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FILES
The Flame-Flower
And Other Stories
[Ad rights reserved]
â„¢ PAS
Coe ee = REN ‘
TAS oo ANT
aes SA
Care. SO. a
a 7 eN "\ ry mS a i
a gO
ee
Ke The Mi merlowc:
ws
And Other Stories &
fe
Written and Illustrated by re {
7 Jas. F. Sullivan
*
i London |
J. M. Dent and Co.
1896
BP
Printed by BALLANTYNE, Hanson & Co.
At the Ballantyne Press
Contents
The Lost Idea
The Flame-Flower .
The Flame-Flower—Second Part
Old Primrose .
Bob Robinson's Baby
The Island of Professor Menu
Tommy Twister’s Discovery
PAGE
29
68
113
153
183
235
List of Illustrations
Page
Hlalf-title . seems : : : i
Bob Robinson's Baby : i , ‘ . Frontispiece
Title-page . : A : : : 3 : v
Tailpiece to Contents : 5 : : : vii
Tailpiece to List of I eee : : : ex
lalf-title to “ The Lost Idea� i : : 5 I
Luitial to“ The Lost Idea,†chap. I. : : . 3
Timothy's fishing-rod . j : 5
While he sat fishing he ep got an oe : : a
The vicar felt a hand in his coat pocket . 3 3 10
Lnitial to “« The Lost Idea,†chap. IT. 2 12
Nebuchadnezzar climbing up with barrow-loads of Le 13
Dame Betsy pegging the cow’s tail down . i ‘ 17
Nathaniel’ s barrow and the two balloons . : : 19
Lnitial to “« The Lost Idea,†chap. III. . é en 23
“ How dare you say my husband is crazy 2� : 25
Now he’s the King’s Bootmaker 3 S ‘ a Oe)
Half-title to “The Flame-Flower� . ‘ . eZ
Lnitial to “ The Flame-Flower,? chap. 1. . Z eye oil
A great black shadow shaped like a wolf . ‘ : 36
Morddec’s castle and the wolves : f : 7)
Morddec’s castle . : ‘ A 5 39
The wolves came Sorth from te forest : 3 i 40 —
x List of Illustrations :
Evan and Honora and Flamma
The shadow of the wolf .
He threw her from him and ran away
Initial to “ The Flame-Flower,â€â€™ chap. LI.
The rock was consumed by fierce heat
Tailpiece to “‘ The Flame-Flower,†part 1.
Initial to “ The Flame-Flower,†part Il. .
As the wolves slay the sheep
“ Hear me!†cried Evan ‘
So Evan set them to work to cut down trees
And so they set out to Pratulum
She was very lovely to look upon
The great oak
Border: The squirrel Lapa ae news ee it to ie
ringdove 3
Initial to “ The Flame--Flower,†ne fl, ps IIL,
A stranger came running in deadly fear :
The figure of a woman like that of a wolf . : 4
Border : There came forth i the forest around many
wolves , : 4 :
He hewed them down ie Ee ane
“ The fire! the fire!†cried the enone
The great oak lay uprooted : .
Flamma leaned against the fallen oak . :
“ How dreadfully ugly you are!†exclaimed Daisy
Old Primrose’s barrister . :
So he stood on a stump ‘ A
So he set to aad to study coming out of eggs
Page
41
52
54
56
58
67
68
70
72
74
75
81
34
86
g!
94
96
99
102
104
107
109
114
120
123
125
List of I Llustrations
Old Primrose inside the egg
“ That's a very fine caterpillar, miss |�
Daisy turned up a corner 2 a co.
Miss Pupsey a :
The Beautiful Butterfly .
Mary Ann Dabbles
George, the pig, swaggered out at the a es
fle settled on the back of a chair :
Border : Mrs. George Porkson and a at ey
Tailpiece to “* Old Primrose†:
Ffalf-title to ** Bob Robinson’s Baby�
Bob Robinson as a child .
The nest of R. Robinson, Esquire
LErthupp and Bob Robinson—one view
LErthupp and Bob Robinson—another view
Border: The hatching of an egg
“ The egg has hatched out a baby�
Border: Sundry views of Erthupp .
Back view of Erthupp and Bob Robinson .
Erthupp and Bob Robinson ; $ A
Erthupp and Bob Robinson again. | i
Tailpiece to “* Bob Robinson’s Baby�
Drifted for about three years on a ce
“I call him a vegetable� 2
Merioneth was putting out from the island in a poe
The Dock-Labourer
The Crab-Apple- Pie- Goes
Pursued by the Thingummy—A Sensation jeep
Xi
Page
128
133
135
138
140 ©
142
147
149
150
151
153
155
159
162
163
165
168
172
173
174
175
182
187
Igt
196
198
202
205
xii List of [lustrations
Page
The Dough-Do . 5 s 5 5 ep 2LO)
A centipede lamb . : : : : : oo Ne
The Currant-Jelly-Fish . : : : : ely
The Celery- Cockatoo : i : : j Fa ZlG
Ihe Omnibustard . : : Z : : «221
The Porcupineapple : ; : ‘ 3 + 225
The Cow-Eel ei é 3 : : . 228
The Leap into the Crater ! aa ULES: 23
“ Why do People want to discover the Wee Pole Ce 23.0)
The Skipper and the naughty needle. ‘ : + 243
“Pm a fixed point? ~ 247
Tommy had seen the gardener . a oe of one tree on
to another. : 3 Eazg t
‘“ Dear me! that is quite unusual!†5 : ee 2152
“ Aren’t you interested in Dates 2� . : : - 254
Billy Bunson : cess ‘ Z50
Away they went down ap hee river . : : - 263
“ PI take off my overcoatâ€. : : ‘ R275
John Frost, Esq. . 5 3 } s Ss . 281
Tailpiece to the book : : : : : - 285
aera
shea
iano
sara
se re
The Lost Idea
SAEMOTHY was a shoemaker. Two years
a ago Timothy had made a pair
of hob-nailed boots for Jarge the
ploughman; and Mr. William
the draper, passing along the
road, had caught sight of those
boots down in a furrow right at
the farther corner of a twenty-
acre field, and had stopped in
admiration and wonder, and
e called out—
s Jarge, what wonderful boots you aa?
have on! A
“Ah! That's what they are—
wonderful!†Jarge had replied.
“ Jarge, whoever caz have made you those
boots?†said Mr. William.
3
-
4 The Lost Idea
“Why, Timothy made them, as you might
say,†Jarge had said.
Then Mr. William the draper, quite over-
come with wonder, had gone home
and looked in the till and said,
“T can afford a new pair of boots.
I will go to Timothy and get him
to make me a wonderful pair.â€
And the Squire’s factor, Mr.
James, had happened to go into the draper’s,
and had caught sight of the draper’s boots
right down in the dark behind the counter—
(for a really good thing cannot be hidden!)
—and had said, “O Mr. William! what
wonderful boots you have on! Whoever
made such boots?â€
And Mr. William had said, “No other
than Timothy, I do assure you!â€
And so the Squire’s factor had counted up
his money, and had ordered Timothy to make
him a wonderful pair of boots too; and the
Squire had caught sight of them right under
a rug on the floor of the factor’s dog-cart ;
and then the Squire had reckoned up how
much the new succession duties had left him
The Lost Idea 5
and had found it just enough to buy a pair
of boots with; and had ordered a pair of
Timothy.
And so things were going on, until it was
whispered that the Lord-Lieutenant of the
county had decided to order a pair of boots
of Timothy ; when one day Timothy’s wife
said—
“Tim, you have worked very hard for a
long time; I think you ought to take a
holiday.â€
“IT am very contented without it,†replied
Timothy. And, indeed, Timothy
was quite fat and rosy with con-
tentment ; but he thought it over,
and decided that his wife knew
best. Now, wives nearly always
do know best; only husbands,
being conceited, pretend not to
believe it.
So Timothy reached down his
fishing-rod, and trotted out to take hee
a holiday; and as he went through the vil-
lage all the inhabitants turned pale and said,
‘We hope Timothy is not going to leave
6 The Lost Idea
his work and keep us without our wonderful
boots !â€
Timothy, plump and happy, sat down on
the grass by the river and fished ; and during
the day he caught three small bleak, and
hung them up by their gills to twigs, with
weights on their tails to stretch them out
as long as possible, in order to surprise his
fishing-club with his catch. And while he
sat fishing he suddenly got an idea in his
head. And this is the turning-point of the
story ; so please notice it well.
' Very well; at five o'clock he got up, took
down his three bleak from the twigs, flat-
tened out the marks made round their
tails by the string which had suspended the
weights, and trotted towards home.
Just as he had got half-way home he
suddenly stopped, clapped his hand to his
forehead, and turned very pale. “Bless my
soul!†he said, “I have forgotten to bring
my Idea!â€
He ran back as hard as he could and
searched in the grass where he had been
sitting, but he could not find his Idea;
The Lost Idea | 7
he turned up all the large stones, but he
could not find his Idea; and he peered down
into the clear water, but his Idea was not
there !
8 The Lost Idea
So Timothy turned very sadly away,
muttering, “That Idea was the best thing
I ever had in my life!†and crawled dismally
home.
“Why, Tim, dear, you don’t seem well!â€
said his wife.
“Tve lost my Idea!†said Timothy, with
tears in his eyes,
“Well, never mind,†said Mrs. Timothy,
‘you'll soon get another.â€
“ Get another!†said Timothy indignantly.
“Why, it’s the only Idea I have ever got in
my life ; and it was such a beauty—so bright
and round, and beautiful to touch! There
isn't another like it in the village! And now
I’ve lost it, and don’t know what it was
about; and I can’t eat my tea!â€
All the next day Timothy neglected his
boot-making, and searched on the river-bank
for his Idea.
“It was so brilliant!†he said dismally.
“Then how is it that you don’t see it
glittering?†asked his wife.
“ Be quiet, woman!†said Timothy angrily.
‘Women have no reason!â€
The Lost Idea 9
The day after that Timothy sat brooding
in his shop without doing a stitch of work,
although a special messenger had come that
morning with an order for a pair of boots for
the Lord-Lieutenant of the county.
“Tim, dear, wouldn’t it be better to go on
with your work, and forget the Idea ?†said
Mrs. Timothy.
“T can’t,†said Timothy; “my heart is
breaking about my Idea. There isn’t such
an Idea in the county—in the world! I shall
never be happy again!†and he fairly broke
down and sobbed.
“Oh, why did I ever persuade him to take
a holiday!†cried poor Mrs. Timothy. ‘It’s
all my fault!†and she sat down and wept
silently.
“Women make too much fuss about
things!†growled Timothy.
From that time Timothy altered dread-
fully. He entirely neglected his work, and
did nothing but lurk about the village, search-
ing for his lost Idea. The Lord-Lieutenant
of the county came in person to beseech him
to execute his order for boots, and said that
10 The Lost Idea
he should be unable to hold the grand recep-
tion which he had arranged for, if he did not
get his boots ; but Timothy would not go on
with them.
Timothy became a nuisance to everybody.
Mr. Joseph, the vicar, looking into a shop
window, felt a hand in his coat
tail pocket, and found Timothy
searching in it.
“This is a great liberty!â€
said the vicar. ‘ Whatever
are you doing?â€
‘Looking for my Idea,â€
said Timothy.
Then Mrs. William, the
draper’s wife, returning home one day, found
her parlour all upside down, with all the
cupboards turned out, the covering of the
arm-chair unpicked, and the carpet pulled
up; and there was Timothy feeling under-
neath it.
“I’m surprised at you, Mr. Timothy!†said
Mrs. draper. ‘“ You must have gone mad!â€
‘Not I,†said Timothy; “I’m looking for
my Idea.â€
The Lost Idea II
He looked in everything—up people's
chimneys, under their hearth-rugs, in their
dust-holes ; he even opened their letters when
he could get hold of them: nothing was safe
from his search.
“We will zof put up with it!†said every-
body ; and Timothy was handed over to Mr.
Benjamin, the policeman: but Timothy wor-
ried him so dreadfully by peeping into his
pockets and taking off his helmet to look in-
side it, that the policeman got quite worn out,
and let him go.
“© Timothy, dear!†said his wife, weeping,
“your boots are dropping off your feet, and
so are mine, and so are the children’s. Do,
at least, make us a pair each!â€
But Timothy wouldn’t ; he had an appoint-
ment to search under the church pulpit for
his Idea.
II
OW, one day as Timothy was passing a
poultry-yard his attention was at-
tracted by the great cackling made
by a Cochin-China hen. Timothy —
had grown very suspicious and
mistrustful of all his neighbours,
even the dumb creatures; and he
said—
“That hen would never be so
very proud and triumphant with-
out some good reason. She has
- evidently stolen my Idea!â€
And he watched the hen for
a long time, until at length she
laid an egg.
“No,†said Timothy. ‘ Laying an egg is
a very poor idea—my Idea was very, very
much better than that: she hasn't stolen it.â€
12
The Lost Idea 15
The next day he saw old Nebuchadnezzar
the cottager standing at his little green gate
and chuckling to himself very proudly.
“J will watch that old fellow,†said
Timothy to himself. ‘“ He wouldn’t be so
jubilant unless he had hit on something
above the common. I’m certain he has
stolen my Idea.â€
He watched old Nebuchadnezzar; and
he saw him place a ladder against his house
and climb up with barrow-loads of earth
and throw the earth down his chimney until
he had filled it up; and when Nebuchad-
nezzar had filled it up he took a little some-
thing out of his pocket and popped it into
the earth in the chimney-pot, and patted
the earth neatly down.
“That’s my Idea he’s hidden there!â€
thought Timothy; and next morning at
dawn he slyly got old Nebuchadnezzar’s
ladder and stole up to the roof, and raked
out the little object with his finger.
“Bah!†said Timothy ; “ ¢aé dirty little
thing is not my beautiful Idea; it’s only a
common tree-seed.â€
16 The Lost Idea
However, he carefully put it back and
patted down the earth again; for he felt
certain that old Nebuchadnezzar had his
Idea somewhere, and wanted to see the
affair through.
When old Nebuchadnezzar had _ patted
down the earth in his chimney-pot, he had
gone down into his cottage and lighted the
fire under the chimney ; and in a short time
a little plant sprouted from the pot above.
Owing to the genial warmth communicated
to the mould by the fire the plant grew,
in a few weeks, to a large tree; and on it
grew all sorts of delicate fruits — peaches,
pine-apples, pomegranates, bananas, dates,
oranges, and so forth. It was a wonderful
sight ; and the position of the tree prevented
the boys picking the fruit.
‘Well, it’s a very fair idea in its way,â€
thought Timothy, “but I see it isn’t my
Idea—my Idea was far, far grander than
that, I’m certain.â€
Some time after that, in the autumn, he
noticed that Dame Betsy with the Cow led
her cow into her kitchen-garden—(which was
The Lost Idea 17
not her usual custom)—and tossed her head
seven times with pride.
“Then Dame Betsy has stolen my Idea,â€
thought Timothy; and he watched from
behinda hedge. He saw Dame Betsy
make up a hot-bed, and peg the
cow’s tail down to
the earth with hair-
pins. You have
seen your gardener
peg down carnation
stems? Very well;
she pegged down the cow’s tail just like
that yee:
The cow did not like it much at first, and
proposed to get up and walk away ; but she
was a good cow, and was easily persuaded to
sit still; and all through the winter Betsy
kept the end of the tail moist with warm
water, and took out the cow’s meals to her,
and often sat and read to her out of a
gardening book about carnations, to en-
courage her.
In the spring a number of tiny black-
and-fawn heads sprouted up through the
B
18 | The Lost Idea
earth from the roots thrown out by the
tail; and when Betsy had carefully detached
them and potted them up in small pots,
they grew so rapidly that by midsummer
they were big enough to turn out into
the meadow to graze. Beautiful little Al-
derney cows they were— about twenty of
them.
“ Hum—yes,†said Timothy, “that’s really
a good idea—but it’s not mine! Mine was
worth fifty of it!â€
He never left off searching. One day
Old Nathaniel, who was the dirtiest old
man in the village, and the laziest, and the
most grumbly, and had the longest nose,
came out with his barrow and screamed for
joy. Now it had always been Old Nathaniel’s
duty to wheel his barrow, full of stones, half
a mile down the road, as far as the pound;
and he hated the trouble. But this morning
he attached two little balloons, which he had
made, to himself and his barrow; and then
he filled them with gas; and when they were
full, he and the barrow rose to about three
feet in the air,
The Lost Idea 21
Now this action of his requires explana-
tion. He had heard from the schoolmaster
the week before that the world is in the habit
of turning round once in every twenty-four
hours ; and it had occurred to him that if he
could detach himself from the world and let
it go round without him he could just wait
until the place he wanted to reach came
round to him and then drop quietly down
and land there without any exertion on his
part. It is not the right thing to escape
one’s duties in this way, and I am not prais-
ing him for doing it; I am only saying that
he did it.
Well, round went the earth (just as usual),
and the pound reached him in such a short
time that he overshot the mark by three miles,
and had to wheel his barrow back all that
way; but he soon got into the way of drop-
ping at the right spot with a little practice,
and (very improperly) saved himself a lot of
trouble.
“That's a really excellent idea—I admit
it,†said Timothy ; “ but it is zof mine. Mine
was worth five hundred of even that.†You
22 | The Lost Idea
perceive that his admiration of the Idea he
had lost grew every day; he had become
really foolish about it. No one but a per-
son who writes story-books should fancy his
ideas so wonderful as all that.
Ill
3.7 O, my Idea cannot be in the vil-
lage,†said Timothy. ‘I believe
that whoever found it has taken
» it away—perhaps to foreign coun-
tries, to sell it to an emperor. I
/)} must go and search for it.â€
. «But surely, Timothy, you will not go
away and leave me and the children all alone!â€
said his wife. ‘We shall all be starved. I
have not a penny left now from what I saved
from your earnings when you attended to
your business. You must be crazy!â€
“But only think,†said Timothy, “I shall
find my Idea, and sell it to an emperor for
more money than you can imagine; and
then I shall return, and we will all have
more food than we ever had before—three
times as much—more than is good for us.
23
24 | Fie lose Vaca
And meanwhile,†he added generously, “I
will beg the Squire to assist you.â€
So Timothy went away; and his poor
wife had to work very hard to keep herself
and the children, and could hardly do it.
‘“ He must be crazy to leave you like this,â€
said the neighbours.
“How dare you say my husband is
crazy!†said Mrs. Timothy indignantly ; ‘‘he »
did perfectly right; and you are nasty bad
people!â€
For seven years Timothy wandered about
the world. He had grown lean and miser-
able. He slept under hedges, and got
hardly anything to eat. Every day, when
some great poet or statesman had a splendid
idea, Timothy believed it was his own; but it
never turned out brilliant enough to be Zzs.
And one day, at the end of the seven
years, he wandered back to his native
village. He was too miserable and de-
pressed to go at once to his wife and chil-
dren, although he longed to. He crawled
along the side of the river, and sat down,
heartbroken, on the very spot where he
The Lost Idea 27
had lost his Idea so long ago, and sobbed.
He happened to. put his hand on the
grass, and it felt something under it. He
leaped up with a shout. He hugged the
little thing to his breast and nearly choked
with joy, and it was several minutes before
he could summon up courage to look at it;
and when he did, he let it drop and hid his
face in his thin hands and moaned. It was
not brilliant in the least! It was as dull as
ditch-water, and very, very small. That
Idea which he had believed so great and
splendid was only—‘‘ J think I had better go
home to tea!â€
Then Timothy turned away and ce
home; and when his wife returned “
from her hard day’s work, there was
Timothy sitting on his stool, work-
ing hard at a boot. And now ,
he’s the King’s Bootmaker, liv- v
ing in a beautiful house next
door to the palace; and he
and his wife and his children :
are the plumpest and merriest people in ae
whole city.
The Flame-Flower
i QVAN and Honora stood hand
fies) in hand on the inlaid floor of
= the great house. “ ‘Here we
&e will dwell when we are wed,â€
said Evan; “for the house is
mine. Licinius has departed,
and returns no more; and, at
his parting, he gave it me for
the love he bore me and the
service I had done him, and
_ my father before me.â€
But the great house was
desolate, and falling to de-
cay. In the fore-court the
MS orass grew green between
the stones, and the painted stucco of the
pillars around had peeled off in great flakes,
3f
32 The Flame-Flower
which lay upon the floor; owls and bats
reared their young in the inner rooms, and
the household altar was moss-grown. The
gardens around were tangled, and overrun
with briar and bramble; yet they had been
beautiful. And the house stood on a hill-
side, and the view from it was fair and wide.
From the house one could look away to
the high hill where stood the camp of the
conquerors, which was deserted now; and
across great meadows and tilled fields to the
dark forest which was no-man’s-land, where
the bad spirits lived and planned evil.
And Licinius the owner of the great house
had gone at length to return no more; in-
deed these several years he had not dwelt
in it, being called away to the far South by
the troubles of his own country and his own
city. He had been a rich man, and this
house had been his residence in summer ;
he had been lord over Evan’s father and
over Evan, and over all lesser men for
many a broad mile; for he was of the blood
of the conquerors who had ruled the land
for four centuries. Evan’s father had been
The Flame-Flower 33
head-man under Licinius, and his trusted
bailiff and friend; Honora’s mother had
been a freewoman and favourite in the
household of Patricia wife of Licinius, both
here and at the noble lady’s house in the
great city of the far South.
But misfortune came ever more heavily
upon the great city of the South; and Licinius
was a poor man now; and he had given his
empty house—for indeed he could not keep
it—to Evan.
_ None had repaired nor tended the deso-
late house; for men were troubled in their
minds because of the departure of their con-
querors, who had protected them so long;
and were without government, and confused ;
and nought remained in the great house for
robbers to take, for these had torn off all the
fittings of bronze to make into weapons and
tools.
Evan was a young man, strong and fair ;
and he gathered his cattle into the pas-
tures around the great house, and left his
own farmer’s house of stone and timber, and
dwelt in the gift-house. His lands he kept,
c
34 The Flame-Flower
joining them to those of the gift-house ; and
he and his men—for he had many serving-
men, being a head-man and of repute and
strong of hand—he and his men repaired
the house as well as they might; for Evan
had learned some of the useful arts from the
conquering race.
Then Evan took the hand of Honora, and
led her to the great house as his wife ; and
they were happy.
Honora was fair as she stood in the
meadow in the morning looking toward
the risen sun; and her hair was golden, so
that Eostre the dawn goddess rejoiced in it,
playing with it.
But Morddec stole forth from the gloomy
forests where the spirits dwell, and passed
between Honora and the risen sun; so that
he made a black shadow between the sun
and her, shutting out the light from her
hair; and Honora shivered as the shadow
passed.
Now Morddec was by one side of the
family of Evan, but by the other side he
was the son of the wolf-woman ; and the
Bee Flame-Flower 35
deeds of Morddec were evil, so that men
_ hated and feared him, shuddering at his
name,
In those days all the kindred of him who
did an evil deed were punished for his deed :
so that many a time had Evan and his kin-
dred been forced to pay great sums in cattle
and in money to the families of those whom
Morddec had injured.
But the man did evil to those of his own
kindred as well as to strangers; so that his
own kindred had driven him forth from
among them. Then Morddec had gone away
into the dark forest which is no-man’s-land,
to herd with the wolves and the evil spirits ;
and he hated all men, especially Evan his
cousin, and sought always to do them
injury.
It was said that this Morddec had the
power from his mother of changing to a
wolf, and of casting evil spells upon men;
those who had dared to pass the dark
forests had told of a great black wolf with
eyes that shone like burnished copper, and
how they had shivered as he passed in the
36 The Flame-Flower
gloom: but men believed strange things in
those days.
Evan and his wife Honora were very
happy ; though Honora had shivered when
the wolf-shadow passed between the sun and
her, and had not felt so content as before
for all that day. But she loved Evan, and
they walked hand in hand in the pastures.
One day a daughter was born to them.
On the day when she was born Evan,
standing at dusk at the entrance of his
house, saw a strange cluster of small flowers
of the colour of gold in the meadow in front.
He wondered at this; for it was winter,
and the meadows were covered with snow,
so that it was not the time of flowers.
The Plipye al louey 37
As he watched the flowers, the dusk
deepened into darkness ; yet the strange
flowers did not fade from sight, but
showed ever more brightly; and [it
seemed to him as though their petals
moved, or flickered, as the flame of a / \
fire flickers. Then, full of wonder, i
Evan went toward the flowers to exa- / ‘
mine them; and as he went toward
them, he saw here and there other
groups of these flowers, so that pre-
sently the meadows were alight with /~
them and all yellow; but when he | ’
stooped to pluck any of them, Hi
these had gone; wherethey had == ~
Gy Or eee
stood the snow was melted in “SiR :
a ring, and the green grass was oy
bare.
And as Evan stood in the
midst of the meadows he
saw a great black shadow
that was shaped like a wolf
come out from the nearest
fringe of forest.
Although the wolf was distant
38 The Flame-Flower
many a javelin-cast, Evan saw that its eyes
shone like burnished copper ; and when the
wolf-shadow had gazed upon the flowers, it
came forth to cross the meadows toward the
house ; but when its foot touched the groups
of flowers their petals leapt up suddenly to
ten times their height, so that the wolf-
shadow gave forth a great howl of pain and
fear, fleeing‘again into the forest.
All this Evan saw dimly, except the
brightness of the flowers; for the light of
day had almost gone.
All this happened on the day when
Evan’s daughter was born, at the hour of
her birth; and she was called Flamma, in
the language of the conquerors whom
Evan loved.
Now Morddec, Evan’s cousin who hated
all men, dwelt in a little castle of stone
which he had built upon a rock in the dark
forests where no good man dared to dwell.
He and his men had built it; for Morddec
had gathered to him nine others, outlaws
and landless men, who had been driven forth
The Flame-Flower 39
to the forests, like him, for evil deeds; and
these obeyed his will, for he was strong so
that they feared him.
These men had built the
castle with the stones of a
temple made by the con-
querors long before near
that spot; with much labour
they had moved the stones
and raised them on to the
rock, for Morddec had
learned the art of building from
the conquering race. But there
were some who said that he had built
the castle by magic arts, not with his
hands. Here lived he and his nine men;
and he had nought to give them save
what they robbed others of, as was their
way.
The rock was, as it were, an island in
the midst of flat ground; and no one might
reach the castle save by a ladder made of a
fir-trunk set with pegs. By day and by night
the ladder was drawn up into the castle, so
that no stranger might climb; and by night
40 The :«Flame-Flower
the wolves came forth from the forest, and
crossed the dangerous swamp that lay all
round the rock, and
howled about the castle
-of Morddec; so that
c. . nhone except him and
rr, hig men dared venture
ale near it for fear of the wolves
w —no, nor even his men
# unless he were near to check
the wolves; for the wolves
knew him, being (as was said)
of his kin; and men even said
that he knew their language, and
could speak with them.
Morddec thought day and night of
the good lands of Evan, and of his cattle
and his fair house, and longed for
them (although the people would not
have suffered him to hold them); but
Evan was too strong for him, although
a mild and kindly man; so Morddec
feared and hated him.
One day, when Flamma was seven years
old, Evan and Honora and Flamma stood in
The Flame-Flower 41
the pastures in the sun; and now the sun
was high, so that none afoot could cast a
shadow upon them; and their hair was
golden in the sun.
But something seemed to pass above; it
was like a little cloud, yet formed as a wolf,
and it cast a shadow over them; Evan and
his wife felt a great chill at their hearts
42 The Flame-Flower
as the shadow passed. Then Evan thought
of the saying of men that Morddec’s mother,
the wolf-woman, had the power of passing
through the air at will.
Then as the cloud passed, Honora drew
her hand out from the hand of Evan, where
it had lain; and when Evan noticed this
and looked upon her, she turned away her
head and would not look at him; but bit her
lip and gazed away gloomily at the dark
forests.
Then she turned from Evan and little
Flamma, saying no word, and so went slowly
back to the house; Evan gazing after her,
wondering.
Evan took the child by the hand, and fol-
lowed his wife to the house.
“Honora,†he said, ‘this day is the day
of the year on which we were wed; and my
freemen prepare a feast for us that we may
rejoice, and they in our happiness!â€
But she turned away her head, making no
answer.
Evan said, ‘I pray you come and show
yourself to them; for they wait to lay their
The Flame-Flower 43
offerings at your feet and to wish you
gladness.â€
“T am indisposed,†Honora said, “let
them rejoice without me.â€
Evan took the child by the hand, and
went out, wondering. In the room that was
- called ‘“triclinium,’ which had been the
dining - hall of Licinius, the serving -men
laid boards upon trestles, preparing a feast.
Some vessels of silver and of glass there
were, which Patricia had given to Honora’s
mother in the days past; and many meats
were being prepared, for the people had
learned some of the luxury of their con-
querors. Some men spread sweet-scented
herbs and rushes upon the floor, and others
hung up branches and garlands of flowers.
Then came the freemen, bringing gifts of
corn, and bracelets and brooches of silver-
work and of bronze and carved stone. So
they sat down to the feast, and Evan excused
Honora, saying she was sick ; but the feast
was a sad one, save for the presence of
the child Flamma, whom the freemen took
upon their knees, caressing her golden hair.
44 The Flame-F lower
When the feast was over Evan went to
seek Honora in her room. But she was
not there. Then he sought her in the
meadows, but found her not; and so toward
evening, still seeking, he came into the
edge of the dark forest.
Now in those days the townships or dwell-
ing-places of the people were surrounded by
belts of forest which separated them one
from the other ; and none lived in the forests,
for these were full of elves, and bad spirits,
and all manner of strange beasts which
breathed fire and noxious vapours, and would
slay men. None passed willingly through
the forests, but would journey (when jour-
neying was needed) by the great roads which
the conquerors had made; and it was an evil
thing to say of any man that he dwelt in the
forests, or even that he went much in them ;
for men knew by that that he must be in
league with the dark spirits dwelling there ;
and men would shun such an one, and might
kill him’as an evil-doer. Evan feared the
forests less than most men, for he had dwelt
much with the conquering race and knew
The Flame-Flower 45
more than his fellows; and the conquerors
had spoken less of evil spirits than of dryades
or wood fairies, and of naiades or nymphs of
the fountains, and of fauns; and these were
harmless to men and beautiful. Yet Evan
also seldom went in the forests, fearing that
men should think evil of him.
Now, in much grief and wonder, hardly
knowing whither he went, he strayed into
the borders of the woods, and so came upon
Honora sitting under a great oak; she
seemed not to see him as he advanced, but
gazed gloomily upon the ground; and it
seemed to him that he saw in the gloom
behind her the shadow of the wolf. Then
Evan took her by the hand and led her
home, and brought Flamma to her.
But Honora took no heed of the child.
She said, “Leave me alone, for I am weary
and ill-content!â€
‘“What would you have, Honora?†Evan
said. “Will I not give you all that is in
my power, even to my life, if you will?
Speak to the child, for she pines at your
neglect. Why are you changed so?â€
46 The Flame-Flower
Honora rose, and pressed her hand upon
her forehead. ‘Why am I not rich and
great like Patricia?†she said angrily.
“Why is our home so mean—this land so
dull and boorish? Let me go to the city
of the South, where there are palaces ot
marble, and great shows, and splendour!
You—you are not a soldier like the captains
of the South—you wear no gilded armour and
fine plumes, but dress in leather and coarse
stuff, and herd with clowns!. Leave me!â€
Then Evan bowed his head, and took
the child by the hand, and went out to
sorrow ; and the wolf howled mockingly in
the distant forest.
Often after that did Evan seek for
Honora, ever finding her in the forest and
leading her home; and each time she came
more unwillingly. The people began to
talk of this and to shake their heads when
they spoke of Evan and his wife, whispering
that they held communion with evil spirits
and wolves; and they drew away as Evan
passed.
One day, at this time, when Evan walked
The Flame-Flower — 47
in the meadows by the fringe of the forest,
Morddec came out from among the trees
greeting him, and linked his arm in Evan’s,
and so conversed with him.
Evan was a mild and kindly man, and he
did not repulse his cousin, hating him less
than others did, for all that Morddec had
often tried to harm him; so he talked with
him.
But there were those who stood in the
fields at their labour ; and these saw the two
conversing, and pointed at them, saying, “It
is true! Evan holds communion with the son
of the wolf-woman. He is an evil man!â€
All in the township heard of this, and
talked of it, and said, ‘This man is not fit
to be our head-man. He is in league with
the evil spirits of the forests!â€
So all men began to shun Evan, and to
fear him; and his freemen drew away from
him; and the serfs who tilled his fields,
tended his flocks and herds, and sat at his
board, began to depart one by one, going
to other masters; until there were few of
them left.
48 The Flame-Flower
Then his sheep and cattle strayed into
the forest, and were slain by fierce dragons
and other beasts ; and his fields began to fall
into neglect for want of hands to till them ;
and the freemen often met and talked of
thrusting Evan from their midst.
When Honora saw that they grew poorer
she grew more gloomy, and would not speak —
to Evan nor to the child, but seemed to hate
them.
The wolves began to come forth from the
forest and to take his sheep, and the sheep
of the other farmers; by hundreds they came
forth, and could not be scared away.
At this time Flamma was very sweet to
look upon, and her hair was golden like her
mother’s. Honora sat apart in a window
with her chin upon her hand, looking to-
ward the setting sun. She had thrust her
spinning-wheel from her in wrath, so that
it lay broken. She looked and saw the
wolves coming from the forest, and the
meadow was grey with them. Flamma
crept to her side, laying her head upon
her lap to be caressed; but there passed a
The Flame-Flower 49
black cloud like a wolf across the setting
‘sun, and Honora thrust Flamma away.
Then Flamma, weeping, went to another
window and gazed out at the meadows; and
in the dusk she saw a little cluster of strange
flowers that showed among the grass like
little flames of fire. The wolves, too, saw
them at a distance, and fled back. Then
the flowers were gone; but Flamma ceased
to weep, though she knew not why.
The next morning, when Evan awoke,
Honora was gone from the house. He went
out from the door to seek her; and there
met him a great throng of men, with staves
and javelins in their hands, clamouring.
And they sprang forward to kill him at
his door; but Flamma came out and stood
by his side, gazing upon them.
Then they drew back because of the beauty
of the child, but they cried to Evan, ‘Get
you gone into the forests to herd with the
wolves and spirits; for if we find you here
when the sun be risen, you shall die!â€
One hurled a javelin at Evan, and it
stuck in the doorpost, quivering.
D
io The Flame-F lower
Then Evan took up Flamma and fled into
the forest; and as he looked out from the
edge of it, the sun had risen, and the roof
of his house was in flames; for the people
destroyed it for fear of evil spirits that might
lurk in it.
When the people had let Evan depart,
they repented of it, making a hue and cry
after him to slay him, so that he had to
flee into the heart of the forest to save
Flamma and himself; but when he had
built the child a hut of mud and stones and
branches to stay in, and covered the floor
with dry fern, and got food for her, he ven-
tured once more into the borders of the
forest by himself, seeking for Honora. Many
times was he nearly slain by the javelins and
arrows of those who hunted him; but he
escaped, and so came upon Honora after
many days, and led her to the hut.
There, with a javelin which one had hurled
at him to kill him, he hunted the wild things
of the forest, and so got food for Honora
and Flamma day by day ; but Honora would
not speak, but sat with her chin in her hand
The Flame-Flower 51
brooding. When Evan took Flamma and
placed her hand silently in her mother’s,
Honora thrust her away fiercely, hurting
her.
“You love your child no more!†said
Evan.
“T love none any more,†said Honora;
and she turned her face away to where the
sun had set. For some days ago, when she
had looked from the window, the sun had
been setting ; but now it was set.
They were safe from men in the place
where they dwelt, for no man would have
dared to venture so far into the forest;
moreover, the place where the hut stood
was girt about with marshes, which even
the beasts feared.
Day by day Evan, hunting alone in the
forest, thought of Honora, how great a
change had come upon her; and, but for
the child, he would have despaired, for his
good house was gone, and all his wealth in
flocks and cattle and swine, and his good
name among men. But day by day he
went in silence to Honora’s side, and stroked
52 The Flame-Flower
her golden hair, and took her hand in his,
hoping always that she might cast off this
sorcery—for that he knew it must be. But
she changed no more, nor would look upon
him, and drew away her hand from his.
One day Evan took
Flamma by the hand
when he went forth to
hunt ; for that day he feared
to be by himself, his grief
being too great to bear.
He stood, holding Flamma
by the hand, and gazed
upon the morning sun in
her hair; for a shaft of
light pierced the thick forest
and fell upon her; and he
3 stooped to kiss her.
" But a shadow passed across
them. Evan knew that it
was the shadow of the wolf. And he did
not kiss the child, but cast away her hand
from him, wondering at himself. He fled
from Flamma, hurrying away without pur-
pose. Soon he heard a step behind him,
The Flame-Flower 53
and turned; and there stood Morddec, son
of the wolf-woman, mocking him.
Hatred of all men and all things were in
Evan’s heart, and bitterness and rage. He
raised his javelin and hurled it at Morddec;
but it struck his breast as though it had
struck a shield of bronze, and bounded off;
and Morddec laughed mockingly and was
gone.
Now Evan returned no more by daylight
to look upon his wife and child, but took
their meat secretly by night, and laid it at
the door of the hut and stole away.
Flamma was now ten years of age, fair
beyond words, and of a sweet presence.
For a year she had not looked upon her
father, nor had her mother spoken to her;
and she wandered alone amid the marshes
and the forest, talking with the birds and the
squirrels ; and these loved her and came to
her. But often she sat beneath the trees
and sobbed, so that the wild things of the
forest wondered at her, and crept close to
her as if to console her.
One day, as she sat thus, having strayed
BAM) The Flame-Flower
further than usual from the hut, Evan came
by; and she ran to him, falling at his feet,
and clasped his hand.
But his look was wild like that of the wolf,
and he threw her from him and ran away.
Then Flamma cried aloud, and wandered
away further into the darkness of the forest ;
and Evan stopped and turned, and stood
watching her. He passed his hand across
his brow as one dazed, and tried to call her
The Flame-Flower 55
back to him, but he could not call. He
stretched out his arms toward her, and his
eyes were wild, and she saw him not; so
he watched her until she was gone in the
darkness, and then he fell upon his face.
I]
forest Flamma wandered. She was
pale, for of late the sickness of the
marshes had been upon her. It was
winter, and where the trees stood
, more apart the ground was thick with
‘s. snow; but she felt no cold, only sorrow.
“When she had wandered far, she sank at
the foot of a great rock in the moonlight,
sitting as one benumbed. She longed
feebly that the rock might open and let her
creep in out of the cold, for she began to
feel the cold at last.
As she sat, her hand rested on the snow
at the foot of the rock. She seemed to
feel a little warmth in the hand, as though a
pleasant fire had been near ; and the warmth
seemed to grow greater, until the blue nails
56
4
cA
5
The Flame-Flower 57
had turned pink again. When she moved
her hand to see, beneath it was a little flower-
bud of the colour of gold, which was no
sooner uncovered than it grew to a flower
whose petals were not still, but gently
flickered, casting a light around.
Flamma stretched out her frozen arms
toward the flower as to a fire, and it
warmed her through.
All the snow dissolved from about the
flower to the distance of an arm’s length,
and the ground grew dry; so that Flamma
was warm, as one in a house of turf.
“The flower could not rend the rock to
make a cave for me,†thought she, “but it
can dissolve the snow, which is as good!â€
Even as she thought this, the petals of
the flower stretched out and licked the base
of the rock; and their heat so grew that
Flamma was forced to cover her face with
her hands and draw further away. The
snow was dissolved for many yards around,
and the rock grew red and then white, and
crumbled away, until it was rent from base
to top. The snow had been dissolved by
The Flame-Flower
gentle warmth, but the rock was consumed
58
by fierce heat; for the snow is cold from
outward causes, but the rock is hard in
itself.
The Ble arpa ee 59
Then Flamma, having no fear of the
strange flower, felt that she must take it up;
and stretching forth her hand, she plucked
it by the stalk, and placed it in her cap of
moleskin. Its flame-petals mingled in her
golden hair, and the flower neither burned
her nor singed her hair; but while she wore
it she felt cold no more, nor hungry, nor
tired. The flame- flower shot forth a ray
along the forest, making a narrow path of
light ; and Flamma, knowing not why, fol-
lowed the path; and the wolves shrank
back. from the rays of the flower.
Flamma followed the path of light made
by the flame-flower in her hair, and the path
led back to the hut amid the swamps. In
sadness she came to the hut where her
mother was.
Honora sat within, her chin in her hand,
her eyes fixed upon the fire of turf. Slowly
she turned her cold eyes upon the girl, and
said in a harsh voice, “Go hence! Follow
your father, and trouble me not.â€
Yet when she saw the golden flicker in
Flamma’s hair, her voice faltered.
60 The Flame-Flower
Flamma threw herself at Honora’s feet,
stretching forth her arms, and_ cried
“Mother!†And her cry was so sad that
the wild things of the forest heard it, and
ceased their chattering and calling, and were
silent.
But Honora said, “I am no mother—
get you hence!â€
Flamma laid her head upon her mother’s
breast, so that the flame-flower rested over
her mother’s heart; and Honora’s eyelids
quivered, and her lip; she pressed her hand
to her forehead, and passed it over her eyes ;
and her eyes were wet with tears for the
first time for so long!
Then, as the flame-flower flickered over
her heart, she broke into sobs, clasping
Flamma to her, and fondling her; and so
they stayed some space.
Then Honora held out Flamma from her
at arm’s length, gazing upon her; and she
saw that the girl was pale and ill, which
thing she had never perceived before that
time ; and Honora placed her upon the poor
bed of skins, preparing meat for her.
The Flame-Flower 61
They say a great dark wolf came to the
door at that time and glared within; and that
when it saw the rays of the flower it shrank
back, and so returned again into the forest, -
howling.
Flamma raised herself on her elbow, and
said, ‘‘We must seek father.â€
But Honora stood in the doorway and said,
‘He is gone.†And her voice was hard.
Flamma arose, and, taking the flower
from her hair, set it in her mother’s breast.
Then her mother’s eyes filled again with
tears; and she stretched forth her arms from
the doorway toward the forest, yearningly.
Flamma said no word, but took meat and
put it in a leathern bag, and hung it to her
girdle, and took her mother’s hand ; so they
went out into the forest, the flower in Hon-
ora’s breast making a path of light ; and they
followed the path many days. When they
were weary, Flamma would place the flower
upon the ground; and the snow would dis-
appear, and the turf become dry, so that
they could sleep. The flower warmed them,
and the wolves and the serpents fled from it,
62 The Flame-Flower
On the ninth day they found Evan. His
javelin was broken, and he lay on the snow,
wounded by a boar. Evan raised his eyes
and saw them, and said, “Go hence, and
leave me to die!â€
Then, while Honora bent toward him, the
flame-flower fell from her breast on to the
snow between them, and the petals of flame
crept towards Evan, melting all the snow
between those two; and the flower touched
the breast of Evan and flickered there.
Then Evan looked upon Honora, and
stretched out his arms.
There Honora and Flamma made a hut
of branches, and tended Evan until he was
well of his wound; and he looked upon
them as one does who has waked from a
dream, and took them to him. Thus had
the flame-flower melted the snows.
When Evan was strong again they went
back to the hut among the marshes; but
Flamma could walk no more, being too weak
and ill; so that Evan carried her through
the forest.
While Flamma lay sick in the hut, the
The Flame-Flower 63
flame-flower, which lay always gently flicker-
ing upon her breast, fell to the Moor. Honora
would have picked it up to replace it; but
it escaped her hand, and crept along to
the door, and so out. Then Flamma raised
herself, and said—
“The flower calls us, and we must follow
it. JI am strong enough to walk.â€
But Evan and Honora said, “It cannot
be. You are too weak to go.†Yet they
saw that the girl knew better than they ; so
they made her a litter of boughs, and put
her upon it, covering her with an awning of
skins; and carried her out. Honora took up
the flower, and put it in her breast, and it
cast a ray through the forest; so they took
up the litter and followed the path of the ray,
travelling slowly, and none when Honora
grew weary.
One night, on their journey, when they
had made a tent of boughs and put Flamma
under it, and she slept, they saw the flame-
flower fall to the ground; and Evan would
have picked it up; but it burnt his fingers,
so that he needs must let it go. It crept
64 The Flame-Flower
flaming along the ground until it came to
a marsh, and it crossed the marsh quickly.
All around, where the marsh was firmer,
were crowds of wolves; these fled from
the trail of fire.
The flame-flower sped onward until it
reached the foot of a tall rock like an island
in the marsh; then the bright petals of the
flower lengthened out, licking the rock, until
they reached the foot of a castle builded
upon it, many a bow’s length above. The
fiery petals wrapped and licked round the
walls, leaping upward toward the sky until the
clouds were red; the stones of the castle
grew red with the heat; and the castle
glowed, filled with bright fire; and in the
midst, at a window, stood one who strove to
escape from the flames; and it seemed to
those who watched that the form of him at
the window changed to that of a wolf. There
went up a great howl as of a wolf; and the
wolf was seen no more. Then the flames
died out ; the castle had fallen; and the rock
it had stood upon was rent from foot to
summit. Thus had the flame-flower rent
The Flame-Flowér 65
the hard rock: but Flamma knew not of it;
for when she awoke the flame-flower flickered
gently on her breast.
Five days they journeyed after this; and
on the sixth they came out from the forest
upon a great road that had been made by
the conquerors; and here the flower fell to
the ground, and stayed still, and they waited
a space.
After a while Evan lay down with his ear
to the ground.
‘T hear the tramp of a great host,†he said.
Honora turned pale and said, “Let us
hasten again into the shelter of the forest :
for we are outlaws, and they who take us
will kill us.â€
But Flamma said: “The flower moves
not from its place. Pray, father, put your
ear again to the ground; for these can be
no enemies.â€
So he put his ear to the ground again, and
said, “It is the tramp of horses, and of men
who step together in time ; and none do that
but those from the South, whom I love. Yet
they have all gone back to their own land.â€
So they. waited, and presently came a
E
66 The Flame-Flower
legion of the conquerors from the South,
marching toward the North.
First there came many horsemen in hel-
mets of brass, and at their head a captain;
and Evan knew this captain for a friend of
Licinius, and begged to speak with him.
So the captain stayed his horse, and drew
aside as the legion passed by; and Evan
made known to him his own friendship with
Licinius, at whose name the captain listened
willingly to him; and Evan besought succour,
showing him the child who was sick.
So the captain bade two foot-soldiers
bring a litter from the baggage, and place
Flamma within it, and so carry her; and
other two bore Honora in another litter ;
and for Evan a horse was found. So they
journeyed with the legion to the town of
Ratz, and there found a lodging. |
For many days Evan and Honora watched
by the couch of Flamma, while the flame-
flower on her breast grew ever paler and |
smaller; and one day, toward sunset, as
they stood watching the child, Evan took
Honora’s hand in his, and so they stood,
with their hands clasped together; for the
The Flame-Flower 67
pale little flame-flower was drooping, and the
colour of its petals could scarce be seen.
Honora laid her head down by the
child’s, and hid her face in the golden
hair; and Evan stood with his head low,
watching the flower as it faded.
But as they watched, and could hardly
see the light of the flower, it flickered a
little and grew stronger; and Flamma
opened her eyes and sighed.
All through the night they watched ;
and the flame waxed slowly brighter and
brighter; till, when Eostre the dawn-
goddess looked in at the window, her light
could not hide the light of the flower, so
greatly had it brightened; and before
many days Flamma stood in the meadows
without the wall of Rate, with Evan and
her mother. But the flame-flower had gone
from her hair, for its work was done.
SECOND PART
, minds of men were stirred with great
fear and perplexity, for those that
journeyed from the North told
dreadful tales of how the wild
men beyond the borders were
thronging over the great wall of
defence which the conquerors
had built long ago to keep them
AG,| out; and now the friendly con-
oy tf) querors, who had ruled and pro-
"tected the land for four hundred
years, had all gone.
In the hamlet of Pratulum, where were
the ruins of the great house that had once
been the home of Licinius, and after him
of Evan, the men stood in unquiet groups,
speaking uneasily of the terror which came
68
The Flame-Flower 69
daily nearer to them from the North. For
the men of Pratulum, and those of the whole
land, were no warriors and knew not the
use of arms, having grown unused to help-
ing themselves during the long years of
peace under the protection of their rulers
and masters. They, and their forefathers
for ages, had ploughed, and reaped, and
laboured for their conquerors; but the
sword they had not touched, and _ their
hands had no skill in its use. So they came
like sheep, huddled around their meeting-
place, to talk in fear and foreboding ; for
they had no plan.
“They will come upon us, these Northern
men, they murmured, “and will slay us,
and our women, and our children, as the
wolves slay the sheep; for they spare
none!â€
“If ye will be sheep, ye shall die as
sheep,†said a young man who held in
his hand a javelin.
“What would you have us do, young
Griffith?†they asked.
“Fight!†said the young man,
70 The Flame-Flower
They laughed jeeringly, without mirth,
saying —
‘How fight? These wild men from be-
yond the great wall have the skill of arms,
and are fierce!â€
“Be ye fierce too, then,†said Griffith.
“Some among you have javelins which
your masters gave you—they have slain
wolves and can slay enemies; ye have
knives—make spears of them; ye have bows
that will slay the fox and the hare; in the
forest, where the yew-trees grow, there are
The Flame-Flower 71
greater bows that will slay these savages
from the North.â€
But they shook their heads, and _ said,
“Who shall lead us?†And at that moment
came the sound of a horn from the edge of
the wood ; and the men turned pale, and drew
together whispering, “It is the men from
the North!â€
Now, in the days long ago (before the
conquerors had come, when hamlet warred
with hamlet, and all that dwelt beyond the
belt of forest might be foes), it was binding
upon any true man who passed the forests
and so came forth into a hamlet not his own,
that he should sound a horn, that those of
the hamlet should be aware of his coming
and that he might not steal upon them as a
foe or a robber would. And this custom had
fallen into disuse these many years.
A single figure broke from the wood and
drew near them, till it had come within a
javelin-cast, and then it halted. It was a tall
and strong figure, with fair hair—it was
Evan.
“Tt is he who herds with the evil spirits of
72 The Flame-Flower
the forest! It is the companion of Morddec,
son of the wolf-woman,†they cried; and
made as though to slay him.
“Hear me!†cried Evan,
“for I come for your sakes,
not mine own. Even now
the wild men from the North have passed
the wall of Hadrian, and draw daily nearer.â€
‘“‘He is in league with the Northern wolves,â€
The Flame-Flower 73
shouted the men. “Slay him!†And one
who held a pruning-hook hurled it at Evan:
but the young man Griffith, who had drawn
near Evan, threw out his arm and stopped
the weapon ; and it cut his arm to the bone,
and so saved Evan’s head.
‘Fle is no friend of Morddec, but his foe,â€
cried Griffith. ‘‘ He destroyed the castle of
the Wolf by fire; for I was in the forest,
and saw him do this thing. Has Morddec
stolen upon you these seven years? Have
his wolves taken your sheep? No—for he
died in his castle ; and Evan compassed it!â€
Now Griffith had been a boy of fourteen
when he had seen this sight; and he had
said nought of it to the men of the settle-
ment; for he knew their suspicion of all who
went into the forest, and feared that they
would drive him from among them. But
now he spoke, being a man grown. .
Evan tore a strip from his woollen tunic,
and bound up Griffith’s arm tightly; then
he turned to the men of the hamlet :—
“Hear me! I had done no wrong when
ye cast me out from among you, but lay
74 The Flame-Flower
under the evil spells of Morddec—I and
my wife Honora. Ye burned my good
house, and took from me my sheep and my
goods ; and now I come among you from a
place of safety—from a walled town—to save
you. Will ye be slaughtered by the men of
the North, or will ye follow aay word, and
save yourselves?â€
Then one ftom among them stepped forth
to Evan, and another followed; then three
or four more; then all sent up a shout that
they would follow his word.
So Evan set them to work to cut down
trees from the forest, and draw them to the
| The Flame-Flower 77
high hill where the camp of the conquerors
had been; and they set up a great and _
strong palisade inside the ditch, upon the
mound around the crown of the hill—they
worked in haste. When the palisade was
done, and two strong doors placed in it,
Evan said—
“Bring your household goods within the
palisade, and leave your homes in the valley ;
and build yourselves huts within the fort;
and I will go and bring you weapons.â€
Evan and Griffith took the great stone
road, and journeyed to the town of Rate;
and there Evan procured a waggon and a
yoke of oxen. Then Evan took Griffith to a
house inside the town ; and there lay a store
of javelins, helmets, shields, and short heavy
swords, which the captain of the legion had
left with Evan at his entreaty.
They put the arms in the waggon; and
Honora and Flamma were placed in it; and
so they set out to Pratulum, Evan and
Griffith walking by the oxen.
Flamma looked upon Griffith; and he
was tall and strongly made, and his face was
78 The Flame-F lower
handsome. She tended the wound in his
arm that he had come by in saving Evan’s
life ; and she knew that Griffith was brave.
So they arrived at the camp at Pratulum,
and helped the people to finish the huts;
after that they built a hut for themselves in
the midst of the camp.
Evan and the young man Griffith gave
out the weapons to the men, and practised
them in their use, making them engage in
mock fight one with another. They set up
marks to cast the javelins at, and cut great
bows of yew-tree from the forest, and made
arrows of ash and holly, tipping them with
sharp flints, in readiness for the men of the
North.
When Griffith was near Flamma, she was
glad ; and when he spoke to her, her heart
beat with joy. One day, when Griffith
brought her a golden armlet which he had
found in the grass of the camp, she coloured
with happiness, and could scarcely thank
him.
I!
One day Flamma (who was a tall maiden
now) sat in the fringe of the forest among
the birds and squirrels that came to her for
food; when she saw Griffith pass a little
space off, on his way to cut wood for bows
and arrows. She watched him pass away
out of sight; and when she turned again
she saw a beautiful maiden standing by a
great oak. This maiden did not perceive
Flamma, for she was gazing after Griffith
as Flamma herself had done. The maiden
followed slowly along the way that Griffith
had taken, and Flamma watched her until
she had gone from sight. Flamma followed
the unknown maiden, creeping silently after
her along the soft green moss. When she
had thus gone some way, she came upon
the hillside where the yew-trees grew, and
, 79
80 The Flame-Flower
where men had found iron in the earth; and
here she stopped suddenly, and drew back
into the shadow, for Griffith was cutting
bow-wood from a tree; and a little space
from him, concealed from him by the bushes,
stood the unknown maiden, gazing upon
him. So the two maidens stood awhile, the
unknown one looking upon Griffith, and.
Flamma upon her.
Presently the maiden turned away ; and
again Flamma followed her silently, until
she saw her come to a little pool of still
water in a rivulet. There the maiden bent
down and gazed upon the reflection of her
own face, and arranged her long brown
hair, and twined young oak-leaves and
flowers in it.
Flamma was filled with a great wonder
who the maiden could be; for she knew
all the women of Pratulum, young and old;
and there was none among them like the
unknown maiden; for she was very lovely
to look upon, having great brown eyes as
soft as those of a fawn, nor was there any
woman in the homesteading clad like her;
The Flame-Flower 83
for she wore a flowing robe like those of
the women of the conquering race, only
more simple than theirs, and with less colour.
Her robe was of a pale greenish tint, like
the shadow of a forest in spring cast upon
snow; and she wore no ornaments but
young oak leaves and forest flowers.
‘Who are you, maiden?†Flamma asked.
‘‘T am a hamadryad,†said the maiden, gaz-
ing at Flamma with her great brown eyes.
‘Whence come you?â€
“T live in the heart of this great oak.
We were born together, the oak and I.
When the oak dies, I shall die too.â€
“But you are young—hardly a woman
yet!†said Flamma.
“T am young—yet I have lived four
hundred years,†said the maiden.
She was so fair and simple that Flamma
took her hand, and stroked her brown
hair. The birds and squirrels came about
the hamadryad-maiden even more than about
Flamma; for the maiden was one of them-
selves, owing her life to the forest. Flamma
and she wandered hand in hand along the
84 The Flame-Flower
glades ; and many a time after that Flamma
went to the great oak and called (for
Flamma had no fear of the forest, having
lived in it so long as a child; and the people
of the homesteading knew her ways, and said
no evil of her); and the hamadryad would
come forth, and so they
would wander together,
or sit by the pools
of the rivulet:
and Flamma
loved themaiden.
One day she
went into the
forest as usual,
and came upon
Griffith asleep in
the mossy glade
where the great oak stood.
By him tinkled the little rivulet, forming
still pools here and there; and over him
stretched the arms of the great oak, shading
him.
While Flamma stood near, looking upon
him, she saw the unknown maiden come
The Flame-Flower 85
out from the trunk of the oak; nor was
there any hollow in the trunk that a person
might go into, so that Flamma wondered.
When the maiden perceived Griffith asleep,
she went to one of the still pools and
arranged her hair by the reflection; then
she turned and looked earnestly at Griffith,
and her hands were clasped over her
breast ; and very slowly she drew near to
Griffith, and sat down by him, very near,
gazing at him as he slept.
Flamma turned and wandered away, drop-
ping from her hand the wild flowers which
she had gathered to deck the hamadryad-
maiden’s hair. Now she did not notice the
little wild things that came about her.
“Is this why he comes so often into the
forest?†she kept saying to herself. ‘Is
she fairer than I? Is she fairer than I?â€
Then she wondered at herself, and why
she asked these questions.
After that she went no more to seek the
maiden; but once again she stole to the
mossy glade by the great oak, and Griffith
lay asleep as before; and the hamadryad sat
by him, watching him.
doo
e Eo Wap Then Flamma took off Y~ :
& g the golden armlet from RNa
" ai her arm, and flung it Se
a Ben ~ Into a pool of the rivu- «% am
‘ let; and the maiden looked eee
) fg up at the sound, but fancied ~~
"vt a fish had made it, not perceiving
iy «= Flamma.
Flamma stole away ; and her
~~ look was so angry that the little
: wild things which she fed crept
from her in fear, for they had
never seen her look so before. The squirrel
whispered the news of it to the ring-dove,
and the ring-dove told it to the long-tailed tit ;
and they talked long of it, and wondered.
That night the blackbird woke from his sleep
and talked the matter over in wonder and dis-
; may, waking the linnet, who talked of it too.
eee Flamma was very angry with the hama-
| oo dryad- maiden, and very unhappy; she
35 stamped her foot on
the green moss, and
pressed her hands
ay
jt ne. S
Wide. AES,
Lice Gath a
The Flame-Flower 87
over her eyes, making a resolve that she
would never speak to Griffith again. ‘She
is not so fair as I,†she said; “yet this is
why he comes so often into the forest, pre-
tending to cut bows.†No—she would never
look at Griffith again; and, thinking this,
she turned and went slowly back to the place
where she had left him sleeping.
As she caught sight of him he was wak-
ing. The unknown maiden had wreathed
around him as he slept long trails of creeping
plants twined with forest flowers, and she
still sat by him. Griffith woke, and looked
at the maiden; and she stretched forth her
hand and stroked his curling hair. But
Griffith arose in wonder, as if he knew
her not; and when the maiden touched his
hand, he drew it away
“He quarrels with her,†said Flamma
to herself.
The maiden stretched forth her hand again
to touch his cheek, but he put her hand away
and turned from her.
“Fle knows her not!†said Flamma to
herself.
88 The Flame-Flower
Then Griffith took up ‘his bow-wood and
axe, and strode away ; and the maiden gazed
after him with her hands clasped on her
breast, and tears rolled down her cheeks.
A long time the maiden stood there gazing
after him; then her head drooped, and she
wept silently.
Flamma broke from her hiding-place and
stood before the hamadryad.
“T hate you!†she said.
The maiden gazed at her with great round
eyes, full of surprise, and sought to touch her
hand; but Flamma thrust her away.
« Sister, what have I done?†asked the
hamadryad.
Then Flamma flushed red with shame of
herself, and covered her face with her hands :
but when the maiden knelt before her, won-
dering at her emotion, and touching her arm
gently, Flamma drew herself up and un-
covered her face, and feigned to laugh.
“He is beautiful,†said the maiden, ‘and
I am lonely when he is not in the forest ; yet
he has never seen me until this day.†And
she sat on the roots of the oak and sobbed;
The Flame-Flower 89
and the branches of the oak sighed in the
breeze above.
Flamma, hating Griffith and the hama-
dryad, went toward home. She saw a little
flicker among the bracken, and she knew it
was the flame-flower, which she had not seen
for so long.
As she took it up and put it in her breast,
a voice seemed to say, “Place me between
Griffith and thyself, and he will turn to thee.â€
But as the flower flickered in her breast,
she stopped; then turned and hurried back
to the hamadryad, finding her still sitting
with drooping head upon the oak roots ; and
Flamma went and sat by her side, putting her
arms round her; and the hamadryad gazed
upon the flower with eyes like a child's.
It was nearly dark when Flamma left her
and hurried toward the camp; and now she
thought no more of herself, but only of
the hamadryad’s grief. The voice in the
flower seemed to keep repeating, ‘‘ Place me
between Griffith and thyself.â€
By the edge of the wood she met Griffith
coming to seek her and bring her to the
90 | The Flame-Flower
camp. ‘Place me between Griffith and
thyself, and he will turn to thee,†the flower
seemed to whisper ; and Flamma stopped on
the way toward him, hesitating. She took
the flower, and would have cast it away, but
did not; and when she came forward, she
was very pale: and she held the flower in
the hand further from Griffith, and so carried
it on the way home.
Once, as they came to a turn in ie path,
Griffith crossed over and came on that side
of her where she held the flower; and that
moment he turned toward her, and gazed at
her ; but she quickly took the flower in her
further hand. Then she bit her lip, and
could not speak for awhile.
Ill
OR some days after Griffith did not
go into the forest; and Flamma,
wearing the flame-flower ever in
her breast, thought often of the
hamadryad, pitying her. Yet
when, for any moment, the flower
was not in her breast, she hated her.
On the fifth day, Flamma went to where
Griffith kept the yew-wood which he had
cut for making bows, and took the branches
and hid them.
Griffith, going to the place for more yew-
wood, found none; and so set forth once
more into the forest to cut fresh branches.
In the heat of the afternoon Flamma went
silently into the forest, and so came upon
Griffith sleeping in a glade; and, as she
waited concealed, the hamadryad came and
9x
92 The Flame-Flower
found him sleeping as she had done before,
and sat down by him with her back to
Flamma.
Flamma crept up and dropped the flame-
flower between Griffith and the hamadryad,
and stole back to her hiding-place.
Evan awoke, and saw the maiden; she
stretched forth her hand to touch his hair,
and he took her hand in his, and gazed upon
her; then Flamma pressed her hand over
her heart, and crept away; and sat down and
sobbed among the trees.
IV
One day, as Flamma stood upon the great
road, a stranger came running in deadly fear.
“Save thyself,†he cried, “for the foes
from the North are upon us. Hasten with
me to the camp, for even now they are not
two thousand paces away.â€
“ Haste thou to the camp and warn them,â€
cried Flamma ; and she plunged into the forest
in the other direction.
The man gazed for a moment; then turned,
and ran again toward the camp.
As Flamma went swiftly through the
underwood, she began to hear the sounds
of distant shouting and yells, as of furious
beasts. Then there passed her three men
running for life, wounded and bleeding ; but
Flamma pushed on away from the camp,
toward the hillside where the yew-trees crew,
93
94 The Flame-Flower
She panted wearily as she ran, and could
scarcely keep on; but still she struggled
forward, till she came to the yew-grove.
The Flame- Flower 95
Griffith knelt there, tying together a
bundle of bow-wood; and she cried to him
to flee to the camp, for the men of the
North were upon them.
Even as she said it, shouts and yells
sounded from the glades close at hand; and
with the shouts mingled the howling of a
wolf. Then Griffith caught her up, and
carried her quickly for some space; but she
felt him tiring beneath her weight, and heard
the howling ever growing nearer and nearer ;
and Griffith’s breath grew thick beneath her
weight, and he stumbled frequently.
Flamma said, ‘“‘ Put me down, for I can run
well now ;†and slipped down from his arms,
and ran ahead of him into the undergrowth,
straining herself to show him how fast she
could run, so that she even drew away from
him.
“Flamma!†cried Griffith.
‘“‘T am ahead—I can run faster than thou,â€
called she from the undergrowth, though she
could scarce find a voice to call with.
Again he called to her; and again she
forced herself to answer—ever on ahead.
96 The Flame-Flower
“Follow, follow!†she called; ‘1 am ever
ahead!†He could not see her, but followed,
thinking she still went faster than he. |
Now on the ridge of
hill where the yew-trees
grew she saw figures
come running into sight
—wild figures of men clad
in skins, and with javelins
in their hands; and leading
them was the figure of a woman,
yet in some way like that of a wolf ;
and Flamma knew it was the wolf-
woman, the mother of Morddec
who was burned in his castle.
Then Flamma called up all
her remaining breath, and called
cheerily once more to Griffith ;
and so turned suddenly
aside from the way he would
follow her, and plunged into
a great mass of bracken, and fell down in the
midst of it on her face, knowing no more
for a space. But Griffith passed, running,
thinking her still ahead.
A
igs
Lt
yt
The Flame-Flower 94
Then nearer and nearer came the shouts
and the howling of the wolf; and the wolf-
woman and those that followed her guidance
passed close to her hiding-place along the
way Griffith had taken; but Flamma knew
not of it, having fainted.
- After some space Flamma came to herself,
and arose painfully, and so crept along in the
direction of the camp.
Then she was aware of the howling of the
wolf once more, and of cries as of men who
are hurt: so she hurried on and peered out
of the brushwood to where Griffith stood
at bay with his back to the great oak, and
the foes from the North—seven there were
—hurled their javelins at him, and struck
at him with swords; the wolf- woman
urging them on, and taunting them as they
failed.
Three of the strangers lay already among
the roots of the oak, cut down by Griffith’s
axe.
And Flamma saw a strange thing. Al-
though the day was calm and still, without a
breeze, yet the great arms of the oak that
; G
98 The Flame-Flower
stretched above Griffith waved wildly to and
fro, and up. and down, beating the ground
beneath. So swiftly did they wave, that
when any foeman hurled a javelin at Griffith
some branch would swing across, so that the
javelin stuck deeply into it, quivering there.
Yet when Griffith raised his axe to strike,
~ and brought it down, no branch impeded it.
Then a great fellow, at a sign from the wolf-
woman, slipped suddenly in while Griffith
fought hard with four others, and cut at
his head with his heavy sword; but swift
as light a bough waved across and caught
the sword, which cut deeply in and stuck
there, and Griffith’s axe severed the -man’s
head from his shoulders.
Flamma broke suddenly from the brush-
wood, and ran swiftly to Griffith’s side—so
swiftly that none barred her passage; and
as she came to his side, a branch that had
a javelin sticking in it bent quickly down
to her ; and she took the javelin, which came
easily out of the branch. Then two rushed
in to take her alive; but a bough swung
down upon them, hurling them away fifty
paces through the air; and they fell
by the stream, and moved no more.
Flamma threw her javelin at one;
and it struck him in the foot, so that
he could fight but poorly ; and Griffith
slew one more; and the two that
remained whole drew off; but the
wolf-woman stood and cried, “Ye
escape me for the moment; but we
go to the camp to find Evan, that
& slew my son in his castle; and the
men of the North shall slay him, and
all his house, and all that hold to him.
Honora shall die—and thou Flamma
—and thou Griffith; and my son
Morddec’s spirit shall laugh in the air,
for he shall be avenged!â€
Then the wolf-woman howled
shrilly ; and there came forth from the
forest around many wolves, until the
glade was but a moving mass of
100 The Flame-Flower
them. These came with glittering white teeth
toward Flamma and Griffith; and Griffith
had sunk down on the oak-roots from many
wounds received before he had reached the
tree. Flamma crouched over him, covering
him, and covered her eyes with her hand.
But when the first wolf came within reach
of the tree, a bough swept down and hurled
him high into the air, so that he fell afar
off with a thud, and lay there; and the
boughs swept the ground incessantly, or
came crashing down upon the pack, crushing
the wolves to the earth; so that no wolf
might come within the sweep of the terrible
boughs: and the ground was strewn with
dead wolves in a great circle around the
tree. Then the rest drew away in great
fear, and disappeared into the undergrowth
whence they had come.
When the wolves had gone, and the great
boughs were still and silent, Flamma fetched
water from a pool and bathed Griffith’s
wounds, and bound them up with shreds
from her dress ; and by them stood the hama-
dryad, with the flame-flower in her breast,
The Flame-Flower 101
And Griffith opened his eyes; and his
eyes sought the face of the hamadryad ; and
Flamma turned her face away to hide it.
Griffith was weak from his wounds; but a
faint clamour arose from the distant camp
upon the hill, and he sprang up and seized
his axe and a javelin.
“I must go to them,†he cried, “for I hear
the horn of Evan thy father calling me.â€
Flamma sprang up too, to go with him.
“Rest thou here, for thou wouldst be of
no avail, and thy peril would fetter my arm.â€
And the maiden laid hold on Flamma,
and held her back. “He is right,†said
the hamadryad.
So Griffith made what haste he could for
his wounds, and came out from the edge of
the forest, hurrying to the camp. When he
came within sight of it, he saw a great
host of the Northern men seething round
the palisades, and the wolf-woman urging
them on. She turned and saw Griffith
afar off, and shrieked loud and long; and
at the signal the wolves came forth from
the forests, and set upon Griffith; but he
102 The Flame-Flower
hewed them down with
his axe on all sides, until
he had made a wall of
dead wolves around him.
Then he ran, turning at
each few paces to hew them
down, until the few remain-
ing slunk back to the forests
ZB in fear.
Griffith hewed his way through the
outer ring of the foemen ; and Evan and
his men saw him from within the pali-
sade, and sent a thick flight of arrows
on those around him; so that Evan
reached the palisade and climbed over.
Certain of the besiegers drew off,
and returned with great loads of brush-
wood, piling them against the palisade.
The wolf-woman ran to them.
“Not fire! Not fire!†she
cried. ‘Hew them with the
sword ; pierce them with the ja-
velin; beat down
the palisade —
but not fire!â€
The Flame-Flower 103
‘Why not fire, mother?†said the leader
of the Northern men.
But she only shrieked “Not fire!†For
the wolves fear the fire.
“If ye use fire, by fire ye shall your-
selves be consumed,†she cried. But they
kindled the heap of brushwood; and
the palisade blazed up and a gap was
made.
Evan and Griffith stood in the gap, the fire
scorching their faces, and hewed down the
Northmen as they rushed on to enter; but
the fire-breach widened and widened, and a
double line of Evan’s men stood in it, keeping
back the foemen from the gap; and as the
gap widened the line lengthened.
But Evan’s men fell by threes and fours,
until two score had fallen; and Evan and
Griffith, with the one score of their men who
were left, set their backs to the huts within
the palisade, and fought on.
Then Evan fell; and Griffith stood over
him, fighting on with his axe.
Flamma crept forth from the edge of the
forest, unseen by the besiegers, a javelin in
+
104. The Flame-Flower
her hand and the flame-flower on her breast :
and the flame-flower fell to the ground and
spread out its bine like lightning ire.
along the ground toward the camp. :
All suddenly the fire burst
from a point of the burning pali-
sade in great forks along the
earth toward the Northmen, licking
round their feet.
“The fire! the fire!†cried the
wolf-mother ; “I warned you of it.
By the fire ye shall perish.â€
The Flame-Flower 105
The Northmen backed from the darting
flames; but the flames came at them from
every point of the palisade, surrounding
them, but leaving a free circle round Griffith
and Evan and theirmen. One after another
the foemen fell, choked by the scorching
heat; then they that remained fled head-
long down the steep hill, the darting vines
of fire pursuing them, making a network of
lightning on the turf. And the Northern men
fled to return no more to that place; and
these told the tale to their fellows, so that
after that no foeman came near that place
within the lifetime of a man. All the rest
of the land was overrun and devastated by
them, and by others from the island to the
west ; but they came no more to Pratulum.
The wolf-mother had gone too. Some
said she fell amid the flames; some said she
fled away into the dark forests, but no man
knows.
Evan arose no more.
For many days Honora and Flamma
tended Griffith, who was nigh unto death:
and those who saw him said, “He has met
106 The Flame-Flower
the death-goddess, and looked upon her
face.â€
But one day he opened his eyes feebly,
and _ he lived.
When he was past danger, but still weak,
a terrible hurricane came across the high
hill, and swept away the hut in the midst
of the burned camp where he lay; and he
and the women had no shelter.
The dark forests moaned in the hurricane,
and the tall trees rocked and swayed.
“Let us go into the thick of the forest
for shelter,’ said Flamma, “for the wind
will be less there.â€
So they helped Griffith to walk down the
hill, and came slowly into the forest; and
while they rested, Flamma being a little
apart from them, the flame-flower sprang
up at her feet, and a voice seemed to say
to her, “Place me between Griffith and
thee, and he will turn toward thee.â€
But she shook her head sadly, and would
not take it up, although it spread its tendrils
about her foot, as if persuading her.
Then she thought, “It is the hama-
The Flame-Flower 07
dryad’s: I will take it to her;†and so took
it up, but keeping it always in the hand
further from Griffith.
So they came presently out into the glade
oes ear
Oo
Suceivan.
of the great oak: and Flamma looked, and
saw that the great oak had fallen before
the hurricane, and lay uprooted.
Then Flamma knew that the hamadryad
was dead.
108 The Flame-Flower
And Flamma, weeping, took the flame-
flower, and placed it in a crevice of the
bark, and so left it flickering there.
They made a roof of branches, when the
hurricane had abated a little more, among
the limbs of the fallen oak ; and there Griffith
lay until he was stronger, Evan’s remaining
men hunting food for them all.
One day, when Griffith was strong, he
and Flamma leaned against the fallen oak ;
and Griffith saw the flame-flower flicker-
ing in the crevice of the bark, and took it
up; for he knew of the flame-flower ere
this, but knew not all its powers, yet only
those of its might and fury.
Flamma watched his face as he took up
the flower, and her eyes filled with tears,
“The maiden—she whose tree fought
for us and saved our lives—is gone,†she
said.
Griffith looked sad, but said no word.
Flamma waited. “He will ask whither
she has gone, that he may follow her,†she
thought. But he did not ask.
‘She is gone hence,†said F lamma.
The Flame-Flower III
“T am sorry,†said Griffith; “for she
saved our lives, and was good and sweet.â€
“She is dead!†said Flamma. “She saved
thy life!â€
“She saved my life once,†said Griffith,
‘“‘but thou didst save it thrice. Vet did the
maiden do more than thou hast, for she saved
thy life, Flamma—to me.â€
Flamma looked away from him, and he
took her hand in his. She drew it away,
saying, “ The oak-maiden is dead, Griffith,
my brother.â€
But Griffith took her hand again in his,
Flamma looking all the time away from him.
“Put the flower from between us; take it
in thy further hand,†said Flamma.
_ “The flower is not between us,†said
Griffith,
“But it has been,†said Flamma.
‘Nay, it has not,†answered Griffith, “for
IT have held it all the while in my further
hand.â€
“Cast the flower from thee, Griffith,†said
Flamma: and he did so, and took her hand
again in his; and she left her hand in his.
Old
Primrose
Old Primrose
In the village of Low Downbury lived a
dreadfully ugly old man named Primrose.
When a great friend of his, who had not
seen him since he was a baby of one year
old, caught sight of him at the age of eighty-
five, he did not recognise him. “This can’t
be my old friend Primrose!†he exclaimed,
“because my old friend Primrose, the very
last time I saw him, was quite pink and
smooth, and this person is quite soot -
coloured, and all over wrinkles!†And his
old friend would not have anything to do
with him.
I have merely told you this to show how
ugly old Primrose was.
One day in the spring time, Daisy Tinkler,
alittle girl who lived in the village, was gather-
: IIS
116 Old Primrose
ing primroses, when she came suddenly
upon the old man sitting on a bank under
a hedge, with his toes in the grass.
“How dreadfully ugly you are!†ex-
claimed Daisy (very rudely). ‘‘ You are not
a bit like a primrose !â€
Now this information was a great shock to
the old man, and rankled deeply in his mind.
He only said, ““ You don’t see me in the right
lightjust here, and can’t judge,†pretending not
to care. But as a matter of fact he dzd care;
for he had always had a sort of notion that
he was something like a primrose, his mother
having told him so at the age of one; and
this really accounted for his habit of sitting
under a hedge with his toes in the grass.
He tried hard, when Daisy had gone away,
to look more like a primrose ; he held up his
hands in the position of leaves, and tried to
sit in a group like primroses do: but his
belief was really shattered, and he got up
moodily and went home.
All night he lay awake, brooding over what
Daisy Tinkler had said; and next morning
he went and laid an information with the
Old Primrose 119
Village Council against Daisy, accusing her
of having slandered him, and injured his
reputation : and the Council met, and ordered
the village policeman to arrest Daisy Tinkler
and imprison her in the pound until they had
passed judgment.
When all the evidence was prepared the
Village Council met. Daisy entered several
pleas to the effect that she had never seen
the old man; and that when she saw him
she did not say a word to him; and that the
words she said to him were justifiable and
true in substance and in fact; and that old
Primrose did not exist, and therefore could
_ not be injured by what she had said.
You see, this is the way they always plead
in the High Courts of Justice; for where you
have law you must have common-sense, all
law being founded upon common-sense. If
your father is a solicitor or a judge, just ask
him; and he will tell you that I am right,
although it’s a great secret.
Well, the great point the Village Council
had to consider was whether Daisy’s words
were justifiable ; and to that end they called
120 Old Primrose
old Primrose before them, to decide whether
he was like a primrose or not.
They arranged a little bank of grass in the
court, and placed some twigs behind it to
represent a hedge; but old Primrose’s bar-
rister objected that that was not a fair test,
because his client always looked
more like a primrose when he
sat among trees. So the Council
had a number of trees brought
and set up in court; and then
the barrister insisted on the
floor being covered with
moss and bracken ; and this
was done.
$ Then old Primrose sat
down in the moss under
ei the bracken, and covered
his toes with grass, and
spread out his hands like leaves, and tried hard
to sit in a group and look butter-coloured ;
and his barrister asked the Council to go to
the further corner of the room and look at
his client with one eye shut and their heads
sideways.
Old Primrose 121
One of the Council—the cobbler—fancied
he add see some resemblance to a primrose
when he nearly shut his eyes; but the other
two members—the hedger-and-ditcher, and
the tinker—did not agree with him. They
adjourned the case to think it over, and
finally decided that old Primrose was xot
like a primrose, except in the colour of the
whites of his eyes. So he had to pay his
own costs, and Daisy Tinkler was set at
liberty.
II
Now this had a very great effect upon the
old man’s mind; he went home brooding
about it; and on his way he met a beautiful
butterfly.
He watched this butterfly for some time ;
and then he exclaimed, ‘I w7// be like some-
thing beautiful! If they won’t let me be
like a primrose I will snub them all by being
so like a butterfly that they will not know
I’m not one; and then I can laugh at them!â€
You see old Primrose was very revengeful !
So he followed the butterfly and observed
its ways; and, when nobody was looking
he tried to copy them. He poked two little
sticks into the pockets of his coat-tails to
stiffen them out like wings, and made two
little wisps of his hair stand up to look like
antenne.
122
Old Primrose 123
His great fault was conceit; and this
carried him away now: for, seeing some of
the village boys coming along from school,
he decided to impose upon them by mak-
ing them believe him to
be a butterfly, although he
had not yet practised the @
part half enough, and was
unprepared for a public
rehearsal.
So he stood on a stump,
made his coat-tails tremble, and
let the two wisps of hair wave
in the breeze.
But as the boys passed by they
said, ‘‘ Hullo, there’s old Prim-
rose—what’s he doing xzow ?â€
“They recognise me in
spite of the disguise,†mut-
tered the old man in great ;*
disappointment ; and he per-
ceived that if the thing was to be done at all
it must be done thoroughly.
He would have to begin at the beginning,
and carry the thing through.
124 Old Primrose
So he went to the lending library, and
asked for a natural history book.
‘‘What subject do you want ?†asked the
librarian.
Old Primrose was too artful to divulge
his great secret like that. He wasn’t going
to say “ Butterfly†and give himself away ;
so he said “ Butter.â€
“There isn’t anything about butter in the
natural history,†said the librarian. Then
old Primrose tried ‘buttons’; but that
wouldn't do either. However, they gave
him the volume with “B†in it, which was
what he required.
Very eagerly he trotted home and looked
out ‘‘butterfliesâ€â€”and it referred him to
“mothsâ€; so he doddered back to the lib-
rary, and pretended the subject he wanted
was ‘‘mottled soap.â€
“No ‘mottled soap’ in the natural his-
tory,†said the librarian; but he was tired
of old Primose, and gave him the volume
containing the M’s.
Then the old man set to work to study
the subject deeply, and discovered that
Old Primrose 125
the butterfly is first an egg, then a small
maggot, then a larger maggot, then a grub,
and finally a butterfly.
“T must begin at the beginning, and
come out of an egg,†old P. reflected.
For this time he meant to do 4
the thing thoroughly.
So he set to work to study
coming out of eggs; he went
and crawled under the hay-stack where Jane
the hen was hatching out a brood, and
watched little Zedekiah, the eldest chicken,
emerge from the shell.
“Would you mind repeating
that ?—I didn’t quite catch it,†said
old Primrose.
The new chick smiled, and got
in again and repeated it.
“Haven't guzte got the hang of
’ ityet,’saidold P. “If it wouldn't
give you too much trouble es
“Not at all—quite delighted, I’m sure,â€
said the obliging chick, doing it again.
“Are you thinking of getting hatched,
Mr. Primrose?†asked Jane the hen politely.
126 Old Primrose
“Well, ma’am—ah—in a kind of general
way of speaking—yes.†You see old P.
was very cunning: he allowed her to think
that he contemplated being hatched as a
chick. He chuckled a long time at his own
deepness.
“But how to get an egg big enough for
me!†mused old P. Then he called again
on Jane the hen.
“I’m sorry to trouble you again, ma’am,â€
he said ; “‘but—if I don’t interrupt you—I’m.
very anxious to have your advice.â€
“Pray come in, Mr. Primrose,†said Jane.
“Well, ma’am, I was going to ask you
whether— when you had half-an-hour to
spare—you could manage to lay an egg
large enough for me to get into.â€
‘“Well now, dear me!†said Jane, “that’s
quite a new idea tome. If you'll just show
me how small you can curl up, I might think
it over. Well, I really don’t know—I’m
very bad at calculation—my poor mother
always was.
Now I’ve no doubt, if we asked Mr.
Rooster my husband, he would know,
Old Primrose 127
He is very clever—I really think there’s
nothing he doesn’t know. Rooster !â€
“What is it, my dear?†said Rooster
the cock; “you mustn’t keep me—I’ve a
train to catch—very important business!.. .
Eh—egg big enough for Mr. Primrose—
dear me, dear me! No—I really feel that
the strain on your mind would be too great.
You want rest.
“I assure you she worries herself so,†he
said, turning to old P. ‘And the ser-
vants are such a trouble. Tell you what
though—we might collect all the cast-off
eggs from under this stack; and there’s
little Zedekiah’s—he will not require it any
more; and—here, you youngsters, aren't
you getting up yet?†Here Mr. Rooster
tapped at all the eggs in the nest; and
there was a chorus of ‘All right, pa—out
in a minute or two.â€
So old P. collected a great many broken
eggs, and, sticking the pieces together
with stamp-edging, made himself a mag-
nificent egg, large enough to creep: into;
then he neatly closed up the hole from in-
128 Old Primrose
side, and was completely shut in; then he
waited.
He was waiting for little Daisy Tinkler
to come by from school; for he was de-
termined to convince her above every one
else. He owed her a grudge, you know.
He had left a little eye-hole to look out of ;
and presently he perceived Daisy coming
along.
When she was close
by old Primrose, in-
side the egg, called
out, ‘“‘ Look out for the
caterpillar !â€
Daisy, of course,
could not make out
whence the voice came;
but she stopped, and noticed the great egg.
«Stand by there!†shouted old Primrose,
poking his head through the shell and
emerging.
Now this time he had really prepared
the thing well. He had mixed some white-
wash with some of the green colour which
people use for tinting the glass of green-
Old Primrose “129
houses, and had painted his clothes with
it; then he had dabbed brown spots all
along the back, and had painted his bald
head black ; so he really looked exactly
like a caterpillar unless one peered into
him and detected his spectacles, and boots,
and so on.
“What a great caterpillar!†exclaimed
Daisy Tinkler; “and how ugly it is—why,
it’s quite like old Mr. Primrose.â€
Now this remark rather troubled old Re
for he could not feel certain whether Daisy
was really deceived, or whether she recog~
nised him and was poking fun at him.
However, he threw himself into the part,
and crawled slowly on his waistcoat to the
cabbage-bed, and all over the cabbages,
biting pieces out. There was one thing
which caused him great regret—he could
not for the life of him recollect what sort
of noise a caterpillar makes—whether it
grunts, or croaks, or squeaks, or hoots.
So he tried little short jerky grunts, and
looked out of the corner of his eye to see
how Daisy took it. He fancied Daisy
I
130 Old Primrose
seemed surprised to hear a caterpillar grunt,
so he changed the sound and tried little
squeals; and he fancied she found this all
right, and kept to it.
Daisy, after watching him for a long time,
went away apparently quite satisfied.
So old P. was delighted with his success,
and determined to carry the thing through
properly ; for he began to believe that he
might become a real, proper, natural butter-
fly in the end, if he went through all the
processes all right.
That night he slept under a very large
cauliflower ; and at daylight he was up again,
and crawling all over the vegetables. Daisy
came to look at him again, and appeared
to be quite deceived ; and old P. chuckled.
Ill
Now comes the sad part of this story—the
duplicity of George, old Primrose's pig.
George had keenly observed all old P.’s
doings for some time past, and had put two
and two together, checking off the result
on his four pettitoes, with his tail as a
marker.
George was perfectly aware that the great
caterpillar was no real genuine caterpillar,
but old Primrose in disguise; for George
had looked underneath him when pretending
to grub up artichokes, and had observed
his silk watch-guard and his spectacles,
and knew that caterpillars never wear such
things.
But George pretended to fully believe
that it was a real caterpillar—and why ?
Why, because’ he was a very dishonour-
13r
132 Old Primrose
able and worldly-minded pig, and desired
to slip into old Primrose’s place, become
owner of the little cottage and garden-patch,
and wear old P.’s hats and red Sunday waist-
coat.
So the next time that Daisy came along
to look at old P., George strolled casually
up, and remarked in an airy manner—
‘That's a very fine caterpillar, miss!â€
“T’m not quite sure it zs a caterpillar,†said
Daisy.
“Why, my dear child,†said George.
‘Bless my soul! Why not?â€
_ “Well, it has boots on,†said Daisy.
“Certainly! Very common thing among
caterpillars of that species,†replied George.
“Quite usual. Don’t you see, caterpillars
have to live in very damp places, and it’s
necessary to have pretty stout boots to keep
the feet dry—quite indispensable. I knew a
caterpillar once—very dear friend of mine—
who neglected this precaution and caught
a severe chill. Carried him oft in twelve
hours. Very sad!†and the pig hid his face
in the swill-tub to hide his emotion.
Old Primrose 133
“But where is old Mr. Primrose ?†asked
Daisy doubtfully.
“Bh? What, old P.? Oh, gone away
—very important business. Probably won’t
be back for years—years. In fact, he asked
134 Old Primrose
me as a favour, before he started, to look to
things in his absence.â€
You see George was artfully clearing the
way for himself.
Old Primrose now decided that the right
time had come for him to turn into a grub ;
so he lay down quite still on the garden seat,
having covered himself with great cabbage-
leaves. He gave his mind to trying to
shrink and turn a dirty brown all over.
Daisy came from time to time, and turned
up a corner of a cabbage-leaf, to see how he
was getting on.
“ Mustn’t dfsturb him too much just now,â€
remarked George the pig, casually strolling
up. “Very critical time with caterpillars.
Need complete repose and quiet.â€
Nevertheless Daisy, being inquisitive,
could not resist the temptation to go and
peep daily at old P.; and now old P. had
another trouble—he had neglected to inquire
what sort of noise grubs make. He knew
that the sound would not be likely to be the
same as that made by the caterpillar; and
it occurred to him that the grub, being in a
Old Primrose 137
torpid condition, would most probably snore ;
so, to increase the deception, whenever he
heard Daisy’s footstep on the path, he
would begin to snore loudly.
“That shows he’s getting on all right, you
know,†remarked George the pig.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, a very
disturbing thought occurred to old P. as he
lay under the cabbage-leaves—Did butterfly
grubs wrap themselves up in cocoons? He
could not remember what the natural history
had said about that; and, as he had returned
the book to the lending library, it was not
convenient to go and borrow it again; be-
sides, time pressed.
So he got up and scratched his -head,
and finally decided that, as silkworms made
cocoons, it would be better to make one and
chance it.
He therefore went very quietly out of
the garden in the darkness, and crept to
the general shop kept by Miss Pupsey.
Pushing aside the catch of a window, he got
in and entered the shop. He went straight
to the shelf where the skeins of worsted
dUye
=
ay f
138 Old Primrose
were kept, very quietly struck a match, and
chose all the yellow worsted he could find;
but just as he was making for the window
to get out his head knocked down a ham
and a string of onions from the ceiling, and
these things knocked down a great bundle of
baking-tins and coffee-pots hanging
f on the wall; all these things and a
lot of spades and brooms went
¢ down crash into a tin bath,
“aN and made a frightful noise.
Miss Pupsey woke
up, and screamed, and
“s lighted a candle, and
is A 4S rushed into the shop,
A /s where old P. stood
au 2 scratching his head
a Dy = in great perplexity
whether it would be
better to pretend to be a caterpillar or
appear as himself. She did not give him
time to decide.
‘“Oh—help! Why—good gracious! Well
I never! If it isn’t Mr. Primrose!†she cried.
“Oh, however could you, Mr. Primrose, and
Old Primrose 139
me so nervous too! Whatever on earth are
you at in my shop at this time of night ?â€
“Well, ma’am,†stammered old P., “the
fact is I lost my way, as you may say,
_ and fancied I was in my own house; and
I’d left my umbrella here, you see, besides
feeling a bit hungry like, and your cheese
always being so good a
‘«‘ But worsted isn’t cheese, Mr. Primrose!
And whatever on earth is the matter with
your clothes—all green, with great brown
spots?†:
“The mud, maam; the mud,†replied
old P. “Very muddy down my way, and
splashes so!†Then he broke down, and
told Miss Pupsey the whole truth ; and she,
being good-natured, promised not to say a
word about his plans to anybody.
Old Primrose went home and wound
himself up in the yellow worsted until he
could not be seen, and then lay down again
on the garden seat, under the cabbage-
leaves; and when Daisy came in the morn-
ing, on her way to school, to peep at him,
there he was in a yellow cocoon !
140 Old Primrose
Old P. had prepared himself properly for
the part; he had painted his clothes all
white with whitewash, and dabbed pretty
pink dots here and there; and under his
arms he had two newspapers for wings.
As Daisy looked on, he pushed his way
out of the cocoon and
began fluttering the
newspapers, and hop-
ping about all over
the garden on one toe.
By this time he was quite
persuaded that he was a
real butterfly, and extremely
beautiful ; and whenever he
passed Daisy he called out
g triumphantly, “Yah! What
a do you think now ? Who’s
ugly now, eh?â€
“| don’t believe it’s a real butterfly,†said
Daisy Tinkler, greatly puzzled.
‘Dear me, miss, you take a lot of con-
vincing,†remarked George the pig.
“But he has great bunions, just like old
Mr. Primrose has,†said Daisy.
Tu
Beavtien. F
AVTTENLY. &
Old Primrose IAI
“Common thing in butterflies,†said the
pig. “ Shows breeding, doesn't it, ma’am?â€
This was to Jane the hen, who had come
out from under the haystack to see what was
happening.
“ Bunions ?†said Jane reflectively. “ Dear
me—now you come to speak of it—I do
seem to fancy I’ve noticed— ; but there, what
with the children and what with the servants,
I really can’t recollect a thing. But Mr.
Rooster would know—he knows everything ;
and I believe butterflies and bunions are
two of his particular studies. Rooster !â€
“What ds it, my dear? You really must
not detain me—train to catch— particular
engagement with Jones the barn-owl at the
bank. Eh? Bunions? Oh dear yes—com-
mon occurrence—common occurrence. Mr.
George is perfectly right—ah, good-day to
you all!â€
« Butterfly? Why, of course ; that’s all
right,†said Mary Ann Dabbles, the Ayles-
bury duck, waddling up. “ Many a butterfly
ve eaten, and very good they are as a relish
before meals. I'll eat this one.â€
142 7 Old Primrose
And she laid hold of old Primrose’s toe;
and old P., believing himself a real butterfly,
struggled to escape in a great fright, and
fluttered his wings wildly.
“Help! Police! Take her off!†he
screamed.
Old Primrose 143
“There! I’m sure butterflies don’t call
out ‘ Police!’†said Daisy.
“Well, now you come to mention it,†said
Jane the hen, “I don't believe I ever azd
hear—but Mr. Rooster—~â€
“Take my word for it,†said George the
pig. “That’s just what butterflies do call
out—sort of war-cry, you know.â€
‘And keep on taking snuff?†said Daisy.
“Why, certainly,†said George. ‘That's
what they’re always looking for in the
flowers.â€
By this time old Primrose had escaped
from Mary Ann Dabbles by flying on to
a stump; and there he stood taking snuff
in great agitation and excitement.
Iv
Now while old Primrose was trying to be-
come a butterfly, George the pig was trying
just as hard to become old Primrose. He
went quietly into the house, where no one
could watch him, and practised walking
on his hind legs and taking snuff, like old
Primrose.
When he had done this for some time,
and really grown very proficient at it, he
stole upstairs and dressed himself in some of
old P.’s clothes, particularly the red Sunday
waistcoat; and looked at himself in the little
scrap of looking-glass, practising all old P.’s
actions and gestures.
Now, fortunately for George, he really
did naturally resemble old P. in several
respects: their noses were a good deal
alike, and also their eyes. Then George
144
Old Primrose 145
had a base voice, not altogether unlike
old P.’s, and there were other points of re-
semblance.
So when George the pig had practised
until he was really very difficult to dis-
tinguish from old P., except by an expert
who had been regularly apprenticed to the
profession, he came downstairs in old Res
clothes and swaggered out at the back —
door.
“Why, here zs old Mr. Primrose, I de-
clare,†exclaimed Daisy, who was passing.
“Good morning, Mr. Primrose ; I’m so glad
you ve come back.â€
George the pig took a great pinch of
snuff, winced as though his bunions hurt
him, and said—
“Little girls should not speak until they
are addressed.â€
Now the real old Primrose, who had
just tried to perch on a twig and had
broken it and fallen on his nose, witnessed
all this, and was very angry.
“How dare you pretend to be me and
take my place?†he screamed to George.
K
146 Old Primrose
“I won't lose my cottage and things. ll
have the law on you.â€
“Pretend to be you, Mr. Butterfly ?â€
replied George. ‘Bless my soul! never
thought of such a thing. As if 7 would
condescend to be a dirty little butterfly,
with no vote! Butterflies should know
their place, and not be impertinent.â€
Old. Primrose tried to shake off his
butterflydom and draw himself up; but it
was too late—he was really turning into an
actual butterfly. And this shows what hard
wishing and vivid imagination can do! He
was growing hourly smaller and lighter
(although he was not yet light enough to
sit on a thin twig), and his newspaper
wings were turning into real wings, as white
as snow, and his feet and hands were
disappearing. He had longed to be a
beautiful butterfly, and had longed so hard
that he was turning to one; and now he
regretted it.
He hurried off to the court to take out a
summons against George the pig for illegally
taking possession of his cottage and garden ;
Old Primrose 149
but the clerk stared at him as he fluttered in
at the door and settled on the back of a
chair.
“We don’t issue summonses to butterflies,â€
said the clerk. “I suppose you ave a butter-
fly, aren’t you?â€
‘“No—no—no!†screamed Ae
old P. ‘I’m Jacob Primrose, ; hy a
ue
the owner of a cottage and
garden patch. They’re rob-
bing me!â€
“Pooh!†said the clerk. ‘Go ee
away, or I'll stick you on a cork aS |
with a pin.†Ul)
So poor old Primrose fluttered
out, weeping and taking pinches
of snuff by turns; and now he
was changing more rapidly than
ever, so that by the time he reached his
cottage again he was only about five times
the size of any ordinary butterfly. The
strange part of it was, that he still re-
tained his deep husky voice and his great
nose, and took snuff, and felt pains in his
bunions.
He perched miserably on the
fence, and watched George the pig
sitting, puffing at his favourite
pipe, in the little porch -of the
cottage.
George the pig was growing
every moment more and more like
old Primrose; he had grown a
stubbly beard, and his ears had
got almost like old P.’s; and he
was developing toes on his feet,
af ie
and bunions on his toes. eB
And one day as Daisy Tinkler =
was trotting home from school a
poor little ordinary-sized butterfly,
which was being pursued by a
boy with a cap, alighted on her
finger.
“Daisy,†it said in a gruff EO ereoe
AND FAMILY
AT HOME
TEA & Music
tie RSVP
oT
husky voice, ‘save me! They’re
Old Primrose 151
going to stick a pin through me and put me
in a case.â€
And the poor butterfly began taking snuff
and weeping bitterly ; so that Daisy knew it
was poor old Primrose.
So she took him gently home on her finger,
and made a little bower of twigs and flowers
in her room for him to live in; and there he
sat and grumbled at his fate.
But by degrees he left off grumbling, and
lost his voice, and ceased to take snuff; and
then he grew quite contented and happy,
following Daisy all about the garden, and
perching on the flowers; but he never wan-
dered away from Daisy for long at a time.
And when he wanted rest he would perch
on Daisy’s hair and sit there. He was
just an ordinary butterfly. And when the
winter came, he drooped his wings and died
in her hand; and she put him on a piece of
velvet in a little box with a glass lid; and it
is on her mantelpiece to this day.
ve
(es
Bob Robinson’s Baby
Bos Rosinson the cock-robin
was always inclined to bea little
pretentious.
Before he was fully fledged
he thrust his hands beneath
his coat-tails, stood with his
legs wide apart on the edge of
the nest, put his head a-one-
side, and remarked—
( “Hum! Yes, a very decent
&, Me sort of garden. Mould looks rich,
i - and promises worms. Cherry-trees
sgtimson 1 see—and currant-bushes — yes.
ene Wants a few alterations here and
there; but very fair—very fair.â€
From that moment he never took his
hands from under his coat-tails. Just go
5 I
156 Bob Robinson’s Baby
into the garden and look at the robin, and
see whether he isn’t always standing with
his hands thrust under his coat-tails—always
standing with his legs wide apart, on the
hearthrug as it were, bullying everybody.
Is he not? Yes. What did I tell you?
Well, even as a youngster, he irritated
everybody who came across him by his
bouncible ways. The thrush and the black-
bird used to talk him over between them-
selves, in the ash-tree; and it might have
done him good to overhear the remarks.
Among other things, he insisted on every-
body addressing him as ‘‘Mr.†Whenany one
merely said ‘“ Robinson,†he took no notice
except to glare. He was really insufferable.
He grew up and took a wife, and built a
snug detached nest in the ivy ; but common
ivy would not do for him; zs nest had to be
in the variegated ivy.
“But consider the expense of keeping
up so much show,†said Mrs. Bob Robinson ;
“ought we not to begin more quietly, in a
less prétentious neighbourhood—the plain
ivy where the hedge-sparrow’s villa is?â€
Bob Robinson's Baby 157
“The hedge-sparrow, woman!†said Bob,
with the most withering contempt. “Am I
—R. Robinson, Esquire—to live next door
to a hedge-sparrow? You'll be suggesting
a semi-detached nest next, with the common
soot-coloured sparrow for a neighbour!â€
“But the hedge-sparrow has a blue egg,â€
put in Mrs. Robinson.
‘Now, Cecilia,†said Mr. Robinson, get-
ting on the hearthrug, “‘is it not palatable
to even your intelligence that blue is a
most absurd colour for an egg?†(He
meant “palpable,†of course; but his pre-
tentiousness was always leading him to use
great words which he did not understand.)
“Tt is just like these common people to
have a blue egg; the next thing will be
that it will be covered with Honiton lace!
Ridiculous! Brown is the most suitable
colour yet discovered for an egg—very pale
brown with deeper brown speckles. But I
can improve even upon this—and intend to,
one day.â€
Then he flew away, and presently returned
with some threads of crimson silk in his beak.
158 Bob Robinson’s Baby
“Whatever is that for?†asked Mrs.
Robinson.
“To weave into the nest to be sure,
woman,†said Mr. Robinson.
‘“O Robert,†said his wife, “It must have
cost a great deal per yard.â€
“The nest of R. Robinson, Esquire re-
quires it,†was all the reply she got.
At that moment the rook was coming by
and saw Mr. Robinson on the fence.
‘Good evening,†said the rook; “you're
looking very well, Robinson.â€
“ Mr. Robinson,†said the robin. (Jt was
the first time the rook had offended, so
R. was indulgent.) ‘Well, to tell you the
truth, I am tired—had a hard day of it.
Of course there are penalties attached to
an honorous position like mine. My gar-
dener fellow gives me a deal of trouble—
requires constant super—ah—superlooking-
after.â€
“Dear me! what a very nice garden!â€
said the rook.
‘““Yaas—yaas,†said the robin. ‘It does
me credit, I admit.’
Bob Robinson’s Baby 161
“Did you buy it?†asked the rook simply.
““Oh—why—ah, well ; not precisely to say
bought it,†said the robin: “I’ve taken it
over—taken it over. Took a fancy to it,
y know—suitable site for my villa.â€
“And you pay the gardener too?†said
the rook.
“Well—well—I haven’t exactly settled
with him as yet,†said the robin. “But of
course he'll be paid—fellow expects payment.
But he’s a terrible worry. Really doesn’t
understand the science of gardening. I’ve
had to speak to him at least a dozen
times to-day. You'd hardly credit the
tenerity of his ignorance. ‘Erthupp’, I
said to him only this very morning, as
I sat on the barrow, ‘what do you take
to be the vazszz date’ (favourite foreign
expression of mine: I’m extremely partial
to both varieties of fruit), ‘the razszx date of
a garden?’ What do you think the fellow
said? You'll never guess—‘ Flowers.’
“
“<¢Fruit, said he.
“°AN deetle nearer the mark this time,’ I
L
162 Bob Robinson’s Baby
said. ‘Fruit is a very good thing, but
- you haven’t quite hit it yet. As it may
be useful to you to know, I’ll inform you
—worms and grubs, my man—grubs and
worms.â€
“Why, certainly,†said the rook.
“« To you imagine I employ you to turn up
the earth all day in order to plant
c flowers?’ I said. “And the
oe fellow actually didn’t know that
as es ‘his object in turning up the earth
aay was to find grubs for me!â€
“One has to be patient with
the fellow. One really can’t be
for ever punishing him—he’s so
full of faults.â€
“You might peck him,†suggested the
rook.
“Dear me—he’s quite impeccable. Tough
as leather!†said Mr. Robinson. “ But I’m
training him—I’m training him. He begins
to understand that he has to put aside all
his finds—all the buried treasure he digs
?
oR
Bob Robinson's Baby 163
“Meaning, of course, worms and grubs ?â€
put in the rook.
B. Robinson drew himself up and sniffed.
“If you will avoid these interruptions,†he
said, “I will proceed. Yes—I allude to
worms and grubs—to under-
stand that all the buried trea-
sure is, as it were, Crown
property—I representing the
Crown, of course. I have had
reason to suspect, from time
to time, that he subcutaneously
disposes of some of the articles.
Of course I don’t mind it if he
merely eats a few himself. One
mustn't muzzle the mouth
of the ox unless he treads Sze
on one’s corns; and he
would tread on my corns
by selling any of my worms and grubs.â€
“Of course they are valuable property?â€
said the rook.
“Certainly!†said B. Robinson; “most
marketable article—sort of medium of ex-
change; in point of fact those and red-
164 Bob Robinson’s Baby
currants may be said to form a kind of
currancy.â€
“He! he!†said the rook.
“JT fail to perceive the subject of your
merriment,†said B. Robinson stiffly. “Ah
—allow me to offer you a small supply of
grubs to take home to Mrs. Rook who,
I trust, is well? Erthupp!â€
“Sir?†said the gardener, with a grin.
“Do not grin when I address you,†said
B. Robinson. ‘Give my friend Mr. Rook
a punnet of grubs.â€
Il
“Cxciiia!†said Bob Robin-
son one day in great ex-
citement, “what sort of
creature do you propose to
hatch out of that egg which
now occupies your atten-
tion ?â€
«“ Well, Robert,†said
Mrs. R., ‘I was thinking of
the customary thing—a baby
robin.â€
«Hum! Well—I have
165
166 — Bob Robinson's Baby
never greatly approved of those hideous little
bare worm-bags—they are really most revolt-
ing objects to look upon; something like
Christmas turkeys hung up at the poul-
terer’s, only more so. I particularly object
to the unsightly knobs they have for eyes.
Now if you could make it convénient to
hatch out a human baby—what do you think ?
I noticed last year, when looking in at the
nursery window of those young married
people whose house adjoins my garden (by
an arrangement between myself and them),
a very nice baby there—pink. It’s there
now—only bigger.â€
“But whatever could we do with it?â€
asked Mrs. R.
“Why, just: think, when it grew up to
be a man
“A man?†said Mrs. R. ‘Why, how
could it grow up to be a man? I’ve
seen it; it is not a bit like a man!
Erthupp is a man; he has a nest on his
head, and another on his chin, and a deep
voice something like Mr. Rook’s, only
larger.â€
Bob Robins Baby 167
“Don't be silly and ignorant, Cecilia!
Are those hortible little putty-coloured worm-
bags which emerge from eggs in the least
like we? I should think not indeed. Well,
don’t they grow into robins ?â€
“T suppose you must be right, Robert,â€
said Mrs. R.
“T am, Cecilia. Well, when that baby
grew up to be a man, like Erthupp, he
might be of great utility. You see, he
would be my son, and under my orders.
He could dig up worms and grubs for us
all day: I would undertake his intuition
myself.â€
“T'm afraid I could hardly manage it,â€
said Mrs. R. doubtfully.
“Then what is the use of you, my dear?
I might just as well have married an incubus
—that can hatch out mere birds! Now I'll
tell you what I’ve decided to do. I will
carry that egg of yours into that nursery, and
put it in the baby’s nest; and I have no
doubt that the influence of association will
cause it to hatch out a baby—and that will
be our baby.â€
168 Bob Robinson’s Baby
“But it is my only egg,†said Mrs.
Robinson sorrowfully. “I shall miss it
so.â€
“Pooh, my dear. You mustn’t brood
over it—an egg is not a thing to brood
upon.â€
So Mr. Robinson took advantage of the
nursery window being open,
and deposited the egg care-
fully by the side of the baby
in the cot: and next morn-
ing Mr. R. arose early and
went forth; immediately
returning, full of excite-
ment, to the nest.
“Get up, Cecilia,†he said ;
“the egg as hatched out a
baby! There’s a brand new
baby by the side of the year old one! It’s
ours.â€
Mrs. Robinson was all of a flutter. ‘Dear,
dear! just fancy now!†she said. ‘How
jealous Mrs. Dick Robinson, who lives in
that other garden over there, will be! She
will be only too proud to call upon me now ;
Bob Robinson’s Baby 169
and I shall snub her! I’m just ready—only
this feather to do—do find me a safety-pin
—there.â€
They flew to the nursery window-ledge.
“Isn't it a beauty!†said Mrs. Robinson ;
“but how do you know it is ours? Perhaps
it belongs to the young married people who
live in the house?â€
“Nonsense, my dear,†said Bob Robinson.
“ How about the egg? I put the egg there
—and there’s the baby. What further proof
can you want? Bless my soul, how women
do jump to conclusions! Besides, do you
mean to tell me you can’t detect a re-
semblance to myself. There now — just
catch that baby and me in profile—so—
there ; isn’t there a distinct pe
“Why, yes—now you call my attention to
it—but however are we to carry it to the
nest?â€
“No necessity, no necessity,†said Bob.
“Of course, if it were really necessitous, I
have no doubt I could manage it; but it will
be a deal better where it is. I will go and
find it some worms.â€
170 Bob Robinson’s Baby
“But will it eat worms?†asked Mrs. R.
“Eat worms! What possible reason could
it have for not eating worms?â€
“Well, it might prefer .
“What could it possibly prefer to worms?
Does any rational being even look at any
other article of food when it can obtain
worms ?â€
“ But I fancied—perhaps I’m silly—I had
an idea that possibly human beings might
not care for——â€
“Pooh! No doubt human beings are
guilty of a good deal of foolishness; but I
think better of them than to believe that
they do not relish worms.â€
So Bob Robinson busied himself, and
found several beautifully fat worms; and,
hopping into the nursery, placed them con-
veniently on the pillow close to the new
baby’s nose.
Presently he and Mrs. R. returned to the
window-sill to see how things were going
on.
“The worms are gone, you see,†he said
triumphantly.
Bob Robinson's Baby at
“There are several worms on the ground
outside,†suggested Mrs. R. timidly.
“Pooh! i said Mir R. Bh? Oh, yes,
so there are. It’s that fellow the starling
who has a nest under the eaves. He's
dropped them, of course ; he’s a most waste-
ful fellow.â€
“But his nest—or rather 4er nest—is on
the other side of the house.â€
“There you are again, jumping to con-
clusions, Cecilia!â€
Every day Bob Robinson found a
number of worms for his new baby; and
every day the starling who lived under the
eaves, the other side of the house, was
seen to pick up worms from beneath the
nursery window ; which (as Bob said) clearly
proved that the starling had dropped them
there himself. Poor Mrs. Bob Robinson
had her doubts; but, being dutiful and
reverential, said nothing about them.
Meanwhile Bob Robinson decided on
certain alterations in the garden; he re-
solved to abolish flowers altogether, and
devote the flower-beds wholly to the cultiva-
Ree
tion of worms; and as he did not care
for apples, he decided to cut down
the apple-trees and replace them with
red-currant bushes.
So he called Erthupp the gardener,
and ordered him to make the altera-
tions at once; but great was his in-
dignation next day on finding that he
had not been obeyed !
‘“‘Erthupp!†he said severely, perch-
ing on the barrow, “I must request
an explanation of this inadvertence
to my orders!â€
“Very sorry, sir,†replied Erthupp ;
“but I mentioned your wishes to
the governor; and he didn’t seem to
think as the alterations was exackly
, requirable.â€
“Erthupp!†said Bob, still more ft
severely, “I have spoken to you
before concerning your habit of grin-
ning when I address you; be so good
af ; K
‘ 1 KS kh #
Bob Robinson’s Baby 173
as give up that habit! And as to the person
you call ‘the governor, I am at a loss to
understand to whom you elude, having been
under the impression that that title belonged
solely to myself. If you, by
chance, elude to the human per-
son whom I permit to reside
in the adjoining villa se
“ That’s ‘im, sir,†said
Erthupp.
“T must request that
you will cease to take your
commands from him;
otherwise I shall be com-
pelled to give notice to
both him and yourself!â€
And Bob Robinson flew
off in a stately manner,
while Erthupp stood grin-
ning in great glee. It
was extremely lucky for him that Bob did
not see him!
The next day came, and the alterations
were not made; and Bob’s anger was
boundless,
174 Bob Robinson’s Baby
‘‘Erthupp,†he said, “you will be good
enough to leave at the end of this week.â€
Then Bob Robinson waited about the
garden until the young married couple came
out; and when they did, he said to the
man—
“T must ask you to be
kind enough to quit these
premises at your early con-
venience.â€
Then Bob, in his stately
way, retired to the nest; and
sat on the edge of it, looking
down on the humans.
“Cecilia,†he said pre-
sently, ‘do you know I al-
most regret having given
them notice! I—I per-
ceive the lady i is crying. Perhaps I’ve been
a trifle harsh—but still, one can xot put
up with——â€
And Bob tried hard to persuade himself
that he was justified in his severity; but
his mind was not quite comfortable, all the
same.
he a
Bob Robinson’s Baby 175
And when the next week came, the gar-
dener had gone!
Daily Bob Robinson took the worms to
the new baby; and at times it came into
his mind that it did seem a little hard to
turn out the young people—for they most
certainly did take great care of his baby: .
but Bob’s dignity had
been ruffled by the slight
to his authority ; and
he could not per-
suade himself to give
the young pair per-
mission to stay.
Very often the
young man would
walk moodily round
the garden in the
evening with his
eyes on the ground; and very often the
young woman would appear at the window
with red eyes, as if she had been crying ; but
when the young man was.there she would
pretend to be happy, and keep telling him
that something or other would not be so
176 Bob Robinson’s Baby
very dreadful, and that, very likely, things
would come right in the end.
“Do you know, Cecilia,†said Bob Robin-
son one evening, ‘I’ve decided to let those
young people remain. They appear to take
it to heart so! He shall apologise to me,
and we'll say no more about it. I had
made up my mind to remove baby to the
nest to-morrow, and take him out of their
hands; but I will give them permission
to stay instead.â€
But, behold, in the morning there was a
sale going on in the house; and that day
all the nice handsome furniture was sold,
only a few of the plainest things being set
aside not to be sold. All day Bob waited
about to find the young people and tell them
they might stay ; but he could not find them
any where.
“But at any rate we must now certainly
remove our baby to the nest,’ said Bob.
«And—why, Cecilia—the baby has gone!
They have gone away and stolen our baby!
Cecilia, we will trace those people and bring
them to justice,â€
Il
Bos Rostnson devoted himself to tracing
the whereabouts of the young pair who had
stolen his baby; he flew about all over the
neighbourhood, looking in all the nicely
furnished villas ; but he could not find them.
Then, quite by chance, he looked in at the
window of a much smaller and meaner house,
in a poorer neighbourhood hard by; and
there he saw the lady sitting by the cot in
which lay the younger baby—Bob’s baby.
Bob was about to tap very angrily at the
window, when he stopped himself suddenly,
for the lady looked very sad and down-
cast.
“Hum!†he muttered to himself. “‘ Per-
haps I may as well leave baby with her a
little longer, as I Aave found him. He appears
to be safe with her—in fact she seems
177 M
178 Bob Robinson’s Baby
to have quite taken to him. Nevertheless,
it was most unjustifiable to remove him
without consulting me.â€
Then Bob looked round the premises, and
flew back to Mrs. Bob.
“Their new place seems to be very small
—very inferior indeed,†he said; “and I
can’t find the four servants they had at the
other house—my house. I could only per-
ceive one—quite another class of servant,
with no style at all.â€
A few days after that he said to Mrs.
Bob, “I’ve been looking round to see
how baby is getting on, and leaving a
few worms; and I noticed a card in the
upper window with some long word on it.
I shall have to inquire rather closely into
the suitability of any persons they may
introduce into the house to inhabit the
same premises as my baby. I think it
would be as well, Cecilia, for us to move
into the yew-tree in front of their new
premises ; we could then keep an eye upon
what goes on. Ha! Who is that person
alighting from a brougham and entering
Bob Robinson’s Baby 179
the house? Looks like a medical peti-
tioner! I trust baby—why, Cecilia, it zs
baby he has gone in to see! I must in-
stantly remove 4
“Don’t you think, dear,†said Mrs. Bob,
“that, as these people have had the care
of him until now and are evidently doing
their best, it might be as well to leave him
in their hands for a little, just to see how
they go on?â€
“Well, well,†replied Bob. “Yes, they
certainly seem to have taken to him, and
to be interested in his welfare, although
their conduct in removing him without
my sanction—but let that pass. Yes, we
will leave him, and see how things go on—
for a limited period.â€
The doctor came again two days after,
and then he came every day. Bob Robin-
son and Mrs. Bob spent the greater part
of their time on a branch near the window,
looking into the room.
“Do you know, Cecilia, I really am
much concerned about Baby,†said Bob;
“very much concerned; and it would
180 Bob Robinson’s Baby
really appear as though that young woman
almost shared our anxiety about him. She
seems most attentive, positively anxious.
In fact she looks quite careworn! I made
a point of waking up a good many times
in the course of the night and peeping in;
and she has sat up all night. It is really
most self-sacrificing in her, for the sake
of a baby quite unconnected with herself!
Dear me, the doctor almost appears to live
here ; here he is again.â€
IV
-“Cxcriia,†whispered Bob uncomfortably
some days later, “can you make out what
that oblong white box is on the table? That
must have been brought in last night after
we had gone to bed to get half-an-hour’s
sleep; and why do they not draw up the
blinds? They ust be aware that it is no
longer night. Here, you can see the white
box at this little opening by the side of the
blind. And—dear me—the young woman
is putting white flowers on the box. Cecilia,
where is baby?â€
Mrs. Bob said nothing ; but she flew on to
the grass-plot, and picked a white daisy, and
laid it on the window-sill.
Three days after that Mr. and Mrs. Bob
Robinson were very busy picking daisies
and other such little white flowers as they
could carry, and putting them on a little
new humble mound in the cemetery a short
way off. They worked all day, and towards
181
182 Bob Robinson’s Baby
evening the littke mound was completely
covered with small white flowers.
“ Dear me, the young woman does nothing
but cry,†said Bob, as he and Cecilia sat
looking in at the window of the small house.
‘‘She must have been very fond of our baby.
Any one would imagine it had been her own.
Well, I do believe she did her very best for
our child; and I shall always regret that I
behaved so harshly to those people.â€
And Bob Robinson sat on the window-
sill, and sang every day to the young woman
to cheer her; while Mrs. Bob placed fresh
daisies on the little mound.
“Don’t you think, dear, it would be better
for us to be contented with little robins in
future?†said Mrs. Bob.
The Island of
Professor Menu
The Island of
Professor Menu
[ When I had finished writing the following story,
Twas seized with an impression of having read
something like it before—possibly during a previous
existence. It seemed as though I had in some
mysterious way drawn up the incidents from the
WELLS of Memory.—AUTHOR. |
]
Ir. was on a voyage from Victoria to the
Sandwich Islands that the good ship Vectorza
Sandwich (so named from the places she
plied between) had foundered.
Seven of us had drifted for about three
185
186 The Island of
years on a lee-scupper, the only object on
which we could save ourselves, all the
boats being smashed. We had suffered so
much from hunger that we had been forced
to eat one another, turn and turn about; and
my last recollection is of the Friday when
my weekly turn came round again to eat
the other six.
Then I fainted from repletion ; and when
I next became conscious, I was lying, still
ill with acute indigestion, in a bunk on board
the schooner Gum Drop.
A doctor sat by my side holding my
wrist. There was an indescribable pecu-
liarity about this man which made me
detest him.
He said, “The Captain of this vessel ob-
jects to queer combinations.†I was too
weak to inquire what queer combinations
were.
As soon as my indigestion had lessened
a little, I went on deck. Standing on the
companion was a man with an indescribable
peculiarity about him which made me detest
him.
Professor Menu 189
“What are you doing here?†said the
doctor. “Your place is in the kitchen
garden—you know that.â€
“They won't have me in the kitchen
garden—they say I’m running to seed,â€
replied the man, with a cowed look.
“Tf you don’t go, I'll have you boiled!â€
said the doctor threateningly.
Chained to the mast were a flock of sheep ;
and I noticed that when the man put his
head above the top of the companion-ladder
they all stretched their necks at him, baaing
eagerly.
Presently there was a great outcry; and
the strange man ran up the ladder, followed
by the Captain, who was roaring angrily.
The Captain’s language was dreadful—he
hardly said a single sentence without a whole
string of expressions such as “Dear me!â€
‘Bless my whiskers!†“ Lork-a-mussy !†and
similar dreadful phrases. He tore off great
pieces of the strange man’s clothing, and
rolled them up tightly into a ball, which he
put in his mouth and chewed. In the
scuffle, the strange-looking man fell among
190 The Island of
the sheep, which instantly began to browse
his hair off, while he screamed loudly.
“Captain!†said the doctor angrily, ‘it is
bad taste to eat your passengers.â€
The Captain turned savagely upon him,
and rolled off a long list of fearful expres-
sions, of which “My Aunt!†and “Golly!â€
were among the mildest.
There was an indescribable peculiarity
about the Captain which caused me to detest
him.
The Captain came back, still in a rage.
‘Passenger you call him!†he said; “TI call
him a vegetable—a lunatic vegetable! I
can’t stand him—my men can’t stand him.
He gets his roots all round the tackle
so that they can’t work it! Yesterday they
turned round the screw, and stopped the ship.
I won’t have it, I tell you! He scatters seeds
all over the deck. It was a clean deck before .
he came aboard—look at it now! My Aunt!â€
I looked forward at the forecastle: the
whole deck was hidden by a luxuriant crop
of mingled wheat, potatoes, dandelions,
poppies, and other plants.
Professor Menu 193
Wall-flowers were growing in all the tackle
blocks and the holes of the dead-eyes ; there
were nasturtiums trailing up the mast ; thistles
waved in the tops; the bulwarks were cov-
ered with stonecrop and London-pride.
“ Horrid!†said the Captain. ‘Catch me
taking aboard a cargo of maniac vegetables
and seed-scatterers again! I suppose you
took this ship for a seed-vessel!†And with
this parting shot he flew to the ginger-beer
bottle for solace. I found that he was always
in a state of ginger-beer.
On looking about me, I perceived the
meaning of his last allusion: the deck was
piled up to the tops with threepenny packets
of seeds.
The doctor (whose name was Merioneth)
and I stood leaning over the bulwarks in
the moonlight.
“You appear to be a bit of a gabbler,â€
he said suddenly; “so I feel inclined to
tell you the secret of my life.â€
I looked round, and perceived the strange
man eyeing me furtively; and a sensation
of horror crept over me as I seemed to
N
194 The Island of
detect in his eyes a resemblance to those
of a potato. He averted his glance quickly,
and planted his eyes in the furrows of the
sea.
There was a faint perfume of mingled
cookery in the air—that perfume which
makes one long to creep down into the
kitchen when cook is not looking, and dip
a great slice of bread into the dripping-pan.
Have you ever done this? If you have not,
try it! But mind the grease does not drip
on your new clothes, or cook will find it all
out—and then!
This perfume of cookery grew stronger
as the schooner progressed on her way. It
filled the whole air from horizon to horizon.
Among the scents, I could clearly distinguish
those of fried onions, hot cake, Irish stew,
herrings, pork chops, raspberry jam, and
sausages. I was beginning to get hungry ;
but since my indigestion consequent upon
eating the six castaways, I had not dared to
eat anything.
In the course of a few days we sighted an:
island with a volcano in the middle. From
Professor Menu 195
this volcano or burning mountain came a
long thin line of smoke; and it was this
smoke which distributed the savoury per-
fumes I have mentioned.
This smell of general cookery from the
volcano had become overpowering. Just
think of it! Suppose the doctor had for-
bidden you to eat anything for a week, and
your cook were preparing for a great dinner-
party, and all these perfumes came to you from
the kitchen! What would you do? Exactly.
That’s what / did. I sat down and cried. .
When we neared the volcanic island, the
Captain, assisted by his men, hastily en-
closed Merioneth, the flock of sheep, the
packets of seeds, the strange man, a large
pig, a pine-apple, and all the other properties
which Merioneth had with him, in a great
net, which was promptly hauled up to the
yard-arm. Then, as the vessel rapidly passed
the island, the net was cast loose, and fell
withga thump on the shore.
“Hullo! You still here? Three blind
mice!†said the Captain to me. ‘ Over-
board you go!â€
196 The Island of
The Captain’s hair and beard were ginger-
coloured, in consequence of his addiction to
ginger-beer.
Professor Menu 107
He lowered me into the lee-scupper, which
was still towing astern. In my despair I
screamed madly for the waiter—the chamber-
maid—nurse—anything.
Then I saw that Merioneth had taken
pity on me, and was putting out from the
island in a packet—one of the threepenny
packets I had seen on deck.
I]
THE DOCK-LABOURERS
THE packet was propelled by three boatmen.
There was an indescribable peculiarity about
them which caused me to detest them. I
noticed that they
had large green
hands which they
held in the air,
varying the posi-
tion from time
to time. I had
never seen men so
wrapped up before ;
they were entirely
swathed in bass-
matting bound round with raffia-grass.
I noticed that each of them had a label
tied to him, and that the flock of sheep in the
198
Island of Professor Menu 199
stern kept trying to get at them. In the
stern sat a man whom I had not seen before:
he had a large, flat, white linen cap, and
sleeves and apron of the same material. In
one hand he held a ladle. WHis hair struck
me—it was bright green.
We landed ; and I could not help noticing
the gait of the three boatmen. They walked
very stiffly, stopping to pull away their legs
from the ground from time to time, as though
the legs were beginning to take root.
These men drove the sheep, and carried
the packets of seeds and other articles, up
to a door in the wall of the crater of the
volcano. There appeared to be some secret
about this crater; for no one was permitted
to enter.
I still had not partaken of food since the
consumption of the six castaways, and was
faint with hunger. Under these circum-
stances I was maddened by the appetising
perfume of cooking which proceeded from
the vicinity of the crater and pervaded the
island.
Merioneth noticed my condition, and hastily
200 Island of Professor Menu
breaking a few fingers and toes off the
strange man, threw them to me.
“It’s all right, Peppermint,†he said (my
name is Peppermint). “They'll grow again
in no time. He doesn’t mind.â€
The fingers were crimson, the toes white.
They ate short and crisp. The strange man
did not appear to mind.
While I was devouring them, the green-
haired man in white linen came down to
where I sat on the beach.
“Thanks for calling,†he said; “but I
suppose you know you're not welcome
here ? Of course I know well enough who
sent you—the School of Cookery. You've
come to find out what you can: but you
won't find out much, I can tell you.. What
are we to do with the beast?†he said to
Merioneth.
“There’s my room,†said Merioneth.
They conducted me to a door in the
wall of the crater; this door led into a
room which had another door leading into
the crater. This second door they hastily
shut.
Ill
THE FRYING IN THE FUMAROLE
Tue perfume of cooking was maddening
here. All the most deliriously appetising
odours I have ever come across in all the
restaurants I have ever known would have
been but a drop in the ocean to this. There
was a vast sound of frying in the air; it
evidently proceeded from the interior of the
crater.
Merioneth said he would lunch with me,
but that Menu was too preoccupied with
some work to come.
“Menu!†said I; “I know that name.†.
“Do you?†said he. ‘What a donkey I
was to mention it to you.â€
“Merioneth,†said I suddenly, “why has
the strange man green hair — something
201
202 The Island of
like your friend’s, and eyes like those of
potatoes ?â€
RAB- APPLE-
PIE- CRUSTACEAN
“Eh?†he said. ‘Never noticed it!â€
Then he went out, and I heard him call
“Menu!â€
x Professor Menu 203
‘Where had I heard the name of Menu
- before? What were the words I had read
in the newspaper years ago? “The Menu
Puddles,†was it? ‘The Menu Muddles!â€
Then it came back to me. Menu, the
celebrated experimental cook, who had been
driven from London because of the effect of
his awful experiments on the digestions of
the customers at his restaurant! He had
had to leave England.
What could it mean? A locked crater
on a lonely island, a notorious experimental
chef, and this fearful perfume of cookery !
IV
THE THINGUMMY IN THE PLANTATION
I FLED from the maddening odour into the
woods. There was an indescribable pecu-
liarity about the trees which caused me to
detest, and want to eat, them.
I became aware of a strange grotesque
form peering at me from among the foliage.
It had one glass eye, set in a cylinder of
brass ; the fore-part of its body appeared to
be square and of the colour of mahogany ;
while the hinder part, as far as I could make
out, bore some strange resemblance to a
tortoise ; and it appeared to have fins and a
tail, somewhat like those of a skate.
I fled, shrieking ; it was growing dark.
I was conscious of a pattering of feet follow-
ing me.
Screaming for the police, I leapt from a
204
Island of Professor Menu 207
high cliff on to the beach; the Thingummy
followed. Then I picked up a stone, and,
facing round, hurled it. It broke the Thing-
ummy’s one glass eye into bright splinters ;
and the Thingummy put up for repairs.
V
THE FRYING OF THE HAM
I RETURNED to my room. The perfume
of varied cookery had now concentrated
itself into the most maddening odour I had
ever been tortured by—it was as though
all the ham in the world were being fried
inside there. This time it was no mere
soles, nor potatoes, nor even sausages—it
was ham !
As I realised this I rose, seized the handle
of the door into the crater, and flung it open
before me. There was brown gravy in the
dripping-pan. I saw something upon a vast
silver grill; and then blotting this out ap-
peared the face of old Menu, crimson with
heat.
In a moment he had gripped me by the
shoulder with a hand smeared with gravy,
208
Island of Professor Menu 200
had twisted me off my feet, and flung me
headlong back into my own room.
“Ruin the work of a lifetime!†I heard
Menu say. ‘“ But I'll roast his ribs!â€
I picked myself up and stood trembling,
my mind a chaos of the most dreadful mis-
givings. Could it be possible? Would he
really cook me? Did he propose to serve
me up whole, with a lemon in my mouth; or
would he make an Irish stew of me? Hungry
as I was, I did not like this idea.
I fled again into the plantation round the
corner.
I wandered until I came to a strange
kitchen garden containing a row of hot-
houses on one side, and a row of cages and
aquaria on the other. In the middle were
neat beds.
Out of one of the cages came a strange
creature—at least it began to come out,
though it appeared as if it would never
finish. It had the head and body of a
sheep, save that the body was many yards
in length. Arranged quite closely together
beneath its body were one hundred legs—
Oo
210 The Island of
those on its right side being roast, and those
on its left boiled; along the middle of its
back grew a long line of turnips, boiled to
a turn.
As I was observing it, an extraordinary
bird hopped down from a perch in another
cage; it had no feathers or down on its body,
which was of the colour of putty. It com-
menced to knead itself with its feet, lying on
its back to do so.
Suddenly it perceived me. “Hullo!†it
called out, “here’s another New Combina-
Professor Menu 211
tion! Tell him the law. You'll have to
obey the law, you know—none escape!â€
“ None escape!†cried a host of Combina-
tions suddenly appearing from the cages and
hothouses. Then the sheep began to recite
a strange code, the others joining in :—
“Not, to be under—or overdone; Zhaf is the law.
Are we not Combys?
“ Not.to be tough or stringy ; zat is the law.
> Are we not Combys?
“Not to go to table without a dish; /#a¢ is the law.
Are we not Combys?
“Evil are the punishments of those who
break the law. Back to the kitchen they
shall go to be réchauffés !â€
At that moment Menu and Merioneth ap-
peared. ‘ Hullo!†said Menu, “I thought we
should find you here, though I suspect you
haven't paid for admission. As you ave here,
let me take you round and show you the ex-
hibits. All my own invention—all done by
kindness, and in the interests of cookery. I
found that cooks do not really understand
cooking, and I took this island in order to
improve the art. They would not have
212 Island of Professor Menu
me any longer in London, because I gave
people indigestion. But one must practise
on somebody, you know. Merioneth here
tries all my new Combination dishes now ;
that’s why he looks so ill. I’ve invented the
most wonderful Combinations in cookery—
here’s my list of patent dishes. Please take
. one; also a copy of my latest Combination-
Cookery Book, price one shilling—thanks.
That long creature is my patent centipede
sheep—you see we get a hundred legs to
one body; and the saving of space and
fodder is great.â€
VI
ALL ABOUT THE COMBYS
“Burt,†I said, “the process of putting him
together must be very unpleasant for the
sheep !â€
“Not a bit,†said Professor Menu. “All
done by seeds—I’ve discovered that every-
thing can be grown from seed, you know.
First of all I bought a five-legged lamb
from a travelling show, and layered his tail
as one treats carnations—just like the old
lady treated. her cow in the ‘Lost Idea’—I
taught her, you know. “The lambs which
sprang from the tip of the tail varied in the
number of legs they possessed ; and I selec-
ted those with the greatest number, repeated
the layering process, and very soon obtained
a centipede lamb. By grafting his tail on
a plant I caused his spine to be furnished
213
214 The Island of
with vegetable marrow in place of the
ordinary kind; and by sprinkling a little
turnip-seed along his back I succeeded in
obtaining this row of turnips. I had now
completed my sheep; but what I desired
was an animal always ready for the table.
“By planting the legs in a hot-bed (in
the case of the boiled legs it was, of course,
a hot-water bed), and keeping them in
this situation for a considerable time, I ob-
tained a gentle but prolonged heat which
gradually and by quite natural means cooked
the legs to a turn; and this heat, spreading
genially over the whole body, also cooked
the turnips. In the case of lambs I have a
line of green peas and mint along the back.
When I require more sheep, I just sow some
seed from the turnips on this one’s back.
“That bird you see kneading itself is the
dough-do. It is now sufficiently kneaded ;
and you perceive another bird, with a tail
like a paste-roller, advancing? That is the
rolling-pin-tail ; and I invented it to roll the
dough-do.
“ That bird over there whose tail branches
Professor Menu 217
naturally into pea-sticks covered with peas
is the green-peacock, He also has vege-
table marrow in his bones; in fact vegetable
marrow—one of my greatest discoveries—
is the chief connecting link between animal
and vegetable life.
“ Now look in this fish- THe
pond. There is the cur- CURRANT- JELLY.
rant -jelly-fish. There is FISH.
the cow-eel, from which
excellent soup, com-
bining the qualities
of beef-tea and turtle-
soup, may be obtained.
Those creatures some-
what like lobsters are pie-
crustaceans ; and here is the
crab-apple. By a mixture
of the two, we obtain natu-
ral apple-dumplings. That large fish with a
tough shell, growing on the aquatic plant, is
the halibutternut ; it provides a dish which
is a combination of the fish course and the
dessert. The pond is brilliantly lighted at
night by a combination of the lamprey and the
218 The Island of
ray species, from which we obtain the lamp-
ray. It beats the incandescent light hollow.â€
“And what,†I asked, still shuddering,
“was the thingummy which
2, hunted me the other evening?â€
y R “Oh, that must have
been the snap - shotting-
turtle—produced by graft-
ing an ordinary photographic
camera on a snapping turtle.
I subsequently improved the
creature by a fusion of the X
ray or Rontgen ray—a de-
velopment of the common ray
found in these waters. These
submarine rays are indispens-
able for torpedo-boat catchers.â€
I now perceived a cockatoo
with an unusually fine crest on
Ly CELERY- his head.
COCKATOO. ‘‘Ah yes,†said Menu, “the ~
celery-cockatoo. Having been
struck by the uselessness of the sham heads
of celery forming the crest of the bird, I con-
ceived the notion of producing real celery in
Professor Menu 219
its place. This bird yields one good dish per
week. Result of vegetable marrow again.
“Here is a plantation of vegetable marrow-
bones—all growing ready cooked for table.
The white napkin round each is the natural
foliage.â€
At this point I was startled by a huge
fly settling on my head. With a shriek, I
flicked it off.
“Do not injure it,†exclaimed the Pro-
fessor. ‘That is a combination of which
I am particularly proud—the lamb’s sweet-
bread-and-butter-fly. It is a most valuable
addition to the table. Try some of the fruit
of this plant.â€
He pointed to a most curious plant, whose
branches bore great tufts of various sweet-
meats—fondants, burnt almonds, assorted
creams, and so on in infinite variety.
I tasted some—having still eaten nothing
(except those little pieces of the strange man)
since my lunch on the six castaways. The
sweets were delicious.
“That,†said Professor Menu, “is the
sweetstuff-briar. Those tufts upon it are, of -
220 The Island of
course, candy-tufts. But let us get home to
the crater, for I am wasting valuable time.â€
So saying, he hailed an enormous bird
which was passing. Its back was covered
' with rows of seats like those on a road-car ;
only these seats were natural to the bird, and
formed of quills luxuriously covered with
downy feathers. We climbed up and took
seats; and the bird started at a great pace
toward the crater, stopping at corners to
look out passengers.
“This great bird is the omnibustard,â€
said the Professor; “I am going to fit him
with a lightning-conductor to quicken his
pace.â€
We were now passing under a beautiful
grove of trees; and I was charmed with the
sounds of a magnificent string-band which
was performing the overture to Tannhaiiser.
“ Ah—it’s only my violinnets,†said Menu ;
‘“‘a combination of the common linnet and the
violin. You will distinguish the deep notes
of the bass violinnet—a combination of the
two former ingredients with the common
bass, very plentiful in the sea about here.
The
Professor Menu 223
That motif you hear now is being performed
by the guitarmigans.â€
“Professor Menu,†I said, “there is an
indescribable peculiarity about you which
causes me to detest you! I don’t like that
affair about London and the digestions of
the customers.â€
“Come in here,†said Menu, pushing me
into my room. ‘Look here—I’ll try to
convince you of my innocence and _ virtue.
After all, indigestion is such a little thing!
It is possible that, outside this little tiny
atom of a world, indigestion is unknown.
Do you suppose the moon suffers from in-
digestion ?†said Professor Menu.
“I don't know,†I replied, pondering ; ‘‘she
looks very yellow at times. ‘You may have
been giving the moon some of your Com-
bination dishes.â€
“T assure you I haven't; it must be the
green cheese; besides, what is a little indi-
gestion when weighed against the scientific
advantages of my Combinations?†There
was an indescribable peculiarity about his
reasoning which caused me to detest it.
224 The Island of
“Look here!†said I, ‘how about that
smell of frying ham ?â€
“Tt is not ham,†he said earnestly. “It
is the porcupineapple. It is my latest and
grandest Combination—a magnificent dish
with boundless possibilities. You saw the
pig and the pineapple which Merioneth
brought me from Victoria? This is a com-
bination of the two, with many additions.
Don’t you see that this compilation of mine
will combine the delights of roast pork and
apple sauce walking about in the fields all
ready for table.â€
“Hum!†I said, mad with hunger. “And
who is the strange man who came with us
in the ship?â€
“He is the vegetarian,†said Menu. “He
is entirely vegetable 7
‘But the peculiarity of his gait?†I inter-
rupted suspiciously.
‘Merely a kitchen-garden gait,†explained
Menu. ‘I havea great trouble in keeping
the sheep from eating him, because his hair
is composed of grass and spring-onions.
His head is a very large potato, and has
@
GE
Tse Gs
ORCUPINEAPPLE.
x
i fh b
ee
ib
i
Professor Menu 227
most expressive eyes ; his legs are composed
of giant rhubarb stalks ; his fingers are radishes
—you ate some, I recollect. He again has
vegetable marrow in his bones, of course.â€
‘And those strange men in the boat ?â€
“They are dock-labourers— merely a
skilful use of the ordinary dock-plant grown
in the London docks.
First I made a mixture of the dock and
the Swede—Swedes being the best sailors.
You observed that their hands consisted of
palms only—that is palm-fronds.
These, as you saw, they use as sails for
propelling the boat. It is in consequence of
the delicate palm elefhent in them that I am
forced to swathe them up in bass-matting.
Their great trouble is that when they are on
land their sea-kail legs are always trying to
take root. This gives a good deal of incon-
venience. They can’t keep their sea legs,â€
[ jumped from my chair in terror as a loud
report reached my ears.
“It’s all right, Peppermint,†said Merioneth.
“It's only the ginger-poppies going off all
at once,â€
228 The Island of
“Come in,†said Professor Menu, flinging
open the door which led to the
crater. I entered. Stretch-
ing across a great part
of the main crater was
a vast silver grill, on
which were placed
various _ recently
invented sorts of
meat, all frizzling and
popping merrily. My
hunger was dreadful.
I sniffed round feebly,
and burst into tears.
~ On various little
fiery holes round the
crater were stewpans,
frying-pans, — sauce-
pans,and soon. A stream of
boiling water issued from the
crater and formed a conve-
nient pool in which fowls,
fish, and vegetables were boil-
ing. The stream also heated receptacles
for keeping the plates hot. In front of a
Professor Menu 229
wall of hot lava turned a gigantic spit, and
beneath it stood a very curious beast, catching
the gravy. That was the dripping-panther.
There were a number of other curious beasts
holding the washed plates—these were plate-
raccoons. A strange bird was fussing about
all over the place, tasting the various dishes,
adding a little salt here, a little pepper there,
a little sauce in another place.
“That bird—a Combination of which I am
very proud—is my apprentice, the professed
cuckoo,†explained Menu. “You see that
other bird—that very fat three-cornered bird.
He is filled with jam, and is the jam-puffin.â€
“ And those things like rabbits, with dark
brown dots all over them, and glaze on
their backs ?†I asked.
“Merely my currant-bunnies,†explained
the Professor. ‘Those irritable ones that
are quarrelling together near the fire are
hot-cross-bunnies.â€
“And those strangely affectionate oysters
which would insist on coming to me to be
patted, on the sea-shore?â€
“Ah yes—friendly natives,†said the pro-
fessor.
VII
HOW THE COMBYS TASTED
At this moment the perfume of cookery
became intolerable and frenzying, and I
rushed out and sat down to have a good cry.
There was a sound of scuffling inside the
crater. The inner door of my room, which
I had hastily shut in going out, burst open
with a crash; and out rushed a Tune.
It was neither animal nor vegetable—it
was edible. It was the porcupineapple
escaping from the spit, half done. In its
mouth was a lemon.
My hunger maddened me: I fell upon it,
half done as it was, and ate the whole of it.
My appetite grew stronger with this relish.
“T mean to eat the whole of ’em,†I
screamed, ‘all the curious Combinations—
every man Jack of em. I’m going to have
230
ak
Cr
Island of Professor Menu 233
a regular bank-holiday, because I have my
wits untied!â€
“Don’t, Peppermint, for goodness’ sake!â€
cried Merioneth.
I was not to be restrained; five weeks’
fast had made me ravenous. I attacked and
devoured all I met: first the Vegetarian,
beginning with his grass-and-spring-onion
hair and finishing with his radish toes; then
the three dock-labourers ; then the centipede
sheep, turnips and all—accompanied by the
currant -jelly- fish; then the lamb’s-sweet-
bread-and-butterfly—all of them, finishing
up with dessert and sweets—the crab-apple-
pie-crustacean, the candy-tufts of the sweet-
stuff-briar.
Then I turned hungrily towards Menu
and Merioneth; and they plunged pre-
cipitately down the crater, and were lost to
me. I remember nothing more; but believe
I was picked up by a passing vessel, or a
policeman, or something, in Hammersmith
Broadway.
Tommy Twister’s
Discovery
Tommy Twister’s
Discovery
THis is not one of those absurd stories
about “Once upon a time†which tell you
of things that happened before you were
born. What does it matter to you what
happened before you were born? If any-
thing at all add happen before you were
born, it was intended to amuse those people
who lived then, and does not matter in the
least to you. We read of all sorts of people
who are said to have done things at that
early period, and they are nearly always a
nuisance |
There are the kings and queens of Eng-
land for instance, a set of worrying persons
who insist on your learning their dates.
237
238 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
What ‘would they have said if they had
been compelled to learn the date at which
you were going to be born, and the date of
your first tooth, and the time at which you
go to bed and get up? They would have
said, ‘‘This is no business of ours! If he
ever zs born let him learn his own dates and
not try to put his duties on other people’s
shoulders!â€
Just so; and if they had attended to ¢hezr
duties, and learned their own dates while
they lived—if they ever did live—you would
not have to bother about them now. As far
as you are concerned, the world began when
you were born; and the better you behave,
the better the world will be.
Well, a very little time ago—long, long
after you were born—there lived a small boy
named Tommy ; and he still lives, no doubt ;
although I have not seen him lately.
One day his father was telling him about
Doctor Nansen having gone away in a
ship to discover the North Pole. You have
heard of the North Pole, eh? It is a place
at the top of the world—at least the map of
WRAY po PEOPLE
\d
WANT To DISSOVER Vp og 1 " iu
Take re : VW Ve i)
NORTH ae y 4s YAN
Pore? Mey eh
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 241
the world is always placed that way up, so
it must be called the top—and is surrounded
by ice; and people have been trying for
hundreds of years to reach it; but, as those
people lived before you were born, we will
not trouble ourselves about them for fear
they might want us to learn their dates.
‘“Why do people want to discover the
North Pole?†asked Tommy.
His father wondered a minute, for the
question had never occurred to him be-
fore, because he was a jam-manufacturer,
and never had to send any of his jam to the
North Pole.
Presently he said—
“T really don’t know. Probably because
there mzght be people living there who
would like to buy things—jam, for instance.â€
“But how did they get the idea?†asked
Tommy.
‘They didn’t get the idea,†said his father.
“It was a little piece of steel that got the
idea—a little needle. It kept pointing always
toward the North Pole, and keeps on doing so
still. It evidently wishes to get there. No
Q
242 Lommy Twister’s Discovery
doubt there is something up there which it
wishes to find. When that little needle is
carried southwards in a ship it keeps point-
ing, pointing over the stern, as if it entirely
disapproved of the way it was being made
to go.
“Tt cannot be persuaded to look the other
way. If they turn it the other way with
their fingers it whirls round again im-
mediately, and keeps shaking its head
angrily for some time, until it forgets the
insult. It is so eager that it trembles con-
tinually—partly, perhaps, because it is afraid
of the ship going down, for it knows it
would sink in the water; but principally, no
doubt, because it is so anxious to get to its
beloved North Pole. But the curious thing
is that, when the ship gets near the Equator
—which is a fancy line round the earth at
exactly the same distance from the North
Pole and the South Pole—it begins to get
undecided and troubled in its mind, leaves
off staring steadily at the north, and keeps
casting little hurried glances round the corner
in the other direction.
Tommy Twister’s Discover 24
y, oy) 3
“If you imagine yourself placed between
a raspberry tart and a box of tin soldiers
you can understand the state of that little
needle’s mind between the North and South
Poles.
‘When it gets to the Equator it becomes
so naughty as to be quite
unmanageable. It trembles
and fidgets and shakes its
shoulders like a spoilt child,
and pouts. It is quite useless
to slap it, or to put it in the
corner: it will #o¢ behave
itself.
‘‘ Now, as the captain steers Tis Pate
his ship with the aid of the Sie etree
little needle, he is afraid to offend NEEDLE,
it deeply for fear that it will refuse
to guide him any more; for if it did he
would possibly have to wander round and
round on the oceans for ever, like the Flying
Dutchman, unless he came across a_police-
man to tell him the way: and there are
no policemen on the ocean.
“So, after sitting down by the binnacle
244 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
and talking seriously to the needle and
quoting a verse or two from Doctor Watts,
the captain leaves it alone until it comes to
reason again, and asks the stars which way
he ought to go; and the stars wink at him
in such a way that he gets the information
he requires.
‘Very soon he comes to the Southern-
Cross-Roads ; and by that time the needle
has shaken off its naughty fit, and is begin-
ning to stare steadily at the South Pole as
though it wanted to get to that.
“This is not a good trait in its charac-
ter; for one should not forget an old friend
because one is far away from him, and prefer
an utter stranger.â€
“No,†replied Tommy: for he was natur-
ally a good boy, and knew almost at once
that the right thing to say here was “No,â€
and not “ Yes.â€
“What is the needle like?†asked Tommy.
“Like this,†replied his father, taking out
a pocket compass; “only rather larger.â€
Tommy thought a moment, and then
said—
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 245
‘Why do you carry one? Is it to help you
to find your way to town every day? Does
the engine-driver come and look at that
when he is in doubt which way to go?
Does your needle always point towards
home when you are away?â€
That is what one’s needle ought to do,
although Tommy did not mean all that.
I]
AFTER that conversation Tommy thought a
good deal about the North Pole, and decided
that he should like to get there and see it
and surprise all the other boys at the school
with his discovery when he returned after
the holidays ; and he grew so interested that
he asked his father to give him the compass,
and got it.
Next morning he decided to have a try to
find the North Pole with the aid of his com-
pass; so he started early from the garden
gate and walked on in the direction pointed
out by the blue end of the needle; but when
he had gone across three fields and along a
road, he was stopped by a brick wall which
stretched away east and west, and blocked
his passage.
Here stood a policeman; and Tommy
246
s WB
TU) gy
oe
2 ap % |
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 249
asked him how far he thought the North
Pole was.
The policeman pondered a moment, and
then said, ‘I’m afraid JZ can’t tell you, be-
cause I am a fixed point and never travel
further than the second lamp-post there ; but
here comes a cabman, and he goes about a
great deal and will very likely be able to
tell you the fare there. Hi, cabby!â€
“ Hullo!†said the cabman, pulling up.
“North Pole? Why, now you come to ask
me, I can’t say as I’ve ever took a fare
there: but jump in, and I’ll ask.â€
But Tommy, having no money, did not
jump in; besides, he wanted the glory of
walking to the Pole.
So he just went home to breakfast instead.
III
But he had not forgotten the North Pole.
After breakfast he went into the library, and
found several books about Polar expeditions ;
and, being intelligent, he learned two things
—first, that one must go to the Pole in a
ship ; and, second, that it is very difficult to
reach because of its being dreadfully cold
there, and of there being nothing to eat.
So the first thing was to obtain a ship.
Now Tommy had just bought himself a
Noah’s ark. He went and looked at that,
and sorrowfully decided that it was too small
for him to travel in; but as he looked at it
it suddenly occurred to him that it was made
out of a piece of a tree.
“Trees grow,†thought Tommy, ‘and so,
of course, a part of a tree will grow, for the
tree is made up of parts.†This was wise
250
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 251
reasoning, and was a sort of mixture of his
knowledge of Euclid and his own common-
sense.
This thought showed him what to do.
Beyond the garden was a little wood with
trees in it.
Now Tommy had seen the
gardener graft a piece of one
tree on to another tree, and
had seen that the grafted piece
grew. This Noah’s ark was
a piece of a tree; and con-
sequently if it were grafted on
another tree z¢ would grow.
“Q. E. D.†murmured Tommy,
and carried the ark into the wood.
Then, selecting a healthy tree,
he cut a snick in it with his pen-
knife and inserted the end of the ark, and
bound the bark of the tree over it, and then
covered the joint with moist clay ; just as the
gardener was in the habit of covering Azs grafts.
Several times every day he went to look
at the ark, saying nothing about the affair to
anybody.
252 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
At the end of a week, to his great
delight, the ark was distinctly larger! It
had grown nearly an inch; and after that
start it grew more and more quickly, until
it had become several feet in length and
broad to match. In six weeks it was
large enough for him to
squeeze inside, and was still
growing.
He let it grow ; for he had
a plan in his head, and
wanted it rather large.
At the end of two
“Dear me ! months the ark was of
hat), a the size required, and
then Tommy decided to
confide the secret to his
father.
“Papa,†he said next
morning before the time came to start off
to school, “will you come down to the
wood with me? I want to show you some-
thing.â€
“Dear me!†exclaimed his father on
seeing the ark growing on the tree. ‘ That
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 253
is quite unusual! What do you propose to
do with it?â€
“With your permission,†replied Tommy,
very properly, “I propose to go to the
North Pole in it during the Midsummer
holidays.â€
“Hum!†said his father doubtfully. “I
don’t know what mamma will say to it!
How do you propose to manage about meals
—and clean socks—and so on?â€
“T could take an extra pair of socks,â€
said Tommy; ‘and as to food, I was
anxious to consult you about that and
ask your kind assistance. My idea was
to live on jam, if you would be so kind
as to give me some from the factory.
Er—to tell the truth (which, as a good
boy, I am always anxious to do), I should
require a really large quantity of jam—quite
new and hot.â€
“Well, let me sec,†said his father thought-
fully. ‘Have you learned your dates of
the kings and queens of England since the
Conquest ?â€
(There they are, you see—those kings
254 Tommy Twister’s Discover
ay, e
and queens who left their duties for other
people to do! One cannot get away from
them: and as their dates must be learned
by somebody, now that they are not here
to do the work themselves,
I suppose the best way
is to learn them and
have done with it; and,
once having learned
them, let us be sure
not to forget them ; for
they may be useful one
day. Ata party, for in-
stance, when one has just
been introduced to some-
body and cannot find
anything to say, the dates
of the kings and queens
invencstep of England since the
« Dares?†Conquest might come in
very nicely and prevent
an awkward silence.)
Tommy placed his hands behind him
and tried. He got on fairly well on the
whole; and as his father had forgotten
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 255
the exact order of succession himself he
did not notice a few little errors, such as
placing William the Third before Stephen,
and Richard the Second immediately after
Charles the First.
“ William the First ; . 1066-1087
William the Second. . 1087-1100
William the Third : . IIOO-I135
Stephen. : : . 1135-1154
William the Fourt : . 1154-1189
Richard the First : . 1189-1199
John : ; . . I1gg-1216,â€
said Tommy, and so on to Victoria. Victoria
had only one date, which was a little puzzling,
and threw things out a bit.
‘““Ye—es, that’s pretty fair—pretty fair,â€
said Tommy’s father. ‘I will see about it.
Perhaps we had better not mention it to
mamma: it might make her anxious. If
you promise to return quickly, she will
think you are only kept in at school to write
a hundred lines--she knows you don’t write
very fast.â€
256 = Lommy Twister’s Discovery
So the thing was settled; and papa assisted
Tommy to drag down the ark to the stream
which ran past the little wood; and they left
it on the bank, hidden by some bracken
which they piled over it.
IV
THE next morning Tommy got up very
early and packed some things for the
voyage-—an extra pair of socks, some toffee,
his nightey, a top, some string, a box of
matches, a night light, ‘‘ Robinson Crusoe,â€
some of Skelt’s characters in ‘The Miller
and his Men,’ and a white mouse. One
never knows what one may require on a
voyage; and these things would be certain
to be useful in emergencies.
Then Tommy crept in on tip-toe and
kissed his mother while she slept; and
winked confidentially at his father who had
woke early in order to see the last of him,
and now slipped half-a-crown into his hand
for any expenses that might occur at the
North Pole.
Tommy went down to his ark, and slid it
257 R
258 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
quietly into the stream, and jumped aboard ;
but when the ark had fairly started down the
stream he burst into tears at the thought of
the home he had left behind, and his mother,
and two apples which he had forgotten to
bring.
He had a great secret—a plan for keeping
warm at the North Pole—which he had not
said a word about to anybody, even his father :
for he knew how things w2// leak out; and
he was afraid of Doctor Nansen or some one
finding out his secret and making use of it.
As the ark turned a bend in the stream
whom should Tommy see on the bank but
Billy Bunson, a school chum of his. It hap-
pened that Billy had got up early too, to fish.
‘Hullo, Tommy Twister!†called Billy.
“Where are you off to?â€
Tommy felt angry at first at being found
out; but it then occurred to him that Billy
was a good sort, and that it might be lonely
for one at the North Pole; so he stopped the
ark and said—
“Vm going to find the North Pole.
Come on!â€
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 261
“But they'll miss me, and think I’m
drowned,†said Billy doubtfully.
‘Leave a note to say you will be back to
tea,†said Tommy.
“Right you are!†said Billy. ‘How you
do think of things! Won't it be cold at the
North Pole? Hadn't I better go and fetch
my comforter?â€
“Oh, that’s all right,†said Tommy; “1
know how to keep us warm—you'll see!
But you'll want a few things. You ought to
have an extra pair of socks, and a pen-
knife—and, I say!†(Billy was hurrying
off to fetch the things.) “I say—you
might bring your stamp-album and ‘Jack
Sheppard.’â€
Billy soon returned with these necessaries,
and they shoved off again. Presently they
emerged from the little stream on to the big
river ; and in twenty minutes or so they had
hauled up alongside Tommy’s father’s jam-
factory.
The foreman had been told about the
affair and expected them, and had a cargo
of boiling jam ready to load the hold of the
262 Tommy Twisters Discovery
ark with. The jam was quickly shot into
the hold, sending up a tremendous cloud of
fragrant steam.
“We mustn’t let the heat out,†cried
Tommy. ‘Be quick and help me put on
the hatches—that’s it.â€
The jam was completely boxed in now so
that no more steam escaped, for Tommy
had carefully prepared for that.
Then away they went down the big river,
on the stream.
People on the bank stopped to admire the
ark as it floated gracefully down, for it had
a very gay and beautiful effect with its pretty
red roof painted to represent tiles and so
make it look as much like Noah’s own ark
as possible. Its sides were white, with
windows painted on them in blue; though
whether these had really been copied directly
from Noah’s ark itself, or whether the artist
had only done them from hearsay, I do not
know; though they might be able to tell you
at the Lowther Arcade. There were no real
windows, because these would have let out the
heat ; and the idea was to keep the heat in.
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 265
And now, while the ark is getting down to
the sea, I will reveal to you Tommy’s great
idea for keeping warm at the North Pole.
Have you ever been rash enough to bite
a jam-tart without waiting for it to cool a
little? If you have—and most of us have,
though oxdy once—you will remember that
you were a long time before you decided to
leave off regretting your haste. How long
a mouthful of hot jam will continue scalding
one I do not know—and I do not intend
to try.
At any rate I know that the longer you
keep it in your mouth and dance about and
make faces, the scaldinger and scaldinger it
seems to get; and I know that you don't
forget it for days. Nobody has ever in-
vented anything that will retain heat longer
than jam; and, if any one ever does, don’t
take a bite at it until you have walked round
it one hundred times, and then sat and
watched it for an hour or two.
Very well—Tommy had found out how
jam retains its heat. He had howled a
good deal—as well as the jam would let him
266 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
—while he was engaged in the discovery ;
and ever afterwards, when he had seen hot
jam he had approached it very slowly, and
walked round it with his legs stiff, like your
terrier and the terrier next door walk round
each other when they have had words.
That—I don’t mean the ways of terriers,
but the hotness of jam—was Tommy’s GREAT
IDEA.
Doctor Nansen never thought of it, nor
any one else; for if they had, of course ¢hey
would have discovered the North Pole, and
this beautiful story would not have been
written.
Suddenly, when the ark had got well out
to sea, Tommy suddenly sat down bang on
the deck and said, “Ooh! I say!â€
‘What's the matter?†said Billy.
“Why, we've forgotten the buns for the
Polar bears; and they'll be so cross! Very
likely they won’t let us pass! What shall
we do?
“There's a ship coming,†said Billy. ‘Let
us speak her. She may have some buns.â€
She was an ocean liner—one of the
Tommy Twisters Discovery 267
Cunard Line. Tommy got on the roof of
the ark and made signals of distress ; and the
liner (which was trying to make the fastest
passage on record) changed her course, and
hove to alongside them. When the captain
learned that Tommy had brought him out
of his course because he wanted buns, he was
very angry at first; but he calmed down,
and said he had a large paper bag full
of buns which he was taking over to his
aged mother at New York. She had been
ordered buns by her doctor; but the captain
gave Tommy half the bagful; and Tommy
thanked him politely and set sail again—
that is, he didn’t set sail, having no sails to
set; for he had heard that Doctor Nansen
intended to drift across the North Pole by
the aid of the ocean currents; and Tommy
had decided that it would save trouble if Ae
drifted all the way there and back too—thus
proving that he had thought the thing out
more thoroughly than Doctor Nansen.
Well, they drifted and drifted.
“T say!†cried Tommy, sitting down
again bang on the deck, ‘we've forgotten
268 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
to bring anything to eat—my toffee won't
last out.â€
“I thought of that,†said Billy triumphantly.
“Ive brought the tiddlers I caught in the
river—and there's the jam!â€
“Why, of course there is—I forgot that,â€
said Tommy.
“I say,†said Billy, puffing and taking off
his coat, “isn’t it hot?â€
It was. The heat of the jam had begun to
penetrate through the wood of the ark, and the
deck was getting quite painful to stand on.
“Never mind,†said Tommy. “Put up
with it. We shall soon be among the ice;
and then you'll be glad to be so warm and
cosy. How are the currents now?â€
“Currants? Have you brought some
currants? Hooray!†cried Billy. “I love
y y
currants!â€
“Pooh!†replied Tommy. “I mean k-u-r
—er—k-u-r-w#-n-t-s—not k-u-r—not the things
they put in the Christmas pudding.â€
They did very well for food—that is there
was plenty ; but it was a little samey. For
dinner they had jam and tiddlers; but they
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 269
were sparing with the tiddlers, because there
was only a small supply.
They came to floating lumps of ice.
“We must be getting near the North
Pole,†said Tommy. ‘ How’s the compass?â€
For he had not forgotten to bring away
the compass with him. It was hanging up
on a nail on the wall.
‘It’s pointing up to the sky,†said Billy.
‘“What nonsense!†said Tommy. ‘“ Z7%at
can’t be the way to the North Pole. It must
be a bad compass—or perhaps it hasn’t been
wound up.â€
“Wound up!†said Billy in deep scorn.
‘‘Compasses don’t want winding up!â€
“Qh,†said Tommy, ‘don’t they? I
suppose you are going to teach me about
compasses? Whose compass is that—mine
or yours?â€
“Why, yours.â€
“Very well then,†retorted Tommy. “ Per-
haps I ought to know it best. I don’t care
a bit what other compasses want—z7ne
wants winding up.â€
And he took it down and pretended to
270 Tommy Twisters Discovery
wind it up. It was the first time that he
had tried to deceive any one, and he did
not feel at all comfortable about it in his
mind, and did the thing very awkwardly :
but he had said compasses wanted winding
up; and he had always heard that an Eng-
lishman should stick to what he says.
Then he hung it up again on the nail,
but it still pointed up to the sky.
‘“Yah—it doesn’t go any better,†sneered
Billy.
‘TI may have overwound it,†said Tommy
firmly.
He shook it; but it would not leave off
pointing to the sky.
‘Perhaps it’s too hot for it in here,†he
said. ‘Some compasses won't register above
so many degrees Fahr.—you know.â€
‘You aren't thinking of thermometers,
are you?†asked Billy. That was Billy’s
bad point: he would argue things.
“Of course not, stupid!†said Tommy.
‘Perhaps it doesn’t like being hung up
to a nail,†remarked Billy. ‘Try sticking
it flat on the floor,â€
Tommy Twisters Discovery 271
Just to humour Billy, Tommy took it down
and laid it on the floor; and the needle
immediately began to tremble and swing,
and then pointed steadily in one direction,
only quivering just a little.
“T’m sure it goes a little better flat,†said
Billy.
‘Oh, just a scrap better,†replied Tommy.
“But it looks nicer hanging up; and it’s my
compass.â€
So he hung it up again; but they agreed
that it had gone wrong, and they would not
direct their course by it. After all it was
the wisest way, as there might have been
a lot of difficulties about steering up toward
the sky.
Presently they got right among the ice—
such lovely icebergs there were, flashing all
sorts of brilliant colours to the sun. There
was a Polar bear on one of the icebergs.
“Let's give him a little bit of bun,†said
Tommy, “and ask him whether we're right
for the North Pole.â€
They did so.
“Yes, all right,†replied the bear. “Tell
272 Tommy Twisters Discovery
you what, I’ve taken the wrong iceberg and
come right out of my way; and there isn’t
an iceberg back till to-morrow morning. If
you'll take me in tow, I'll point out the way
as we go on—I live not very far from the
North Pole—only about three turnings short
of it.â€
‘You won't bite or hug if we take you in
tow?†asked Tommy cautiously.
“No fear,†said the bear. ‘Fain sus-
pecting a fellow. I wouldn't do such a
thing! [Pll act square.â€
“How jolly warm and cosy it is near that
boat of yours!†said the bear presently.
‘What have you got aboard.â€
“Jam,†replied Tommy. ‘Do you like
jam?â€
“Well, now you come to speak of it,
as the saying is,†said the bear reflectively,
“T can’t say as I ever exactly tasted it.
It doesn’t grow much at the North Pole.
Is it anyways like blubber?â€
“What! that nasty greasy fat stuff?†ex-
claimed Tommy. “No fear!â€
The bear was evidently hurt at this.
Tommy Twisters Discovery 273
“Other folks have palates as well as
you,†he said sulkily. ‘Although you ave
so stuck up, I flatter myself I know what's
good—and I kind of most always have
blubber for lunch.â€
You will have noticed that the bear did
not talk very grammatically ; but you can’t
when you live at the North Pole. If you
keep your mouth open too long, polishing
off your sentences and getting them neat at
the edges, the cold gets in—and there you
are !
“First to the left, and second to the right,
after we've passed that big glacier,†said the
bear. ‘I say, it zs warm near your boat:
I think I'll take my overcoat off if you don’t
mind appearances ?â€
The ice-scenery was growing grander and
grander every moment. The picture of it
here is very nice—-beautifully drawn and all
that ; but it doesn’t show you all the colours
flashing from those ice-mountains. It is very
difficult to give them in black printer’s-ink.
Then they came to a solid wall of ice as
high as the highest church you ever saw,
S
274 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
and as high as twenty other churches piled
on the top of it too.
There was no hole in this great wall for
the ark to go through.
“Dear me!†said the bear, “we're late;
and they must have closed for the night.
We can’t get through.â€
But Tommy knew better; and now came
his triumph. He just slightly opened one of
the hatches; and out came the steam of the
hot jam. It warmed the air so much that
the ice-wall began to dissolve in front of the
ark, until there was a clear way right through.
Then they went through the channel, and
came to a great ice-plain covered with
beautiful villas. Everything was made of
ice—villas, trees, flowers—everything. The
trees and flowers were lovely—like those
one sees on the window when one gets up
in frosty weather.
“This is where I live—that’s my villa,â€
said the bear. ‘Hullo, I say—just sheer off
a bit; you’re melting my bay-windows.â€
So they turned the boat’s head a little,
to keep away from the villas; and it was as
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Tommy Twister’s Discovery 277
well that they did, for the ice close to the
boat was actually beginning to boil, and
the heat was spreading out at a great rate.
Having called on Mrs. Bear and been in-
troduced to the cubs, Tommy and Billy left
a present of buns and jam, and proceeded
once more on their way.
“T’ll see you through—the Pole’s only a
step from here—just a cockstride, as the
saying is,†said the bear.
They got along easily enough, the heat
from the jam having penetrated the wood
so thoroughly that the ark was quite hot,
and Tommy and Billy were glad to sit on
the roof in their shirts and pants. The
bear preferred to walk a little way in front
on the solid ice.
Then they came to the highest range of
mountains any one ever saw: the Himalayas
would have looked like a pebble on the side
of them.
“The Pole’s the other side of them,†said
the bear.
‘All right,†said Tommy. ‘ Stand clear,
old un!â€
278 Tommy Twister’s Discovery
And Tommy and Billy turned the ark
until the side which could be slid off was
facing the mountains ; then they slid off the
side, ‘and opened the largest hatch, and ran
a long way off.
The steam which arose from the cere
jam filled the whole sky; and the heat
was so great that the mountains began to
disappear for a space half a mile wide.
The bear took off his waistcoat and fanned
himself with it; but he and the boys were
on the side of the ark turned away from
the mountains, and so greatly sheltered from
the heat.
You see the open ark acted like a Dutch
oven, and formed a hot chamber which threw
the heat on to the mountains.
The half-mile gap through the mountains
was quite clear now. But who was to put
the hatch on again ?
They managed it somehow—I don’t quite
know how ; but I know that an English boy
can do anything if he really tries: and that’s
enough for me.
You might say one could not grow up
Tommy Twisters Discovery 279
into a man and have a long beard, if you
had never seen an English boy before. It is
certainly a very clever thing to do, and takes
a long time; but English boys do do it by
persevering. No girl can do it—not even
an English girl; and this proves that boys
are superior to girls—but you always knew
that, didn’t you?
Then they sailed comfortably through the
gap in the mountains, and found themselves
in the midst of a vast valley where every-
thing was ice.
‘CMS, Msaice. the sbeaiy 7. vis) thew North
Pole itself, where all the penny ices come
from.â€
Then the boys suddenly perceived a very
angry person, all white and with a very
sharp nose and claws, striding towards them.
“Look out! That’s Jack lrost,†whispered
the bear.
“Who are these strangers trespassing on
my land?†shouted Jack; “I'll Nip you!—
that is, unless you want to buy some penny
iceow
And he went to a grindstone, and began
280 Tommy Twisters Discovery
grinding his pet tooth which he nipped
with.
“Now I'll nip you!†he said, advancing
in a determined way.
But Billy quickly opened one of the
hatches a very little.
“What's that steam you have there?â€
asked Jack Frost. ‘Whew! how hot it’s
suddenly got! What on earth’s the matter?â€
And he flopped down on the ice, and
began fanning himself.
“We'll melt you if you're not civil,†said
both the boys together. ‘‘ Better come to
terms!â€
“Well—ooh!—What do you want me to
—oh! for goodness’ sake shut that thing, or
I shall faint.â€
“Why, the fact is we’ve come to have
a look round and see what the North Pole’s
like,†said Tommy. ‘ And we mean to.â€
“Hee hee! You'll freeze!†said Jack
Frost.
“Oh, shall we!†said Billy, pretending to
be going to open the hatch again.
“Oh, don’t,†cried Jack Frost. ‘I'll be
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Tommy Twister’s Discovery 283
good. I had forgotten that thing. ... Tell
you what!†he said with a sudden idea,
“with that warming apparatus of yours
we might make some of my penny ices
hot! Then I could sell boiling ices as
well as cold ones—most comforting on a
cold day! Look here, let’s go into part-
nership.â€
“Very well,†said the boys. ‘And now
tell us all about the North Pole.â€
‘Well—this is it that you see; only you
can't see it. That's because it’s covered
with ice; but underneath the ice there’s the
most wonderful country you can_ possibly
imagine — there isn’t a thing that doesn’t
grow here—toys, bottled ginger-beer, fire-
works, hardbake, cricket-matches, half-holi-
days—everything. Those things all grow
naturally, on trees, and shrubs, and out of
the ground without the trouble of making
them: only they’re covered with ice.â€
“Oh, we'll soon put ¢hat right,†said
Tommy excitedly. ‘Stand clear!â€
Then he pulled off a hatch, and gradually
the whole air was warmed for miles round ;
284 Tommy Twisters Discovery
and the ice began to dissolve from the face
of the land—ice half a mile thick; and the
real country began to appear.
Such a wonderful country! There were
great firework trees, covered with natural
fireworks of all kinds; and as it was just
the season for them to be ripe, they began
going off the moment they were uncovered
from the ice. There were half-holiday bushes,
covered with ripe half-holidays all ready for
picking ; there were grammar-bushes, Latin-
bushes, arithmetic-shrubs, and so forth, all
covered with lessons ready learned, and only
requiring to be picked; there were story-
telling trees (I don’t mean untruthful trees ;
but trees which related tales of adventure and
fairy-tales to any one who sat under them).
It really was a wonderful country!
‘‘T’yve never been able to see it before,â€
said Jack Frost, “because I never had the
means of warming the ice away. I was only
told about it by my great-great-great-great-
great-grandmother. I really must confess
that I prefer this to ice; and I shall manage
to get used to the change of climate.â€
Tommy Twister’s Discovery 285
So the boys and Jack Frost shook hands,
and became the best of friends; and Tommy
Twister and Billy Bunson have returned to
their native land to arrange with Tommy’s
father for a constant supply of hot jam to be
regularly conveyed to the North Pole by a
line of steam arks, so that there will be no
more ice there any more—except, of course,
hot penny ices.
They intend to export the produce of the
country ; and the thing is certain to pay. I
know that you, for one, will buy a great
deal of the fruit off the lesson-trees when it
arrives here. Jack Frost has been appointed
resident manager, and altogether it's an
excellent thing for the jam trade.
Printed by BALLANTYNE, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh and London
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