Citation
A day with the sea urchins

Material Information

Title:
A day with the sea urchins
Creator:
Burnside, Helen Marion
Cooper, Alfred W. ( illustrator )
Evans, Edmund, 1826-1905 ( Engraver, Printer )
Foster, Myles Birket, 1851-1922 ( Composer )
Place of Publication:
London ;
New York
Publisher:
Frederick Warne (Firm)
Publication Date:
Language:
English
Physical Description:
99 p. : col. ill., music ; 22 cm.

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Seashore animals -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Seashore ecology -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Sea urchins -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Natural history -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Conduct of life -- Juvenile literature ( lcsh )
Fantasy literature -- 1893 ( rbgenr )
Bldn -- 1893
Genre:
Fantasy literature ( rbgenr )
Spatial Coverage:
England -- London
United States -- New York -- New York
Target Audience:
juvenile ( marctarget )

Notes

General Note:
Conatins fiction, verse and music.
Statement of Responsibility:
by Helen M. Burnside ; with illustrations by Alfred W. Cooper ; engraved and printed by Edmund Evans ; the songs set to music by Myles Birket Foster.

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:
026615348 ( ALEPH )
ALG3393 ( NOTIS )
214278435 ( OCLC )

Aggregation Information

JUV:
Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature
IUF:
University of Florida

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Full Text
elen, M ‘Burnside

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A DAY WITH
Tht SEA URCHINS





















A DAY WITH
THE SEA URCHINS

BY

HELEN M. BURNSIDE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED W. COOPER

ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY, EDMUND EVANS

THE SONGS SET TO _
MUSIC BY MYLES BIRKET FOSTER

(Late Organist of the Foundling Hospital)



4

LONDON
FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1893



TO THE LAND URCHINS.

THe Summer days are fleeting fast,

The elm has donned its golden crown ;
While o’er the whisp’ring wood is cast

Its Autumn robe of russet brown.

And though next year the elms will wake,
And hang green banners o’er the lane,
The Summer glory they will make
Will ne’er be quite the same again.

Not quite the same, the bright days taught
Such sweet new lore to you and me,
While with our eager eyes we sought
The lovely secrets of the sea.

As we shall hoard the fragile shells
We found at ebb-tide in the bay,
Just so, in mem’ry’s treasure-cells



Those sunlit days are laid away.

And when—please God—we all shall meet
By Christmas hearths, as oft of yore,
We'll con again those lessons sweet
We learnt upon the Summer shore.

ST. SERVAN,






A DAY WITH |
Tin Seek URemINS

Once upon a time there was a family of Sea Urchins,
whose home was a cave in the Bay of Delight. It is
not likely that any of you have ever seen a real live
Sea Urchin, though no doubt you have picked up
strange-looking spiny or spiky objects on the sea-
shore, which you have been told are the skins or
shells of Sea Urchins. But the kind I mean is not
a bit like that; they are like Land Urchins, only far
smaller and prettier. If you can get up very early on
the morning of the longest day in the year, and be
down on the beach just as the sun shows the very tip
vf his red forehead above the sea, and lights up one
little ripple after another with ruby sparks till a many
twinkling, rosy track creeps across the sea to your feet,
and if it should happen to be high tide at that very
moment, then if you could peep into the cave, unseen
and unheard, you might have a chance of seeing the

Sea Urchins, and hearing them also, as I saw and
B



8 A Day with the Sea Urchtns.



heard on that never-to-be-forgotten day which | am
going to tell you about. es

I dare say you have often been into this cave. at
low tide, and at common hours of the day; and you
know all about the beautiful colours of the quartz rock
which forms the roof and sides, and how they glitter
with gold and silver flakes, and you have looked out
from it across the brown weed-covered rocks at the
shining blue bay, and the little islands which lie in the
mouth of the river just where it flows into the open
sea beyond; but all the timie you knew nothing about
the dear pretty little creatures who make it their home
whenever the tide is high enough to serve as a door
-to shut out prying eyes.

When the tide ebbs they go out with it, and a
merry party they are, as you would have said, had you
seen them as I did, singing, laughing, and splashing,
and playing all manner of funny pranks with each
other. They swim out and away to the rocky islands
which shine so golden and fairylike in the morning
sunlight, where there are plenty of safe nooks for them
to play in till the flowing tide brings them back again
to their home in the cave.

Perhaps you will wonder why they are so very
much afraid of being seen. The fact is simply this.
They wear no clothes, and you know the laws of the
coast are very strict upon this point. One day they



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 9



had seen (and you must remember they can see you,
though you cannot see them) a Land Urchin, whom
they had been watching, swimming about in the sea,
seized by a huge creature all dressed in blue, and carried
off to prison in spite of his prayers and tears, and they



heard it was because he had no clothes on. Now you
and I know that this creature was a policeman, or if
you are foolish enough to use slang words you would

”

perhaps call him a “bobby,” but the Sea Urchins knew
nothing of policemen, or of “ bobbies” either, and they
said to each other that an Erinnys had got the boy, and



10 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



these Erinnys, who were not men at all by the way,
but women, are of all things most dreaded by Sea
Urchins. Most boys read the old Greek fairy stories,
and many girls too, for it is the fashion for girls to
learn Greek now-a-days, as I am told by Oxford and
Cambridge examiners. Now I think, and many wise
men and women agree with me, examiners notwith-
standing, that there are many things more important
than Greek for little girls to learn, but this is merely
a matter of opinion.

You all know that the Erinnys were a race who
spent their lives in tracking and bringing evil-doeérs to
justice, and that is why policemen are called Erinnys by
Sea Urchins to this day. They had been so frightened
on this occasion that they all fell off the rock round
which they had been peeping, and went heels over
head into the sea with such a splash that the police-
man lcoked back, and thought he saw something white
flourish in the air, and disappear into the sea, which
looked very like the legs of a small boy; and in point
of fact so it was, but he was tired and hot, and badly
wetted already, so he bethought himself that a boy in
the hand was worth two in the sea, and marched off his
prisoner with an added sternness, which struck terror
to the hearts of the Sea Urchins, who from. that day
to this have never dared to show an inch of their pretty
little white bodies out of their hiding-places; and, as



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 11



_ you shall hear, it was quite by chance that I came to
know all about them.

Strolling down to the Bay of Delight early one
summer morning, while the trails of honeysuckle and
blackberry in the hedges were still wet with dew, I
stretched myself on the short turf of the low cliff above
the cave, and whilst I lay dreamily watching the sparks
of sunlight creeping over the sea, I became aware of
sweet singing or chanting, which it seemed to me floated
up out of the cave itself; but how could this be? I
asked myself, for it was high tide, and I knew the cave
was half full of water. I listened a little longer, and
then crept to the edge of the cliff and looked over.
All was clear water below me, but the singing grew
more distinct, so I noiselessly clambered down a little
way, so that I could peep into the cave. And then a
strange scene met my eyes, for perched about on various
projections of the rocks, just above high-water mark,
were six of the prettiest and tiniest boys and girls you
can imagine. They were combing their. wavy yellow
hair with coral combs, and chattering to each other as
fast as their little tongues could go.

Three of them were girls, and three were boys, and
listening to their talk from my hiding-place, where I lay
as still as a mouse, I discovered that the names of the
girls were Pearl, Topaz, and Amethyst; and those of
the boys, Jasper, Emerald, and Ruby. They spoke in







A Day with the Sea Urchins. 13



a sort of rhythmical chant, which seemed to set itself
to the ceaseless murmur of the sea. Indeed, I believe
it was from always speaking to the accompaniment of
sea. music that they had fallen into this strange and
pretty manner of speaking. This was the singing
I had heard, but afterwards I learnt that Jasper, the
biggest of the boys, was a poet, who made songs about
everything that happened to them; and sweet little
Pearl drew pictures of all that occurred worthy of note.
I afterwards obtained a picture which she had made of
the policeman carrying off the unfortunate boy, which,
with many others, and also some of the songs made
by Jasper, you will find set down in this book.

When they had finished their toilets—which, you
may suppose did not take very long—they all stood
on a rock at the entrance of the cave, and sang the
following song, Jasper leading, and the others joining
in the chorus :—

SONG.

“ Night is past, and the sun is peeping
_ Over the rim of the silver sea ;
From ripple to ripple the light is leaping,
Brothers away on the billows free.
Away, away, for the sun is peeping
Over. the rim of the silver sea!



14 . A Day with the Sea Urchins.



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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 15
















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16 A Day with the Sea Urehins.







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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 17





















































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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 19”





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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 23



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24 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



“ Round the islands the waves are splashing—

Gently splashing the rocks among ;
With snowy fringes of foam-bells flashing
Into the air as they trip along.
Away, away, while the wavelets splashing
Ring a chime to our morning song !”

Jasper had a grave, beautiful face, befitting his name,
for jasper, a deep red-coloured stone, is, as you all know,
the foundation-stone of the walls of the New Jerusalem,
just as the lovely violet amethyst is the last and topmost
stone of the same wall; and I hope we shall all, you
and I too, see them shining there some day.



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 25



Crimson and violet are the first and last colours of
the rainbow also, and if you look the next time you
blow soap bubbles, you will find that these two colours
are the first and last there too, with all the others in
between. These little folk were, as I have said, far



prettier than any Land Urchins I have ever seen; and
it is, after all, no such wonder that there should be
poets and artists among them, for they are Nature’s own
children, neither mother nor nurse had they ever known
save her. All their lives had been lived with her lovely
secrets around them, and they understood her lightest



26 A Day with the Sea Urchins,



word or look, and loved her with all their hearts, and
believe me, children, no true artist or poet was ever
born who does not do so too. ,

“ Where are our horses, Ruby? let us ride
Adown the sun-track on the ebbing tide ;

chanted Topaz.

“The horses wait in yonder shining pool,
I bridled them as day broke, fresh and cool ;”

answered Ruby, whose duty it was to look after the
steeds of the little party.

He slipped off the rock and disappeared, but returned
in a twinkling, swimming in front of six sea-horses,
whose bridles of brown seaweed were looped over his
arms. These bridles looked exactly like leather, and





A Day with the Sea Urchins. 27





Quast ReEctrativo.

Topaz, Reczt. . Andante graziosa.





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A Day with the Sea Urchins.



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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 29



each one was studded with a different precious stone,
corresponding to the names of the owners of the horses.
If you have ever seen a sea-horse, you will know that
it has no legs, but in place of them a pair of fins, which
work very much in the same manner as the screw of a
steamboat, by means of which it gets through the water
at a wonderful rate of speed.

Fearing that I should lose sight of my water fairies,
who each mounted a horse, J silently dropped into the
sea, and determined to follow them. So off we started,
through the cool clear water, and many a strange crea-
ture we passed on our way, I can assure you. The
Sea Urchins were in high spirits, and their sweet little
voices rang over the sea like a peal of silver bells, as
they laughed and talked to each other in their pretty
singing way. Their steeds seemed to catch the infection,
for they pranced and danced and curvetted in very much
the same manner as your ponies would do if you rode
out in such delicious morning air. As they passed a
rock, a young dog-fish, a mere puppy of a fish he was,
came out and barked at their horses’ tails; little hoarse
wheezy barks, for having been left in the lurch by the
tide, he had slept on the damp seaweed all night, and
caught a bad cold in his head. Ruby’s horse was of
a rather irritable temper, and turned round and butted
at the puppy fish, till he sulkily retreated to nurse his
cold in a warm pool.



30 A Day with the Sea Urchins.





Then Pearl crossed one little pink foot over a
dimpled knee to form a table as she rode, and taking
the bridle of her horse over her arm, drew such a funny
sketch of the dog-fish that the rest all praised it, and
laughed immensely. On and on they went; the sun
was getting higher in the sky, and the calm surface of
the bay lay shining and mottled over with all manner
of colours ; here deeply blue, like a sapphire, and there,
where green weedy rocks were beneath the surface, as
green as anemerald. Then came a broad golden topaz-
coloured sun-track, with ruby ripples dancing in it, pearly



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 31



streaks where the currents flowed out to the open sea,
and the loveliest amethystine shadows lay beneath the
distant rocks.

On and on they went, sometimes diving deep under
the water, past brilliant anemonies opening like living
flowers, past seaweeds and corals growing like groves
of trees by the side of the way; past sun-fish and John
Dory, and skates which swam in and out amongst the
branches; and ugly little squids who ogled them with
big rolling eyes as they rode along. And then a large
fish was seen, at whose approach the whole company,
both horses and riders, showed signs of consternation,
and in an instant had all disappeared into various hiding-
places. It seemed to me that this was a very harmless
and quiet-looking giant to make such a commotion, but,
as it turned out, the Sea Urchins knew best.





a2 | A Day with the Sea Urehins.



The fish had passed all the lurking-places except
one, leaving their occupants in safety; but Pegasus,
that troublesome horse of Ruby’s, had not quite re-
covered his temper since the attack of the dog-fish,
and must needs poke his nose from under the over-
hanging fringe of seaweed just at ‘the moment the



enemy went by, and received the merest flick of its
fin, but in the twinkling of an eye horse and rider were
shot up high into the air, for you see it was neither
more nor less than a torpedo-fish who had touched
Pegasus, and this fish, as you know, is so strongly
charged with electricity as to give a violent shock to
any creature with whom it comes in contact. Alas!
for Ruby and his steed. The latter fell back into the



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 33



sea, where he slowly recovered; but Ruby had fallen
on the rock and cut his head badly, so that his pretty
yellow hair was all stained with blood. His companions
dismounted and gathered round him, and by-and-by
Jasper galloped off to the shore, where a little stream
of fresh water runs into the sea, and brought back some,
with which Amethyst bathed and bound up the wound,



as wise Nurse Nature had taught her to do, so that it
soon got well.

Then to horse and away again towards the largest
of the islands, for which they were bound. An old
Puffin on a sunny ledge of rock opened one eye and
blinked sleepily at them as they went by. She was so
old, so very old, that she was nearly blind, and was
quite grey all over from age, and could do nothing but
sit and sleep in the sunshine all day, and eat the sprats

: D



34 A Day with the Sea Urchins.





which her grandchildren caught for her. Now thought-
less Emerald fancied it would be amusing to startle her,
and make her jump, so he dived, and brought up a long
spray of coraline, with which he rode up to the ledge
and tickled her poor old head. She shook it, and
muttered angrily to herself, but she was past jumping
at anything, and Emerald went on tickling her till she
hobbled and fluttered to the edge of the rock, and
fell over into the water with a great flop, where she
would certainly have been drowned, had not a good-
natured Eider Duck, who was fishing close by, helped
her on to his back and waddled home with her. Jasper,
who was a gentleman, as all poets must be, and knew



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 35

that it is very bad manners, as well as very wrong and
unkind, in young folks to play tricks on old ones, caught
up a great soft sponge and threw it at Emerald’s head,
who tumbled off his horse into a pool before he could
remember to shut his mouth, and a nasty jelly-fish swam
into it, so that he coughed and spluttered very much,
and. felt dreadfully sick and-uncomfortable. And serve
him right too, as I am sure you will agree with me.
Indeed, Emerald himself thought so very soon, for he
was a good-hearted boy, only mischievous and thought-
fess, as boys are apt to be. As soon as he was better
he went and begged the old Puffin’s pardon, but she
was too fast asleep again after her fright and fatigue
to hear him.





36 A. Day with the Sea Urchins.

- You will find pictures of both of these scenes in this
book, for Pearl sat down on an empty snail shell under a
coraline tree, and drew them on the spot.

When Emerald rejoined his comrades, he found them
in a state of excitement, and as he appeared Jasper
exclaimed,—

“ Great news has reached us since you went away—
Our gracious Queen will visit us to-day ;
We mist prepare for her the banquet hall,
And deck with garlands bright each rocky wall.”

And Topaz chimed in,—

“Haste brothers, each I know doth understand
His work—we serve with heart as well as hand ;
And we're determined our beloved Queen
Shall have the grandest welcome ever seen !”

Without losing a moment the Urchins disappeared in |
various directions, to make ready for the great event.

Now the name of their Queen was Aphrodite; many
of you know it well, and some of you will read by-
and-by, how she, the Queen of love, and of beauty
also, was formed of the foam of the sea (which was
very likely intended to teach us that to be beautiful,
a thing must first be clean and pure). There are
many seas, as you will have found on your maps; but
there is only one Queen for them all, and every crea-

ture in each one of the seas loved and obeyed her.
/



A Day with the Sea Urchins. oe

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A Day with the Sea Urchins.














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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 39








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40 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



Sea Urchins know nothing of Mr. Gladstone and
Home Rule, I am glad to say, and so no one thought
of disputing her authority. “The Queer can do ne
wrong,” was their motto, and a very good one it is
too.

How shall I describe to you the beauties of the, sea
fairies’ banqueting hall? It was a vast cavern, which
must have stretched far under the island. Lovely pillars —
of quartz rock and veined gypsum, alternately supported
a ceiling of pure transparent white, which looked like’
alabaster, studded all over with precious stones of ‘large
size, which shone and glittered like stars. The floor was
of the finest and brightest golden sand, and round the
base of each pillar was arranged what appeared to me
to be lovely flowering plants and ferneries ; a group of
plants round one, and a fernery round the next, and so on
along the hall, but I found they were in reality trees of
various coloured coral and seaweed, covered with the
-most splendid anemonies, alternating with seaweedertes,
where such tiny delicate green fronds—far more beautiful
than any mosses or ferns you ever saw growing on land—
were flourishing amongst the shining stones and shells ;
little cascades of water, looking exactly as if they were
lighted by electricity, gushed out of the pillars over them
and kept them swaying backwards and forwards, and up
and down, with the softest and most graceful motion
possible. !



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 41

In the centre of the hall rose a dome, looking up into
which was like looking up to the blue summer sky from
the bottom of a narrow shaft or dry well, so intensely .
and duskily blue was it. From this dome seemed to
come the wonderful light which filled the place. How it
really came, or from whence, I could not tell, it was like
a luminous cascade of soft iridescent light.

It seenied to me that no further decoration could be
needed, but the Urchins thought otherwise, for they were
_ rapidly weaving long rainbow-hued garlands which they
linked from pillar to pillar. Next a throne was carried
in, which was carved throughout from mother-of-pearl,
and which shimmered and shone in such a dazzling
manner, that 1 could scarcely look at it, standing as it
did immediately beneath the great dome. Then variously
coloured seaweed was arranged in patterns on the floor
for some distance round the throne, till it looked like
the most gorgeous Turkey carpet ever seen, When
this was’ finished the banquet was spread. All this
time shoals of Sea Urchins had been pouring in from
different directions, for the news of the Queen’s intended
visit had spread far and wide; and as fast as they came
they fell to work in a most business-like manner to
arrange the feast.

Of what this was composed I do not pretend to say.
- I. can only assure you, that I never before saw things
that looked so good to eat, the dishes were all of mother-



42 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



of-pearl, and were piled with what appeared to be fruit,
jellies, creams, and ices of all shapes and colours ; raised
pies too I saw—but how they were made or of what
they were made, I do not know, there they were, and
the sight of them made me quite hungry. Just as the
finishing touch was given, a stranger Sea Urchin hurried
in, exclaiming,—

“ Brothers—sisters—hasten to appear,
Form up your ranks, for the great Queen draws near !”

And then, when the Urchins were gathered in two
closely packed lines, stretching from the entrance of the
hall, a wonderful procession was seen advancing. As
the foremost two trumpet-fish—of which six formed the
advance guard—came within their lines, Jasper gave a
signal, and they all struck up what I found was really
their substitute for our ‘God save the Queen.” Jasper,
who was the poet laureate at this time, had composed
and set it himself to the air to which they sang it. I
write it down here word for word as I heard it, and I
wish I could tell you how sweetly it sounded, as one by
one the two long lines of Sea Urchins took it up, and
how their bell-like voices rang it out :—

“ All hail! Aphrodite! .
Sole Queen of the Sea;
Most potent and mighty
We own thee to be!



A Day with .the Sea. Urchins. 43



Marcu oF APHRODITE.
SEA URCHINS.
espa
Brothers— __ sis-ters— ae to ap - pear,
INTRODUCTION. Alla marcia.






















the great ee mee

a (ae ee ee
Saas = see =
4g scarcer | eee fo. te tp Fy = ==
. = d . poco.



es





















44 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

























runt | rst time. — and time. =
fea baa b ieee
a —
Sega yr pS
Ne WN VY

ae _ = .
Og ep eeee £ Og eee
ieee eee
—— ee 5 [| hee —— |
=>

> =>



























































A Day with the Sea Urchins. A5























Y
siete ibe gergeerwtest
\le= ee oa ieee aa
Ce. GEO ie me eae















CHORUS OF SEA URCHINS.
pa see:

> sa Bae | SS _—— a
Boa hail! A - phro - - te! Sole Queen of — the Sea; Most

on vaadaeel
ee

























46 A a with. the Sea Urchins.



=] = = SS = Pee eee

po- tent and migh-ty. We own thee to be! Bright |

(rE PHEE +
eseieere ery

rae == ae ears

child of the wa- ter, That gir - on the earth— O



















daugh- ter, How great was si birth !









\

A Day with the Sea Urchins. 47



mp dolce.
















crea - tures a - dore es Thine em - pire we
fond lips are tell - ing Thy beau - ty and









pel ae
p> = oe >
we = =
elie coe eee ee
aS 5 seen eae
Seale ea eae Pa gD | er GP er a,
N — N NV VN YN NV
; f rst time. R
(=
e SAREES wv
own ; And, bow - ing be - fore thee, En -
fame, Till ace g - cean



Se

ae NE EN eS

SS Se

Qa —





48 A Day with the Sea _Urchins.



| 2nd tdme.
































































a eee eaa Saar Ngee
G= fe= o Pots re == zl eas
Ld
- cir - - cle thy throne. And — dwell-ing Re -
eee e——
ee gi — 8-8 eggs rise = = wg =3
Lanes —
lez = — fie tere —
Sines patos = Sa
eo ue abil
sic = = == E 2
ae R_@ t
- sounds with ee name. ea All











SS ae
i ae — #

ez =e te = Gees pee

















es

hail! A-phro - di - te! Sole Queen of the Sea; Most
pn? pee
apse















| A Day with the Sea Urchins. 49









- tent, and migh-ty We own thee to be!

nerereTaee

















=>
2 Sere fee == o See
See gle —St e

deep as thine - cean—As aes less and free; Thou

a3. spoon =
ee Slee aeae .

a

know’ st the - vo- tion We ren-der to thee!
Set the March front & to fine.














=











50 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Bright child’ of the water,
That girdles the earth—
O Sea’s peerless daughter
How great was thy birth! —

« All creatures adore thee,

Thine empire we own ;

And, -bowing before thee,
Encircle thy throne.

And fond lips are telling,
Thy beauty and fame,

Till. each ocean dwelling
Resounds with thy name.

" All hail! Aphrodite !
Sole Queen of the Sea;
Most potent and mighty -
We own thee to be!
And deep as thine ocean—
As boundless and free,
Thou know’st the devotion
We render to thee!”

On and on came the procession, trumpet- -fish first,
blowing their trumpets into the air; then a long train of
sword-fish, holding their’ swords straight out in front of
them. On-and on they came, till I thought every
creature that lived in the sea must have passed me;
then more Urchins in a group, and in the midst of
these—her body-guard—sat the Queen herself in her
royal car. This car was of mother-of-pearl, like the :







52 A Day with the Sea Urehins.



throne, and so fine and wonderful was the carving of .
it, that it might have been made of moonbeams and
gossamers for all you could have told to the contrary.

But the beauty of the Queen herself, who shall
describe? Far be it from me, my children, to attempt
that task, for have not the pens and pencils of all the
poets and artists through the ages essayed to do it—and
failed ? Each of you can form your own ideal of perfect
beauty, and believe her to be like that. It would not be
a thousandth part beautiful enough, you know, but it is
the best way I can suggest for you to get an idea of her.

-On and on she came, with more trumpet-fish and
sword-fish behind her; and sweeter and sweeter sang
the bands of Urchins as she slowly passed between their
lines, smiling and bowing on one side and the other, just
as our own dear Queen does, when she finds rows of
Land Urchins standing by to see her pass.

When at length she arrived at the entrance of the
banqueting hall, I was delighted to see that it was my
own special six Urchins who advanced to receive her
with low bows. And my own particular favourite Jasper
had the honour of handing her out of the car, and
leading her to the throne, under the dome of light.

When she was seated they all pressed round, vieing
with each other who should serve her best and most
quickly. The beautiful Queen looked about her well
pleased, and bestowed many loving words and glances



A Day with the Sea Urchins. eR

on her young subjects, telling them to take care of
themselves, and eat of the good things they had
provided for her. And when at length the banquet was
over, she made a signal to Jasper, and said,—

“My zealous subjects, clear the banquet hall,
We would behold a far-famed Urchins’ ball.”

RECITATIVE.

APHRODITE. Rec?t.



a
My zealous subjects, clear the banquet
Bel

==
vu ee 7 iViVGos

Quast tromba.



enna aceena eae ae ee eee





We would behold a far-famed Urchins’. ball.

ee







54 AS Pay with the Sea Urchins.



The hall was cleared as if by magic, and then
began the prettiest scene it has ever been my good
fortune to behold. _

Thousands of the graceful little creatures joined - in
the dance, and ever as they danced they sang, over and
over again, a new song Jasper had made for them, and
called “The Dancing Song” :—

“Far below the shining
Of the Summer sea,
We, with arms entwining,
Dance in careless glee.
Retreating and advancing,
We bow before our Queen ;
’Tis well she loves our dancing,—
And dancers too, I ween!
To this side, and that side,
Flashing to and fro;
Then clasping one another,
Round and round we go—
Clasping one another,
Round and round we go!

“Far below the sunlight,
Shining on the sea;
Dancing in the dunlight,
Who so gay as we!
Fairy bands are drifted
Like a mist-wreath by ;
Then, ’neath arms uplifted,
Wingéd couples fly!



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 55

To this side, and that side,
Flashing to and fro ;
Ere a circle making,
To our Queen we bow—
Ere a circle making,
To our Queen we bow!”



All the time the banquet and the ball were pro-
ceeding, the great numbers of fish and sea creatures
forming part of the procession had gathered themselves
into an immense ring surrounding the hall on the out-

DANCING CHORUS.




Vivace.

ee
a ————__—___ ©) _——_
p oo —=

po _leggiero. ee
= SS













PIANO.







56 A Day with the Sea Urchans.



ee





CHORUS. cres.

== SSS eS

Far be-low the shin-ing Of the —





















A Day. with the Sea Urchins. 57





pore

care~- less ~ glee. Re - treat-ing and ad -vanc-ing, We

(peer fey





zs ; ns eae: rth, RAGE
SS er

bow be-fore our Queen; ’Tis well she loves our danc-ing, And








poi eee ee
SS ee
—#—4 ae Owe er ee a



. ; vet. ie! :
Woop ee ES ——¢-__he_ -——
2

6. 8. 8. 8 0 8 ey A

ae, et







danc-ers too, I ween! se To this side, and
ee ee
aes al
a ne Ses tae re era

vit. Faster.

s

epetate le ase
ee







58 A Day with the Sea Urchins.











ee ees x RE eee eae
=

that side, | Flash-ing to and _ fro;........











ee —








see 2

a 2. a. J
ee ee = Sen ea Va
= eres Oss saan | a eaten eae ors | eater | ON 6 an
SS = =e —~—












this side, and that side, Flash-ing to and fro: Then















a See Se ir gp eae ————
( =





A Day with the Sea Urchins. 59







_ ay mr a1 tentpo.
=
cores — pan Ease
clasp-ing one an - o-ther,Roundandround we go!....... . 3
- aot
a es wefe








@ tempo.















SSS
aa 2 =. : 2 2 : a







60. A Day with the Sea Urchins.



mf ores.

SS eS an

_ Far be- low the sunlight, Shining

























SSS

gay Fai-ry bands are drift - ed

| oe eae ee

| SS SSeS =]























A Day with the Sea Urchins. 61







ret.
faa
NL
Like a mist-wreath by 3... Then,’neatharmsup - lift - ed,
2
=S= |= 2g
ain.

leva ag





nm Laster.
rer

Wing-ed cou-ples fly! To this side, and









that side, Flash-ing to and fro ;





62 A. Day with the Sea Urchins.



this side, and that side, Flash-ing to and fro; Ere..



SSSs Ses
(=== =< j= |







bow ! Then,







A Day with the Sea Urchins. 63

































64 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

side, with their heads towards it,.and some distance
outsidé this again pairs of flying-fish were stationed
as scouts, whose duty it. was to give ‘warning if any
danger threatened.

. Thad remarked that neither Pearl nor Topaz had:
taken part in the dance. Pearl, I knew, was seated
‘on the step of the throne, very busily engaged making’:
pictures of everything. Some of them you. will find}
in this book, especially a sketch, which may be termed |
a fish’s-eye view of the ball, which was admired and
praised even by the Queen herself; indeed, she was. soy
pleased with it, that she graciously honoured her little! —
_ subject by allowing her to take a portrait of her royal;
‘mistress seated on her throne. But it was some minutes!
before I discovered what had become of Topaz, whom!
I had last seen eating, as it appeared to me, rather
too heartily of some of the good things with which —
the tables were laden; then, as I peered about, 1
caught sight of her, sitting mournfully in a dim ‘recess.
all alone. And I saw that, as I had suspected, the|
silly little maiden was paying the inevitable penalty’
of her greediness. Nurse Nature had given her a
bitter dose of salt water to drink, and here she had
to sit, feeling very ill and unhappy, until she got well)
again. Of course, she could not dance at all; and,
worse still, she could not even come forward: to say,
good-bye to her dear Queen; so she cried till her:



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 65



pretty eyes were quite red, and said over and over
again to herself how very very careful she would be
not to do so foolish a thing again.



But time was getting on. One of the flying-fish
came in, and announced that the sun was well on his
journey down the western path of the sky. The Queen
made a sign to Jasper to stop the dance, and one by
one the Urchins came up to take leave of her, saying,—

“We thank thee, mighty Queen, for this thy grace ;
Farewell, until again we see thy face.”

To which Aphrodite replied,—

“Fare ye well, dear children, we would fain
Know ye all happy tili we meet again.”

Then she rose from her throne, and taking Jasper’s
F



66 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



RECITATIVE.
SEA URCHINS. Reczt.

Se









APHRODITE.
—————
2

Fare ye well, dear









A Day with the Sea Urchins. “ 67







chil- dren, we would fain Know ye all hap - py till we





68 A Day with the Sea Urcehtns.



arm, she walked to the car which now awaited her,
escorted by the whole family of Urchins, with the
exception of Topaz. Then they formed their lines,
and the procession wound its mighty length between
them and went out and away in the same direction from
which it had arrived, till it was lost in the dim distance.

The great event had not, however, been quite unseen
by the prying eyes of those who lived above the water ;
one pair, at least, had caught a glimpse of the scene.

The good-natured young Eider Duck who had
assisted the old Puffin was a noted diver, and was the
master of a diving club, whose head-quarters were on
the island where the Puffin family also lived.





A Day with the Sea Urchins. 69

Now young Eider had taken it into his head to have
a diving match on this very afternoon with some other
youngsters, members of the club, and he dived down
and down till his bewildered eyes caught sight of some
of the grand doings in and about the cavern. So
astonished was he that it was some minutes before
he could collect himself sufficiently to return to the
surface. He had been so long under water that his
comrades, who had given him up for lost, were already
wondering who would be elected as manager of the
club in his stead, when up he came, panting and
gasping, with barely breath enough left to scramble on
to a rock, where he had to lie for some minutes before
he could recover his scattered senses, and tell what had
happened to him.

Then, as his companions gathered round him, he
began to unfold the wonderful story of what he had





70 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



seen, and closer and closer their bills drew together as
they listened. Some said they did not believe it at all.
Some were for going down to see it for themselves (but
that was all talk, for they knew very well they could not
dive so far down). Others screamed excited questions,
till at last the old Puffin herself was aroused by the
clamour. She woke up and tried to listen, but her sleepy
brains could only take in a word or two here and there.

. “I hope she cut his head off,” she exclaimed at last,
in a very angry voice.

The whole club jumped with surprise, and the
members, looking at each other, tapped their foreheads
significantly with their toes.

“What do you mean, Madam?” asked Eider,
politely. .

“The Queen—the rude boy—I hope she cut his
head off,” repeated old Mrs. Puffin, still more viciously.

“T think not, Madam,” replied young Eider, “for
I saw him down below. there with his head still on his
shoulders, and a very handsome one it is too.”

“And he isn’t a bad fellow by any means,” chimed
in another. “He came and begged your pardon for
teasing you, mother. No one can do more than that,
. but you were too sleepy to hear him.”

“T hope she cut his head off,” muttered the old thing
again, but very drowsily this time.

“And if she had,” struck in a third member, “ you



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 71



would want to put a sleepy old head on his shoulders
instead, I suppose. No, no, boys will be boys, and
every dog must have his day, and so must boys and
ducks also.”

“Rude boy—cut off—my head—tickled it—when
you come to’my age,” murmured Mrs. Puffin, and then’
she was fast asleep again, and snoring loudly.

“The old lady can’t last long at this rate,” remarked
a young Drake, who was studying medicine under Dame
Nature. “That snore sounds very apoplectic, and no
wonder, eating so many sprats, and sleeping all day in
the sun like that.”

And he was right, for an hour or two later the poor
old Puffin fell off her perch into the sea with a heavy
splash, and when she was picked up she was found to
be quite dead.

The Urchins employed themselves, for some time
after the departure of the Queen, in restoring the
banqueting hall to its usual order, and putting away
the remains of the feast. By this time Topaz was
better, and she came to assist them, looking very much
ashamed of herself, but they all good-naturedly pre-
tended not to have noticed her misfortune, for they
knew, from their own experience, no doubt, that she
had already been sufficiently punished for her fault.

The stranger Urchins had all departed in detach-
ments, so that now only the original six were left. I



72 A Day with the Sea. Urchins.



was glad of this, for I wanted to follow their movements
more closely than I had lately been able to do on account
of the crowd. I had become deeply interested in them;
as who would not be?
And now a very sad thing was about to “happen.
The sun was certainly getting low, and I was wondering
whether my little friends would return to the cave in the
Bay of Delight. They were swimming about under
water, employing and amusing themselves in one way
and another, when something large and shadowy
appeared above us, and fell down and down towards
us through the clear green water, which, when it came
close, I recognized as the body of a drowned boy.
At first the Urchins were much alarmed, not knowing
him to be.dead, and they scurried off to hide themselves.
But he fell down and down, till at last he was lying
motionless on the bright sand’ at the bottom of the sea
a little way below us, and after a time they. began to
peep out at him and whisper to each other. -
-Was he an Erinnys ? they said; and was he asleep?
But they soon began to guess the truth, for they knew
quite well that Land Urchins cannot live under water
as they themselves do. And Jasper said—~ i

“Not thus, beneath the sea, can mortals dwell ; \
My brothers, this is but the empty shell
Of one, who now has spread his wings of white,
And flown away, far—far beyond our sight.”



A Day with the Sea Urchins. as



RECITATIVE.
JASPER. Recit. Andante maestoso.

{Ga SSS SSS

Not thus, be-neath the sea, can mor-tals dwell ;







My bro-thers, this is but the emp - ty shell Of









TA ee A Day with the Sea Urchins,





And flown a.- way,




Cantando.

far be-yond our sight.





PP colla voce. Pp .







A Day with the Sea Urchins. 75

So one by one the Sea Urchins came out of their
hiding places, and floated down to where the body of
the boy lay.

How much they knew of the great mystery of life
and death I could not tell, but Jasper, who was very



wise, had evidently told them something, for they were
very grave, and looked so pitifully at what they called
the empty shell of the boy as they stood round it. He
was younger and smaller than the one they had see
carried off by the policeman—quite a little boy, in fact,
though so much bigger than the Sea Urchins.

Presently they agreed among themselves that they



76 A Day with the Sea Urehins.

could not leave “the shell” lying there, so each taking
gently hold of it, they floated up till they came to a
little cavern in the rock, with a floor of soft shining
white sand. In this they laid it, and I wish you could
have seen how lovingly they kissed its eyes and lips,
and how tenderly they smoothed and arranged the



pretty curling brown hair. Then Pearl wove a lovely
garland of white seaweed, which they twined about it
as it lay in the little cavern, which was then shut up
with a large block of veined gypsum.

Very gravely and silently they had done all this, and
when it was finished Jasper floated. up by himself to
the surface of the sea, where a boat was sailing about
over and over and round and round the same place.
A man in the boat, with a terribly sad face, was leaning



A Day with the Sea Orchins. ne 97



over the side;.he seemed to. be very intently looking

for, or trying to see, something under the water.

Now Jasper guessed. that this boat contained the ,
friends of the drowned boy, and so, in fact, it did. The
sad-faced mah was the father, who was trying to find

' the body of his little son, for he knew that this was all

they cowd hope to see of him now. Jasper followed

_ the boat at a little distance, singing over and over.
again a sweet song ‘which he made then and there

for the purpose, and which I write down here for you

, to read :-—

“There’s a Land where all are happy,
Far away beyond our ken;
All may find a place within it,
But we know not—know not when.
Through the pearly gates that stand
‘At the entrance of that Land,
We have caught a gleam of glory when
it opened, now and then.

“Only gentle angels know it,
And T’ve longed for wings like theirs,
When I’ve seen them flying—flying,
Up the sunbeams’ golden stairs.
‘For no’ sorrow enters there—
Not a pain, and not a care—
And our eyes have seen no beauty that
with yonder Land compares!



78 — A Day with the Sea Urchins.



JASPER’S SONG.
Andante maestoso, con gran. espress.
eerie









oO fo aoa See | verter Ja
3 |G ==

1.-There’s a | Land where all are hap-py, Far a -
25 gen - tle an-gels know it, And I’ve
Sempre legato









- way be-yond our ken; All may find a place with-
longed for wings like theirs, When I’ve seen them fly - ing— .











; vit. espress.
1 ae sae
- in it, But we know not—know not when. Thro’ the

fly - ing, Up the sun-beams’ gold - en stairs. For no





2! pe '
ae Ee SSH
| al : colla voce.

|
esate ——————









A Day with the Sea Urchins. 49

pearl- y gates that stand
sor -row en- ters there—



vit. SPYeSS. — ~>





At the en - trance of that
Not a _ pain, and not a











Land, We have caught a







gleam of glo -ry when it

care— And our eyes have seen no _ beau-ty that with
: ® &
ee ae
— \—_ S|} —# : | gi ——
i——s33 ? i
ee SD
os harass

—*
o - pened, now and - then.
yon - der’ Land com - pares



!



| ‘

<> ey ———— . qi

= = SS
Cs Se eee ee : = :

<7 eee
_ === collavoce. pp

1) ——— :
oe ERR eae



80 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Ist time. ‘
[zt time |

















eS 5
2. On - ly
EERE ARE
i PaaS
SSS SS
, -o
] and time, accel,
———————— ae arene ae = ae —
zea ear Jeo Se Seem
3. And if a - ny harm as sail - eth
trem.
eee leas — ——— ee
; p acce
eet = ~ ee resets
Se Oimas [sree Smears
sae ( Sae*
eee
Cres. sf Tranguitlo.
a Ea a ee ee ——,
From the storm - y wave or blast, One, whose
Tranguillo.
eae
re gi ee te ei ereay
Cres. sf

SSS 25 = ————==



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 81

























82 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



~ rit. ae rit. aes :

== meee we SSS














cast. And of ev - ‘ry ach -ing heart He will
Spee colla voce. pe in a
a _—" =
== ===

ae SEES

heal the “pain and = smart, ‘When He calls us—









=== = |
eG

when He calls us— to that hap - py Land at

, a
ee SESE





A Day with the Sea Urchins. — 83






DV : rall,
So eS ee ee
ee rn ree =
last ! When He calls us—when He calls us—
“— : : | rR is
ae as 3s —s—
= = | a
s ' raul,















84 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



“And if any harm assaileth
From the stormy wave or blast,
“One, whose mercy never faileth,
Will protection o’er us cast.
And of every aching heart
He will heal the pain and smart,
When He calls us—when He calls us—to that
happy Land at last !”

Jasper sang with all his heart. He knew that the
actual words of his song would not reach or be under-
stood by the people in the boat, but he sang and sang on,
for he wanted the spirit of his words to mingle with the
murmur of the sea and the whisper of the summer wind,
and by this means reach the heart of the sorrowful father,
and comfort him, as it really did, for by-and-by, as the
singing went on, he began to look rather less sad, and
instead of gazing down into the water, and thinking of
the little son he had so loved, lying unburied down there,
he looked up into the beautiful sky, which was now
putting on its brightest colours ready for sunset, and
thought of a happy angel up there instead.

It is not everybody who knows and loves Mother
Nature well enough to hear and understand all the
sweet comforting things she can say out of her own ~
_ great heart, to the hearts of any who are in sorrow, or
trouble, or pain, but you will agree with me that it is



A Day with the Sea Urchins. 85 ,



a very happy thing for those who do so hear and
understand her.

Jasper knew all about it. He knew many Ans this
dear wonderful Sea Urchin of mine. I felt sure that he
must have had some great sorrow to bear himself, in
spite of all his fun; for poets, and artists too, and, in
fact, every one who really teaches others, must have
learnt everything that they teach, with pain and trouble
to themselves.

You children all know this, I am sure, for are you
not learning something all day long, even at your play?
You must find out everything by the pain or trouble
of experience. It must be so, in one way or another,
all through your lives in this world, and then, sooner or
later, when all your lessons are learnt, you know that
you will have to go through the dark and pain of
death, before you get into the beautiful and glorious
light which shines beyond.

Jasper knew all this, I am sure. The name of the
stone—the blood-red jasper—by which I have called
him, means suffering. Some day I will tell you the
signification of the twelve other precious stones also,
unless in the meantime you find them out for your-
selves.

After a time the little boat, with its sorrowful crew,
who had given up their fruitless search, turned and
_ vowed towards the shore in the quiet sunset, and then



86 to Day with the Sea Urchens.

Jasper swam back and rejoined the others, who were
now evidently preparing to depart.

Ruby had bridled, and brought together, the same
sea-horses on which the party had ridden in the morning,
and was amusing himself by all manner of daring and
eccentric performances with them. All were there



except Pearl, whom they called several times, and who
at last appeared. But what a strange-looking Pearl it
was who slowly swam towards them, with an expression
half-conceited, and half ashamed, on her usually sweet,
placid little face.

Now the facts of the case were these. One day
Pearl, from a secure hiding-place, had watched a pleasure
boat go past, and having been much struck by the smart



A Day with the Sea Cae, | 87



appearance of a tiny girl amongst the party of Land.
Urchins on board, had secretly determined. in her foolish
little heart that she would, on the first convenient oppor-
tunity, contrive a dress like it for herself. The. stirring
_ events of the day had, however, fully occupied her
- attention, and it was only now, to while away the time
till Jasper should return, that she had remembered and
carried out her idea. —

There is no denying that she had done it very well,
considering that seaweed was the only material at her —
command. Her artistic fingers had fashioned a green
frock, very like a Land Urchin’s night-gown in shape,
which was gathered round the waist with a ribbon-like
strip of gold colour, and a delicate trimming of white.
finished it at the ‘throat and wrists; two or three rows of
tiny pearly shells were round her neck, and a jaunty
little flat green cap was set on the back of her yellow
curls. It was very cleverly managed indeed, and I
wished she could have made a sketch of herself. But
you -see ‘that, though this costume would have looked
pretty enough on a Land Urchin, it was very comical
indeed to behold a Sea Urchin thus fashionably attired.
Pearl’s brothers and sisters and other inhabitants of the
sea seemed to think so too, for after a pause of mute
astonishment, she was greeted with such peals of silvery
laughter that the water rang again with it. Peal after
peal burst out, till at last I feared I should betray myself

gi







- A Day with the Sea Urchins, 89



/.. by laughing too—the sound of such mirth was so very |

infectious.

A number of See looking young plaice came by,
romping roughly with each other, who, when they saw
Pearl, stuck their tongues into their cheeks and grinned
derisively. Then passed a pair of.smart, slender mullet,
taking their evening stroll together, arm in arm; they
stared rather ‘more than was polite, and whispered to
- each other.

Pearl grew hotter and hotter, and felt more and more
ashamed of herself. This was not at all what she had
expected, and the conceit was being rapidly taken out of
her. At last the poor little. maiden fairly burst into
. tears, which so touched the hearts of her comrades that
they made a great effort and overcame their laughter.

Then Amethyst went up to her too ambitious sister,
and led her by the hand into the recess from whence
she had so proudly emerged a few minutes before, and
kindly and quietly helped her to strip off her finery and
be once more her natural self.

This ridiculous scene had somewhat een the
return journey, but now the sun was nearly down, and
mounting their restless steeds they set out in earnest.
Giddy, mirth-loving Emerald, however, lagged behind
now and again to laugh softly to herself, but being
Pearl’s special ally he would not for worlds have hurt
her feelings by letting her see him do it.



90 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

The sea-birds were flying homeward, slowly uttering
from time to time their rather melancholy cries. All the
gay boats were gathering into the harbour, and I could
see the bright star-like light of the lighthouse on shore
beginning to gleam and flash; family parties of Land
Urchins were being got together by their nurses, and



led home ere the twilight fell on the steep pathway up
the cliff. My little friends had grown very quiet as we
sped on over the gentle ripples of the sea, and presently
they began to sing the song I have written down here
to a sweet simple air, which the cliffs seemed to catch
up and echo back as they sang :—

“Day’s bright hues are fading
From the ocean’s breast 3
Lo, the sun is setting
In the crimson west,



A Day with the Si Urs OL





y i {
1. Day’s bright hues are fad - ing ~

Andante piacevole. 2. Lips of ti- ny wave - lets















—*
From the o-cean’s breast; ° Lo, the sun is set.- ting
. Kiss the shin-ing shore ; _ All is sweet and _ peace - ful, (
—— __ pe Eat
aso gee ge ——
oe. @ ~~ oe —e
a a” a | |
$ — a —
= ee = a



i: be \ ie mf a tempo. i
iA the crim-son west. Lit-tle boats are flit - ting
Day is well-nigh o’er. Lo, the moon is ris - ing

See ——— =
=== =
wo Ta EnIOG! les
ring. ED =— ~



Oa A Lay with the Sea Urchins.

—* 2nd VoIcEs. ar
ee atta
eee =

Round the riv - er bend, While the white-wing’d sea.- gulls
O’er the cliffs a - far; On the grey ho - ri - zon















eo

—_—_—_—_

ee == —_ SSS es










bow "ei
To the ha-ven wend,
Hangs the ev~ning star.












agg an aD a
o o = "

bb ann Tt uGe Gree ie
And on ro-sy rip - ples Of the flow-ing tide, Light-ly
Twilight’s dew-y fra- grance Clos-esroundus fast; All so

= =
== —e ==
s === ==

pp cres.

apie essere









A Day with the Sea Urchins. 93

Spe as . a) | ay
vw iw ww cm ae FE pS Na re

in the sun-set glo - ry, Light-ly home we _— ride—
sweet, so sweet and peace - ful, Tells that day is past—








VS










In the sun-set glo - ry, Light- ly home we ride.
All so sweet and peace -ful, Tells that day is past!















jem os oo
oo — — 3-3-3 =
SS
ac: sempre dim.

eRe Te ea Beal aaa mye
aa ES
ase ees eae ——

ee Both Pedals.









94 A Day with the Sea Urchins.







A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Little boats are flitting
Round the river bend,
While the white-winged sea-gulls
To the haven wend,
And on rosy ripples
Of the flowing tide,
In the sunset glory
Lightly home we ride.
In the sunset glory, etc.



“Lips of tiny wavelets
Kiss the shining shore ;
All is sweet and peaceful,—
Day is well-nigh o’er.
Lo, the moon is rising
O’er the cliffs afar ;
On the grey horizon
Hangs the evening star.

OD



96°. A Day with the Sea Urchins.
Twilight’s dewy fragrance
_ Closes round us fast ;
All so sweet and peaceful,

Tells that day is past!
All so sweet and peaceful, etc.”

By the time this song was finished the cave was
reached, and the sea-horses were unbridled and set free ©
to roam about as they liked. In a few minutes the
Urchins had disappeared, and with the echo of their
sweet bell-like voices in my ears I fell asleep imme- _
diately on reaching the shore. When'I awoke it was
morning again, and I found myself still stretched on.
the short turf of the cliff, with the full tide flowing
beneath me. Could I have slept there all night, I
thought, after my long day spent with the Sea
Urchins? ‘I did not remember scrambling up the
rocks to the cliff again, but then I had been so very
sleepy. Had I dreamt it all, I wondered? I could
‘not tell; I cannot tell to this day. But this I know—
that I saw all I have told. you, just as it is set down
here, with my own eyes. So you will agree with me
that the Sea Urchins must really have been there,
and here are the pictures of all I saw them. doing,
and the songs I heard them sing, which will be proof |
enough to all sensible people.

~ And whenever I walk inland on the moor above the
river, I dream it all over again; and whenever I come



A Day with the Sea Urehens, 97



down the steep path by the little cemetery where the
white crosses gleam in the evening light, and catch
sight of the lovely placid bay between the trees, I
dream it all over again too; and think how much
better than other people I know what is going on out
there.

Now that I have told you all about it you may
picture it to yourselves, as you come upon our favourite
haunts day after day. But I have still to make my
own farewell song for you, and at any rate, dear Land
Urchins, every one of you—this is in real, downright
earnest—that I wish you, with all my heart in the wish,
A Happy Christmas, and the brightest of New Years.

»
a

1





98

A Day with the Sea Urehins.





Close o’er the page, my task is done,
Here I must lay aside my wand; _
Here we must part, who hand in hand,

Have sped from dawn to set of sun.

For I who wrote, and you who read,
Have met in spirit o’er the page;
I, knowing not your name or age,
Have held you with a golden thread.



And, though on earth I may not trace
Your features, One guides you and me,
Who by the tideless crystal sea,

Some day may bring us face to face.

But we must learn through toil and pain,
Dear children, aye, both you and I—
Both life and death’s great mystery,

Before with Him we live and reign.



Full Text
elen, M ‘Burnside

J lustrated )


&
&
ES
sy
i
=
3
os
Q
oO
&


To cleat si ae
Cute
ee
A DAY WITH
Tht SEA URCHINS















A DAY WITH
THE SEA URCHINS

BY

HELEN M. BURNSIDE

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED W. COOPER

ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY, EDMUND EVANS

THE SONGS SET TO _
MUSIC BY MYLES BIRKET FOSTER

(Late Organist of the Foundling Hospital)



4

LONDON
FREDERICK WARNE AND CO.
AND NEW YORK
1893
TO THE LAND URCHINS.

THe Summer days are fleeting fast,

The elm has donned its golden crown ;
While o’er the whisp’ring wood is cast

Its Autumn robe of russet brown.

And though next year the elms will wake,
And hang green banners o’er the lane,
The Summer glory they will make
Will ne’er be quite the same again.

Not quite the same, the bright days taught
Such sweet new lore to you and me,
While with our eager eyes we sought
The lovely secrets of the sea.

As we shall hoard the fragile shells
We found at ebb-tide in the bay,
Just so, in mem’ry’s treasure-cells



Those sunlit days are laid away.

And when—please God—we all shall meet
By Christmas hearths, as oft of yore,
We'll con again those lessons sweet
We learnt upon the Summer shore.

ST. SERVAN,
A DAY WITH |
Tin Seek URemINS

Once upon a time there was a family of Sea Urchins,
whose home was a cave in the Bay of Delight. It is
not likely that any of you have ever seen a real live
Sea Urchin, though no doubt you have picked up
strange-looking spiny or spiky objects on the sea-
shore, which you have been told are the skins or
shells of Sea Urchins. But the kind I mean is not
a bit like that; they are like Land Urchins, only far
smaller and prettier. If you can get up very early on
the morning of the longest day in the year, and be
down on the beach just as the sun shows the very tip
vf his red forehead above the sea, and lights up one
little ripple after another with ruby sparks till a many
twinkling, rosy track creeps across the sea to your feet,
and if it should happen to be high tide at that very
moment, then if you could peep into the cave, unseen
and unheard, you might have a chance of seeing the

Sea Urchins, and hearing them also, as I saw and
B
8 A Day with the Sea Urchtns.



heard on that never-to-be-forgotten day which | am
going to tell you about. es

I dare say you have often been into this cave. at
low tide, and at common hours of the day; and you
know all about the beautiful colours of the quartz rock
which forms the roof and sides, and how they glitter
with gold and silver flakes, and you have looked out
from it across the brown weed-covered rocks at the
shining blue bay, and the little islands which lie in the
mouth of the river just where it flows into the open
sea beyond; but all the timie you knew nothing about
the dear pretty little creatures who make it their home
whenever the tide is high enough to serve as a door
-to shut out prying eyes.

When the tide ebbs they go out with it, and a
merry party they are, as you would have said, had you
seen them as I did, singing, laughing, and splashing,
and playing all manner of funny pranks with each
other. They swim out and away to the rocky islands
which shine so golden and fairylike in the morning
sunlight, where there are plenty of safe nooks for them
to play in till the flowing tide brings them back again
to their home in the cave.

Perhaps you will wonder why they are so very
much afraid of being seen. The fact is simply this.
They wear no clothes, and you know the laws of the
coast are very strict upon this point. One day they
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 9



had seen (and you must remember they can see you,
though you cannot see them) a Land Urchin, whom
they had been watching, swimming about in the sea,
seized by a huge creature all dressed in blue, and carried
off to prison in spite of his prayers and tears, and they



heard it was because he had no clothes on. Now you
and I know that this creature was a policeman, or if
you are foolish enough to use slang words you would

”

perhaps call him a “bobby,” but the Sea Urchins knew
nothing of policemen, or of “ bobbies” either, and they
said to each other that an Erinnys had got the boy, and
10 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



these Erinnys, who were not men at all by the way,
but women, are of all things most dreaded by Sea
Urchins. Most boys read the old Greek fairy stories,
and many girls too, for it is the fashion for girls to
learn Greek now-a-days, as I am told by Oxford and
Cambridge examiners. Now I think, and many wise
men and women agree with me, examiners notwith-
standing, that there are many things more important
than Greek for little girls to learn, but this is merely
a matter of opinion.

You all know that the Erinnys were a race who
spent their lives in tracking and bringing evil-doeérs to
justice, and that is why policemen are called Erinnys by
Sea Urchins to this day. They had been so frightened
on this occasion that they all fell off the rock round
which they had been peeping, and went heels over
head into the sea with such a splash that the police-
man lcoked back, and thought he saw something white
flourish in the air, and disappear into the sea, which
looked very like the legs of a small boy; and in point
of fact so it was, but he was tired and hot, and badly
wetted already, so he bethought himself that a boy in
the hand was worth two in the sea, and marched off his
prisoner with an added sternness, which struck terror
to the hearts of the Sea Urchins, who from. that day
to this have never dared to show an inch of their pretty
little white bodies out of their hiding-places; and, as
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 11



_ you shall hear, it was quite by chance that I came to
know all about them.

Strolling down to the Bay of Delight early one
summer morning, while the trails of honeysuckle and
blackberry in the hedges were still wet with dew, I
stretched myself on the short turf of the low cliff above
the cave, and whilst I lay dreamily watching the sparks
of sunlight creeping over the sea, I became aware of
sweet singing or chanting, which it seemed to me floated
up out of the cave itself; but how could this be? I
asked myself, for it was high tide, and I knew the cave
was half full of water. I listened a little longer, and
then crept to the edge of the cliff and looked over.
All was clear water below me, but the singing grew
more distinct, so I noiselessly clambered down a little
way, so that I could peep into the cave. And then a
strange scene met my eyes, for perched about on various
projections of the rocks, just above high-water mark,
were six of the prettiest and tiniest boys and girls you
can imagine. They were combing their. wavy yellow
hair with coral combs, and chattering to each other as
fast as their little tongues could go.

Three of them were girls, and three were boys, and
listening to their talk from my hiding-place, where I lay
as still as a mouse, I discovered that the names of the
girls were Pearl, Topaz, and Amethyst; and those of
the boys, Jasper, Emerald, and Ruby. They spoke in

A Day with the Sea Urchins. 13



a sort of rhythmical chant, which seemed to set itself
to the ceaseless murmur of the sea. Indeed, I believe
it was from always speaking to the accompaniment of
sea. music that they had fallen into this strange and
pretty manner of speaking. This was the singing
I had heard, but afterwards I learnt that Jasper, the
biggest of the boys, was a poet, who made songs about
everything that happened to them; and sweet little
Pearl drew pictures of all that occurred worthy of note.
I afterwards obtained a picture which she had made of
the policeman carrying off the unfortunate boy, which,
with many others, and also some of the songs made
by Jasper, you will find set down in this book.

When they had finished their toilets—which, you
may suppose did not take very long—they all stood
on a rock at the entrance of the cave, and sang the
following song, Jasper leading, and the others joining
in the chorus :—

SONG.

“ Night is past, and the sun is peeping
_ Over the rim of the silver sea ;
From ripple to ripple the light is leaping,
Brothers away on the billows free.
Away, away, for the sun is peeping
Over. the rim of the silver sea!
14 . A Day with the Sea Urchins.



Two-Part Cuorus.

Allegretto giojoso.







Ist VOICE,

end VOICE.















Night is past, and the sun is



|
e/
Night is past, and the sun is peep

- > ing,
sae Sua eed
(a= ape SS = |
Sa) Sa ee ee a
oe
BG Saher mia Pacer ne paoead 3.
SS
a Ee er






A Day with the Sea Urchins. 15
















ae
SSeS
ing O-verthe rim of the ‘sil- ver
———= Se
ing, O- ver the















poco rit.

SSeS ea

sea ; From rip-ple to ‘ip - is the light is ee -ing, leap-ing from















pone ree.
Sete == =a
a => =a oo
rim of the sil- ver sea ; the light is leap - ing, oe ing from











—— SS ! ae

see rit.








16 A Day with the Sea Urehins.







rip- ple to rip - ple.





: rip - ple to rip - ple.













dolce. ‘ cres.
se ee eee

Night is past,andthesun is peep-ing O - ver the .





















eer eereere = at —















eS =
Night is past, and the sun is
eS = aoe ee
hg el a ;
(CSS 5 = sl
2) : —_—_ res.
7 0 De. 5g:
CS Se ee
ie Sel [es
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 17





















































ea
pee —
ee ae ee ees
ev Se
yim of thesil - ver sea, the sil-ver sea, Ps sil - ver
a
sates eeer | aoe See
aes 2 =a
peep -ing O-verthe rim of thesil-ver sea, the sil-ver
= === =
== pees eee es
(een eee
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e ——— ee
ee
ia an oa |e | ee [ee Seen reese eae
we a
Marcato,
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Sea Se
sea. - way! bro-thers, a - oe a-way! A -
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sea. A - way! bro-thers, a-way,a- way ! A-



















t b |
Op: age 2 e- Cee s
— = eae = ge ie ==
SS
roe A Day with the Sea Urchins.

















a eg ae r (> [a ee I
Sent Iona A casrocuesrcomne a marae
- way on the bil - lows free! For the
Ss =a
2 psa eS eee se
a-way, . a- way! For the sun is peep- ba





ae = So



Bee rte a tempo.
Saas ees aaa ee
er sea

is peep- ne: O - ver the sil -

























poco rit. ot a
== aos =
age 2 =e es ——
- - ver the rim of the sil- ver sea.
oe
=a eee See ee
ey Sas ee oro ae a QU anaes
colla voce. atempo. mf











Se ese =e ae ==
eee ge =a SS ==
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 19”





$

_——S |
ee ee

Round the





































SS









a eee

Round the is-lands the waves are splash-ing, splash -





=

a

is-lands the waves are splash - ing, splash. -













er ee Te TPR eee
Ze A Day with the Sea Urchins.



SSS Se

- ing, Gen - tly splash-ing the rocks a-mong; With snow-y





- ing, Gen - tly on ing the rocks a-







a aa. ase

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ao oe
SS
e











oe
frin - ges of foam - bells flash-ing In - to the air as they
SS =
= oes: oe a ag "ag
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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 2





























Peso Se estes a
Se QD See cavern gion — PS a meg
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a long.
; = = z a |
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Ce mi 0 i
ees a un
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. of t+
2 ea = ales



















dolce. es.
ee ee ——_——
Se
Round the islands the waves are splashing, Gen - tly

; dolce. cres.
SSS
SST a Phe
Round the islandsthe waves are

> > BerEN

Los So Ss

esata tate

as aa ee See
aie ne

Se

pee ; oe
= See pares





















KH














aig A Day with the Sea Urchins.



-—=— Se $= ee

noe lemma
splash-ing the rocks a - mong, Gen-tly splash-ing the rocks a -
cres.

—===
=a ae

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(aetna = == 2
= +f t4 ee aoe































A-way! bro-thers, a- way! a-way! A -
—_»—_-}+_»—_+
SS
A - way! bro-thers, a-way, a - way! A -









(ee Sa = pea =e








A Day with the Sea Urchins. 23



uf

















While the
Cres.



<=

While the wave-lets splashing

YES. rit. PN
eS ar [a
—— | —_—— ————

wave-lets Ring a chime to our morning song!



















; rit. Paes
ys ae ra
SS
- 3 “—"
Ring _. a chime to our morning = song!
e. —~
Ss ee
(Sa SS
| -
i ret.
4 2 ig Kien ee
= a =
a Se
Ped. ere *
24 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



“ Round the islands the waves are splashing—

Gently splashing the rocks among ;
With snowy fringes of foam-bells flashing
Into the air as they trip along.
Away, away, while the wavelets splashing
Ring a chime to our morning song !”

Jasper had a grave, beautiful face, befitting his name,
for jasper, a deep red-coloured stone, is, as you all know,
the foundation-stone of the walls of the New Jerusalem,
just as the lovely violet amethyst is the last and topmost
stone of the same wall; and I hope we shall all, you
and I too, see them shining there some day.
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 25



Crimson and violet are the first and last colours of
the rainbow also, and if you look the next time you
blow soap bubbles, you will find that these two colours
are the first and last there too, with all the others in
between. These little folk were, as I have said, far



prettier than any Land Urchins I have ever seen; and
it is, after all, no such wonder that there should be
poets and artists among them, for they are Nature’s own
children, neither mother nor nurse had they ever known
save her. All their lives had been lived with her lovely
secrets around them, and they understood her lightest
26 A Day with the Sea Urchins,



word or look, and loved her with all their hearts, and
believe me, children, no true artist or poet was ever
born who does not do so too. ,

“ Where are our horses, Ruby? let us ride
Adown the sun-track on the ebbing tide ;

chanted Topaz.

“The horses wait in yonder shining pool,
I bridled them as day broke, fresh and cool ;”

answered Ruby, whose duty it was to look after the
steeds of the little party.

He slipped off the rock and disappeared, but returned
in a twinkling, swimming in front of six sea-horses,
whose bridles of brown seaweed were looped over his
arms. These bridles looked exactly like leather, and


A Day with the Sea Urchins. 27





Quast ReEctrativo.

Topaz, Reczt. . Andante graziosa.





VoIcE. —

hors- es, Ru- by? Let us
Andante grazioso,









PIANO.
(mn

$< a

SSS SS

ae down the sun-track on the ebb - ing






A Day with the Sea Urchins.



RuBy. 72 ae . Reczé,
ae a aR SS
ae = a a a as

“The hors-es . wait in yon-der shin-ing pool; I



















Sz.

Leer g ee
ras 1a Tg eas crak rae QW NE SS ee
== == Se ———————



a tempo.

===



















= a ———— a SS
brid-led them, as day broke fresh and cenit
colla voce. UE ae > >
== Se a ea ==]
mf Co ree = SS seater nrecsa eRe
a oe @ an oo -o-
p a ea















SS SS

ee ie wiversaratrces
a =I












A Day with the Sea Urchins. 29



each one was studded with a different precious stone,
corresponding to the names of the owners of the horses.
If you have ever seen a sea-horse, you will know that
it has no legs, but in place of them a pair of fins, which
work very much in the same manner as the screw of a
steamboat, by means of which it gets through the water
at a wonderful rate of speed.

Fearing that I should lose sight of my water fairies,
who each mounted a horse, J silently dropped into the
sea, and determined to follow them. So off we started,
through the cool clear water, and many a strange crea-
ture we passed on our way, I can assure you. The
Sea Urchins were in high spirits, and their sweet little
voices rang over the sea like a peal of silver bells, as
they laughed and talked to each other in their pretty
singing way. Their steeds seemed to catch the infection,
for they pranced and danced and curvetted in very much
the same manner as your ponies would do if you rode
out in such delicious morning air. As they passed a
rock, a young dog-fish, a mere puppy of a fish he was,
came out and barked at their horses’ tails; little hoarse
wheezy barks, for having been left in the lurch by the
tide, he had slept on the damp seaweed all night, and
caught a bad cold in his head. Ruby’s horse was of
a rather irritable temper, and turned round and butted
at the puppy fish, till he sulkily retreated to nurse his
cold in a warm pool.
30 A Day with the Sea Urchins.





Then Pearl crossed one little pink foot over a
dimpled knee to form a table as she rode, and taking
the bridle of her horse over her arm, drew such a funny
sketch of the dog-fish that the rest all praised it, and
laughed immensely. On and on they went; the sun
was getting higher in the sky, and the calm surface of
the bay lay shining and mottled over with all manner
of colours ; here deeply blue, like a sapphire, and there,
where green weedy rocks were beneath the surface, as
green as anemerald. Then came a broad golden topaz-
coloured sun-track, with ruby ripples dancing in it, pearly
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 31



streaks where the currents flowed out to the open sea,
and the loveliest amethystine shadows lay beneath the
distant rocks.

On and on they went, sometimes diving deep under
the water, past brilliant anemonies opening like living
flowers, past seaweeds and corals growing like groves
of trees by the side of the way; past sun-fish and John
Dory, and skates which swam in and out amongst the
branches; and ugly little squids who ogled them with
big rolling eyes as they rode along. And then a large
fish was seen, at whose approach the whole company,
both horses and riders, showed signs of consternation,
and in an instant had all disappeared into various hiding-
places. It seemed to me that this was a very harmless
and quiet-looking giant to make such a commotion, but,
as it turned out, the Sea Urchins knew best.


a2 | A Day with the Sea Urehins.



The fish had passed all the lurking-places except
one, leaving their occupants in safety; but Pegasus,
that troublesome horse of Ruby’s, had not quite re-
covered his temper since the attack of the dog-fish,
and must needs poke his nose from under the over-
hanging fringe of seaweed just at ‘the moment the



enemy went by, and received the merest flick of its
fin, but in the twinkling of an eye horse and rider were
shot up high into the air, for you see it was neither
more nor less than a torpedo-fish who had touched
Pegasus, and this fish, as you know, is so strongly
charged with electricity as to give a violent shock to
any creature with whom it comes in contact. Alas!
for Ruby and his steed. The latter fell back into the
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 33



sea, where he slowly recovered; but Ruby had fallen
on the rock and cut his head badly, so that his pretty
yellow hair was all stained with blood. His companions
dismounted and gathered round him, and by-and-by
Jasper galloped off to the shore, where a little stream
of fresh water runs into the sea, and brought back some,
with which Amethyst bathed and bound up the wound,



as wise Nurse Nature had taught her to do, so that it
soon got well.

Then to horse and away again towards the largest
of the islands, for which they were bound. An old
Puffin on a sunny ledge of rock opened one eye and
blinked sleepily at them as they went by. She was so
old, so very old, that she was nearly blind, and was
quite grey all over from age, and could do nothing but
sit and sleep in the sunshine all day, and eat the sprats

: D
34 A Day with the Sea Urchins.





which her grandchildren caught for her. Now thought-
less Emerald fancied it would be amusing to startle her,
and make her jump, so he dived, and brought up a long
spray of coraline, with which he rode up to the ledge
and tickled her poor old head. She shook it, and
muttered angrily to herself, but she was past jumping
at anything, and Emerald went on tickling her till she
hobbled and fluttered to the edge of the rock, and
fell over into the water with a great flop, where she
would certainly have been drowned, had not a good-
natured Eider Duck, who was fishing close by, helped
her on to his back and waddled home with her. Jasper,
who was a gentleman, as all poets must be, and knew
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 35

that it is very bad manners, as well as very wrong and
unkind, in young folks to play tricks on old ones, caught
up a great soft sponge and threw it at Emerald’s head,
who tumbled off his horse into a pool before he could
remember to shut his mouth, and a nasty jelly-fish swam
into it, so that he coughed and spluttered very much,
and. felt dreadfully sick and-uncomfortable. And serve
him right too, as I am sure you will agree with me.
Indeed, Emerald himself thought so very soon, for he
was a good-hearted boy, only mischievous and thought-
fess, as boys are apt to be. As soon as he was better
he went and begged the old Puffin’s pardon, but she
was too fast asleep again after her fright and fatigue
to hear him.


36 A. Day with the Sea Urchins.

- You will find pictures of both of these scenes in this
book, for Pearl sat down on an empty snail shell under a
coraline tree, and drew them on the spot.

When Emerald rejoined his comrades, he found them
in a state of excitement, and as he appeared Jasper
exclaimed,—

“ Great news has reached us since you went away—
Our gracious Queen will visit us to-day ;
We mist prepare for her the banquet hall,
And deck with garlands bright each rocky wall.”

And Topaz chimed in,—

“Haste brothers, each I know doth understand
His work—we serve with heart as well as hand ;
And we're determined our beloved Queen
Shall have the grandest welcome ever seen !”

Without losing a moment the Urchins disappeared in |
various directions, to make ready for the great event.

Now the name of their Queen was Aphrodite; many
of you know it well, and some of you will read by-
and-by, how she, the Queen of love, and of beauty
also, was formed of the foam of the sea (which was
very likely intended to teach us that to be beautiful,
a thing must first be clean and pure). There are
many seas, as you will have found on your maps; but
there is only one Queen for them all, and every crea-

ture in each one of the seas loved and obeyed her.
/
A Day with the Sea Urchins. oe

RECITATIVE.
Allegro molto. 3 :































Great news has reached us since you went a - way—































eee
| : = =
ce Spence aos oe eons Sue er
IF om Serre as ieee
a tempo.
a ae a ae as i ——
=e 5 a == a oe =

Our gra-cious oe will vi- sit us Sate ee cS eeetennten cy

—— Ss







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ee
A Day with the Sea Urchins.














ban - quet hall, And
as ap esl



: Andante con moto.









deck

= ———— ee ele
————

with gar-lands bright each rock - y WelllsG-acaos









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o .









iia a Seeanens geet pet Soe













= SS SS Se

each I know doth un-der-stand His











LE RR IRR ey SO nT ee a nara
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 39








work— weservewithheartas well as hand; Andwe’re de-









Se
oe os: -

oo
ee = ieee







- termined our be - lov - ed Queen Shall have the grandest welcome ev- er

ee

j- 7

SSS




























40 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



Sea Urchins know nothing of Mr. Gladstone and
Home Rule, I am glad to say, and so no one thought
of disputing her authority. “The Queer can do ne
wrong,” was their motto, and a very good one it is
too.

How shall I describe to you the beauties of the, sea
fairies’ banqueting hall? It was a vast cavern, which
must have stretched far under the island. Lovely pillars —
of quartz rock and veined gypsum, alternately supported
a ceiling of pure transparent white, which looked like’
alabaster, studded all over with precious stones of ‘large
size, which shone and glittered like stars. The floor was
of the finest and brightest golden sand, and round the
base of each pillar was arranged what appeared to me
to be lovely flowering plants and ferneries ; a group of
plants round one, and a fernery round the next, and so on
along the hall, but I found they were in reality trees of
various coloured coral and seaweed, covered with the
-most splendid anemonies, alternating with seaweedertes,
where such tiny delicate green fronds—far more beautiful
than any mosses or ferns you ever saw growing on land—
were flourishing amongst the shining stones and shells ;
little cascades of water, looking exactly as if they were
lighted by electricity, gushed out of the pillars over them
and kept them swaying backwards and forwards, and up
and down, with the softest and most graceful motion
possible. !
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 41

In the centre of the hall rose a dome, looking up into
which was like looking up to the blue summer sky from
the bottom of a narrow shaft or dry well, so intensely .
and duskily blue was it. From this dome seemed to
come the wonderful light which filled the place. How it
really came, or from whence, I could not tell, it was like
a luminous cascade of soft iridescent light.

It seenied to me that no further decoration could be
needed, but the Urchins thought otherwise, for they were
_ rapidly weaving long rainbow-hued garlands which they
linked from pillar to pillar. Next a throne was carried
in, which was carved throughout from mother-of-pearl,
and which shimmered and shone in such a dazzling
manner, that 1 could scarcely look at it, standing as it
did immediately beneath the great dome. Then variously
coloured seaweed was arranged in patterns on the floor
for some distance round the throne, till it looked like
the most gorgeous Turkey carpet ever seen, When
this was’ finished the banquet was spread. All this
time shoals of Sea Urchins had been pouring in from
different directions, for the news of the Queen’s intended
visit had spread far and wide; and as fast as they came
they fell to work in a most business-like manner to
arrange the feast.

Of what this was composed I do not pretend to say.
- I. can only assure you, that I never before saw things
that looked so good to eat, the dishes were all of mother-
42 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



of-pearl, and were piled with what appeared to be fruit,
jellies, creams, and ices of all shapes and colours ; raised
pies too I saw—but how they were made or of what
they were made, I do not know, there they were, and
the sight of them made me quite hungry. Just as the
finishing touch was given, a stranger Sea Urchin hurried
in, exclaiming,—

“ Brothers—sisters—hasten to appear,
Form up your ranks, for the great Queen draws near !”

And then, when the Urchins were gathered in two
closely packed lines, stretching from the entrance of the
hall, a wonderful procession was seen advancing. As
the foremost two trumpet-fish—of which six formed the
advance guard—came within their lines, Jasper gave a
signal, and they all struck up what I found was really
their substitute for our ‘God save the Queen.” Jasper,
who was the poet laureate at this time, had composed
and set it himself to the air to which they sang it. I
write it down here word for word as I heard it, and I
wish I could tell you how sweetly it sounded, as one by
one the two long lines of Sea Urchins took it up, and
how their bell-like voices rang it out :—

“ All hail! Aphrodite! .
Sole Queen of the Sea;
Most potent and mighty
We own thee to be!
A Day with .the Sea. Urchins. 43



Marcu oF APHRODITE.
SEA URCHINS.
espa
Brothers— __ sis-ters— ae to ap - pear,
INTRODUCTION. Alla marcia.






















the great ee mee

a (ae ee ee
Saas = see =
4g scarcer | eee fo. te tp Fy = ==
. = d . poco.



es


















44 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

























runt | rst time. — and time. =
fea baa b ieee
a —
Sega yr pS
Ne WN VY

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ieee eee
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=>

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A Day with the Sea Urchins. A5























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siete ibe gergeerwtest
\le= ee oa ieee aa
Ce. GEO ie me eae















CHORUS OF SEA URCHINS.
pa see:

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Boa hail! A - phro - - te! Sole Queen of — the Sea; Most

on vaadaeel
ee






















46 A a with. the Sea Urchins.



=] = = SS = Pee eee

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(rE PHEE +
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\

A Day with the Sea Urchins. 47



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fond lips are tell - ing Thy beau - ty and









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48 A Day with the Sea _Urchins.



| 2nd tdme.
































































a eee eaa Saar Ngee
G= fe= o Pots re == zl eas
Ld
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| A Day with the Sea Urchins. 49









- tent, and migh-ty We own thee to be!

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50 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Bright child’ of the water,
That girdles the earth—
O Sea’s peerless daughter
How great was thy birth! —

« All creatures adore thee,

Thine empire we own ;

And, -bowing before thee,
Encircle thy throne.

And fond lips are telling,
Thy beauty and fame,

Till. each ocean dwelling
Resounds with thy name.

" All hail! Aphrodite !
Sole Queen of the Sea;
Most potent and mighty -
We own thee to be!
And deep as thine ocean—
As boundless and free,
Thou know’st the devotion
We render to thee!”

On and on came the procession, trumpet- -fish first,
blowing their trumpets into the air; then a long train of
sword-fish, holding their’ swords straight out in front of
them. On-and on they came, till I thought every
creature that lived in the sea must have passed me;
then more Urchins in a group, and in the midst of
these—her body-guard—sat the Queen herself in her
royal car. This car was of mother-of-pearl, like the :

52 A Day with the Sea Urehins.



throne, and so fine and wonderful was the carving of .
it, that it might have been made of moonbeams and
gossamers for all you could have told to the contrary.

But the beauty of the Queen herself, who shall
describe? Far be it from me, my children, to attempt
that task, for have not the pens and pencils of all the
poets and artists through the ages essayed to do it—and
failed ? Each of you can form your own ideal of perfect
beauty, and believe her to be like that. It would not be
a thousandth part beautiful enough, you know, but it is
the best way I can suggest for you to get an idea of her.

-On and on she came, with more trumpet-fish and
sword-fish behind her; and sweeter and sweeter sang
the bands of Urchins as she slowly passed between their
lines, smiling and bowing on one side and the other, just
as our own dear Queen does, when she finds rows of
Land Urchins standing by to see her pass.

When at length she arrived at the entrance of the
banqueting hall, I was delighted to see that it was my
own special six Urchins who advanced to receive her
with low bows. And my own particular favourite Jasper
had the honour of handing her out of the car, and
leading her to the throne, under the dome of light.

When she was seated they all pressed round, vieing
with each other who should serve her best and most
quickly. The beautiful Queen looked about her well
pleased, and bestowed many loving words and glances
A Day with the Sea Urchins. eR

on her young subjects, telling them to take care of
themselves, and eat of the good things they had
provided for her. And when at length the banquet was
over, she made a signal to Jasper, and said,—

“My zealous subjects, clear the banquet hall,
We would behold a far-famed Urchins’ ball.”

RECITATIVE.

APHRODITE. Rec?t.



a
My zealous subjects, clear the banquet
Bel

==
vu ee 7 iViVGos

Quast tromba.



enna aceena eae ae ee eee





We would behold a far-famed Urchins’. ball.

ee




54 AS Pay with the Sea Urchins.



The hall was cleared as if by magic, and then
began the prettiest scene it has ever been my good
fortune to behold. _

Thousands of the graceful little creatures joined - in
the dance, and ever as they danced they sang, over and
over again, a new song Jasper had made for them, and
called “The Dancing Song” :—

“Far below the shining
Of the Summer sea,
We, with arms entwining,
Dance in careless glee.
Retreating and advancing,
We bow before our Queen ;
’Tis well she loves our dancing,—
And dancers too, I ween!
To this side, and that side,
Flashing to and fro;
Then clasping one another,
Round and round we go—
Clasping one another,
Round and round we go!

“Far below the sunlight,
Shining on the sea;
Dancing in the dunlight,
Who so gay as we!
Fairy bands are drifted
Like a mist-wreath by ;
Then, ’neath arms uplifted,
Wingéd couples fly!
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 55

To this side, and that side,
Flashing to and fro ;
Ere a circle making,
To our Queen we bow—
Ere a circle making,
To our Queen we bow!”



All the time the banquet and the ball were pro-
ceeding, the great numbers of fish and sea creatures
forming part of the procession had gathered themselves
into an immense ring surrounding the hall on the out-

DANCING CHORUS.




Vivace.

ee
a ————__—___ ©) _——_
p oo —=

po _leggiero. ee
= SS













PIANO.




56 A Day with the Sea Urchans.



ee





CHORUS. cres.

== SSS eS

Far be-low the shin-ing Of the —


















A Day. with the Sea Urchins. 57





pore

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(peer fey





zs ; ns eae: rth, RAGE
SS er

bow be-fore our Queen; ’Tis well she loves our danc-ing, And








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aes al
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s

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58 A Day with the Sea Urchins.











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=

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a See Se ir gp eae ————
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A Day with the Sea Urchins. 59







_ ay mr a1 tentpo.
=
cores — pan Ease
clasp-ing one an - o-ther,Roundandround we go!....... . 3
- aot
a es wefe








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60. A Day with the Sea Urchins.



mf ores.

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SSS

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| oe eae ee

| SS SSeS =]




















A Day with the Sea Urchins. 61







ret.
faa
NL
Like a mist-wreath by 3... Then,’neatharmsup - lift - ed,
2
=S= |= 2g
ain.

leva ag





nm Laster.
rer

Wing-ed cou-ples fly! To this side, and









that side, Flash-ing to and fro ;


62 A. Day with the Sea Urchins.



this side, and that side, Flash-ing to and fro; Ere..



SSSs Ses
(=== =< j= |







bow ! Then,




A Day with the Sea Urchins. 63






























64 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

side, with their heads towards it,.and some distance
outsidé this again pairs of flying-fish were stationed
as scouts, whose duty it. was to give ‘warning if any
danger threatened.

. Thad remarked that neither Pearl nor Topaz had:
taken part in the dance. Pearl, I knew, was seated
‘on the step of the throne, very busily engaged making’:
pictures of everything. Some of them you. will find}
in this book, especially a sketch, which may be termed |
a fish’s-eye view of the ball, which was admired and
praised even by the Queen herself; indeed, she was. soy
pleased with it, that she graciously honoured her little! —
_ subject by allowing her to take a portrait of her royal;
‘mistress seated on her throne. But it was some minutes!
before I discovered what had become of Topaz, whom!
I had last seen eating, as it appeared to me, rather
too heartily of some of the good things with which —
the tables were laden; then, as I peered about, 1
caught sight of her, sitting mournfully in a dim ‘recess.
all alone. And I saw that, as I had suspected, the|
silly little maiden was paying the inevitable penalty’
of her greediness. Nurse Nature had given her a
bitter dose of salt water to drink, and here she had
to sit, feeling very ill and unhappy, until she got well)
again. Of course, she could not dance at all; and,
worse still, she could not even come forward: to say,
good-bye to her dear Queen; so she cried till her:
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 65



pretty eyes were quite red, and said over and over
again to herself how very very careful she would be
not to do so foolish a thing again.



But time was getting on. One of the flying-fish
came in, and announced that the sun was well on his
journey down the western path of the sky. The Queen
made a sign to Jasper to stop the dance, and one by
one the Urchins came up to take leave of her, saying,—

“We thank thee, mighty Queen, for this thy grace ;
Farewell, until again we see thy face.”

To which Aphrodite replied,—

“Fare ye well, dear children, we would fain
Know ye all happy tili we meet again.”

Then she rose from her throne, and taking Jasper’s
F
66 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



RECITATIVE.
SEA URCHINS. Reczt.

Se









APHRODITE.
—————
2

Fare ye well, dear






A Day with the Sea Urchins. “ 67







chil- dren, we would fain Know ye all hap - py till we


68 A Day with the Sea Urcehtns.



arm, she walked to the car which now awaited her,
escorted by the whole family of Urchins, with the
exception of Topaz. Then they formed their lines,
and the procession wound its mighty length between
them and went out and away in the same direction from
which it had arrived, till it was lost in the dim distance.

The great event had not, however, been quite unseen
by the prying eyes of those who lived above the water ;
one pair, at least, had caught a glimpse of the scene.

The good-natured young Eider Duck who had
assisted the old Puffin was a noted diver, and was the
master of a diving club, whose head-quarters were on
the island where the Puffin family also lived.


A Day with the Sea Urchins. 69

Now young Eider had taken it into his head to have
a diving match on this very afternoon with some other
youngsters, members of the club, and he dived down
and down till his bewildered eyes caught sight of some
of the grand doings in and about the cavern. So
astonished was he that it was some minutes before
he could collect himself sufficiently to return to the
surface. He had been so long under water that his
comrades, who had given him up for lost, were already
wondering who would be elected as manager of the
club in his stead, when up he came, panting and
gasping, with barely breath enough left to scramble on
to a rock, where he had to lie for some minutes before
he could recover his scattered senses, and tell what had
happened to him.

Then, as his companions gathered round him, he
began to unfold the wonderful story of what he had


70 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



seen, and closer and closer their bills drew together as
they listened. Some said they did not believe it at all.
Some were for going down to see it for themselves (but
that was all talk, for they knew very well they could not
dive so far down). Others screamed excited questions,
till at last the old Puffin herself was aroused by the
clamour. She woke up and tried to listen, but her sleepy
brains could only take in a word or two here and there.

. “I hope she cut his head off,” she exclaimed at last,
in a very angry voice.

The whole club jumped with surprise, and the
members, looking at each other, tapped their foreheads
significantly with their toes.

“What do you mean, Madam?” asked Eider,
politely. .

“The Queen—the rude boy—I hope she cut his
head off,” repeated old Mrs. Puffin, still more viciously.

“T think not, Madam,” replied young Eider, “for
I saw him down below. there with his head still on his
shoulders, and a very handsome one it is too.”

“And he isn’t a bad fellow by any means,” chimed
in another. “He came and begged your pardon for
teasing you, mother. No one can do more than that,
. but you were too sleepy to hear him.”

“T hope she cut his head off,” muttered the old thing
again, but very drowsily this time.

“And if she had,” struck in a third member, “ you
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 71



would want to put a sleepy old head on his shoulders
instead, I suppose. No, no, boys will be boys, and
every dog must have his day, and so must boys and
ducks also.”

“Rude boy—cut off—my head—tickled it—when
you come to’my age,” murmured Mrs. Puffin, and then’
she was fast asleep again, and snoring loudly.

“The old lady can’t last long at this rate,” remarked
a young Drake, who was studying medicine under Dame
Nature. “That snore sounds very apoplectic, and no
wonder, eating so many sprats, and sleeping all day in
the sun like that.”

And he was right, for an hour or two later the poor
old Puffin fell off her perch into the sea with a heavy
splash, and when she was picked up she was found to
be quite dead.

The Urchins employed themselves, for some time
after the departure of the Queen, in restoring the
banqueting hall to its usual order, and putting away
the remains of the feast. By this time Topaz was
better, and she came to assist them, looking very much
ashamed of herself, but they all good-naturedly pre-
tended not to have noticed her misfortune, for they
knew, from their own experience, no doubt, that she
had already been sufficiently punished for her fault.

The stranger Urchins had all departed in detach-
ments, so that now only the original six were left. I
72 A Day with the Sea. Urchins.



was glad of this, for I wanted to follow their movements
more closely than I had lately been able to do on account
of the crowd. I had become deeply interested in them;
as who would not be?
And now a very sad thing was about to “happen.
The sun was certainly getting low, and I was wondering
whether my little friends would return to the cave in the
Bay of Delight. They were swimming about under
water, employing and amusing themselves in one way
and another, when something large and shadowy
appeared above us, and fell down and down towards
us through the clear green water, which, when it came
close, I recognized as the body of a drowned boy.
At first the Urchins were much alarmed, not knowing
him to be.dead, and they scurried off to hide themselves.
But he fell down and down, till at last he was lying
motionless on the bright sand’ at the bottom of the sea
a little way below us, and after a time they. began to
peep out at him and whisper to each other. -
-Was he an Erinnys ? they said; and was he asleep?
But they soon began to guess the truth, for they knew
quite well that Land Urchins cannot live under water
as they themselves do. And Jasper said—~ i

“Not thus, beneath the sea, can mortals dwell ; \
My brothers, this is but the empty shell
Of one, who now has spread his wings of white,
And flown away, far—far beyond our sight.”
A Day with the Sea Urchins. as



RECITATIVE.
JASPER. Recit. Andante maestoso.

{Ga SSS SSS

Not thus, be-neath the sea, can mor-tals dwell ;







My bro-thers, this is but the emp - ty shell Of






TA ee A Day with the Sea Urchins,





And flown a.- way,




Cantando.

far be-yond our sight.





PP colla voce. Pp .




A Day with the Sea Urchins. 75

So one by one the Sea Urchins came out of their
hiding places, and floated down to where the body of
the boy lay.

How much they knew of the great mystery of life
and death I could not tell, but Jasper, who was very



wise, had evidently told them something, for they were
very grave, and looked so pitifully at what they called
the empty shell of the boy as they stood round it. He
was younger and smaller than the one they had see
carried off by the policeman—quite a little boy, in fact,
though so much bigger than the Sea Urchins.

Presently they agreed among themselves that they
76 A Day with the Sea Urehins.

could not leave “the shell” lying there, so each taking
gently hold of it, they floated up till they came to a
little cavern in the rock, with a floor of soft shining
white sand. In this they laid it, and I wish you could
have seen how lovingly they kissed its eyes and lips,
and how tenderly they smoothed and arranged the



pretty curling brown hair. Then Pearl wove a lovely
garland of white seaweed, which they twined about it
as it lay in the little cavern, which was then shut up
with a large block of veined gypsum.

Very gravely and silently they had done all this, and
when it was finished Jasper floated. up by himself to
the surface of the sea, where a boat was sailing about
over and over and round and round the same place.
A man in the boat, with a terribly sad face, was leaning
A Day with the Sea Orchins. ne 97



over the side;.he seemed to. be very intently looking

for, or trying to see, something under the water.

Now Jasper guessed. that this boat contained the ,
friends of the drowned boy, and so, in fact, it did. The
sad-faced mah was the father, who was trying to find

' the body of his little son, for he knew that this was all

they cowd hope to see of him now. Jasper followed

_ the boat at a little distance, singing over and over.
again a sweet song ‘which he made then and there

for the purpose, and which I write down here for you

, to read :-—

“There’s a Land where all are happy,
Far away beyond our ken;
All may find a place within it,
But we know not—know not when.
Through the pearly gates that stand
‘At the entrance of that Land,
We have caught a gleam of glory when
it opened, now and then.

“Only gentle angels know it,
And T’ve longed for wings like theirs,
When I’ve seen them flying—flying,
Up the sunbeams’ golden stairs.
‘For no’ sorrow enters there—
Not a pain, and not a care—
And our eyes have seen no beauty that
with yonder Land compares!
78 — A Day with the Sea Urchins.



JASPER’S SONG.
Andante maestoso, con gran. espress.
eerie









oO fo aoa See | verter Ja
3 |G ==

1.-There’s a | Land where all are hap-py, Far a -
25 gen - tle an-gels know it, And I’ve
Sempre legato









- way be-yond our ken; All may find a place with-
longed for wings like theirs, When I’ve seen them fly - ing— .











; vit. espress.
1 ae sae
- in it, But we know not—know not when. Thro’ the

fly - ing, Up the sun-beams’ gold - en stairs. For no





2! pe '
ae Ee SSH
| al : colla voce.

|
esate ——————






A Day with the Sea Urchins. 49

pearl- y gates that stand
sor -row en- ters there—



vit. SPYeSS. — ~>





At the en - trance of that
Not a _ pain, and not a











Land, We have caught a







gleam of glo -ry when it

care— And our eyes have seen no _ beau-ty that with
: ® &
ee ae
— \—_ S|} —# : | gi ——
i——s33 ? i
ee SD
os harass

—*
o - pened, now and - then.
yon - der’ Land com - pares



!



| ‘

<> ey ———— . qi

= = SS
Cs Se eee ee : = :

<7 eee
_ === collavoce. pp

1) ——— :
oe ERR eae
80 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Ist time. ‘
[zt time |

















eS 5
2. On - ly
EERE ARE
i PaaS
SSS SS
, -o
] and time, accel,
———————— ae arene ae = ae —
zea ear Jeo Se Seem
3. And if a - ny harm as sail - eth
trem.
eee leas — ——— ee
; p acce
eet = ~ ee resets
Se Oimas [sree Smears
sae ( Sae*
eee
Cres. sf Tranguitlo.
a Ea a ee ee ——,
From the storm - y wave or blast, One, whose
Tranguillo.
eae
re gi ee te ei ereay
Cres. sf

SSS 25 = ————==
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 81






















82 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



~ rit. ae rit. aes :

== meee we SSS














cast. And of ev - ‘ry ach -ing heart He will
Spee colla voce. pe in a
a _—" =
== ===

ae SEES

heal the “pain and = smart, ‘When He calls us—









=== = |
eG

when He calls us— to that hap - py Land at

, a
ee SESE


A Day with the Sea Urchins. — 83






DV : rall,
So eS ee ee
ee rn ree =
last ! When He calls us—when He calls us—
“— : : | rR is
ae as 3s —s—
= = | a
s ' raul,












84 A Day with the Sea Urchins.



“And if any harm assaileth
From the stormy wave or blast,
“One, whose mercy never faileth,
Will protection o’er us cast.
And of every aching heart
He will heal the pain and smart,
When He calls us—when He calls us—to that
happy Land at last !”

Jasper sang with all his heart. He knew that the
actual words of his song would not reach or be under-
stood by the people in the boat, but he sang and sang on,
for he wanted the spirit of his words to mingle with the
murmur of the sea and the whisper of the summer wind,
and by this means reach the heart of the sorrowful father,
and comfort him, as it really did, for by-and-by, as the
singing went on, he began to look rather less sad, and
instead of gazing down into the water, and thinking of
the little son he had so loved, lying unburied down there,
he looked up into the beautiful sky, which was now
putting on its brightest colours ready for sunset, and
thought of a happy angel up there instead.

It is not everybody who knows and loves Mother
Nature well enough to hear and understand all the
sweet comforting things she can say out of her own ~
_ great heart, to the hearts of any who are in sorrow, or
trouble, or pain, but you will agree with me that it is
A Day with the Sea Urchins. 85 ,



a very happy thing for those who do so hear and
understand her.

Jasper knew all about it. He knew many Ans this
dear wonderful Sea Urchin of mine. I felt sure that he
must have had some great sorrow to bear himself, in
spite of all his fun; for poets, and artists too, and, in
fact, every one who really teaches others, must have
learnt everything that they teach, with pain and trouble
to themselves.

You children all know this, I am sure, for are you
not learning something all day long, even at your play?
You must find out everything by the pain or trouble
of experience. It must be so, in one way or another,
all through your lives in this world, and then, sooner or
later, when all your lessons are learnt, you know that
you will have to go through the dark and pain of
death, before you get into the beautiful and glorious
light which shines beyond.

Jasper knew all this, I am sure. The name of the
stone—the blood-red jasper—by which I have called
him, means suffering. Some day I will tell you the
signification of the twelve other precious stones also,
unless in the meantime you find them out for your-
selves.

After a time the little boat, with its sorrowful crew,
who had given up their fruitless search, turned and
_ vowed towards the shore in the quiet sunset, and then
86 to Day with the Sea Urchens.

Jasper swam back and rejoined the others, who were
now evidently preparing to depart.

Ruby had bridled, and brought together, the same
sea-horses on which the party had ridden in the morning,
and was amusing himself by all manner of daring and
eccentric performances with them. All were there



except Pearl, whom they called several times, and who
at last appeared. But what a strange-looking Pearl it
was who slowly swam towards them, with an expression
half-conceited, and half ashamed, on her usually sweet,
placid little face.

Now the facts of the case were these. One day
Pearl, from a secure hiding-place, had watched a pleasure
boat go past, and having been much struck by the smart
A Day with the Sea Cae, | 87



appearance of a tiny girl amongst the party of Land.
Urchins on board, had secretly determined. in her foolish
little heart that she would, on the first convenient oppor-
tunity, contrive a dress like it for herself. The. stirring
_ events of the day had, however, fully occupied her
- attention, and it was only now, to while away the time
till Jasper should return, that she had remembered and
carried out her idea. —

There is no denying that she had done it very well,
considering that seaweed was the only material at her —
command. Her artistic fingers had fashioned a green
frock, very like a Land Urchin’s night-gown in shape,
which was gathered round the waist with a ribbon-like
strip of gold colour, and a delicate trimming of white.
finished it at the ‘throat and wrists; two or three rows of
tiny pearly shells were round her neck, and a jaunty
little flat green cap was set on the back of her yellow
curls. It was very cleverly managed indeed, and I
wished she could have made a sketch of herself. But
you -see ‘that, though this costume would have looked
pretty enough on a Land Urchin, it was very comical
indeed to behold a Sea Urchin thus fashionably attired.
Pearl’s brothers and sisters and other inhabitants of the
sea seemed to think so too, for after a pause of mute
astonishment, she was greeted with such peals of silvery
laughter that the water rang again with it. Peal after
peal burst out, till at last I feared I should betray myself

gi

- A Day with the Sea Urchins, 89



/.. by laughing too—the sound of such mirth was so very |

infectious.

A number of See looking young plaice came by,
romping roughly with each other, who, when they saw
Pearl, stuck their tongues into their cheeks and grinned
derisively. Then passed a pair of.smart, slender mullet,
taking their evening stroll together, arm in arm; they
stared rather ‘more than was polite, and whispered to
- each other.

Pearl grew hotter and hotter, and felt more and more
ashamed of herself. This was not at all what she had
expected, and the conceit was being rapidly taken out of
her. At last the poor little. maiden fairly burst into
. tears, which so touched the hearts of her comrades that
they made a great effort and overcame their laughter.

Then Amethyst went up to her too ambitious sister,
and led her by the hand into the recess from whence
she had so proudly emerged a few minutes before, and
kindly and quietly helped her to strip off her finery and
be once more her natural self.

This ridiculous scene had somewhat een the
return journey, but now the sun was nearly down, and
mounting their restless steeds they set out in earnest.
Giddy, mirth-loving Emerald, however, lagged behind
now and again to laugh softly to herself, but being
Pearl’s special ally he would not for worlds have hurt
her feelings by letting her see him do it.
90 A Day with the Sea Urchins.

The sea-birds were flying homeward, slowly uttering
from time to time their rather melancholy cries. All the
gay boats were gathering into the harbour, and I could
see the bright star-like light of the lighthouse on shore
beginning to gleam and flash; family parties of Land
Urchins were being got together by their nurses, and



led home ere the twilight fell on the steep pathway up
the cliff. My little friends had grown very quiet as we
sped on over the gentle ripples of the sea, and presently
they began to sing the song I have written down here
to a sweet simple air, which the cliffs seemed to catch
up and echo back as they sang :—

“Day’s bright hues are fading
From the ocean’s breast 3
Lo, the sun is setting
In the crimson west,
A Day with the Si Urs OL





y i {
1. Day’s bright hues are fad - ing ~

Andante piacevole. 2. Lips of ti- ny wave - lets















—*
From the o-cean’s breast; ° Lo, the sun is set.- ting
. Kiss the shin-ing shore ; _ All is sweet and _ peace - ful, (
—— __ pe Eat
aso gee ge ——
oe. @ ~~ oe —e
a a” a | |
$ — a —
= ee = a



i: be \ ie mf a tempo. i
iA the crim-son west. Lit-tle boats are flit - ting
Day is well-nigh o’er. Lo, the moon is ris - ing

See ——— =
=== =
wo Ta EnIOG! les
ring. ED =— ~
Oa A Lay with the Sea Urchins.

—* 2nd VoIcEs. ar
ee atta
eee =

Round the riv - er bend, While the white-wing’d sea.- gulls
O’er the cliffs a - far; On the grey ho - ri - zon















eo

—_—_—_—_

ee == —_ SSS es










bow "ei
To the ha-ven wend,
Hangs the ev~ning star.












agg an aD a
o o = "

bb ann Tt uGe Gree ie
And on ro-sy rip - ples Of the flow-ing tide, Light-ly
Twilight’s dew-y fra- grance Clos-esroundus fast; All so

= =
== —e ==
s === ==

pp cres.

apie essere






A Day with the Sea Urchins. 93

Spe as . a) | ay
vw iw ww cm ae FE pS Na re

in the sun-set glo - ry, Light-ly home we _— ride—
sweet, so sweet and peace - ful, Tells that day is past—








VS










In the sun-set glo - ry, Light- ly home we ride.
All so sweet and peace -ful, Tells that day is past!















jem os oo
oo — — 3-3-3 =
SS
ac: sempre dim.

eRe Te ea Beal aaa mye
aa ES
ase ees eae ——

ee Both Pedals.






94 A Day with the Sea Urchins.




A Day with the Sea Urchins.

Little boats are flitting
Round the river bend,
While the white-winged sea-gulls
To the haven wend,
And on rosy ripples
Of the flowing tide,
In the sunset glory
Lightly home we ride.
In the sunset glory, etc.



“Lips of tiny wavelets
Kiss the shining shore ;
All is sweet and peaceful,—
Day is well-nigh o’er.
Lo, the moon is rising
O’er the cliffs afar ;
On the grey horizon
Hangs the evening star.

OD
96°. A Day with the Sea Urchins.
Twilight’s dewy fragrance
_ Closes round us fast ;
All so sweet and peaceful,

Tells that day is past!
All so sweet and peaceful, etc.”

By the time this song was finished the cave was
reached, and the sea-horses were unbridled and set free ©
to roam about as they liked. In a few minutes the
Urchins had disappeared, and with the echo of their
sweet bell-like voices in my ears I fell asleep imme- _
diately on reaching the shore. When'I awoke it was
morning again, and I found myself still stretched on.
the short turf of the cliff, with the full tide flowing
beneath me. Could I have slept there all night, I
thought, after my long day spent with the Sea
Urchins? ‘I did not remember scrambling up the
rocks to the cliff again, but then I had been so very
sleepy. Had I dreamt it all, I wondered? I could
‘not tell; I cannot tell to this day. But this I know—
that I saw all I have told. you, just as it is set down
here, with my own eyes. So you will agree with me
that the Sea Urchins must really have been there,
and here are the pictures of all I saw them. doing,
and the songs I heard them sing, which will be proof |
enough to all sensible people.

~ And whenever I walk inland on the moor above the
river, I dream it all over again; and whenever I come
A Day with the Sea Urehens, 97



down the steep path by the little cemetery where the
white crosses gleam in the evening light, and catch
sight of the lovely placid bay between the trees, I
dream it all over again too; and think how much
better than other people I know what is going on out
there.

Now that I have told you all about it you may
picture it to yourselves, as you come upon our favourite
haunts day after day. But I have still to make my
own farewell song for you, and at any rate, dear Land
Urchins, every one of you—this is in real, downright
earnest—that I wish you, with all my heart in the wish,
A Happy Christmas, and the brightest of New Years.

»
a

1


98

A Day with the Sea Urehins.





Close o’er the page, my task is done,
Here I must lay aside my wand; _
Here we must part, who hand in hand,

Have sped from dawn to set of sun.

For I who wrote, and you who read,
Have met in spirit o’er the page;
I, knowing not your name or age,
Have held you with a golden thread.



And, though on earth I may not trace
Your features, One guides you and me,
Who by the tideless crystal sea,

Some day may bring us face to face.

But we must learn through toil and pain,
Dear children, aye, both you and I—
Both life and death’s great mystery,

Before with Him we live and reign.
A Day with the Sea Wiis. : - 99



You know the suffering that He bore—
t a : “By which His tender heart was riv’n,
Was borne, the blessed hope of Heav’n,
oo : To ‘us—His brethren to restore.

And on the blood-red Jasper stone,

I think His City walls are set,

That human hearts may ne’er forget,
The price by which that hope was won.’

For ere we-see the Face of Christ,
We must have climbed each varied hue,
Of joy and sorrow meekly through,
From Jasper—unto Amethyst.

\ ei 3 THE END.

_ Os

ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY EDMUND EVANS, RACQUET COURT, FLEET ‘STREET, LONDON.

1 ©

x

elen M. Burnsi

i ustr ated ),