I shall do to be as good as you are," said the Princess, who really had
a kind little heart and knew that she was petted far too much.
Betty told the parrot she understood his language, and he was so
surprised that he got on his perch at once and stared at her, as he said
eagerly,--
"Don't let me be punished for telling truth, there's a dear child. I
can't take it back, and since you ask my advice, I think the best thing
you can do for her Highness is to let her change places with you and
learn to be contented and useful and happy. Tell her so, with my
compliments."
Betty found this a hard message to give; but it pleased Bonnibelle, for
she clapped her hands and cried,--
"I'll ask mamma. Would you like to do it, Brownie, and be a princess?"
"No, thank you," said Betty; "I couldn't leave my father and Daisy, and
I'm not fit to live in a palace. It's very splendid, but I think I love
the little house and the wood and my birds better."
The nurse and the maid held up their hands, amazed at such a fancy; but
Bonnibelle seemed to understand, and said kindly,--
"Yes; I think it is very dull here, and much pleasanter in the fields to
do as one likes. May I come and play with you, and learn to be like you,
dear Betty?"
She looked a little sad as she spoke, and Betty pitied her; so she
smiled and answered gladly,--
"Yes, that will be lovely. Come and stay with me, and I will show you
all my playmates, and you shall milk Daisy, and feed the hens, and see
the rabbits and the tame fawn, and run in the daisy field, and pull
cowslips, and eat bread and milk out of my best blue bowl."
"Yes, and have a little brown gown and a big hat like yours, and wooden
shoes that clatter, and learn how to knit, and climb trees, and what the
birds say!" added Bonnibelle, so charmed at the plan that she jumped off
the couch and began to skip about as she had not done for days before.
"Now come and see my toys, and choose any you like; for I'm fond of you,
dear, because you tell me new things and are not like the silly little
lords and ladies who come to see me, and only quarrel and strut about
like peacocks till I'm tired of them."
Bonnibelle put her arm round Betty, and led her away to a long hall so
full of playthings that it looked like a splendid toy-shop. Dolls by the
dozen were there,--dolls that talked and sang and walked and went to
sleep, fine dolls, funny dolls, big and little doll queens and babies,
dolls of all nations. Never was there such a glorious party of these
dear creatures seen before; and Betty had no eyes for anything else,
being a real little girl, full of love for dollies, and never yet had
she owned one.
"Take as many as you like," said Bonnibelle. "I'm tired of them."
It nearly took Betty's breath away to think that she might have a dozen
dolls if she chose. But she wisely decided that one was enough, and
picked out a darling baby-doll in its pretty cradle, with blue eyes
shut, and flaxen curls under the dainty cap. It would fill her motherly
little soul with joy to have this lovely thing to lie in her arms by
day, sleep by her side at night, and live with her in the lonely
cottage; for baby could say "Mamma" quite naturally, and Betty felt that
she would never be tired of hearing the voice call her by that sweet
name.
It was hard to tear herself from the cradle to see the other treasures;
but she went to and fro with Bonnibelle, admiring all she saw, till
Nurse came to tell them that lunch was ready and her Highness must play
no more.
Betty hardly knew how to behave when she found herself sitting at a fine
table with a footman behind her chair and all sorts of curious glass and
china and silver things before her. But she watched what Bonnibelle did,
and so got on pretty well, and ate peaches and cream and cake and dainty
white rolls and bonbons with a good appetite. She would not touch the
little birds in the silver dish, though they smelt very nice, but said
sadly,--
"No, thank you, sir; I couldn't eat my friends."
The footman tried not to laugh; but the Princess pushed away her own
plate with a frown, saying,--
"Neither will I. Give me some apricot jelly and a bit of angel cake. Now
that I know more about birds and what they think of me, I shall be
careful how I treat them. Don't bring any more to my table."
After lunch the children went to the library, where all the best
picture-books ever printed were ranged on the shelves, and cosey little
chairs stood about where one could sit and read delicious fairy tales
all day long. Betty skipped for joy when her new friend picked out a
pile of the gayest and best for her to take home; and then they went to
the music-room, where a band played beautifully and the Princess danced
with her master in a stately way that Betty thought very stupid.
"Now you must dance. I've heard how finely you do it; for some lords and
ladies saw you dancing with the daisies, and said it was the prettiest
ballet they ever looked at. You _must_! No, please do, dear Betty," said
Bonnibelle, commanding at first; then, remembering what the parrot said,
she spoke more gently.
"I cannot here before these people. I don't know any steps, and need
flowers to dance with me," said Betty.
"Then come on the terrace; there are plenty of flowers in the garden,
and I am tired of this," answered Bonnibelle, going through one of the
long windows to the wide marble walk where Betty had been longing to go.
Several peacocks were sitting on the steps, and they at once spread
their splendid tails and began to strut before the children, making a
harsh noise as they tossed the crowns of shining feathers on their
heads.
"What do they say?" asked the Princess.
"'Here comes the vain little creature who thinks her fine clothes
handsomer than ours, and likes to show them off to poorer people and put
on proud airs. We don't admire her; for we know how silly she is, for
all her fine feathers.'"
"I won't listen to any more rude words from these bad birds, and I won't
praise their splendid tails as I meant to. Go along, you vain things! no
one wants you here," cried Betty, chasing the peacocks off the terrace,
while the Princess laughed to see them drop their gorgeous trains and go
scurrying away with loud squawks of fear.
"It was true. I _am_ vain and silly; but no one ever dared to tell me
so, and I shall try to do better now I see how foolish those birds look
and how sweet you are," she said, when Betty came skipping back to her.
"I'll make a peacock dance for you. See how well I do it!" and Betty
began to prance, with her full pink skirt held up, and her head tossed,
and her toes turned out, so like the birds that old Nurse and the maid,
who had followed, began to laugh as well as Bonnibelle.
It was very funny; and when she had imitated the vain strutting and
fluttering of the peacocks, Betty suddenly dropped her skirt, and went
hurrying away, flapping her arms like wings and squawking dismally.
She wanted to please the Princess and make her forget the rude things
she had been forced to tell; so when she came running back she was glad
to find her very merry, and anxious for more fun.
"Now I'll do the tulip dance," said Betty, and began to bow and courtesy
to a bed full of splendid flowers, all gold and scarlet, white and
purple; and the tulips seemed to bow and courtesy back again like
stately lords and ladies at a ball. Such dainty steps, such graceful
sweeps and elegant wavings of the arms one never saw before; for Betty
imitated the tall blossoms waving in the wind, and danced a prettier
minuet with them than any ever seen at court.
"It is wonderful!" said the maid.
"Bless the dear! she must be a real fairy to do all that," said the old
nurse.
"Dance again! oh, please dance again, it is so pretty!" cried the
Princess, clapping her hands as Betty rose from her farewell courtesy
and came smiling toward her.
"I'll give you the wind dance; that is very gay, and this fine floor is
so smooth I feel as if my feet had wings."
With that Betty began to flutter to and fro like a leaf blown by the
wind; now she went down the terrace as if swept by a strong gust, now
she stood still, swaying a little in the soft breath of air, then off
she spun as if caught in a storm, eddying round and round till she
looked like a stray rose-leaf whisked over the ground. Sometimes she
whirled close to the Princess, then blew up against the stout old nurse,
but was gone before she could be caught. Once she went down the marble
steps at a bound and came flying over the railing as if in truth she did
have wings on her nimble feet. Then the gale seemed to die away, and
slowly the leaf floated to the ground at Bonnibelle's feet, to lie there
rosy, breathless, and tired.
Bonnibelle clapped her hands again; but before she could tell half her
delight, a beautiful lady came from the window, where she had seen the
pretty ballet. Two little pages carried her long train of silvery silk;
two ladies walked beside her, one holding a rose-colored parasol over
her head, the other with a fan and cushion; jewels shone on her white
hands and neck and in her hair, and she was very splendid, for this was
the Queen. But her face was sweet and lovely, her voice very soft, and
her smile so kind that Betty was not afraid, and made her best courtesy
prettily.
When the red damask cushion was laid on one of the carved stone seats,
and the pages had dropped the train, and the maids had shut the parasol
and handed the golden fan, they stepped back, and only the Queen and
nurse and little girls were left together.
"Does the new toy please you, darling?" asked the shining lady, as
Bonnibelle ran to climb into her lap and pour out a long story of the
pleasant time she had been having with the Brownie. "Indeed I think she
is a fairy, to make you so rosy, gay, and satisfied."
"Who taught you to dance so wonderfully, child?" asked the Queen, when
she had kissed her little daughter, glad to see her look so unlike the
sad, cross, or listless creature she usually found.
"The wind, Lady Queen," answered Betty, smiling.
"And where did you get the fine tales you tell?"
"From the birds, Lady Queen."
"And what do you do to have such rosy cheeks?"
"Eat brown bread and milk, Lady Queen."
"And how is it that a lonely child like you is so happy and good?"
"My father takes care of me, and my mother in heaven keeps me good, Lady
Queen."
When Betty said that, the Queen put out her hand and drew the little
girl closer, as if her tender heart pitied the motherless child and
longed to help if she only knew how.
Just then the sound of horses' feet was heard in the great courtyard
below, trumpets sounded, and every one knew that the king had come home
from hunting. Presently, with a jingling of spurs and trampling of
boots, he came along the terrace with some of his lords behind him.
Every one began to bow except the Queen, who sat still with the Princess
on her knee, for Bonnibelle did not run to meet her father as Betty
always did when he came home. Betty thought she would be afraid of the
King, and so she would perhaps, if he had worn his crown and ermine
cloak and jewels everywhere; but now he was dressed very like her
father, in hunter's green, with a silver horn over his shoulder, and no
sign of splendor about him but the feather in his hat and the great ring
that glittered when he pulled off his glove to kiss the Queen's hand; so
Betty smiled and bobbed her little courtesy, looking boldly up in his
face.
He liked that, and knew her, for he had often seen her when he rode
through the wood.
"Come hither, Brownie, I have a story you will like to hear," he said,
sitting down beside the Queen and beckoning to Betty with a friendly
nod.
She went and stood at his knee, eager to hear, while all the lords and
ladies bent forward to listen, for it was plain that something had
happened beside the killing of a stag that day.
"I was hunting in the great oak wood two hours ago, and had knelt down
to aim at a splendid stag," began the King, stroking Betty's brown head,
"when a wild boar, very fierce and large, burst out of the ferns behind
me just as I fired at the deer. I had only my dagger left to use, but I
sprang up to face him, when a root tripped my foot, and there I lay
quite helpless, as the furious old fellow rushed at me. I think this
little maid here would have been Queen Bonnibelle to-morrow if a brave
woodman had not darted from behind a tree and with one blow of his axe
killed the beast as he bent his head to gore me. It was your father,
Brownie, and I owe my life to him."
As the King ended, a murmur rose, and all the lords and ladies looked as
if they would like to give a cheer; but the Queen turned pale and old
Nurse ran to fan her, while Bonnibelle put out her arms to her father,
crying,--
"No, I will never be a queen if you die, dear papa!"
The King took her on one knee and set Betty on the other, saying
gayly,--
"Now what shall we do for this brave man who saved me?"
"Give him a palace to live in, and millions of money," said the
Princess, who could think of nothing better.
"I offered him a house and money, but he wanted neither, for he loved
his little cottage and had no need of gold, he said. Think again, little
maids, and find something he _will_ like," said the King, looking at
Betty.
"A nice field for Daisy is all he wants, Lord King," she answered
boldly; for the handsome brown face with the kind eyes was very like her
father's, she thought.
"He shall have it. Now wish three wishes for yourself, my child, and I
will grant them if I can."
Betty showed all her little white teeth as she laughed for joy at this
splendid offer. Then she said slowly,--
"I have but one wish now, for the Princess has given me a dear doll and
many books; so I am the happiest creature in all the kingdom, and have
no wants."
"Contented little lass! Who of us can say the same?" said the King,
looking at the people round him, who dropped their eyes and looked
foolish, for they were always asking favors of the good King. "Well, now
let us know the one thing I can do to please brave woodman John's little
daughter."
"Please let the Princess come and play with me," said Betty, eagerly.
The lords looked horrified, and the ladies as if they would faint away
at the mere idea of such a dreadful thing. But the Queen nodded,
Bonnibelle cried, "Oh, do!" and the King laughed as he asked in a
surprised tone,--
"But why not come and play with her here? What is there at the cottage
that we have not at the palace?"
"Many things, Lord King," answered Betty. "She is tired of the palace
and everything in it, she says, and longs to run about in the wood, and
be well and gay and busy all day long, as I am. She wants to bake and
milk and sweep and knit, and hear the wind blow, and dance with the
daisies, and talk with my birds, and dream happy dreams, and love to be
alive, as I do."
"Upon my word, here's a bold Brownie! But she is right, I think; and if
my Princess can get a pair of cheeks like these down at the cottage, she
shall go as often as she likes," said the King, amused at Betty's free
words, and struck by the contrast between the two faces before him, one
like a pale garden lily and the other like a fresh wild rose.
Then Bonnibelle burst out and told all the story of the day, talking as
she had never talked before; and every one listened, amazed to see how
lively and sweet her Highness could be, and wondered what had made such
a sudden change. But the old nurse went about, saying in a whisper,--
"She is a real Brownie, I know it; for no mortal child would be so bold
and bright, and do what she has done,--bewitched both King and Queen,
and made her Highness a new child."
So all looked at Betty with great respect; and when at last the talk was
over and the King rose to go, with a kiss for each little girl, every
one bowed and made way for the Brownie, as if she too were a Princess.
But Betty was not proud; for she remembered the peacocks as she walked
hand in hand with Bonnibelle after the royal papa and mamma over the
terrace to the great hall, where the feast was spread and music sounding
splendidly.
"You shall sit by me and have my golden cup," said Bonnibelle, when the
silver horns were still, and all waited for the King to hand the Queen
to her place.
"No, I must go home. It is sunset; Daisy must be milked, and father's
supper ready when he comes. Let me run away and get my old clothes;
these are too fine to wear in the cottage," answered Betty, longing to
stay, but so faithful to her duty that even the King's command could not
keep her.
"Tell her to stay, papa; I want her," cried Bonnibelle, going to the
great gilded chair where her father sat.
"Stay, child," said the King, with a wave of the hand where the great
jewel shone like a star.
But Betty shook her head and answered sweetly,--
"Please do not make me, dear Lord King. Daisy needs me, and father will
miss me sadly if I do not run to meet him when he comes home."
Then the King smiled, and said heartily,--
"Good child! we will not keep you. Woodman John gave me my life, and I
will not take away the comfort of his. Run home, little Brownie, and God
bless you!"
Betty tripped upstairs, and put on her old frock and hat, took one of
the finest books and the dear doll, leaving the rest to be sent next
day, and then tried to slip away by some back door; but there were so
many halls and steps she got lost, and came at last into the great hall
again. All were eating now; and the meat and wine and spicy pies and
piles of fruit smelt very nice, and Betty would have only brown bread
and milk for supper; but she did not stay, and no one but the pages saw
her as she ran down the steps to the courtyard, like Cinderella hurrying
from the hall when the clock struck twelve and all her fine clothes
vanished.
She had a very happy walk through the cool green wood, however, and a
happy hour telling her father all about this wonderful day; but the
happiest time of all was when she went to bed in her little room, with
the darling baby fast asleep on her arm, and the wrens talking together
among the roses of how much good their wise Brownie would do the
Princess in the days to come.
Then Betty fell asleep and dreamed such lovely dreams of the moon with a
sweet face like the Queen's smiling at her, of her father looking as
proud and handsome as the King, with his axe on his shoulder and the
great boar dead at his feet; and Bonnibelle, rosy, gay, and strong,
working and playing with her like a little sister in the cottage, while
all the birds sang gayly:--
"Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!
Listen, listen, while we tell
A sweet secret all may know,
How a little child may grow
Like a happy wayside flower,
Warmed by sun, fed by shower,
Rocked by wind, loved by elf,
Quite forgetful of itself;
Full of honey for the bee,
Beautiful for all to see,
Nodding to the passers-by,
Smiling at the summer sky,
Sweetening all the balmy air,
Happy, innocent, and fair.
Flowers like these blossom may
In a palace garden gay;
Lilies tall or roses red,
For a royal hand or head.
But be they low, or be they high,
Under the soft leaves must lie
A true little heart of gold,
Never proud or hard or cold,
But brave and tender, just and free,
Whether it queen or beggar be;
Else its beauty is in vain,
And never will it bloom again.
This the secret we would tell,
Bonnibelle! Bonnibelle!"
IX.
MERMAIDS.
[Illustration: Nelly spied two pretty little creatures floating to and
fro on the rocking waves.--PAGE 175.]
"I wish I were a sea-gull or a fish or a mermaid; then I could swim as
much as I like, and not have to stay on this stupid dry land all day,"
said Nelly, as she sat frowning and punching holes in the sand one
summer morning, while the waves came murmuring up on the beach, and a
fresh wind sang its pleasant song.
The little girl loved to bathe so well that she wanted to be in the
water all the time, and had been forbidden to go into the sea for a day
or two because she had a cold. So she was in a pet, and ran away from
her playmates to sit and sulk in a lonely spot among the rocks. She had
been watching the gulls fly and float, with their white wings shining as
they dipped down or soared away in the sunshine. As she wished her wish
a very large one swept down upon the sand before her, and startled her
by saying in a hoarse tone, as she stared at its bright eyes, the red
ring round its neck, and the little tuft on its head,--
"I am the King of the gulls, and I can grant any one of your wishes.
Which will you be,--a fish, a bird, or a mermaid?"
"People say there are no mermaids," stammered Nelly.
"There are; only mortals cannot see them unless I give the power. Be
quick! I don't like the sand. Choose, and let me be off!" commanded the
Great Gull, with an impatient flutter of its wide wings.
"Then I'll be a mermaid, please. I always wanted to see one, and it must
be very nice to live always in the water."
"Done!" said the gull, and was gone like a flash.
Nelly rubbed her eyes, and looked about her rather scared; but nothing
had happened to her yet, and she was just going to complain that the
bird had cheated her, when the sound of soft voices made her climb the
rock behind her to see who was singing down there.
She nearly fell off again when she spied two pretty little creatures
floating to and fro on the rocking waves. Both had long brown hair,
green eyes as clear as crystal, pale faces, and the sweetest voices
Nelly had ever heard. But the strange thing was that each little body
ended in a shining tail,--one all golden, the other all silver scales.
Their little breasts and arms were white as foam, and they wore
bracelets of pearls, strings of rosy shells about their necks, and
garlands of gay sea-weed in their hair. They were singing as they
rocked, and throwing bubbles to and fro as if playing ball. They saw
Nelly in a moment, and tossing a great rainbow-colored bubble toward
her, cried gayly,--
"Come and play, little friend. We know you, and have often tried to make
you see us when you float and dive so bravely in our sea."
"I long to come; but it is so deep there and the waves are so rough that
I should be dashed on the rocks," answered Nelly, charmed to see real
mermaids at last, and eager to go to them.
"We came for you. The King-gull told us to call you. Slip off your
clothes and spring down to us; then we will change you, and you can have
your wish," said the mermaids, holding up their arms to her.
"My mother said I must not go into the sea," began Nelly, sadly.
"What is a mother?" asked one little sea-maid, while the other laughed
as if the word amused her.
"Why, don't you know? Don't you have fathers and mothers down there?"
cried Nelly, so surprised that she forgot her wish for a moment.
"No; we are born of the moon and the sea, and we have no other parents,"
said Goldfin, the shining one.
"How dreadful!" exclaimed Nelly. "Who takes care of you, and where do
you live? Without fathers and mothers you cannot have any home."
"We take care of ourselves. All the sea is our home, and we do as we
please. Come, come, and see how gay it is!" called Silver-tail, the
other mermaid, tossing bubbles like a juggler till the air was full of
them as they sailed away on the wind.
Now, if Nelly had not been angry with her good mamma just then, and
ready for any disobedience, she would never have been so naughty, or
have gone to play with such strange friends. She was very curious to see
how they lived, and be able to relate her adventures when she came back,
as she was sure she would, all safe and sound. So she dropped her
clothes on the rock and splashed into the green pool below, glad to show
off her fine swimming. But Goldfin and Silver-tail caught her and bade
her drink the spray they held in their hands.
"Sea water is salt and bitter; I don't like it," said Nelly, holding
back.
"Then you cannot be like us. Drink, and in a moment see what will
happen!" cried Goldfin.
Nelly swallowed the cold drops and caught her breath, for a dreadful
pain shot through her from her head to her feet, while the mermaids
chanted some strange words and waved their hands over her. It was gone
in an instant, and she felt like a cork floating on the water. She
wondered, till glancing down she saw that her little white legs were
changed to a fish's tail of many colors, which gently steered her along
as the waves rippled against her breast.
"Now I am a mermaid," she cried, and looked into the pool to see if her
eyes were green, her face pale, and her hair like curly brown sea-weed.
No; she had her child's face still, with rosy cheeks, blue eyes, and
yellow curls. She was not disappointed, however, for she thought it a
prettier face than the moony ones of her new playmates; so she laughed
and said gayly,--
"Now you will play with me and love me, won't you?"
"What is love?" asked Silver-tail, staring at her.