came, was astonished; and when he heard that the fairies had done him
the honor to take him to their Midsummer festival, he was delighted,
as well as astonished, and laughingly declared that the elves had
robbed him of his patient. "Why, Charley," he continued, "if the fairy
Queen can put such a rosy color in your cheeks, and such a sparkle in
your eyes in one night, she beats me all to pieces at doctoring. I
shall have to give you up to her, and only come here every day to make
a social call, so that you and I, two old fellows, can have a talk
about the state of the country. But I may as well put my pills and
powders into one of the cannons, and fire them off at some of the fine
ladies who go about, sweeping the parade-ground with their furbelowed
dresses, and think they are dying of dyspepsia, when all they want is
some useful occupation. I have lots of them to make bread pills for,
and I may as well let the fairies have my dear little friend here."
Just at that instant the drums made a prodigious clatter, and the
children started up to see what it meant.
"It is the call for the cavalry drill," said the doctor; "you had
better run."
Off scampered the children to the edge of the parade-ground, their
eyes dancing with expectation and eagerness.
On their way they passed the encampment; they gazed at the snow-white
tents of the cadets with the utmost interest, and indeed would rather
have lived in these delightful canvas houses, than in a king's palace.
"Oh! Harry!" exclaimed Anna, "I wonder if we mightn't just peep into
one of them."
"Certainly," answered Harry, who was always ready for adventures, and
he lifted up the opening of the tent nearest.
"Oh! what a perfect place!" he cried; "come! look!" and he disappeared
within.
[Illustration: NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.]
The children all peeped in, their heads looking like a bunch of
grapes, all piled one on top of the other; while Harry, inside,
pretended he was a showman, and made them a speech.
"Walk in, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "and see the show--all for
sixpence; children half price. Here you have one small bed, or humble
cot, one camp stool, one very small looking-glass, on the back of
which," he continued, turning it suddenly over, "is a picture of the
great Napoleon Bonaparte, running away, with his drawn sword in one
hand, and a leg of mutton in the other; while just below is another of
an old cadet, poking a young one with his bayonet."
The children were laughing heartily over these specimens of the fine
arts, drawn by one of the cadets, when
Bang! tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr. Bang! tr-tr-tr-tr-tr-tr went the drums again.
Off they hurried to the parade-ground, and there, out in the bright
morning sunlight, which came down like "flickering gold" through the
glowing air, galloped that fierce and brave Colonel Hardie, who looked
as if he should consider it the merest trifle to fight a dozen enemies
at once, and kill them all, as a matter of course.
And out galloped a regiment of cadets, while Colonel Hardie, wheeling
round, awaited their coming.
With their drawn swords flashing in the glorious brightness, and the
gallant Colonel now at their head; they wheeled about, and turned
about, dashed here and there, suddenly advancing, then as suddenly
retreating, with their horses rearing and prancing, and snorting and
dancing, till you would have been sure they were in the greatest
possible hurry to rush full tilt at somebody, no matter who, and
instantly run them through with their sharp naked swords, without
giving them a ghost of a chance to cry "Quarter."
The children looked on with great eyes and a kind of delicious fear,
and were almost crazy after the drill was over, to run and beg the
cadets to lend them their horses and swords, so as to practise the
cavalry drill themselves.
They walked on the edge of the parade-ground, looking all around them
with the most amused and delighted interest; at times fairly singing
and skipping for joy, and eagerly planning long walks and voyages of
discovery.
Minnie thought there must be a "day party" somewhere, the people were
dressed so fine, and everybody seemed so very happy.
Numbers of elegantly dressed ladies were walking about, and some
fine-looking officers were paying them all the compliments they could
think of. In the midst of a group of gentlemen, high above them all,
towered the majestic form of the brave General Scott, who has won so
many battles for us in Mexico, and who is Commander-in-Chief of all
the soldiers in our country. The children looked at him with the
greatest admiration; and the boys made up their minds that it was
absolutely necessary they should be soldiers when they grew up; and
they would have given all they possessed to sleep now in the canvas
tents like the brave cadets.
And now the children began to descend a winding path, and wandered
down a beautiful road where the trees met overhead. The air was
fragrant with the woodbine which curled round the trunks of the trees,
while, at their feet, tiny harebells and the purple violet modestly
peeped up.
Jumping, skipping, and gathering wild flowers, they came at length to
a lovely open space scooped out of the rock, as it seemed, in the
centre of which is a crystal spring, which comes up sweet and clear
into a stone basin.
Upon this basin they read the name of the great "Kosciusko;" and this
was his garden, where he used to sit for many hours in the day reading
his book, or admiring the glorious works of God spread before him. The
children looked with love and admiration upon the name and place where
the good and brave Pole had been; and the boys audibly hoped that they
would do something very noble and brave when they grew up, so that
everybody might speak well of them.
As they drew near the house, they saw a lady sitting in the bowery
porch with their mother.
"Goodness!" cried half a dozen of them, "it's Aunt Fanny! Did you
ever?" And thereupon they charged like a company of cadets going to
fire on the run, and shot Aunt Fanny with a whole volley of kisses.
It was really a wonder she looked so well after it; fifty kisses in a
minute is pretty severe loving; but Aunt Fanny only laughed when she
could catch her breath, and, taking Minnie on her lap, asked what
particular fun and mischief they had been about lately.
Then didn't they have a grand time, telling about their journey? and
the wonderful fairy adventures of Charley? And Charley, who was
sitting leaning against his mother, declared that he could not have
dreamt them, because he remembered them all so well, and he had felt
so much better ever since the beautiful fairy Queen had taken him in
charge.
"Why," cried Aunt Fanny, "I shall have to go back to Idlewild, where I
passed two delightful hours this morning, right away, and tell all
this to the lovely children I saw there. I am sure Edith, and Daisy,
and sweet little Bailey, would go straightway down to their beautiful
Glen, to hunt up the fairies that no doubt live there hidden under the
ferns and mosses, so fairily fine and delicate.
"O Aunt Fanny!" cried the children, "do tell us about Idlewild and
dear little Edith, and Daisy, and Bailey Idlewild."
"That is not the name of the children, you monkeys," said Aunt Fanny,
laughing, "any more than you are Harry and Minnie Nightcap. It is the
fanciful, dreamily sweet name of the place; and the pure life and
neighborly love ever adorning and brightening that graceful and kindly
house-roof, make June sunshine all over the lovely place the year
round."
"Ah! how delightful it must be," cried the children; "do tell us, Aunt
Fanny, all about your visit."
"Well, to begin at the beginning, I went up to Cornwall upon some
business, and I staid all night at a house just this side of the
beautiful Idlewild Glen. In the evening I was invited to go to a
Sunday-school celebration; I was very glad to get this invitation,
because I love children so much. The services were all very
interesting, but the best thing of all was a most beautiful story
which was told, to prove the blessed effect of love upon the heart,
and how much better it was to govern by _love_, than by fear and
continual punishment."
"_We_ know that!" exclaimed the children, "that's the very way mother
governs us--don't you, mamma?" and they all had to give her a kiss
before they said, "Please go on, Aunt Fanny; do tell us the story."
"The teacher said it was true, every word of it, but I do not know
whether he got it out of a book, or whether it happened to some
children he knew; perhaps you have read it already."
"O dear! no, we haven't, I'm sure," said the children, "and if we
have, your way of telling it will make it new again. Come, Aunt Fanny,
tell the story."
"Well, then, here it is--Once on a time a good old farmer said to his
wife, 'Wife, you know poor neighbor Jones died a little while ago, and
his little son Johnny is left alone in the world. Suppose we take him?
One more will make very little difference. Shall we?'
"'O deary me! no,' said the wife, 'I wouldn't have him among our
children for any thing! Why, he's worse than a little heathen!'
"'So he is,' said the farmer, 'I'm a little afraid to try it
myself--that's a fact!'
"Now while the old farmer was talking, he was also busily engaged in
eating his dinner of pork and greens, and his children had kept their
ears open, and had heard all that was said.
"Presently one of the boys, whose name was Luke, looked up and said,
'Father, you know we send _one good missionary_ among a _great many
heathen_. Now, why can't we bring this _one little heathen_ among a
great many good people? I'll lend Johnny my kite and ball, and we'll
be so kind to him he will never _want_ to be bad. Father, WE'LL LOVE
HIM GOOD.'
"The good old farmer, who tried his best to keep God's holy
commandments, and especially to 'love his neighbor,' thought this an
excellent plan; so he brought Johnny home with him the very next day.
"Sure enough, Johnny was worse than any heathen. He broke the good
little boy's ball, tore his kite all to pieces, pulled little Susie's
hair, pinched the baby, kicked the small children, and butted the
large boys with his head, and, in short, behaved so badly, that they
were all nearly crying: still they would not give up Luke's plan, but
kept on trying to be kind to him.
"But it was all of no use; Johnny was really a dreadful boy. At last
the old farmer said, 'Well, we can't go on so with Johnny; he must
have obedience knocked into him like a nail in a plank of wood. I must
try if I can't whip him into better behavior:' so he beat the bad
boy, and whipped him, and shook him till his teeth rattled in his
head, and his hair was all in a friz about his eyes. But, alas! it did
no good; Johnny was as bad as ever.
"Then the farmer said, 'Wife, this is a very bad business; whipping
does not make Johnny any better; we must try if we can't STARVE the
obstinacy out of him.'
"'I don't like to do that,' said the wife.
"'But it must be done,' answered the old farmer; 'it is our duty to
try to make him a good boy.'
"So they shut him up in the great garret, where paper bags of dried
herbs, and strings of red peppers, and great cobwebs, kept him
company. They gave him nothing to eat and drink but dry bread and a
cup of water.
"Every now and then the farmer's wife would come, tap at the door, and
say, 'Johnny, will you be good _now_?' and Johnny would shout out in a
fierce defiant voice, 'No! no! I won't! You may lock me up forever and
ever, and I won't be good.' So the poor farmer's wife would heave a
sigh and go away.
"All the morning little Susie had been very silent, with the tears
just trembling on her eyelids. She felt very much grieved that Johnny
was such a bad boy, and she could not bear to think of him in the
lonely garret with no company but his wicked thoughts: so, after
dinner, she crept softly up to her mother, and said, 'Mother, I think
I can get Johnny to be good, if you will let me try.'
"'Well,' said her mother, smoothing her hair lovingly, 'what is your
plan?'
"'Why, mother,' answered the little girl, 'I will go and tell Johnny
that I will be locked up instead of him, and he may go play with my
dear little boat that brother made, and named for me.'
"The mother looked at her a moment with a loving tear swelling in her
eyes, then she said, 'Very well, you may go.'
"So Susie took down the key of the garret, which hung behind the door,
and went up stairs, unlocked the door, and then tapped gently.
'Johnny, may I come in?' said she.
"'What do you want _now_?' grumbled the bad boy. Susie went in, and
going softly up to him, she said--'Johnny, mother says you may go
and play with my little boat this afternoon, and I will be locked up
instead.'
"I am ashamed to say that Johnny was mean enough to accept this offer,
and let the little girl bear his punishment; for without even stopping
to thank her, he started up and made off, slamming the door behind
him, and locking it with a spiteful snap.
"He had a famous time sailing the pretty little boat in the brook; and
only came in at tea-time--as hungry as a bear.
"After he had eaten a hearty meal of bread and butter, baked pears,
and a great piece of nice gingerbread, he noticed that the farmer's
wife commenced to clear away the things, and then he remembered poor
little Susie. He sat silent a good while, but at last he could not
stand it any longer, and he said--'Say? ain't you agoing to give that
little gal up stairs any tea? say?'
"'Yes, Johnny,' answered the mother, 'you can take this to her,' and
she handed him a piece of dry bread on a plate.
"Johnny took the plate, carried it up stairs, and began to kick and
bang at the door--Thump! bump! thump!
"'Unlock it and come in,' cried Susie. So Johnny did so, and went in;
but when he saw the dear little child sitting there so patiently and
smiling at him, a strange trembling came to his lips, and without
saying a word, he put down the plate, and darted away.
"All that night Susie staid in the garret, and slept as quietly and
sweetly as if she had been in her own little room.
"When the next day came, Johnny felt very much like asking pardon for
his bad conduct, and begging that Susie might come down from her
captivity, while he took her place; but the sun was shining
gloriously, and Johnny thought of the little boat; and so, driving
away the good thoughts and impulses, he eat his breakfast, snatched up
the boat, and ran out to play.
"When dinner-time came, he was the very first to come in, he was so
hungry; and soon after the rest of the family, _except_ one, took
their places.
"'Where's Susie?' asked Johnny.
"'She is locked up in the garret,' said her mother.
"'Can't she have any dinner?'
"'Yes; she can have some dry bread;' and the farmer's wife gave him a
piece on a plate, as before.
"Johnny took it, and went slowly up stairs. He opened the door. There
sat Susie, patient and silent. He put the plate beside her, but
instead of going away, he stood looking at her in silence.
"Presently he burst out with--'Susie! you're a fool, I say! a perfect
fool! Before I'd let myself be locked up, I'd--I'd--' here Johnny
stopped; a great lump came into his throat, and was choking him. He
drew in his breath with a painful sob, and then burst into an agony of
tears, and rushing up to Susie, he threw his arms about her neck, and
cried out--
"'O Susie! Susie! please forgive me. I'll never be so bad again,
never. They might have whipped me forever, and starved me forever, and
it would just have made me worse; but you (and here the great tears
came fast and faster)--you have LOVED ME GOOD.'"
"O----h!" cried the children, taking long breaths, and wiping their
eyes, "how lovely!--what a good, _GOOD_ story--what a dear, darling
Susie! She must have heard of mamma, when she wanted to _LOVE_ Johnny
good."
"Yes," said Aunt Fanny, "I think she was very much like your dear
mother, and you children can hardly know what a blessed lot is yours,
in having a mother who rules you by LOVE."
"Yes, we do! yes, we do!" cried the children; we know she is a perfect
darling; and thereupon the little mother underwent a series of
caresses quite alarming to witness.
"And now about my visit to Idlewild," said Aunt Fanny, when they were
once more quiet. "Soon after breakfast I commenced my walk. I had to
cross the wild and beautiful ravine. I am afraid I looked a little
like a figure of fun, scrambling and scratching down the slippery
descent. I have no doubt some of Charley's fairies were laughing at me
all the time; and I am sure the beautiful little waterfall did, as it
came joyously dancing down the great black rocks. Really, some of the
places were as slippery as ice; and I had to go a-sliding in the
summer time, whether I wanted to or not."
"How nice!" cried the children; "that would just have suited the old
woman in Mother Goose, who wanted her children to slide on dry ground.
You can't drown that way, you know."
"Not exactly; but at last I stood upon the famous zigzag bridge, which
is only a single plank with a railing on one side, made of a long,
slender sapling. And now, how lovely the scene was that I looked
upon! The sun came in dimples and ripples of light through the trees,
and the waterfall, with its soft white foam, talked to me in a voice
full of power and beauty, of the greatness and goodness of God.
"When I got to the house, I was welcomed by its fair and gentle
mistress with a simple courtesy, that made me feel at home at once.
Very soon a sweet little maiden came to me, and shyly offered her
hand; she told me her name was Daisy, and then she called her baby
brother. He was afraid of me at first, but when I said, 'Why, Bailey,
I know all about you. I know how you fed the little birds last
winter'"--
"Oh," interrupted the children, "how did he feed the little birds,
Aunt Fanny?"
"If you will put me in mind, I will tell you by and by. Then Bailey
looked at me when I said that, with wide-open eyes; and I continued,
'I know all about the peacock, too, so I do--more, too.'
"Then he came right up to me, and laid his dear little curly head in
my lap, and looking up in my face with his merry, bright blue eyes, he
said--'I've got a horse.'
"'Why, no! You don't tell me so!' I exclaimed. 'Why, I'm astonished!
How many legs has he?'
"'Two, nailed fast, and two, kicking up in the air.'
"'My patience! what a horse!' said I.
"'But come!' said the little darling fellow, pulling at my dress,
'come see my horse! come!'
"So Daisy and the mother, and Bailey and I, went out of the room. Of
course I expected to be conducted to the stables; but we began to
mount the stairs, and up we went till we arrived at the third story,
Bailey holding me fast by the hand. We went into a large room--the
children's play-room--from the windows of which there was a
magnificent view. Sitting at one of them, was the kind,
motherly-looking nurse, to whom I was introduced as to an old friend.
As I pressed her hand, her eyes turned fondly upon her mistress and
the lovely children. I looked around, and sure enough, in one corner
was a prancing charger, standing on his hind legs, which were made
fast to a spring rocker, while the others were kicking up in the air,
just as Bailey had told me.
"Then the little fellow was lifted up on his horse, and I said, "Get
up, pony;" and then all of a sudden such a funny little shy fit came
over Bailey, that down went his curly head on the horse's neck, and he
very nearly tumbled off. After that he dismounted, and pulling down
the prancing legs of the horse, got between them, and holding fast, he
had a fine ride after an ingenious invention of his own; for, as the
horse's legs rose in the air, up went little Bailey, and then down he
came with a funny little stamp of his feet on the carpet, which sent
him into the air again.
"Then the dear little fair-haired Daisy showed me her birds,
'Buttercup' and 'Primrose,' and two others whose names I did not hear;
and then we went down stairs again.
"In the charming library we met another daughter, a lovely young lady,
and a friend who was visiting her. I knew this young lady before, and
loved her very much; and I was very glad to meet her; and you may be
sure we were very merry together.
"Just then we heard Bailey's voice in the hall, lifted up in loud
wailing and weeping. We all rushed out, thinking the sweet little
fellow had fallen down stairs. But he was safe, though the great tears
were running down his cheeks; and he sobbed out, 'Mamma! mamma! Edith
won't come to see Aunt Fanny!' Dear little fellow! It seems that
Edith was the shyest little maiden in the world, and Bailey, in his
loving endeavor to get her to come to me, had first coaxed her, then
kissed her over and over again, and at last, broken-hearted about it,
had burst into loud crying. Edith stood at the turn of the stairs,
ready to dart away; and when I said, 'Do come, darling--come, little
Edith,' she fled like a frightened fawn, upon which Bailey began
lamenting again, and I had hard work to bring the peace once more into
his little, loving, troubled heart.
"When we returned to the room, Miss Laura, the young lady who was
visiting the family, told a funny story about Bailey. She was walking
in the beautiful glen before breakfast, and frolicking round her were
Gouldy, and Caesar, and Bailey."
"Were they all boys? or what?" asked the children.
"Not exactly, for two of them were dogs; but far better and gentler
companions than _some_ boys I know. Gouldy was a dear old fellow, that
would not have hurt a hair of your head for a thousand dollars in
gold, even if he knew about or cared for money; and Caesar--Oh! he was
something and somebody very extra indeed."
"What! did he have horns on his head?" asked Harry.
[Illustration: DR. KANE AND CAESAR IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS.]
"Not a horn; but he once belonged to the good and famous Dr. Kane, the
great Arctic explorer; and Caesar had seen as many icebergs and
white bears as he wanted to, and a few over, I imagine; for Dr. Kane
gave him to his friend, the owner of Idlewild; and the good dog tells
his new master every day by an extra flourish of his tail, how happy
he is, and how much he loves to live in such a lovely place, and with
such lovely children.
"Well, as I was telling you, the dogs and little Bailey were
scampering here and there, while Miss Laura walked in the glen,
thinking how sweetly the rippling golden light came down through the
green leaves. After a while she thought it was time to return, so she
called--'Come, Gouldy, come, Caesar, come, Bailey. It is time to go
home.' Up bounded the two dogs at her bidding, but the darling little
rogue, Bailey, pretended to be very busy looking for something in the
grass. Then the dogs, seeing that _he_ did not mind, went leaping off,
tumbling over each other, pretending to bite, and growling at a great
rate. So Miss Laura walked a few steps nearer Bailey, and called
again--'Come, Gouldy, come, Caesar, come, _Bailey_.' The dogs ran to
her as before, but Bailey walked as grave as any deacon, and looking
sideways at her, with a merry twinkle in his blue eyes, and a comical
little chuckle, he said--'Miss Laura, there is no _dog_ of that name
in this place.' His face looked so full of fun and mischief, that Miss
Laura screamed out laughing, and then Bailey laughed, and was very
glad he had been so funny."
"What a funny little fellow," exclaimed the children, "to make believe
Miss Laura did not mean him when she called. I _do_ wish he could come
and play with us. He's a darling! Well, please go on Aunt Fanny."
"While we were sitting in the parlor, Bailey brought me a superb book
of engravings to look at. They were flowers. I only wish you could
have heard him telling me the long names, slowly and carefully, in
such a sweet little voice--'This is the Rho-de-den-dron,' and then
giving a quick, satisfied sigh, because he had gotten it all right.
When he showed me a picture of a splendid lily, I looked at the
beautiful flower, and then at his innocent baby-brow, and in his
unclouded eyes, through which the immortal soul shone purer and
whiter than any lily, and softly said--'Consider the lilies of the
field; they toil not, neither do they spin;' and as I bent over to
kiss this immortal lily, I heard the gentle little mother murmur--'Yet
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.' Truly the
innocence of a little child invests him with a greater glory than any
this world can give. Why may we not always retain it, pure and
undefiled?
"At last the carriage came to take me away; and they all bid me a kind
adieu; and Bailey and Daisy kissed me so lovingly, that I felt the
kisses all the way to my heart, where I mean to keep the memory of
them as long as I live. Wonderful to relate, something happened at the
very last moment, that made Bailey dance with delight, for Edith, shy
Edith, ran to me and put up her sweet pink and white cheek for a kiss;
and so I left beautiful Idlewild, a very happy Aunt Fanny."
The children were delighted with this account, which Minnie called "a
very nice _inscription_."
"And now about the birds, Aunt Fanny. You know you told us to put you
in mind."
"Oh, yes. Well, I will try to remember what I read in the Home Journal
a year ago about the dear little winter birds at Idlewild."