Produced by Al Haines
[Illustration: Cover art]
[Frontispiece: ROBIN OF CASTLE FRANK.]
THE FAIRY SCHOOL OF
CASTLE FRANK.
BY
GRANT BALFOUR,
AUTHOR OF "THE MOTHER OF ST. NICHOLAS."
TORONTO:
THE POOLE PRINTING COMPANY, LIMITED,
PUBLISHERS.
Entered, according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine by A. BALFOUR GRANT, in the
office of the Minister of Agriculture.
Hon. G. W. Ross, LL.D., Premier of Ontario, says:--"I have read this
little story by Grant Balfour, which I can cheerfully recommend to the
children of Ontario. It is both interesting and instructive, and
contains a useful moral lesson."
CONTENTS
Chapter
I. Romantic Robin
II. Fairyland
III. The Strange School Class
IV. The Advice of Hug-grippy, the Affectionate
V. The Advice of the Subtle Snake
VI. The Modest Medallist
VII. The Fight in the Ravine
VIII. Robin's Book
The Snow-White Fox
The Song-Sparrow
List of Illustrations
Robin of Castle Frank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
"How many walnuts are 2 and 4 and 6?"
Fascinated
Crafticus: "I have a cunning plan."
King Muffler: "It is no new thing," remarked the king, "for crafty
creatures to get the simple to begin a foolish quarrel."
THE FAIRY SCHOOL OF CASTLE FRANK.
CHAPTER I.
ROMANTIC ROBIN.
I've found at last the hiding place
Where the fairy people dwell,
And to win the secrets of their race
I hold the long-sought spell.
_Havergal._
One hundred years ago, in the great land of Canada, there lived a boy
whose name was Robin. His home was in the grand old woods, with
wapitis, wolves and bears. It was near the edge of a deep ravine that
opened out on the east by a slow winding river flowing into one of the
great blue lakes. And the name of his home, though built of wood, was
Castle Frank.
The castle was well-furnished, for Robin's father was a great man. The
best rooms had comfortable carpets and carved oak furniture, while on
the walls were interesting pictures, representing people of high rank,
and battles on sea and land. In one room there was a fine arrangement
of muskets, pistols and swords, together with Indian spears and bows
and arrows. In another room there was a library, containing books of
religion and science, histories and tales of adventure, and story-books
for children. With the weapons and stories the boy beguiled away many
a pleasant hour.
But there was something more pleasant than guns and spears and stories.
Outside the castle, in little houses built of wood, with doors and
windows of netted wire, were a number of pets, as foxes, rabbits and
squirrels. To these Robin was greatly devoted, he fed them regularly
with his own hand, and kept their dwellings sweet and clean. In a
grassy enclosure where their little cotes stood, he let them have
liberty every day, watching over them carefully, that no harm should
come from savage beasts or birds of prey. He had also other pets--a
white pony, big dogs and little ones, and beautiful birds--which he
loved much and tended faithfully. So that among all these companions
Robin passed much of his time very happily, even more so than when
accompanying friendly Indians shooting game in the wild woods miles
away, or fishing from a canoe in Lake Ontario.
A boy that is truly kind to animals will love men and, of course, boys.
This quality and what was brave and honest shone plainly in his clear,
blue eyes, as they shine in all kinds of eyes that have them.
Unspoiled by city dainties, and clad in the grey shooting suit which he
usually wore, he looked strong, active and healthy. Yet Robin had at
times a dreamy, meditative look. Away from the stir and hum and
engagement of city life, he dwelt in a kind of fairy-land, where
flowers and trees and solitary paths called forth quiet questionings
and aroused reflection, gilded by mystery and imagination. The tales
of Indian life, and the stories of mighty giants and magic-working
fairies, told and read in the quaint castle in the evenings, cultivated
the growth of his imaginative mind. So that, mingled with his natural
brightness and activity, there were moods that occasionally carried him
under the shade of some elm or maple tree, to sit and see pictures of
wonderful creatures in the beauty and melancholy of nature all around.
For this reason his loving mother called him _Inabandang_, a dreamer of
dreams.