Citation
Gentle and brave

Material Information

Title:
Gentle and brave and other tales
Creator:
Whiteley, W ( Publisher )
Place of Publication:
[London]
Publisher:
W. Whiteley
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
30, [2] p. : col. ill. ; 22 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Children's stories ( lcsh )
Children's poetry ( lcsh )
Children's stories -- 1892 ( lcsh )
Children's poetry -- 1892 ( lcsh )
Embossed cloth bindings (Bindings) -- 1892 ( rbbin )
Bldn -- 1892
Genre:
Children's stories
Children's poetry
Embossed cloth bindings (Binding) ( rbbin )
Spatial Coverage:
England -- London
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
Contains prose and verse.
General Note:
Title page and text printed in brown.
General Note:
Cloth cover embossed to look like reptile skin.

Record Information

Source Institution:
University of Florida
Holding Location:
University of Florida
Rights Management:
This item is presumed to be in the public domain. The University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries respect the intellectual property rights of others and do not claim any copyright interest in this item. Users of this work have responsibility for determining copyright status prior to reusing, publishing or reproducing this item for purposes other than what is allowed by fair use or other copyright exemptions. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions may require permission of the copyright holder. The Smathers Libraries would like to learn more about this item and invite individuals or organizations to contact The Department of Special and Area Studies Collections (special@uflib.ufl.edu) with any additional information they can provide.
Resource Identifier:
026780833 ( ALEPH )
ALH0566 ( NOTIS )
212375334 ( OCLC )

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Full Text






The Baldwin Library

RmB wn







SEE LLL TERE

PREIS

aE





GENTLE AND BRAVE

And other Gales,





W. WHITELEY,

WESTBOURNE Grove, BayswaTER, W.



1892.







DEDICATED

TO DARLING PAPA AND MAMA,
WHOM I LOVE VERY MUCH,
FROM THEIR LOVING LITTLE DAUGHTER,
MA RG ACR Ea

AGED NINE.







GENTLE AND BRAVE:

A TALE OF THE TIME OF CHARLES
THE FIRST.

CHAPTER J.

‘“ Mother 2?”

“Yes, Gertrude.”

The speaker was a young lady of about four-
teen. She spoke to a middle-aged lady, who was
her mother. The latter’s name was Lady Rams-
ley. I need hardly add that they were Cavaliers.

“Mother,” said Gertrude, again, ‘what time
will the Roundheads be here ?”

“Late at night or early in the morning,” was
her mother’s calm response. “ Be brave, Gertrude,
my darling; be gentle and courteous to them.
Do not say anything that will anger them, and
Providence will watch over us. You know they

~ want to take your brother Thomas from us; but



4

we can never let him go, darling, even if they kill
us for it.”

“Mother,” said Gertrude, who seemed anxious
to change the conversation, “ what has become of
father ?”’

“Darling,” said her mother, “ I have not heard
of him since he went to fight for the King. No
one knows what has become of him. He may be
——,” Her voice faltered.

“ What!” said Gertrude, eagerly.

“Dead!” answered her mother, in a soft voice.
“But, Gertrude, dear, you had better go up to
bed now.”

“ Good night, mother,” said Gertrude; and with

these words she went to bed.









CHAPTER II.

About midnight Gertrude awoke from a deep
sleep. She felt she could not go to sleep again,
so she put on her dressing-gown, opened her
window, and looked out. It was a still night; a
breath of wind stole in at the open window where
she was sitting. All of a sudden she thought she
heard the tramp of horses’ feet. She strained
her eyes to see, but she saw nothing. Once again
she heard the same sound, and this time saw
some Roundheads coming over the plain. Without
another look she rushed to her mother’s room.

‘Mother! mother! the Roundheads are
coming!” cried she, in an agony of terror.

‘Gertrude, Gertrude, compose yourself,” said
her mother, calmly ; ‘“ go and put something on,
and tell Thomas to come to me.”

Gertrude went away. All of a sudden she
thought of a piece of poetry that her mother had
taught her when she was quite a little girl. She





6

thought that this would be the last time to repeat

it, so she said it to herself; these are the words :—

Primrose, growing on the bank,
Where is my father, pray ?
Have the Roundheads taken him
Quite, quite away ?
If they have, Oh Primrose,
Please him find;
Dear little Primrose,
Would you be so kind!

As she said these words old memories came
back to her of when she was quite small. She

stifled a sob, and ran into her brother’s room.







£:





CHAPTER III.

“Gertrude, what is the matter?’’ said her
brother anxiously, as she rushed into the room.

“Oh! Thomas, the Roundheads are here!
Mother wants to see you.”

“All right,” said her brother, calmly. With
these words he put on a few clothes and went to
see what his mother wanted.

Gertrude, in the meanwhile, went and dressed
herself.

When he arrived at his mother’s door she said,
‘Thomas, I have nothing much to say. Only be
true to us, and fight for the king if needful.”

“Yes,” said Thomas, bravely, “1 will fight
even unto death.”

‘That is right, my son; now kiss me.’

After he had kissed her, she said: “ Thomas,
there are the Roundheads at the door; go down
and meet them courteously.”

Thomas went down. When he came to the
door he found a troop of Roundheads looking at

him.











CHAPTER IV.

“Lad!” said they, as soon as they saw Thomas
approaching, “‘ Come with us.”

“Never!” said Thomas, defiantly.

“Come, or it will be the worse for you,” said
the leader of the party.

“Never!” said Thomas, bravely waving his
sword on high. ‘‘ Never shall the son of Lady
Ramsley become a Roundhead! Fight with me
if you like, but remember, I never will listen to
you.”

““We shall see about that,” said one of the
Roundheads, and, drawing his sword, he prepared
to fight him. The battle lasted an hour or more.
Gertrude and her mother watched it from the
stairs, pale with fright.

“Oh! mother! will he win?” said Gertrude.

“Let us hope so,” said her mother, trying to

look composed, although really she was trembling.

at



9

Just then the two men got tired, and sat down
on the grass.

“Mother,” said Thomas, as he came in, “ how
do you think I have done?”

“Beautifully,” said his mother; “but now, I
think, we had better rest after our exertion.”

“No, mother,” said Thomas; “I think we had
better run away.”

“Run away!” said his mother.

“Yes, or these Roundheads will kill us.”

“Yes.” said his mother. ‘‘ What a good idea,
Thomas; but we will see about that to-morrow.
Now we had better go to bed.”

“Yes,” said Thomas ; ‘“ Good night.”

‘Good night,” said his mother. And with these
words they went to bed.











CHAPTER V.

The next morning Gertrude was woke up by a
gentle voice by her side.

“ Who is it?” she said, sleepingly. ‘Is it time
to get up yet?”

“Yes, darling,” said her brother, for that was
the person who had woke her up. “It is all
tight, although it is only one o’clock. Don’t you
remember that we are going away ?”

Then, all of a sudden, the events of the night
before flashed across Gertrude’s mind.

“All night, Thomas,” said she, and, hastily
putting on a few clothes, she followed him into
her mother’s room. She was already dressed and
waiting for them.

“ Quickly,” said she, “let us flee away, or else
the Roundheads will wake up and kill us.”

Without a moment’s hesitation they all fled
down-stairs ; when they got to the door they found



Ii

the Roundheads still sleeping peacefully. They
passed by them. Then they rushed down to the
sea-shore, where they found their little boat wait-
ing for them.
“Where are we going to?” asked Gertrude.
“To Dover, darling,” answered her mother.
With these words they got on board, and the

little boat sped merrily away.









CHAPTER VI.

In the meanwhile the Roundheads slept on till
sunrise, then they woke up.

When they were wide awake, the leader said to -
them, “ My men, we must take away the son of
Lady Ramsley, and if she will not give him up, we
must kill her.”

“Yes,”’ answered all the Roundheads. ‘ When
shall we take him away ?”’

“ Directly,” answered Jack Rainey, for that was
the name of the leader; and with these words he
led the way into the Castle. It looked very lonely
in the dim light. As they marched in they went
up the stairs and into Lady Ramsley’s room; but
she was not there. They searched everywhere
but they could not find her.

“She has flown,” said Jack Rainey, “but it

does not so much matter about her, let us look for



13
her son. Oliver Cromwell will pay us well if we
can find him.”

So saying, they went to his room, but he was
not there. They looked at each other in astonish-
ment. Just then one of the party said, ‘‘ Perhaps
there are some secret cupboards in which he was
hiding.” So saying they began tapping the walls ;
all of a sudden a door gave way, and they found
themselves in a cupboard; the door closed again,

and they found themselves shut up.







CHAPTER VII.

Thomas, Gertrude, and her mother, sailed on
all that day and night; at last they reached
Dover. They wandered about the streets trying
to find an hotel where they could sleep; some-
times they were turned away, but at last they
found one that just suited them. It was a very
pretty hotel; the rooms were nice and airy; and if
they had only known how Providence had be-
friended them at their home, how glad they would
have been; but, alas! they did not.

As they stood in the hall, waiting for the foot"
man to show them to their rooms, Gertrude said
to her mother, ‘ Look at that man, he has father’s
face.:”

Her mother looked.

“Yes,” said she; but just then the footman
came to show them their rooms, they followed

him and forgot all about what they had seen,



1

About half an hour slipped by, when they heard
a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Lady Ramsley.

The door opened, and the person they had seen
in the hall came in.

‘“Madam,” said he, ‘I beg your pardon, but
would you tell me what is your name ?”

‘“ Lady Ramsley,” was the answer.

“Then you are my long lost wife,” and flying
into her arms he kissed her passionately.

“Now, dearest, let us return to our castle,”
said he.

“ No, darling, we cannot,” said Lady Ramsley,
‘there are Roundheads there.”

“Listen to my story,” said he, “ and I will tell
you. I disguised myself as a Roundhead. Then
when they could not find Thomas, I told them to
look for a secret cupboard, which, when they
found it, they entered and I shut the door,
and they were all suffocated.”

When Lady Ramsley heard this, they all went
back to the castle, and lived happily for ever
after.

THE END,





THE

DISCONTENTED CLOCK.

In a jeweller’s shop in London were placed six
clocks. They were all very pretty, but one was
the prettiest of them all. But although he was so
pretty, he was not contented. He wanted to be
noticed more than any of his companions. Once
in the middle of the night he saw a large mother-
of-pearl shell at one corner of the shop. All ofa
sudden it burst open, and out jumped a little fairy.

“Clock,” said she, ‘I have heard of your dis-
contentedness. You have everything you can have,
but I will give you one wish, what shall it be?”

‘Why, to be bought before anything in the

)

shop,” said the clock, eagerly.

‘‘ Well,” said the fairy angrily, ‘“ you shall have



17 ?
your wish, and may it bring you happiness.” With
these words she disappeared.

The next morning a gentleman came into the
shop, and to the clock’s delight he bought it. He
was wrapped up in paper and cotton wool and put
into a box. When the box was opened he found
himself in a beautiful drawing-room with the
gentleman by his side.

d

“Here, Lily,” said the gentleman, addressing a
lady near him, ‘‘ Here is your birthday present.”

Then he was placed on the mantel-piece with
other ornaments. After two or three days had
elapsed, the fairy came again.

‘‘ Now, clock,” said she, ‘‘ are you contented ? ”

‘‘ Pretty well,” said the clock, peevishly, “ but
people don’t look at me enough.”

“Well” said the fairy, ‘‘ you might be contented
now. You are both discontented and ungrateful.
But I will make you so as people will look at you,
then perhaps you will get tired of it.” With these
words she vanished.

The next morning he found he had only got one
hand left. Just then the lady came in and said
to the gentleman,



18

“Harry, how funny, this clock you gave me has
only got one hand ; I must take it to an exhibition.”
He was sorry when he went there. The exhibi-
tion was very cold, and everyone stared at him so.
He asked the kind fairy to give him his two hands.
She did so, and he found himself in the jeweller’s

shop, and he never was discontented any more.







TW OO PUREIES.

Two puppies were lying in the sun by a dog-
kennel.

‘“Pugnose!” said one puppy to the other,
“don’t you feel awfully dull here ?”

“T should think | do, Fluffy,” said Pugnose,
resentfully. ‘‘I wish we could go and see the
world.”’

“So do I,” said Fluffy. ‘If only mother would
say ‘yes.””’

‘T have a good mind to go without asking her,”
said Pugnose. ‘ We are quite old enough to take
care of ourselves. Fancy puppies a month old
not going out in the world! it is too ridiculous.”

Just then their mother came up. ‘| heard

your foolish talk,” said she, turning to them.



20

“You shall go out into the world, and then, per-
haps, you will not want to go again.” With
these words she went away. The puppies looked
at each other in a dazed manner.

“ Hurrah!” shouted Fluffy. ‘“ Where shall we
go to first ?”’

“ By those old palings,” said Pugnose ; ‘I am
sure we shall find plenty of amusement there.”
So saying, the foolish puppies went towards the
palings.

They scampered about for two or three minutes.
All of a sudden Pugnose stopped playing and
said, “ Fluffy! do you hear that ?”

“What!” said Fluffy, who was busy chasing a
butterfly. ‘I don’t hear anything.”

“It might be fancy, but I am certain | heard
something,” said Pugnose. ‘There it is again!”

This time Fluffy did hear it. It was a sound
of something rustling in the leaves, and before
they had time to look a full-grown frog jumped
out before them. Their first inclination was to
run away, but the frog said, in a soft voice, “Do
not be afraid, my dear puppies; I am the king of
the frogs. Will you come and see my kingdom ?”



21

The silly puppies were enchanted by the frog’s
soft manner and voice, so they answered, ‘‘ We
shall only be too delighted, your majesty.”

So the frog led the way to a mossy place.
“Here,” said he, “is my home.”

The puppies did not see the mud, and Pugnose
said to Fluffy, “What lucky puppies we are, to
be sure. What a good thing we did not listen to
mother’s advice; 1 daresay we shall return home
loaded with presents.”

“Yes,” answered Fluffy, “it is a pity we did
not come here before. But how shall we find our
way back ?”

‘Oh I remember the way perfectly well,” said
Pugnose.

“That’s all right,” said Fluffy, with a sigh of
relief.

“Come along,” said the frog, “or you will be
late for the banquet that is prepared for you.”

So saying, the frog leaped into the bog; the
puppies jumped after him. Before they could say
‘The house that Jack built,” they felt themselves
sinking deeper and deeper into the mud; and to

make matters worse, the frog laughed at them



22

and said, ‘Oh you silly young puppies! If you
had only followed the good advice of your mother
you would have been safe.” And the frog went
laughing away.

The poor puppies barked and barked for about
five minutes, when, to their delight, they saw a
man approaching, who soon got them out, and
they quickly ran home. When they saw their
mother they said, “ We will not want to go out
into the world until we are old enough, for we
have learnt a lesson which we shall never forget.”

** Oh,” said their mother, kissing them, “I told .
you so: but I forgive you.”

“Yes,” said they, “we will never do it again,

for we know now that what you said was best.”









THE HLOWERS MEETING:

An RALRYG SH ORY

There was a great commotion among the
flowers. The Queen of the Fairies had promised
that the ones which were best behaved should
have a prize, namely, beauty, long life, and good-
ness. Each flower hoped to gain it, but, alas,
only one flower merited it.

The Queen of the Fairies was seated on a
golden throne covered with jewels. She had a
book in her hand, with which she called out the
names of every flower.

First of all came the Rose. The Queen of the
Fairies looked at her and said, ‘1 don’t think you

will win the prize; but anyway I will look and



24

see.’ Then she opened her book and read as
follows, “ The Rose, the queen of the flowers, is
very beautiful, but she pricks everybody that
touches her, so she does not deserve the prize.”
“Then,” said the Queen, turning to the Rose,
“learn from this a lesson, that beauty is not
everything, if you have not a good heart.”

Next came the Peony, looking about as much
as to say, ‘“I am sure to win the prize.” The
Queen of the Fairies opened her book and read,
‘““The Peony is a very bad flower, indeed, he does
not deserve the prize at all.” When the Peony
heard that, he turned away very disappointed.

After him came the Primrose. The Queen
read, ‘‘ The Primrose deserves a little more than
the Peony, but is not good enough.”

When the Primrose had gone, the Sunflower
came up, with his face turned to the sun.“ Sun-
flower,”’ said the Queen, smiling, “ shall I tell
you your one great fault?” ‘‘ Yes, do,” said the
Sunflower, “ if you please.” “You like the sun
too much,” said the Queen. ‘‘I have never looked
at the sun once in my life,” said the Sunflower.

“You dare tell me you have never looked at the



25
sun in your life,” said the Queen, pale with anger,
“you are looking at it this very minute. Get out
of my presence directly,” said the Queen, turning
to the Sunflower, who was pale with fright. The
Sunflower had no need to be told twice, he ran off

as fast as his legs could carry him.
Then the Queen summoned the Crocus.

‘Crocus, you don’t deserve the prize at all; you
come up in the spring before anybody else, and if
they dare to come up before you, you grow up
white when you ought to be yellow.” The
Crocus made this excuse, and said, “Your Majesty,
it is not my fault that | come up white when I
ought to be yellow; I wonder how it is, please
tell me.” ‘“ Why, from anger,” said the Queen,
calmly, ‘‘just because a poor daisy came up
before you. I do not say anything about your
growing up first, but to be jealous is very wrong
indeed. Go away now, I have other things to
attend to.”

The Queen cailed out for the Violet, but no
flowers could find her. At last a Primrose, who
was the smallest of the flowers that had been

called, brought her to the Queen. “‘ It is for you



26

the prize,’ said the Queen, looking at her, “ be-
cause you have got such humility. I give to you
the prize—three things, beauty, goodness, and
long life.”

So ended the Flowers’ Meeting.













THE

DISOBEDIENT ADDER.

Once upon a time, in a hole, lived an Adder, his
wife, and two sons, called Earthy and Crawley.
One day Mr. and Mrs. Adder went to get some
food. Before starting Mrs. Adder told Crawley and
Earthy to promise her not to go out of their hole,
for she was sure some accident would come to
them. They both promised, and Mrs. Adder went
away. They played about for two or three
minutes, then they began to get tired and they
stopped to rest.

J

‘“How dull it is here,” said Earthy, “I wish we
could go out.”

“ Let us play at hide and seek,” said Crawley.



28

“No,” said Earthy, disdainfully. ‘I mean to
go out, mother will know nothing about it.”

“Don’t go,” screamed Crawley, “I am sure
you will hurt yourself, please don’t.” But it was
too late, Earthy had already got outside, and was
quickly disappearing out of sight. It was very
cold, and the snow in some places was a foot
deep. The first few minutes were all very well,
but soon he began to feel cold. He wished to
retrace his steps home, but he soon found he had
lost his way. He crept on, every minute feeling
colder and colder. (Oh, how he wished he had
obeyed his mother.) Just then he came across a
hollow tree, and in it was a Toad surrounded with
his six little ones. Earthy begged for admittance,
but the Toad told him he wasn’t going to let him in
as perhaps he would eat up his children.

‘Please, dear Mr. Toad,” said Earthy, piteously,
‘1 promise that I will not harm your little ones.”

‘Get away,” said the Toad, angrily, “and don’t
come here again.” So poor Earthy went away
sohbing as if his heart would break. The Toad’s

heart was touched, so he called after him. “ Well



29
if you promise not to harm my little ones, I will
let you in.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” answered Earthy,
“so much.” With these words he crawled into
the trunk and soon went to sleep... When he woke
up again, he thought he was in his own home, but
when he found he was not, he began to cry again.

“ Hush,” said the Toad, ‘‘ my babies are asleep ;
now you had better go.”

So, after thanking the Toad sincerely, Earthy
turned away. He walked on and on until he came
to an old forsaken ant-hill, but Earthy thought
that there were ants in it, and he almost died of
fright. Suddenly he heard a sound which roused
his curiosity ; the noise came closer and closer : at
last he saw a carriage coming across the snow.
Now Earthy had never seen a carriage before, so
he thought to himself “What a nice warm place for
me to sleep in,” and he was just going to get in,
when a sharp blow of a riding-whip made him fall
fainting on the ground. When he came to his
senses he found his father and mother bending
over him; between them they carried him home,

and before he went to sleep that night he promised



30

his mother that he never would be disobedient any

more.

MORAL.

Now children all that read this book,
There is a Moral, true:
Always obey your mother, and

No harm will come to you.

v









MESSAGES.

My dear little blue-eyed lassie,
Do you wish me to tell you some tales
Of knights full clad in armour,
Of talking fishes and whales ?
No, sweet one, but I will tell you
How I wished my love to meet ;
Yes, darling, I will tell it you,
As you nestle at my feet.

One day, it was in summer,
Or the merry month of spring,

When the flowers begin to open
And the birds begin to sing.

And | wanted my true loved one,
So messages I let fly ;

And | watched them as they wafted,
Up, up, into the sky.

And now my story’s finished,
It’s as long as it can be;

But those messages were false, dear,

For they ne’er came back to me!



















Full Text



The Baldwin Library

RmB wn




SEE LLL TERE

PREIS

aE





GENTLE AND BRAVE

And other Gales,





W. WHITELEY,

WESTBOURNE Grove, BayswaTER, W.



1892.




DEDICATED

TO DARLING PAPA AND MAMA,
WHOM I LOVE VERY MUCH,
FROM THEIR LOVING LITTLE DAUGHTER,
MA RG ACR Ea

AGED NINE.




GENTLE AND BRAVE:

A TALE OF THE TIME OF CHARLES
THE FIRST.

CHAPTER J.

‘“ Mother 2?”

“Yes, Gertrude.”

The speaker was a young lady of about four-
teen. She spoke to a middle-aged lady, who was
her mother. The latter’s name was Lady Rams-
ley. I need hardly add that they were Cavaliers.

“Mother,” said Gertrude, again, ‘what time
will the Roundheads be here ?”

“Late at night or early in the morning,” was
her mother’s calm response. “ Be brave, Gertrude,
my darling; be gentle and courteous to them.
Do not say anything that will anger them, and
Providence will watch over us. You know they

~ want to take your brother Thomas from us; but
4

we can never let him go, darling, even if they kill
us for it.”

“Mother,” said Gertrude, who seemed anxious
to change the conversation, “ what has become of
father ?”’

“Darling,” said her mother, “ I have not heard
of him since he went to fight for the King. No
one knows what has become of him. He may be
——,” Her voice faltered.

“ What!” said Gertrude, eagerly.

“Dead!” answered her mother, in a soft voice.
“But, Gertrude, dear, you had better go up to
bed now.”

“ Good night, mother,” said Gertrude; and with

these words she went to bed.






CHAPTER II.

About midnight Gertrude awoke from a deep
sleep. She felt she could not go to sleep again,
so she put on her dressing-gown, opened her
window, and looked out. It was a still night; a
breath of wind stole in at the open window where
she was sitting. All of a sudden she thought she
heard the tramp of horses’ feet. She strained
her eyes to see, but she saw nothing. Once again
she heard the same sound, and this time saw
some Roundheads coming over the plain. Without
another look she rushed to her mother’s room.

‘Mother! mother! the Roundheads are
coming!” cried she, in an agony of terror.

‘Gertrude, Gertrude, compose yourself,” said
her mother, calmly ; ‘“ go and put something on,
and tell Thomas to come to me.”

Gertrude went away. All of a sudden she
thought of a piece of poetry that her mother had
taught her when she was quite a little girl. She


6

thought that this would be the last time to repeat

it, so she said it to herself; these are the words :—

Primrose, growing on the bank,
Where is my father, pray ?
Have the Roundheads taken him
Quite, quite away ?
If they have, Oh Primrose,
Please him find;
Dear little Primrose,
Would you be so kind!

As she said these words old memories came
back to her of when she was quite small. She

stifled a sob, and ran into her brother’s room.




£:





CHAPTER III.

“Gertrude, what is the matter?’’ said her
brother anxiously, as she rushed into the room.

“Oh! Thomas, the Roundheads are here!
Mother wants to see you.”

“All right,” said her brother, calmly. With
these words he put on a few clothes and went to
see what his mother wanted.

Gertrude, in the meanwhile, went and dressed
herself.

When he arrived at his mother’s door she said,
‘Thomas, I have nothing much to say. Only be
true to us, and fight for the king if needful.”

“Yes,” said Thomas, bravely, “1 will fight
even unto death.”

‘That is right, my son; now kiss me.’

After he had kissed her, she said: “ Thomas,
there are the Roundheads at the door; go down
and meet them courteously.”

Thomas went down. When he came to the
door he found a troop of Roundheads looking at

him.








CHAPTER IV.

“Lad!” said they, as soon as they saw Thomas
approaching, “‘ Come with us.”

“Never!” said Thomas, defiantly.

“Come, or it will be the worse for you,” said
the leader of the party.

“Never!” said Thomas, bravely waving his
sword on high. ‘‘ Never shall the son of Lady
Ramsley become a Roundhead! Fight with me
if you like, but remember, I never will listen to
you.”

““We shall see about that,” said one of the
Roundheads, and, drawing his sword, he prepared
to fight him. The battle lasted an hour or more.
Gertrude and her mother watched it from the
stairs, pale with fright.

“Oh! mother! will he win?” said Gertrude.

“Let us hope so,” said her mother, trying to

look composed, although really she was trembling.

at
9

Just then the two men got tired, and sat down
on the grass.

“Mother,” said Thomas, as he came in, “ how
do you think I have done?”

“Beautifully,” said his mother; “but now, I
think, we had better rest after our exertion.”

“No, mother,” said Thomas; “I think we had
better run away.”

“Run away!” said his mother.

“Yes, or these Roundheads will kill us.”

“Yes.” said his mother. ‘‘ What a good idea,
Thomas; but we will see about that to-morrow.
Now we had better go to bed.”

“Yes,” said Thomas ; ‘“ Good night.”

‘Good night,” said his mother. And with these
words they went to bed.








CHAPTER V.

The next morning Gertrude was woke up by a
gentle voice by her side.

“ Who is it?” she said, sleepingly. ‘Is it time
to get up yet?”

“Yes, darling,” said her brother, for that was
the person who had woke her up. “It is all
tight, although it is only one o’clock. Don’t you
remember that we are going away ?”

Then, all of a sudden, the events of the night
before flashed across Gertrude’s mind.

“All night, Thomas,” said she, and, hastily
putting on a few clothes, she followed him into
her mother’s room. She was already dressed and
waiting for them.

“ Quickly,” said she, “let us flee away, or else
the Roundheads will wake up and kill us.”

Without a moment’s hesitation they all fled
down-stairs ; when they got to the door they found
Ii

the Roundheads still sleeping peacefully. They
passed by them. Then they rushed down to the
sea-shore, where they found their little boat wait-
ing for them.
“Where are we going to?” asked Gertrude.
“To Dover, darling,” answered her mother.
With these words they got on board, and the

little boat sped merrily away.






CHAPTER VI.

In the meanwhile the Roundheads slept on till
sunrise, then they woke up.

When they were wide awake, the leader said to -
them, “ My men, we must take away the son of
Lady Ramsley, and if she will not give him up, we
must kill her.”

“Yes,”’ answered all the Roundheads. ‘ When
shall we take him away ?”’

“ Directly,” answered Jack Rainey, for that was
the name of the leader; and with these words he
led the way into the Castle. It looked very lonely
in the dim light. As they marched in they went
up the stairs and into Lady Ramsley’s room; but
she was not there. They searched everywhere
but they could not find her.

“She has flown,” said Jack Rainey, “but it

does not so much matter about her, let us look for
13
her son. Oliver Cromwell will pay us well if we
can find him.”

So saying, they went to his room, but he was
not there. They looked at each other in astonish-
ment. Just then one of the party said, ‘‘ Perhaps
there are some secret cupboards in which he was
hiding.” So saying they began tapping the walls ;
all of a sudden a door gave way, and they found
themselves in a cupboard; the door closed again,

and they found themselves shut up.




CHAPTER VII.

Thomas, Gertrude, and her mother, sailed on
all that day and night; at last they reached
Dover. They wandered about the streets trying
to find an hotel where they could sleep; some-
times they were turned away, but at last they
found one that just suited them. It was a very
pretty hotel; the rooms were nice and airy; and if
they had only known how Providence had be-
friended them at their home, how glad they would
have been; but, alas! they did not.

As they stood in the hall, waiting for the foot"
man to show them to their rooms, Gertrude said
to her mother, ‘ Look at that man, he has father’s
face.:”

Her mother looked.

“Yes,” said she; but just then the footman
came to show them their rooms, they followed

him and forgot all about what they had seen,
1

About half an hour slipped by, when they heard
a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Lady Ramsley.

The door opened, and the person they had seen
in the hall came in.

‘“Madam,” said he, ‘I beg your pardon, but
would you tell me what is your name ?”

‘“ Lady Ramsley,” was the answer.

“Then you are my long lost wife,” and flying
into her arms he kissed her passionately.

“Now, dearest, let us return to our castle,”
said he.

“ No, darling, we cannot,” said Lady Ramsley,
‘there are Roundheads there.”

“Listen to my story,” said he, “ and I will tell
you. I disguised myself as a Roundhead. Then
when they could not find Thomas, I told them to
look for a secret cupboard, which, when they
found it, they entered and I shut the door,
and they were all suffocated.”

When Lady Ramsley heard this, they all went
back to the castle, and lived happily for ever
after.

THE END,


THE

DISCONTENTED CLOCK.

In a jeweller’s shop in London were placed six
clocks. They were all very pretty, but one was
the prettiest of them all. But although he was so
pretty, he was not contented. He wanted to be
noticed more than any of his companions. Once
in the middle of the night he saw a large mother-
of-pearl shell at one corner of the shop. All ofa
sudden it burst open, and out jumped a little fairy.

“Clock,” said she, ‘I have heard of your dis-
contentedness. You have everything you can have,
but I will give you one wish, what shall it be?”

‘Why, to be bought before anything in the

)

shop,” said the clock, eagerly.

‘‘ Well,” said the fairy angrily, ‘“ you shall have
17 ?
your wish, and may it bring you happiness.” With
these words she disappeared.

The next morning a gentleman came into the
shop, and to the clock’s delight he bought it. He
was wrapped up in paper and cotton wool and put
into a box. When the box was opened he found
himself in a beautiful drawing-room with the
gentleman by his side.

d

“Here, Lily,” said the gentleman, addressing a
lady near him, ‘‘ Here is your birthday present.”

Then he was placed on the mantel-piece with
other ornaments. After two or three days had
elapsed, the fairy came again.

‘‘ Now, clock,” said she, ‘‘ are you contented ? ”

‘‘ Pretty well,” said the clock, peevishly, “ but
people don’t look at me enough.”

“Well” said the fairy, ‘‘ you might be contented
now. You are both discontented and ungrateful.
But I will make you so as people will look at you,
then perhaps you will get tired of it.” With these
words she vanished.

The next morning he found he had only got one
hand left. Just then the lady came in and said
to the gentleman,
18

“Harry, how funny, this clock you gave me has
only got one hand ; I must take it to an exhibition.”
He was sorry when he went there. The exhibi-
tion was very cold, and everyone stared at him so.
He asked the kind fairy to give him his two hands.
She did so, and he found himself in the jeweller’s

shop, and he never was discontented any more.




TW OO PUREIES.

Two puppies were lying in the sun by a dog-
kennel.

‘“Pugnose!” said one puppy to the other,
“don’t you feel awfully dull here ?”

“T should think | do, Fluffy,” said Pugnose,
resentfully. ‘‘I wish we could go and see the
world.”’

“So do I,” said Fluffy. ‘If only mother would
say ‘yes.””’

‘T have a good mind to go without asking her,”
said Pugnose. ‘ We are quite old enough to take
care of ourselves. Fancy puppies a month old
not going out in the world! it is too ridiculous.”

Just then their mother came up. ‘| heard

your foolish talk,” said she, turning to them.
20

“You shall go out into the world, and then, per-
haps, you will not want to go again.” With
these words she went away. The puppies looked
at each other in a dazed manner.

“ Hurrah!” shouted Fluffy. ‘“ Where shall we
go to first ?”’

“ By those old palings,” said Pugnose ; ‘I am
sure we shall find plenty of amusement there.”
So saying, the foolish puppies went towards the
palings.

They scampered about for two or three minutes.
All of a sudden Pugnose stopped playing and
said, “ Fluffy! do you hear that ?”

“What!” said Fluffy, who was busy chasing a
butterfly. ‘I don’t hear anything.”

“It might be fancy, but I am certain | heard
something,” said Pugnose. ‘There it is again!”

This time Fluffy did hear it. It was a sound
of something rustling in the leaves, and before
they had time to look a full-grown frog jumped
out before them. Their first inclination was to
run away, but the frog said, in a soft voice, “Do
not be afraid, my dear puppies; I am the king of
the frogs. Will you come and see my kingdom ?”
21

The silly puppies were enchanted by the frog’s
soft manner and voice, so they answered, ‘‘ We
shall only be too delighted, your majesty.”

So the frog led the way to a mossy place.
“Here,” said he, “is my home.”

The puppies did not see the mud, and Pugnose
said to Fluffy, “What lucky puppies we are, to
be sure. What a good thing we did not listen to
mother’s advice; 1 daresay we shall return home
loaded with presents.”

“Yes,” answered Fluffy, “it is a pity we did
not come here before. But how shall we find our
way back ?”

‘Oh I remember the way perfectly well,” said
Pugnose.

“That’s all right,” said Fluffy, with a sigh of
relief.

“Come along,” said the frog, “or you will be
late for the banquet that is prepared for you.”

So saying, the frog leaped into the bog; the
puppies jumped after him. Before they could say
‘The house that Jack built,” they felt themselves
sinking deeper and deeper into the mud; and to

make matters worse, the frog laughed at them
22

and said, ‘Oh you silly young puppies! If you
had only followed the good advice of your mother
you would have been safe.” And the frog went
laughing away.

The poor puppies barked and barked for about
five minutes, when, to their delight, they saw a
man approaching, who soon got them out, and
they quickly ran home. When they saw their
mother they said, “ We will not want to go out
into the world until we are old enough, for we
have learnt a lesson which we shall never forget.”

** Oh,” said their mother, kissing them, “I told .
you so: but I forgive you.”

“Yes,” said they, “we will never do it again,

for we know now that what you said was best.”






THE HLOWERS MEETING:

An RALRYG SH ORY

There was a great commotion among the
flowers. The Queen of the Fairies had promised
that the ones which were best behaved should
have a prize, namely, beauty, long life, and good-
ness. Each flower hoped to gain it, but, alas,
only one flower merited it.

The Queen of the Fairies was seated on a
golden throne covered with jewels. She had a
book in her hand, with which she called out the
names of every flower.

First of all came the Rose. The Queen of the
Fairies looked at her and said, ‘1 don’t think you

will win the prize; but anyway I will look and
24

see.’ Then she opened her book and read as
follows, “ The Rose, the queen of the flowers, is
very beautiful, but she pricks everybody that
touches her, so she does not deserve the prize.”
“Then,” said the Queen, turning to the Rose,
“learn from this a lesson, that beauty is not
everything, if you have not a good heart.”

Next came the Peony, looking about as much
as to say, ‘“I am sure to win the prize.” The
Queen of the Fairies opened her book and read,
‘““The Peony is a very bad flower, indeed, he does
not deserve the prize at all.” When the Peony
heard that, he turned away very disappointed.

After him came the Primrose. The Queen
read, ‘‘ The Primrose deserves a little more than
the Peony, but is not good enough.”

When the Primrose had gone, the Sunflower
came up, with his face turned to the sun.“ Sun-
flower,”’ said the Queen, smiling, “ shall I tell
you your one great fault?” ‘‘ Yes, do,” said the
Sunflower, “ if you please.” “You like the sun
too much,” said the Queen. ‘‘I have never looked
at the sun once in my life,” said the Sunflower.

“You dare tell me you have never looked at the
25
sun in your life,” said the Queen, pale with anger,
“you are looking at it this very minute. Get out
of my presence directly,” said the Queen, turning
to the Sunflower, who was pale with fright. The
Sunflower had no need to be told twice, he ran off

as fast as his legs could carry him.
Then the Queen summoned the Crocus.

‘Crocus, you don’t deserve the prize at all; you
come up in the spring before anybody else, and if
they dare to come up before you, you grow up
white when you ought to be yellow.” The
Crocus made this excuse, and said, “Your Majesty,
it is not my fault that | come up white when I
ought to be yellow; I wonder how it is, please
tell me.” ‘“ Why, from anger,” said the Queen,
calmly, ‘‘just because a poor daisy came up
before you. I do not say anything about your
growing up first, but to be jealous is very wrong
indeed. Go away now, I have other things to
attend to.”

The Queen cailed out for the Violet, but no
flowers could find her. At last a Primrose, who
was the smallest of the flowers that had been

called, brought her to the Queen. “‘ It is for you
26

the prize,’ said the Queen, looking at her, “ be-
cause you have got such humility. I give to you
the prize—three things, beauty, goodness, and
long life.”

So ended the Flowers’ Meeting.










THE

DISOBEDIENT ADDER.

Once upon a time, in a hole, lived an Adder, his
wife, and two sons, called Earthy and Crawley.
One day Mr. and Mrs. Adder went to get some
food. Before starting Mrs. Adder told Crawley and
Earthy to promise her not to go out of their hole,
for she was sure some accident would come to
them. They both promised, and Mrs. Adder went
away. They played about for two or three
minutes, then they began to get tired and they
stopped to rest.

J

‘“How dull it is here,” said Earthy, “I wish we
could go out.”

“ Let us play at hide and seek,” said Crawley.
28

“No,” said Earthy, disdainfully. ‘I mean to
go out, mother will know nothing about it.”

“Don’t go,” screamed Crawley, “I am sure
you will hurt yourself, please don’t.” But it was
too late, Earthy had already got outside, and was
quickly disappearing out of sight. It was very
cold, and the snow in some places was a foot
deep. The first few minutes were all very well,
but soon he began to feel cold. He wished to
retrace his steps home, but he soon found he had
lost his way. He crept on, every minute feeling
colder and colder. (Oh, how he wished he had
obeyed his mother.) Just then he came across a
hollow tree, and in it was a Toad surrounded with
his six little ones. Earthy begged for admittance,
but the Toad told him he wasn’t going to let him in
as perhaps he would eat up his children.

‘Please, dear Mr. Toad,” said Earthy, piteously,
‘1 promise that I will not harm your little ones.”

‘Get away,” said the Toad, angrily, “and don’t
come here again.” So poor Earthy went away
sohbing as if his heart would break. The Toad’s

heart was touched, so he called after him. “ Well
29
if you promise not to harm my little ones, I will
let you in.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” answered Earthy,
“so much.” With these words he crawled into
the trunk and soon went to sleep... When he woke
up again, he thought he was in his own home, but
when he found he was not, he began to cry again.

“ Hush,” said the Toad, ‘‘ my babies are asleep ;
now you had better go.”

So, after thanking the Toad sincerely, Earthy
turned away. He walked on and on until he came
to an old forsaken ant-hill, but Earthy thought
that there were ants in it, and he almost died of
fright. Suddenly he heard a sound which roused
his curiosity ; the noise came closer and closer : at
last he saw a carriage coming across the snow.
Now Earthy had never seen a carriage before, so
he thought to himself “What a nice warm place for
me to sleep in,” and he was just going to get in,
when a sharp blow of a riding-whip made him fall
fainting on the ground. When he came to his
senses he found his father and mother bending
over him; between them they carried him home,

and before he went to sleep that night he promised
30

his mother that he never would be disobedient any

more.

MORAL.

Now children all that read this book,
There is a Moral, true:
Always obey your mother, and

No harm will come to you.

v






MESSAGES.

My dear little blue-eyed lassie,
Do you wish me to tell you some tales
Of knights full clad in armour,
Of talking fishes and whales ?
No, sweet one, but I will tell you
How I wished my love to meet ;
Yes, darling, I will tell it you,
As you nestle at my feet.

One day, it was in summer,
Or the merry month of spring,

When the flowers begin to open
And the birds begin to sing.

And | wanted my true loved one,
So messages I let fly ;

And | watched them as they wafted,
Up, up, into the sky.

And now my story’s finished,
It’s as long as it can be;

But those messages were false, dear,

For they ne’er came back to me!