gallop home as fast as she could. He blew out his tiny lantern before he
got in sight of the house, but it dropped from his hand and he could
find it no more. He ceased to hunt for it after a while, and drove the
cow to the lot, where the woman was waiting.
“‘Go get your supper,’ she said to Johnny.
“‘Yes ’m,’ replied Johnny, but he went off only to creep back to see
what the woman would do.
“She abused the cow terribly. He could see that she was angry. ‘You are
a nice sister,’ she exclaimed, ‘to let that boy bring you home so
early.’
“‘Don’t “sister” me,’ moaned the cow. ‘I’m nearly famished, and that boy
has nearly run me off my legs. Somebody that I couldn’t see caught me
and tied me to a tree this morning, and there I’ve been all day. We’d
better go away from here. That boy will find you out yet.’
“Then Johnny crept away, ate his supper, and went to bed. He slept late
the next morning, but when he awoke he found that his father, instead of
being at work, as was his habit, was smoking his pipe and talking to the
woman, and both were smiling at each other very sweetly. That afternoon,
Johnny went to bring the cow home before sundown, but he couldn’t find
her. He hunted and hunted for her until long after dark, and then he
went to the Whispering Poplar that stands on the hill, and said:—
“‘O Keeper of Cows that roam in the night,
Come over the hills and lend me your light!’
“Instantly Johnny heard a cow lowing in the valley, and saw a light
glimmering faintly in the distance. In a little while he heard a
tremendous clatter of hoofs up the hill, and the rushing of some large
animal through the bushes. It seemed to have one eye only and that eye
shone as fiercely as a flame of fire as its head swayed from side to
side. It came rushing to the poplar-tree where Johnny stood, and stopped
there. Johnny peeped from behind the tree and saw that the frightful
animal was nothing more than his cow, with a tiny lantern hanging on her
horn. She stood there panting and trembling. Johnny waited to see if the
Keeper of Cows that roam in the night would make her appearance, but he
waited in vain. Then he drove the cow home, turned her into the lot, and
went in the house to get his supper. His father and the woman were
sitting very close together.
“‘Have you brought the cow?’ the woman asked.
“‘She’s in the lot,’ replied Johnny.
“‘You are a smart boy,’ said the woman.
“‘Thanky, ma’am,’ exclaimed Johnny.
“So it went on day after day. The woman would make the cow wander
farther and farther away from home, and Johnny would go to the
Whispering Poplar that stands on the hill and call for the beautiful
lady, the Keeper of the Cows that roam in the night, and soon the cow
would come running and lowing. Then Johnny would drive her home by the
light of his little lantern. This happened so often that the neighbors,
and indeed the people in all that country, when they saw a light bobbing
around at night, would shake their heads and say, ‘There goes Jack with
his lantern,’ and then after a while they called him ‘Jack of the
Lantern.’
“One day he heard two of the neighbors talking about him, saying it was
a pity that so bright a boy should have such a stepmother as the woman
his father was about to marry. Then Johnny (or Jack, as he was sometimes
called) knew that his father was preparing to marry the woman who was
keeping house for him, and it made the boy feel very wretched to think
that this woman was to take the place of his mother.
“That very day he went to the Whispering Poplar that stands on the hill
and called for the Keeper of the Cows that roam in the night. The lady
made her appearance, and then Johnny told her his troubles. The lady
smiled for the first time. Then she told Johnny that if he would follow
her directions his troubles would disappear. She gave him a roll of blue
ribbon, and told him what to say when he presented it to the woman just
before the marriage took place. She told him also what to do with his
little lantern. Johnny went home feeling very much better, and that
night his father told him he was to have a new mother the next day. He
said nothing in reply, but smiled as if the news pleased him.
“Johnny lay awake that night a long time, and once he thought the woman
came and leaned over his bed as if to listen, but just then a cow not
far away lowed once, twice, thrice. Then the woman went away muttering
something.
“The next day the invited guests began to assemble early, and after a
while the preacher came. The women neighbors would have the bride to
stand up in the middle of the floor to admire her just before the
ceremony, and when she stood up Johnny began to march around her, waving
his lantern and his blue ribbon and singing:—
“‘I have for the bride ten yards of blue ribbon—
Ten yards of blue ribbon, ten yards of blue ribbon—
I have for the bride ten yards of blue ribbon,
So rich and so soft and so rare;
Five yards to pin on her snowy white bosom—
Her snowy white bosom, her snowy white bosom—
Five yards to pin on her snowy white bosom,
And five to tie in her hair.
“‘I have a lantern to light her along with—
To light her along with, to light her along with—
I have a lantern to light her along with,
When forth she fares in the night;
Out in the dark, the ribbon will rustle—
The ribbon will rustle, the ribbon will rustle—
Out in the dark the ribbon will rustle,
And the lantern will lend her its light!’
“Johnny threw the blue ribbon over the woman’s shoulder and around her
neck, and waved his lantern, and instantly the woman disappeared, and in
her place stood a cow. Before the people could recover their surprise,
the lady that Johnny had seen at the Whispering Poplar came into the
room and bowed to the company.
“‘This is the most malicious cow in all my herd,’ said she, ‘and this
brave boy has caught her. Here is a purse of gold for his reward. As for
you, sir,’ turning to Johnny’s father, ‘you may thank your son for
saving you from this witch.’ Then she bowed again, and went away,
leading the cow, and neither of them was ever seen in that country
again.
“But to this day, when people see a light bobbing up and down in the
fields at night, they say, ‘Yonder’s Jack of the Lantern!’”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
X.
A LUCKY CONJURER.
“Now, I think that was a pretty good story,” said Mr. Rabbit. “It had
something about cows in it, and there was nothing about kings and
princes. I wouldn’t give _that_”—Mr. Rabbit blew a whiff of smoke from
his mouth—“or all your princes and kings. Of course that’s on account of
my ignorance. I don’t know anything about them. I reckon they are just
as good neighbors as anybody, when you come to know them right well.”
Buster John laughed at this, but Sweetest Susan only smiled.
“Oh, I am not joking,” remarked Mr. Rabbit solemnly. “There’s no reason
why kings and queens and princes shouldn’t be just as neighborly as
other people. If a king and queen were keeping house anywhere near me,
and were to send over after a mess of salad, or to borrow a cup of sugar
or a spoonful of lard, I’d be as ready to accommodate them as I would
any other neighbors, and I reckon they’d do the same by me.”
“They’d be mighty foolish if they didn’t,” said Mrs. Meadows.
“I hear tell dat folks hafter be monstus umble-come-tumble when dey go
foolin’ ’roun’ whar dey er kingin’ an’ a queenin’ at,” remarked
Drusilla. “Ef dey sont me fer ter borry any sugar er lard fum de house
whar dey does de kingin’ an’ queenin’, I boun’ you I’d stan’ at the back
gate an’ holler ’fo’ I went in dar whar dey wuz a-havin’ der gwines on.
Dey wouldn’t git me in dar ’fo’ I know’d how de lan’ lay.”
“I expect you are right, Tar-Baby,” replied Mr. Rabbit.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go to sleep over the story of the little boy
and the lantern. But it didn’t have any moral,” said Mr. Thimblefinger.
“Why, I reckon that’s the reason I didn’t do any nodding,” explained Mr.
Rabbit. “I knew there was something the matter.”
There was a pause, during which Mr. Rabbit betrayed a tendency to fall
to nodding again. Presently Mrs. Meadows remarked:—
“I mind me of a story that I heard once—I reckon the talk about kings
and queens made me remember it. Anyway, it popped into my head all of a
sudden, though I hadn’t thought about it in years.”
“Fire away!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit, opening his eyes and slowly closing
them again.
“Once upon a time there lived in the land of Moraria a man who was very
poor. He worked whenever and wherever he could find work, yet he had so
many children that even if he had found work every day he could have
made hardly enough for all to eat and wear. As it was, times were so
hard and work was so scarce that he frequently had to go hungry and half
clothed. His wife did the best she could, which was very little. She
worked about the palace where the king had lived, but as she was only
one among a hundred, she got small wages, and had few opportunities to
carry any scraps of victuals to her children.
“Finally the man came to the conclusion that he must make a desperate
effort to better his condition, so he said to his wife:—
“‘What are my five senses for? I see other people living by their wits,
and dressing fine and enjoying the best in the land. Why shouldn’t I do
the same? What is to prevent me but my stupidity?’
“‘Stupidity is a high fence to climb over,’ replied the man’s wife. ‘But
if you are willing to try how far your wits will carry you, you will
have a good opportunity in a few days. The king’s daughter, the Princess
Myla, is to be married next week, and even now the guests are assembling
at the palace—most of them belonging to the bridegroom’s retinue.’
“The man leaned his head on his hand and thought a while, and then he
rose and put on the best clothes he had, which were poor enough, and
tied a rope girdle around his waist.
“‘I shall go to court as a pilgrim,’ he said to his wife. ‘When you see
me, do you go around among the other servants and tell them that a great
conjurer has arrived from the East. In this way it will come quickly to
the King’s ears. Nothing will come of that, but the next morning
something valuable will be missing from the palace. When you hear of it,
do you tell the rest that you know a man who can find whatever is
missing.’
“‘But how will you do this?’ asked the woman.
“‘Leave that to me,’ he replied.
“The man carried out his plan, and his wife followed his directions. She
pointed him out to her fellow-servants as a great conjurer from the
East. Ragged as he was, the man stalked majestically about the
palace-yard, and after a while sat on the ground with his face to the
wall, and shook his head from side to side, and made many queer motions
with his hands.
“Now, while the man sat there going through his queer motions, he heard
voices on the other side of the wall. He judged that two men were
resting in the shade on that side, and he knew by the way they talked
that they had come with the young Prince who was to marry the Princess
Myla.
“‘You have left the blanket on the horse, I hope,’ said one.
“‘Yes, everything is attended to,’ replied the other.
“‘That is well,’ remarked the first. ‘The Prince, our master, desires
the Princess Myla to be the first to look on this beautiful horse, which
has just come out of Arabia. I will go myself to see that the animal is
properly cared for.’
“Presently two strangers came through the gate, laughing and talking,
and the man who was playing the conjurer knew they were the keepers of
the horse. He rose when they went by, and watched them until he saw what
part of the palace stables they entered. Then he slowly made his way out
of the palace grounds.
“That night he went back and removed the horse, placing it where no one
would be likely to find it. Then he told his wife what he had done.
“‘There will be a great outcry,’ said he, ‘when the horse is missed. In
the midst of it make your voice heard, and remind the young Prince’s
attendants that there is a famous conjurer within reach who can no doubt
find the horse.’
“As the man said, so it turned out. There was a great noise made when it
was found that the beautiful Arabian horse had been stolen. The young
Prince was ready to tear his hair, so great was his disappointment. He
offered a large sum of money to any one who would recover the horse.
When the excitement was at its highest, the woman mentioned to some of
the attendants that a famous conjurer had come to the palace. She then
pointed her husband out to the men. At once the news was carried to the
Prince, who was with the King.
“The King was not a believer in conjurers, and he quickly told the
attendants to go send the vagabond about his business. But the young
Prince was so keen to recover the beautiful horse which he had intended
as a wedding gift for the Princess Myla that he insisted on consulting
the conjurer. So the man was sent for. He came, followed by a number of
people who were anxious to see what he would do. He had a very wise look
as he bowed to the King and to the Prince.
“‘Who are you?’ the King asked with a frown.
“‘A poor pilgrim, your Majesty. Nothing more.’
“‘What is your business?’
“‘I am a student, your Majesty.’
“‘Where are your books?’
“‘In men’s faces, your Majesty.’
“The man’s replies were so apt that the King’s ill-humor partly passed
away.
“‘A horse has been stolen from the royal stables,’ said the King. ‘I am
told you are a conjurer. If you are, find the horse.’
“The man seated himself on the carpet, drew a crystal stone from his
pocket, and asked the young Prince to warm it in the palm of his hand.
Then the man took it and looked at it a few moments, rubbing his hand
over it as if something blurred his sight. Then he said:—
“‘The horse has on a blanket woven on a Russian loom. I see! A
dapple-gray with milk-white mane and tail.’
“‘That is the horse!’ cried the Prince. ‘Where is he?’
“‘He is tied in a thicket a half league from here, near a road that
leads to the river. He paws the ground and whinnies for his master. He
is hungry.’
“At once messengers were sent and the horse found. The Prince was about
to give the man a purse of gold, but the King stayed his hand, saying:—
“‘I’ll test this fellow. I believe he is an imposter.’
“The man was very much frightened at this, but there was no escape for
him. The King went to his private apartment, and shortly came back with
a covered basket in his hand.
“‘There is a bird in this nest,’ said the King. ‘If you are a conjurer,
tell me the name of it.’
“‘Alas, your Majesty,’ cried the man, preparing to fall on his knees and
beg for mercy, ‘a nest that wouldn’t fit a sparrow might chance to fit a
crow.’
[Illustration:
AS HE DID SO, A CROW HOPPED OUT
]
“‘You certainly have gifts,’ remarked the King as he lifted the cover
from the basket. As he did so a crow hopped out and went stalking about
the room. The man was more astonished than the King. In his fright he
had hit on an old saying that he had often heard, and it saved his life.
“The Prince gave the man a purse of gold and he was about to retire,
when suddenly an attendant came running into the chamber crying that
some one had stolen the beautiful diamond ring belonging to the Princess
Myla.
“‘Tell the Princess to trouble herself no further. We have here a man
who will be able to find it,’ said the King.
“‘Allow me a little time, your Majesty,’ cried the man, who was now
frightened nearly out of his wits. ‘Let me go into a vacant room in a
quiet part of the palace, where I may have an opportunity to look into
this matter.’
“He was soon placed in a room near the servants’ quarters, the
attendants telling him that he would be summoned by the King in an hour.
He went into the room, shut the door, and flung himself on the floor,
bewailing his unhappy condition.
“Now the ring had been stolen by one of the women in attendance on the
Princess. She was so pale and sad-looking that her companions had
nicknamed her Misery, and sometimes the Princess herself, in a spirit of
fun, called her by that name. She had heard how the conjurer had
discovered the stolen horse, and she had seen him name the crow in the
covered basket. Consequently she was very much frightened when she heard
the King command him to find the stolen ring. She saw the conjurer go
into the room, and after a while she crept to the door to listen, so
great was her fear.
“The man in the room was not thinking of the stolen ring at all. He was
merely bewailing his unhappy lot.
“‘Oh, misery, misery!’ he cried; ‘I have heard of you, but now I know
you!’
“He had no sooner said this than there came a knock on the door and a
voice said:—
“‘Don’t talk so loud! Open the door!’
“The man opened the door and saw a woman standing there trembling and
weeping.
“‘Don’t expose me,’ she said, ‘but spare my life. I have the ring here.
I did wrong to steal it.’
“For a moment the man was so overcome with astonishment that he was
unable to speak. He took the ring in his hand and looked at it while the
woman continued to plead with him. He handed her the ring again.
“‘Take it,’ he said, ‘and place it beneath the corner of one of the rugs
in the bedroom of the Princess. Be quick about it, for I am going to the
King.’
“The woman ran and did as she had been told, and then the man came from
the room and sent an attendant to inform the King that the ring had been
found. The King sent for him.
“‘Where is the ring?’
“‘Under a corner of a rug in the bedroom of the Princess, your Majesty,’
replied the man, bowing low and smiling.
“Search was at once made, and sure enough the beautiful ring was found
under a corner of a rug in the Princess’s bedroom. The Princess herself
came to thank the conjurer, and if he had not been a very sensible man
his head would have been turned by the attention he received. Even the
King no longer doubted the conjurer’s powers.
“‘There is something in this man,’ said the King, and he straightway
offered him a high position among his councilors.
“The man thanked the King most heartily, but declared that his business
would not allow him to remain another day at court. So the King gave him
a purse of gold, the young Prince gave him another, and the beautiful
Princess Myla gave him a string of pearls of great value. Then he went
home, bought him some land, built him a comfortable house, and went into
business for himself.
“It sometimes happened that his wife complained because he did not
accept the King’s offer and remain at court, so that she might have
flourished as a fine lady, but he always replied by saying that the man
is a fool who will tempt Providence more than three times in a lifetime.
Though he went into the palace poor and came out of it rich, he had
escaped only by the skin of his teeth. He was always grateful for his
good fortune, and by his example taught his children to lead virtuous
lives and always to help the poor and needy.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XI.
THE KING OF THE CLINKERS.
Chickamy Crany Crow and Tickle-My-Toes had stopped frolicking, and were
now listening to the stories. While Mrs. Meadows was telling about the
lucky conjurer, Tickle-My-Toes became very uneasy. He moved about
restlessly, pulled off his big straw hat, put it on again, and seemed to
be waiting impatiently for the time to come when he might say something.
So, when Mrs. Meadows had finished, she looked at Tickle-My-Toes to see
what he wanted. The rest did the same. But Tickle-My-Toes blushed very
red, and looked at his feet.
“You acted as if you wanted to say something,” said Mrs. Meadows, “and
if you do, now’s your chance. What’s the matter? Have you run a splinter
in your foot? You look as if you wanted to cry.”
“I did want to say something,” replied Tickle-My-Toes.
“What was it?” Mrs. Meadows inquired.
“Nothing much,” answered Tickle-My-Toes, putting his finger in his
mouth.
“I declare, I’m ashamed of you,” exclaimed Mrs. Meadows. “Here you are
mighty near as old as I am, and yet trying to play boo-hoo baby.”
“I don’t think you ought to talk that way,” said Tickle-My-Toes. “I
thread your needles for you every day, and I do everything you ask me.”
“I know what’s the matter with you,” remarked Mrs. Meadows. “You want me
to take you in my lap and rock you to sleep.”
“Oh! I don’t!” cried Tickle-My-Toes, blushing again. “I wanted to tell a
story I heard, but I’ll go off somewhere and tell it to myself.”
“There wouldn’t be any fun in that,” suggested Buster John.
“No,” said Mrs. Meadows. “Tell the story right here, so we can enjoy it
with you.”
“You’ll laugh,” protested Tickle-My-Toes.
“Not unless there’s something in the story to laugh at.”
“This is no laughing story. It’s just as solemn as it can be,” explained
Tickle-My-Toes.
“Good!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit. “If there’s anything I like, it is one of
those solemn stories that make you feel like you want to go off behind
the house and shake hands with yourself, and cry boo-hoo to the
ell-and-yard and seven stars.”
Mr. Rabbit’s enthusiastic remark was very encouraging to Tickle-My-Toes,
who, after scratching his head a little, and looking around to see if he
could find a place to hide when the time came, began his story in this
wise:—
“Once upon a time, and in a big town away off yonder somewhere, there
lived a little boy who had no father nor mother. He was so small that
nobody seemed to care anything about him. But one day a woman, the wife
of a baker, heard him crying in the streets, and carried him into the
house, and gave him something to eat, and warmed him by the fire, and
after that he felt better.
“The baker himself grumbled a great deal when he came home and found
what his wife had done. He said he wouldn’t be surprised to come home
some day and find his house full of other people’s children. But his
wife replied that it would be well enough to complain when he found the
house full. As for this little brat, she said, he wouldn’t fill a milk
jar if he was put in it, much less a great big house.
“The baker growled and grumbled, but his wife paid no attention to him.
She sat in her chair and rocked and sang, and was just as good-natured
as she could be. After a while the baker himself got over his grumbling,
and began to laugh. He told his wife that he had sold all his bread that
day, and had orders for as much the next day.
“‘Of course,’ said she; ‘but if I had left that child crying in the
streets your business would have been ruined before the year is out.’
“‘Maybe so,’ replied the baker.
“Well, the little boy grew very fast, and was as lively as a cricket.
The baker’s wife thought as much of him as if he had been her own son,
and the baker himself soon came to be very fond of him. He was very
smart, too. He learned to watch the fire under the big oven, and to make
himself useful in many ways. He played about the oven so much, and was
so fond of watching the bread bake and the fire burn, that the baker’s
wife called him Sparkle Spry.
“For many years the country where the baker and his wife and Sparkle
Spry lived had been at peace with all the other countries. But one day a
man from a neighboring country had his nose pulled by somebody in the
baker’s country, and then war was declared by the kings and queens, and
the people fell to fighting.
“Now, when people fight they must be fed, and the cheapest thing to feed
them on is bread. A part of the army camped near the town where the
baker lived, and there was a great demand for bread. The baker’s oven
was not a large one, and by running it day and night he could only bake
three hundred loaves.
“He and his wife baked until they were tired out. They told Sparkle Spry
to watch the oven so that the bread wouldn’t burn, and to wake them when
it was brown. They were so tired that Sparkle Spry was sorry for them,
and he wondered why he wasn’t big enough to take their places, if only
for one day and night. While he was thinking and wishing, he saw
something moving. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, and then he saw
an old man, no bigger than a broomstick, and no taller than a teacup,
peeping from behind the oven.
[Illustration:
HE SAW AN OLD MAN, NO BIGGER THAN A BROOMSTICK
]
“‘Are they all gone?’ he whispered, coming forward a little way.
“‘All who?’ asked Sparkle Spry.
“‘The old ones—the big man and the fat woman.’
“‘They have gone to bed,’ said Sparkle Spry. ‘I can call them!’
“‘No, no,’ cried the old man. ‘They are such fools! They don’t know what
is good for them. I have been waiting for years to get a chance to show
them how to bake bread. Once I showed myself to the man, and he thought
I was a snake; once to the woman, and she thought I was a rat. What
fools they are!’
“‘Who are you?’ inquired Sparkle Spry. He didn’t like to hear his
friends abused.
“‘Who—me? I’m the King of the Clinkers—twice plunged in the water and
twice burned in the fire.’