"You can't expect people to like what is so very sad, even if it is--
what you call--right--and all that."
"No! neither does God expect it!" was Aunt Judy's earnest reply. "We
are allowed to be sorry when trials come, for we feel the suffering,
and cannot at present understand the blessing or necessity of it.
But we are not allowed to 'sorrow without hope;' and we are not
allowed, even when we are most sorry, to be rebellious, and fancy we
could choose better for ourselves than God chooses for us."
Aunt Judy's lesson, as well as story, was ended now, and she began
talking over the entertaining part of the Tod history, and then went
on to other things, till No. 6 was quite herself again, and wanted to
know how much was true about the motherless little girls; and when
she found from Aunt Judy's answer that the account was by no means
altogether an invention, she went into a fever-fidget to know who the
children were, and what had become of them; and finally settled that
the one thing in the world she most wished for, was to see them.
Nor would she be persuaded that this was a foolish idea, until Aunt
Judy asked her how she would like to be introduced to a couple of
VERY old women, with huge hooked noses, and beardy, nut-cracker
chins, and be told that THOSE were the motherless little girls who
had broken their hearts over rabbits' tails!--an inquiry which
tickled No. 6's fancy immensely, so that she began to laugh, and
suggest a few additions of her own to the comical picture, in the
course of doing which, she fortunately quite lost sight of the "one
thing" which a few minutes before she had "most wished for in the
world!"
"OUT OF THE WAY"
"Oh wonderful Son that can so astonish a Mother!"
HAMLET.
"What a horrid nuisance you are, No. 8, brushing everything down as
you go by! Why can't you keep out of the way?"
"Oh, you mustn't come here, No. 8. Aunt Judy, look! he's sitting on
my doll's best cloak. Do tell him to go away."
"I can't have you bothering me, No. 8; don't you see how busy I am,
packing? Get away somewhere else."
"You should squeeze yourself into less than nothing, and be nowhere,
No. 8."
The suggestion, (uttered with a jocose grin,) came from a small boy
who had ensconced himself in the corner of a window, where he was
sitting on his heels, painting the Union Jack of a ship in the
Illustrated London News. He had certainly acted on the advice he
gave, as nearly as was possible. Surely no little boy of his age
ever got into so small a compass before, or in a position more
effectually out of everybody's possible way. The window corner led
nowhere, and there was nothing in it for anybody to want.
"No. 8, I never saw anything so tiresome as you are. Why will you
poke your nose in where you're not wanted? You're always in the
way."
"'He poked his flat nose into every place;'"
sung, sotto voce, by the small boy in the window corner.
No. 8 did not stop to dispute about it, though, in point of fact, his
nose was not flat, so at least in that respect he did not resemble
the duck in the song.
He had not, however, been successful in gaining the attention of his
friends down-stairs, so he dawdled off to make an experiment in
another quarter.
"Why, you're not coming into the nursery now, Master No. 8, surely!
I can't do with you fidgetting about among all the clothes and
packing. There isn't a minute to spare. You might keep out of the
way till I've finished."
"Now, Master No. 8, you must be off. There's no time or room for you
in the kitchen this morning. There's ever so many things to get
ready yet. Run away as fast as you can."
"What ARE you doing in the passages, No. 8? Don't you see that you
are in everybody's way? You had really better go to bed again."
But the speaker hurried forward, and No. 8 betook himself to the
staircase, and sat down exactly in the middle of the middle flight.
And there be amused himself by peeping through the banisters into the
hall, where people were passing backwards and forwards in a great
fuss; or listening to the talking and noise that were going on in the
rooms above.
But be was not "out of the way" there, as he soon learnt. Heavy
steps were presently heard along the landing, and heavy steps began
to descend the stairs. Two men were carrying down a heavy trunk.
"You'll have to move, young gentleman, if you please," observed one;
"you're right in the way just there!"
No. 8 descended with all possible speed, and arrived on the mat at
the bottom.
"There now, I told you, you were always in the way," was the greeting
he received. "How stupid it is! Try under the table, for pity's
sake."
Under the table! it was not a bad idea; moreover, it was a new one--
quite a fresh plan. No. 8 grinned and obeyed. The hall table was no
bad asylum, after all, for a little boy who was always in the way
everywhere else; besides, he could see everything that was going on.
No. 8 crept under, and squatted himself on the cocoa-nut matting. He
looked up, and looked round, and felt rather as if he was in a tent,
only with a very substantial covering over his head.
Presently the dog passed by, and was soon coaxed to lie down in the
table retreat by the little boy's side, and the two amused themselves
very nicely together. The fact was, the family were going from home,
and the least the little ones could do during the troublesome
preparation, was not to be troublesome themselves; but this is
sometimes rather a difficult thing for little ones to accomplish.
Nevertheless, No. 8 had accomplished it at last.
"Capital, No. 8! you and the dog are quite a picture. If I had time,
I would make a sketch of you."
That was the remark of the first person who went by afterwards, and
No. 8 grinned as he heard it.
"Well done, No. 8! that's the best contrivance I ever saw!"
Remark the second, followed by a second grin.
"Why, you don't mean to say that you're under the table, Master No.
8? Well you ARE a good boy! I'm sure I'll tell your mamma."
Another grin.
"You dear old fellow, to put yourself so nicely out of the way!
You're worth I don't know what."
Grin again.
"Master No. 8 under the table, to be sure! Well, and a very nice
place it is, and quite suitable. Ever so much better than the hot
kitchen, when there's baking and all sorts of things going on. Here,
lovey! here's a little cake that was spared, that I was taking to the
parlour; but, as you're there, you shall have it."
No. 8 grinned with all his heart this time.
"I wish I'd thought of that! Why, I could have painted my ship there
without being squeezed!"
It needs scarcely to be told that this was the observation of the
small boy who had watched an opportunity for emerging from the window
corner without fuss, and was now carrying his little paint-box up-
stairs to be packed away in the children's bag. As he spoke, he
stooped down to look at No. 8 and the dog, and smiled his
approbation, and No. 8 smiled in return.
"No. 8, how snug you do look!"
Once more an answering grin.
"No. 8, you're the best boy in the world; and if you stay there till
Nurse is ready for you, you shall have a penny all to yourself."
No. 8's grin was accompanied by a significant nod this time, to show
that he accepted the bargain.
"My darling No. 8, you may come out now. There! give me a kiss, and
get dressed as fast as you can. The fly will be here directly.
You're a very good boy indeed."
"No. 8, you're the pattern boy of the family, and I shall come with
you in the fly, and tell you a story as we go along for a reward."
No. 8 liked both the praise, and the cake, and the penny, and the
kiss, and the promise of the rewarding story for going under the
table; but the why and wherefore of all these charming facts, was a
complete mystery to him. What did that matter, however? He ran up-
stairs, and got dressed, and was ready before anyone else; and, by a
miracle of good fortune, was on the steps, and not in the middle of
the carriage-drive, when the fly arrived, which was to take one batch
of the large family party to the railway station.
No one was as fond of the fly conveyance as of the open carriage;
for, in the first place, it was usually very full and stuffy; and, in
the second, very little of the country could be seen from the
windows.
But, on the present occasion, Aunt Judy having offered her services
to accompany the fly detachment, there was a wonderful alteration of
sentiment, as to who should be included. Aunt Judy, however, had her
own ideas. The three little ones belonged to the fly, as it were by
ancient usage and custom, and more than five it would not hold.
Five it would hold, however, and five accordingly got in, No. 4
having pleaded her own cause to be "thrown in:" and at last, with
nurses and luggage and No. 5 outside, away they drove, leaving the
open carriage and the rest to follow.
Nothing is perfect in this world. Those who had the airy drive
missed the story, and regretted it; but it was fair that the pleasure
should be divided.
And, after all, although the fly might be a little stuffy and closely
packed, and although it cost some trouble to settle down without
getting crushed, and make footstools of carpet bags, and let down all
the windows,--the commotion was soon over; and it was a wonderful
lull of peace and quietness, after the confusion and worry of packing
and running about, to sit even in a rattling fly. And so for five
minutes and more, all the travellers felt it to be, and a soothing
silence ensued; some leaning back, others looking silently out at the
retreating landscape, or studying with earnestness the wonderful red
plush lining of the vehicle itself.
But presently, after the rest had lasted sufficiently long to recruit
all the spirits, No. 7 remarked, not speaking to anybody in
particular, "I thought Aunt Judy was going to tell us a story."
No. 7 was a great smiler in a quiet way, and he smiled now, as he
addressed his remark to the general contents of the fly.
Aunt Judy laughed, and inquired for whom the observation was meant,
adding her readiness to begin, if they would agree to sit quiet and
comfortable, without shuffling up and down, or disputing about space
and heat; and, these points being agreed to, she began her story as
follows:-
"There were once upon a time a man and his wife who had an only son.
They were Germans, I believe, for all the funny things that happen,
happen in Germany, as you know by Grimm's fairy tales.
"Well! this man, Franz, had been a watchmaker and mender in an old-
fashioned country town, and he had made such a comfortable fortune by
the business, that he was able to retire before he grew very old; and
so he bought a very pretty little villa in the outskirts of the town,
had a garden full of flowers with a fountain in the middle, and
enjoyed himself very much.
"His wife enjoyed herself too, but never so much as when the
neighbours, as they passed by, peeped over the palings, and said,
'What a pretty place! What lucky people the watchmaker and his wife
are! How they must enjoy themselves!'
"On such occasions, Madame Franz would run to her husband, crying
out, 'Come here, my dear, as fast as you can! Come, and listen to
the neighbours, saying, how we must enjoy ourselves!'
"Franz was very apt to grunt when his wife summoned him in this
manner, and, at any rate, never would go as she requested; but little
Franz, the son, who was very like his mother, and had got exactly her
turn-up nose and sharp eyes, would scamper forward in a moment to
hear what the neighbours had to say, and at the end would exclaim:-
"'Isn't it grand, mother, that everybody should think that?'
"To which his mother would reply:-
"'It is, Franz, dear! I'm so glad you feel for your mother!' and
then the two would embrace each other very affectionately several
times, and Madame Franz would go to her household business, rejoicing
to think that, if her husband did not quite sympathize with her, her
son did.
"Young Franz had been somewhat spoilt in his childhood, as only
children generally are. As to his mother, from there being no
brothers and sisters to compare him with, she thought such a boy had
never been seen before; and she told old Franz so, so often, that at
last he began to believe it too. And then they got all sorts of
masters for him, to teach him everything they could think of, and
qualify him, as his mother said, for some rich young lady to fall in
love with. That was her idea of the way in which he was one day to
make his fortune.
"At last, a time came when his mother thought the young gentleman
quite finished and complete; fit for anything and anybody, and likely
to create a sensation in the world. So she begged old Franz to
dismiss all his masters, and give him a handsome allowance, that he
might go off on his travels and make his fortune, in the manner
before mentioned.
"Old Mr. Franz shook his head at first, and called it all a parcel of
nonsense. Moreover, he declared that Master Franz was a mere child
yet, and would get into a hundred foolish scrapes in less than a
week; but mamma expressed her opinion so positively, and repeated it
so often, that at last papa began to entertain it too, and gave his
consent to the plan.
"The fact was, though I am sorry to say it, Mr. Franz was henpecked.
That is, his wife was always trying to make him obey her, instead of
obeying him, as she ought to have done; and she had managed him so
long, that she knew she could persuade him, or talk him (which is
much the same thing) into anything, provided she went on long enough.
"So she went on about Franz going off on his travels with a handsome
allowance, till Papa Franz consented, and settled an income upon him,
which, if they had been selfish parents, they would have said they
could not afford; but, as it was, they talked the matter over
together, and told each other that it was very little two old souls
like themselves would want when their gay son was away; and so they
would draw in, and live quite quietly, as they used to do in their
early days before they grew rich, and would let the lad have the
money to spend upon his amusements.
"Young Franz either didn't know, or didn't choose to think about
this. Clever as he was about many things, he was not clever enough
to take in the full value of the sacrifices his parents were making
for him; so he thanked them lightly for the promised allowance,
rattled the first payment cheerfully into his purse, and smiled on
papa and mamma with almost condescending complacency. When he was
equipped in his best suit, and just ready for starting, his mother
took him aside.
"'Franz, my dear,' she said, 'you know how much money and pains have
been spent on your education. You can play, and dance, and sing, and
talk, and make yourself heard wherever you go. Now mind you do make
yourself heard, or who is to find out your merits? Don't be shy and
downcast when you come among strangers. All you have to think about,
with your advantages, is to make yourself agreeable. That's the rule
for you! Make yourself agreeable wherever you go, and the wife and
the fortune will soon be at your feet. And, Franz,' continued she,
laying hold of the button of his coat, 'there is something else. You
know, I have often said that the one only thing I could wish
different about you is, that your nose should not turn up quite so
much. But you see, my darling boy, we can't alter our noses.
Nevertheless, look here! you can incline your head in such a manner
as almost to hide the little defect. See--this way--there--let me
put it as I mean--a little down and on one side. It was the way I
used to carry my head before I married, or I doubt very much whether
your father would have looked my way. Think of this when you're in
company. It's a graceful attitude too, and you will find it much
admired.'
"Franz embraced his mother, and promised obedience to all her
commands; but he was glad when her lecture ended, for he was not very
fond of her remarks upon his nose. Just then the door of his
father's room opened, and he called out:-
"'Franz, my dear, I want to speak to you.'
"Franz entered the room, and 'Now, my dear boy,' said papa, 'before
you go, let me give you one word of parting advice; but stop, we will
shut the door first, if you please. That's right. Well, now, look
here. I know that no pains or expense have been spared over your
education. You can play, and dance, and sing, and talk, and make
yourself heard wherever you go.'
"'My dear sir,' interrupted Franz, 'I don't think you need trouble
yourself to go on. My mother has just been giving me the advice
beforehand.'
"'No, has she though?' cried old Franz, looking up in his son's face;
but then he shook his head, and said:-
"'No, she hasn't, Franz; no, she hasn't; so listen to me. We've all
made a fuss about you, and praised whatever you've done, and you've
been a sort of idol and wonder among us. But, now you're going among
strangers, you will find yourself Mr. Nobody, and the great thing is,
you must be contented to be Mr. Nobody at first. Keep yourself in
the background, till people have found out your merits for
themselves; and never get into anybody's way. Keep OUT of the way,
in fact, that's the safest rule. It's the secret of life for a young
man--How impatient you look! but mark my words:- all you have to
attend to, with your advantages, is, to keep out of the way.'
"After this bit of advice, the father bestowed his blessing on his
dear Franz, and unlocked the door, close to which they found Mrs.
Franz, waiting rather impatiently till the conference was over.
"'What a time you have been, Franz!' she began; but there was no time
to talk about it, for they all knew that the coach, or post-wagon, as
they call it in Germany, was waiting.
"Mrs. Franz wrung her son's hand.
"'Remember what I've said, my dearest Franz!' she cried.
"'Trust me!' was Mr. Franz's significant reply.
"'You'll not forget my rule?' whispered papa.
"'Forget, sir? no, that's not possible,' answered
Mr. Franz in a great hurry, as he ran off to catch the post-wagon;
for they could see it in the distance beginning to move, though part
of the young gentleman's luggage was on board.
"Well! he was just in time; but what do you think was the next thing
he did, after keeping the people waiting? A sudden thought struck
him, that it would be as well for the driver and passengers to know
how well educated he had been, so he began to give the driver a few
words of geographical information about the roads they were going.
"'Jump in directly, sir, if you please,' was the driver's gruff
reply.
"'Certainly not, till I've made you understand what I mean,' says
Master Franz, quite facetiously. But, then, smack went the whip, and
the horses gave a jolt forwards, and over the tip of the learned
young gentleman's foot went the front wheel.
"It was a nasty squeeze, though it might have been worse, but Franz
called out very angrily, something or other about 'disgraceful
carelessness,' on which the driver smacked his whip again, and
shouted:-
"'Gentlemen that won't keep out of the way, must expect to have their
toes trodden on.' Everybody laughed at this, but Franz was obliged
to spring inside, without taking any notice of the joke, as the coach
was now really going on; and if he had began to talk, he would have
been left behind.
"And now," continued Aunt Judy, stopping herself, "while Franz is
jolting along to the capital town of the country, you shall tell me
whose advice you think he followed when he got to the end of the
journey, and began life for himself--his father's or his mother's?"