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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..10ef672 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69782 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69782) diff --git a/old/69782-0.txt b/old/69782-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1747b94..0000000 --- a/old/69782-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2691 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of A southern cross fairy tale, by Kate -McCosh Clark - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: A southern cross fairy tale - -Author: Kate McCosh Clark - -Illustrators: R. Atkinson - Kate McCosh Clark - -Annotators: A. Reischek - A. P. W. Thomas - -Release Date: January 14, 2023 [eBook #69782] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Jason Isbell, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - made using scans of public domain works in the - International Children's Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOUTHERN CROSS FAIRY -TALE *** - - - - - - -A Southern Cross Fairy Tale - - - - - A - SOUTHERN CROSS - FAIRY TALE - - BY - KATE McCOSH CLARK - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY R. ATKINSON AND THE AUTHOR_ - - LONDON - SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEALE & RIVINGTON - _Limited_ - St. Dunstan’s House - FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C. - 1891 - [_All rights reserved_] - - LONDON: - PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, - ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD. - - - - - TO - MY GODCHILD KITTY - AND TO MY - LITTLE NEPHEWS AND NIECES. - -[Illustration] - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The scenes of Christmas tales read by English-speaking children have -been for the most part naturally laid amid winter, snow, and leafless -landscape. The Yule-log and the holly-berry have been time-honoured -“properties.” But there are, growing up under the Southern Cross, -generations of children, with English speech and English hearts, to whom -the Yule-log at Christmas is unmeaning and the snow unknown. - -The little story which follows is written for such children as these, -and also for those in the older land who have any desire to know what -Christmas is like among their kin on the other side of the world. - -While seeking to amuse, it is intended to convey pleasant information. -New Zealand is a land full of natural wonders and natural beauty; its -vegetation and its fauna are every way remarkable. In the following -pages the allusions to these wonders and beauties, however playfully -introduced, are intended to be truthful. The colours and habits of plants -and animals are in sober reality just what they are made to appear in -fairy-land. The illustrations are from nature, and will, it is hoped, -bear out the text. For the loan of certain birds and clear descriptive -notes upon them, I am deeply indebted to Mr. A. Reischek, F.L.S., the -well-known naturalist. The kind interest of Professor Thomas, M.A., -F.L.S., F.G.S., and the valuable notes given by him upon the Terraces, -Geysers, &c., also lay me under much obligation. - - K. C. - -AUCKLAND, _July, 1889_. - - - - -“THE CHILDREN’S HOUR.” - - - The cawing rooks fly to their nests; - Again the song-birds hush their lay; - O’er all the world a stillness rests, - And twilight shadows dance and play. - The book is closed, hands folded o’er, - The work, that rests the while, undone; - See! glad young faces at the door, - And hark! the peals of mirth and fun. - Yes, ’tis the children’s hour, - To waiting arms they run. - - The little faces vie to press - Warm kisses on our willing lips, - While loving prayers, unspoken, bless - The sunny heads, and finger tips - Pass gently o’er the cheek’s soft bloom— - That seems as stolen from the rose; - Then merry voices fill the room, - As round the fire-lit hearth we close, - For ’tis the children’s hour, - Which nought but brightness knows. - - “Play with us, play!” Ah, yes, young hearts, - Well that your voices coax, and make - Us for awhile forget the smarts - Of striving day for your brief sake. - “Sing with us, sing!” and youthful notes - Rise shrill in some time-hallowed strain. - Discord—sweet discord round us floats, - And ageing hearts grow young again— - It is the children’s hour, - That knows nor care nor pain. - - “Now tell us stories, mother, dear!” - How sweet the old and matchless word! - Sweeter than aught that else we hear - From children’s lips. What memories stirr’d - By that loved name rush o’er the soul! - For sheltering arms we once more yearn - Now folded ’neath the grassy knoll. - Would that the children’s hour - For her, too, could return. - - “Come, children, nestle close to me - And question with your lips and eyes, - For, as ye listen, I would see - The starting flush and sweet surprise - At tales of brownie and of fay - That hide within your favourite glen, - And ’neath the moonlight’s flickering ray - Bring fairy gifts to slumbering men.” - Sweet lore of children’s hour, - Why need we further ken? - - Ah! little ones, ye hold us fast - And thoughts of you like joy-bells chime - Around our lives, and link the past - And present in one long sweet rhyme. - And slumbering echoes wake anew, - For purity glows in your eyes, - And truth from out them shines so true - That from our hearts all falseness flies. - It is the children’s hour - When purest thoughts arise. - - The years roll by and leave their taint - Of sin upon us, and the weight - Of self-wrought grief, until we faint - Beneath the burden grown so great. - Fretted by sight of others’ pain, - The voiceless suffering of the weak; - “Wherefore?” we cry, but all in vain, - No answering oracle doth speak. - And in the children’s hour - We fain for peace would seek. - - Far off like some grand snowy height - That gleams anon through driving mist, - Some great End flashes on our sight; - And on that peak the sun hath kissed, - Could we but stand, thence gazing back - Perchance Heaven’s echoes we might hear, - Perchance Heaven’s light upon our track - Might show the good of every tear, - And in the children’s hour - Life’s riddles read more clear. - - Speak to our hearts, each bright young heart, - Perfect in love and faith, and bid - Us know that e’en as petals part - To breathe the fragrance ’neath them hid, - So do ye breathe around life’s hours - The sweetness nought can steal away, - The sweetness of our cherished flowers. - Then ope bright blooms upon our way, - And make the children’s hour - With beauty crown each day. - - Play on, ye little ones, play on, - And cheer us with your guileless mirth; - Too soon your careless days are gone - And later years see sorrow’s birth. - We love your bright eyes’ merry glance, - We love your voices’ gleesome ring; - To trip with you th’ unrhythm’d dance - Again doth childlike rapture bring. - It is the children’s hour, - Sing on, ye children, sing. - - Ye cradle our lost dreams anew, - Ye make love’s echoes ceaseless sound, - And, if for some the stretching yew - O’erguards a tiny daisied mound, - They have but laid their treasures where - God’s angels tread with sacred feet; - They have but Heavenward sent a prayer - That, lisped before the mercy-seat, - In God’s own children’s hour - Shall win an answer sweet. - - K. C. - - - - -LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - PAGE - - Bell-Bird 1 - - “It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of a summer - night are quickly falling on the garden, fields, and - meadows” _To face_ 3 - - “Take that,” said Santa Claus; “it will give you light in - the darkest places” _To face_ 6 - - “We’re sorry we’re so big,” said Hal 13 - - Kiwi 14 - - Parson-Bird or Tui 15 - - Pied Fantail 15 - - Brown Owl or More-pork 16 - - Crow 17 - - Tuataras 19 - - Vegetable Caterpillar 20 - - Robins 22 - - Maori Hen 23 - - White Heron 25 - - “They are only Maories; and see, they are more frightened - of us than you are of them” _To face_ 26 - - On the top of the geyser were shot out a troop of laughing gnomes 29 - - “Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap _To face_ 38 - - Kea 47 - - “You must have been dreaming, Hal!” _To face_ 51 - - - - -A SOUTHERN CROSS FAIRY TALE. - - -[Illustration: Bell-Bird.] - -It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of a summer night are -quickly falling on the garden, fields, and meadows of a New Zealand home. -The feathery edge of the forest-clad hills behind the house stands out -dark against the yellow light still lingering in the west; undulating -grassy slopes creep down to where the graceful tree-ferns form a billowy -mass of light and shade near the deep, dark creek, that divides the -fields. The murmuring of the stream, in hidden depths below, rises like -a lullaby, while countless shrill crickets sing their merry carols amid -the trees. No sound of joyous bells is borne upon the air, as on the -English Christmas Eves of pleasant memory, only the Bell-bird’s[1] chimes -from the bush, and the distant cow-bell’s tinkle mid the shadowy Manuka -clumps, where sentinel cabbage-palms[2] up-raise their helmeted heads -erect and stern. Fair is that house built up by English hands in the -New World; fair, not with the slowly gathered beauty of centuries gone -by, the clinging ivy and the gaily painted lichens on the stones, but -with the quick rich growth of the southern lands. The quaint low wooden -gables are wreathed with creepers of many a shade and hue, and over the -broad verandah and open casement doors, the scarlet passion-flowers gleam -like burning stars amid their masses of glossy leaves, and the green -egg-shaped fruit of its more modest cousin hang in rich profusion on -the trellised arbour near by, the scene of many a childish frolic and -out-door tea-party. Sweet scents arise from the nooks of the garden which -is left half wild, where many an English flower carefully tended, tells -of hearts in which still cling fond memories of a childhood’s home afar. -Through the sombre pines that edge the spreading lawn, are seen the last -long silvery streaks, quivering on the distant sea; overhead the busy -starlings flit to and fro, or, perching on some tapering branch, give -forth their short-lived song, while, now and again, the harsh call of -the brown owl pierces the deepening shades. But suddenly is heard the -sound of merry voices, and two little children run down the winding path -leading to the house, then stop near to a rose-bed rich in bloom. - -“It’s Christmas Eve, you know, little Cis,” said Hal, a merry -strong-limbed, dark-eyed boy between nine and ten years old, to his -little sister who stood near. - -She was a quaint little maid of seven in whose wavy golden hair one -might well think the summer sunbeams lingered; her large blue eyes, -dark lashed, in her solemn moments looked like clear deep wells, but -could dance with light and laughter at a tale of fun. Hers was a sweet -child-nature “so easily moved to smiles or tears,” so full of sympathy -was her loving little heart. - -“It is Christmas Eve, you know, little Cis, and we must get some nice -flowers to give mother to-morrow morning, mustn’t we?” - -“Yes, Hal, and I want to find a lot of dear little red rose-buds,—oh! -here’s one, and here’s another, I’m so glad!” - -“Why _red_ ones, Cis?” - -“’Cos mother likes red ones, I know; she told me about the prickly tree -with red berries on it, which she used to gather bunches of at Christmas -time when she was a little girl like me,—I expect she gave some to her -mother, and I wonder if she pricked her fingers as I do mine—never mind, -I am not going to cry, Hal, because it’s for mother. Do the thorns hurt -you, Hal?” - -“Yes, Cis, but I am a boy you know, and boys don’t cry; I am getting -white rose-buds, because in mother’s tales about Christmas, there is -always a lot of white snow. I wonder why God does not send us any snow -here!” - -“Perhaps He will one day if we are naughty, for it kills all the pretty -flowers,” replied Cis. - -“No, it doesn’t kill them all, Cis, it only covers them up; besides, it’s -rare fun to make snow-balls, they say.” - -“Children, children!” calls a voice from the open door, “it is nearly -bed-time.” - -“Yes, coming, mother dear,” and the two bunches of flowers were quickly -hidden beneath the little coat and pinafore, while the children ran round -to a side door and gave them into the nurse’s charge to put in water, and -in a safe hiding place until the morning. - -“Put them under our beds, Nursie, no one will see them there,” shouted -Hal, as he rushed off with his sister to their mother for the good-night -chat. - -[Illustration: “It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of a -summer night are quickly falling on the garden, fields and meadows.” - -Page 3.] - -In the well-known cosy room sat a slender figure in black, in a low -wicker chair, and little Cis was already on her lap, her shining head -nestled close in, her sweet face pressed to her mother’s, which if older -and sadder, was not less sweet. Hal, taking his favourite stool, sat down -close to her knee, and giving her hand a hasty boyish kiss, said: “Don’t -send us to bed just yet, mother dear, ’tis Christmas Eve, you know.” - -“Ah, yes! Christmas Eve,” she echoed, and her trembling voice told of -the mingled memories that thronged her heart,—memories of past joys and -sudden sorrow. Her thoughts flew to that time, “only a year ago,” when -there came the hurried summons for her husband to a sick relative in a -distant land—the hasty departure on the voyage,—and then the blank of a -terrible silence,—and later, the tidings that she should see him no more -till “the sea gives up her dead,”—and, laying her hand on Hal’s dark -head, she pressed her fatherless little ones closer to her. - -“Tell us a story, mother dear,” broke in Hal’s voice. - -“Suppose you tell me one for a change, dear,” she replied. - -“I don’t think I can, mother, but I’ll try,” said Hal’s determined tones, -“it will be very hard, but you’ll help me, little Cis, when I stick, -won’t you? Shall it be a real story or a made up one?” - -“Oh! a real one, Hal, it won’t be so hard,” said little Cis. - -“All right,” replied Hal, “just wait a moment whilst I think,” and the -boy’s face took an earnest, thoughtful expression not often seen on it, -for he was a light-hearted laddie full of the joy of a happy, careless -childhood. - -“We had three baby guinea-pigs this morning,” began he musingly, “but, I -suppose I couldn’t make a tale out of that,—and the little white bantam -was drowned in the duck-pond, and Cis and I put it in a box with flowers -and buried it under the apple-tree, but, I suppose that wouldn’t do -either;—and the parrot bit my fingers dreadfully, and I—no, I didn’t cry, -I only howled. Oh! mother, you tell a tale, I can’t.” - -Then a minute’s silence followed, broken only by the purring of Hal’s -favourite, the black cat “Smut,” who was rubbing against his master’s -leg, where the kneeless stocking told of the day’s exploits. - -Darker grew the shadows in the long low room; the clock ticked on its -monotonous “Gone by! gone by!” the faint whisper of the evening breeze -through the pines came in at the window; the last rays died in the -west, and once again the evening star looked out from the darkening -sky upon the mother, and the child within her arms—a picture that in -all its varied phases is as beauteous in our great to-day, as at that -Christmas-time at Bethlehem in ages past. And little Cis, watching the -shining star, raised her head from her mother’s shoulder, and said in a -hushed voice: - -“Do you think the angels will come to-night, mother dear?” - -“Angels! why, little one?” she replied. - -“Because there’s the star, mother, and I think it must be the one you -told me about, that came when the angels sang, because it’s, oh! so -beautiful! I should like them to come to-night; perhaps dear father will -send them. Do you think if we sat ever so still they _would_ fly down -near us? You know, when I sit down under the big trees up the hills for -a long time, the little birds fly down and close up their wings and come -and look at me, and angels have wings, haven’t they, mother dear? and so -perhaps they will come.” - -“Oh!” cried Hal, “if they can fly about like that, Cis, I shouldn’t like -it to-night, for there are a lot of Christmas-plums ripe on the tree -in the orchard, and if they come near I expect they would want them,—I -should. But I didn’t take any to-day, mother; we are saving them for -to-morrow as you told us to do; I only sat down under the tree and picked -up any that fell down. You know you told us not to run about when it was -very hot, so I thought if I was good and sat still, God would make some -plums drop down. But, I say, mother, what sort of hat does God wear?” - -“Hat, my boy! what do you mean?” - -“Why, mother, you said I must keep my hat on these hot days or I’d get -sunstroke, and I’m sure it must be dreadfully hot for God up in the sky; -there are no trees there to sit under.” - -What merry laughter from little Cis followed Hal’s remark, but his mother -said quietly, “Hush, my boy, we must not speak lightly of Him whose ways -are not as ours.” Hal’s merry face became thoughtful, and the children -were silent for a few moments; then the favourite tales were won from -mother by many a caress,—tales, of which the words fell on the children’s -ears like the pleasant dropping of summer rain, bringing forth sweet -flowers of thought, may be in later years to bear a precious fruit. Then -came the patter of little feet up the stairs, and merry chatter, as the -stockings were hung up ready for Santa Claus; and then, when mother -came, there were murmurs of sleepy voices, as the two little white-robed -figures knelt with folded hands on their curtained beds, and lay down -with the last words of their childish prayer on their rosy lips— - - “In the Kingdom of Thy Grace, - Give a little child a place.” - -“A place!” Aye, would that many an older child of earth could claim such -a place as His little ones have! Then, with mother’s last “tuck up” and -good-night kiss, and one last look to make sure that the stockings were -all right, silence fell on the little restless tongues, and closed the -sleepy eyes. - - * * * * * - -It was midnight, but no Christmas waits disturbed the stillness round the -quiet house. The southern cross gleamed clear and bright in the dark blue -heavens, and the moon sailed high, silvering the feathery clouds that -here and there floated across the star-lit depths, as though some angels -passing by had left stray pinions there. The distant ocean had waked -from its evening dreams with a thousand twinkling smiles; the tree-ferns -trembled beneath the moonbeams’ soft caress; but, brighter than all -others were the rays that, creeping through the window to the white -curtained beds, kissed so lovingly the sweet faces lying there, lingering -round the tumbled curls of little Cis, and on the dimpled arm thrown over -her head, and crowning Hal’s dark hair with a soft halo. - -[Illustration: “Take that,” said Santa Claus: “it will give you light in -the darkest places.” - -Page 6.] - -Then a clear voice broke the stillness of that summer night, making the -children stir in their slumbers ... then, once again the silvery voice -rang forth, “Wake up, little ones!” - -And, starting up, Cis and Hal rubbed their eyes, and wonderingly gazed -around. - -And there, where the moonbeams fell upon the floor, stood a lad with a -smiling face, and on his head was a crown of twinkling stars, and beneath -the stars these words shone, “I bring good gifts to all.” A robe of -deepest blue hung down in soft shimmering folds near to his feet; and in -his hand was a wand, on the tip of which shone the evening star. - -Then Hal, without fear, though in a dreamy voice, asked, “Please are you -a fairy, little man?” - -And Cis in a low voice added, “It’s the Angel of the Stars!” - -“No, little ones,” said he, “I am neither a fairy nor an angel; I am only -Santa Claus.” - -“Why, I thought Santa Claus was an old man,” said Hal. - -“So I am, in the Old World,” replied he, “but here, in the New World, I -am young like it.” - -“But,” exclaimed Hal, “where are your reindeer, and where’s the sleigh -with all the good things in it I always thought you brought? Because it -won’t be fair if you don’t give us anything. It’s Christmas Eve, you -know, and we have put our stockings ready for you.” - -“I have left my reindeer and the snow and frost in the Old World,” said -Santa Claus; “but never fear, I have not forgotten you and little Cis; -my wand, with the star of Love on it, is better than my sleigh full of -presents. But come along, little ones; dress quickly, for I am going to -take you where many wonderful things are waiting to be seen by bright -young eyes.” - -“All right; I am ready,” cheerily replied Hal. - -But little Cis said, “I don’t know, Hal; what will mother say! Mayn’t I -go and tell her, Mr. Santa Claus?” - -“No need, little Cis; she knew I was coming to you to-night.” - -“Yes, it’s all right,” said Hal eagerly, “come, dress quickly, Cis, we -shall see lots of wonderful things, and bring some back to mother too.” - -So the children dressed, and, led by their guide, went hand in hand with -light steps down the stairs and out into the moonlit world. - -How beautiful it looked! The drooping grasses shone with drops of dew; -the tall white lilies gleamed fair as the driven snow; a white-tailed -rabbit skipped across their path and then peered with bright eyes at -them from high bracken; a solitary night-bird chirped out its sleepy -notes; but as the children, led by Santa Claus, came near to the creek, -the voice of the stream sang out cheerily. A mossy trunk lay across the -waters, and Santa Claus stepped lightly along it, followed by Hal, who -held the hand of little Cis tightly in his, and, guiding her, went across -the slippery bridge. - -“It _is_ dark down here,” murmured Cis, as they stepped on the bank where -high fern-trees and thick bushes shaded the gully. - -Turning round, Santa Claus placed in Hal’s hand the wand whereon so -brightly shone the star of Love. “Take that,” he said, “it will give -you light in the darkest places;” and, as the light from the star fell -around, the black waters danced and gleamed, and the dark mosses shone. - -“Please do stop a little while, here, Mr. Santa Claus,” begged Hal, “I -want so much to have a look at that big carp I saw the other day in the -pool,” and, as he spoke, the fish, his gold and silver scales glittering -in the light, came near, and amid the rippling of the waters the children -heard a little voice singing:— - -[Illustration: THE SONG of the CARP. - - “Here in the cool waters - Who will catch me now? - Come, ye children, twine ye - Green weeds round your brow. - - “Play ye while the shallows - Sunny are and bright, - Sing ye while the still depths - Dance with sparkling light. - - “Little streams flow onward, - On by moor and lea. - Singing ever brightly, - Gay their life and free.] - -[Illustration: - - “When they join the river - Silenced is their song, - Slow and dark the current, - Rough the way and long. - - “In the mighty ocean - All are lost at last, - All the play-time over! - All the singing past! - - “So play ye while the shallows - Sunny are and bright, - And sing ye while the still depths - Dance with sparkling light.”] - -“Can’t we catch him, Mr. Santa Claus?” shouted Hal, “I should like that -fellow, for he talks like a book!” - -But the fish only waved his tail and glided down the stream. - -Then their guide beckoned them forwards, and Cis, wondering, asked, “Did -you make the fish speak, Mr. Santa Claus?” - -“Yes, little Cis,” answered he, “and the gift I bring you and Hal this -night, is the gift that makes you know and understand Nature’s many -voices.” - -“Does any one else know them?” asked Hal. - -“Yes, children, to some pure and simple souls the gift is given through -life to interpret them to man; and sometimes to the aged and the weak -it is granted to find strength anew, in flowery woods and birds’ and -insects’ song;—to you, ye little ones, Nature shall to-night speak out in -clearest voices, to echo in your hearts perchance in years to come.” - -“I hope he isn’t going to preach,” whispered Hal to his sister, “I shan’t -like him half so much if he does.” Then he added aloud, “I don’t quite -understand you, Mr. Santa Claus, but never mind, I don’t understand the -sermons our old clergyman preaches; mother says it is good to try and -listen, but I think they forget about the little children in church!” - -“Perhaps the preacher does not know we are there, Hal, we are so little, -you know,” added Cis in an apologetic tone, “and there is a long way -between us and the pulpit.” - -“Perhaps so,” said Hal absently, for he was wondering if he could put his -Star of Love over the pulpit on Christmas Day; it would make a bright -light, and perhaps the preacher would remember them then,—and he added -aloud, “But if he did remember us, Cis, I expect he’d be cross if we -didn’t sit _quite_ still, as I heard him say one day we ought.” - -“I suppose it is such a long time since he was a little child, that he -forgets how hard it is,” said little Cis. - -But by this time they had got out of the thickest part of the bush, and -were walking along a little winding path near a precipice. On the upper -side was a bank from which dainty ferns hung their graceful fronds, and -beneath them, on the moss, the tiny lamps of myriad glow-worms shone -like specks of fire. As the children stopped to gaze, they heard the -glow-worms singing:— - - “Children of the earth are we, - Small and brown and ill to see; - But we can make our lamps at night - In dreary places show their light. - Travellers oft might miss the way, - Warned we not their footsteps back, - When upon the narrow track - Near the precipice they stray. - Children of the earth are we, - Small and brown and ill to see; - Still our tiny lamps we trim; - Children, let not yours grow dim!” - -“We have got no lamps, you stupid little glow-worms,” said Hal, “unless -you call this Star of Love that we carry a lamp. But couldn’t you sing -something more lively to us?” he added. Then the glow-worms brightened up -and sang to a merry tune:— - - “Oh! stay, ye children, stay, - And listen to our song, - For childhood’s hour is short, - And manhood’s day is long. - Come, see our fairy haunts, - And we will light the way; - Come, join the merry dance, - And dance till break of day.” - -“Please may we go to the dance, Mr. Santa Claus?” begged Hal; their guide -nodded assent, and they watched the glow-worms form into a long line, two -and two, and creep between two high moss-grown rocks. - -“It’s all very well to say ‘come,’” remarked Hal, “but how are we to get -through that place, I should like to know?” - -“Hold Love’s wand high overhead,” answered Santa Claus, “and much that is -difficult will be made easy.” - -“Oh, dear! he has begun preaching again,” cried Hal, but he held the -star over his own and his sister’s head, and, pushing some overhanging -brambles aside, they found that they could easily go where the glow-worms -led. - -On, on went the long procession of shining lights, and the little voices -were heard, now faint, now clear:— - - “Come, see the fairy haunts. - And we will light the way; - Come, join the merry dance, - And dance till break of day.” - -[Illustration: “We’re sorry we’re so big,” said Hal.] - -And soon what a sight met the eyes of the children! In an open space -surrounded by high trees, on a bright ring of green grass, a number of -little fairies were dancing, their tiny twinkling feet scarcely seeming -to touch the lightly bending blades. And what merry music! a band of -locusts with their shining wings beat tunes upon the brown tree-trunks; -big night-moths hummed their low songs, and drowsy beetles droned -fitfully, while from the trees o’erhead the bell-birds rang their clear -high notes. It was a gala night, and birds and insects had come to join -in the dance. - -On a branch near by sat a small brown owl, round-eyed and solemn, beating -with a raupo stem the time, which no one tried to keep. “Too fast, stop -them!” cried he, in his harsh, cold voice; but no one took any notice -except the Tui in a bush, who repeated his words;—and the music played, -and the dancers danced as madly as before. - -[Illustration: Kiwi.] - -Then, out from the dark wood there came a motley throng; bright -golden-eyed green lizards, their long tails waving like shining -river-weeds; sleek-coated rats, and solemn Maori hens; fat caterpillars -waddling through the grass, and snorting kiwis[3] following close behind; -while sombre-coloured crows and starlings tripped on in pairs. - -Now, by the laws of fairy-land, no bird could feed upon insects so long -as the night revels were kept up; nevertheless the caterpillars did not -feel quite comfortable, for many a sly poke they got to “hurry up” from -the kiwis’ long bills, with which these birds gave disappointed snaps, as -they saw such tempting morsels near by. - -Then came whole families of green parrakeets, proudly holding up their -red-crested heads, and chattering all the scandal of the forest; -black-feathered Tuis[4] with their white neckties cleanly washed; tiny -Fantails,[5] their fans spread out, for the night was warm: and Robins -too, were there, some in dark grey garb, and some in black with yellow -and white breast-fronts newly smoothed;—and as the fresh comers appeared, -the music struck up with renewed vigour, and the glow-worms, nodding, -made their lamps burn brighter still. - -[Illustration: Parson-bird or Tui.] - -All were soon joining in the dance,—fairies, birds and insects, and Hal -and Cis, seeing Santa Claus sit down under a tree-fern, joined too. - -“We’re sorry we are so big,” said Hal, “but Cis and I will try and not -knock any of you over. Would you mind tucking your tail up under your -arm?” he said to a young lady lizard near whom he was dancing in a waltz. -“Allow me to help you;” and help he did, for the tail came off in his -hand! “I beg your pardon,” said Hall. - -[Illustration: Pied Fantail.] - -“Don’t mention it, tails always grow quickly, you know,” replied the -lizard with a laugh, as she skipped gaily on. - -“Please, Mr. Kiwi, would you oblige me by dancing on two legs instead of -three,” asked little Cis, for the Kiwi was her partner, and was using his -bill as a support, and often pricked her toes. - -“You don’t know what you are talking about,” said he in a huff, “it’s my -bill! but perhaps you don’t know what a bill is!” - -[Illustration: Brown Owl or More-pork.] - -“I’ve only heard mother say that no one likes long bills,” said little -Cis. - -At this the Kiwi snorted contemptuously, and left her, and the brown -owl,[6] seeing something was wrong, thought it must be the music, and -shouted out, “Too fast! stop them!” but no one took any heed, for he was -only an old croaker, and could not be expected to keep pace with the -young people. So he dropped his raupo-stem, and sulked on the bough. -Soon afterwards the band stopped, and some strange flute-like notes were -heard in the distance. - -The Tui called out excitedly, “Make haste! take your places if you want -to see the Gavotte, here comes the great dancer of the evening!” and all -the birds and fairies hurried to get good places on the branches near by, -while caterpillars and lizards stood up on their tails. Then out from the -thick underwood came two crows,[7] proudly strutting side by side; the -male bird took his place upon a straight leafless branch, well in sight -of all the expectant throng, while the female bird sat down on a fallen -mossy bough, where she could see her mate. - -[Illustration: Crow.] - -Then he began the Gavotte, and what a lively performance it was! up and -down, up and down the branch, springing, pirouetting, tail and wings -out-spread, with many a fanciful step and flourish, danced the crow right -merrily to his own sweet gurgling music. Truly he was a mate worthy -of the little wife he had won by his dancing at pairing time; she was -sitting near, watching, and when the dance was ended he looked down at -her proudly, while the on-lookers applauded. - -“Capital! capital!” shouted little Cis and Hal, clapping, and the Tui -overhead echoed their words. - -“How nice to have a husband who can dance and sing so well!” said one of -the parrakeets. - -“Yes,” said the lady crow, “it is nice, of course, but there are other -things to be considered in choosing a husband; still he is a good one on -the whole, though sometimes I should like to join in the whistling and -dancing, too. Let us have a dance all together now!” she added, and the -owl, having got over his fit of the sulks, asked for his raupo stem to be -handed to him again, and started the music afresh. - -The crow, offended by his wife’s remarks, chose another partner for a -while, but Cis, watching, saw that he soon went back to her, and a little -later on the pair slipped away into the wood together, so she supposed -they had made up their tiff. - -Then the dancers took a rest, for they were all rather tired. - -“Oh, look!” said the grey robin, who was still sitting on the bush near -Cis, “there are the Tuataras; what a wonder it is for them to come and -see us. How do you do?” called out the bird, at the same time nodding his -head condescendingly to two large stone-coloured lizards with a row of -white spines down their backs, who glided into the open space, and, lying -down on some stones, watched the scene with solemn bright eyes. - -“They did not answer you!” said Cis, “do they never speak?” - -“Not often to us,” replied the bird, “they are too proud of their old -family to talk to ordinary dwellers in the forest; those two must have -come a long way to visit us to-night, for, some years ago, the Tuataras -said they did not like the fast ways of the inhabitants of this part -of the country, and they all retired to an island off the coast, where -their only companions are the mutton-birds who live in holes in the -ground;—and, I think, it is so mean of the lizards, they share the -mutton-birds’ holes, and then often feed upon their young ones.” - -“Do not the Tuataras[8] get any food themselves?” asked Cis. - -“Yes, at night,” replied the robin, “they only go out then; _I_ think -there must be something wrong when people always do things in the dark, -do not you?” - -“I do not know,” said Cis, “perhaps they have reasons we do not -understand.” - -“My mother was told by a learned man that the Tuataras have _three_ -eyes,” continued the bird. - -“If so, they can see more than other people, and that is why they look so -wise,” said little Cis. - -“Perhaps so,” replied the bird, “but none of us have ever seen the third -eye, and it is funny where it can be.” - -“If you looked carefully you would find it on the top of our heads,” -said the mellow voice of a Tuatara who had evidently been listening; -“our ancestors were great star-gazers, but we have given up that sort of -nonsense, we find it quite enough to attend to things on the earth, so -we all agreed to shut one eye; it is best to do so sometimes,” added the -lizard musingly. - -[Illustration: Tuataras.] - -“Indeed!” said the robin, and he put his head on one side and looked very -unbelieving. - -Just then two cockroaches, more curious than the rest, ran up the stones -near where the lizards sat, who, suddenly turning their heads, seized and -swallowed them. - -How indignant all the birds and insects were at this transgression of -the laws of fairy-land, and loud cries arose from all sides of “Shame! -shame!” - -“Peck out their eyes!” cried the Kiwi, who had, however, been thinking he -should like a meal himself. - -“Off with their tails!” croaked a bright green frog. - -“Off with their tails!” repeated the Tui in a shrill voice. - -But the Tuataras, hearing the noise, glided down from the stones into the -fern; Hal and the birds went after them, but the lizards were soon lost -to sight in a hole. - -“We shall have to give it up,” said Hal, “we could not get them out of -that hole except by digging; let us go back to the others:” so they -returned, and Hal, sitting down by Santa Claus, said, “This is all great -fun,—I wonder when they will begin dancing again, I never enjoyed a dance -so much before.” - -A stout caterpillar,[9] who sat near, and was troubled with asthma, -overhearing this, put in his word. “It is only because you are young that -it all seems so good; wait till you are old and stout like me, and you -won’t be so mad at dancing!” - -“But you will be a lovely butterfly by-and-by,” added little Cis. - -[Illustration: Vegetable Caterpillar.] - -“Not I!” said the caterpillar, “I would not be anything so flighty.” - -“What are you going to do, then?” - -“I mean to retire to some quiet spot on the earth,” said the caterpillar, -“and be of some use in the world. I have heard that some of my brothers -who have buried themselves grew after a while into plants which are much -sought for and valued, and I intend to try it too, I admire variety, for -what is the good of being one of the common herd, I should like to know?” -and the caterpillar stopped, panting, for it was a long speech for him -with his short breath. - -“I should do what other caterpillars do, if I were you,” said little Cis -thoughtfully, “for I’ve heard that the hearts of those caterpillars you -speak of, get harder and harder, till, when the plant grows from them, -they turn into wood, too, and die.” - -“May be! may be! but I don’t care what people say,” replied he in -impatient husky tones, as he turned away and began to dig in the earth -under a big rata-tree as quickly as he could. - -“Too fast, stop him!” shouted the brown owl. - -“Hold your tongue!” cried the caterpillar, “what do you know about it? -Who asked you to preach?” - -“Oh! don’t quarrel!” said the gentle voice of little Cis; “let me give -you a little more light, Mr. Caterpillar, if you _will_ bury yourself,” -and she ran and picked up Hal’s wand, and threw the light of Love’s Star -on the old grubber. The owl above only blinked, and said in surly tones -that he knew he was right, and he wished people wouldn’t try to throw -light on his eyes. - -Little Cis, being left by her partner, sat down on a mossy bank, and was -watching the rest, when she heard some twittering notes near, and looking -down saw two little birds close to her feet, one all grey, one grey with -a yellow breast, their bright eyes twinkling, their little tails wagging. - -“We thought you looked lonely,” said the grey bird, “so we have come to -talk to you.” - -“What are your names, little birds?” said Cis. - -“We are robins,”[10] said they. - -“Robins, are you?” replied little Cis, “why, mother used to tell me that -robins had red breasts.” - -“Oh! so I’ve heard it said they have on the other side of the world,” -replied the grey bird, who seemed to be the greater talker of the two, -“but we don’t care for so much red, as everything else here is so bright, -our family only go in for quiet colours; it’s more ladylike. What do you -think of our ball?” he added, and then continued, “I don’t care much for -dancing myself; I like afternoon-teas better. I am very fond of company, -and one hears all the news of the country-side at a tea-party; it is much -more sociable too.” - -“Perhaps so,” said little Cis in a doubtful voice, for she had only been -to dolls’ tea-parties, and no one talked there. - -“Yes,” went on the grey robin, “there are three charming parrakeets, who -live in a wood near by, and they sometimes give afternoon teas, and, -really, it is as good as reading a newspaper to hear all the tales told -of the neighbours.” - -“Kind tales?” asked Cis. - -“Well, I don’t exactly know,” said the grey robin, “but that doesn’t -matter; the parrakeets[11] say the great thing is to have something to -talk about.” - -[Illustration: Robins.] - -“Don’t say that,” put in the yellow-breasted robin, “the old owl tells us -never to repeat an unkind thing; it is only the busy-bodies of the Tui -family who do that, and they often whistle the tales they hear so badly, -that you’d scarcely know them to be the same.” - -“Perhaps they can’t help it, you know,” remarked little Cis; “it is not -every one who has a good ear; and, besides, Tuis talk so much, that they -can’t have much time to think about what they say. I don’t expect they -mean to alter things. Mother told me never to tell any but good tales of -Hal, but it is difficult sometimes when he teases me,” and little Cis -sighed. - -“I think this is a very nice ball with you to talk to,” said the grey -robin; “do you mind if we stay near you?” - -“Oh, no, I shall like it,” replied Cis; so the robins perched on a bush -close by, and with their heads on one side eyed the dancers (who had -started afresh), and they now and again added their sweet low notes to -the music. - -“We don’t sing much,” said they, “but we like to do our best to make -things lively.” - -[Illustration: Maori hen.] - -Just then, such a scuffling was heard in the long grass, that Cis -jumped up to see what was the matter, and there were two Maori hens[12] -fighting over some bright buttons, tied together with string, which Hal -had thrown down. They were jumping round and round each other in the -maddest excitement, heads and short tails bobbing, and wings flapping. -The brown owl cried, “Too fast, stop them!” but the music and the noise -drowned his voice. At last the fatter of the two hens stopped a minute to -get breath, and the other, seizing its opportunity, gave an extra tug, -and carried off the buttons under the bushes. The fat hen ran after as -fast as possible, calling out, “Stop thief! stop thief!” then they both -disappeared in the bushes. - -Little Cis thought she heard a parrot on a tree overhead call out -something about “The pot calling the kettle black,” but as she did not -see any signs of cooking near, she thought she must be mistaken. - -Meanwhile, Hal had been gossiping with the birds and insects, and -hearing many tales of fun and frolic in the greenwood, and many too of -hair-breadth escapes from hard-hearted hunters and cruel boys. - -“Do you know I am uncommonly hungry,” said Hal, coming up to where Santa -Claus was watching. Hal had a little fairy with lovely gauze wings -perched on each of his shoulders, and he added, “And these little friends -of mine are thirsty too, and all the flowers are shut up, so they can’t -get any dew; it really is too bad for them to close so early.” - -At a nod from Santa Claus the birds flew off, and quickly returned with -numberless fruits and berries; huge mushroom-tables sprang up rapidly, -and soon were bending with the weight of the good things. Blue-bells held -out their cups of sparkling dew to all, and the Tui and the Bell-bird -revelled in honey, pure and golden, which the small wild-bees brought. - -The fairies lightly perched on toadstools and the blades of grass, and -were gallantly waited upon by long-legged spiders, whilst the birds vied -with each other in paying attentions to little Cis. - -Long and merry was the feast, only the Kiwi sat grumpily by, and, eyeing -some curled-up earthworms, sniffed and said that there was nothing -for him to eat. But alas! old Time stays not his flight, even in the -brightest hours, and Santa Claus, pointing to the moon sinking low in the -sky, the happy revel ceased, and good-byes were said. The fairies winged -their flight to hide in the flowers’ sweet hearts; the insects sought -their secret haunts in rugged bark and crannied soil; the birds flew off -to their leafy homes, except the Kiwi, and he could not, having no wings, -poor fellow! so he scuttled quickly about, hunting around for food, but -alas! the earthworms and grubs had already hidden in the mossy soil, or -beneath the dead leaves. - -“Gone! gone!” snorted the disappointed bird, hungry and cross, “and hard -work I shall have to dig them out.” - -“Too fast, stop them!” excitedly shrieked the brown owl, who was -watching some caterpillars waddling off as quickly as they could. - -[Illustration: White Heron.] - -“What is the good of saying that?” asked the Tui, “I shan’t imitate -you anymore. It is not likely the caterpillars, if they heard you, -would stop to be eaten to please you. I’m off to the bush, near the -stream,” continued the Tui, “where the white heron[13] is bringing up -her aristocratic family in her nest in the tree-fern, I shall get some -conversation worth listening to with her, for she’s a lady of education, -and does not mix with every one!” and the Tui flew off. - -“I say, old fellow,” called out Hal to the owl, “that was rather hard on -you. I’d change my tune if I were you, I think.” - -The owl put his brown head on one side, looked very wise for a moment, -then shouted out at the top of his shrill voice, “More pork! more pork!” - -“I’m afraid I can’t oblige you,” laughed Hal, “but if you’ll go farther -into the bush you might tackle a few wild pigs if you like.” - -“I expect he means ‘more mice,’” said little Cis; “perhaps he’s getting -old, poor thing!” - -But the owl shouted out “More pork! more pork!” and does so to this day. - -“Come, children,” said Santa Claus, “I have more wonderful things to -show you before the sun rises;” and he led them out of the forest and -up a hill, from the brow of which they looked on a plain broken by deep -gullies and bounded afar by dark mountain ranges. Scattered trees loomed -vast and unreal in the misty light, and the children walked on silently, -almost wishing they were at home again, but yet curious to know what else -Santa Claus had to show them. Suddenly a miserable little cur ran out of -the bushes, barking, and amidst the manuka and cabbage-trees they saw -a raupo whare. Grotesque heads carved upon the gable and on the corner -posts of the low roof grinned hideously at Hal and Cis, and they were -very startled when some dark figures, wrapped in loose mats, ran out -hastily, looking big and weird in the dim and uncertain light. - -“They are not giants, are they?” whispered little Cis in a timid tone. - -“No, no,” replied Hal, “they are only Maories; and see, they are more -frightened of us than you are of them.” - -The Maories, indeed, on seeing Santa Claus, his starry crown shining like -a halo round his head, and Hal, whose face was lighted up by the Star of -Love which he carried, were terrified, and uttering loud cries of “Aue! -Aue!” they rushed back into their hut. - -[Illustration: “They are only Maories; and see, they are more frightened -of us than you are of them.” - -Page 26.] - -“Why do they run away from us?” asked Cis. - -“They, no doubt, thought we were spirits,” answered Santa Claus; “Maories -are very much afraid of their dead grandfathers and grandmothers,” added -he, laughing. - -“I wonder why that is,” said Hal, “I should have thought they would be -glad to see the people again who are kind and good, as grandfathers and -grandmothers always are.” - -By this time they had gone some little distance past the whare, and at -the bottom of the hill they came to a narrow valley,[14] the sides of -which were clad with a luxuriant growth of feathery manuka, so white with -its numberless small blossoms, that in the faint light that comes before -the summer dawn, the valley looked as though a snowstorm had passed over -it. From hidden places amongst the shrubs, thick curling steam arose, now -hiding the trees and bushes, and even veiling the faint stars above for a -few seconds, then melting into thin air, leaving a warm dripping moisture -on everything around. Mysterious hissing noises filled the air, and ever -and anon the earth shook as though with fear. - -The wondering, half-frightened children, tightly clasping each other’s -hands, followed Santa Claus along the steep, zig-zag path that led down -to the bottom of the valley; then, feeling the ground warm beneath her -feet, little Cis said, “I am so frightened, Mr. Santa Claus, please may -we go back?” - -“Yes, I think we _ought_ to go back,” added Hal, “for it must be getting -near breakfast-time now.” - -“Do not be afraid, children, I will take care of you,” replied Santa -Claus, “and I have such wonderful things to show you.” - -Reassured by his kind voice, the children followed, keeping close -together; Hal, with one arm round Cis, and with the other holding the -Star of Love high above their heads, as they followed the path to the -bottom of the valley. There they saw a stream rippling along; clear as -crystal were its waters, and its banks covered with drooping ferns and -tender mosses. Little Cis, stooping to gather some of the ferns, dipped -her hand into a pool of water near by, and cried out, “Why, Hal, it’s -quite hot!” - -Yes, hot it was, and the steam itself still hotter, while amid the -bushes, countless merry little springs bubbled up, boiling, from basins -of yellow and pink stone. - -“Why, it smells exactly like lucifer matches,—do they make them here, -Mr. Santa Claus?” asked Hal, looking at the bright yellow sulphur on the -ground. - -“No,” laughed Santa Claus, “but I think they might.” - -“I shall bring our cook here,” went on Hal, “she needn’t have a fire at -all to cook our meals or to wash our clothes.” And he looked down into -the clear steaming pool close by, edged with crumbling, many-coloured -soil, and around, and even within which, delicate ferns were growing. - -But Santa Claus’ starry crown was already shining faint on the pathway -ahead, and the children tripped on lightly after him. - -What lovely fairy glens they saw at each turn of the little path, -carpeted with soft, bright green, and overhung with tender foliage, -and Cis wished it were midnight that she might see the fairies dance. -What fairy ball-rooms, too, with floors of pale pink marble, and pretty -streamlets of warm water trickling near, for tired feet to paddle in! - -But Santa Claus had stopped, and the children hurried up to his side, -and there, in the midst of the thick bushes, they saw a small lake of -clearest blue, and to its edge sloped down a gleaming floor of white, and -the trees that drooped near to the water’s edge shone white, as though a -hoar-frost had silvered each trunk and tiny twig. - -“Oh! how lovely!” cried little Cis. “Is this like the snow in England, -Mr. Santa Claus?” - -“Not quite,” he answered, “though it is as beautiful. But listen, little -ones!” - -And as he spoke a chorus of voices was heard, faint, as though from the -bowels of the earth, and then a low rumbling noise was followed by a -mighty burst of steam from a hole a little way off, and on the top of it -were shot out a troop of laughing gnomes. - -[Illustration: On the top of the geyser were shot out a troop of laughing -gnomes.] - -What funny little fellows they looked, with their long yellow legs, short -bodies, and merry round faces beneath their yellow hats of all shapes -and sizes. With many wild antics and strange capers they danced round the -blue lake, singing:— - - “Ha, ha! ha, ha! how jolly is life, - We know no care, we know no strife; - We dance, we sing, and merrily play - The long night through; and then by day - We work, we delve in the ground below, - And make Earth’s fountains merrily flow. - We feed the fires, till the cold streams boil; - We spare no trouble, we spare no toil, - We make the dark pools bubble and hiss, - Till the waters leap up the trees to kiss, - With a roar, and a whirr, and a rush so high, - That the bright drops sparkle and dance in the sky, - Then fall with a soft tra la la! tra la la! - And we laugh as they fall, ha, ha! ha, ha!” - -Then all the little gnomes, headed by Red Cap, their leader, jumped with -merry shouts and laughter into the clear warm pool near by. - -The children watched them for awhile, then Cis wandered off, picking up -bits of petrified ferns and sticks out of a hot bubbling pool, and choice -pieces of yellow sulphur, which, when broken off the steaming ground, -showed myriads of sparkling crystals, and kind Santa Claus packed all her -treasures in soft moss in a bag which he carried on his back. - -Meanwhile, Hal envied the merry bathers, and as they called out to him to -“come, too,” he quickly threw off his clothes and jumped into the little -lake. - -How glorious it was! The hot bubbling waters, the clear crystal depths, -and the sides and floor of the bath yielding to the touch, as though -padded with velvet! Was ever such a bath enjoyed before? Shouting and -singing, the little gnomes seized Hal and popped him over the edge of the -basin, and plump he fell into a stream of cold water on the other side. -What a big breath he pulled at first, and then, how delicious the glow -and the dive into the clear depths! What a good swim Hal had up the cold -stream, racing the little gnomes who spluttered and splashed after him! -Then back they all went into the blue lake, revelling in the tingling -warmth. Again, out of that into another bath close by, where countless -crystal bubbles rose from the soft sandy floor, playing round the -bathers like the dancing bubbles of sparkling wine. - -But Hal heard Santa Claus calling to him to make haste, and he -reluctantly jumped out, and flinging on his clothes, shouted to the -gnomes, “I’ll come here for my Saturday-night tub, if you don’t mind; -it’s awfully jolly.” - -“All right,” answered the gnomes, running after Hal, who by this time had -joined Cis and Santa Claus. - -“Won’t you all come and have breakfast with us?” asked Red Cap. - -“Well, I am rather hungry, and I expect Cis is, too. But what have you -got for breakfast, Mr. Red Cap?” - -“Porridge, to be sure. Didn’t you know we were hard-working Scotch boys? -Who else would work as hard, or get as much out of the earth as we do?” -answered a gnome in a huffed tone. - -“I don’t know, I’m sure; but please don’t be offended,” replied Hal, -“we’ll eat some porridge with pleasure.—or _try_ to,” he added in a low -voice, for he did not care for porridge at home. - -Red Cap led the way to where in the earth was the porridge-pot—a large -hole full of boiling cream-coloured porridge, that hissed, and bubbled, -and looked tempting enough. Cis and Hal, following the example of their -guide, dipped sticks into it, and tasted the smooth paste, and what -grimaces they both made, which they tried not to let Red Cap see! For the -porridge was anything but pleasant, being like a mixture of rotten eggs -and alum. - -“Isn’t it good?” asked Red Cap, smacking his lips over it. - -“Well,” said Cis, who wished to be polite, “it certainly is well boiled, -and it is not at all lumpy, but—isn’t it ra—ther—earthy?” - -Then, seeing the gnome’s disappointed face, she added, “But never mind, -we’re trying to enjoy it; but I expect you have to be brought up to it, -Mr. Red Cap, really to like it.” - -“We’ll come for our next picnic here, and bring some tea for you,” said -Hal, trying to make friends with Red Cap, “and perhaps you’ll boil the -kettle for us—no, I mean, give us the water already boiled. I’m afraid -it will smell and taste of rotten eggs, but that can’t be helped,” added -Hal, in a low voice, to little Cis, sniffing the sulphurous fumes rising -from the boiling cauldrons on all sides. - -Santa Claus and the children now walked on, and Cis and Hal, getting -accustomed to the strange scenes around, began to feel quite brave. - -“There are not many birds here, Mr. Santa Claus,” said Cis, for they -had only seen a few blight-birds flitting about; only the two little -robins had come part of the way with her into the valley, then they had -twittered their good-bye, and Cis missed her little feathered friends. - -“See,” replied Santa Claus, and there amid the feathery manuka was an -open space covered with layers of creamy-coloured stone, and in the -centre was what looked like a huge bird’s nest,[15] formed of large -white stems and branches crossed and recrossed, and pieces of petrified -moss between. Each little twig was heavily laden with drops, apparently -frozen, some thick as milk, some clear as crystal, while round and -overhead the bushes too were white as snow. - -“How beautiful!” cried Hal. - -“But where is the bird, Mr. Santa Claus?” asked little Cis, “and what a -big one it must be to make that nest!” - -“Wait a little, and if you do not see the bird you shall hear him sing,” -laughed Santa Claus. - -The children stood silently waiting. Soon a low rumbling was heard below -their feet, followed by hissing and bubbling noises that grew nearer and -nearer, then died away, to begin again, louder, nearer than before, and -making Cis creep up close to her brother and Santa Claus. Awe-struck, the -children watched, and soon from the middle of the nest they saw bubbling -waters that came and went in fitful gushes, as though battling against -some unseen power below,—then roaring, fighting, boiling, a mighty column -shot up high into the air above their heads, and clouds of steam rolled -around, hiding for a little while the trees, and even the children, in -a misty veil.[16] How beautiful the clear drops of the mighty fountain -looked, as the water’s rose and fell, shining like dancing diamonds in -the dawning light! Then out from their holes came the gnomes, singing -again their merry song. - -[Illustration: The Merry Song of the Gnomes. - - We feed the fires till the cold streams boil, - We spare no trouble we spare no toil: - We make the dark pools bubble and hiss - Till the waters leap up the trees to kiss, - With a roar, and a whirr and a rush so high - That the bright drops sparkle and dance in the sky - Then fall with a soft tra la la la! tra la la la! - And we laugh as they fall. Ha ha! ha ha!] - -Then they danced around the roaring geyser, till the waters fell lower -and lower, and amid sobs and sighs died away in the deep dark hole, and -all was still and silent as before in the mysterious bird’s nest. - -Without waiting to hear the children’s wondering remarks, Santa Claus -took them by the hand, and they seemed to pass quickly over a large -tract of country, until they came to a creek, which they soon saw from -its steaming sides was hot, and which ran into a lake lying quiet and -peaceful;—only the pukekos[17] rose now and again, screeching from the -reedy shallows. Pushing their way through thick scrub, and walking with -great care between bubbling cauldrons and deep holes from which steam -belched forth with a mighty roar and thud, Hal found it difficult to -carry the Star of Love safely, and asked Santa Claus what he should do -with it. - -“Hold it high overhead, and then stop for a minute and watch,” replied -Santa Claus, and, doing as he was bid, Hal was astonished to see the Star -float away into the pale grey sky, becoming fainter and fainter, till it -disappeared in the misty dawn. - -“You have carried it so long with care,” said Santa Claus, “that by day, -though unseen, it will ever shine to guide you, and at night, though -passing clouds may sometimes hide it, if you look for it, you will soon -find it again.” - -“I shall look for it, Mr. Santa Claus,” said little Cis; “I often see the -stars shining in at my window when I am in bed, and I shall ask God not -to let the angels forget to light that beautiful one for me to see.” - -As little Cis finished speaking, their old friend Red Cap appeared on the -path before them. - -“Where did you come from?” cried Hal, “we left you at the bird’s nest.” - -“Yes,” answered Red Cap, “but we gnomes do not follow the paths you -mortals tread, but have many and hidden passages under the earth, and -many underground streams by which we pass quickly from south to north. -So, here I am, you see, and now I am going to show you the realm of the -King and Queen of the Gnomes.” - -“That _will_ be jolly!” cried Hal. - -“Will it take very long, Mr. Red Cap?” asked Cis. “I have been thinking -of mother, and she will want me back soon, I am sure.” And the child’s -face grew thoughtful, and her large eyes looked sad and wistful. - -“You shall be back for breakfast on Christmas morning, I promise you, -little Cis,” said Santa Claus; “Mother will not expect you before then. -I am going to leave you a little while with Red Cap now, for I have some -other children expecting me before the sun is up; but I will meet you -after you have seen where the King and Queen of the Gnomes live.” - -“You will not forget us, Mr. Santa Claus, will you?” asked Cis, “because -we could never get home without you.” - -“No fear of that, little one, I never fail the children who believe in -me,” and so saying he disappeared from their sight. Hal called out,— - -“Good-bye, old fellow, I hope you’ll make haste back,” and then, taking -Cis’s hand, for he thought she was a little timid, he followed Red Cap -until they came to the end of the thick bushes. “Look,” said Red Cap, -“this is the dwelling place of our King and Queen.” Beautiful indeed -was the sight that met their gaze; from the edge of the lake, tier upon -tier of milky white terraces[18] sloped upwards to a great height, and -over them fell a glistening veil of water which filled the air with its -rippling song as it sought the placid lake below. - -“Oh! let us paddle,” said Hal to Cis, and no sooner was it said than -done, and how delightful was the soft, warm water trickling over their -feet! - -The children then followed as Red Cap led the way from tier to tier, -looking into the numberless marble baths of all shapes and sizes that -they passed, filled with coloured waters, clear and inviting, pale blue -and green—the sides of the baths edged with fantastic wreaths and carved -alabaster fringe, from the countless points of which overflowing drops -fell with a soft musical sound. - -How dazzling was the milky white floor as they stepped upwards and looked -down on the stretching terraces gemmed with their glistening pools! -Truly it was wonderland! A fit dwelling-place for the King and Queen; a -fit scene for the midnight revels of Gnomes and Fays! Hal and Cis found -many a little petrified treasure as they lingered here and there,—twigs -and bits of moss and fern, and even insects white and glistening as the -terrace itself. - -“Oh! see, Mr. Red Cap,” called out little Cis, picking up what looked -like a perfect white dragonfly, “what has happened to the poor -dragonfly!” and she held it in her hand tenderly. - -“That is the way the gnomes punish any insect that comes near where our -King and Queen live,” answered Red Cap; “the singing waters lure them in, -and then turn them to stone itself.” - -“Poor things,” said little Cis, “how hard-hearted the pretty waters must -be, and they look so soft and nice.” - -“That is often the way with things,” remarked Red Cap; “at least so I’ve -heard it said.” - -As they came near the topmost tier of baths, the water became hotter and -hotter, and there, in a gorge of the hill side, with the feathery manuka -to its very edge, was a huge cauldron of opal-coloured steaming water. - -Side by side, with timid steps, the children went close to the edge, and, -looking down, saw what Red Cap told them was the entrance to the King’s -palace. - -Clusters of white pillars rose in stately grandeur, surrounded with -carved wreaths of leaves and flowers, looking as if formed of frozen snow -in the blue waters; forests of ferns hung their delicate stone fronds in -the shadowy depths; quaint shaped mushrooms and coral-like bushes grew -here and there ’mid heavily fringed leaves of many a strange shape. - -“Oh! may we go down there?” asked Hal. - -“No,” replied Red Cap, “it would be death to mortals to go there; even -fairies cannot enter; but they are allowed to bathe in the pools, or to -dance with the gnomes on moonlight nights, when our King and Queen hold -their court. Only the gnomes can enter the palace halls below the pool, -and many strange sights and sounds are there, and it is hard work there -for the gnomes, I can tell you. See,” went on Red Cap, “the King and -Queen are away just now, and the gnomes are busy cleaning out the palace, -and soon they will make the big fountain play, and fill the terrace baths -afresh.” - -“Where have the King and Queen gone?” asked Hal, “and shan’t we see them?” - -“I think not to-night,” said Red Cap, “for they have gone to their summer -palace over there,” and he pointed to the other side of the lake, where -the children saw another terraced realm even more beautiful than the one -they were on, being of a pale pink colour, like the tender flush of a -warm sunset upon beds of snow, and over all the falling waters danced and -gleamed. - -“Are there as beautiful bathing places over there too?” asked Hal. - -“Yes,” said Red Cap, “and there is a large bath with soft downy sides and -floor in which mortals sometimes bathe. But they are seldom allowed to -see into the depths of the huge cauldron at the top of this pink terrace, -for, by the order of the King, soft clouds of steam cover it, which are -rarely lifted. Some favoured ones who have looked into the boiling depths -say the forests and beauteous flowery forms there are even more wonderful -than those you see here at the entrance of the Winter Palace.” - -“Oh! look!” cried Hal excitedly to Cis just as Red Cap ceased speaking; -then, out of numberless small caves in the blue cauldron at their feet -jumped hundreds of little black gnomes, having thick coats made out of -sulphur cakes, and on their heads milky white helmets. Up from the blue -waters they sprang, capering with wild delight round the edges of the -cauldron and the numberless basins of the white terraces below, shouting, -laughing, and then bursting ever and anon into wild chorus. - - “’Tis done! ’tis done! our labour is o’er, - We’ve cleaned each hall, and polished each floor. - We’ve made the matches, and lighted the fires - The engines to start as our King desires; - List to the hammers that thump and bang, - To the piston’s thud and the anvil’s clang. - Hurrah! hurrah! for the rumble and rush, - The boiling pools that bubble and gush, - Then upwards burst, and the steam clouds rise - To join their brethren that float in the skies. - Now the fountains play o’er the palace halls, - And the rainbow-arch o’er the portal falls, - Hark to the din! and hark to the roar! - ’Tis done, ’tis done; our labour is o’er.” - -And the children and Red Cap saw the water in the big cauldron begin to -bubble at the bottom, and then rise rapidly higher and higher. - -“Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap. - -Hal and Cis needed no second bidding, but ran down the terrace and then -climbed up the hill-side as quickly as they could with their bare feet, -and from the midst of the bushes watched the big geyser shoot up into the -sky with a terrific roar. - -Soon the cauldron overflowed in tossing wavelets that swept downwards -from terrace to terrace, filling to overflowing the countless baths on -the way, and forming one beautiful sparkling cascade—in many parts blue -as the sky overhead—from the top to the lake below, which was itself blue -as a summer sky. - -The gnomes, perching on the bushes and flax clumps round, nodded their -heads approvingly, and sang:— - - “The cascade falls o’er each marble lip, - Where at night the fairies merrily trip, - As the rippling waters rise and fall, - We join their dance on a gleaming wall, - Or climbing high on the moon’s bright rays, - We sing till the sun on the terrace plays, - Then hide again in our holes and caves, - Where our tired feet the water laves, - And we watch poor mortals come and go, - They see not the fun we have below. - Oh! what tricks we play! They know not why - The geysers gush, and the steam-clouds fly: - As they hear us chuckle and laugh, ha! ha! - They say, ’tis the water’s song, tra la la! - Hurrah! for the fun in our hidden homes, - Hurrah! for the life of the merry gnomes!” - -[Illustration: “Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap.] - -And down the funny little fellows jumped and rushed laughing into the -delicately fringed caves beneath the marble baths. - -“What jolly little boys they are,” said Hal, “and what a good time they -seem to be having!” - -“Yes,” replied Red Cap, “they all _seem_ happy; but I am sorry to say -there are a lot of discontented ones below, and I should not wonder if -they strike one day; and if so, the passages will get clogged, and there -will be a grand blow up, and I don’t know what will happen to our King -and Queen and their beautiful fairy realms,”[19] and Red Cap heaved a -deep sigh. “But we must go now,” added he. - -The children ran down to where they had left their shoes and stockings, -and putting them on, followed their guide to the creek. - -There in the reeds, close to the bank, they found a canoe; it had pointed -ends, and was hollowed out of a large tree trunk, and the bottom was -covered with the small leafy twigs of the manuka. - -“Get in, children,” said Red Cap. - -“There are no seats,” said little Cis. - -“Never mind,” answered Red Cap; “sit quite still on the bottom, and hold -tightly to the sides.” - -So Hal helped Cis in carefully, for it seemed as if very little would -upset the canoe, and Red Cap, taking up a paddle, pushed out into the -stream. - -Then, how quickly they floated along on the rapidly running water; how -delightful was the swift motion without any effort, making the children -feel giddy as some swift eddy hurried them round the turns of the stream. -On, on past the reedy banks, over deep pools and weedy shallows, faster -and faster, Red Cap steering here and there with a touch of the paddle. - -At last they came to the end of the rapids, and Red Cap steered the canoe -to a little curve in the banks, and Cis and Hal jumped out. - -“It was splendid,” cried Hal, “to come all that way so quickly, without -any trouble, wasn’t it, Cis?” - -“Yes,” replied Cis, hesitating a little; “but it rather took my breath -away, and I was afraid we might be upset.” - -“Oh! it was safe enough,” said Hal with an air of superior wisdom, “as -long as you sat still; but I suppose it is difficult for girls to do -that. Where now, Mr. Red Cap?” he added. - -“I must leave you now, children; but here is Santa Claus waiting for you.” - -And there indeed they saw their old friend sitting on a bank. - -The children rushed to him, for they were delighted to see him again; -then, turning, they bid Red Cap good-bye, and thanked him heartily for -all his kindness to them, Hal adding, “I shall tell other children of the -wonderful things you have shown us, Mr. Red Cap, that I shall, for I had -often read of fairy-land, but I had never been to it before, and I think -it is a jolly place.” - -And with another good-bye, Red Cap vanished from their sight. - -“So you have enjoyed yourselves, children? I am glad of that,” said Santa -Claus. “And now, is there anything more you would like to see before you -go home?” - -“Yes,” cried Hal, “I _should_ like to see some real snow, the snow mother -tells us of. Can we, please?” - -Cis added her entreaty to Hal’s, and Santa Claus said he would take them -where they could see some. - -The morning had come, but the sun only now and again shone through the -gray clouds that floated low. - -“Come,” said Santa Claus; and taking a hand of each, he led them up -to where a large, soft cloud rested on the hill-side, and he bade the -children sit down with him on it. - -Up, up floated the billowy mass into the sky, and glided away to the -south. How smoothly they went along, wafted by the morning breezes! and -Cis and Hal, seated on their soft cushions, gazed dreamily down on the -country that sped away so quickly beneath them. - -“How small the big mountains look!” cried Hal; “and the towns and -villages look like toy ones.” - -And then they passed over big streams, and a wide strait, that looked -like a silver streak in the far depths. Away, away they floated; the sky -was now clearer, and off the hills, and out of the valleys the mists were -rolling, their silvery edges gleaming in the fitful sunlight. - -“Look! we are going over some big ponds now,” said little Cis. - -“Ponds!” exclaimed Santa Claus, “those are large lakes, see how they -spread out like sheets of silver water!” - -The cloud was by this time passing over one of the largest lakes, and -very beautiful looked the soft shining waters surrounded by mountains, -on the tops of which the clouds still rested. Then the cloud floated to -the far end of the lake, and glided down a narrow valley in which the -milky blue waters of a glacier-stream rushed and roared, though no sound -reached the children, who could only see its fighting wavelets. - -On they went, watching the clouds roll from the tree-clad depths and -rocky heights, till at last they uttered cries of joy and wonder. - -There, in front of them, the mighty snow-crowned hills pierced the grey -clouds, catching the rosy rays of the now rapidly-rising sun. Vast -ice-fields stretched far and wide, their rifts blue as the breaks in the -sky above, their jagged peaks gleaming with a thousand diamond lights; -and how soft and inviting looked the beds of snow in the hollows! - -“The snow! The snow at last!” cried Hal and Cis, as they saw the hills -and their gleaming sides and peaks; “oh! do let us get down, Mr. Santa -Claus.” - -“Wait,” he replied; and the cloud glided close to a gorge in one of the -mountains, where a mighty foaming torrent[20] rushed down the rocky -steeps to the valley beneath, the silver streaks thousands of feet -overhead showing where the waters ran out from the glacier fields. - -When the cloud stopped, the children jumped off and rushed to the edge of -the waterfall, and, holding on to the trees at the side, were about to -stoop down for a drink, when Santa Claus cried out, “Do not try to drink -there, children, you will be swept away by the rushing waters. Come with -me, and I will show you where you can get a draught of clear still water.” - -[Illustration] - -Hal and Cis turned reluctantly, and Santa Claus took them where, in a -dry water-course, amid big boulders, they saw clusters of the pure white -flowers of the mountain-lily,[21] and their guide, pointing to these, -said, “See there, if you are thirsty.” - -“The flowers are very beautiful, Mr. Santa Claus,” said Cis, “but it is -_water_ we want, and I am _so_ thirsty.” - -“Look again,” replied Santa Claus. - -There, below the flowers, were large cup-shaped leaves full of clear -cold water; Cis and Hal darted forward to gather them and drink, when -the leaves seemed to be shaken as if with the wind, but there was not -wind enough for that, and, stooping down, they saw two little fat dwarfs -holding the stems and shaking with laughter. - -What ugly little fellows they were! Hal thought at first they were green -frogs, for they were dressed in tight-fitting green coats, their big -mouths reached from ear to ear, and their hands and feet were webbed. - -“Hulloa!” cried Hal, “who are you?” - -Instead of answering, they only laughed and choked, and choked and -laughed. - -“You seem to have got bad colds,” said little Cis. - -“Perhaps, when you have done, you will tell us what you are laughing at?” -continued Hal, in aggrieved tones. - -Still they laughed and choked. - -“I wish I were at home; my mother would give you some ipecacuanha wine, -for I think you have got the croup,” said little Cis, in a troubled voice. - -At this the dwarfs opened their mouths wider than before, and, at last, -in low croaking voices began a duet:— - - “My name it is Gup!” - “My name it is Joke!” - “We’ve got such bad colds (together) - We can only croak. - - “We are both so fat, (together) - And we can’t tell why, - Unless it’s because - We live near the sky.” - - “So close to the clouds - There’s no need to climb,” - Said Joke, “so all day - I sit here and rhyme. - - “I feed upon flies, - And grumble and grunt, - Or for nice fat snails - Al night-time I hunt.” - - “Be quiet,” cried Gup. - “That I won’t,” said Joke; - “Your voice is just like - A pig’s in a poke!” - - “And little care I - If it is,” said Gup; - “I’m tired to death - Of holding this cup.” - - “I like to be fat, - I hate to drink dew, - It’s a weak cold draught - That nourishes few. - - “Great poets, they say, - Must live near the skies!” - “That’s me!” cried out Joke; - “I’m ever so wise! - - “I know no grammar, - I read no books, - I have but studied - Dame Nature’s looks. - - “A poet to gain - The top of the tree, - Has to use long words, - And drone like a bee.” - - So we both make rhymes, - And chuckle and grin - At the people who listen, - And cry, “What a sin - - “‘These two clever boys - Should not be extolled!’” - “Stop! stop!” cried out Joke, - “Where has the grub rolled?” - -“What are you looking for?” asked the children. - -“We are looking for our dinner,” replied the dwarfs, who, during the -latter part of their singing, had been hunting under the leaves and down -the slippery slope for a big fat grub which they had carefully stowed -away for a meal, but which had disappeared. - - “I’d rolled him all up - just under this cup!” - With a grunt cried out Gup. - “Yes! grunt and croak, - You pig in a poke; - You’re to blame,” cried Joke. - “I’ve told you full oft - Not to gaze up aloft— - That grub was _so_ soft! - He was such a prize! - A sight for sore eyes - When made into pies!” - And Joke heaved big sighs. - -“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” said little Cis, “pray don’t quarrel over a grub.” - -“Quarrel, indeed!” cried a voice out of the bushes; “they’re always -quarrelling!” - -It was a plump Maori hen who thus spoke, and she added, “If they’d leave -off making rhymes, and attend to the business of every-day life, it -would be far better. While they sat looking up at the skies, the grub -rolled down, and I caught him and ate him, for it was a pity he should be -wasted. In fact,” added the hen, with a satisfied nod, “as a rule, they -find the grubs, and I eat them!” - -At this, the dwarfs got so puffed out with anger, that the children were -afraid they would burst, they rolled their eyes round and round, in -search of something to throw at the Maori hen, but she ran away into the -bushes beyond their reach. - -“I should be glad if you’d give us a drink out of those green cups of -yours,” said Hal; “and couldn’t you make some better poetry? if so, we’d -like to hear it very much.” - -The dwarfs then handed the children each a mountain-lily leaf full of -cool dew, saying:— - - “To you we hold the fairy cup, - And bid you drink of sparkling dew, - The stars have gone, the sun is up, - Soon must we hide from mortal view. - But ere we say good-bye, we bid - Ye upward, ever upward go; - Look to the Star that shines above, - Though oft you cull the flowers below. - ’Tis Christmas morn, the Bell-bird’s chimes - Rise from the distant woods; o’er hills - Where rabbits skip, there softly rings - The music of a thousand rills. - A merry Christmas! then we sing; - A merry time for one and all! - Let not the poor pass by your gates, - Let from your hands the good gifts fall. - We merry dwarfs have but one gift, - To thirsty souls we hold it up, - And bid them drink refreshing dew - From out our cool green fairy cup. - But ere we say good-bye we bid - Ye upwards, ever upwards go; - Look to the Star that shines above, - E’en though you cull the flowers below.” - -“I wonder if they mean our Star of Love,” said little Cis. - -“Perhaps so,” said Hal, “though I don’t see it anywhere just now.” - -Hal stooped down to where the little dwarfs were hiding themselves under -the leaves, but somehow they and the big stalks seemed to get all mixed -up, and he then could see nothing but the stalks, and began to think he -must have dreamt all the rest. - -Just then a Maori hen, with an inquisitive air, came out of the fern, and -Hal, seeing it, cried out,— - -“By-the-bye, old thief, where are those buttons of mine you stole?” - -“I don’t know,” replied the hen. Indignant mutterings were uttered by -some other hens gathering round:— - -“_We_ never stole any buttons, it must have been some country cousin -of ours; we never think of stealing anything,” protested the crowd -indignantly. - -“Well, you see,” replied Hal, “all your family have got a bad name; but -there may be some honest ones amongst you.” - -But the offended hens did not wait to hear more, and scuttled off into -the bushes. - -The children, seeing that Santa Claus was beckoning to them to go on, -tried to get up the slope quickly; but how slippery the stretches of -snow-grass were! they often stumbled, and had to hold on tightly to the -silvery tufts to keep from falling backwards into the awful depths. Many -a time did Hal help little Cis, for he still had the wand in his hand, -and used it as a stick to lean upon. - -“We shall soon get to the snow now,” said Santa Claus, waiting for the -children, and pointing above them, where the eternal peaks were shining. - -“What is that?” cried Hal, as he heard a loud thundering, as of a huge -mass falling from some great height, waking the echoes far and near. - -“You will know soon,” answered Santa Claus; and helping the children up -the last steep ledges, they came in sight of the vast fields of snow and -ice. - -Proceeding in single file along the narrow path under his guidance, -he at length placed them on a spot whence they could safely watch the -avalanches thundering from the heights, down the rugged mountain side to -the valley below, and how wonderful it was to see the huge masses of ice -falling, sliding, dashing from ledge to ledge! Then from the clear sky -above them they heard a voice calling, “Ke-a, ke-a. Come up, come up.” - -[Illustration: Kea.] - -“What is that?” asked little Cis, who had not spoken, but, sitting close -to Hal, had been watching the wonderful scene. - -“I do not know,” said Hal, “but it looks like a big mountain parrot that -I’ve seen pictures of in our new book on New Zealand birds.” - -“Is that what it is, Mr. Santa Claus?” - -“Yes, Hal, and it is a cruel bird,[22] for it will fasten its claws into -the back of any sheep that has wandered away from its companions or is -floundering in the snow, and then, digging its sharp beak through the -flesh, it feeds upon the fat part it likes best. The poor sheep, driven -frantic by the pain, rushes on and on, till it sinks down exhausted to -die; and then the Kea, having got the dainty bit it wanted, leaves its -prey, and goes off to seek a fresh victim.” - -“How cruel!” said little Cis, her eyes filling with tears. - -“But come, children,” said Santa Claus, “I must take you near the snow,” -and he led them to where the snow lay white and pure. - -The children rushed to fill their hands with it, and shouted for joy. - -“How cold it is!” cried Hal. - -“How beautifully white and soft!” said little Cis. - -And the children began to pelt each other, their merry laughter ringing -on the clear air. - -“Let’s have a shy at Santa Claus,” whispered Hal to his sister; and, -making a big snow-ball, their eyes sparkling with fun, they threw it -suddenly at their guide, who was sitting on a rock near by. - -But how astonished they were, when the snow-ball hit him, to see it -gradually spread out and cover him. - -“Good-bye, children! Good-bye! good-bye!” said Santa Claus in a low -muffled voice; and then, all that was left of their kind guide was a heap -of snow. - -“Oh! what have we done!” cried Cis, as she looked round and round for -Santa Claus. - -She thought the heap of snow was something like him in shape, but then it -was _only_ a heap of snow, and poor Cis sat down and cried. - -Hal tried to look brave, but felt inclined to cry too, when he remembered -how far they were from home. - -“How shall we get down the mountain? How shall we get back to mother?” -moaned Cis, and the tears ran down her cheeks afresh. - -Then from out the snow-heap sprang hundreds of little long-legged -sprites, with high pointed ice-caps on their heads, and wearing coats of -sparkling snow, the icicle-fringe of which jingled merrily. - -What round, rosy faces they had! What twinkling blue eyes! In their hands -they carried frost lances or little crystal spades, which they flourished -in the air as they sprang up from the snow, making flashes of light in -the sun. - -“Who are you?” cried Hal. - -“Are you the children of Santa Claus?” asked little Cis, “and if so, can -you tell us where he has gone, please?” - -“We are his servants,” shouted they, “and he has sent us to help you; for -he has started on his journey to the Old World, where the children will -soon be looking for him.” - -“Oh! is that where he has gone!” said little Cis with a relieved air, -glad to find they had not killed him; “and will you help us to go -home? because I think it must be Christmas morning, and mother will be -expecting us;” and little Cis thought she could hear the Bell-bird’s -chimes, as she had heard it many a time in the early morning. - -“Yes, we will help you,” answered the sprites. - -Just then they heard the bird circling over their heads, again crying, -“Ke-a! Ke-a! Come up! come up!” and Hal, helping little Cis, and planting -his stick firmly, step by step, in the snow, followed the sprites, who -tripped lightly on, looking like points of dancing light. - -At last, after hard climbing, they reached the ice-clad side of the -highest peak. How beautiful the prospect in the bright sunlight! The -clouds all gone; nothing but the clear blue sky above and around. All -was still, save when the avalanches thundered down from the heights. The -children stood and watched the huge masses of ice as they slid down, now -here, now there from the shining peaks, to fall like powdered snow into -the foaming glacier stream in the dim depths below. - -Meanwhile the little sprites were hard at work digging, cutting, shaping -a huge block of ice. - -“What are you making?” asked Hal. “Can we help?” - -“Yes, if you like,” said the sprites, and they gave him and Cis two -little spades. The children were soon quite hot, working as the sprites -bade them, loosening and shaping the huge block of ice; while every now -and then they would all stop, and pelt each other with the powdered ice, -and the sprites sang:— - - “Pelt us, pelt us, we don’t care, - We love the snow so crisp and fair; - We will shape and we will dig, - Till a chariot white and big - We have cut, for those who’d fain - Hasten to their home again. - Slide and slip, and slip and slide, - Thunderous roll, and mighty crash! - In the chariot come and ride, - Down into the depths to dash. - Mystic trip for those who roam; - One wild rush: Hurrah for home!” - -Tempting indeed looked the chariot; bright and sparkling were its wheels -of ice, and some of the sprites had decked it with starry edelweiss -gathered on the slopes below, and with handfuls of the red snow-lichen. - -“Let’s get in, Cis!” cried Hal. - -“Is it quite safe?” asked Cis of the sprites. - -“Quite, quite,” answered they; “Santa Claus told us to make it for you.” - -Taking hold of little Cis, the foremost sprite helped her to get in, and -Hal jumped quickly in by her side. - -Throwing down their spades, the laughing sprites rushed to the chariot -wheels, ready to push them round, whilst others pelted the children with -snow-lichen, shouting at the top of their shrill voices:— - - “Slide and slip, and slip and slide, - Thunderous roll and mighty crash! - In the chariot those who ride, - Down into the depths shall dash. - Mystic trip for those who roam; - One wild rush: Hurrah for home!” - -Then the wheels began to turn, and Hal threw his arm round Cis, who was -holding on to him, and looking with a little white face into the depths -below. - -[Illustration: “You must have been dreaming, Hal!”] - -But the wheels turned faster and faster, as the chariot dashed down -the glassy slope. Hal looked at the sky above, where the Kea was still -crying, “Come up! come up!” and he thought he saw the Star of Love -shining faint and far; and then—— Hal remembered no more; and, with the -words of the sprites ringing in his ears,— - - “Slide and slip, and slip and slide,” - -he—awoke,—to find he had tumbled out of bed, and that it was Christmas -morn indeed. And there was little Cis, sitting up in her bed, and there -were the stockings with their bulging sides; and Hal rubbed his eyes and -wondered if he were awake or dreaming. But he and Cis hastened to dive -into their stockings, to see what Santa Claus had put into them, and, -what treasures they found! - -For Cis there was a big doll, dressed like an angel, and fairy-like small -ones, and beautiful furniture for her doll’s house, and a book with -pictures of all kinds of birds and insects. - -And in Hal’s, what treasures for his collection! Rare birds’ eggs in -little glass-covered boxes, precious bits of many-coloured ores; and from -the Terraces, about which his mother had often told him, were specimens -of white encrusted sticks and delicate ferns. How he longed to put them -in his cabinet with his other treasures! - -But when Hal talked to Cis about Santa Claus and their night’s travels, -she laughed and said,— - -“You must have been dreaming, Hal, or perhaps the treasures in the -stockings whispered it all in your ear,” which Hal indignantly denied. - -“For I know it was real,” he said. - -But the Bell-birds were singing their Christmas chime in the bush, and -the morning sun was gilding the tree-ferns and the waves, and their -mother’s voice was calling, “A happy Christmas, children! a happy -Christmas!” - -And whose was that other voice that called out the words too? - -“Father! father!” cried the little ones eagerly, tearfully, as they -rushed into the outstretched arms of their mother and _father_ too! - -Yes, it was a happy Christmas morn, indeed, for the sea had brought its -_living_ to their home. And as the children sat that evening in the -little low room, their father told them of the shipwreck, of his life -on an island with one other, carried like himself to its shores, and of -their joy when a passing vessel sighted them and brought them home at -last. - -When the Southern Cross again shone down from the sky on the father and -mother and happy children, Hal told them his tale of all he had seen the -night before. - -Although little Cis declared it was not so, Hal would never believe but -that Cis and he had been with Santa Claus to see all the wonders of the -Southern Cross Fairy-land. - -FINIS. - - - - -NOTES. - - -[1] Bell-bird. Korimako. (_Anthornis melanura._)—A honey eater, the -size of a sparrow; plumage dark green. It inhabits the outskirts of the -forest. At daybreak the Bell-birds collect together in a favourite tree, -especially on the Pohutukawa, or Christmas-tree, so called because it is -in blossom at Christmas time, every little branch being then decorated -with a tuft of crimson flowers, the cups of which are full of honey. One -bird acts as conductor, making a snap with his bill, which is the signal -to the others to begin the music, when at once a beautiful sound, like -distant chimes, is heard; all the birds listen to the conductor, and stop -or begin at his command. During the daytime they do not sing in chorus, -but before retiring to rest they again gather together and with sweet -music show their joy in life.—A. REISCHEK, F.L.S. - -[2] The Cabbage-tree (_Cordyline australis_) is a characteristic feature -in New Zealand landscapes. It receives its name from the arrangement -of its leaves in tufts or heads at the ends of the branches. The tree -may reach forty feet in height, and the tufts of stiff and sword-shaped -leaves at the ends of the not very numerous branches gives it a -peculiarly picturesque appearance. It is a member of the Lily order, and -bears in the spring, feathery masses of small, white and sweet-scented -flowers.—A. P. W. THOMAS, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. - -[3] Kiwi. (_Apteryx mantelli._)—A bird about the size of a common fowl, -with a long bill; it cannot fly, as the wings are extremely small and -hidden amongst the plumage, being only 2½ inches long. The plumage of -the Northern Kiwi is brown, and that of the South Island grey, the -feathers are very much like hair, and when walking it steadies itself -with its long bill. In summer it inhabits dense and secluded gullies, -and in winter the spurs of the forest-covered hills. During the day the -Kiwis sleep in burrows, under roots, or in hollow trees. As soon as the -sun sets the shrill call of the male, and the croaking answer of the -female, is heard, and it is amusing to see these creatures on a moonlight -night, coming into the open spaces, and challenging any of their rivals -who may dare to intrude into their favourite haunts. The challenge -being answered, each bird makes a grunt of defiance, then the two rush -together, and the fight begins. They strike forward with their strong -legs at each other, and often roll over and over from the hard blows -given. They are the most unsociable of all the New Zealand birds.—A. R. - -[4] Parson-bird. Tui. (_Prosthemadera novæ Zealandiæ._)—A honey bird, the -size of a blackbird; plumage black, with steel-blue and green shimmer, -and two white tufts of soft curly feathers under its throat, suggestive -of white bands, hence the name, Parson-bird. It imitates nearly every -bird, and talks to perfection when in captivity and if taught. It alters -its note according to the four seasons. In September, when the Kowhai is -covered with bright yellow flowers, it is a remarkable sight to see the -Tuis climbing among the blossoms, and sucking the honey from them, their -dark plumage forming a beautiful contrast to the mass of brilliant golden -flowers.—A. R. - -[5] Pied Fantail. Piwakawaka (_Rhipidura flabellifera._)—A small -fly-catcher; plumage greyish brown. While busily engaged catching -mosquitos or sand flies, these birds steer with their fan-shaped tails, -making fantastic evolutions in the air. When a fantail has spied out with -its big black eyes the hiding place of the owl, in the daytime it will -call its mates together and show them the spot where their enemy dwells, -and then all the birds dart at the owl, and fly round and round, annoying -it in every possible manner until they chase it away.—A. R. - -[6] The little Brown Owl, or Morepork. Ruru. (_Athene novæ -Zealandiæ._)—The size and plumage is the same as that of the European -Stone Owl. As soon as darkness covers the land, the Moreporks appear -silently swooping through the air, or darting suddenly after insects. -Woe to any small bird which happens to chirp in its dreams, or to any -rat which is taking a walk abroad, they will be sure to be detected by -the bright yellow eyes of these nocturnal wanderers. On one occasion I -saw one of these owls dart down on a large rat, fly with it high into -the air, then let it drop, and, again darting down upon it, it repeated -the operation till the rat was dead. The bird then proceeded most -systematically to skin its prey, and, after feasting on the flesh, flew -to the nearest tree, where it gave a few contented calls of “Morepork,” -and then sat like an image, with its piercing eyes gazing on the ground -in search of other prey.—A. R. - -[7] North Island Crow. Kokako. (_Glaucopis wilsoni._)—A bird about the -size of a jay; plumage of a slaty-grey. In the North Island it has blue -wattles, in the South, orange with blue. This bird inhabits the secluded -slopes of mountains, hopping swiftly through the forest, or hiding itself -and peering through the boughs. Its note is melodious, and similar to -that of a flute, and in the pairing season the male dances up and down on -a branch, with his tail and wings out-spread, making at the same time a -gurgling noise to attract the female bird’s attention, who sits near by, -looking on in quiet admiration.—A. R. - -[8] The Tuatara (_Splenodon punebatum_) is one of the peculiar animals -of New Zealand. It is a lizard-like animal, rather less than two feet in -length. It was formerly found on the mainland, but is now confined to -a few of the outlying islands which are seldom visited. It has no near -relative amongst existing lizards, and its nearest allies are certain -fossil saurians of a remote geological period (_Lianic_). A. P. W. T. - -[9] VEGETABLE CATERPILLAR. - -A caterpillar found in the New Zealand forest, which, when it buries -itself in the ground previous to its change into the perfect winged form, -is attacked by a kind of fungus. - -The fungus spreads through the substance of the caterpillar, upon which -it lives; it then sends up a stem from the neck of its victim, and this -stem appears above ground, growing to the length of some eight or ten -inches. From its slightly thickened end, spores are shed. - -The caterpillar becomes hard and dry, and its skin being filled with the -wood-like substance of the fungus, its natural shape is preserved.—A. P. -W. T. - -[10] Grey Robin. Toutouwai. (_Petrœca longipes._)—A bird very much like -the Robin Red-breast. The plumage is grey, with a yellowish-white breast. -Robins are very tame birds, and can easily be made pets; they will often -come into a tent. When I was camping in the forest, a pair came into my -hut, ate off my plate, drank and bathed in my tin mug, sat on my dog’s -back, and, when I did not get up by daybreak, actually pulled my beard -and sat on my blanket. They often followed me on my expeditions for -miles, and were so jealous that they would not let any other robins come -near my camp.—A. R. - -Tomtit, or Black Robin. (_Petrœca macrocephala._)—A bird of the size -of a titmouse; plumage black, with yellow and white on the breast. On -the Little Barrier Island, off the coast of the Auckland province, a -pair came to my camp every morning to get a little porridge or a few -crumbs. If I did not feed them at once they would come to the entrance -of my tent, and whistling, ask for food. One morning, to my delight, -they brought a family of three pretty little birds covered with yellow -speckles. As soon as I gave them oatmeal they fed their young with it. -They stayed with me till I broke up my camp.—A. R. - -[11] Parrakeet. Kakariki. (_Platycercus novæ Zealandiæ._)—A small green -parrot, red on the top of the head. The parakeets climb about in large -flocks on the tops of the trees, feeding on seeds and berries. They are -most amiable towards each other, chattering the whole day, feeding and -kissing.—A. R. - -[12] Maori Hen. Weka. (_Ocydromus earli._)—A bird rather smaller than -a common hen; plumage brown. It is the most inquisitive, cunning, and -mischievous of all the New Zealand birds. During the day it hides in -burrows or in thick scrub, from which, however, it emerges as soon as it -hears any unusual noise; it then hides behind a log, stone, or tree-root, -whence it watches all proceedings, calling to its mate with a booming -noise. Any small, bright article, such as a knife, watch, or bunch of -keys laid aside, the Maori hen will at once pick up and carry off with -delight to its hiding place. When near a farm-house, this bird, as soon -as it hears a domestic hen cackle, will watch its opportunity to run to -the place and carry off the egg she has laid, to eat it at leisure. In -the forest the Maori hens watch the birds building their nests in order -to steal their eggs. If a young bird or a rat is not sufficiently on the -alert, it will be seized at once and devoured, or should a lizard or a -grub cross their path, or a fish come too near the shore, they seldom -escape the eye of these vigilant birds. When chased by a dog the Maori -hen will run into its hole and slip out by another opening, and, screened -perhaps by a bush or fern, will watch the dog digging for it.—A. R. - -[13] White Heron. Kotuku. (_Ardea alba._)—There is a Maori saying, that -the Kotuku, or White Heron, is like a great chief, seen only once in a -lifetime. These birds inhabit the rivers on the west coast of the South -Island, proudly stepping up and down the shore, or standing knee deep -in the water, with neck drawn in and head bent downwards to be ready -to make a dart should any fish venture too near. In November the White -Herons leave the rivers and congregate at one of the old breeding-places -on the shores of secluded inland lakes, where they sit about on the -crowns of tree-ferns or branches of trees near their nests; if any enemy -approaches, the birds begin in chorus a strange croaking noise. It is -a beautiful sight to see the long-legged, snow-white creatures sitting -amongst the green foliage, the whole picture clearly reflected in the -dark still water.—A. R. - -[14] Wairakei Valley.—K. C. - -[15] The Eagle’s Nest Geyser.—K. C. - -[16] The hot-springs and geysers of New Zealand are chiefly found over a -broad belt of country stretching from the great volcanic mountains near -the centre of the North Island, in a north-easterly direction to the Bay -of Plenty. Hot-springs occur in tens of thousands over this area, showing -every variety; the water of some is only pleasantly warm, so that they -serve as natural baths, others are at a boiling temperature; the geysers -are boiling springs which act intermittently, now throwing up a column -of water fountain-like into the air, now sinking to rest for a longer or -shorter time.—A. P. W. T. - -[17] Swamp Hen. Pukeko. (_Porphyrio melanotus._)—About the size of a -fowl: plumage of a black and blue colour, with a red bill and long red -legs. These birds inhabit swamps, or the shallow shores of lakes, where -they stalk about with tails erect, their white undercoverts showing out -conspicuously from the dark plumage. Where they are often disturbed, a -few are always on the watch, whilst others feed, and on the approach of -danger the watchers give a note of alarm and all disappear in the swamp. -When plentiful near a cultivation they are destructive to crops of grain, -as they eat the young shoots.—A. R. - -[18] THE TERRACES. - -The White and Pink Terraces were situated on the shores of Lake -Rotomahana, a warm lake, as its name indicates (from Roto, lake, and -mahana, warm). The lake was surrounded by hills, and it was on the sides -of these hills, sloping down to the lake, that the Terraces had been -formed. At the top of the White Terrace was a hollow in the hill-side, -and in the centre of this was a great geyser. The water rising in the -geyser overflowed its basin, and streaming down the sloping ground into -the lake, cooled, and deposited a white incrustation of silica. On the -opposite side of the lake was a similar terrace, known as the Pink -Terrace, which, owing to the presence of a little iron oxide, was of a -delicate shade of pink. Thus, in the course of unknown ages had been -built up the wonderful Terraces of Rotomahana, structures which for -purity of colour and beauty of sculpturing were unrivalled in the world. -The White Terrace covered an area of about four acres, the Pink Terrace -was a little smaller. - -[19] The heat of the geysers and hot-springs around Rotomahana was -doubtless derived from the volcanic fires which slumbered beneath the -Tarawera Mountain, standing at a distance of some miles. This mountain -was an old volcano, but its true nature was hardly recognized. On June -10th, 1886, the old volcano awoke to new life, and a violent paroxysmal -eruption rent the mountain asunder, the chasm extending beyond its foot -and through Rotomahana. The ground around the lake and beneath its waters -to the depth of 500 feet was blown into the air, and the beauty of the -terraces was lost to the world for ever.—A. P. W. T. - -[20] Lennox Falls. Mt. Earnslaw.—K. C. - -[21] The Mountain Lily (_Ranunculus Lyallii_) of the South Island is a -large and handsome buttercup, perhaps the most beautiful of its kind. -Its numerous flowers are four inches across, the petals being of a pure -waxy-white; the leaves are very large, round, and somewhat cup-shaped. -Its favourite spot is by the side of some mountain stream.—A. P. W. T. - -[22] The Mountain-parrot. Kea. (_Nestor notabilis_)—A dull green parrot -which inhabits the alpine mountains of New Zealand. It is found sitting -about the rocks and snow-grass, or seen circling high in the air, where -one can hear its call, which is like that of the European Stone Eagle. -When the sheep died upon the hills or vast runs, the blowflies would -deposit their larvæ in the bodies. After a while the Keas hovering -over would see the maggots moving, alight on the sheep, and feed upon -the insects, getting pieces of fat and meat with them. In this manner -the birds found it was an easier way of procuring food than by seeking -berries and seeds, or searching for grubs, and so it became a habit for -them to attack even living sheep.—A. R. - - PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, ST JOHN’S HOUSE, - CLERKENWELL ROAD, E.C. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOUTHERN CROSS FAIRY -TALE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: A southern cross fairy tale</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Kate McCosh Clark</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrators: R. Atkinson</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em;'>Kate McCosh Clark</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Annotators: A. Reischek</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em;'>A. P. W. Thomas</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 14, 2023 [eBook #69782]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Jason Isbell, Charlene Taylor and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was made using scans of public domain works in the International Children's Digital Library.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SOUTHERN CROSS FAIRY TALE ***</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_i"></a>[i]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="titlepage" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/titlepage.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<h1>A Southern Cross Fairy Tale</h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a>[ii]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger"><span class="smaller">A</span><br> -SOUTHERN CROSS<br> -FAIRY TALE</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> -KATE McCOSH CLARK</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY R. ATKINSON AND THE AUTHOR</i></p> - -<p class="titlepage">LONDON<br> -SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEALE & RIVINGTON<br> -<span class="smaller"><i>Limited</i><br> -St. Dunstan’s House</span><br> -<span class="smcap">Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C.</span><br> -1891<br> -<span class="smaller">[<i>All rights reserved</i>]</span></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv"></a>[iv]</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br> -PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,<br> -ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smaller">TO</span><br> -<span class="larger">MY GODCHILD KITTY</span><br> -<span class="smaller">AND TO MY</span><br> -LITTLE NEPHEWS AND NIECES.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="deco" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/deco.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The scenes of Christmas tales read by English-speaking children -have been for the most part naturally laid amid winter, snow, and -leafless landscape. The Yule-log and the holly-berry have been -time-honoured “properties.” But there are, growing up under -the Southern Cross, generations of children, with English speech -and English hearts, to whom the Yule-log at Christmas is unmeaning -and the snow unknown.</p> - -<p>The little story which follows is written for such children as -these, and also for those in the older land who have any desire to -know what Christmas is like among their kin on the other side of -the world.</p> - -<p>While seeking to amuse, it is intended to convey pleasant -information. New Zealand is a land full of natural wonders and -natural beauty; its vegetation and its fauna are every way -remarkable. In the following pages the allusions to these -wonders and beauties, however playfully introduced, are intended -to be truthful. The colours and habits of plants and animals are -in sober reality just what they are made to appear in fairy-land.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> -The illustrations are from nature, and will, it is hoped, bear out -the text. For the loan of certain birds and clear descriptive notes -upon them, I am deeply indebted to Mr. A. Reischek, F.L.S., the -well-known naturalist. The kind interest of Professor Thomas, -M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., and the valuable notes given by him upon -the Terraces, Geysers, &c., also lay me under much obligation.</p> - -<p class="right">K. C.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Auckland</span>, <i>July, 1889</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_CHILDRENS_HOUR">“THE CHILDREN’S HOUR.”</h2> - -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The cawing rooks fly to their nests;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Again the song-birds hush their lay;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O’er all the world a stillness rests,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And twilight shadows dance and play.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The book is closed, hands folded o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The work, that rests the while, undone;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">See! glad young faces at the door,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And hark! the peals of mirth and fun.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Yes, ’tis the children’s hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">To waiting arms they run.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The little faces vie to press</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Warm kisses on our willing lips,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">While loving prayers, unspoken, bless</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sunny heads, and finger tips</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Pass gently o’er the cheek’s soft bloom—</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That seems as stolen from the rose;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then merry voices fill the room,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As round the fire-lit hearth we close,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For ’tis the children’s hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Which nought but brightness knows.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Play with us, play!” Ah, yes, young hearts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Well that your voices coax, and make</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Us for awhile forget the smarts</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of striving day for your brief sake.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Sing with us, sing!” and youthful notes</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Rise shrill in some time-hallowed strain.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Discord—sweet discord round us floats,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And ageing hearts grow young again—</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It is the children’s hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">That knows nor care nor pain.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Now tell us stories, mother, dear!”</div> - <div class="verse indent2">How sweet the old and matchless word!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sweeter than aught that else we hear</div> - <div class="verse indent2">From children’s lips. What memories stirr’d</div> - <div class="verse indent0">By that loved name rush o’er the soul!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For sheltering arms we once more yearn</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now folded ’neath the grassy knoll.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Would that the children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">For her, too, could return.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, children, nestle close to me</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And question with your lips and eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For, as ye listen, I would see</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The starting flush and sweet surprise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At tales of brownie and of fay</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That hide within your favourite glen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And ’neath the moonlight’s flickering ray</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Bring fairy gifts to slumbering men.”</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Sweet lore of children’s hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Why need we further ken?</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ah! little ones, ye hold us fast</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And thoughts of you like joy-bells chime</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Around our lives, and link the past</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And present in one long sweet rhyme.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And slumbering echoes wake anew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">For purity glows in your eyes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And truth from out them shines so true</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That from our hearts all falseness flies.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It is the children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">When purest thoughts arise.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The years roll by and leave their taint</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Of sin upon us, and the weight</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of self-wrought grief, until we faint</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Beneath the burden grown so great.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Fretted by sight of others’ pain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The voiceless suffering of the weak;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Wherefore?” we cry, but all in vain,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">No answering oracle doth speak.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And in the children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">We fain for peace would seek.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Far off like some grand snowy height</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That gleams anon through driving mist,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Some great End flashes on our sight;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And on that peak the sun hath kissed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Could we but stand, thence gazing back</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Perchance Heaven’s echoes we might hear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perchance Heaven’s light upon our track</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Might show the good of every tear,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And in the children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Life’s riddles read more clear.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Speak to our hearts, each bright young heart,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Perfect in love and faith, and bid</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Us know that e’en as petals part</div> - <div class="verse indent2">To breathe the fragrance ’neath them hid,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So do ye breathe around life’s hours</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The sweetness nought can steal away,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The sweetness of our cherished flowers.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then ope bright blooms upon our way,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">And make the children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">With beauty crown each day.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Play on, ye little ones, play on,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And cheer us with your guileless mirth;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Too soon your careless days are gone</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And later years see sorrow’s birth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We love your bright eyes’ merry glance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We love your voices’ gleesome ring;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To trip with you th’ unrhythm’d dance</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Again doth childlike rapture bring.</div> - <div class="verse indent4">It is the children’s hour,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Sing on, ye children, sing.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye cradle our lost dreams anew,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Ye make love’s echoes ceaseless sound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, if for some the stretching yew</div> - <div class="verse indent2">O’erguards a tiny daisied mound,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They have but laid their treasures where</div> - <div class="verse indent2">God’s angels tread with sacred feet;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They have but Heavenward sent a prayer</div> - <div class="verse indent2">That, lisped before the mercy-seat,</div> - <div class="verse indent4">In God’s own children’s hour</div> - <div class="verse indent4">Shall win an answer sweet.</div> - </div> -<p class="right">K. C.</p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> - -</div> - -<table> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Bell-Bird</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus01">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of a summer - night are quickly falling on the garden, fields, and meadows”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus02"><i>To face</i> 3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Take that,” said Santa Claus; “it will give you light in - the darkest places”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus03"><i>To face</i> 6</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“We’re sorry we’re so big,” said Hal</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus04">13</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Kiwi</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus05">14</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Parson-Bird or Tui</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus06">15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Pied Fantail</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus07">15</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Brown Owl or More-pork</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus08">16</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Crow</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus09">17</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Tuataras</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus10">19</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Vegetable Caterpillar</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus11">20</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Robins</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus12">22</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Maori Hen</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus13">23</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>White Heron</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus14">25</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“They are only Maories; and see, they are more frightened of - us than you are of them”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus15"><i>To face</i> 26</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>On the top of the geyser were shot out a troop of laughing - gnomes</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus16">29</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus17"><i>To face</i> 38</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Kea</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus18">47</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>“You must have been dreaming, Hal!”</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus19"><i>To face</i> 51</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>[xii]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_SOUTHERN_CROSS_FAIRY_TALE">A SOUTHERN CROSS FAIRY TALE.</h2> - -</div> - -<div class="figright illowp50" id="illus01" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus01.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Bell-Bird.</p> -</div> - -<p>It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of a summer -night are quickly falling on the garden, fields, and meadows of a -New Zealand home. The feathery edge of the forest-clad hills -behind the house stands out dark against the yellow light still -lingering in the -west; undulating -grassy slopes creep -down to where the -graceful tree-ferns -form a billowy mass -of light and shade -near the deep, dark -creek, that divides -the fields. The -murmuring of the -stream, in hidden -depths below, rises -like a lullaby, while -countless shrill -crickets sing their merry carols amid the trees. No sound -of joyous bells is borne upon the air, as on the English -Christmas Eves of pleasant memory, only the Bell-bird’s<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -chimes from the bush, and the distant cow-bell’s tinkle mid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> -the shadowy Manuka clumps, where sentinel cabbage-palms<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> up-raise -their helmeted heads erect and stern. Fair is that -house built up by English hands in the New World; fair, -not with the slowly gathered beauty of centuries gone by, -the clinging ivy and the gaily painted lichens on the stones, -but with the quick rich growth of the southern lands. The -quaint low wooden gables are wreathed with creepers of -many a shade and hue, and over the broad verandah and -open casement doors, the scarlet passion-flowers gleam like -burning stars amid their masses of glossy leaves, and the -green egg-shaped fruit of its more modest cousin hang -in rich profusion on the trellised arbour near by, the scene -of many a childish frolic and out-door tea-party. Sweet -scents arise from the nooks of the garden which is left -half wild, where many an English flower carefully tended, -tells of hearts in which still cling fond memories of a childhood’s -home afar. Through the sombre pines that edge -the spreading lawn, are seen the last long silvery streaks, -quivering on the distant sea; overhead the busy starlings flit to -and fro, or, perching on some tapering branch, give forth their -short-lived song, while, now and again, the harsh call of the -brown owl pierces the deepening shades. But suddenly is heard -the sound of merry voices, and two little children run down the -winding path leading to the house, then stop near to a rose-bed -rich in bloom.</p> - -<p>“It’s Christmas Eve, you know, little Cis,” said Hal, a merry -strong-limbed, dark-eyed boy between nine and ten years old, to -his little sister who stood near.</p> - -<p>She was a quaint little maid of seven in whose wavy golden -hair one might well think the summer sunbeams lingered; her -large blue eyes, dark lashed, in her solemn moments looked like -clear deep wells, but could dance with light and laughter at a tale -of fun. Hers was a sweet child-nature “so easily moved to -smiles or tears,” so full of sympathy was her loving little heart.</p> - -<p>“It is Christmas Eve, you know, little Cis, and we must get<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span> -some nice flowers to give mother to-morrow morning, mustn’t -we?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Hal, and I want to find a lot of dear little red rose-buds,—oh! -here’s one, and here’s another, I’m so glad!”</p> - -<p>“Why <i>red</i> ones, Cis?”</p> - -<p>“’Cos mother likes red ones, I know; she told me about the -prickly tree with red berries on it, which she used to gather -bunches of at Christmas time when she was a little girl like me,—I -expect she gave some to her mother, and I wonder if she -pricked her fingers as I do mine—never mind, I am not going -to cry, Hal, because it’s for mother. Do the thorns hurt you, -Hal?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Cis, but I am a boy you know, and boys don’t cry; I -am getting white rose-buds, because in mother’s tales about -Christmas, there is always a lot of white snow. I wonder why -God does not send us any snow here!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps He will one day if we are naughty, for it kills all -the pretty flowers,” replied Cis.</p> - -<p>“No, it doesn’t kill them all, Cis, it only covers them up; -besides, it’s rare fun to make snow-balls, they say.”</p> - -<p>“Children, children!” calls a voice from the open door, “it -is nearly bed-time.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, coming, mother dear,” and the two bunches of flowers -were quickly hidden beneath the little coat and pinafore, while -the children ran round to a side door and gave them into the -nurse’s charge to put in water, and in a safe hiding place until -the morning.</p> - -<p>“Put them under our beds, Nursie, no one will see them -there,” shouted Hal, as he rushed off with his sister to their -mother for the good-night chat.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus02" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus02.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“It is Christmas Eve! and the long soft shadows of - a summer night are quickly falling on the garden, fields and meadows.”</p> - <p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_3">Page 3.</a></p> -</div> - -<p>In the well-known cosy room sat a slender figure in black, in -a low wicker chair, and little Cis was already on her lap, her -shining head nestled close in, her sweet face pressed to her -mother’s, which if older and sadder, was not less sweet. Hal, -taking his favourite stool, sat down close to her knee, and giving<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> -her hand a hasty boyish kiss, said: “Don’t send us to bed just -yet, mother dear, ’tis Christmas Eve, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Ah, yes! Christmas Eve,” she echoed, and her trembling -voice told of the mingled memories that thronged her heart,—memories -of past joys and sudden sorrow. Her thoughts flew to -that time, “only a year ago,” when there came the hurried -summons for her husband to a sick relative in a distant land—the -hasty departure on the voyage,—and then the blank of a terrible -silence,—and later, the tidings that she should see him no more -till “the sea gives up her dead,”—and, laying her hand on Hal’s -dark head, she pressed her fatherless little ones closer to her.</p> - -<p>“Tell us a story, mother dear,” broke in Hal’s voice.</p> - -<p>“Suppose you tell me one for a change, dear,” she replied.</p> - -<p>“I don’t think I can, mother, but I’ll try,” said Hal’s determined -tones, “it will be very hard, but you’ll help me, little Cis, -when I stick, won’t you? Shall it be a real story or a made up -one?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! a real one, Hal, it won’t be so hard,” said little -Cis.</p> - -<p>“All right,” replied Hal, “just wait a moment whilst I -think,” and the boy’s face took an earnest, thoughtful expression -not often seen on it, for he was a light-hearted laddie full of the -joy of a happy, careless childhood.</p> - -<p>“We had three baby guinea-pigs this morning,” began he -musingly, “but, I suppose I couldn’t make a tale out of that,—and -the little white bantam was drowned in the duck-pond, and -Cis and I put it in a box with flowers and buried it under the -apple-tree, but, I suppose that wouldn’t do either;—and the -parrot bit my fingers dreadfully, and I—no, I didn’t cry, I only -howled. Oh! mother, you tell a tale, I can’t.”</p> - -<p>Then a minute’s silence followed, broken only by the purring -of Hal’s favourite, the black cat “Smut,” who was rubbing -against his master’s leg, where the kneeless stocking told of the -day’s exploits.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span></p> - -<p>Darker grew the shadows in the long low room; the clock -ticked on its monotonous “Gone by! gone by!” the faint whisper -of the evening breeze through the pines came in at the window; -the last rays died in the west, and once again the evening star -looked out from the darkening sky upon the mother, and the child -within her arms—a picture that in all its varied phases is as -beauteous in our great to-day, as at that Christmas-time at -Bethlehem in ages past. And little Cis, watching the shining -star, raised her head from her mother’s shoulder, and said in a -hushed voice:</p> - -<p>“Do you think the angels will come to-night, mother -dear?”</p> - -<p>“Angels! why, little one?” she replied.</p> - -<p>“Because there’s the star, mother, and I think it must be the -one you told me about, that came when the angels sang, because -it’s, oh! so beautiful! I should like them to come to-night; -perhaps dear father will send them. Do you think if we sat ever -so still they <i>would</i> fly down near us? You know, when I sit -down under the big trees up the hills for a long time, the little -birds fly down and close up their wings and come and look at me, -and angels have wings, haven’t they, mother dear? and so perhaps -they will come.”</p> - -<p>“Oh!” cried Hal, “if they can fly about like that, Cis, I -shouldn’t like it to-night, for there are a lot of Christmas-plums -ripe on the tree in the orchard, and if they come near I expect -they would want them,—I should. But I didn’t take any to-day, -mother; we are saving them for to-morrow as you told us to do; -I only sat down under the tree and picked up any that fell down. -You know you told us not to run about when it was very hot, so -I thought if I was good and sat still, God would make some -plums drop down. But, I say, mother, what sort of hat does God -wear?”</p> - -<p>“Hat, my boy! what do you mean?”</p> - -<p>“Why, mother, you said I must keep my hat on these hot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> -days or I’d get sunstroke, and I’m sure it must be dreadfully hot -for God up in the sky; there are no trees there to sit under.”</p> - -<p>What merry laughter from little Cis followed Hal’s remark, -but his mother said quietly, “Hush, my boy, we must not speak -lightly of Him whose ways are not as ours.” Hal’s merry face -became thoughtful, and the children were silent for a few -moments; then the favourite tales were won from mother by -many a caress,—tales, of which the words fell on the children’s -ears like the pleasant dropping of summer rain, bringing forth -sweet flowers of thought, may be in later years to bear a precious -fruit. Then came the patter of little feet up the stairs, and merry -chatter, as the stockings were hung up ready for Santa Claus; and -then, when mother came, there were murmurs of sleepy voices, as -the two little white-robed figures knelt with folded hands on their -curtained beds, and lay down with the last words of their childish -prayer on their rosy lips—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“In the Kingdom of Thy Grace,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Give a little child a place.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“A place!” Aye, would that many an older child of earth -could claim such a place as His little ones have! Then, with -mother’s last “tuck up” and good-night kiss, and one last look to -make sure that the stockings were all right, silence fell on the -little restless tongues, and closed the sleepy eyes.</p> - -<hr class="tb"> - -<p>It was midnight, but no Christmas waits disturbed the -stillness round the quiet house. The southern cross gleamed -clear and bright in the dark blue heavens, and the moon sailed -high, silvering the feathery clouds that here and there floated -across the star-lit depths, as though some angels passing by had -left stray pinions there. The distant ocean had waked from its -evening dreams with a thousand twinkling smiles; the tree-ferns -trembled beneath the moonbeams’ soft caress; but, brighter than -all others were the rays that, creeping through the window to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> -white curtained beds, kissed so lovingly the sweet faces lying -there, lingering round the tumbled curls of little Cis, and on the -dimpled arm thrown over her head, and crowning Hal’s dark hair -with a soft halo.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus03" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus03.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“Take that,” said Santa Claus: “it will give you light - in the darkest places.”</p> - <p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_6">Page 6.</a></p> -</div> - -<p>Then a clear voice broke the stillness of that summer night, -making the children stir in their slumbers ... then, once again -the silvery voice rang forth, “Wake up, little ones!”</p> - -<p>And, starting up, Cis and Hal rubbed their eyes, and -wonderingly gazed around.</p> - -<p>And there, where the moonbeams fell upon the floor, stood a -lad with a smiling face, and on his head was a crown of twinkling -stars, and beneath the stars these words shone, “I bring good -gifts to all.” A robe of deepest blue hung down in soft shimmering -folds near to his feet; and in his hand was a wand, on the tip -of which shone the evening star.</p> - -<p>Then Hal, without fear, though in a dreamy voice, asked, -“Please are you a fairy, little man?”</p> - -<p>And Cis in a low voice added, “It’s the Angel of the -Stars!”</p> - -<p>“No, little ones,” said he, “I am neither a fairy nor an angel; -I am only Santa Claus.”</p> - -<p>“Why, I thought Santa Claus was an old man,” said -Hal.</p> - -<p>“So I am, in the Old World,” replied he, “but here, in the -New World, I am young like it.”</p> - -<p>“But,” exclaimed Hal, “where are your reindeer, and where’s -the sleigh with all the good things in it I always thought you -brought? Because it won’t be fair if you don’t give us anything. -It’s Christmas Eve, you know, and we have put our stockings -ready for you.”</p> - -<p>“I have left my reindeer and the snow and frost in the Old -World,” said Santa Claus; “but never fear, I have not forgotten -you and little Cis; my wand, with the star of Love on it, is -better than my sleigh full of presents. But come along, little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -ones; dress quickly, for I am going to take you where many -wonderful things are waiting to be seen by bright young eyes.”</p> - -<p>“All right; I am ready,” cheerily replied Hal.</p> - -<p>But little Cis said, “I don’t know, Hal; what will mother -say! Mayn’t I go and tell her, Mr. Santa Claus?”</p> - -<p>“No need, little Cis; she knew I was coming to you to-night.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s all right,” said Hal eagerly, “come, dress quickly, -Cis, we shall see lots of wonderful things, and bring some back to -mother too.”</p> - -<p>So the children dressed, and, led by their guide, went hand -in hand with light steps down the stairs and out into the moonlit -world.</p> - -<p>How beautiful it looked! The drooping grasses shone with -drops of dew; the tall white lilies gleamed fair as the driven snow; -a white-tailed rabbit skipped across their path and then peered -with bright eyes at them from high bracken; a solitary night-bird -chirped out its sleepy notes; but as the children, led by Santa -Claus, came near to the creek, the voice of the stream sang out -cheerily. A mossy trunk lay across the waters, and Santa Claus -stepped lightly along it, followed by Hal, who held the hand of -little Cis tightly in his, and, guiding her, went across the slippery -bridge.</p> - -<p>“It <i>is</i> dark down here,” murmured Cis, as they stepped on the -bank where high fern-trees and thick bushes shaded the gully.</p> - -<p>Turning round, Santa Claus placed in Hal’s hand the wand -whereon so brightly shone the star of Love. “Take that,” he -said, “it will give you light in the darkest places;” and, as the -light from the star fell around, the black waters danced and -gleamed, and the dark mosses shone.</p> - -<p>“Please do stop a little while, here, Mr. Santa Claus,” begged -Hal, “I want so much to have a look at that big carp I saw the -other day in the pool,” and, as he spoke, the fish, his gold and -silver scales glittering in the light, came near, and amid the -rippling of the waters the children heard a little voice singing:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Song</span> of the -<span class="smcap">Carp</span>.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="carp1" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/carp1.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Here in the cool waters</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who will catch me now?</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, ye children, twine ye</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Green weeds round your brow.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Play ye while the shallows</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sunny are and bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sing ye while the still depths</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dance with sparkling light.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Little streams flow onward,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On by moor and lea.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Singing ever brightly,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Gay their life and free.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="carp2" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/carp2.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“When they join the river</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Silenced is their song,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slow and dark the current,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rough the way and long.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“In the mighty ocean</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All are lost at last,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All the play-time over!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">All the singing past!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So play ye while the shallows</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Sunny are and bright,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And sing ye while the still depths</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dance with sparkling light.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Can’t we catch him, Mr. Santa Claus?” shouted Hal, “I -should like that fellow, for he talks like a book!”</p> - -<p>But the fish only waved his tail and glided down the stream.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span></p> - -<p>Then their guide beckoned them forwards, and Cis, wondering, -asked, “Did you make the fish speak, Mr. Santa Claus?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, little Cis,” answered he, “and the gift I bring you and -Hal this night, is the gift that makes you know and understand -Nature’s many voices.”</p> - -<p>“Does any one else know them?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p>“Yes, children, to some pure and simple souls the gift is -given through life to interpret them to man; and sometimes to -the aged and the weak it is granted to find strength anew, in -flowery woods and birds’ and insects’ song;—to you, ye little ones, -Nature shall to-night speak out in clearest voices, to echo in your -hearts perchance in years to come.”</p> - -<p>“I hope he isn’t going to preach,” whispered Hal to his -sister, “I shan’t like him half so much if he does.” Then he -added aloud, “I don’t quite understand you, Mr. Santa Claus, -but never mind, I don’t understand the sermons our old clergyman -preaches; mother says it is good to try and listen, but I think -they forget about the little children in church!”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps the preacher does not know we are there, Hal, we -are so little, you know,” added Cis in an apologetic tone, “and -there is a long way between us and the pulpit.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps so,” said Hal absently, for he was wondering if he -could put his Star of Love over the pulpit on Christmas Day; it -would make a bright light, and perhaps the preacher would remember -them then,—and he added aloud, “But if he did remember us, -Cis, I expect he’d be cross if we didn’t sit <i>quite</i> still, as I heard -him say one day we ought.”</p> - -<p>“I suppose it is such a long time since he was a little child, -that he forgets how hard it is,” said little Cis.</p> - -<p>But by this time they had got out of the thickest part of the -bush, and were walking along a little winding path near a precipice. -On the upper side was a bank from which dainty ferns hung their -graceful fronds, and beneath them, on the moss, the tiny lamps -of myriad glow-worms shone like specks of fire. As the children -stopped to gaze, they heard the glow-worms singing:—</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Children of the earth are we,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Small and brown and ill to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But we can make our lamps at night</div> - <div class="verse indent2">In dreary places show their light.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Travellers oft might miss the way,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Warned we not their footsteps back,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When upon the narrow track</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Near the precipice they stray.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Children of the earth are we,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Small and brown and ill to see;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Still our tiny lamps we trim;</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Children, let not yours grow dim!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“We have got no lamps, you stupid little glow-worms,” said -Hal, “unless you call this Star of Love that we carry a lamp. But -couldn’t you sing something more lively to us?” he added. Then -the glow-worms brightened up and sang to a merry tune:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Oh! stay, ye children, stay,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And listen to our song,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For childhood’s hour is short,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And manhood’s day is long.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, see our fairy haunts,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And we will light the way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, join the merry dance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dance till break of day.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Please may we go to the dance, Mr. Santa Claus?” begged -Hal; their guide nodded assent, and they watched the glow-worms -form into a long line, two and two, and creep between two -high moss-grown rocks.</p> - -<p>“It’s all very well to say ‘come,’” remarked Hal, “but how -are we to get through that place, I should like to know?”</p> - -<p>“Hold Love’s wand high overhead,” answered Santa Claus, -“and much that is difficult will be made easy.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, dear! he has begun preaching again,” cried Hal, but -he held the star over his own and his sister’s head, and, pushing -some overhanging brambles aside, they found that they could -easily go where the glow-worms led.</p> - -<p>On, on went the long procession of shining lights, and the -little voices were heard, now faint, now clear:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Come, see the fairy haunts.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And we will light the way;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Come, join the merry dance,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And dance till break of day.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus04" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus04.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“We’re sorry we’re so big,” said Hal.</p> -</div> - -<p>And soon what a sight met the eyes of the children! In -an open space surrounded by high trees, on a bright ring of green -grass, a number of little fairies were dancing, their tiny twinkling -feet scarcely seeming to touch the lightly bending blades. And<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> -what merry music! a band of locusts with their shining wings -beat tunes upon the brown tree-trunks; big night-moths hummed -their low songs, and drowsy beetles droned fitfully, while from the -trees o’erhead the bell-birds rang their clear high notes. It was -a gala night, and birds and insects had come to join in the dance.</p> - -<p>On a branch near by sat a small brown owl, round-eyed and -solemn, beating with a raupo stem the time, which no one tried -to keep. “Too fast, stop them!” cried he, in his harsh, cold -voice; but no one -took any notice -except the Tui in -a bush, who repeated -his words;—and -the music -played, and the -dancers danced as -madly as before.</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp85" id="illus05" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus05.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Kiwi.</p> -</div> - -<p>Then, out from -the dark wood -there came a motley -throng; bright -golden-eyed green -lizards, their long -tails waving like -shining river-weeds; -sleek-coated rats, and solemn Maori hens; fat caterpillars -waddling through the grass, and snorting kiwis<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> following -close behind; while sombre-coloured crows and starlings tripped -on in pairs.</p> - -<p>Now, by the laws of fairy-land, no bird could feed upon -insects so long as the night revels were kept up; nevertheless -the caterpillars did not feel quite comfortable, for many a sly poke -they got to “hurry up” from the kiwis’ long bills, with which -these birds gave disappointed snaps, as they saw such tempting -morsels near by.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span></p> - -<p>Then came whole families of green parrakeets, proudly holding -up their red-crested heads, and chattering all the scandal of the -forest; black-feathered Tuis<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> with their white neckties cleanly -washed; tiny Fantails,<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> -their fans -spread out, for the -night was warm: -and Robins too, -were there, some in -dark grey garb, and -some in black with -yellow and white -breast-fronts newly -smoothed;—and as -the fresh comers -appeared, the music -struck up with renewed -vigour, and -the glow-worms, nodding, made their lamps burn brighter still.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp85" id="illus06" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus06.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Parson-bird or Tui.</p> -</div> - -<p>All were soon joining in the dance,—fairies, birds and insects, -and Hal and Cis, seeing -Santa Claus sit down under a -tree-fern, joined too.</p> - -<p>“We’re sorry we are so -big,” said Hal, “but Cis and I -will try and not knock any of -you over. Would you mind -tucking your tail up under your -arm?” he said to a young lady -lizard near whom he was dancing -in a waltz. “Allow me to -help you;” and help he did, for -the tail came off in his hand! “I beg your pardon,” said Hall.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp85" id="illus07" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus07.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Pied Fantail.</p> -</div> - -<p>“Don’t mention it, tails always grow quickly, you know,” -replied the lizard with a laugh, as she skipped gaily on.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span></p> - -<p>“Please, Mr. Kiwi, would you oblige me by dancing on two -legs instead of three,” asked little Cis, for the Kiwi was her -partner, and was using his bill as a support, and often pricked -her toes.</p> - -<p>“You don’t know what you are talking about,” said he in a -huff, “it’s my bill! but perhaps you don’t know what a bill is!”</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus08" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus08.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Brown Owl or More-pork.</p> -</div> - -<p>“I’ve only heard mother say that no one likes long bills,” -said little Cis.</p> - -<p>At this the Kiwi snorted contemptuously, and left her, and -the brown owl,<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> seeing something was wrong, thought it must be -the music, and shouted out, “Too fast! stop them!” but no one -took any heed, for he was only an old croaker, and could not be -expected to keep pace with the young people. So he dropped his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -raupo-stem, and sulked on the bough. Soon afterwards the band -stopped, and some strange flute-like notes were heard in the -distance.</p> - -<p>The Tui called out excitedly, “Make haste! take your places -if you want to see the Gavotte, here comes the great dancer of the -evening!” and all the birds and fairies hurried to get good places -on the branches near by, while caterpillars and lizards stood up on -their tails. Then out from the thick underwood came two crows,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -proudly strutting side by side; the male bird took his place upon -a straight leafless branch, well in sight of all the expectant throng, -while the female bird -sat down on a fallen -mossy bough, where -she could see her -mate.</p> - -<div class="figright illowp100" id="illus09" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus09.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Crow.</p> -</div> - -<p>Then he began -the Gavotte, and -what a lively performance -it was! up -and down, up and -down the branch, -springing, pirouetting, -tail and wings -out-spread, with many a fanciful step and flourish, danced the crow -right merrily to his own sweet gurgling music. Truly he was a -mate worthy of the little wife he had won by his dancing at pairing -time; she was sitting near, watching, and when the dance was -ended he looked down at her proudly, while the on-lookers -applauded.</p> - -<p>“Capital! capital!” shouted little Cis and Hal, clapping, and -the Tui overhead echoed their words.</p> - -<p>“How nice to have a husband who can dance and sing so -well!” said one of the parrakeets.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said the lady crow, “it is nice, of course, but there -are other things to be considered in choosing a husband; still he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> -is a good one on the whole, though sometimes I should like to -join in the whistling and dancing, too. Let us have a dance all -together now!” she added, and the owl, having got over his fit -of the sulks, asked for his raupo stem to be handed to him again, -and started the music afresh.</p> - -<p>The crow, offended by his wife’s remarks, chose another -partner for a while, but Cis, watching, saw that he soon went back -to her, and a little later on the pair slipped away into the wood -together, so she supposed they had made up their tiff.</p> - -<p>Then the dancers took a rest, for they were all rather -tired.</p> - -<p>“Oh, look!” said the grey robin, who was still sitting on the -bush near Cis, “there are the Tuataras; what a wonder it is for -them to come and see us. How do you do?” called out the bird, -at the same time nodding his head condescendingly to two large -stone-coloured lizards with a row of white spines down their -backs, who glided into the open space, and, lying down on some -stones, watched the scene with solemn bright eyes.</p> - -<p>“They did not answer you!” said Cis, “do they never -speak?”</p> - -<p>“Not often to us,” replied the bird, “they are too proud of -their old family to talk to ordinary dwellers in the forest; those -two must have come a long way to visit us to-night, for, some -years ago, the Tuataras said they did not like the fast ways of the -inhabitants of this part of the country, and they all retired to an -island off the coast, where their only companions are the mutton-birds -who live in holes in the ground;—and, I think, it is so mean -of the lizards, they share the mutton-birds’ holes, and then often -feed upon their young ones.”</p> - -<p>“Do not the Tuataras<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> get any food themselves?” asked Cis.</p> - -<p>“Yes, at night,” replied the robin, “they only go out then; -<i>I</i> think there must be something wrong when people always do -things in the dark, do not you?”</p> - -<p>“I do not know,” said Cis, “perhaps they have reasons we -do not understand.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span></p> - -<p>“My mother was told by a learned man that the Tuataras -have <i>three</i> eyes,” continued the bird.</p> - -<p>“If so, they can see more than other people, and that is why -they look so wise,” said little Cis.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps so,” replied the bird, “but none of us have ever -seen the third eye, and it is funny where it can be.”</p> - -<p>“If you looked carefully you would find it on the top of our -heads,” said the mellow voice of a Tuatara who had evidently been -listening; “our ancestors were great star-gazers, but we have -given up that sort of nonsense, we find it quite enough to attend -to things on the earth, so we all agreed to shut one eye; it is -best to do so sometimes,” added the lizard musingly.</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp100" id="illus10" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus10.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Tuataras.</p> -</div> - -<p>“Indeed!” said the robin, and he put his head on one side -and looked very unbelieving.</p> - -<p>Just then two cockroaches, more curious than the rest, ran -up the stones near where the lizards sat, who, suddenly turning -their heads, seized and swallowed them.</p> - -<p>How indignant all the birds and insects were at this transgression<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -of the laws of fairy-land, and loud cries arose from all -sides of “Shame! shame!”</p> - -<p>“Peck out their eyes!” cried the Kiwi, who had, however, -been thinking he should like a meal himself.</p> - -<p>“Off with their tails!” croaked a bright green frog.</p> - -<p>“Off with their tails!” repeated the Tui in a shrill voice.</p> - -<p>But the Tuataras, hearing the noise, glided -down from the stones into the fern; Hal and the -birds went after them, but the lizards were soon lost -to sight in a hole.</p> - -<p>“We shall have to give it up,” said Hal, “we -could not get them out of that hole except by digging; -let us go back to the others:” so they -returned, and Hal, sitting down by Santa Claus, -said, “This is all great fun,—I wonder when they -will begin dancing again, I never enjoyed a dance -so much before.”</p> - -<p>A stout caterpillar,<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> who sat near, and was -troubled with asthma, overhearing this, put in his -word. “It is only because you are young that it -all seems so good; wait till you are old and stout -like me, and you won’t be so mad at dancing!”</p> - -<p>“But you will be a -lovely butterfly by-and-by,” -added little Cis.</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp50" id="illus11" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus11.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Vegetable Caterpillar.</p> -</div> - -<p>“Not I!” said the -caterpillar, “I would not -be anything so flighty.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do, then?”</p> - -<p>“I mean to retire to some quiet spot on the earth,” said the -caterpillar, “and be of some use in the world. I have heard -that some of my brothers who have buried themselves grew after -a while into plants which are much sought for and valued, and I -intend to try it too, I admire variety, for what is the good of -being one of the common herd, I should like to know?” and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -caterpillar stopped, panting, for it was a long speech for him with -his short breath.</p> - -<p>“I should do what other caterpillars do, if I were you,” said -little Cis thoughtfully, “for I’ve heard that the hearts of those -caterpillars you speak of, get harder and harder, till, when the -plant grows from them, they turn into wood, too, and die.”</p> - -<p>“May be! may be! but I don’t care what people say,” replied -he in impatient husky tones, as he turned away and began -to dig in the earth under a big rata-tree as quickly as he could.</p> - -<p>“Too fast, stop him!” shouted the brown owl.</p> - -<p>“Hold your tongue!” cried the caterpillar, “what do you -know about it? Who asked you to preach?”</p> - -<p>“Oh! don’t quarrel!” said the gentle voice of little Cis; -“let me give you a little more light, Mr. Caterpillar, if you <i>will</i> -bury yourself,” and she ran and picked up Hal’s wand, and threw -the light of Love’s Star on the old grubber. The owl above only -blinked, and said in surly tones that he knew he was right, and -he wished people wouldn’t try to throw light on his eyes.</p> - -<p>Little Cis, being left by her partner, sat down on a mossy -bank, and was watching the rest, when she heard some twittering -notes near, and looking down saw two little birds close to her feet, -one all grey, one grey with a yellow breast, their bright eyes -twinkling, their little tails wagging.</p> - -<p>“We thought you looked lonely,” said the grey bird, “so we -have come to talk to you.”</p> - -<p>“What are your names, little birds?” said Cis.</p> - -<p>“We are robins,”<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> said they.</p> - -<p>“Robins, are you?” replied little Cis, “why, mother used to -tell me that robins had red breasts.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! so I’ve heard it said they have on the other side of the -world,” replied the grey bird, who seemed to be the greater talker -of the two, “but we don’t care for so much red, as everything else -here is so bright, our family only go in for quiet colours; it’s -more ladylike. What do you think of our ball?” he added, and -then continued, “I don’t care much for dancing myself; I like<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -afternoon-teas better. I am very fond of company, and one hears -all the news of the country-side at a tea-party; it is much more -sociable too.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps so,” said little Cis in a doubtful voice, for she had -only been to dolls’ tea-parties, and no one talked there.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” went on the grey robin, “there are three charming -parrakeets, who live in a wood near by, and they sometimes give -afternoon teas, and, really, it is as good as reading a newspaper -to hear all the tales told of the neighbours.”</p> - -<p>“Kind tales?” -asked Cis.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t -exactly know,” said -the grey robin, “but -that doesn’t matter; -the parrakeets<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> say -the great thing is to -have something to -talk about.”</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp85" id="illus12" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus12.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Robins.</p> -</div> - -<p>“Don’t say that,” -put in the yellow-breasted -robin, “the -old owl tells us never -to repeat an unkind -thing; it is only the busy-bodies of the Tui family who do that, -and they often whistle the tales they hear so badly, that you’d -scarcely know them to be the same.”</p> - -<p>“Perhaps they can’t help it, you know,” remarked little Cis; -“it is not every one who has a good ear; and, besides, Tuis talk -so much, that they can’t have much time to think about what they -say. I don’t expect they mean to alter things. Mother told me -never to tell any but good tales of Hal, but it is difficult sometimes -when he teases me,” and little Cis sighed.</p> - -<p>“I think this is a very nice ball with you to talk to,” said -the grey robin; “do you mind if we stay near you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span></p> - -<p>“Oh, no, I shall like it,” replied Cis; so the robins perched -on a bush close by, and with their heads on one side eyed the -dancers (who had started afresh), and they now and again added -their sweet low notes to the music.</p> - -<p>“We don’t sing much,” said they, “but we like to do our -best to make things lively.”</p> - -<div class="figright illowp50" id="illus13" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus13.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Maori hen.</p> -</div> - -<p>Just then, such a scuffling was heard in the long grass, that -Cis jumped up to see -what was the matter, -and there were two -Maori hens<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> fighting -over some bright buttons, -tied together -with string, which -Hal had thrown -down. They were -jumping round and -round each other in -the maddest excitement, -heads and -short tails bobbing, -and wings flapping. -The brown owl cried, -“Too fast, stop -them!” but the -music and the noise -drowned his voice. -At last the fatter of the two hens stopped a minute to get -breath, and the other, seizing its opportunity, gave an extra tug, -and carried off the buttons under the bushes. The fat hen ran -after as fast as possible, calling out, “Stop thief! stop thief!” -then they both disappeared in the bushes.</p> - -<p>Little Cis thought she heard a parrot on a tree overhead call out -something about “The pot calling the kettle black,” but as she did -not see any signs of cooking near, she thought she must be mistaken.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Hal had been gossiping with the birds and -insects, and hearing many tales of fun and frolic in the greenwood, -and many too of hair-breadth escapes from hard-hearted hunters -and cruel boys.</p> - -<p>“Do you know I am uncommonly hungry,” said Hal, coming -up to where Santa Claus was watching. Hal had a little fairy -with lovely gauze wings perched on each of his shoulders, and he -added, “And these little friends of mine are thirsty too, and all -the flowers are shut up, so they can’t get any dew; it really is too -bad for them to close so early.”</p> - -<p>At a nod from Santa Claus the birds flew off, and quickly -returned with numberless fruits and berries; huge mushroom-tables -sprang up rapidly, and soon were bending with the weight -of the good things. Blue-bells held out their cups of sparkling -dew to all, and the Tui and the Bell-bird revelled in honey, pure -and golden, which the small wild-bees brought.</p> - -<p>The fairies lightly perched on toadstools and the blades of -grass, and were gallantly waited upon by long-legged spiders, -whilst the birds vied with each other in paying attentions to little -Cis.</p> - -<p>Long and merry was the feast, only the Kiwi sat grumpily -by, and, eyeing some curled-up earthworms, sniffed and said that -there was nothing for him to eat. But alas! old Time stays not -his flight, even in the brightest hours, and Santa Claus, pointing -to the moon sinking low in the sky, the happy revel ceased, and -good-byes were said. The fairies winged their flight to hide in -the flowers’ sweet hearts; the insects sought their secret haunts -in rugged bark and crannied soil; the birds flew off to their -leafy homes, except the Kiwi, and he could not, having no wings, -poor fellow! so he scuttled quickly about, hunting around for -food, but alas! the earthworms and grubs had already hidden in -the mossy soil, or beneath the dead leaves.</p> - -<p>“Gone! gone!” snorted the disappointed bird, hungry -and cross, “and hard work I shall have to dig them out.”</p> - -<p>“Too fast, stop them!” excitedly shrieked the brown owl,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> -who was watching some caterpillars waddling off as quickly as -they could.</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp50" id="illus14" style="max-width: 18.75em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus14.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">White Heron.</p> -</div> - -<p>“What is the good of saying that?” asked the Tui, “I shan’t -imitate you anymore. It is not likely the caterpillars, if they heard -you, would stop to be eaten to please you. I’m off to the bush, -near the stream,” continued the Tui, “where the white heron<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> is -bringing up her aristocratic family in her nest in the tree-fern, I -shall get some conversation worth listening to with her, for she’s -a lady of education, and does not mix with every one!” and the -Tui flew off.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span></p> - -<p>“I say, old fellow,” called out Hal to the owl, “that was rather -hard on you. I’d change my tune if I were you, I think.”</p> - -<p>The owl put his brown head on one side, looked very wise -for a moment, then shouted out at the top of his shrill voice, -“More pork! more pork!”</p> - -<p>“I’m afraid I can’t oblige you,” laughed Hal, “but if you’ll -go farther into the bush you might tackle a few wild pigs if you -like.”</p> - -<p>“I expect he means ‘more mice,’” said little Cis; “perhaps -he’s getting old, poor thing!”</p> - -<p>But the owl shouted out “More pork! more pork!” and -does so to this day.</p> - -<p>“Come, children,” said Santa Claus, “I have more wonderful -things to show you before the sun rises;” and he led them out of -the forest and up a hill, from the brow of which they looked on a -plain broken by deep gullies and bounded afar by dark mountain -ranges. Scattered trees loomed vast and unreal in the misty -light, and the children walked on silently, almost wishing they -were at home again, but yet curious to know what else Santa -Claus had to show them. Suddenly a miserable little cur ran out -of the bushes, barking, and amidst the manuka and cabbage-trees -they saw a raupo whare. Grotesque heads carved upon the gable -and on the corner posts of the low roof grinned hideously at Hal -and Cis, and they were very startled when some dark figures, -wrapped in loose mats, ran out hastily, looking big and weird in -the dim and uncertain light.</p> - -<p>“They are not giants, are they?” whispered little Cis in a -timid tone.</p> - -<p>“No, no,” replied Hal, “they are only Maories; and see, they -are more frightened of us than you are of them.”</p> - -<p>The Maories, indeed, on seeing Santa Claus, his starry crown -shining like a halo round his head, and Hal, whose face was -lighted up by the Star of Love which he carried, were terrified, -and uttering loud cries of “Aue! Aue!” they rushed back into -their hut.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus15" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus15.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“They are only Maories; and see, they are more - frightened of us than you are of them.”</p> - <p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_26">Page 26.</a></p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span></p> - -<p>“Why do they run away from us?” asked Cis.</p> - -<p>“They, no doubt, thought we were spirits,” answered Santa -Claus; “Maories are very much afraid of their dead grandfathers -and grandmothers,” added he, laughing.</p> - -<p>“I wonder why that is,” said Hal, “I should have thought -they would be glad to see the people again who are kind and -good, as grandfathers and grandmothers always are.”</p> - -<p>By this time they had gone some little distance past the -whare, and at the bottom of the hill they came to a narrow valley,<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> -the sides of which were clad with a luxuriant growth of feathery -manuka, so white with its numberless small blossoms, that in the -faint light that comes before the summer dawn, the valley looked -as though a snowstorm had passed over it. From hidden places -amongst the shrubs, thick curling steam arose, now hiding the -trees and bushes, and even veiling the faint stars above for a few -seconds, then melting into thin air, leaving a warm dripping -moisture on everything around. Mysterious hissing noises filled -the air, and ever and anon the earth shook as though with -fear.</p> - -<p>The wondering, half-frightened children, tightly clasping each -other’s hands, followed Santa Claus along the steep, zig-zag path -that led down to the bottom of the valley; then, feeling the -ground warm beneath her feet, little Cis said, “I am so frightened, -Mr. Santa Claus, please may we go back?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I think we <i>ought</i> to go back,” added Hal, “for it must -be getting near breakfast-time now.”</p> - -<p>“Do not be afraid, children, I will take care of you,” replied -Santa Claus, “and I have such wonderful things to show -you.”</p> - -<p>Reassured by his kind voice, the children followed, keeping -close together; Hal, with one arm round Cis, and with the other -holding the Star of Love high above their heads, as they followed -the path to the bottom of the valley. There they saw a stream -rippling along; clear as crystal were its waters, and its banks -covered with drooping ferns and tender mosses. Little Cis,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> -stooping to gather some of the ferns, dipped her hand into a pool -of water near by, and cried out, “Why, Hal, it’s quite hot!”</p> - -<p>Yes, hot it was, and the steam itself still hotter, while amid -the bushes, countless merry little springs bubbled up, boiling, from -basins of yellow and pink stone.</p> - -<p>“Why, it smells exactly like lucifer matches,—do they make -them here, Mr. Santa Claus?” asked Hal, looking at the bright -yellow sulphur on the ground.</p> - -<p>“No,” laughed Santa Claus, “but I think they might.”</p> - -<p>“I shall bring our cook here,” went on Hal, “she needn’t -have a fire at all to cook our meals or to wash our clothes.” And -he looked down into the clear steaming pool close by, edged with -crumbling, many-coloured soil, and around, and even within -which, delicate ferns were growing.</p> - -<p>But Santa Claus’ starry crown was already shining faint on -the pathway ahead, and the children tripped on lightly after him.</p> - -<p>What lovely fairy glens they saw at each turn of the little -path, carpeted with soft, bright green, and overhung with tender -foliage, and Cis wished it were midnight that she might see the -fairies dance. What fairy ball-rooms, too, with floors of pale pink -marble, and pretty streamlets of warm water trickling near, for -tired feet to paddle in!</p> - -<p>But Santa Claus had stopped, and the children hurried up to -his side, and there, in the midst of the thick bushes, they saw a -small lake of clearest blue, and to its edge sloped down a gleaming -floor of white, and the trees that drooped near to the water’s edge -shone white, as though a hoar-frost had silvered each trunk and -tiny twig.</p> - -<p>“Oh! how lovely!” cried little Cis. “Is this like the snow -in England, Mr. Santa Claus?”</p> - -<p>“Not quite,” he answered, “though it is as beautiful. But -listen, little ones!”</p> - -<p>And as he spoke a chorus of voices was heard, faint, as -though from the bowels of the earth, and then a low rumbling -noise was followed by a mighty burst of steam from a hole a little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> -way off, and on the top of it were shot out a troop of laughing -gnomes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus16" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus16.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">On the top of the geyser were shot out a troop of - laughing gnomes.</p> -</div> - -<p>What funny little fellows they looked, with their long yellow -legs, short bodies, and merry round faces beneath their yellow<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> -hats of all shapes and sizes. With many wild antics and strange -capers they danced round the blue lake, singing:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Ha, ha! ha, ha! how jolly is life,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We know no care, we know no strife;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We dance, we sing, and merrily play</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The long night through; and then by day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We work, we delve in the ground below,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And make Earth’s fountains merrily flow.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We feed the fires, till the cold streams boil;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We spare no trouble, we spare no toil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We make the dark pools bubble and hiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the waters leap up the trees to kiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a roar, and a whirr, and a rush so high,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the bright drops sparkle and dance in the sky,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then fall with a soft tra la la! tra la la!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And we laugh as they fall, ha, ha! ha, ha!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Then all the little gnomes, headed by Red Cap, their leader, -jumped with merry shouts and laughter into the clear warm pool -near by.</p> - -<p>The children watched them for awhile, then Cis wandered off, -picking up bits of petrified ferns and sticks out of a hot bubbling -pool, and choice pieces of yellow sulphur, which, when broken off -the steaming ground, showed myriads of sparkling crystals, and -kind Santa Claus packed all her treasures in soft moss in a bag -which he carried on his back.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile, Hal envied the merry bathers, and as they called -out to him to “come, too,” he quickly threw off his clothes and -jumped into the little lake.</p> - -<p>How glorious it was! The hot bubbling waters, the clear -crystal depths, and the sides and floor of the bath yielding to the -touch, as though padded with velvet! Was ever such a bath -enjoyed before? Shouting and singing, the little gnomes seized -Hal and popped him over the edge of the basin, and plump he -fell into a stream of cold water on the other side. What a big -breath he pulled at first, and then, how delicious the glow and the -dive into the clear depths! What a good swim Hal had up the -cold stream, racing the little gnomes who spluttered and splashed -after him! Then back they all went into the blue lake, revelling -in the tingling warmth. Again, out of that into another bath -close by, where countless crystal bubbles rose from the soft sandy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -floor, playing round the bathers like the dancing bubbles of -sparkling wine.</p> - -<p>But Hal heard Santa Claus calling to him to make haste, -and he reluctantly jumped out, and flinging on his clothes, shouted -to the gnomes, “I’ll come here for my Saturday-night tub, if you -don’t mind; it’s awfully jolly.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” answered the gnomes, running after Hal, who -by this time had joined Cis and Santa Claus.</p> - -<p>“Won’t you all come and have breakfast with us?” asked -Red Cap.</p> - -<p>“Well, I am rather hungry, and I expect Cis is, too. But -what have you got for breakfast, Mr. Red Cap?”</p> - -<p>“Porridge, to be sure. Didn’t you know we were hard-working -Scotch boys? Who else would work as hard, or get as -much out of the earth as we do?” answered a gnome in a huffed -tone.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, I’m sure; but please don’t be offended,” -replied Hal, “we’ll eat some porridge with pleasure.—or <i>try</i> to,” he -added in a low voice, for he did not care for porridge at home.</p> - -<p>Red Cap led the way to where in the earth was the porridge-pot—a -large hole full of boiling cream-coloured porridge, that -hissed, and bubbled, and looked tempting enough. Cis and Hal, -following the example of their guide, dipped sticks into it, and -tasted the smooth paste, and what grimaces they both made, -which they tried not to let Red Cap see! For the porridge was -anything but pleasant, being like a mixture of rotten eggs and -alum.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t it good?” asked Red Cap, smacking his lips over it.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said Cis, who wished to be polite, “it certainly is -well boiled, and it is not at all lumpy, but—isn’t it ra—ther—earthy?”</p> - -<p>Then, seeing the gnome’s disappointed face, she added, “But -never mind, we’re trying to enjoy it; but I expect you have to be -brought up to it, Mr. Red Cap, really to like it.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll come for our next picnic here, and bring some tea -for you,” said Hal, trying to make friends with Red Cap, “and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -perhaps you’ll boil the kettle for us—no, I mean, give us the -water already boiled. I’m afraid it will smell and taste of rotten -eggs, but that can’t be helped,” added Hal, in a low voice, to little -Cis, sniffing the sulphurous fumes rising from the boiling -cauldrons on all sides.</p> - -<p>Santa Claus and the children now walked on, and Cis and -Hal, getting accustomed to the strange scenes around, began to -feel quite brave.</p> - -<p>“There are not many birds here, Mr. Santa Claus,” said Cis, -for they had only seen a few blight-birds flitting about; only the -two little robins had come part of the way with her into the valley, -then they had twittered their good-bye, and Cis missed her little -feathered friends.</p> - -<p>“See,” replied Santa Claus, and there amid the feathery -manuka was an open space covered with layers of creamy-coloured -stone, and in the centre was what looked like a huge bird’s nest,<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> -formed of large white stems and branches crossed and recrossed, -and pieces of petrified moss between. Each little twig was -heavily laden with drops, apparently frozen, some thick as milk, -some clear as crystal, while round and overhead the bushes too -were white as snow.</p> - -<p>“How beautiful!” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“But where is the bird, Mr. Santa Claus?” asked little Cis, -“and what a big one it must be to make that nest!”</p> - -<p>“Wait a little, and if you do not see the bird you shall hear -him sing,” laughed Santa Claus.</p> - -<p>The children stood silently waiting. Soon a low rumbling -was heard below their feet, followed by hissing and bubbling -noises that grew nearer and nearer, then died away, to begin -again, louder, nearer than before, and making Cis creep up close -to her brother and Santa Claus. Awe-struck, the children watched, -and soon from the middle of the nest they saw bubbling waters -that came and went in fitful gushes, as though battling against -some unseen power below,—then roaring, fighting, boiling, a -mighty column shot up high into the air above their heads, and -clouds of steam rolled around, hiding for a little while the trees,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -and even the children, in a misty veil.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> How beautiful the clear -drops of the mighty fountain looked, as the water’s rose and fell, -shining like dancing diamonds in the dawning light! Then out -from their holes came the gnomes, singing again their merry song.</p> - -<p class="center">The Merry Song of the Gnomes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp60" id="gnomes" style="max-width: 50em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/gnomes.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">We feed the fires till the cold streams boil,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We spare no trouble we spare no toil:</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We make the dark pools bubble and hiss</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till the waters leap up the trees to kiss,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a roar, and a whirr and a rush so high</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That the bright drops sparkle and dance in the sky</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then fall with a soft tra la la la! tra la la la!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And we laugh as they fall. Ha ha! ha ha!</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span></p> - -<p>Then they danced around the roaring geyser, till the waters -fell lower and lower, and amid sobs and sighs died away in the -deep dark hole, and all was still and silent as before in the -mysterious bird’s nest.</p> - -<p>Without waiting to hear the children’s wondering remarks, -Santa Claus took them by the hand, and they seemed to pass -quickly over a large tract of country, until they came to a creek, -which they soon saw from its steaming sides was hot, and which -ran into a lake lying quiet and peaceful;—only the pukekos<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> rose -now and again, screeching from the reedy shallows. Pushing -their way through thick scrub, and walking with great care -between bubbling cauldrons and deep holes from which steam -belched forth with a mighty roar and thud, Hal found it difficult -to carry the Star of Love safely, and asked Santa Claus what he -should do with it.</p> - -<p>“Hold it high overhead, and then stop for a minute and -watch,” replied Santa Claus, and, doing as he was bid, Hal was -astonished to see the Star float away into the pale grey sky, -becoming fainter and fainter, till it disappeared in the misty -dawn.</p> - -<p>“You have carried it so long with care,” said Santa Claus, -“that by day, though unseen, it will ever shine to guide you, and -at night, though passing clouds may sometimes hide it, if you -look for it, you will soon find it again.”</p> - -<p>“I shall look for it, Mr. Santa Claus,” said little Cis; “I -often see the stars shining in at my window when I am in bed, -and I shall ask God not to let the angels forget to light that -beautiful one for me to see.”</p> - -<p>As little Cis finished speaking, their old friend Red Cap -appeared on the path before them.</p> - -<p>“Where did you come from?” cried Hal, “we left you at the -bird’s nest.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” answered Red Cap, “but we gnomes do not follow -the paths you mortals tread, but have many and hidden passages -under the earth, and many underground streams by which we pass<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -quickly from south to north. So, here I am, you see, and now I -am going to show you the realm of the King and Queen of the -Gnomes.”</p> - -<p>“That <i>will</i> be jolly!” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“Will it take very long, Mr. Red Cap?” asked Cis. “I have -been thinking of mother, and she will want me back soon, I am -sure.” And the child’s face grew thoughtful, and her large eyes -looked sad and wistful.</p> - -<p>“You shall be back for breakfast on Christmas morning, I -promise you, little Cis,” said Santa Claus; “Mother will not -expect you before then. I am going to leave you a little while -with Red Cap now, for I have some other children expecting me -before the sun is up; but I will meet you after you have seen -where the King and Queen of the Gnomes live.”</p> - -<p>“You will not forget us, Mr. Santa Claus, will you?” asked -Cis, “because we could never get home without you.”</p> - -<p>“No fear of that, little one, I never fail the children who -believe in me,” and so saying he disappeared from their sight. -Hal called out,—</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, old fellow, I hope you’ll make haste back,” and -then, taking Cis’s hand, for he thought she was a little timid, he -followed Red Cap until they came to the end of the thick bushes. -“Look,” said Red Cap, “this is the dwelling place of our King -and Queen.” Beautiful indeed was the sight that met their gaze; -from the edge of the lake, tier upon tier of milky white terraces<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -sloped upwards to a great height, and over them fell a glistening -veil of water which filled the air with its rippling song as it sought -the placid lake below.</p> - -<p>“Oh! let us paddle,” said Hal to Cis, and no sooner was it -said than done, and how delightful was the soft, warm water -trickling over their feet!</p> - -<p>The children then followed as Red Cap led the way from tier -to tier, looking into the numberless marble baths of all shapes -and sizes that they passed, filled with coloured waters, clear and -inviting, pale blue and green—the sides of the baths edged with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -fantastic wreaths and carved alabaster fringe, from the countless -points of which overflowing drops fell with a soft musical sound.</p> - -<p>How dazzling was the milky white floor as they stepped upwards -and looked down on the stretching terraces gemmed with -their glistening pools! Truly it was wonderland! A fit dwelling-place -for the King and Queen; a fit scene for the midnight revels -of Gnomes and Fays! Hal and Cis found many a little petrified -treasure as they lingered here and there,—twigs and bits of moss -and fern, and even insects white and glistening as the terrace -itself.</p> - -<p>“Oh! see, Mr. Red Cap,” called out little Cis, picking up -what looked like a perfect white dragonfly, “what has happened -to the poor dragonfly!” and she held it in her hand tenderly.</p> - -<p>“That is the way the gnomes punish any insect that comes -near where our King and Queen live,” answered Red Cap; “the -singing waters lure them in, and then turn them to stone itself.”</p> - -<p>“Poor things,” said little Cis, “how hard-hearted the pretty -waters must be, and they look so soft and nice.”</p> - -<p>“That is often the way with things,” remarked Red Cap; -“at least so I’ve heard it said.”</p> - -<p>As they came near the topmost tier of baths, the water became -hotter and hotter, and there, in a gorge of the hill side, with the -feathery manuka to its very edge, was a huge cauldron of opal-coloured -steaming water.</p> - -<p>Side by side, with timid steps, the children went close to the -edge, and, looking down, saw what Red Cap told them was the -entrance to the King’s palace.</p> - -<p>Clusters of white pillars rose in stately grandeur, surrounded -with carved wreaths of leaves and flowers, looking as if formed of -frozen snow in the blue waters; forests of ferns hung their delicate -stone fronds in the shadowy depths; quaint shaped mushrooms -and coral-like bushes grew here and there ’mid heavily fringed -leaves of many a strange shape.</p> - -<p>“Oh! may we go down there?” asked Hal.</p> - -<p>“No,” replied Red Cap, “it would be death to mortals to go<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> -there; even fairies cannot enter; but they are allowed to bathe in -the pools, or to dance with the gnomes on moonlight nights, when -our King and Queen hold their court. Only the gnomes can -enter the palace halls below the pool, and many strange sights and -sounds are there, and it is hard work there for the gnomes, I can -tell you. See,” went on Red Cap, “the King and Queen are -away just now, and the gnomes are busy cleaning out the palace, -and soon they will make the big fountain play, and fill the terrace -baths afresh.”</p> - -<p>“Where have the King and Queen gone?” asked Hal, “and -shan’t we see them?”</p> - -<p>“I think not to-night,” said Red Cap, “for they have gone -to their summer palace over there,” and he pointed to the other -side of the lake, where the children saw another terraced realm -even more beautiful than the one they were on, being of a pale pink -colour, like the tender flush of a warm sunset upon beds of snow, -and over all the falling waters danced and gleamed.</p> - -<p>“Are there as beautiful bathing places over there too?” asked -Hal.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Red Cap, “and there is a large bath with soft -downy sides and floor in which mortals sometimes bathe. But -they are seldom allowed to see into the depths of the huge -cauldron at the top of this pink terrace, for, by the order of the -King, soft clouds of steam cover it, which are rarely lifted. Some -favoured ones who have looked into the boiling depths say the -forests and beauteous flowery forms there are even more wonderful -than those you see here at the entrance of the Winter Palace.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! look!” cried Hal excitedly to Cis just as Red Cap -ceased speaking; then, out of numberless small caves in the blue -cauldron at their feet jumped hundreds of little black gnomes, -having thick coats made out of sulphur cakes, and on their heads -milky white helmets. Up from the blue waters they sprang, -capering with wild delight round the edges of the cauldron and -the numberless basins of the white terraces below, shouting, -laughing, and then bursting ever and anon into wild chorus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“’Tis done! ’tis done! our labour is o’er,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’ve cleaned each hall, and polished each floor.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We’ve made the matches, and lighted the fires</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The engines to start as our King desires;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">List to the hammers that thump and bang,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To the piston’s thud and the anvil’s clang.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hurrah! hurrah! for the rumble and rush,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The boiling pools that bubble and gush,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then upwards burst, and the steam clouds rise</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To join their brethren that float in the skies.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Now the fountains play o’er the palace halls,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And the rainbow-arch o’er the portal falls,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hark to the din! and hark to the roar!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis done, ’tis done; our labour is o’er.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>And the children and Red Cap saw the water in the big -cauldron begin to bubble at the bottom, and then rise rapidly -higher and higher.</p> - -<p>“Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap.</p> - -<p>Hal and Cis needed no second bidding, but ran down the -terrace and then climbed up the hill-side as quickly as they could -with their bare feet, and from the midst of the bushes watched -the big geyser shoot up into the sky with a terrific roar.</p> - -<p>Soon the cauldron overflowed in tossing wavelets that swept -downwards from terrace to terrace, filling to overflowing the -countless baths on the way, and forming one beautiful sparkling -cascade—in many parts blue as the sky overhead—from the top -to the lake below, which was itself blue as a summer sky.</p> - -<p>The gnomes, perching on the bushes and flax clumps round, -nodded their heads approvingly, and sang:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent2">“The cascade falls o’er each marble lip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where at night the fairies merrily trip,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As the rippling waters rise and fall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We join their dance on a gleaming wall,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Or climbing high on the moon’s bright rays,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">We sing till the sun on the terrace plays,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Then hide again in our holes and caves,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Where our tired feet the water laves,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">And we watch poor mortals come and go,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">They see not the fun we have below.</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Oh! what tricks we play! They know not why</div> - <div class="verse indent2">The geysers gush, and the steam-clouds fly:</div> - <div class="verse indent2">As they hear us chuckle and laugh, ha! ha!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">They say, ’tis the water’s song, tra la la!</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hurrah! for the fun in our hidden homes,</div> - <div class="verse indent2">Hurrah! for the life of the merry gnomes!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus17" style="max-width: 34.375em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus17.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“Run to the hill!” cried Red Cap.</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span></p> - -<p>And down the funny little fellows jumped and rushed laughing -into the delicately fringed caves beneath the marble baths.</p> - -<p>“What jolly little boys they are,” said Hal, “and what a -good time they seem to be having!”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Red Cap, “they all <i>seem</i> happy; but I am -sorry to say there are a lot of discontented ones below, and I -should not wonder if they strike one day; and if so, the passages -will get clogged, and there will be a grand blow up, and I don’t -know what will happen to our King and Queen and their beautiful -fairy realms,”<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> and Red Cap heaved a deep sigh. “But we must -go now,” added he.</p> - -<p>The children ran down to where they had left their shoes and -stockings, and putting them on, followed their guide to the creek.</p> - -<p>There in the reeds, close to the bank, they found a canoe; -it had pointed ends, and was hollowed out of a large tree trunk, -and the bottom was covered with the small leafy twigs of the -manuka.</p> - -<p>“Get in, children,” said Red Cap.</p> - -<p>“There are no seats,” said little Cis.</p> - -<p>“Never mind,” answered Red Cap; “sit quite still on the -bottom, and hold tightly to the sides.”</p> - -<p>So Hal helped Cis in carefully, for it seemed as if very little -would upset the canoe, and Red Cap, taking up a paddle, pushed -out into the stream.</p> - -<p>Then, how quickly they floated along on the rapidly running -water; how delightful was the swift motion without any effort, -making the children feel giddy as some swift eddy hurried them -round the turns of the stream. On, on past the reedy banks, -over deep pools and weedy shallows, faster and faster, Red Cap -steering here and there with a touch of the paddle.</p> - -<p>At last they came to the end of the rapids, and Red Cap -steered the canoe to a little curve in the banks, and Cis and Hal -jumped out.</p> - -<p>“It was splendid,” cried Hal, “to come all that way so -quickly, without any trouble, wasn’t it, Cis?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span></p> - -<p>“Yes,” replied Cis, hesitating a little; “but it rather took my -breath away, and I was afraid we might be upset.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! it was safe enough,” said Hal with an air of superior -wisdom, “as long as you sat still; but I suppose it is difficult for -girls to do that. Where now, Mr. Red Cap?” he added.</p> - -<p>“I must leave you now, children; but here is Santa Claus -waiting for you.”</p> - -<p>And there indeed they saw their old friend sitting on a -bank.</p> - -<p>The children rushed to him, for they were delighted to see -him again; then, turning, they bid Red Cap good-bye, and -thanked him heartily for all his kindness to them, Hal adding, -“I shall tell other children of the wonderful things you have -shown us, Mr. Red Cap, that I shall, for I had often read of fairy-land, -but I had never been to it before, and I think it is a jolly -place.”</p> - -<p>And with another good-bye, Red Cap vanished from their -sight.</p> - -<p>“So you have enjoyed yourselves, children? I am glad of -that,” said Santa Claus. “And now, is there anything more you -would like to see before you go home?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” cried Hal, “I <i>should</i> like to see some real snow, the -snow mother tells us of. Can we, please?”</p> - -<p>Cis added her entreaty to Hal’s, and Santa Claus said he -would take them where they could see some.</p> - -<p>The morning had come, but the sun only now and again -shone through the gray clouds that floated low.</p> - -<p>“Come,” said Santa Claus; and taking a hand of each, he -led them up to where a large, soft cloud rested on the hill-side, -and he bade the children sit down with him on it.</p> - -<p>Up, up floated the billowy mass into the sky, and glided -away to the south. How smoothly they went along, wafted by -the morning breezes! and Cis and Hal, seated on their soft -cushions, gazed dreamily down on the country that sped away so -quickly beneath them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span></p> - -<p>“How small the big mountains look!” cried Hal; “and the -towns and villages look like toy ones.”</p> - -<p>And then they passed over big streams, and a wide strait, -that looked like a silver streak in the far depths. Away, away -they floated; the sky was now clearer, and off the hills, and out -of the valleys the mists were rolling, their silvery edges gleaming -in the fitful sunlight.</p> - -<p>“Look! we are going over some big ponds now,” said little -Cis.</p> - -<p>“Ponds!” exclaimed Santa Claus, “those are large lakes, see -how they spread out like sheets of silver water!”</p> - -<p>The cloud was by this time passing over one of the largest -lakes, and very beautiful looked the soft shining waters surrounded -by mountains, on the tops of which the clouds still rested. Then -the cloud floated to the far end of the lake, and glided down a -narrow valley in which the milky blue waters of a glacier-stream -rushed and roared, though no sound reached the children, who -could only see its fighting wavelets.</p> - -<p>On they went, watching the clouds roll from the tree-clad -depths and rocky heights, till at last they uttered cries of joy and -wonder.</p> - -<p>There, in front of them, the mighty snow-crowned hills pierced -the grey clouds, catching the rosy rays of the now rapidly-rising -sun. Vast ice-fields stretched far and wide, their rifts blue as the -breaks in the sky above, their jagged peaks gleaming with a thousand -diamond lights; and how soft and inviting looked the beds -of snow in the hollows!</p> - -<p>“The snow! The snow at last!” cried Hal and Cis, as they -saw the hills and their gleaming sides and peaks; “oh! do let us -get down, Mr. Santa Claus.”</p> - -<p>“Wait,” he replied; and the cloud glided close to a gorge in -one of the mountains, where a mighty foaming torrent<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> rushed -down the rocky steeps to the valley beneath, the silver streaks -thousands of feet overhead showing where the waters ran out -from the glacier fields.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span></p> - -<p>When the cloud stopped, the children jumped off and rushed -to the edge of the waterfall, and, holding on to the trees at the -side, were about to stoop down for a drink, when Santa Claus -cried out, “Do not try to drink there, children, you will be swept -away by the rushing -waters. Come with -me, and I will show -you where you can get -a draught of clear still -water.”</p> - -<div class="figleft illowp50" id="illus17a" style="max-width: 21.875em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus17a.jpg" alt=""> -</div> - -<p>Hal and Cis turned -reluctantly, and Santa -Claus took them where, -in a dry water-course, -amid big boulders, they -saw clusters of the -pure white flowers of -the mountain-lily,<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> and -their guide, pointing to -these, said, “See there, -if you are thirsty.”</p> - -<p>“The flowers are -very beautiful, Mr. -Santa Claus,” said Cis, -“but it is <i>water</i> we -want, and I am <i>so</i> -thirsty.”</p> - -<p>“Look again,” replied -Santa Claus.</p> - -<p>There, below the flowers, were large cup-shaped leaves full of -clear cold water; Cis and Hal darted forward to gather them and -drink, when the leaves seemed to be shaken as if with the wind, -but there was not wind enough for that, and, stooping down, -they saw two little fat dwarfs holding the stems and shaking with -laughter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span></p> - -<p>What ugly little fellows they were! Hal thought at first they -were green frogs, for they were dressed in tight-fitting green coats, -their big mouths reached from ear to ear, and their hands and -feet were webbed.</p> - -<p>“Hulloa!” cried Hal, “who are you?”</p> - -<p>Instead of answering, they only laughed and choked, and -choked and laughed.</p> - -<p>“You seem to have got bad colds,” said little Cis.</p> - -<p>“Perhaps, when you have done, you will tell us what you are -laughing at?” continued Hal, in aggrieved tones.</p> - -<p>Still they laughed and choked.</p> - -<p>“I wish I were at home; my mother would give you some -ipecacuanha wine, for I think you have got the croup,” said little -Cis, in a troubled voice.</p> - -<p>At this the dwarfs opened their mouths wider than before, -and, at last, in low croaking voices began a duet:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“My name it is Gup!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“My name it is Joke!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“We’ve got such bad colds (together)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We can only croak.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“We are both so fat, (together)</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And we can’t tell why,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Unless it’s because</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We live near the sky.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“So close to the clouds</div> - <div class="verse indent0">There’s no need to climb,”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Said Joke, “so all day</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I sit here and rhyme.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I feed upon flies,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And grumble and grunt,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Or for nice fat snails</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Al night-time I hunt.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Be quiet,” cried Gup.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“That I won’t,” said Joke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Your voice is just like</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A pig’s in a poke!”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“And little care I</div> - <div class="verse indent0">If it is,” said Gup;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m tired to death</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of holding this cup.”</div><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I like to be fat,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I hate to drink dew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">It’s a weak cold draught</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That nourishes few.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Great poets, they say,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Must live near the skies!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“That’s me!” cried out Joke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’m ever so wise!</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I know no grammar,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I read no books,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">I have but studied</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Dame Nature’s looks.</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“A poet to gain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The top of the tree,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Has to use long words,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And drone like a bee.”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">So we both make rhymes,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And chuckle and grin</div> - <div class="verse indent0">At the people who listen,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And cry, “What a sin</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“‘These two clever boys</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Should not be extolled!’”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Stop! stop!” cried out Joke,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Where has the grub rolled?”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“What are you looking for?” asked the children.</p> - -<p>“We are looking for our dinner,” replied the dwarfs, who, -during the latter part of their singing, had been hunting under -the leaves and down the slippery slope for a big fat grub which -they had carefully stowed away for a meal, but which had disappeared.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’d rolled him all up</div> - <div class="verse indent0">just under this cup!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a grunt cried out Gup.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“Yes! grunt and croak,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You pig in a poke;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">You’re to blame,” cried Joke.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">“I’ve told you full oft</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Not to gaze up aloft—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That grub was <i>so</i> soft!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He was such a prize!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A sight for sore eyes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When made into pies!”</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And Joke heaved big sighs.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“Oh, dear! oh, dear!” said little Cis, “pray don’t quarrel -over a grub.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span></p> - -<p>“Quarrel, indeed!” cried a voice out of the bushes; “they’re -always quarrelling!”</p> - -<p>It was a plump Maori hen who thus spoke, and she added, -“If they’d leave off making rhymes, and attend to the business of -every-day life, it would be far better. While they sat looking up -at the skies, the grub rolled down, and I caught him and ate him, -for it was a pity he should be wasted. In fact,” added the hen, -with a satisfied nod, “as a rule, they find the grubs, and I eat -them!”</p> - -<p>At this, the dwarfs got so puffed out with anger, that the -children were afraid they would burst, they rolled their eyes round -and round, in search of something to throw at the Maori hen, -but she ran away into the bushes beyond their reach.</p> - -<p>“I should be glad if you’d give us a drink out of those green -cups of yours,” said Hal; “and couldn’t you make some better -poetry? if so, we’d like to hear it very much.”</p> - -<p>The dwarfs then handed the children each a mountain-lily -leaf full of cool dew, saying:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“To you we hold the fairy cup,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bid you drink of sparkling dew,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The stars have gone, the sun is up,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Soon must we hide from mortal view.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ere we say good-bye, we bid</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye upward, ever upward go;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Look to the Star that shines above,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Though oft you cull the flowers below.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">’Tis Christmas morn, the Bell-bird’s chimes</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Rise from the distant woods; o’er hills</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Where rabbits skip, there softly rings</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The music of a thousand rills.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A merry Christmas! then we sing;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A merry time for one and all!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let not the poor pass by your gates,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Let from your hands the good gifts fall.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We merry dwarfs have but one gift,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">To thirsty souls we hold it up,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bid them drink refreshing dew</div> - <div class="verse indent0">From out our cool green fairy cup.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But ere we say good-bye we bid</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ye upwards, ever upwards go;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Look to the Star that shines above,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">E’en though you cull the flowers below.”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>“I wonder if they mean our Star of Love,” said little Cis.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p> - -<p>“Perhaps so,” said Hal, “though I don’t see it anywhere just -now.”</p> - -<p>Hal stooped down to where the little dwarfs were hiding -themselves under the leaves, but somehow they and the big stalks -seemed to get all mixed up, and he then could see nothing but the -stalks, and began to think he must have dreamt all the rest.</p> - -<p>Just then a Maori hen, with an inquisitive air, came out of -the fern, and Hal, seeing it, cried out,—</p> - -<p>“By-the-bye, old thief, where are those buttons of mine you -stole?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” replied the hen. Indignant mutterings were -uttered by some other hens gathering round:—</p> - -<p>“<i>We</i> never stole any buttons, it must have been some -country cousin of ours; we never think of stealing anything,” -protested the crowd indignantly.</p> - -<p>“Well, you see,” replied Hal, “all your family have got a -bad name; but there may be some honest ones amongst you.”</p> - -<p>But the offended hens did not wait to hear more, and scuttled -off into the bushes.</p> - -<p>The children, seeing that Santa Claus was beckoning to them -to go on, tried to get up the slope quickly; but how slippery the -stretches of snow-grass were! they often stumbled, and had to -hold on tightly to the silvery tufts to keep from falling backwards -into the awful depths. Many a time did Hal help little Cis, for -he still had the wand in his hand, and used it as a stick to lean -upon.</p> - -<p>“We shall soon get to the snow now,” said Santa Claus, -waiting for the children, and pointing above them, where the -eternal peaks were shining.</p> - -<p>“What is that?” cried Hal, as he heard a loud thundering, -as of a huge mass falling from some great height, waking the -echoes far and near.</p> - -<p>“You will know soon,” answered Santa Claus; and helping -the children up the last steep ledges, they came in sight of the -vast fields of snow and ice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span></p> - -<p>Proceeding in single file along the narrow path under his -guidance, he at length placed them on a spot whence they could -safely watch the avalanches thundering from the heights, down -the rugged mountain side to the valley below, and how wonderful -it was to see the huge masses of ice falling, sliding, dashing from -ledge to ledge! Then from the clear sky above them they heard -a voice calling, “Ke-a, ke-a. Come up, come up.”</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp50" id="illus18" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus18.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">Kea.</p> -</div> - -<p>“What is that?” asked little Cis, who had not spoken, but, -sitting close to Hal, had been watching the wonderful scene.</p> - -<p>“I do not know,” said Hal, “but it looks like a big -mountain parrot that I’ve seen pictures of in our new book on -New Zealand birds.”</p> - -<p>“Is that what it is, Mr. Santa Claus?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, Hal, and it is a cruel bird,<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> for it will fasten its claws -into the back of any sheep that has wandered away from its -companions or is floundering in the snow, and then, digging its<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -sharp beak through the flesh, it feeds upon the fat part it likes -best. The poor sheep, driven frantic by the pain, rushes on and -on, till it sinks down exhausted to die; and then the Kea, having -got the dainty bit it wanted, leaves its prey, and goes off to seek -a fresh victim.”</p> - -<p>“How cruel!” said little Cis, her eyes filling with tears.</p> - -<p>“But come, children,” said Santa Claus, “I must take you -near the snow,” and he led them to where the snow lay white and -pure.</p> - -<p>The children rushed to fill their hands with it, and shouted -for joy.</p> - -<p>“How cold it is!” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“How beautifully white and soft!” said little Cis.</p> - -<p>And the children began to pelt each other, their merry laughter -ringing on the clear air.</p> - -<p>“Let’s have a shy at Santa Claus,” whispered Hal to his -sister; and, making a big snow-ball, their eyes sparkling with fun, -they threw it suddenly at their guide, who was sitting on a rock -near by.</p> - -<p>But how astonished they were, when the snow-ball hit him, -to see it gradually spread out and cover him.</p> - -<p>“Good-bye, children! Good-bye! good-bye!” said Santa -Claus in a low muffled voice; and then, all that was left of their -kind guide was a heap of snow.</p> - -<p>“Oh! what have we done!” cried Cis, as she looked round -and round for Santa Claus.</p> - -<p>She thought the heap of snow was something like him in -shape, but then it was <i>only</i> a heap of snow, and poor Cis sat -down and cried.</p> - -<p>Hal tried to look brave, but felt inclined to cry too, when he -remembered how far they were from home.</p> - -<p>“How shall we get down the mountain? How shall we get -back to mother?” moaned Cis, and the tears ran down her -cheeks afresh.</p> - -<p>Then from out the snow-heap sprang hundreds of little long-legged<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> -sprites, with high pointed ice-caps on their heads, and -wearing coats of sparkling snow, the icicle-fringe of which jingled -merrily.</p> - -<p>What round, rosy faces they had! What twinkling blue -eyes! In their hands they carried frost lances or little crystal -spades, which they flourished in the air as they sprang up from -the snow, making flashes of light in the sun.</p> - -<p>“Who are you?” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“Are you the children of Santa Claus?” asked little Cis, -“and if so, can you tell us where he has gone, please?”</p> - -<p>“We are his servants,” shouted they, “and he has sent us -to help you; for he has started on his journey to the Old World, -where the children will soon be looking for him.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! is that where he has gone!” said little Cis with a -relieved air, glad to find they had not killed him; “and will you -help us to go home? because I think it must be Christmas -morning, and mother will be expecting us;” and little Cis -thought she could hear the Bell-bird’s chimes, as she had heard it -many a time in the early morning.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we will help you,” answered the sprites.</p> - -<p>Just then they heard the bird circling over their heads, again -crying, “Ke-a! Ke-a! Come up! come up!” and Hal, helping -little Cis, and planting his stick firmly, step by step, in the snow, -followed the sprites, who tripped lightly on, looking like points -of dancing light.</p> - -<p>At last, after hard climbing, they reached the ice-clad side of -the highest peak. How beautiful the prospect in the bright -sunlight! The clouds all gone; nothing but the clear blue -sky above and around. All was still, save when the avalanches -thundered down from the heights. The children stood and -watched the huge masses of ice as they slid down, now here, now -there from the shining peaks, to fall like powdered snow into -the foaming glacier stream in the dim depths below.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile the little sprites were hard at work digging, -cutting, shaping a huge block of ice.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span></p> - -<p>“What are you making?” asked Hal. “Can we help?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, if you like,” said the sprites, and they gave him and -Cis two little spades. The children were soon quite hot, working -as the sprites bade them, loosening and shaping the huge block -of ice; while every now and then they would all stop, and pelt -each other with the powdered ice, and the sprites sang:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Pelt us, pelt us, we don’t care,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We love the snow so crisp and fair;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We will shape and we will dig,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Till a chariot white and big</div> - <div class="verse indent0">We have cut, for those who’d fain</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Hasten to their home again.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Slide and slip, and slip and slide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thunderous roll, and mighty crash!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the chariot come and ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down into the depths to dash.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mystic trip for those who roam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One wild rush: Hurrah for home!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Tempting indeed looked the chariot; bright and sparkling -were its wheels of ice, and some of the sprites had decked it -with starry edelweiss gathered on the slopes below, and with -handfuls of the red snow-lichen.</p> - -<p>“Let’s get in, Cis!” cried Hal.</p> - -<p>“Is it quite safe?” asked Cis of the sprites.</p> - -<p>“Quite, quite,” answered they; “Santa Claus told us to -make it for you.”</p> - -<p>Taking hold of little Cis, the foremost sprite helped her to get -in, and Hal jumped quickly in by her side.</p> - -<p>Throwing down their spades, the laughing sprites rushed to -the chariot wheels, ready to push them round, whilst others -pelted the children with snow-lichen, shouting at the top of their -shrill voices:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Slide and slip, and slip and slide,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thunderous roll and mighty crash!</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In the chariot those who ride,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Down into the depths shall dash.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Mystic trip for those who roam;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">One wild rush: Hurrah for home!”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Then the wheels began to turn, and Hal threw his arm -round Cis, who was holding on to him, and looking with a -little white face into the depths below.</p> - -<div class="figcenter illowp58" id="illus19" style="max-width: 31.25em;"> - <img class="w100" src="images/illus19.jpg" alt=""> - <p class="caption">“You must have been dreaming, Hal!”</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span></p> - -<p>But the wheels turned faster and faster, as the chariot -dashed down the glassy slope. Hal looked at the sky above, -where the Kea was still crying, “Come up! come up!” and he -thought he saw the Star of Love shining faint and far; and -then—— Hal remembered no more; and, with the words of the -sprites ringing in his ears,—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“Slide and slip, and slip and slide,”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">he—awoke,—to find he had tumbled out of bed, and that it was -Christmas morn indeed. And there was little Cis, sitting up in -her bed, and there were the stockings with their bulging sides; -and Hal rubbed his eyes and wondered if he were awake or -dreaming. But he and Cis hastened to dive into their stockings, -to see what Santa Claus had put into them, and, what treasures -they found!</p> - -<p>For Cis there was a big doll, dressed like an angel, and fairy-like -small ones, and beautiful furniture for her doll’s house, and -a book with pictures of all kinds of birds and insects.</p> - -<p>And in Hal’s, what treasures for his collection! Rare birds’ -eggs in little glass-covered boxes, precious bits of many-coloured -ores; and from the Terraces, about which his mother had often -told him, were specimens of white encrusted sticks and delicate -ferns. How he longed to put them in his cabinet with his other -treasures!</p> - -<p>But when Hal talked to Cis about Santa Claus and their -night’s travels, she laughed and said,—</p> - -<p>“You must have been dreaming, Hal, or perhaps the -treasures in the stockings whispered it all in your ear,” which -Hal indignantly denied.</p> - -<p>“For I know it was real,” he said.</p> - -<p>But the Bell-birds were singing their Christmas chime in the -bush, and the morning sun was gilding the tree-ferns and the -waves, and their mother’s voice was calling, “A happy Christmas, -children! a happy Christmas!”</p> - -<p>And whose was that other voice that called out the words too?</p> - -<p>“Father! father!” cried the little ones eagerly, tearfully, as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -they rushed into the outstretched arms of their mother and <i>father</i> -too!</p> - -<p>Yes, it was a happy Christmas morn, indeed, for the sea -had brought its <i>living</i> to their home. And as the children sat -that evening in the little low room, their father told them of the -shipwreck, of his life on an island with one other, carried like -himself to its shores, and of their joy when a passing vessel -sighted them and brought them home at last.</p> - -<p>When the Southern Cross again shone down from the sky on -the father and mother and happy children, Hal told them his tale -of all he had seen the night before.</p> - -<p>Although little Cis declared it was not so, Hal would never -believe but that Cis and he had been with Santa Claus to see all -the wonders of the Southern Cross Fairy-land.</p> - -<p class="titlepage">FINIS.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="NOTES">NOTES.</h2> - -</div> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1">[1]</a> Bell-bird. Korimako. (<i>Anthornis melanura.</i>)—A honey eater, the size of a sparrow; -plumage dark green. It inhabits the outskirts of the forest. At daybreak the -Bell-birds collect together in a favourite tree, especially on the Pohutukawa, or Christmas-tree, -so called because it is in blossom at Christmas time, every little branch being -then decorated with a tuft of crimson flowers, the cups of which are full of honey. -One bird acts as conductor, making a snap with his bill, which is the signal to the -others to begin the music, when at once a beautiful sound, like distant chimes, -is heard; all the birds listen to the conductor, and stop or begin at his command. -During the daytime they do not sing in chorus, but before retiring to rest they again -gather together and with sweet music show their joy in life.—<span class="smcap">A. Reischek</span>, F.L.S.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2">[2]</a> The Cabbage-tree (<i>Cordyline australis</i>) is a characteristic feature in New Zealand -landscapes. It receives its name from the arrangement of its leaves in tufts or heads -at the ends of the branches. The tree may reach forty feet in height, and the tufts of -stiff and sword-shaped leaves at the ends of the not very numerous branches gives it -a peculiarly picturesque appearance. It is a member of the Lily order, and bears in -the spring, feathery masses of small, white and sweet-scented flowers.—<span class="smcap">A. P. W. -Thomas</span>, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3">[3]</a> Kiwi. (<i>Apteryx mantelli.</i>)—A bird about the size of a common fowl, with a long -bill; it cannot fly, as the wings are extremely small and hidden amongst the plumage, -being only 2½ inches long. The plumage of the Northern Kiwi is brown, and that -of the South Island grey, the feathers are very much like hair, and when walking it -steadies itself with its long bill. In summer it inhabits dense and secluded gullies, -and in winter the spurs of the forest-covered hills. During the day the Kiwis sleep -in burrows, under roots, or in hollow trees. As soon as the sun sets the shrill call -of the male, and the croaking answer of the female, is heard, and it is amusing to -see these creatures on a moonlight night, coming into the open spaces, and challenging -any of their rivals who may dare to intrude into their favourite haunts. -The challenge being answered, each bird makes a grunt of defiance, then the two -rush together, and the fight begins. They strike forward with their strong legs at -each other, and often roll over and over from the hard blows given. They are the -most unsociable of all the New Zealand birds.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4">[4]</a> Parson-bird. Tui. (<i>Prosthemadera novæ Zealandiæ.</i>)—A honey bird, the size of a -blackbird; plumage black, with steel-blue and green shimmer, and two white tufts of -soft curly feathers under its throat, suggestive of white bands, hence the name, -Parson-bird. It imitates nearly every bird, and talks to perfection when in captivity -and if taught. It alters its note according to the four seasons. In September, -when the Kowhai is covered with bright yellow flowers, it is a remarkable sight to see -the Tuis climbing among the blossoms, and sucking the honey from them, their dark -plumage forming a beautiful contrast to the mass of brilliant golden flowers.—A. R.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span></p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5">[5]</a> Pied Fantail. Piwakawaka (<i>Rhipidura flabellifera.</i>)—A small fly-catcher; -plumage greyish brown. While busily engaged catching mosquitos or sand flies, -these birds steer with their fan-shaped tails, making fantastic evolutions in the air. -When a fantail has spied out with its big black eyes the hiding place of the owl, in -the daytime it will call its mates together and show them the spot where their -enemy dwells, and then all the birds dart at the owl, and fly round and round, -annoying it in every possible manner until they chase it away.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6">[6]</a> The little Brown Owl, or Morepork. Ruru. (<i>Athene novæ Zealandiæ.</i>)—The size -and plumage is the same as that of the European Stone Owl. As soon as darkness -covers the land, the Moreporks appear silently swooping through the air, or darting -suddenly after insects. Woe to any small bird which happens to chirp in its dreams, -or to any rat which is taking a walk abroad, they will be sure to be detected by the -bright yellow eyes of these nocturnal wanderers. On one occasion I saw one of -these owls dart down on a large rat, fly with it high into the air, then let it drop, and, -again darting down upon it, it repeated the operation till the rat was dead. The -bird then proceeded most systematically to skin its prey, and, after feasting on the -flesh, flew to the nearest tree, where it gave a few contented calls of “Morepork,” -and then sat like an image, with its piercing eyes gazing on the ground in search of -other prey.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7">[7]</a> North Island Crow. Kokako. (<i>Glaucopis wilsoni.</i>)—A bird about the size of a -jay; plumage of a slaty-grey. In the North Island it has blue wattles, in the South, -orange with blue. This bird inhabits the secluded slopes of mountains, hopping -swiftly through the forest, or hiding itself and peering through the boughs. Its -note is melodious, and similar to that of a flute, and in the pairing season the male -dances up and down on a branch, with his tail and wings out-spread, making at the -same time a gurgling noise to attract the female bird’s attention, who sits near by, -looking on in quiet admiration.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8">[8]</a> The Tuatara (<i>Splenodon punebatum</i>) is one of the peculiar animals of New -Zealand. It is a lizard-like animal, rather less than two feet in length. It was -formerly found on the mainland, but is now confined to a few of the outlying islands -which are seldom visited. It has no near relative amongst existing lizards, and its -nearest allies are certain fossil saurians of a remote geological period (<i>Lianic</i>). -A. P. W. T.</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Vegetable Caterpillar.</span></p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9">[9]</a> A caterpillar found in the New Zealand forest, which, when it buries itself -in the ground previous to its change into the perfect winged form, is attacked by a -kind of fungus.</p> - -<p>The fungus spreads through the substance of the caterpillar, upon which it lives; -it then sends up a stem from the neck of its victim, and this stem appears above -ground, growing to the length of some eight or ten inches. From its slightly -thickened end, spores are shed.</p> - -<p>The caterpillar becomes hard and dry, and its skin being filled with the wood-like -substance of the fungus, its natural shape is preserved.—A. P. W. T.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10">[10]</a> Grey Robin. Toutouwai. (<i>Petrœca longipes.</i>)—A bird very much like the Robin -Red-breast. The plumage is grey, with a yellowish-white breast. Robins are very -tame birds, and can easily be made pets; they will often come into a tent. When -I was camping in the forest, a pair came into my hut, ate off my plate, drank and -bathed in my tin mug, sat on my dog’s back, and, when I did not get up by daybreak, -actually pulled my beard and sat on my blanket. They often followed me -on my expeditions for miles, and were so jealous that they would not let any other -robins come near my camp.—A. R.</p> - -<p>Tomtit, or Black Robin. (<i>Petrœca macrocephala.</i>)—A bird of the size of a titmouse; -plumage black, with yellow and white on the breast. On the Little Barrier -Island, off the coast of the Auckland province, a pair came to my camp every -morning to get a little porridge or a few crumbs. If I did not feed them at once -they would come to the entrance of my tent, and whistling, ask for food. One -morning, to my delight, they brought a family of three pretty little birds covered -with yellow speckles. As soon as I gave them oatmeal they fed their young with -it. They stayed with me till I broke up my camp.—A. R.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span></p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11">[11]</a> Parrakeet. Kakariki. (<i>Platycercus novæ Zealandiæ.</i>)—A small green parrot, -red on the top of the head. The parakeets climb about in large flocks on the tops of -the trees, feeding on seeds and berries. They are most amiable towards each other, -chattering the whole day, feeding and kissing.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12">[12]</a> Maori Hen. Weka. (<i>Ocydromus earli.</i>)—A bird rather smaller than a common -hen; plumage brown. It is the most inquisitive, cunning, and mischievous of all the -New Zealand birds. During the day it hides in burrows or in thick scrub, from which, -however, it emerges as soon as it hears any unusual noise; it then hides behind a -log, stone, or tree-root, whence it watches all proceedings, calling to its mate with a -booming noise. Any small, bright article, such as a knife, watch, or bunch of keys -laid aside, the Maori hen will at once pick up and carry off with delight to its -hiding place. When near a farm-house, this bird, as soon as it hears a domestic hen -cackle, will watch its opportunity to run to the place and carry off the egg she -has laid, to eat it at leisure. In the forest the Maori hens watch the birds building -their nests in order to steal their eggs. If a young bird or a rat is not sufficiently -on the alert, it will be seized at once and devoured, or should a lizard or a grub cross -their path, or a fish come too near the shore, they seldom escape the eye of these -vigilant birds. When chased by a dog the Maori hen will run into its hole and slip -out by another opening, and, screened perhaps by a bush or fern, will watch the dog -digging for it.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13">[13]</a> White Heron. Kotuku. (<i>Ardea alba.</i>)—There is a Maori saying, that the -Kotuku, or White Heron, is like a great chief, seen only once in a lifetime. These -birds inhabit the rivers on the west coast of the South Island, proudly stepping up and -down the shore, or standing knee deep in the water, with neck drawn in and head -bent downwards to be ready to make a dart should any fish venture too near. In -November the White Herons leave the rivers and congregate at one of the old -breeding-places on the shores of secluded inland lakes, where they sit about on the -crowns of tree-ferns or branches of trees near their nests; if any enemy approaches, -the birds begin in chorus a strange croaking noise. It is a beautiful sight to see the -long-legged, snow-white creatures sitting amongst the green foliage, the whole -picture clearly reflected in the dark still water.—A. R.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14">[14]</a> Wairakei Valley.—K. C.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15">[15]</a> The Eagle’s Nest Geyser.—K. C.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16">[16]</a> The hot-springs and geysers of New Zealand are chiefly found over a broad belt -of country stretching from the great volcanic mountains near the centre of the North -Island, in a north-easterly direction to the Bay of Plenty. Hot-springs occur in tens -of thousands over this area, showing every variety; the water of some is only -pleasantly warm, so that they serve as natural baths, others are at a boiling temperature; -the geysers are boiling springs which act intermittently, now throwing up a -column of water fountain-like into the air, now sinking to rest for a longer or shorter -time.—A. P. W. T.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17">[17]</a> Swamp Hen. Pukeko. (<i>Porphyrio melanotus.</i>)—About the size of a fowl: -plumage of a black and blue colour, with a red bill and long red legs. These birds -inhabit swamps, or the shallow shores of lakes, where they stalk about with tails -erect, their white undercoverts showing out conspicuously from the dark plumage. -Where they are often disturbed, a few are always on the watch, whilst others feed, -and on the approach of danger the watchers give a note of alarm and all disappear -in the swamp. When plentiful near a cultivation they are destructive to crops of -grain, as they eat the young shoots.—A. R.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Terraces.</span></p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18">[18]</a> The White and Pink Terraces were situated on the shores of Lake Rotomahana, -a warm lake, as its name indicates (from Roto, lake, and mahana, warm). The lake -was surrounded by hills, and it was on the sides of these hills, sloping down to the -lake, that the Terraces had been formed. At the top of the White Terrace was a -hollow in the hill-side, and in the centre of this was a great geyser. The water -rising in the geyser overflowed its basin, and streaming down the sloping ground into -the lake, cooled, and deposited a white incrustation of silica. On the opposite side -of the lake was a similar terrace, known as the Pink Terrace, which, owing to the -presence of a little iron oxide, was of a delicate shade of pink. Thus, in the course -of unknown ages had been built up the wonderful Terraces of Rotomahana, structures -which for purity of colour and beauty of sculpturing were unrivalled in the world. -The White Terrace covered an area of about four acres, the Pink Terrace was a -little smaller.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19">[19]</a> The heat of the geysers and hot-springs around Rotomahana was doubtless -derived from the volcanic fires which slumbered beneath the Tarawera Mountain, -standing at a distance of some miles. This mountain was an old volcano, but its -true nature was hardly recognized. On June 10th, 1886, the old volcano awoke to -new life, and a violent paroxysmal eruption rent the mountain asunder, the chasm -extending beyond its foot and through Rotomahana. The ground around the lake -and beneath its waters to the depth of 500 feet was blown into the air, and the beauty -of the terraces was lost to the world for ever.—A. P. W. T.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20">[20]</a> Lennox Falls. Mt. Earnslaw.—K. C.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21">[21]</a> The Mountain Lily (<i>Ranunculus Lyallii</i>) of the South Island is a large and -handsome buttercup, perhaps the most beautiful of its kind. Its numerous flowers -are four inches across, the petals being of a pure waxy-white; the leaves are very -large, round, and somewhat cup-shaped. Its favourite spot is by the side of some -mountain stream.—A. P. W. T.</p> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22">[22]</a> The Mountain-parrot. Kea. (<i>Nestor notabilis</i>)—A dull green parrot which -inhabits the alpine mountains of New Zealand. It is found sitting about the rocks -and snow-grass, or seen circling high in the air, where one can hear its call, which is -like that of the European Stone Eagle. When the sheep died upon the hills or -vast runs, the blowflies would deposit their larvæ in the bodies. After a while the -Keas hovering over would see the maggots moving, alight on the sheep, and feed -upon the insects, getting pieces of fat and meat with them. In this manner the -birds found it was an easier way of procuring food than by seeking berries and -seeds, or searching for grubs, and so it became a habit for them to attack even -living sheep.—A. 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