of Stumpinghame, and the +boy had never tasted such drink as that before; for scarcely had it +gone down, when he forgot all his troubles--how Blackthorn and +Brownberry wore his clothes, how Rough Ruddy sent him to keep the +sickly sheep, and the children would not dance with him: in short, he +forgot the whole misfortune of his feet, and it seemed to his mind +that he was a king's son, and all was well with him. All the little +people about the well cried-- + +"Welcome! welcome!" and every one said--"Come and dance with me!" So +Fairyfoot was as happy as a prince, and drank milk and ate honey till +the moon was low in the sky. + +Next morning Fairyfoot was not tired for all his dancing. Nobody in +the cottage had missed him, and he went out with the sheep as usual; +but every night all that summer, when the shepherds were safe in bed, +the little man came and took him away to dance in the forest. Now he +did not care to play with the shepherds' children, nor grieve that his +father and mother had forgotten him, but watched the sheep all day, +singing to himself or plaiting rushes. + +The wonder was that he was never tired nor sleepy, as people are apt +to be who dance all night; but before the summer was ended Fairyfoot +found out the reason. One night, when the moon was full, and the last +of the ripe corn rustling in the fields, Robin Goodfellow came for him +as usual, and away they went to the flowery green. The fun there was +high, and Robin was in haste. So he only pointed to the carved cup +from which Fairyfoot every night drank the clear red wine. + +"I am not thirsty, and there is no use losing time," thought the boy +to himself, and he joined the dance; but never in all his life did +Fairyfoot find such hard work as to keep pace with the company. Their +feet seemed to move like lightning; the swallows did not fly so fast +or turn so quickly. Fairyfoot did his best, for he never gave in +easily, but at length, his breath and strength being spent, the boy +was glad to steal away, and sit down behind a mossy oak, where his +eyes closed for very weariness. When he awoke the dance was nearly +over, but two little ladies clad in green talked close beside him. + +"What a beautiful boy!" said one of them. "He is worthy to be a king's +son. Only see what handsome feet he has!" + +"Yes," said the other, with a laugh that sounded spiteful; "they are +just like the feet Princess Maybloom had before she washed them in the +Growing Well. Her father has sent far and wide throughout the whole +country searching for a doctor to make them small again, but nothing +in this world can do it except the water of the Fair Fountain, and +none but I and the nightingales know where it is." + +"One would not care to let the like be known," said the first little +lady; "there would come such crowds of these great coarse creatures of +mankind, nobody would have peace for leagues round. But you will +surely send word to the sweet princess!--she was so kind to our birds +and butterflies, and danced so like one of ourselves!" + +"Not I, indeed!" said the spiteful fairy. "Her old skinflint of a +father cut down the cedar which I loved best in the whole forest, and +made a chest of it to hold his money in; besides, I never liked the +princess--everybody praised her so. But come, we shall be too late for +the last dance." + +When they were gone, Fairyfoot could sleep no more with astonishment. +He did not wonder at the fairies admiring his feet, because their own +were much the same; but it amazed him that Princess Maybloom's father +should be troubled at hers growing large. Moreover, he wished to see +that same princess and her country, since there were really other +places in the world than Stumpinghame. + +When Robin Goodfellow came to take him home as usual he durst not let +him know that he had overheard anything; but never was the boy so +unwilling to get up as on that morning, and all day he was so weary +that in the afternoon Fairyfoot fell asleep, with his head on a clump +of rushes. It was seldom that any one thought of looking after him and +the sickly sheep; but it so happened that towards evening the old +shepherd, Fleecefold, thought he would see how things went on in the +pastures. The shepherd had a bad temper and a thick staff, and no +sooner did he catch sight of Fairyfoot sleeping, and his flock +straying away, than shouting all the ill names he could remember, in a +voice which woke up the boy, he ran after him as fast as his great +feet would allow; while Fairyfoot, seeing no other shelter from his +fury, fled into the forest, and never stopped nor stayed till he +reached the banks of a little stream. + +Thinking it might lead him to the fairies' dancing-ground, he followed +that stream for many an hour, but it wound away into the heart of the +forest, flowing through dells, falling over mossy rocks and at last +leading Fairyfoot, when he was tired and the night had fallen, to a +grove of great rose-trees, with the moon shining on it as bright as +day, and thousands of nightingales singing in the branches. In the +midst of that grove was a clear spring, bordered with banks of lilies, +and Fairyfoot sat down by it to rest himself and listen. The singing +was so sweet he could have listened for ever, but as he sat the +nightingales left off their songs, and began to talk together in the +silence of the night-- + +"What boy is that," said one on a branch above him, "who sits so +lonely by the Fair Fountain? He cannot have come from Stumpinghame +with such small and handsome feet." + +"No, I'll warrant you," said another, "he has come from the west +country. How in the world did he find the way?" + +"How simple you are!" said a third nightingale. "What had he to do but +follow the ground-ivy which grows over height and hollow, bank and +bush, from the lowest gate of the king's kitchen garden to the root of +this rose-tree? He looks a wise boy, and I hope he will keep the +secret, or we shall have all the west country here, dabbling in our +fountain, and leaving us no rest to either talk or sing." + +Fairyfoot sat in great astonishment at this discourse, but by and by, +when the talk ceased and the songs began, he thought it might be as +well for him to follow the ground-ivy, and see the Princess Maybloom, +not to speak of getting rid of Rough Ruddy, the sickly sheep, and the +crusty old shepherd. It was a long journey; but he went on, eating +wild berries by day, sleeping in the hollows of old trees by night, +and never losing sight of the ground-ivy, which led him over height +and hollow, bank and bush, out of the forest, and along a noble high +road, with fields and villages on every side, to a great city, and a +low old-fashioned gate of the king's kitchen-garden, which was thought +too mean for the scullions, and had not been opened for seven years. + +There was no use knocking--the gate was overgrown with tall weeds and +moss; so, being an active boy, he climbed over, and walked through the +garden, till a white fawn came frisking by, and he heard a soft voice +saying sorrowfully-- + +"Come back, come back, my fawn! I cannot run and play with you now, my +feet have grown so heavy;" and looking round he saw the loveliest +young princess in the world, dressed in snow-white, and wearing a +wreath of roses on her golden hair; but walking slowly, as the great +people did in Stumpinghame, for her feet were as large as the best of +them. + +After her came six young ladies, dressed in white and walking slowly, +for they could not go before the princess; but Fairyfoot was amazed to +see that their feet were as small as his own. At once he guessed that +this must be the Princess Maybloom, and made her an humble bow, +saying-- + +"Royal princess, I have heard of your trouble because your feet have +grown large: in my country that's all the fashion. For seven years +past I have been wondering what would make mine grow, to no purpose; +but I know of a certain fountain that will make yours smaller and +finer than ever they were, if the king, your father, gives you leave +to come with me, accompanied by two of your maids that are the least +given to talking, and the most prudent officer in all his household; +for it would grievously offend the fairies and the nightingales to +make that fountain known." + +When the princess heard that, she danced for joy in spite of her large +feet, and she and her six maids brought Fairyfoot before the king and +queen, where they sat in their palace hall, with all the courtiers +paying their morning compliments. The lords were very much astonished +to see a ragged, bare-footed boy brought in among them, and the ladies +thought Princess Maybloom must have gone mad; but Fairyfoot, making an +humble reverence, told his message to the king and queen, and offered +to set out with the princess that very day. At first the king would +not believe that there could be any use in his offer, because so many +great physicians had failed to give any relief. The courtiers laughed +Fairyfoot to scorn, the pages wanted to turn him out for an impudent +impostor, and the prime-minister said he ought to be put to death for +high-treason. + +Fairyfoot wished himself safe in the forest again, or even keeping the +sickly sheep; but the queen, being a prudent woman, said-- + +"I pray your majesty to notice what fine feet this boy has. There may +be some truth in his story. For the sake of our only daughter, I will +choose two maids who talk the least of all our train, and my +chamberlain, who is the most discreet officer in our household. Let +them go with the princess: who knows but our sorrow may be lessened?" + +After some persuasion the king consented, though all his councillors +advised the contrary. So the two silent maids, the discreet +chamberlain, and her fawn, which would not stay behind, were sent with +Princess Maybloom, and they all set out after dinner. Fairyfoot had +hard work guiding them along the track of the ground-ivy. The maids +and the chamberlain did not like the brambles and rough roots of the +forest--they thought it hard to eat berries and sleep in hollow trees; +but the princess went on with good courage, and at last they reached +the grove of rose-trees, and the spring bordered with lilies. + +The chamberlain washed--and though his hair had been grey, and his +face wrinkled, the young courtiers envied his beauty for years after. +The maids washed--and from that day they were esteemed the fairest in +all the palace. Lastly, the princess washed also--it could make her no +fairer, but the moment her feet touched the water they grew less, and +when she had washed and dried them three times, they were as small and +finely-shaped as Fairyfoot's own. There was great joy among them, but +the boy said sorrowfully-- + +"Oh! if there had been a well in the world to make my feet large, my +father and mother would not have cast me off, nor sent me to live +among the shepherds." + +"Cheer up your heart," said the Princess Maybloom; "if you want large +feet, there is a well in this forest that will do it. Last summer +time, I came with my father and his foresters to see a great cedar cut +down, of which he meant to make a money chest. While they were busy +with the cedar, I saw a bramble branch covered with berries. Some were +ripe and some were green, but it was the longest bramble that ever +grew; for the sake of the berries, I went on and on to its root, which +grew hard by a muddy-looking well, with banks of dark green moss, in +the deepest part of the forest. The day was warm and dry, and my feet +were sore with the rough ground, so I took off my scarlet shoes, and +washed my feet in the well; but as I washed they grew larger every +minute, and nothing could ever make them less again. I have seen the +bramble this day; it is not far off, and as you have shown me the Fair +Fountain, I will show you the Growing Well." + +Up rose Fairyfoot and Princess Maybloom, and went together till they +found the bramble, and came to where its root grew, hard by the +muddy-looking well with banks of dark green moss, in the deepest dell +of the forest. Fairyfoot sat down to wash, but at that minute he heard +a sound of music, and knew it was the fairies going to their dancing +ground. + +"If my feet grow large," said the boy to himself, "how shall I dance +with them?" So, rising quickly, he took the Princess Maybloom by the +hand. The fawn followed them; the maids and the chamberlain followed +it, and all followed the music through the forest. At last they came +to the flowery green. Robin Goodfellow welcomed the company for +Fairyfoot's sake, and gave every one a drink of the fairies' wine. So +they danced there from sunset till the grey morning, and nobody was +tired; but before the lark sang, Robin Goodfellow took them all safe +home, as he used to take Fairyfoot. + +There was great joy that day in the palace because Princess Maybloom's +feet were made small again. The king gave Fairyfoot all manner of fine +clothes and rich jewels; and when they heard his wonderful story, he +and the queen asked him to live with them and be their son. In process +of time Fairyfoot and Princess Maybloom were married, and still live +happily. When they go to visit at Stumpinghame, they always wash their +feet in the Growing Well, lest the royal family might think them a +disgrace, but when they come back, they make haste to the Fair +Fountain; and the fairies and the nightingales are great friends to +them, as well as to the maids and the chamberlain, because they have +told nobody about it, and there is peace and quiet yet in the grove of +rose-trees. + + + + +ALICE IN WONDERLAND + + +_Few books have given more real pleasure to young people than "Alice +in Wonderland" by Charles L. Dodgson, a professor of mathematics in +Oxford University, who signed his stories Lewis Carroll. He was always +a great favorite with the children, from the time he began acting +little plays in a little theatre for his nine brothers and sisters, +and up to the time of his death in 1898 there were hundreds of happy +boys and girls, but mostly girls, who delighted to call him friend. + +"Through the Looking-Glass" is a continuation of "Alice in Wonderland."_ + + + + +DOWN THE RABBIT-HOLE + +By Lewis Carroll + + +Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the +bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into +the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or +conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, +"without pictures or conversations?" + +So she was considering, in her own mind (as well as she could, for the +hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of +making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and +picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran +close by her. + +There was nothing so _very_ remarkable in that; nor did Alice think +it so _very_ much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, "Oh +dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!" (when she thought it over +afterward, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, +but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but, when the Rabbit +actually _took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket_, and looked at it, +and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across +her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a +waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and, burning with +curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and was just in time to +see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. + +In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how +in the world she was to get out again. + +The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then +dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think +about stopping herself before she found herself falling down what +seemed to be a very deep well. + +Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had +plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what +was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out +what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything: then she +looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled +with cupboards and book-shelves: here and there she saw maps and +pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves +as she passed: it was labeled "ORANGE MARMALADE," but to her great +disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar, for +fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of +the cupboards as she fell past it. + +"Well!" thought Alice to herself. "After such a fall as this, I shall +think nothing of tumbling downstairs! How brave they'll all think me +at home! Why, I wouldn't say anything about it, even if I fell off the +top of the house!" (Which was very likely true.) + +Down, down, down. Would the fall _never_ come to an end? "I wonder how +many miles I've fallen by this time?" she said aloud. "I must be +getting somewhere near the centre of the earth. Let me see: that would +be four thousand miles down, I think--" (for, you see, Alice had +learned several things of this sort in her lessons in the school-room, +and though this was not a _very_ good opportunity for showing off her +knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good +practice to say it over) "--yes, that's about the right distance--but +then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?" (Alice had not +the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she +thought they were nice grand words to say). + +Presently she began again. "I wonder if I shall fall right _through_ +the earth! How funny it'll seem to come out among the people that walk +with their heads downward! The antipathies, I think--" (she was rather +glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn't sound at all +the right word) "--but I shall have to ask them what the name of the +country is, you know. Please, Ma'am, is this New Zealand? Or +Australia?" (and she tried to curtsey as she spoke--fancy, _curtseying_ +as you're falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) +"And what an ignorant little girl she'll think me for asking! No, +it'll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere." + +Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began +talking again. "Dinah'll miss me very much to-night, I should think!" +(Dinah was the cat.) "I hope they'll remember her saucer of milk at +tea-time. Dinah, my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are +no mice in the air, I'm afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that's +very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?" And here +Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a +dreamy sort of way, "Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?" and +sometimes, "Do bats eat cats?" for, you see, as she couldn't answer +either question, it didn't much matter which way she put it. She felt +that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was +walking hand in hand with Dinah, and was saying to her, very +earnestly, "Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?" +when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and +dry leaves, and the fall was over. + +Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a +moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead: before her was +another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, +hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice +like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a +corner, "Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it's getting!" She was +close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no +longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was +lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof. + +There were doors all round the hall, but they were all locked; and +when Alice had been all the way down one side and up the other, trying +every door, she walked sadly down the middle, wondering how she was +ever to get out again. + +Suddenly she came upon a little three-legged table, all made of solid +glass: there was nothing on it but a tiny golden key, and Alice's +first idea was that this might belong to one of the doors of the hall; +but alas! either the locks were too large, or the key was too small, +but at any rate it would not open any of them. However, on the second +time round, she came upon a low curtain she had not noticed before, +and behind it was a little door about fifteen inches high: she tried +the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted! + +Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not +much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the +passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get +out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright +flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head +through the doorway; "and even if my head _would_ go through," thought +poor Alice, "it would be of very little use without my shoulders. Oh, +how I wish I could shut up like a telescope! I think I could, if I +only knew how to begin." For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things +had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few +things indeed were really impossible. + +There seemed to be no use in waiting by the little door, so she went +back to the table, half hoping she might find another key on it, or at +any rate a book of rules for shutting people up like telescopes: this +time she found a little bottle on it ("which certainly was not here +before," said Alice), and tied round the neck of the bottle was a +paper label, with the words "DRINK ME" beautifully printed on it in +large letters. + +It was all very well to say "Drink me," but the wise little Alice was +not going to do _that_ in a hurry. "No, I'll look first," she said, +"and see whether it's marked '_poison_' or not"; for she had read +several nice little stories about children who had got burned, and +eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they +_would_ not remember the simple rules their friends had taught them: +such as, that a red-hot poker will burn you if you hold it too long; +and that, if you cut your finger _very_ deeply with a knife, it usually +bleeds; and she had never forgotten that, if you drink much from a +bottle marked "poison," it is almost certain to disagree with you, +sooner or later. + +However, this bottle was _not_ marked "poison," so Alice ventured +to taste it, and, finding it very nice (it had, in fact, a sort of +mixed flavor of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffy, +and hot buttered toast), she very soon finished it off. + + * * * * * + +"What a curious feeling!" said Alice. "I must be shutting up like a +telescope!" + +And so it was indeed: she was now only ten inches high, and her face +brightened up at the thought that she was now the right size for going +through the little door into that lovely garden. First, however, she +waited for a few minutes to see if she was going to shrink any +further: she felt a little nervous about this; "for it might end, you +know," said Alice to herself, "in my going out altogether, like a +candle. I wonder what I should be like then?" And she tried to fancy +what the flame of a candle looks like after the candle is blown out, +for she could not remember ever having seen such a thing. + +After a while, finding that nothing more happened, she decided on +going into the garden at once; but, alas for poor Alice! when she got +to the door, she found she had forgotten the little golden key, and +when she went back to the table for it, she found she could not +possibly reach it: she could see it quite plainly through the glass, +and she tried her best to climb up one of the legs of the table, but +it was too slippery; and when she had tired herself out with trying, +the poor little thing sat down and cried. + +"Come, there's no use in crying like that!" said Alice to herself +rather sharply. "I advise you to leave off this minute!" She generally +gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), +and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into +her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for +having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against +herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two +people. "But it's no use now," thought poor Alice, "to pretend to be +two people! Why, there's hardly enough of me left to make _one_ +respectable person!" + +Soon her eye fell on a little glass box that was lying under the +table: she opened it, and found in it a very small cake, on which the +words "EAT ME" were beautifully marked in currants. "Well, I'll eat +it," said Alice, "and if it makes me grow larger, I can reach the key; +and if it makes me grow smaller, I can creep under the door: so either +way I'll get into the garden, and I don't care which happens!" + +She ate a little bit, and said anxiously to herself, "Which way? Which +way?" holding her hand on the top of her head to feel which way it was +growing; and she was quite surprised to find that she remained the +same size. To be sure, this is what generally happens when one eats +cake; but Alice had got so much into the way of expecting nothing but +out-of-the-way things to happen, that it seemed quite dull and stupid +for life to go on in the common way. + +So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE POOL OF TEARS + +By Lewis Carroll + + +"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice (she was so much surprised, +that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). "Now +I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-by, +feet!" (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost +out of sight, they were getting so far off). "Oh, my poor little feet, +I wonder who will put on your shoes and stockings for you now, dears? +I'm sure _I_ shan't be able! I shall be a great deal too far off +to trouble myself about you: you must manage the best way you can--but +I must be kind to them," thought Alice, "or perhaps they won't walk +the way I want to go! Let me see. I'll give them a new pair of boots +every Christmas." + +And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it. "They +must go by the carrier," she thought; "and how funny it'll seem, +sending presents to one's own feet! And how odd the directions will +look! + + _Alice's Right Foot, Esq., + Hearthrug, + near the Fender, + (with Alice's love)._ + +Oh dear, what nonsense I'm talking!" + +Just at this moment her head struck against the roof of the hall: in +fact she was now rather more than nine feet high, and she at once took +up the little golden key and hurried off to the garden door. + +Poor Alice! It was as much as she could do, lying down on one side, to +look through into the garden with one eye; but to get through was more +hopeless than ever: she sat down and began to cry again. + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said Alice, "a great girl like +you" (she might well say this), "to go on crying in this way! Stop +this moment, I tell you!" + +But she went on all the same, shedding gallons of tears, until there +was a large pool all round her, about four inches deep, and reaching +half down the hall. + +After a time she heard a little pattering of feet. In the distance, and +she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming. It was the White +Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid-gloves +in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a +great hurry, muttering to himself, as he came, "Oh! The Duchess, the +Duchess! Oh! _Won't_ she be savage if I've kept her waiting!" + +Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one: so, +when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, "If +you please, Sir--" The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white +kid-gloves and the fan, and skurried away into the darkness as hard +as he could go. + +Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she +kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking. "Dear, dear! +How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as +usual. I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think: _was_ +I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember +feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question +is, 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, _that's_ the great puzzle!" + +And she began thinking over all the children she knew that were of the +same age as herself, to see if she could have been changed for any of +them. + +"I'm sure I'm not Ada," she said, "for her hair goes in such long +ringlets, and mine doesn't go in ringlets at all; and I'm sure I can't +be Mabel, for I know all sorts of things, and she, oh, she knows such +a very little! Besides, _she's_ she, and _I'm_ I, and--oh dear, how +puzzling it all is! I'll try if I know all the things I used to know. +Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, +and four times seven is--oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that +rate! However, the Multiplication-Table doesn't signify: let's try +Geography. London is the capital of Paris, and Paris is the capital of +Rome, and Rome--no, _that's_ all wrong, I'm certain! I must have been +changed for Mabel! I'll try and say '_How doth the little_--,'" and +she crossed her hands on her lap, as if she were saying lessons, and +began to repeat it, but her voice sounded hoarse and strange, and the +words did not come the same as they used to do:-- + + "How doth the little crocodile + Improve his shining tail, + And pour the waters of the Nile + On every golden scale!" + + "How cheerfully he seems to grin, + How neatly spreads his claws, + And welcomes little fishes in + With gently smiling jaws!" + +"I'm sure those are not the right words," said poor Alice, and her +eyes filled with tears again as she went on, "I must be Mabel after +all, and I shall have to go and live in that poky little house, and +have next to no toys to play with, and oh, ever so many lessons to +learn! No, I've made up my mind about it: if I'm Mabel, I'll stay down +here! It'll be no use their putting their heads down and saying, 'Come +up again, dear!' I shall only look up and say, 'Who am I, then? Tell +me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up: if +not, I'll stay down here till I am somebody else'--but, oh dear!" +cried Alice, with a sudden burst of tears, "I do wish they _would_ put +their heads down! I am so _very_ tired of being all alone here!" + +As she said this she looked down at her hands, and was surprised to +see that she had put on one of the Rabbit's little white kid-gloves +while she was talking. + +"How _can_ I have done that?" she thought. "I must be growing small +again." She got up and went to the table to measure herself by it, and +found that, as nearly as she could guess, she was now about two feet +high, and was going on shrinking rapidly: she soon found out that the +cause of this was the fan she was holding, and she dropped it hastily, +just in time to save herself from shrinking away altogether. + +"That _was_ a narrow escape!" said Alice, a good deal frightened at +the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence. +"And now for the garden!" And she ran with all speed back to the +little door; but, alas! the little door was shut again, and the little +golden key was lying on the glass table as before, "and things are +worse than ever," thought the poor child, "for I never was so small as +this before, never! And I declare it's too bad, that it is!" + +As she said these words her foot slipped, and in another moment, +splash! she was up to her chin in salt-water. + +Her first idea was that she had somehow fallen into the sea, "and in +that case I can go back by railway," she said to herself. (Alice had +been to the seaside once in her life, and had come to the general +conclusion that, wherever you go to on the English coast, you find a +number of bathing machines in the sea, some children digging in the +sand with wooden spades, then a row of lodging-houses, and behind them +a railway station.) However, she soon made out that she was in the +pool of tears which she had wept when she was nine feet high. + +"I wish I hadn't cried so much!" said Alice, as she swam about, trying +to find her way out. "I shall be punished for it now, I suppose, by +being drowned in my own tears! That _will_ be a queer thing, to be +sure! However, everything is queer to-day." + +Just then she heard something splashing about in the pool a little way +off, and she swam nearer to make out what it was: at first she thought +it must be a walrus or hippopotamus, but then she remembered how small +she was now, and she soon made out that it was only a mouse that had +slipped in like herself. + +"Would it be of any use, now," thought Alice, "to speak to this mouse? +Everything is so out-of-the-way down here, that I should think very +likely it can talk: at any rate, there's no harm in trying." So she +began: "O Mouse, do you know the way out of this pool? I am very tired +of swimming about here, O Mouse!" (Alice thought this must be the +right way of speaking to a mouse: she had never done such a thing +before, but she remembered having seen, in her brother's Latin +Grammar, "A mouse--of a mouse--to a mouse--a mouse--O mouse!") + +The Mouse looked at her rather inquisitively, and seemed to her to +wink with one of its little eyes, but it said nothing. + +"Perhaps it doesn't understand English," thought Alice. "I dare say +it's a French mouse, come over with William the Conqueror." (For with +all her knowledge of history, Alice had no very clear notion how long +ago anything had happened.) + +So she began again: "Où est ma chatte?" which was the first sentence +in her French lesson-book. + +The Mouse gave a sudden leap out of the water, and seemed to quiver +all over with fright. "Oh, I beg your pardon!" cried Alice hastily, +afraid that she had hurt the poor animal's feelings. "I quite forgot +you didn't like cats." + +"Not like cats!" cried the Mouse in a shrill, passionate voice. "Would +_you_ like cats if you were me?" + +"Well, perhaps not," said Alice in a soothing tone: "don't be angry +about it. And yet I wish I could show you our cat Dinah. I think you'd +take a fancy to cats, if you could only see her. She is such a dear +quiet thing," Alice went on, half to herself, as she swam lazily about +in the pool, "and she sits purring so nicely by the fire, licking her +paws and washing her face--and she is such a nice soft thing to +nurse--and she's such a capital one for catching mice--oh, I beg your +pardon!" cried Alice again, for this time the Mouse was bristling all +over, and she felt certain it must be really offended. "We won't talk +about her any more, if you'd rather not." + +"We, indeed!" cried the Mouse, who was trembling down to the end of +its tail. "As if _I_ would talk on such a subject! Our family always +_hated_ cats: nasty, low, vulgar things! Don't let me hear the name +again!" + +"I won't indeed!" said Alice, in a great hurry to change the subject +of conversation. "Are you--are you fond--of--of dogs?" The Mouse did +not answer, so Alice went on eagerly: "There is such a nice little +dog, near our house, I should like to show you! A little bright-eyed +terrier, you know, with oh, such long curly brown hair! And it'll +fetch things when you throw them, and it'll sit up and beg for its +dinner, and all sorts of things--I can't remember half of them--and it +belongs to a farmer, you know, and he says it's so useful, it's worth +a hundred pounds! He says it kills all the rats, and--oh dear!" cried +Alice in a sorrowful tone, "I'm afraid I've offended it again!" For +the Mouse was swimming away from her as hard as it could go, and +making quite a commotion in the pool as it went. + +So she called softly after it, "Mouse dear! Do come back again, and we +won't talk about cats, or dogs either, if you don't like them!" When +the Mouse heard this, it turned round and swam slowly back to her: its +face was quite pale (with passion, Alice thought), and it said, in a +low trembling voice, "Let us get to the shore, and then I'll tell you +my history, and you'll understand why it is I hate cats and dogs." + +It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with +the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there was a Duck and a +Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures. + +Alice led the way, and the whole party swam to the shore. + + + + +A CAUCUS-RACE AND A LONG TALE + +By Lewis Carroll + + +They were, indeed, a queer-looking party that assembled on the +bank--the birds with draggled feathers, the animals with their fur +clinging close to them, and all dripping wet, cross, and +uncomfortable. + +The first question of course was, how to get dry again: they had a +consultation about this, and after a few minutes it seemed quite +natural to Alice to find herself talking familiarly with them, as if +she had known them all her life. Indeed, she had quite a long argument +with the Lory, who at last turned sulky, and would only say, "I'm +older than you, and must know better." + +And this Alice would not allow, without knowing how old it was, and, +as the Lory positively refused to tell its age, there was no more to +be said. + +At last the Mouse, who seemed to be a person of some authority among +them, called out, "Sit down, all of you, and listen to me! _I'll_ soon +make you dry enough!" They all sat down at once, in a large ring, with +the Mouse in the middle. Alice kept her eyes anxiously fixed on it, +for she felt sure she would catch a bad cold if she did not get dry +very soon. + +"Ahem!" said the Mouse with an important air. "Are you all ready? This +is the driest thing I know. Silence all round, if you please! 'William +the Conqueror, whose cause was favored by the pope, was soon submitted +to by the English, who wanted leaders, and had been of late much +accustomed to usurpation and conquest. Edwin and Morcar, the earls of +Mercia and Northumbria--'" + +"Ugh!" said the Lory, with a shiver. + +"I beg your pardon!" said the Mouse, frowning, but very politely. "Did +you speak?" + +"Not I!" said the Lory, hastily. + +"I thought you did," said the Mouse. "I proceed. 'Edwin and Morcar, +the earls of Mercia and Northumbria, declared for him; and even +Stigand, the patriotic archbishop of Canterbury, found it +advisable--'" + +"Found _what_!" said the Duck. + +"Found _it_," the Mouse replied, rather crossly: "of course you +know what 'it' means." + +"I know what 'it' means well enough, when _I_ find a thing," said the +Duck; "it's generally a frog, or a worm. The question is, what did the +archbishop find?" + +The Mouse did not notice this question, but hurriedly went on, +"'--found it advisable to go with Edgar Atheling to meet William and +offer him the crown. William's conduct at first was moderate. But the +insolence of his Normans--' How are you getting on now, my dear?" it +continued, turning to Alice as it spoke. + +"As wet as ever," said Alice, in a melancholy tone: "it doesn't seem +to dry me at all." + +"In that case," said the Dodo, solemnly, rising to its feet, "I move +that the meeting adjourn, for the immediate adoption of more energetic +remedies--" + +"Speak English!" said Eaglet. "I don't know the meaning of half those +long words, and, what's more, I don't believe you do either!" And the +Eaglet bent down its head to hide a smile: some of the other birds +tittered audibly. + +"What I was going to say," said the Dodo in an offended tone, "was, +that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race." + +"What _is_ a Caucus-race?" said Alice; not that she much wanted to +know, but the Dodo had paused as if it thought that _somebody_ ought +to speak, and no one else seemed inclined to say anything. + +"Why," said the Dodo, "the best way to explain it is to do it." (And, +as you might like to try the thing yourself, some winter day, I will +tell you how the Dodo managed it.) + +First it marked out a race-course, in a sort of circle ("the exact +shape doesn't matter," it said), and then all the party were placed +along the course, here and there. + +There was no "One, two, three, and away!" but they began running when +they liked, and left off when they liked, so that it was not easy to +know when the race was over. However, when they had been running half +an hour or so, and were quite dry again, the Dodo suddenly called out +"The race is over!" and they all crowded round it, panting, and +asking, "But who has won?" + +This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of +thought, and it stood for a long time with one finger pressed upon its +forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the +pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. + +At last the Dodo said, "_Everybody_ has won, and _all_ must have +prizes." + +"But who is to give the prizes?" quite a chorus of voices asked. + +"Why, _she_, of course," said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one +finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out, in +a confused way, "Prizes! Prizes!" + +Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her +pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits (luckily the salt water had +not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was exactly +one a-piece, all round. + +"But she must have a prize herself, you know," said the Mouse. + +"Of course," the Dodo replied very gravely. "What else have you got in +your pocket?" it went on, turning to Alice. + +"Only a thimble," said Alice sadly. + +"Hand it over here," said the Dodo. + +Then they all crowded round her once more, while the Dodo solemnly +presented the thimble, saying: + +"We beg your acceptance of this elegant thimble"; and, when it had +finished this short speech, they all cheered. + +Alice thought the whole thing very absurd, but they all looked so +grave that she did not dare to laugh; and, as she could not think of +anything to say, she simply bowed, and took the thimble, looking as +solemn as she could. + +The next thing was to eat the comfits: this caused some noise and +confusion, as the large birds complained that they could not taste +theirs, and the small ones choked and had to be patted on the back. + +However, it was over at last, and they sat down again in a ring, and +begged the Mouse to tell them something more. + +"You promised to tell me your history, you know," said Alice, "and why +it is you hate--C and D," she added in a whisper, half afraid that it +would be offended again. + +"Mine is a long and a sad tale!" said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and +sighing. + +"It _is_ a long tail, certainly," said Alice, looking down with wonder +at the Mouse's tail; "but why do you call it sad?" And she kept on +puzzling about it while the Mouse was speaking, so that her idea of +the tale was something like this: + + "Fury said to + a mouse, That + he met in the + house, Let + us both go + to law: _I_ + will prose-- + cute _you_.-- + Come I'll + take no + denial: We + must have + the trial; + For really + this morning + I've + nothing + to do. + Said the + mouse to + the cur, + 'Such a + trial, dear + sir. With + no jury + or judge, + would + be wasting + our + breath.' + 'I'll be + judge, + I'll be + jury,' + said + cunning + old + Fury: + 'I'll + try + the + whole + cause, + and + condemn + you to + death.'" + +"You are not attending!" said the Mouse to Alice, severely. "What are +you thinking of?" + +"I beg your pardon," said Alice very humbly: "you had got to the fifth +bend, I think?" + +"I had _not_!" cried the Mouse, sharply and very angrily. + +"A knot!" said Alice, always ready to make herself useful, and looking +anxiously about her. "Oh, do let me help to undo it!" + +"I shall do nothing of the sort," said the Mouse, getting up and +walking away. "You insult me by talking such nonsense!" + +"I didn't mean it!" pleaded poor Alice. "But you're so easily +offended, you know!" + +The Mouse only growled in reply. + +"Please come back, and finish your story!" Alice called after it. And +the others all joined in chorus, "Yes, please do!" But the Mouse only +shook its head impatiently, and walked a little quicker. + +"What a pity it wouldn't stay!" sighed the Lory, as soon as it was +quite out of sight. And an old Crab took the opportunity of saying to +her daughter, "Ah, my dear! Let this be a lesson to you never to lose +_your_ temper!" "Hold your tongue, Ma!" said the young Crab, a +little snappishly. "You're enough to try the patience of an oyster!" + +"I wish I had our Dinah here, I know I do!" said Alice aloud, +addressing nobody in particular. "_She'd_ soon fetch it back!" + +"And who is Dinah, if I might venture to ask the question?" said the +Lory. + +Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet: +"Dinah's our cat. And she's such a capital one for catching mice, you +can't think! And oh, I wish you could see her after the birds! Why, +she'll eat a little bird as soon as look at it!" + +This speech caused a remarkable sensation among the party. Some of the +birds hurried off at once: one old Magpie began wrapping itself up +very carefully, remarking, "I really must be getting home: the +night-air doesn't suit my throat!" And a Canary called out in a +trembling voice to its children, "Come away, my dears! It's high time +you were all in bed!" On various pretexts they all moved off, and +Alice was soon left alone. + +"I wish I hadn't mentioned Dinah!" she said to herself in a melancholy +tone. "Nobody seems to like her down here, and I'm sure she's the best +cat in the world! Oh, my dear Dinah! I wonder if I shall ever see you +any more!" And here poor Alice began to cry again, for she felt very +lonely and low-spirited. In a little while, however, she again heard +a little pattering of footsteps in the distance, and she looked up +eagerly, half hoping that the Mouse had changed his mind, and was +coming back to finish his story. + + + + +THE RABBIT SENDS IN A LITTLE BILL + +By Lewis Carroll + + +It was the White Rabbit, trotting slowly back again, and looking +anxiously about as it went, as if it had lost something; and she heard +it muttering to itself, "The Duchess! The Duchess! Oh my dear paws! Oh +my fur and whiskers! She'll get me executed, as sure as ferrets are +ferrets! Where _can_ I have dropped them, I wonder?" Alice guessed in +a moment that it was looking for the fan and the pair of white +kid-gloves, and she very good-naturedly began hunting about for them, +but they were nowhere to be seen--everything seemed to have changed +since her swim in the pool; and the great hall, with the glass table +and the little door, had vanished completely. + +Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and +called out to her, in an angry tone, "Why, Mary Ann, what _are_ you +doing out here? Run home this moment, and fetch me a pair of gloves +and a fan! Quick, now!" And Alice was so much frightened that she ran +off at once in the direction it pointed to, without trying to explain +the mistake that it had made. + +"He took me for his housemaid," she said to herself as she ran. "How +surprised he'll be when he finds out who I am! But I'd better take him +his fan and gloves--that is, if I can find them." As she said this, +she came upon a neat little house, on the door of which was a bright +brass plate with the name "W. RABBIT" engraved upon it. She went in +without knocking, and hurried upstairs, in great fear lest she should +meet the real Mary Ann, and be turned out of the house before she had +found the fan and gloves. + +"How queer it seems," Alice said to herself, "to be going messages for +a rabbit! I suppose Dinah'll be sending me on messages next!" And she +began fancying the sort of thing that would happen: "'Miss Alice! Come +here directly, and get ready for your walk!' 'Coming in a minute, +nurse! But I've got to watch this mouse-hole till Dinah comes back, +and see that the mouse doesn't get out.' Only I don't think," Alice +went on, "that they'd let Dinah stop in the house if it began ordering +people about like that!" + +By this time she had found her way into a tidy little room with a +table in the window, and on it (as she had hoped) a fan and two or +three pairs of tiny white kid-gloves: she took up the fan and a pair +of the gloves, and was just going to leave the room, when her eye fell +upon a little bottle that stood near the looking glass. There was no +label this time with the words, "DRINK ME," but nevertheless she +uncorked it and put it to her lips. + +"I know _something_ interesting is sure to happen," she said to +herself, "whenever I eat or drink anything: so I'll just see what this +bottle does. I do hope it'll make me grow large again, for really I'm +quite tired of being such a tiny little thing!" + +It did so indeed, and much sooner than she had expected: before she +had drunk half the bottle she found her head pressing against the +ceiling, and had to stoop to save her neck from being broken. She +hastily put down the bottle, saying to herself "That's quite enough--I +hope I shan't grow any more--As it is, I can't get out at the door--I +do wish I hadn't drunk quite so much!" + +Alas! It was too late to wish that! She went on growing, and growing, +and very soon had to kneel down on the floor: in another minute there +was not even room for this, and she tried the effect of lying down +with one elbow against the door and the other arm curled round her +head. Still she went on growing, and, as a last resource, she put one +arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney, and said to +herself, "Now I can do no more, whatever happens. What _will_ become +of me?" + +Luckily for Alice, the little magic bottle had now had its full +effect, and she grew no larger: still it was very uncomfortable, and, +as there seemed to be no sort of chance of her ever getting out of the +room again, no wonder she felt unhappy. + +"It was much pleasanter at home," thought poor Alice, "when one wasn't +always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and +rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and +yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do +wonder what _can_ have happened to me! When I used to read fairy +tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am +in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that +there ought! And when I grow up I'll write one--but I'm grown up now" +she added in a sorrowful tone: "at least there's no room to grow up +any more _here_." + +"But then," thought Alice, "shall I _never_ get any older than I +am now? That'll be a comfort, one way--never to be an old woman--but +then--always to have lessons to learn! Oh, I shouldn't like _that_!" + +"Oh, you foolish Alice!" she answered herself. "How can you learn +lessons in here? Why, there's hardly room for _you_, and no room at +all for any lesson books!" + +And so she went on, taking first one side and then the other, and +making quite a conversation of it altogether; but after a few minutes +she heard a voice outside, and stopped to listen. + +"Mary Ann! Mary Ann!" said the voice. "Fetch me my gloves this +moment!" Then came a little pattering of feet on the stairs. Alice +knew it was the Rabbit coming to look for her, and she trembled till +she shook the house, quite forgetting that she was now about a +thousand times as large as the Rabbit, and had no reason to be afraid +of it. + +Presently the Rabbit came up to the door, and tried to open it; but, +as the door opened inward, and Alice's elbow was pressed hard against +it, that attempt proved a failure. Alice heard it say to itself, "Then +I'll go round and get in at the window." + +"_That_ you won't!" thought Alice, and, after waiting till she fancied +she heard the Rabbit just under the window, she suddenly spread out +her hand, and made a snatch in the air. She did not get hold of +anything, but she heard a little shriek and a fall, and a crash of +broken glass, from which she concluded that it was just possible it +had fallen into a cucumber-frame, or something of the sort. + +Next came an angry voice--the Rabbit's--"Pat! Pat! Where are you?" And +then a voice she had never heard before, "Sure then I'm here! Digging +for apples, yer honor!" + +"Digging for apples, indeed!" said the Rabbit, angrily. "Here! Come +and help me out of _this_!" (Sounds of more broken glass.) + +"Now tell me, Pat, what's that in the window?" + +"Sure, it's an arm, yer honor!" (He pronounced it "arrum.") + +"An arm, you goose! Who ever saw one that size? Why, it fills the +whole window!" + +"Sure, it does, yer honor: but it's an arm for all that." + +"Well, it's got no business there, at any rate: go and take it away!" + +There was a long silence after this, and Alice could only hear +whispers now and then; such as "Sure, I don't like it, yer honor, at +all, at all!" "Do as I tell you, you coward!" and at last she spread +out her hand again, and made another snatch in the air. This time +there were _two_ little shrieks, and more sounds of broken glass. +"What a number of cucumber-frames there must be!" thought Alice. "I +wonder what they'll do next! As for pulling me out of the window, I +only wish they _could_! I'm sure _I_ don't want to stay in here any +longer!" + +She waited for some time without hearing anything more: at last came +a rumbling of little cartwheels, and the sound of a good many voices +all talking together: she made out the words: "Where's the other +ladder?--Why, I hadn't to bring but one. Bill's got the other--Bill! +Fetch it here, lad!--Here, put 'em up at this corner--No, tie 'em +together first--they don't reach half high enough yet--Oh, they'll do +well enough. Don't be particular--Here, Bill! Catch hold of this +rope--Will the roof bear?--Mind that loose slate--Oh, it's coming +down! Heads below!" (a loud crash)--"Now, who did that?--It was Bill, +I fancy--Who's to go down the chimney?--Nay, _I_ shan't! _You_ do +it!--_That_ I won't, then!--Bill's got to go down--Here, Bill! +The master says you've got to go down the chimney!" + +"Oh! So Bill's got to come down the chimney, has he?" said Alice to +herself. "Why, they seem to put everything upon Bill! I wouldn't be in +Bill's place for a good deal: this fireplace is narrow, to be sure; +but I _think_ I can kick a little!" + +She drew her foot as far down the chimney as she could, and waited +till she heard a little animal (she couldn't guess of what sort it +was) scratching and scrambling about in the chimney close above her: +then, saying to herself, "This is Bill," she gave one sharp kick, and +waited to see what would happen next. + +The first thing she heard was a general chorus of, "There goes Bill!" +then the Rabbit's voice alone--"Catch him, you by the hedge!" then +silence, and then another confusion of voices--"Hold up his head--Brandy +now--Don't choke him--How was it, old fellow? What happened to you? +Tell us all about it!" + +Last came a little feeble, squeaking voice ("That's Bill," thought +Alice), "Well, I hardly know--No more, thank ye; I'm better now--but +I'm a deal too flustered to tell you--all I know is, something comes +at me like a Jack-in-the-box, and up I goes like a sky-rocket!" + +"So you did, old fellow!" said the others. + +"We must burn the house down!" said the Rabbit's voice. And Alice +called out, as loud as she could, "If you do, I'll set Dinah at you!" + +There was a dead silence instantly, and Alice thought to herself, "I +wonder what they _will_ do next! If they had any sense, they'd take +the roof off." After a minute or two, they began moving about again, +and Alice heard the Rabbit say, "A barrowful will do, to begin with." + +"A barrowful of _what_?" thought Alice. But she had not long to +doubt, for the next moment a shower of little pebbles came rattling in +at the window, and some of them hit her in the face. "I'll put a stop +to this," she said to herself, and shouted out, "You'd better not do +that again!" which produced another dead silence. + +Alice noticed, with some surprise, that the pebbles were all turning +into little cakes as they lay on the floor, and a bright idea came +into her head. "If I eat one of these cakes," she thought, "it's sure +to make _some_ change in my size; and, as it can't possibly make me +larger, it must make me smaller, I suppose." + +So she swallowed one of the cakes, and was delighted to find that she +began shrinking directly. As soon as she was small enough to get +through the door, she ran out of the house, and found quite a crowd of +little animals and birds waiting outside. The poor little Lizard, +Bill, was in the middle, being held up by two guinea-pigs, who were +giving it something out of a bottle. They all made a rush at Alice the +moment she appeared; but she ran off as hard as she could, and soon +found herself safe in a thick wood. + +"The first thing I've got to do," said Alice to herself, as she +wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and +the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think +that will be the best plan." + +It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply +arranged: the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea +how to set about it; and, while she was peering about anxiously among +the trees, a little sharp bark just over her head made her look up in +a great hurry. + +An enormous puppy was looking down at her with large round eyes, and +feebly stretching out one paw, trying to touch her. "Poor little +thing!" said Alice, in a coaxing tone, and she tried hard to whistle +to it; but she was terribly frightened all the time at the thought +that it might be hungry, in which case it would be very likely to eat +her up in spite of all her coaxing. + +Hardly knowing what she did, she picked up a little bit of stick, and +held it out to the puppy: whereupon the puppy jumped into the air off +all its feet at once, with a yelp of delight, and rushed at the stick, +and made believe to worry it: then Alice dodged behind a great +thistle, to keep herself from being run over; and, the moment she +appeared on the other side, the puppy made another rush at the stick, +and tumbled head over heels in its hurry to get hold of it: then +Alice, thinking it was very like having a game of play with a +cart-horse, and expecting every moment to be trampled under its feet, +ran round the thistle again: then the puppy began a series of short +charges at the stick, running a very little way forward each time and +a long way back, and barking hoarsely all the while, till at last it +sat down a good way off, panting, with its tongue hanging out of its +mouth, and its great eyes half shut. + +This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape: so she +set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath, +and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance. + +"And yet what a dear little puppy it was!" said Alice, as she leaned +against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herself with one of +the leaves. "I should have liked teaching it tricks very much, if--if +I'd only been the right size to do it! Oh dear! I'd nearly forgotten +that I've got to grow up again! Let me see--how _is_ it to be managed? +I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great +question is, 'What?'" + +The great question certainly was "What?" Alice looked all round her at +the flowers and the blades of grass, but she could not see anything +that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the +circumstances. There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the +same height as herself; and, when she had looked under it, and on both +sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her that she might as well +look and see what was on the top of it. + +She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the +mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large blue +caterpillar, that was sitting on the top, with his arms folded, +quietly smoking a long hookah, and taking not the smallest notice of +her or of anything else. + + + + +ADVICE FROM A CATERPILLAR + +By Lewis Carroll + + +The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in +silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and +addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice. + +"Who are _you_?" said the Caterpillar. + +This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, +rather shyly, "I--I hardly know, Sir, just at present--at least I know +who I _was_ when I got up this morning, but I think I must have +changed several times since then." + +"What do you mean by that?" said the Caterpillar, sternly. "Explain +yourself!" + +"I can't explain _myself_, I'm afraid, Sir," said Alice, "because I'm +not myself, you see." + +"I don't see," said the Caterpillar. + +"I'm afraid I can't put it more clearly," Alice replied, very +politely, "for I can't understand it myself, to begin with; and being +so many different sizes in a day is very confusing." + +"It isn't," said the Caterpillar. + +"Well, perhaps you haven't found it so yet," said Alice; "but when you +have to turn into a chrysalis--you will some day, you know--and then +after that into a butterfly, I should think you'll feel it a little +queer, won't you?" + +"Not a bit," said the Caterpillar. + +"Well, perhaps _your_ feelings may be different," said Alice: "all I +know is, it would feel very queer to _me_." + +"You!" said the Caterpillar contemptuously. "Who are _you_?" + +Which brought them back again to the beginning of the conversation. + +Alice felt a little irritated at the Caterpillar's making such _very_ +short remarks, and she drew herself up and said, very gravely, "I +think you ought to tell me who _you_ are, first." + +"Why?" said the Caterpillar. + +Here was another puzzling question; and, as Alice could not think of +any good reason, and the Caterpillar seemed to be in a _very_ +unpleasant state of mind, she turned away. + +"Come back!" the Caterpillar called after her. "I've something +important to say!" + +This sounded promising, certainly. Alice turned and came back again. + +"Keep your temper," said the Caterpillar. + +"Is that all?" said Alice, swallowing down her anger as well as she +could. + +"No," said the Caterpillar. + +Alice thought she might as well wait, as she had nothing else to do, +and perhaps after all it might tell her something worth hearing. For +some minutes it puffed away without speaking; but at last it unfolded +its arms, took the hookah out of its mouth again, and said, "So you +think you're changed, do you?" + +"I'm afraid I am, Sir," said Alice. "I can't remember things as I +used--and I don't keep the same size for ten minutes together!" + +"Can't remember _what_ things?" said the Caterpillar. + +"Well, I've tried to say, '_How doth the little busy bee_,' but it all +came different!" Alice replied in a very melancholy voice. + +"Repeat, '_You are old, Father William_,'" said the Caterpillar. + +Alice folded her hands, and began: + + "You are old, Father William," the young man said, + "And your hair has become very white; + And yet you incessantly stand on your head-- + Do you think, at your age, it is right?" + + "In my youth," Father William replied to his son, + "I feared it might injure the brain; + But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none, + Why, I do it again and again." + + "You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before, + And have grown most uncommonly fat; + Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door-- + Pray, what is the reason of that?" + + "In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his gray locks, + "I kept all my limbs very supple + By the use of this ointment--one shilling the box-- + Allow me to sell you a couple?" + + "You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak + For anything tougher than suet; + Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak-- + Pray, how did you manage to do it?" + + "In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, + And argued each case with my wife; + And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw + Has lasted the rest of my life." + + "You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose + That your eye was as steady as ever; + Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose-- + What made you so awfully clever?" + + "I have answered three questions, and that is enough," + Said his father. "Don't give yourself airs! + Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff? + Be off, or I'll kick you down-stairs!" + +"That is not said right," said the Caterpillar. + +"Not _quite_ right, I'm afraid," said Alice, timidly: "some of the +words have got altered." + +"It is wrong from beginning to end," said the Caterpillar, decidedly; +and there was silence for some minutes. + +The Caterpillar was the first to speak. + +"What size do you want to be?" it asked. + +"Oh, I'm not particular as to size," Alice hastily replied; "only one +doesn't like changing so often, you know." + +"I _don't_ know," said the Caterpillar. + +Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in all her +life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper. + +"Are you content now?" said the Caterpillar. + +"Well, I should like to be a _little_ larger, Sir, if you wouldn't +mind," said Alice: "three inches is such a wretched height to be." + +"It is a very good height indeed!" said the Caterpillar angrily, +rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high). + +"But I'm not used to it!" pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And +she thought to herself, "I wish the creature wouldn't be so easily +offended!" + +"You'll get used to it in time," said the Caterpillar; and it put the +hookah into its mouth, and began smoking again. + +This time Alice waited patiently until it chose to speak again. In a +minute or two the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and +yawned once or twice, and shook itself. Then it got down off the +mushroom, and crawled away into the grass, merely remarking, as it +went, "One side will make you grow taller, and the other side will +make you grow shorter." + +"One side of _what_? The other side of _what_?" thought Alice to +herself. + +"Of the mushroom," said the Caterpillar, just as if she had asked it +aloud; and in another moment it was out of sight. + +Alice remained looking thoughtfully at the mushroom for a minute, +trying to make out which were the two sides of it;--and, as it was +perfectly round, she found this a very difficult question. However, +at last she stretched her arms round it as far as they would go, and +broke off a bit of the edge with each hand. + +"And now which is which?" she said to herself, and nibbled a little of +the right-hand bit to try the effect. + +The next moment she felt a violent blow underneath her chin: it had +struck her foot! + +She was a good deal frightened by this very sudden change, but she +felt that there was no time to be lost, as she was shrinking rapidly: +so she set to work at once to eat some of the other bit. Her chin was +pressed so closely against her foot, that there was hardly room to +open her mouth; but she did it at last, and managed to swallow a +morsel of the left-hand bit. + + * * * * * + +"Come, my head's free at last!" said Alice in a tone of delight, which +changed into alarm in another moment, when she found that her +shoulders were nowhere to be found: all she could see, when she looked +down, was an immense length of neck, which seemed to rise like a stalk +out a sea of green leaves that lay far below her. + +"What _can_ all that green stuff be?" said Alice. "And where _have_ my +shoulders got to? And oh, my poor hands, how is it I can't see you?" +She was moving them about, as she spoke, but no result seemed to +follow, except a little shaking among the distant green leaves. + +As there seemed to be no chance of getting her hands up to her head, +she tried to get her head down to _them_, and was delighted to +find that her neck would bend about easily in any direction, like a +serpent. She had just succeeded in curving it down into a graceful +zigzag, and was going to dive in among the leaves, which she found to +be nothing but the tops of the trees under which she had been +wandering, when a sharp hiss made her draw back in a hurry: a large +pigeon had flown into her face, and was beating her violently with its +wings. + +"Serpent!" screamed the Pigeon. + +"I'm _not_ a serpent!" said Alice indignantly. "Let me alone!" + +"Serpent, I say again!" repeated the Pigeon, but in a more subdued +tone, and added, with a kind of sob, "I've tried every way, but +nothing seems to suit them!" + +"I haven't the least idea what you're talking about," said Alice. + +"I've tried the roots of trees, and I've tried banks, and I've tried +hedges," the Pigeon went on, without attending to her; "but those +serpents! There's no pleasing them!" + +Alice was more and more puzzled, but she thought there was no use in +saying anything more till the Pigeon had finished. + +"As if it wasn't trouble enough hatching the eggs," said the Pigeon; +"but I must be on the lookout for serpents, night and day! Why, I +haven't had a wink of sleep these three weeks!" + +"I'm very sorry you've been annoyed," said Alice, who was beginning to +see its meaning. + +"And just as I'd taken the highest tree in the wood," continued the +Pigeon, raising its voice to a shriek, "and just as I was thinking I +should be free of them at last, they must needs come wriggling down +from the sky! Ugh, Serpent!" + +"But I'm _not_ a serpent, I tell you!" said Alice, "I'm a--I'm a--" + +"Well! _What_ are you?" said the Pigeon. "I can see you're trying to +invent something!" + +"I--I'm a little girl," said Alice, rather doubtfully, as she +remembered the number of changes she had gone through that day. + +"A likely story indeed!" said the Pigeon, in a tone of the deepest +contempt. "I've seen a good many little girls in my time, but never +_one_ with such a neck as that! No, no! You're a serpent; and there's +no use denying it. I suppose you'll be telling me next that you never +tasted an egg!" + +"I _have_ tasted eggs, certainly," said Alice, who was a very truthful +child; "but little girls eat eggs quite as much as serpents do, you +know." + +"I don't believe it," said the Pigeon; "but if they do, why, then +they're a kind of serpent: that's all I can say." + +This was such a new idea to Alice that she was quite silent for a +minute or two, which gave the Pigeon the opportunity of adding, +"You're looking for eggs, I know _that_ well enough; and what does it +matter to me whether you're a little girl or a serpent?" + +"It matters a good deal to _me_," said Alice, hastily; "but I'm not +looking for eggs, as it happens; and, if I was, I shouldn't want +_yours_: I don't like them raw." + +"Well, be off, then!" said the Pigeon in a sulky tone, as it settled +down again into its nest. Alice crouched down among the trees as well +as she could, for her neck kept getting entangled among the branches, +and every now and then she had to stop and untwist it. After a while +she remembered that she still held the pieces of mushroom in her +hands, and she set to work very carefully, nibbling first at one and +then at the other, and growing sometimes taller, and sometimes +shorter, until she had succeeded in bringing herself down to her usual +height. + +It was so long since she had been anything near the right size that it +felt quite strange at first; but she got used to it in a few minutes, +and began talking to herself, as usual, "Come, there's half my plan +done now! How puzzling all these changes are! I'm never sure what I'm +going to be, from one minute to another! However, I've got back to my +right size: the next thing is, to get into that beautiful garden--how +_is_ that to be done, I wonder?" As she said this, she came suddenly +upon an open place, with a little house in it about four feet high. +"Whoever lives there," thought Alice, "it'll never do to come upon +them _this_ size: why, I should frighten them out of their wits!" So +she began nibbling at the right-hand bit again, and did not venture to +go near the house till she had brought herself down to nine inches +high. + + + + +PIG AND PEPPER + +By Lewis Carroll + + +For a minute or two she stood looking at the house, and wondering what +to do next, when suddenly a footman in livery came running out of the +wood--(she considered him to be a footman because he was in livery: +otherwise, judging by his face only, she would have called him a +fish)--and rapped loudly at the door with his knuckles. It was opened +by another footman in livery, with a round face, and large eyes like a +frog; and both footmen, Alice noticed, had powdered hair that curled +all over their heads. She felt very curious to know what it was all +about, and crept a little way out of the wood to listen. + +The Fish-Footman began by producing from under his arm a great letter, +nearly as large as himself, and this he handed over to the other, +saying, in a solemn tone, "For the Duchess. An invitation from the +Queen to play croquet." The Frog-Footman repeated, in the same solemn +tone, only changing the order of the words a little, "From the Queen. +An invitation for the Duchess to play croquet." + +Then they both bowed low, and their curls got entangled together. + +Alice laughed so much at this, that she had to run back into the wood +for fear of their hearing her; and, when she next peeped out, the +Fish-Footman was gone, and the other was sitting on the ground near +the door, staring stupidly up into the sky. + +Alice went timidly up to the door, and knocked. + +"There's no sort of use in knocking," said the Footman, "and that for +two reasons. First, because I'm on the same side of the door as you +are: secondly, because they're making such a noise inside, no one +could possibly hear you." And certainly there _was_ a most +extraordinary noise going on within--a constant howling and sneezing, +and every now and then a great crash, as if a dish or kettle had been +broken to pieces. + +"Please, then," said Alice, "how am I to get in?" + +"There might be some sense in your knocking," the Footman went on, +without attending to her, "if we had the door between us. For +instance, if you were _inside_, you might knock, and I could let you +out, you know." He was looking up into the sky all the time he was +speaking, and this Alice thought decidedly uncivil. "But perhaps he +can't help it," she said to herself; "his eyes are so _very_ nearly at +the top of his head. But at any rate he might answer questions--How am +I to get in?" she repeated, aloud. + +"I shall sit here," the Footman remarked, "till to-morrow--" + +At this moment the door of the house opened, and a large plate came +skimming out, straight at the Footman's head: it just grazed his nose, +and broke to pieces against one of the trees behind him. + +"--or next day, maybe," the Footman continued in the same tone, +exactly as if nothing had happened. + +"How am I to get in?" asked Alice again, in a louder tone. + +"_Are_ you to get in at all?" said the Footman. "That's the first +question, you know." + +It was, no doubt: only Alice did not like to be told so. "It's really +dreadful," she muttered to herself, "the way all the creatures argue. +It's enough to drive one crazy!" + +The Footman seemed to think this a good opportunity for repeating his +remark, with variations. "I shall sit here," he said, "on and off, for +days and days." + +"But what am _I_ to do?" said Alice. + +"Anything you like," said the Footman, and began whistling. + +"Oh, there's no use in talking to him," said Alice desperately: "he's +perfectly idiotic!" And she opened the door and went in. + +The door led right into a large kitchen, which was full of smoke from +one end to the other; the Duchess was sitting on a three-legged stool +in the middle, nursing a baby: the cook was leaning over the fire, +stirring a large caldron which seemed to be full of soup. + +"There's certainly too much pepper in that soup!" Alice said to +herself, as well as she could for sneezing. + +There was certainly too much of it in the _air_. Even the Duchess +sneezed occasionally; and as for the baby, it was sneezing and howling +alternately without a moment's pause. The only two creatures in the +kitchen, that did _not_ sneeze, were the cook, and a large cat, which +was lying on the hearth and grinning from ear to ear. + +"Please would you tell me," said Alice, a little timidly, for she was +not quite sure whether it was good manners for her to speak first, +"why your cat grins like that?" + +"It's a Cheshire-Cat," said the Duchess, "and that's why. Pig!" + +She said the last word with such sudden violence that Alice quite +jumped; but she saw in another moment that it was addressed to the +baby, and not to her, so she took courage, and went on again: + +"I didn't know that Cheshire-Cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't +know that cats _would_ grin." + +"They all can," said the Duchess; "and most of 'em do." + +"I don't know of any that do," Alice said, very politely, feeling +quite pleased to have got into a conversation. + +"You don't know much," said the Duchess; "and that's a fact." + +Alice did not at all like the tone of this remark, and thought it +would be as well to introduce some other subject of conversation. +While she was trying to fix on one, the cook took the caldron of soup +off the fire, and at once set to work throwing everything within her +reach at the Duchess and the baby--the fire-irons came first; then +followed a shower of saucepans, plates, and dishes. The Duchess took +no notice of them even when they hit her; and the baby was howling so +much already, that it was quite impossible to say whether the blows +hurt it or not. + +"Oh, _please_ mind what you're doing!" cried Alice, jumping up and +down in an agony of terror. "Oh, there goes his _precious_ nose!" as +an unusually large saucepan flew close by it, and very nearly carried +it off. + +"If everybody minded their own business," the Duchess said, in a +hoarse growl, "the world would go around a deal faster than it does." + +"Which would _not_ be an advantage," said Alice, who felt very glad to +get an opportunity of showing off a little of her knowledge. "Just +think what work it would make with the day and night! You see the +earth takes twenty-four hours to turn round on its axis--" + +"Talking of axes," said the Duchess, "chop off her head!" + +Alice glanced rather anxiously at the cook, to see if she meant to +take the hint; but the cook was busily stirring the soup, and seemed +not to be listening, so she went on again: "Twenty-four hours, I +_think_; or is it twelve? I--" + +"Oh, don't bother _me_!" said the Duchess. "I never could abide +figures!" And with that she began nursing her child again, singing a +sort of lullaby to it as she did so, and giving it a violent shake at +the end of every line:-- + + "Speak roughly to your little boy, + And beat him when he sneezes: + He only does it to annoy, + Because he knows it teases." + + CHORUS + + (in which the cook and the baby joined): + + "Wow! wow! wow!" + +While the Duchess sang the second verse of the song, she kept tossing +the baby violently up and down, and the poor little thing howled so, +that Alice could hardly hear the words: + + "I speak severely to my boy, + I beat him when he sneezes; + For he can thoroughly enjoy + The pepper when he pleases!" + + CHORUS + + "Wow! wow! wow!" + +"Here! You may nurse it a bit, if you like!" the Duchess said to +Alice, flinging the baby at her as she spoke. "I must go and get ready +to play croquet with the Queen," and she hurried out of the room. The +cook threw a frying-pan after her as she went, but it just missed her. + +Alice caught the baby with some difficulty, as it was a queer-shaped +little creature, and held out its arms and legs in all directions, +"just like a star fish," thought Alice. The poor little thing was +snorting like a steam-engine when she caught it, and kept doubling +itself up and straightening itself out again, so that altogether, for +the first minute or two, it was as much as she could do to hold it. + +As soon as she had made out the proper way of nursing it (which was to +twist it up into a sort of knot, and then keep tight hold of its right +ear and left foot, so as to prevent its undoing itself), she carried +it out into the open air. "If I don't take this child away with me," +thought Alice, "they're sure to kill it in a day or two. Wouldn't it +be murder to leave it behind?" She said the last words out loud, and +the little thing grunted in reply (it had left off sneezing by this +time). "Don't grunt," said Alice; "that's not at all a proper way of +expressing yourself." + +The baby grunted again, and Alice looked very anxiously into its face +to see what was the matter with it. There could be no doubt that it +had a _very_ turn-up nose, much more like a snout than a real nose: +also its eyes were getting extremely small for I a baby: altogether +Alice did not like the look of the thing at all. "But perhaps it was +only sobbing," she thought, and looked into its eyes again, to see if +there were any tears. + +No, there were no tears. "If you're going to turn into a pig, my dear" +said Alice, seriously, "I'll have nothing more to do with you. Mind +now!" The poor little thing sobbed again (or grunted, it was +impossible to say which), and they went on for some while in silence. + +Alice was just beginning to think to herself, "Now, what am I to do +with this creature, when I get it home?" when it grunted again, so +violently, that she looked down into its face in some alarm. This time +there could be _no_ mistake about it: it was neither more nor less +than a pig, and she felt that it would be quite absurd for her to +carry it any further. + +So she set the little creature down, and felt quite relieved to see it +trot away quietly into the wood. "If it had grown up," she said to +herself, "it would have made a dreadfully ugly child: but it makes +rather a handsome pig, I think." And she began thinking over other +children she knew, who might do very well as pigs, and was just saying +to herself, "if one only knew the right way to change them--" when she +was a little startled by seeing the Cheshire-Cat sitting on a bough of +a tree a few yards off. + +The Cat only grinned when it saw Alice. It looked good-natured, she +thought: still it had _very_ long claws and a great many teeth, so she +felt that it ought to be treated with respect. + +"Cheshire-Puss," she began, rather timidly, as she did not at all know +whether it would like the name: however, it only grinned a little +wider. "Come, it's pleased so far," thought Alice, and she went on: +"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" + +"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat. + +"I don't much care where--," said Alice. + +"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat. + +"--so long as I get _somewhere_," Alice added as an explanation. + +"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long +enough." + +Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another +question. "What sort of people live about here?" + +"In _that_ direction," the Cat said, waving its right paw round, +"lives a Hatter: and in _that_ direction," waving the other paw, +"lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad." + +"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. + +"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. +You're mad." + +"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. + +"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here." + +Alice didn't think that proved it at all: however, she went on: "And +how do you know that you're mad?" + +"To begin with," said the Cat, "a dog's not mad. You grant that?" + +"I suppose so," said Alice. + +"Well, then," the Cat went on, "you see a dog growls when it's angry, +and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now _I_ growl when I'm pleased, +and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad." + +"_I_ call it purring, not growling," said Alice. + +"Call it what you like," said the Cat. "Do you play croquet with the +Queen to-day?" + +"I should like it very much," said Alice, "but I haven't been invited +yet." + +"You'll see me there," said the Cat, and vanished. + +Alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so well used to +queer things happening. While she was still looking at the place where +it had been, it suddenly appeared again. + +"By the by, what became of the baby?" said the Cat. "I'd nearly +forgotten to ask." + +"It turned into a pig," Alice answered very quietly, just is if the +Cat had come back in a natural way. + +"I thought it would," said the Cat, and vanished again. + +Alice waited a little, half expecting to see it again, but it did not +appear, and after a minute or two she walked on in the direction in +which the March Hare was said to live. "I've seen hatters before," she +said to herself: "the March Hare will be much the most interesting, +and perhaps, as this is May, it won't be raving mad--at least not so +mad as it was in March." As she said this, she looked up, and there +was the Cat again sitting on a branch of a tree. + +"Did you say 'pig,' or 'fig'?" said the Cat. + +"I said 'pig'," replied Alice; "and I wish you wouldn't keep appearing +and vanishing so suddenly: you make one quite giddy!" + +"All right," said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, +beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with the grin, which +remained some time after the rest of it had gone. + +"Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice; "but a +grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my +life!" + +She had not gone much further before she came in sight of the house of +the March Hare: she thought it must be the right house, because the +chimneys were shaped like ears and the roof was thatched with fur. It +was so large a house, that she did not like to go nearer till she had +nibbled some more of the left-hand bit of mushroom, and raised herself +to about two feet high: even then she walked up toward it rather +timidly, saying to herself, "Suppose it should be raving mad after +all! I almost wish I'd gone to see the Hatter instead!" + + + + +A MAD TEA-PARTY + +By Lewis Carroll + + +There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house, and the +March Hare and the Hatter were having tea at it: a Dormouse was +sitting between them, fast asleep, and the other two were using it as +a cushion, resting their elbows on it, and talking over its head. +"Very uncomfortable for the Dormouse," thought Alice; "only as it's +asleep, I suppose it doesn't mind." + +The table was a large one, but the three were all crowded together at +one corner of it. "No room! No room!" they cried out when they saw +Alice coming. + +"There's _plenty_ of room!" said Alice indignantly, and she sat down +in a large arm-chair at one end of the table. + +"Have some wine," the March Hare said in an encouraging tone. + +Alice looked all round the table, but there was nothing on it but tea. +"I don't see any wine," she remarked. + +"There isn't any," said the March Hare. + +"Then it wasn't very civil of you to offer it," said Alice, angrily. + +"It wasn't very civil of you to sit down without being invited," said +the March Hare. + +"I didn't know it was _your_ table," said Alice: "it's laid for a +great many more than three." + +"Your hair wants cutting," said the Hatter. He had been looking at +Alice for some time with great curiosity, and this was his first +speech. + +"You should learn not to make personal remarks," Alice said with some +severity: "it's very rude." + +The Hatter opened his eyes very wide on hearing this; but all he +_said_ was, "Why is a raven like a writing-desk?" + +"Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've +begun asking riddles--I believe I can guess that," she added, aloud. + +"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said +the March Hare. + +"Exactly so," said Alice. + +"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on. + +"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least--at least I mean what I +say--that's the same thing, you know." + +"Not the same thing a bit!" said the Hatter. "Why, you might just as +well say that 'I see what I eat' is the same thing as 'I eat what I +see'!" + +"You might just as well say," added the March Hare, "that 'I like what +I get' is the same thing as 'I get what I like'!" + +"You might just as well say," added the Dormouse, which seemed to be +talking in its sleep, "that 'I breathe when I sleep' is the same thing +as 'I sleep when I breathe'!" + +"It _is_ the same thing with you," said the Hatter, and here the +conversation dropped, and the party sat silent for a minute, while +Alice thought over all she could remember about ravens and +writing-desks, which wasn't much. + +The Hatter was the first to break the silence. "What day of the month +is it?" he said, turning to Alice: he had taken his watch out of his +pocket, and was looking at it uneasily, shaking it every now and then, +and holding it to his ear. + +Alice considered a little, and then said, "The fourth." + +"Two days wrong!" sighed the Hatter. "I told you butter wouldn't suit +the works!" he added, looking angrily at the March Hare. + +"It was the _best_ butter," the March Hare meekly replied. + +"Yes, but some crumbs must have got in as well," the Hatter grumbled: +"you shouldn't have put it in with the bread-knife." + +The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily: then he +dipped it into his cup of tea, and looked at it again: but he could +think of nothing better to say than his first remark, "It was the +_best_ butter, you know." + +Alice had been looking over his shoulder with some curiosity. "What a +funny watch!" she remarked. "It tells the day of the month, and +doesn't tell what o'clock it is!" + +"Why should it?" muttered the Hatter. "Does _your_ watch tell you what +year it is?" + +"Of course not," Alice replied very readily: "but that's because it +stays the same year for such a long time together." + +"Which is just the case with _mine_," said the Hatter. + +Alice felt dreadfully puzzled. The Hatter's remark seemed to her to +have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English. "I +don't quite understand you," she said, as politely as she could. + +"The Dormouse is asleep again," said the Hatter, and he poured a +little hot tea upon its nose. + +The Dormouse shook its head impatiently, and said, without opening its +eyes, "Of course, of course: just what I was going to remark myself." + +"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice +again. + +"No, I give it up," Alice replied. "What's the answer?" + +"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter. + +"Nor I," said the March Hare. + +Alice sighed wearily. "I think you might do something better with the +time," she said, "than wasting it in asking riddles that have no +answers." + +"If you knew Time as well as I do," said the Hatter, "you wouldn't +talk about wasting _it_. It's _him_." + +"I don't know what you mean," said Alice. + +"Of course you don't!" the Hatter said, tossing his head +contemptuously. "I dare say you never even spoke to Time!" + +"Perhaps not," Alice cautiously replied; "but I know I have to beat +time when I learn music." + +"Ah! That accounts for it," said the Hatter. "He won't stand beating. +Now, if you only kept on good terms with him, he'd do almost anything +you liked with the clock. For instance, suppose it were nine o'clock +in the morning, just time to begin lessons: you'd only have to whisper +a hint to Time, and round goes the clock in a twinkling! Half-past +one, time for dinner!" + +("I only wish it was," the March Hare said to itself in a whisper.) + +"That would be grand, certainly," said Alice thoughtfully; "but then--I +shouldn't be hungry for it, you know." + +"Not at first, perhaps," said the Hatter: "but you could keep it to +half-past one as long as you liked." + +"Is that the way _you_ manage?" Alice asked. + +The Hatter shook his head mournfully. "Not I!" he replied. "We +quarrelled last March--just before _he_ went mad, you know--" +(pointing with his teaspoon at the March Hare), "--it was at the great +concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing: + + 'Twinkle, twinkle, little bat! + How I wonder what you're at!' + +You know the song, perhaps?" + +"I've heard something like it," said Alice. + +"It goes on, you know," the Hatter continued, "in this way:-- + + 'Up above the world you fly, + Like a tea-tray in the sky. + Twinkle, twinkle--'" + +Here the Dormouse shook itself, and began singing in its sleep, +"_Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle--_" and went on so long that they +had to pinch it to make it stop. + +"Well, I'd hardly finished the first verse," said the Hatter, "when +the Queen bawled out 'He's murdering the time! Off with his head!'" + +"How dreadfully savage!" exclaimed Alice. + +"And ever since that," the Hatter went on in a mournful tone, "he +won't do a thing I ask! It's always six o'clock now." + +A bright idea came into Alice's head. "Is that the reason so many +tea-things are put out here?" she asked. + +"Yes, that's it," said the Hatter with a sigh: "it's always tea-time, +and we've no time to wash the things between whiles." + +"Then you keep moving round, I suppose?" said Alice. + +"Exactly so," said the Hatter: "as the things get used up." + +"But what happens when you come to the beginning again?" Alice +ventured to ask. + +"Suppose we change the subject," the March Hare interrupted, yawning. +"I'm getting tired of this. I vote the young lady tells us a story." + +"I'm afraid I don't know one," said Alice, rather alarmed at the +proposal. + +"Then the Dormouse shall!" they both cried, "Wake up, Dormouse!" And +they pinched it on both sides at once. + +The Dormouse slowly opened its eyes. "I wasn't asleep," it said in a +hoarse, feeble voice, "I heard every word you fellows were saying." + +"Tell us a story!" said the March Hare. + +"Yes, please do!" pleaded Alice. + +"And be quick about it," added the Hatter, "or you'll be asleep again +before it's done." + +"Once upon a time there were three little sisters," the Dormouse began +in a great hurry; "and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and +they lived at the bottom of a well--" + +"What did they live on?" said Alice, who always took a great interest +in questions of eating and drinking. + +"They lived on treacle," said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or +two. + +"They couldn't have done that, you know," Alice gently remarked. +"They'd have been ill." + +"So they were," said the Dormouse; "_very_ ill." + +Alice tried a little to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary +way of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much: so she went +on: + +"But why did they live at the bottom of a well?" + +"Take some more tea", the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. + +"I've had nothing yet", Alice replied in an offended tone: "so I can't +take more." + +"You mean you can't take _less_," said the Hatter: "it's very easy +to take _more_ than nothing." + +"Nobody asked _your_ opinion," said Alice. + +"Who's making personal remarks now?" the Hatter asked triumphantly. + +Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped herself to +some tea and bread-and-butter, and then turned to the Dormouse, and +repeated her question. "Why did they live at the bottom of a well?" + +The Dormouse again took a minute or two to think about it, and then +said, "It was a treacle-well." + +"There's no such thing!" Alice was beginning very angrily, but the +Hatter and the March Hare went, "Sh! Sh!" and the Dormouse sulkily +remarked, "If you can't be civil, you'd better finish the story for +yourself." + +"No, please go on!" Alice said very humbly, "I won't interrupt you +again. I dare say there may be _one_." + +"One, indeed!" said the Dormouse indignantly. However, he consented to +go on. "And so these three little sisters--they were learning to draw, +you know--" + +"What did they draw?" said Alice, quite forgetting her promise. + +"Treacle," said the Dormouse, without considering at all, this time. + +"I want a clean cup," interrupted the Hatter: "let's all move one +place on." + +He moved on as he spoke, and the Dormouse followed him: the March Hare +moved into the Dormouse's place, and Alice rather unwillingly took the +place of the March Hare. The Hatter was the only one who got any +advantage from the change; and Alice was a good deal worse off than +before, as the March Hare had just upset the milk-jug into his plate. + +Alice did not wish to offend the Dormouse again, so she began very +cautiously: "But I don't understand. Where did they draw the treacle +from?" + +"You can draw water out of a water-well," said the Hatter; "so I +should think you could draw treacle out of a treacle-well--eh, +stupid?" + +"But they were _in_ the well," Alice said to the Dormouse, not +choosing to notice this last remark. + +"Of course they were," said the Dormouse: "well in." + +This answer so confused poor Alice, that she let the Dormouse go on +for some time without interrupting it. + +"They were learning to draw," the Dormouse went on, yawning and +rubbing its eyes, for it was getting very sleepy; "and they drew all +manner of things--everything that begins with an M--" + +"Why with an M?" said Alice. + +"Why not?" said the March Hare. + +Alice was silent. + +The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going off into +a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a +little shriek, and went on: "--that begins with an M, such as +mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness--you know you say +things are 'much of a muchness'--did you ever see such a thing as a +drawing of a muchness?" + +"Really, now you ask me," said Alice, very much confused, "I don't +think--" + +"Then you shouldn't talk," said the Hatter. + +This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in +great disgust, and walked off: the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and +neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she +looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: +the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into +the tea-pot. + +"At any rate I'll never go _there_ again!" said Alice, as she picked +her way through the wood. "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at +in all my life!" + +Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a door +leading right into it. "That's very curious!" she thought. "But +everything's curious to-day. I think I may as well go in at once." And +in she went. + +Once more she found herself in the long hall, and close to the little +glass table. "Now, I'll manage better this time," she said to herself, +and began by taking the little golden key, and unlocking the door that +led into the garden. Then she set to work nibbling at the mushroom +(she had kept a piece of it in her pocket) till she was about a foot +high: then she walked down the little passage: and _then_--she found +herself at last in the beautiful garden among the bright flower-beds +and the cool fountains. + + + + +THE QUEEN'S CROQUET GROUND + +By Lewis Carroll + + +A large rose-tree stood near the entrance of the garden: the roses +growing on it were white, but there were three gardeners at it, busily +painting them red. Alice thought this a very curious thing, and she +went nearer to watch them, and, just as she came up to them, she heard +one of them say, "Look out, now, Five! Don't go splashing paint over me +like that!" + +"I couldn't help it," said Five, in a sulky tone. "Seven jogged my +elbow." + +On which Seven looked up and said, "That's right, Five! Always lay the +blame on others!" + +"_You'd_ better not talk!" said Five. "I heard the Queen say only +yesterday you deserved to be beheaded." + +"What for?" said the one who had spoken first. + +"That's none of _your_ business, Two!" said Seven. + +"Yes, it _is_ his business!" said Five. "And I'll tell him--it was for +bringing the cook tulip-roots instead of onions." + +Seven flung down his brush, and had just begun, "Well, of all the +unjust things--" when his eye chanced to fall upon Alice, as she stood +watching them, and he checked himself suddenly: the others looked +round also, and all of them bowed low. + +"Would you tell me, please," said Alice, a little timidly, "why you +are painting those roses?" + +Five and Seven said nothing, but looked at Two. Two began, in a low +voice, "Why, the fact is, you see, Miss, this here ought to have been +a _red_ rose-tree, and we put a white one in by mistake; and, if the +Queen was to find it out, we should all have our heads cut off, you +know. So you see, Miss, we're doing out best, afore she comes, to--" +At this moment, Five, who had been anxiously looking across the +garden, called out, "The Queen! The Queen!" and the three gardeners +instantly threw themselves flat upon their faces. There was a sound of +many footsteps, and Alice looked round, eager to see the Queen. + +First came ten soldiers carrying clubs: these were all shaped like the +three gardeners, oblong and flat, with their hands and feet at the +corners: next the ten courtiers: these were ornamented all over with +diamonds, and walked two and two, as the soldiers did. After these +came the royal children: there were ten of them, and the little dears +came jumping merrily along, hand in hand, in couples: they were all +ornamented with hearts. Next came the guests, mostly Kings and Queens, +and among them Alice recognized the White Rabbit: it was talking in a +hurried nervous manner, smiling at everything that was said, and went +by without noticing her. Then followed the Knave of Hearts, carrying +the King's crown on a crimson velvet cushion; and, last of all this +grand procession, came THE KING AND THE QUEEN OF HEARTS. + +Alice was rather doubtful whether she ought not to lie down on her +face like the three gardeners, but she could not remember ever having +heard of such a rule at processions; "and besides, what would be the +use of a procession," thought she, "if people had all to lie down on +their faces, so that they couldn't see it?" So she stood where she +was, and waited. + +When the procession came opposite to Alice, they all stopped and +looked at her, and the Queen said, severely, "Who is this?" + +She said it to the Knave of Hearts, who only bowed and smiled in +reply. + +"Idiot!" said the Queen, tossing her head impatiently: and, turning to +Alice, she went on: "What's your name, child?" + +"My name is Alice, so please your Majesty," said Alice very politely; +but she added, to herself, "Why, they're only a pack of cards after +all. I needn't be afraid of them!" + +"And who are _these_?" said the Queen, pointing to the three gardeners +who were lying round the rose-tree; for, you see, as they were lying +on their faces, and the pattern on their backs was the same as the +rest of the pack, she could not tell whether they were gardeners, or +soldiers, or courtiers, or three of her own children. + +"How should _I_ know!" said Alice, surprised at her own courage. "It's +no business of mine." + +The Queen turned crimson with fury, and, after glaring at her for a +moment like a wild beast, began screaming, "Off with her head! Off +with--" + +"Nonsense!" said Alice, very loudly and decidedly, and the Queen was +silent. + +The King laid his hand upon her arm, and timidly said, "Consider, my +dear: she is only a child!" + +The Queen turned angrily away from him, and said to the Knave, "Turn +them over!" + +The Knave did so, very carefully, with one foot. + +"Get up!" said the Queen in a shrill, loud voice, and the three +gardeners instantly jumped up, and began bowing to the King, Queen, +the royal children, and everybody else. + +"Leave off that!" screamed the Queen. "You make me giddy." And then, +turning to the rose-tree, she went on "What _have_ you been doing +here?" + +"May it please your Majesty," said Two, in a very humble tone, going +down on one knee as he spoke, "we were trying--" + +"_I_ see!" said the Queen, who had meanwhile been examining the +roses. "Off with their heads!" and the procession moved on, three of +the soldiers remaining behind to execute the unfortunate gardeners, +who ran to Alice for protection. + +"You shan't be beheaded!" said Alice, and she put them into a large +flower-pot that stood near. The three soldiers wandered about for a +minute or two, looking for them, and then quietly marched off after +the others. + +"Are their heads off?" shouted the Queen. + +"Their heads are gone, if it please your Majesty!" the soldiers +shouted in reply. + +"That's right!" shouted the Queen. "Can you play croquet?" + +The soldiers were silent, and looked at Alice, as the question was +evidently meant for her. + +"Yes!" shouted Alice. + +"Come on, then!" roared the Queen, and Alice joined the procession, +wondering very much what would happen next. + +"It's--it's a very fine day!" said a timid voice at her side. She was +walking by the White Rabbit, who was peeping anxiously into her face. + +"Very," said Alice. "Where's the Duchess?" + +"Hush! Hush!" said the Rabbit in a low hurried tone. He looked +anxiously over his shoulder as he spoke, and then raised himself upon +tiptoe, put his mouth close to her ear, and whispered, "She's under +sentence of execution." + +"What for?" said Alice. + +"Did you say, 'What a pity!'?" the Rabbit asked. + +"No, _I_ didn't," said Alice. "I don't think it's at all a pity. +I said 'What for?'" + +"She boxed the Queen's ears--" the Rabbit began. Alice gave a little +scream of laughter. "Oh, hush!" the Rabbit whispered in a frightened +tone. "The Queen will hear you! You see she came rather late, and the +Queen said--" + +"Get to your places!" shouted the Queen in a voice of thunder, and +people began running about in all directions, tumbling up against each +other: however, they got settled down in a minute or two, and the game +began. + +Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet-ground in her +life: it was all ridges and furrows: the croquet balls were live +hedgehogs, and the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to +double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet, to make the +arches. + +The chief difficulty Alice found at first was in managing her +flamingo: she succeeded in getting its body tucked away comfortably +enough under her arm, with its legs hanging down, but generally, just +as she had got its neck nicely straightened out, and was going to give +the hedgehog a blow with its head, it _would_ twist itself round and +look up in her face, with such a puzzled expression that she could not +help bursting out laughing; and, when she had got its head down, and +was going to begin again, it was very provoking to find that the +hedgehog had unrolled itself, and was in the act of crawling away: +besides all this, there was generally a ridge or a furrow in the way +wherever she wanted to send the hedgehog to, and, as the doubled-up +soldiers were always getting up and walking off to other parts of the +ground, Alice soon came to the conclusion that it was a very difficult +game indeed. + +The players all played at once, without waiting for turns, quarrelling +all the while, and fighting for the hedgehogs; and in a very short +time the Queen was in a furious passion, and went stamping about and +shouting, "Off with his head!" or "Off with her head!" about once in a +minute. + +Alice began to feel very uneasy: to be sure she had not as yet had any +dispute with the Queen, but she knew that it might happen any minute, +"and then," thought she, "what would become of me? They're dreadfully +fond of beheading people here: the great wonder is that there's any +one left alive!" + +She was looking about for some way of escape, and wondering whether +she could get away without being seen when she noticed a curious +appearance in the air: it puzzled her very much at first, but after +watching it a minute or two she made it out to be a grin, and she said +to herself, "It's the Cheshire-Cat: now I shall have somebody to talk +to." + +"How are you getting on?" said the Cat, as soon as there was mouth +enough for it to speak with. + +Alice waited till the eyes appeared, and then nodded. "It's no use +speaking to it," she thought, "till its ears have come, or at least +one of them." In another minute the whole head appeared, and then +Alice put down her flamingo, and began an account of the game, feeling +very glad she had some one to listen to her. The Cat seemed to think +that there was enough of it now in sight, and no more of it appeared. + +"I don't think they play at all fairly," Alice began, in rather a +complaining tone, "and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can't hear +one's self speak--and they don't seem to have any rules in particular: +at least, if there are, nobody attends to them--and you've no idea how +confusing it is all the things being alive: for instance, there's the +arch I've got to go through next walking about at the other end of the +ground--and I should have croqueted the Queen's hedgehog just now, +only it ran away when it saw mine coming!" + +"How do you like the Queen?" said the Cat in a low voice. + +"Not at all," said Alice: "she's so extremely--" Just then she noticed +that the Queen was close behind her, listening: so she went on +"--likely to win, that it's hardly worth while finishing the game." + +The Queen smiled and passed on. + +"Who _are_ you talking to?" said the King, coming up to Alice, and +looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity. + +"It's a friend of mine--a Cheshire-Cat," said Alice: "allow me to +introduce it." + +"I don't like the look of it at all," said the King: "however, it may +kiss my hand, if it likes." + +"I'd rather not," the Cat remarked. + +"Don't be impertinent," said the King, "and don't look at me like +that!" He got behind Alice as he spoke. + +"A cat may look at a king," said Alice. "I've read that in some book, +but I don't remember where." + +"Well, it must be removed," said the King very decidedly; and he +called to the Queen, who was passing at the moment, "My dear! I wish +you would have this Cat removed!" + +The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or +small. "Off with his head!" she said without even looking round. + +"I'll fetch the executioner myself," said the King eagerly, and he +hurried off. + +Alice thought she might as well go back and see how the game was going +on, as she heard the Queen's voice in the distance, screaming with +passion. She had already heard her sentence three of the players to be +executed for having missed their turns, and she did not like the look +of things at all, as the game was in such confusion that she never +knew whether it was her turn or not. So she went off in search of her +hedgehog. + +The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, which +seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one of them +with the other: the only difficulty was, that her flamingo was gone +across to the other side of the garden, where Alice could see it +trying in a helpless sort of way to fly up into a tree. + +By the time she had caught the flamingo and brought it back, the fight +was over, and both the hedgehogs were out of sight: "but it doesn't +matter much," thought Alice, "as all the arches are gone from this +side of the ground." So she tucked it away under her arm, that it +might not escape again, and went back to have a little more +conversation with her friend. + +When she got back to the Cheshire-Cat, she was surprised to find quite +a large crowd collected round it: there was a dispute going on between +the executioner, the King, and the Queen, who were all talking at +once, while all the rest were quite silent, and looked very +uncomfortable. + +The moment Alice appeared, she was appealed to by all three to settle +the question, and they repeated their arguments to her, though, as +they all spoke at once, she found it very hard to make out exactly +what they said. + +The executioner's argument was, that you couldn't cut off a head +unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to +do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin at _his_ time of +life. + +The King's argument was that anything that had a head could be +beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense. + +The Queen's argument was that, if something wasn't done about it in +less than no time, she'd have everybody executed, all round. (It was +this last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and +anxious.) + +Alice could think of nothing else to say but "It belongs to the +Duchess: you'd better ask _her_ about it." + +"She's in prison," the Queen said to the executioner: "fetch her +here." And the executioner went off like an arrow. + +The Cat's head began fading away the moment he was gone, and, by the +time he had come back with the Duchess, it had entirely disappeared: +so the King and the executioner ran wildly up and down, looking for +it, while the rest of the party went back to the game. + + + + +THE MOCK TURTLE'S STORY + +By Lewis Carroll + + +"You can't think how glad I am to see you, again, you dear old thing!" +said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice's, +and they walked off together. + +Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and thought +to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so +savage when they met in the kitchen. + +"When _I'm_ a Duchess," she said to herself (not in a very hopeful +tone, though), "I won't have any pepper in my kitchen _at all_. Soup +does very well without--Maybe it's always pepper that makes people +hot-tempered," she went on, very much pleased at having found out a +new kind of rule, "and vinegar that makes them sour--and camomile that +makes them bitter--and--and barley-sugar and such things that make +children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew _that_: then they +wouldn't be so stingy about it, you know--" + +She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little +startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. "You're thinking +about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can't +tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it +in a bit." + +"Perhaps it hasn't one," Alice ventured to remark. + +"Tut, tut, child!" said the Duchess. "Everything's got a moral, if +only you can find it." And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice's +side as she spoke. + +Alice did not much like her keeping so close to her: first, because +the Duchess was _very_ ugly; and secondly, because she was exactly the +right height to rest her chin on Alice's shoulder, and it was an +uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not like to be rude: so she +bore it as well as she could. + +"The game's going on rather better now," she said, by way of keeping +up the conversation a little. + +"'Tis so," said the Duchess: "and the moral of that is--'Oh, 'tis +love, 'tis love, that makes the world go round!'" + +"Somebody said," Alice whispered, "that it's done by everybody minding +their own business!" + +"Ah, well! It means much the same thing," said the Duchess, digging +her sharp little chin into Alice's shoulder as she added, "and the +moral of that is--'Take care of the sense, and the sounds will take +care of themselves.'" + +"How fond she is of finding morals in things!" Alice thought to +herself. + +"I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your waist," +the Duchess said, after a pause: "the reason is, that I'm doubtful +about the temper of your flamingo. Shall I try the experiment?" + +"He might bite," Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious +to have the experiment tried. + +"Very true," said the Duchess: "flamingoes and mustard both bite. And +the moral of that is--'Birds of a feather flock together.'" + +"Only mustard isn't a bird," Alice remarked. + +"Right, as usual," said the Duchess: "what a clear way you have of +putting things!" + +"It's a mineral, I _think_," said Alice. + +"Of course it is," said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to +everything that Alice said: "there's a large mustard mine near here. +And the moral of that is--'The more there is of mine, the less there +is of yours.'" + +"Oh, I know!" exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last +remark, "It's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is." + +"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that +is--'Be what you would seem to be'--or, if you'd like it put more +simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might +appear to others that what you were or might have been was not +otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be +otherwise.'" + +"I think I should understand that better," Alice said very politely, +"if I had it written down: but I can't quite follow it as you say it." + +"That's nothing to what I could say if I chose," the Duchess replied, +in a pleased tone. + +"Pray don't trouble yourself to say it any longer than that," said +Alice. + +"Oh, don't talk about trouble!" said the Duchess. "I make you a +present of everything I've said as yet." + +"A cheap sort of present," thought Alice. "I'm glad people don't give +birthday presents like that!" But she did not venture to say it out +loud. + +"Thinking again?" the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp +little chin. + +"I've a right to think," said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to +feel a little worried. + +"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly; +and the m--" + +But here, to Alice's great surprise, the Duchess's voice died away, +even in the middle of her favorite word "moral," and the arm that was +linked into hers began to tremble. + +Alice looked up, and there stood the Queen in front of them, with her +arms folded, frowning like a thunderstorm. + +"A fine day, your Majesty!" the Duchess began in a low, weak voice. + +"Now, I give you fair warning," shouted the Queen, stamping on the +ground as she spoke; "either you or your head must be off, and that in +about half no time! Take your choice!" + +The Duchess took her choice, and was gone in a moment. + +"Let's go on with the game," the Queen said to Alice; and Alice was +too much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her back to the +croquet ground. + +The other guests had taken advantage of the Queen's absence, and were +resting in the shade: however, the moment they saw her they hurried +back to the game, the Queen merely remarking that a moment's delay +would cost them their lives. + +[Illustration: THE KING AND QUEEN OF HEARTS WERE SEATED ON THEIR +THRONE] + +All the time they were playing the Queen never left off quarrelling +with the other players and shouting, "Off with his head!" or "Off with +her head!" + +Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who +of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that, by the +end of half an hour or so, there were no arches left, and all the +players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and +under sentence of execution. + +Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice: + +"Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?" + +"No," said Alice. "I don't even know what a Mock Turtle is." + +"It's the thing Mock Turtle soup is made from," said the Queen. + +"I never saw one, or heard of one," said Alice. + +"Come on, then," said the Queen, "and he shall tell you his history." + +As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say in a low voice, +to the company generally, "You are all pardoned." "Come, _that's_ a +good thing!" she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at +the number of executions the Queen had ordered. + +They very soon came upon a Gryphon, lying fast asleep in the sun. "Up, +lazy thing!" said the Queen, "and take this young lady to see the Mock +Turtle, and to hear his history. I must go back and see after some +executions I have ordered;" and she walked off, leaving Alice alone +with the Gryphon. + +Alice did not quite like the look of the creature, but on the whole +she thought it would be quite as safe to stay with it as to go after +that savage Queen: so she waited. + +The Gryphon sat up and rubbed its eyes: then it watched the Queen till +she was out of sight: then it chuckled. + +"What fun!" said the Gryphon, half to itself, half to Alice. + +"What _is_ the fun?" said Alice. + +"Why, _she_," said the Gryphon. "It's all her fancy, that: they never +executes nobody, you know. Come on!" + +"Everybody says 'come on!' here," thought Alice, as she went slowly +after it: "I never was so ordered about before, in all my life, +never!" + +They had not gone far before they saw the Mock Turtle in the distance, +sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock, and, as they came +nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break. + +She pitied him deeply. "What is his sorrow?" she asked the Gryphon. +And the Gryphon answered, very nearly in the same words as before, +"It's all his fancy, that: he hasn't got no sorrow, you know. Come +on!" + +So they went up to the Mock Turtle, who looked at them with large eyes +full of tears, but said nothing. + +"This here young lady," said the Gryphon, "she wants for to know your +history, she do." + +"I'll tell it her," said the Mock Turtle in a deep, hollow tone. "Sit +down, both of you, and don't speak a word till I've finished." + +So they sat down, and nobody spoke for some minutes. Alice thought to +herself "I don't see how he can _ever_ finish, if he doesn't begin." +But she waited patiently. + +"Once," said the Mock Turtle at last, with a deep sigh, "I was a real +Turtle." + +These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an +occasional exclamation of "Hjckrrh!" from the Gryphon, and the +constant heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle. Alice was very nearly +getting up and saying, "Thank you, Sir, for your interesting story," +but she could not help thinking there _must_ be more to come, so she +sat still and said nothing. + +"When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on at last, more calmly, +though still sobbing a little now and then, "we went to school in the +sea. The master was an old Turtle--we used to call him Tortoise--" + +"Why did you call him Tortoise, if he wasn't one?" Alice asked. + +"We called him Tortoise because he taught us," said the Mock Turtle +angrily. "Really you are very dull!" + +"You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple +question," added the Gryphon; and then they both sat silent and looked +at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. At last the +Gryphon said to the Mock Turtle, "Drive on, old fellow! Don't be all +day about it!" and he went on in these words: + +"Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't believe it--" + +"I never said I didn't!" interrupted Alice. + +"You did," said the Mock Turtle. + +"Hold your tongue!" added the Gryphon, before Alice could speak again. +The Mock Turtle went on: + +"We had the best of educations--in fact, we went to school every +day--" + +"_I've_ been to a day-school, too," said Alice. "You needn't be +so proud as all that." + +"With extras?" asked the Mock Turtle, a little anxiously. + +"Yes," said Alice; "we learned French and music." + +"And washing?" said the Mock Turtle. + +"Certainly not!" said Alice indignantly. + +"Ah! Then yours wasn't a really good school," said the Mock Turtle in +a tone of great relief. "Now, at _ours_, they had, at the end of the +bill, 'French, music, _and washing_--extra.'" + +"You couldn't have wanted it much," said Alice; "living at the bottom +of the sea." + +"I couldn't afford to learn it," said the Mock Turtle with a sigh. "I +only took the regular course." + +"What was that?" inquired Alice. + +"Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with," the Mock Turtle +replied; "and then the different branches of Arithmetic--Ambition, +Distraction, Uglification, and Derision." + +"I never heard of 'Uglification,'" Alice ventured to say. "What is +it?" + +The Gryphon lifted up both its paws in surprise. "Never heard of +uglifying!" it exclaimed. "You know what to beautify is, I suppose?" + +"Yes," said Alice doubtfully: "it means--to--make--anything--prettier." + +"Well, then," the Gryphon went on, "if you don't know what to uglify +is, you _are_ a simpleton." + +Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it: so +she turned to the Mock Turtle, and said, "What else had you to learn?" + +"Well, there was Mystery," the Mock Turtle replied, counting off the +subjects on his flappers--"Mystery, ancient and modern, with +Seaography: then Drawling--the Drawling-master was an old conger-eel, +that used to come once a week: _he_ taught us Drawling, Stretching, +and Fainting in Coils." + +"What was _that_ like?" said Alice. + +"Well, I can't show it you, myself," the Mock Turtle said: "I'm too +stiff. And the Gryphon never learned it." + +"Hadn't time," said the Gryphon: "I went to the Classical master, +though. He was an old crab, _he_ was." + +"I never went to him," the Mock Turtle said with a sigh. "He taught +Laughing and Grief, they used to say." + +"So he did, so he did," said the Gryphon, sighing in his turn; and +both creatures hid their faces in their paws. + +"And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry +to change the subject. + +"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: "nine the next, and +so on." + +"What a curious plan!" exclaimed Alice. + +"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: +"because they lessen from day to day." + +This was quite a new idea to Alice, and she thought it over a little +before she made her next remark. "Then the eleventh day must have been +a holiday?" + +"Of course it was," said the Mock Turtle. + +"And how did you manage on the twelfth?" Alice went on eagerly. + +"That's enough about lessons," the Gryphon interrupted in a very +decided tone. "Tell her something about the games now." + + + + +THE LOBSTER-QUADRILLE + +By Lewis Carroll + + +The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and drew the back of one flapper across +his eyes. He looked at Alice and tried to speak, but, for a minute or +two, sobs choked his voice. "Same as if he had a bone in his throat," +said the Gryphon; and it set to work shaking him and punching him in +the back. At last the Mock Turtle recovered his voice, and, with tears +running down his cheeks, he went on again: + +"You may not have lived much under the sea--" ("I haven't," said +Alice)--"and perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster--" +(Alice began to say, "I once tasted--" but checked herself hastily, +and said, "No, never") "--so you can have no idea what a delightful +thing a Lobster-Quadrille is!" + +"No, indeed," said Alice. "What sort of a dance is it?" + +"Why," said the Gryphon, "you first form into a line along the +sea-shore--" + +"Two lines!" cried the Mock Turtle. "Seals, turtles, salmon, and so +on: then, when you've cleared all the jelly-fish out of the way--" + +"_That_ generally takes some time," interrupted the Gryphon. + +"--you advance twice--" + +"Each with a lobster as a partner!" cried the Gryphon. + +"Of course," the Mock Turtle said: "advance twice, set to partners--" + +"--change lobsters, and retire in same order," continued the Gryphon. + +"Then, you know," the Mock Turtle went on, "you throw the--" + +"The lobsters!" shouted the Gryphon, with a bound into the air. + +"--as far out to sea as you can--" + +"Swim after them!" screamed the Gryphon. + +"Turn a somersault in the sea!" cried the Mock Turtle, capering wildly +about. + +"Change lobsters again!" yelled the Gryphon at the top of its voice. + +"Back to land again, and--that's all the first figure," said the Mock +Turtle, suddenly dropping his voice; and the two creatures, who had +been jumping about like mad things all this time, sat down again very +sadly and quietly and looked at Alice. + +"It must be a very pretty dance," said Alice timidly. + +"Would you like to see a little of it?" said the Mock Turtle. + +"Very much indeed," said Alice. + +"Come, let's try the first figure!" said the Mock Turtle to the Gryphon. +"We can do it without lobsters, you know. Which shall sing?" + +"Oh, _you_ sing," said the Gryphon. "I've forgotten the words." + +So they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, every now and +then treading on her toes when they passed too close, and waving their +fore-paws to mark the time, while the Mock Turtle sang this, very +slowly and sadly: + + "Will you walk a little faster?" said a whiting to a snail, + "There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my + tail. + See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance! + They are waiting on the shingle--will you come and join the + dance? + Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the + dance? + Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the + dance? + + "You can really have no notion how delightful it will be + When they take us up and throw us, with the lobsters, out + to sea!" + But the snail replied, "Too far, too far!" and gave a look + askance-- + + Said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join + the dance. + Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join + the dance. + Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join + the dance. + + "What matters it how far we go?" his scaly friend replied. + "There is another shore, you know, upon the other side. + The further off from England the nearer is to France-- + Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the + dance. + Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the + dance? + Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, won't you join the + dance?" + +"Thank you, it's a very interesting dance to watch," said Alice, +feeling very glad that it was over at last: "and I do so like that +curious song about the whiting!" + +"Oh, as to the whiting," said the Mock Turtle, "they--you've seen +them, of course?" + +"Yes," said Alice, "I've often seen them at dinn--" she checked +herself hastily. + +"I don't know where Dinn may be," said the Mock Turtle; "but, if +you've seen them so often, of course you know what they're like?" + +"I believe so," Alice replied thoughtfully. "They have their tails in +their mouths--and they're all over crumbs." + +"You're wrong about the crumbs," said the Mock Turtle: "crumbs would +all wash off in the sea. But they _have_ their tails in their mouths; +and the reason is--" here the Mock Turtle yawned and shut his eyes. + +"Tell her about the reason and all that," he said to the Gryphon. + +"The reason is," said the Gryphon, "that they _would_ go with the +lobsters to the dance. So they got thrown out to sea. So they had to +fall a long way. So they got their tails fast in their mouths. So they +couldn't get them out again. That's all." + +"Thank you," said Alice, "it's very interesting. I never knew so much +about a whiting before." + +"I can tell you more than that, if you like," said the Gryphon. "Do +you know why it's called a whiting?" + +"I never thought about it," said Alice. "Why?" + +"_It does the boots and shoes_," the Gryphon replied very solemnly. + +Alice was thoroughly puzzled. "Does the boots and shoes!" she repeated +in a wondering tone. + +"Why, what are _your_ shoes done with?" said the Gryphon. "I mean, +what makes them so shiny?" + +Alice looked down at them, and considered a little before she gave her +answer. "They're done with blacking, I believe." + +"Boots and shoes under the sea," the Gryphon went on in a deep voice, +"are done with whiting. Now you know." + +"And what are they made of?" Alice asked in a tone of great curiosity. + +"Soles and eels, of course," the Gryphon replied, rather impatiently: +"any shrimp could have told you that." + +"If I'd been the whiting," said Alice, whose thoughts were still +running on the song, "I'd have said to the porpoise, 'Keep back, +please! We don't want _you_ with us!'" + +"They were obliged to have him with them," the Mock Turtle said. "No +wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise." + +"Wouldn't it really?" said Alice, in a tone of great surprise. + +"Of course not," said the Mock Turtle. "Why, if a fish came to _me_ +and told me he was going a journey, I should say, 'With what +porpoise?'" + +"Don't you mean 'purpose'?" said Alice. + +"I mean what I say," the Mock Turtle replied, in an offended tone. +And the Gryphon added, "Come, let's hear some of _your_ adventures." + +"I could tell you my adventures--beginning from this morning," said +Alice a little timidly; "but it's no use going back to yesterday, +because I was a different person then." + +"Explain all that," said the Mock Turtle. + +"No, no! The adventures first," said the Gryphon in an impatient tone: +"explanations take such a dreadful time." + +So Alice began telling them her adventures from the time when she +first saw the White Rabbit. She was a little nervous about it, just at +first, the two creatures got so close to her, one on each side, and +opened their eyes and mouths so _very_ wide; but she gained +courage as she went on. Her listeners were perfectly quiet till she +got to the part about her repeating, "_You are old, Father William_," +to the Caterpillar, and the words all coming different, and then the +Mock Turtle drew a long breath, and said, "That's very curious!" + +"It's all about as curious as it can be," said the Gryphon. + +"It all came different!" the Mock Turtle repeated thoughtfully. "I +should like to hear her try and repeat something now. Tell her to +begin." He looked at the Gryphon as if he thought it had some kind of +authority over Alice. + +"Stand up and repeat, '_Tis the voice of the sluggard_,'" said +the Gryphon. + +"How the creatures order one about, and make one repeat lessons!" +thought Alice. "I might just as well be at school at once." However, +she got up, and began to repeat it, but her head was so full of the +Lobster-Quadrille, that she hardly knew what she was saying; and the +words came very queer indeed: + + "'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare + 'You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair.' + As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose + Trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes. + When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark, + And will talk in contemptuous tones of the shark; + But, when the tide rises and sharks are around, + His voice has a timid and tremulous sound." + +"That's different from what _I_ used to say when I was a child," +said the Gryphon. + +"Well, _I_ never heard it before," said the Mock Turtle, "but it +sounds uncommon nonsense." + +Alice said nothing: she had sat down with her face in her hands, +wondering if anything would _ever_ happen in a natural way again. + +"I should like to have it explained," said the Mock Turtle. + +"She can't explain it," said the Gryphon hastily, "Go on with the next +verse." + +"But about his toes?" the Mock Turtle persisted. "How _could_ he turn +them out with his nose, you know?" + +"It's the first position in dancing," Alice said; but she was +dreadfully puzzled by the whole thing, and longed to change the +subject. + +"Go on with the next verse," the Gryphon repeated: "it begins, '_I +passed by his garden_!'" + +Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it would all come +wrong, and she went on in a trembling voice:-- + + "I passed by his garden and marked, with one eye, + How the Owl and the Panther were sharing a pie: + The Panther took pie-crust, and gravy, and meat, + While the Owl had the dish as its share of the treat. + When the pie was all finished, the Owl, as a boon, + Was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon: + While the Panther received knife and fork with a growl, + And concluded the banquet by--" + +"What _is_ the use of repeating all that stuff?" the Mock Turtle +interrupted, "if you don't explain it as you go on? It's by far the +most confusing thing _I_ ever heard!" + +"Yes, I think you'd better leave off," said the Gryphon, and Alice was +only too glad to do so. + +"Shall we try another figure of the Lobster Quadrille?" the Gryphon +went on. "Or would you like the Mock Turtle to sing you another song?" + +"Oh, a song, please, if the Mock Turtle would be so kind," Alice +replied, so eagerly that the Gryphon said, in a rather offended tone, +"Hm! No accounting for tastes! Sing her '_Turtle Soup_,' will you, old +fellow?" + +The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and began, in a voice choked with sobs, +to sing this:-- + + "Beautiful Soup, so rich and green, + Waiting in a hot tureen! + Who for such dainties would not stoop? + Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! + Soup of the evening, beautiful Soup! + Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! + Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! + Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, + Beautiful, beautiful Soup! + + "Beautiful Soup! Who cares for fish, + Game, or any other dish? + Who would not give all else for two + pennyworth only of beautiful Soup? + Pennyworth only of beautiful Soup? + Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! + Beau--ootiful Soo--oop! + Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, + Beautiful, beauti--FUL SOUP!" + +"Chorus again!" cried the Gryphon, and the Mock Turtle had just begun +to repeat it, when a cry of "The trial's beginning!" was heard in the +distance. + +"Come on!" cried the Gryphon, and, taking Alice by the hand, it +hurried off without waiting for the end of the song. + +"What trial is it?" Alice panted as she ran; but the Gryphon only +answered, "Come on!" and ran the faster, while more and more faintly +came, carried on the breeze that followed them, the melancholy words: + + "Soo--oop of the e--e--evening, + Beautiful, beautiful Soup!" + + + + +WHO STOLE THE TARTS? + +By Lewis Carroll + + +The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when they +arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them--all sorts of little +birds and beasts, as well as the whole pack of cards: the Knave was +standing before them, in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard +him; and near the King was the White Rabbit, with a trumpet in one +hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other. + +In the very middle of the court was a table with a large dish of tarts +upon it: they looked so good, that it made Alice quite hungry to look +at them--"I wish they'd get the trial done," she thought, "and hand +round the refreshments!" But there seemed to be no chance of this; so +she began looking at everything about her to pass away the time. + +Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but she had read +about them in books, and she was quite pleased to find that she knew +the name of nearly everything there. + +"That's the judge", she said to herself, "because of his great wig." + +The judge, by the way, was the King; and, as he wore his crown over +the wig, he did not look at all comfortable, and it was certainly not +becoming. + +"And that's the jury-box," thought Alice; "and those twelve creatures" +(she was obliged to say "creatures," you see, because some of them +were animals, and some were birds), "I suppose they are the jurors." +She said this last word two or three times over to herself, being +rather proud of it; for she thought, and rightly too, that very few +little girls of her age knew the meaning of it at all. However, +"jurymen" would have done just as well. + +The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates. + +"What are they doing?" Alice whispered to the Gryphon. "They can't +have anything to put down yet, before the trial's begun." + +"They're putting down their names," the Gryphon whispered in reply, +"for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial." + +"Stupid things!" Alice began in a loud indignant voice; but she +stopped herself hastily, for the White Rabbit cried out, "Silence in +the court!" and the King put on his spectacles and looked anxiously +round, to make out who was talking. + +Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, +that all the jurors were writing down "Stupid things!" on their +slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how +to spell "stupid," and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him. + +"A nice muddle their slates'll be in, before the trial's over!" +thought Alice. + +One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This, of course, Alice +could _not_ stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, +and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so +quickly that the poor little juror (it was Bill, the Lizard) could not +make out at all what had become of it; so, after hunting all about for +it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day; +and this was of very little use as it left no mark on the slate. + +"Herald, read the accusation!" said the King. + +On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then +unrolled the parchment-scroll, and read as follows: + + "The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, + All on a summer day: + The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts + And took them quite away!" + +"Consider your verdict," the King said to the jury. + +"Not yet, not yet!" the Rabbit hastily interrupted. "There's a great +deal to come before that!" + +"Call the first witness," said the King; and the White Rabbit blew +three blasts on the trumpet, and called out "First witness!" + +The first witness was the Hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand +and a piece of bread-and-butter in the other. + +"I beg pardon, your Majesty," he began, "for bringing these in; but I +hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for." + +"You ought to have finished," said the King. "When did you begin?" + +The Hatter looked at the March Hare, who had followed him into the +court, arm-in-arm with the Dormouse, "Fourteenth of March, I _think_ +it was," he said. + +"Fifteenth," said the March Hare. + +"Sixteenth," said the Dormouse. + +"Write that down," the King said to the jury; and the jury eagerly +wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then added them up, +and reduced the answer to shillings and pence. + +"Take off your hat," the King said to the Hatter. + +"It isn't mine," said the Hatter. + +"_Stolen_!" the King exclaimed, turning to the jury, who instantly +made a memorandum of the fact. + +"I keep them to sell," the Hatter added as an explanation. "I've none +of my own. I'm a hatter." + +Here the Queen put on her spectacles, and began staring hard at the +Hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted. + +"Give your evidence," said the King; "and don't be nervous, or I'll +have you executed on the spot." + +This did not seem to encourage the witness at all: he kept shifting +from one foot to the other, looking uneasily at the Queen, and in his +confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of the +bread-and-butter. + +Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation, which puzzled +her a good deal until she made out what it was: she was beginning to +grow larger again, and she thought at first she would get up and leave +the court; but on second thoughts she decided to remain where she was +as long as there was room for her. + +"I wish you wouldn't squeeze so," said the Dormouse, who was sitting +next to her. "I can hardly breathe." + +"I can't help it," said Alice very meekly: "I'm growing." + +"You've no right to grow _here_," said the Dormouse. + +"Don't talk nonsense," said Alice more boldly: "you know you're +growing too." + +"Yes, but _I_ grow at a reasonable pace," said the Dormouse: "not in +that ridiculous fashion." And he got up very sulkily and crossed over +to the other side of the court. + +All this time the Queen had never left off staring at the Hatter, and, +just as the Dormouse crossed the court, she said, to one of the +officers of the court, "Bring me the list of the singers in the last +concert!" on which the wretched Hatter trembled so that he shook off +both his shoes. + +"Give your evidence," the King repeated angrily, "or I'll have you +executed, whether you're nervous or not." + +"I'm a poor man, your Majesty," the Hatter began, in a trembling +voice, "and I hadn't begun my tea--not above a week or so--and what +with the bread-and-butter getting so thin--and the twinkling of the +tea--" + +"The twinkling of _what_?" said the King. + +"It _began_ with the tea," the Hatter replied. + +"Of course twinkling _begins_ with a T!" said the King sharply. +"Do you take me for a dunce? Go on!" + +"I'm a poor man," the Hatter went on, "and most things twinkled after +that--only the March Hare said--" + +"I didn't!" the March Hare interrupted in a great hurry. + +"You did!" said the Hatter. + +"I deny it!" said the March Hare. + +"He denies it," said the King: "leave out that part." + +"Well, at any rate, the Dormouse said--" the Hatter went on, looking +anxiously round to see if he would deny it too; but the Dormouse +denied nothing, being fast asleep. + +"After that," continued the Hatter, "I cut some more bread and +butter--" + +"But what did the Dormouse say?" one of the jury asked. + +"That I can't remember," said the Hatter. + +"You _must_ remember," remarked the King, "or I'll have you executed." + +The miserable Hatter dropped his teacup and bread-and-butter, and went +down on one knee. "I'm a poor man, your Majesty," he began. + +"You're a _very_ poor _speaker_," said the King. + +Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately suppressed by +the officers of the court. (As that is rather a hard word, I will just +explain to you how it was done. They had a large canvas bag, which +tied up at the mouth with strings; into this they slipped the +guinea-pig, head first, and then sat upon it.) + +"I'm glad I've seen that done," thought Alice "I've so often read in +the newspapers, at the end of trials, 'There was some attempt at +applause, which was immediately suppressed by the officers of the +court,' and I never understood what it meant till now." + +"If that's all you know about it, you may stand down," continued the +King. + +"I can't go no lower," said the Hatter; "I'm on the floor, as it is." + +"Then you may _sit_ down," the King replied. + +Here the other guinea-pig cheered, and was suppressed. + +"Come, that finishes the guinea-pigs!" thought Alice. "Now we shall go +on better." + +"I'd rather finish my tea," said the Hatter, with an anxious look at +the Queen, who was reading the list of singers. + +"You may go," said the King, and the Hatter hurriedly left the court, +without even waiting to put his shoes on. + +"--and just take his head off outside," the Queen added to one of the +officers; but the Hatter was out of sight before the officer could get +to the door. + +"Call the next witness!" said the King. + +The next witness was the Duchess's cook. She carried the pepper-box in +her hand, and Alice guessed who it was, even before she got into the +court, by the way the people near the door began sneezing all at once. + +"Give your evidence," said the King. + +"Shan't," said the cook. + +The King looked anxiously at the White Rabbit, who said, in a low +voice, "Your Majesty must cross-examine _this_ witness." + +"Well, if I must, I must," the King said with a melancholy air, and, +after folding his arms and frowning at the cook till his eyes were +nearly out of sight, he said, in a deep voice, "What are tarts made +of?" + +"Pepper, mostly," said the cook. + +"Treacle," said a sleepy voice behind her. + +"Collar that Dormouse!" the Queen shrieked out. "Behead that Dormouse! +Turn that Dormouse out of court! Suppress him! Pinch him! Off with his +whiskers!" + +For some minutes the whole court was in confusion, getting the +Dormouse turned out, and, by the time they had settled down again, the +cook had disappeared. + +"Never mind!" said the King, with an air of great relief. "Call the +next witness." And, he added, in an undertone to the Queen, "Really, +my dear, _you_ must cross-examine the next witness. It quite makes my +forehead ache!" + +Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling +very curious to see what the next witness would be like, "--for they +haven't got much evidence _yet_," she said to herself. Imagine +her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill +little voice, the name "Alice!" + + + + +ALICE'S EVIDENCE + +By Lewis Carroll + + +"Here!" cried Alice, quite forgetting in the flurry of the moment how +large she had grown in the last few minutes, and she jumped up in such +a hurry that she tipped over the jury-box with the edge of her skirt, +upsetting all the jurymen on to the heads of the crowd below, and +there they lay sprawling about, reminding her very much of a globe of +gold-fish she had accidentally upset the week before. + +"Oh, I _beg_ your pardon!" she exclaimed in a tone of great dismay, +and began picking them up again as quickly as she could, for the +accident of the gold-fish kept running in her head, and she had a +vague sort of idea that they must be collected at once and put back +into the jury-box, or they would die. + +"The trial cannot proceed," said the King, in a very grave voice, +"until all the jurymen are back in their proper places--_all_," he +repeated with great emphasis, looking hard at Alice as he said so. + +Alice looked at the jury-box, and saw that, in her haste, she had put +the Lizard in head downward, and the poor little thing was waving its +tail about in a melancholy way, being quite unable to move. + +She soon got it out again, and put it right; "not that it signifies +much," she said to herself; "I should think it would be _quite_ as +much use in the trial one way up as the other." + +As soon as the jury had a little recovered from the shock of being +upset, and their slates and pencils had been found and handed back to +them, they set to work very diligently to write out a history of the +accident, all except the Lizard, who seemed too much overcome to do +anything but sit with its mouth open, gazing up into the roof of the +court. + +"What do you know about this business?" the King said to Alice. + +"Nothing," said Alice. + +"Nothing _whatever_?" persisted the King. + +"Nothing whatever," said Alice. + +"That's very important," the King said, turning to the jury. They were +just beginning to write this down on their slates, when the White +Rabbit interrupted: "_Un_important, your Majesty means, of course," he +said, in a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him +as he spoke. + +"_Un_important, of course, I meant," the King hastily said, and went on +to himself in an undertone, "important--unimportant--unimportant--important--" +as if he were trying which word sounded best. + +Some of the jury wrote it down "important," and some "unimportant." + +Alice could see this, as she was near enough to look over their +slates; "but it doesn't matter a bit," she thought to herself. + +At this moment the King, who had been for some time busily writing in +his note-book, called out, "Silence!" and read out from his book, +"Rule Forty-two. _All persons more than a mile high to leave the +court_." + +Everybody looked at Alice. + +"_I'm_ not a mile high," said Alice. + +"You are," said the King. + +"Nearly two miles high," added the Queen. + +"Well, I shan't go, at any rate," said Alice: "besides, that's not a +regular rule: you invented it just now." + +"It's the oldest rule in the book," said the King. + +"Then it ought to be Number One," said Alice. + +The King turned pale, and shut his note-book hastily. + +"Consider your verdict," he said to the jury, in a low trembling +voice. + +"There's more evidence to come yet, please your Majesty," said the +White Rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry: "this paper has just been +picked up." + +"What's in it?" said the Queen. + +"I haven't opened it yet," said the White Rabbit; "but it seems to be +a letter, written by the prisoner to--to somebody." + +"It must have been that," said the King, "unless it was written to +nobody, which isn't usual, you know." + +"Who is it directed to?" said one of the jurymen. + +"It isn't directed at all," said the White Rabbit: "in fact, there's +nothing written on the _outside_." He unfolded the paper as he spoke, +and added, "It isn't a letter, after all: it's a set of verses." + +"Are they in the prisoner's handwriting?" asked another of the +jurymen. + +"No, they're not," said the White Rabbit, "and that's the queerest +thing about it." (The jury all looked puzzled.) + +"He must have imitated somebody else's hand," said the King. (The jury +all brightened up again.) + +"Please your Majesty," said the Knave, "I didn't write it, and they +can't prove that I did: there's no name signed at the end." + +"If you didn't sign it," said the King, "that only makes the matter +worse. You _must_ have meant some mischief, or else you'd have signed +your name like an honest man." + +There was a general clapping of hands at this: it was the first really +clever thing the King had said that day. + +"That _proves_ his guilt, of course," said the Queen: "so, off with--" + +"It doesn't prove anything of the sort!" said Alice. "Why, you don't +even know what they're about!" + +"Read them," said the King. + +The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please +your Majesty?" he asked. + +"Begin at the beginning," the King said very gravely, "and go on till +you come to the end: then stop." + +There was dead silence in the court, while the White Rabbit read out +these verses: + + They told me you had been to her, + And mentioned me to him: + She gave me a good character, + But said I could not swim. + + He sent them word I had not gone + (We know it to be true): + If she should push the matter on, + What would become of you? + + I gave her one, they gave him two, + You gave us three or more; + They all returned from him to you, + Though they were mine before. + + If I or she should chance to be + Involved in this affair, + He trusts to you to set them free, + Exactly as we were. + + My notion was that you had been + (Before she had this fit) + An obstacle that came between + Him, and ourselves, and it. + + Don't let him know she liked them best, + For this must ever be + A secret, kept from all the rest, + Between yourself and me." + +"That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet," said +the King, rubbing his hands; "so now let the jury--" + +"If any one of them can explain it," said Alice (she had grown so +large in the last few minutes that she wasn't a bit afraid of +interrupting him), "I'll give him sixpence. _I_ don't believe there's +an atom of meaning in it." + +The jury all wrote down, on their slates, "_She_ doesn't believe +there's an atom of meaning in it," but none of them attempted to +explain the paper. + +"If there's no meaning in it," said the King, "that saves a world of +trouble, you know, as we needn't try to find any. And yet I don't +know," he went on, spreading out the verses on his knee, and looking +at them with one eye; "I seem to see some meaning in them, after all. +'--_said I could not swim_--' you can't swim, can you?" he added, +turning to the Knave. + +The Knave shook his head sadly. + +"Do I look like it?" he said. (Which he certainly did _not_, being +made entirely of cardboard.) + +"All right, so far," said the King; and he went on muttering over the +verses to himself: "'_We know it to be true_'--that's the jury, +of course--'_If she should push the matter on_'--that must be the +Queen--'_What would become of you_?'--What indeed!--'_I gave +her one, they gave him two_'--why, that must be what he did with +the tarts, you know--" + +"But it goes on '_they all returned from him to you_,'" said +Alice. + +"Why, there they are!" said the King triumphantly, pointing to the +tarts on the table. "Nothing can be clearer than _that_. Then +again--'_before she had this fit_'--you never had _fits_, my dear, +I think?" he said to the Queen. + +"Never!" said the Queen, furiously, throwing an inkstand at the Lizard +as she spoke. (The unfortunate little Bill had left off writing on his +slate with one finger, as he found it made no mark; but he now hastily +began again, using the ink, that was trickling down his face, as long +as it lasted.) + +"Then the words don't _fit_ you," said the King; looking round +the court with a smile. There was a dead silence. + +"It's a pun!" the King added in an angry tone, and everybody laughed. +"Let the jury consider their verdict," the King said, for about the +twentieth time that day. + +"No, no!" said the Queen. "Sentence first--verdict afterward." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" said Alice loudly. "The idea of having the +sentence first!" + +"Hold your tongue!" said the Queen, turning purple. + +"I won't!" said Alice. + +"Off with her head!" the Queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody +moved. + +"Who cares for _you_?" said Alice (she had grown to her full size by +this time). "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" + +At this the whole pack rose up into the air, and came flying down upon +her; she gave a little scream, half of fright and half of anger, and +tried to beat them off, and found herself lying on the bank, with her +head in the lap of her sister, who was gently brushing away some dead +leaves that had fluttered down from the trees upon her face. + +"Wake up, Alice dear!" said her sister. "Why, what a long sleep you've +had!" + +"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!" said Alice. And she told her +sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange +adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and, when +she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said, "It _was_ a curious +dream, dear, certainly; but now run in to your tea: it's getting late." + +So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she +might, what a wonderful dream it had been. + + * * * * * + +But her sister sat still just as she left her, leaning her head on her +hand, watching the setting sun, and thinking of little Alice and all +her wonderful Adventures, till she too began dreaming after a fashion, +and this was her dream: + +First, she dreamed about little Alice herself: once again the tiny +hands were clasped upon her knee, and the bright eager eyes were +looking into hers--she could hear the very tones of her voice, and see +that queer little toss of her head to keep back the wandering hair +that _would_ always get into her eyes--and still as she listened, or +seemed to listen, the whole place around her became alive with the +strange creatures of her little sister's dream. + +The long grass rustled at her feet as the White Rabbit hurried by--the +frightened Mouse splashed his way through the neighboring pool--she +could hear the rattle of the teacups as the March Hare and his friends +shared their never-ending meal, and the shrill voice of the Queen +ordering off her unfortunate guests to execution--once more the +pig-baby was sneezing on the Duchess' knee, while plates and dishes +crashed around it--once more the shriek of the Gryphon, the squeaking +of the Lizard's slate-pencil, and the choking of the suppressed +guinea-pigs, filled the air, mixed up with the distant sob of the +miserable Mock Turtle. + +So she sat on, with closed eyes, and half believed herself in +Wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all +would change to dull reality--the grass would be only rustling in the +wind, and the pool rippling to the waving of the reeds--the rattling +teacups would change to tinkling sheep bells, and the Queen's shrill +cries to the voice of the shepherd-boy--and the sneeze of the baby, +the shriek of the Gryphon, and all the other queer noises, would +change (she knew) to the confused clamor of the busy farm-yard--while +the lowing of the cattle in the distance would take the place of the +Mock Turtle's heavy sobs. + +Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers +would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would +keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her +childhood; and how she would gather about her other little children, +and make _their_ eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, +perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago; and how she +would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all +their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy +summer days. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Junior Classics, V6 +by Various +Edited by William Patten + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUNIOR CLASSICS, V6 *** + +This file should be named 6577.txt or 6577.zip + +Produced by Wendy Crockett, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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