THE
FAMILY ON WHEELS
ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH BY
J. MACDONALD OXLEY
_Author of "The Boy Tramps" and
"The Romance of Commerce"_
NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1905,
BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & CO.
[Illustration: "YOU NEEDN'T BE AFRAID," CALLED OUT THE BOY.]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Introducing the Family 1
II. A Good Friend in Need 12
III. The Tamby Family in Public 23
IV. A Record Collection 34
V. A Remarkable Fencer 46
VI. The Animals Distinguish Themselves 56
VII. The Stampeding of Nalla 68
VIII. Nalla Recovered 78
IX. Nalla to the Rescue 88
X. Nalla Plays Pranks 98
XI. At the Beaulieu Fair 109
XII. The Rascal's Revenge 119
XIII. The Majesty of the Law 127
XIV. Before the Magistrate 138
XV. Nalla Obtains Assistance 148
XVI. Nadine's Illness 157
XVII. In a Desperate Strait 165
XVIII. The Recovery of Nalla 173
XIX. In the Nick of Time 181
XX. In Care of the Curé 191
XXI. The Return to Morainville 199
XXII. Reunited at Last 207
THE FAMILY ON WHEELS.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCING THE FAMILY.
"One! two! right! left! one! two! Number Three, you are not in line.
Forward a little! That's it. Now then--one! two! right! left!"
It was early morning of a midsummer day, and a dozen or more boys,
between the ages of ten and fifteen, marched out of the market town
of Morainville, some armed with wooden swords, and others with
broom-handles which did service as rifles, while the most of them were
eating big slices of bread with keen relish.
"One! two! right! left!"
The time of the annual fête, when the soldiers would come, was drawing
near, and for several days the youngsters of the place had been
preparing to receive them in fitting manner.
All their usual forms of play had for the nonce been abandoned in favor
of drilling, and grave councils of war, and much attention was given
to the making of wooden swords and guns wherewith to more closely
imitate the soldiers.
Then came the important matter of choosing the officers, which,
however, were always the same, because the smaller boys never failed to
vote for the bigger ones, knowing well that if they didn't they would
assuredly get a licking.
A couple of boys in the party had a special talent for imitating the
trumpet by placing their shut hand over their closed lips, and these
led the little troop.
By eight o'clock the children had marched over a mile, and reached the
top of a hill planted with spruce trees on both sides of the road which
slanted sharply in front and rear of their route.
The captain of the company ordered a halt, and as their young legs were
pretty tired, it was decided that they should there await the arrival
of the soldiers.
A sentinel was placed on the road to report the appearance of the
regiment in good time to allow the boys to get ready for its reception.
Half-an-hour later, as the little soldiers of the wooden swords waited
beneath the spruce trees, the sentinel from his post of observation
gave the signal.
"Hurrah! there they are!" cried the boys delightedly, and they made
haste to draw up in line along the road.
But it was not the regiment that came in view. No red trousers showed
upon the horizon. Nothing save a big lumbering wagon, a mountebank's
van drawn by a single horse, made its appearance, moving in the
direction of the town.
Yet the sight of this solitary van would not of itself have sufficed
to attract the curiosity of the children. Strolling performers! why,
they were nothing uncommon. They visited the town often in the course
of the year, and one poor shabby van could never have constituted
a counter-attraction to the most insignificant soldier in his red
trousers.
Nevertheless the youngsters stood there upon the road like statues,
and, after their first exclamation of surprise, they were silent
also, while their eyes fairly bulged from their sockets as they gazed
open-mouthed upon that which was coming towards them.
Beside the van moved the huge bulk of something unknown that stalked
solemnly along, looking neither to right nor left.
What could it be? So tremendous a creature had never crossed their
vision before.
"Can it be a beast?" whispered one of the boys with trembling lips.
"Why--yes--" responded the captain, making a gallant effort to appear
unconcerned, although he was greatly excited, "a beast that can walk."
It was, indeed, bewildering. A monster beside which the horse that drew
the van seemed no bigger than a dog--a monster whose height exceeded
that of the mountebank's house on wheels.
Then to one of the boys came an inspiration, and he cried proudly:
"I know what it is. I saw the picture of one in a book my father was
showing me. It's an elephant!"
"What a whopper! an elephant's not a great brute like that. You don't
know what you're talking about," snapped the captain, ill-pleased at a
private having ventured an explanation of the wonder.
This silenced the youngster, and as none of the others could offer any
better suggestion the little company, feeling decidedly nervous, made
haste to climb the trees that lined the road just as the mountebanks
and their elephant reached the top of the hill. Like a band of
frightened monkeys they got among the branches uttering cries of fear,
and then, with the effrontery of monkeys, took their positions as
close as possible to the road so that they might obtain a full view of
the strolling performers, and of the wonderful animal that sauntered so
peacefully along beside their conveyance.
"You needn't be afraid," called out one of the mountebanks
reassuringly. He was only a boy himself, and his keen eyes had taken in
the situation at a glance. "There's no harm in Nalla. He wouldn't hurt
anybody unless they hurt him first."
And as he spoke the lad stroked lovingly the trunk of the great creature
that responded to the caress with little grunts of satisfaction.
At this assurance all the boys descended from their refuge in the
trees, and in a gingerly hesitating fashion, for they were still a
little nervous, drew near the boy who was so manifestly in the good
graces of the monster.
What puzzled the boys was that they saw no sign of either the father or
mother of the little players, of whom there were four, two boys and two
girls.
On the front platform of the van sat a girl of not more than sixteen,
holding in her lap another of about five years of age.
"Come now--Steady--hurry up!" cried the latter to the horse.
"Oh! let him alone! he's going as fast as he can, Lydia," said the
elder one. "It's no use shouting at him."
But Steady did not mend his pace. He well deserved his name, for indeed
a slower animal never wore harness.
Behind the van came another youngster, not more than ten years old,
followed by a black dog clipped so as to faintly resemble a lion. The
boy and dog were evidently on the best of terms, and the one no less
full of life than the other.
It goes without saying that the whole party of boys, who had come out
to receive the soldiers, completely forgot them in the novelty of this
strange party, and constituted themselves a guard of honor for Nalla
and his friends without giving another thought to the red trousers
which had been the original cause of their early morning march-out.
At the entrance of the town was a sort of open square formed by the
joining of two roads, and it was there that the owners of the van, the
Tamby family, had taken their stand when the expected soldiers, with
fife and drums leading, at last marched into Morainville.
As they watched them pass, looking very imposing indeed in all their
martial splendor, little Cæsar Tamby said to Nadine his sister:
"The soldiers! We have got here in the nick of time. We ought to take
in a lot of money to-night."
But Nadine, whose pretty features wore a sad expression, shook her head
doubtfully:
"Who can tell?" she murmured. "Perhaps the Mayor won't allow us to give
a performance."
She was going to find out, and she took with her the necessary papers
to make a formal request for the authorization.
Nadine, the eldest of the Tamby family, who undertook the always
tiresome, and often troublesome task of securing the necessary
permission for the little troupe to make a stay within the bounds of a
commune, and give public performances, set off with no loss of time.
She quickly made her way to the center of the town where the Mayor's
office was situated, but there encountered a lot of soldiers receiving
directions from their officers in regard to their stay at Morainville.
It was accordingly with some difficulty that she was able to reach the
office of the Mayor, which was crowded with officers who were engaging
his attention.
His worship was informed that a mountebank wished to see him about
obtaining permission to make a stay in the town.
"I've no time to waste upon such folk, and, moreover, I won't give the
permission because the soldiers are here," was his ungracious reply
as conveyed to the anxious Nadine by the constable, who, noting her
disappointment, added in a kinder tone on his own account:
"My young girl, the Mayor won't see you, and as he has given his answer
to your request you may take my word for it that it's useless for you
to wait about here. You'd better push on to some other town where
you'll have a chance to give a performance."
"But, sir," pleaded Nadine, her lip trembling, and her fine eyes
filling with tears, "if we don't perform this evening we shall have
nothing to eat to-morrow. We might get along somehow ourselves, but our
animals, they must be fed."
The constable was touched by her plea, and the charm of her simple
manner.
"Very well, then," he responded, laying his big hand upon her shoulder
in a fatherly way. "You'll have to try and see the Mayor at his own
house," and the kind-hearted fellow gave Nadine directions how to find
it, and what to do when she got there.
The Mayor's residence was quite a castle, and Nadine felt very timid
about venturing to enter it, but she found the great portal open, and
glided through without being observed by any one in the establishment,
the fact of the matter being that on this day everybody had their hands
too full to concern themselves about who might be going or coming.
The staff of domestics seemed to be exceedingly busy. Several women in
snow-white dresses were hard at work before the cooking range, one of
them giving orders in a sharp voice, and the others replying promptly:
"Yes, Madame Françoise," and carrying out her instructions.
A moment later Madame Françoise caught sight of Nadine who stood shyly
in the doorway, not daring to enter a place where everybody was so
engrossed with their work.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" she demanded in a tone of
irritation as she fixed her eyes on the young girl, and examined her
from her head to her feet. "Where did you come from?" she snapped.
"Madame," replied Nadine in a low-toned voice, letting her head drop
upon her breast. "I came to see the Mayor, and to beg----"
"No--no--we've no time for beggars to-day," cried Madame impatiently,
"and the Mayor won't be able to see you. Be off with you as quick as
you can!"
Nadine turned to leave with heavy heart when a door on the other
side of the kitchen opened suddenly, and a lady of middle age, in a
rich silk gown, entered the room. She was tall and handsome, and her
expression was so sweet and pleasant that somehow Nadine's hopes began
to revive.
"Was it you, Françoise, who spoke so sharply to the child?" she asked
in a tone that expressed both surprise and reproof.
"Well, Madame," replied the servant, "you see this is one of those
little beggars, a mountebank's daughter, who pay a visit to the town
just for what they can steal. She came here begging and I told her that
you had no time to attend to her."
The color flew to Nadine's face, and her eyes flashed with indignation
at these words which were no less unjust than they were cruel.
She lifted her pretty head with a touch of pride, and her voice rang
out clearly as she hastened to say:
"But I didn't come here begging, Madame. I've never had to do anything
of the kind yet, thank God. I simply came to ask permission of the
Mayor to make my living in an honest way. That's what I'm here for, I
assure you," and she made a respectful courtesy to the lady.
"But why didn't your father come instead, my child?" asked the lady,
regarding her with a look of kindly interest. "You are very young to be
attending to such matters."
"Alas, I have no longer a father," responded Nadine, her head drooping
again, and the big tears welling up in her blue eyes.
"Well, then, your mother--Why does not she come?" was the next question.
Poor Nadine's voice almost failed her, and her answer was scarcely
audible:
"I have no mother either."
"What! neither mother nor father!" exclaimed the lady, throwing up her
white hands with a gesture of astonishment and pity. "Do you mean to
say that you are all alone at your age?"
Nadine lifted her head again, and a new light came into her fine eyes.
They glowed with both love and pride as she said:
"No, Madame, I'm not alone. I have two brothers, and a little sister,
but they are all much younger than I, so I have to look after the
business."