"_I'll have the charm
That saves from harm;_"
Grandmother was knitting and Hortense sat on a stool at her feet,
thinking, for she wished to make a request of Grandmother and she was
doubtful of Grandmother's response.
"May I ask the little boy who lives next door to come in and play?"
Hortense asked suddenly.
"I didn't know you had seen him," said Grandmother.
"I've seen and talked with him," said Hortense. "His name is Andy."
"You are sure that he is a nice little boy?" Grandmother asked.
"Oh yes!" Hortense cried.
"Very well, then," said Grandmother. "You may ask him to come after
luncheon."
Hortense did so. After luncheon she and Andy climbed to the attic,
which Hortense wished to see in the daytime, for at night she had
learned very little about it.
It was a great square attic with a roof that sloped gradually to the
floor from the cupola, which was like the lamp high above in a
lighthouse. Like all proper attics it held old trunks, furniture, and
all kinds of things. In the drawers of the bureaus and wardrobes were
old suits and dresses, and in the trunks, other dresses and suits and
old hangings. Andy and Hortense took them out and dressed in them--and
played they were a lord and a lady, and pirates, and Indians. Then they
sat down to eat the four apples which Hortense had thoughtfully brought
with her.
"Where do you suppose the Cat hid the night I followed him and he
disappeared?" Hortense asked.
"There are lots of corners to hide in," said Andy, but Hortense was
sure that the Cat had some particular place; so Andy and she crawled
all around the attic under the eaves, looking behind every trunk and
into every corner. Yet they could find no place that seemed especially
secret.
"There's no secret corner," said Andy, sitting down beside the big
chimney and leaning his back against it.
But as he spoke he suddenly began to disappear through the floor and
only by catching the edge of it did he save himself. He and Hortense
were too surprised to speak for a moment. Then they knelt on the edge
of the opening and peered down.
"It's a trapdoor," said Andy. "We must find out where it goes."
He pushed the door to one side and revealed a little staircase.
"Are you afraid to go down?" Andy asked.
"Of course not," said Hortense. "You go first."
Andy led the way and Hortense followed. A few steps brought them to a
small room. It was dark, but the light from the trapdoor enabled them
to see a little after a while. There was nothing in the room but a
large chest.
"Shall we open it?" Andy asked.
"Of course," said Hortense.
By pulling and tugging they succeeded at last in lifting the lid.
"It's empty," said Andy much disappointed. "I hoped it might be full of
gold and jewels."
Hortense had a sudden thought.
"This is where Jeremiah went the time we couldn't find him."
Andy was unconvinced.
"A cat couldn't open a trapdoor," he said.
"Maybe Jeremiah could. He's no ordinary cat. Besides there's another
one."
"Another cat?" Andy demanded.
"No. Somebody else we haven't seen, but I can guess who it is."
"Who is it?"
"I won't tell yet--not until I'm sure. But we'll see him. Maybe we'll
surprise him and Jeremiah here some night and take them captive."
"Hello," said Andy as he put his foot on the stairs. "What's this?"
Beside the chimney was a black hole and fastened to the chimney was an
iron bar like the rung of a ladder. Andy peered down.
"There's another rung," he said. "I wonder where this ladder goes?"
"We'll have to find out," said Hortense. "Dear me, this is a most
mysterious house."
Andy put one foot on the ladder and began to descend. Soon his head
disappeared from sight.
"It goes down and down, probably to the basement," he called. "Come
on."
Hortense obeyed, and down and down they went. It was very dark, but now
and then a little chink beside the chimney let in a ray of light.
"Maybe it goes to the middle of the earth," said Andy from below. "No,
here's the bottom at last."
Soon Hortense stood behind him. Gradually, as their eyes became
accustomed to the dark, they could see a little.
"Here's the way," said Andy at last.
"But here's another passage," said Hortense.
"We'll try mine first," said Andy.
They had walked only a few steps when they came to a wooden panel.
"It's like the one that I crawled through the other day," said Andy.
"Help me to move it."
It moved slowly, but finally they raised it until they could crawl
through.
"I believe this is the chute I came down when you found me," said Andy.
He stood up.
"There's the basement window," he said, "and here's the little door I
crawled through. Now we can get out."
"We must see where the other way goes first," Hortense reminded him.
"I'd forgotten," said Andy.
Back they went to the foot of the ladder and then down the other way
which grew smaller and smaller and suddenly stopped.
"Let's go back, there's nothing here," said Hortense.
Andy stood still, absorbed in thought.
"It can't end in nothing," said he. "Who would dig a tunnel to
nowhere?"
He felt the end of the passage with his hands.
"It's wood," he announced. "It must be a door. Yes, here's a little
latch."
He opened the little door and, lying on his stomach, looked down the
tunnel beyond. It was neatly fashioned and quite light but curved away
in the distance so that the end was not visible--only a shining bit of
the wall.
Hortense spoke the thought of both.
"If we were only small enough to go down it and see where it leads,"
said she.
But alas, it was far too small for that.
"Probably Jeremiah goes through it," said Hortense. "Where do you
suppose it goes?"
"Perhaps to the middle of the earth, or to a cave filled with diamonds
and gold," said Andy.
"Or maybe to the home of the fairies."
"Well, we can't know, so there's no use thinking of it."
"Still, if we watched it sometimes, we might see who goes down it,"
Hortense suggested hopefully, "and if it were a fairy, we might talk
with him."
"We might do that," Andy agreed.
"But probably they'd know we were watching and keep hid."
They returned the way they had come, crawled through the wooden box.
Into the basement, and went to the head of the cellar stairs.
"I'll see if Aunt Esmerelda is asleep," said Hortense. "If she is,
we'll tiptoe across the kitchen, get some cookies, and eat them in the
barn."
She opened the door cautiously and peeped in. Sure enough, Aunt
Esmerelda was asleep in her chair with her apron thrown over her head.
Hortense motioned to Andy and they crept quietly across the kitchen to
the door, Hortense pausing a moment 'on the way to fill her pockets
with cookies.
They ran unseen to the barn and climbed to the haymow where they ate
the cookies. Hortense was deep in thought all the time.
"To-night," she announced at last, "we'll hide in the little room we
found. You can come in by the basement window and climb up the ladder.
I'll go up by way of the attic. Whom shall I bring?"
"Alligator would be too big," said Andy. "Besides, he's likely to
swallow things, he has such a terrible appetite."
"And Lowboy is so fat he might get stuck going down the chimney."
"Coal and Ember are always likely to growl and give us away."
"That leaves only Owl, Highboy, and Malay Kris," said Andy.
"Owl's eyes shine so--we'd better not have him," Hortense added.
So it was agreed that that night Hortense should bring only Highboy and
Malay Kris with her.
"You won't be afraid to climb the ladder all alone in the dark?"
Hortense asked.
"Well," said Andy, "I'll come anyhow."
Hortense clapped her hands.
"That's just what Grandfather says to do," said she. "I wish I were
brave."
"You are," exclaimed Andy.
"No, I'm not, because I have a charm. See, this little ivory monkey."
She pulled out the charm from the neck of her dress.
"While I wear this, nothing can happen to me. It's lucky."
"I don't believe in charms," said Andy.
Hortense was displeased at his doubt.
"Well, you'll see," said she.
It was nearly sundown; so Andy ran home, and Hortense returned to the
house to change her dress for supper.
Said she to Highboy, "To-night you and Malay Kris and I are going to
hide in the secret room in the attic. There Andy will join us, and we
will watch for Jeremiah and the other."
"I do not wish to see Jeremiah or the other," said Highboy.
"Nevertheless, you must come," said Hortense firmly.
"Alas," mourned Highboy. "Never again will I stand on a good Brussels
carpet and see the sunshine pour in the south window. Many a sad year
shall I weep for the last embraces of my brother Lowboy and the dull
life of home."
Hortense was struck to admiration by these moving words.
"How lovely," said she. "I didn't know you wrote poetry."
"I have a drawer full," said Highboy, perking up a bit.
"Then you must surely come," Hortense urged. "You might be captured, or
something, and then you could be dreadfully melancholy and write the
beautifullest poetry!"
"True," said Highboy. "Sorrow is the food of poets."
Consequently, when all was still and Grandfather and Grandmother were
safely in bed, Highboy went willingly enough with Hortense down the
dark silent stairs and past Grandmother's sitting room.
"May I not say a farewell to Lowboy?" said Highboy with tears in his
voice.
"Not at all," said Hortense briskly. "He might want to come, too."
They went softly into the parlor, and Hortense whispered to Malay Kris,
telling him of the night's expedition.
"Good," said Malay Kris. "If I see the Cat or the other one, I'll
slither through their bones."
He spoke in a low, fierce voice and jumped down lightly so as not to
awaken Alligator, who seemed to be asleep, but it was of no use.
Without opening his eyes, Alligator grunted,
"Where do I come in?"
"Why, you see," said Hortense embarrassed, "you're so big you couldn't
get into the little room nor climb down the ladder."
"You mean I'm not wanted," said Alligator crossly. "Very well, I'll not
go where I'm not asked. I'll hunt alone."
"Dear me," said Hortense, "now he'll go and swallow something he
shouldn't."
"Maybe I will and maybe I won't," said Alligator. "It depends on my
appetite."
"Swallow me," said Malay Kris, "and I'll show you a thing or two. I'll
run you as full of holes as a colander."
"You're not to my taste," said Alligator, yawning horribly. "If I cared
to, I would."
Malay Kris glared at Alligator, but as it was of no use to attack his
thick hide, which was as tough as iron, he did nothing more and
Hortense dragged him away.
"Save your wrath," she said.
"I have so much I don't need to save it," said Malay Kris. "The more I
spend, the more I have."
Nevertheless he came obediently enough, and Hortense and Highboy and
Malay Kris climbed to the attic, went through the trapdoor, and hid in
the little room. They left the door open a bit so that they could see
out, and all crouched on the upper stair waiting for whatever was to
come.
"What's that?" said Malay Kris. "I heard a sound."
"It's Andy, of course," said Hortense, running down the stairs. "I'd
almost forgotten him."
Leaning over the hole beside the chimney, she called in a soft voice,
"Andy, Andy."
"It's me," said Andy, and soon he joined them.
"Why do we wait here?" Malay Kris demanded. "How can you be sure any
one will come?"
"We can't be sure, of course," Hortense said, "but it's likely because
it's a secret place. We want to see who it is that goes with Jeremiah.
Highboy has seen him but doesn't know his name. He's all shiny, and
prickly, and hard."
"Not too hard for me," Malay Kris boasted. "I'll run him through as
though he were cheese."
"It won't be so bad, once we see him," Hortense observed. "A thing is
never so bad as you think it is beforehand."
"Except castor oil," said Andy. "That's worse."
They all sat in silence, waiting for something to happen.
"Unless it comes soon, I'll go out and look for it," Malay Kris growled
after a time. "I rust with inaction."
"Hush!" said Hortense.
They heard the swift patter of feet on the attic stairs and across the
floor.
"Only Jeremiah," Hortense whispered disappointedly, peeping out of the
crack in the door. But immediately after came the clatter of metal and
a bright round figure ran up the ladder after Jeremiah and disappeared
through the cupola window.
Hortense clapped her hands softly.
"I knew it!" she exclaimed, full of excitement.
"What did you know?" Andy asked.
"It's the Grater! The one that hangs in Aunt Esmerelda's kitchen."
"Let me see him!" cried Malay Kris.
On the roof above their heads, light footsteps pattered rhythmically.
"I do believe they're dancing!" Hortense said.
They ran to the ladder and scrambled up.
"Careful! We mustn't let them see us," Hortense warned.
Cautiously they peeped over the window ledge. Below them on the roof,
Jeremiah and Grater were dancing outrageously. The Cat pranced on his
hind legs, and Grater leaped and spun like a top, so that his sides
glittered in the moonlight.
[Illustration: Grater danced outrageously, leaping and spinning in the
moonlight.]
"He's wearing armor," said Malay Kris. "H'm, he won't be so easy as I
thought. However, I'll have a try."
Hortense laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Not now," she said. "Let's wait."
Grater began to sing in a harsh voice. As Hortense listened to the
words, she hastily put her hand to her throat to make sure that the
little monkey charm was safe, for it was certain the words referred to
it.
_I'll have the charm
That saves from harm;
The charm I'll have
And make her slave;
It's on her neck,
And I expect
She'll die of fear
When I come near.
On her I'll grate
As sure as fate._
This was certainly a disagreeable prospect, for Grater must prove very
scratchy indeed.
"I surely must keep away from him," Hortense reflected.
She forgot her fear of Grater in a moment, however, for there was a
noise as of claws on the attic floor, and the movement of a heavy body.
"It's Alligator!" she said aloud.
"Yes, it's me," Alligator answered. "Don't anybody try to stop me. I
know that Cat's upon the roof, and I mean to have him. I'll swallow him
whole."
"The Cat is dancing with Grater," said Hortense, "and Grater is a
terrible person. You daren't swallow him, for he's all hard and covered
with sharp points."
"I am myself," Alligator said. "I'll look him over, but it's the Cat I
want. Warm and soft, he'll be."
Alligator started up the ladder, and Hortense and the others pressed
aside to let him pass. Softly he slid out of the window upon the roof
and was half way down it before the Cat saw him.
Jeremiah, with a howl, leaped to the top of the chimney, his back
arched, his tail as large as a fox's brush.
Grater, who was a nimble fellow for all that he looked so clumsy, after
one glance at Alligator ran quickly around to the other side of the
roof, and Alligator, with the slow, relentless movement of a traction
engine, continued after Jeremiah. Jeremiah remembered his former
unhappy experience, apparently, for with one despairing meow he
disappeared down the chimney. They could hear him falling slowly, his
claws scratching the bricks. As he fell, his cries grew fainter and
fainter. As for Alligator, he stood with his short forelegs resting on
the chimney top, the picture of disappointment.
Hortense and the others were so absorbed in this interesting scene that
they had quite forgotten Grater. His sudden appearance at the window so
surprised them that all four slid down the ladder in a panic.
"Quick, the trapdoor!" Hortense cried.
"Let me fight him!" Malay Kris begged.
"No, no, not here!" Hortense said and pushed him before her.
Down the ladder they went as fast as they could, which wasn't very
fast, for the iron rungs were slippery and Hortense had to feel for
each one with her feet. Highboy was before her and once she stepped on
his fingers.
"Ouch!" Highboy cried, and stopped to put his fingers in his mouth.
"Do hurry," Hortense begged, for she could hear Grater above her,
already beginning to descend.
But Highboy was distressingly slow. Grater came nearer and nearer.
"Oh, dear!" Hortense said to herself, "he'll catch me in a moment and
take my charm."
Then she had an inspiration. Quickly unclasping the charm, she reached
down to Highboy and said, "Swallow this, quick!"
"Is it can----," Highboy began but could say no more, for she crammed
it into his mouth.
"I'm sure it's indigestible," Highboy complained, "and it wasn't sweet.
I don't like it."
"Hurry!" Hortense cried, for at last they were at the bottom where they
could crawl through the door into the cellar.
Grater was so close that his hand was upon Hortense's foot. She jerked
herself free and in a flash was up the cellar stairs and in the
kitchen.
Malay Kris turned indignantly to Hortense.
"Why didn't you let me at him?" he demanded.
There was time for no further words. Grater was upon them, and Malay
Kris, with a glad cry, hurled himself at his foe. It was a grand fight,
but short. Malay Kris bore Grater to the floor, locked fast in a deadly
embrace.
"Let me up!" said Grater in a weak, hoarse voice. "You're hurting me."
But Malay Kris, try as he might, could not do so. He had pinned his foe
to the floor so securely that he, himself, was stuck fast. Andy,
Highboy, and Hortense, all lent a hand but could not free him.
"Never mind," said Malay Kris, "I like the feel of this fellow and
don't mind staying all night."
Whatever would Grandfather say, Hortense wondered.
There was nothing to do but leave Malay Kris to enjoy his victim.
Hortense, after leading Andy out the door, ran up to her room with
Highboy, who said he was too excited to sleep and that he would compose
poetry all night. Hortense slept very well, however, and in the morning
when she began to dress remembered her charm.
"Give me my charm, Highboy," said she.
"In the top drawer," said Highboy.
Sure enough, there it was, and Hortense fastened it hastily about her
neck and ran down to breakfast, which wasn't ready.
"Aunt Esmerelda wouldn't cook breakfast this morning, and Mary is
preparing it," Grandmother explained.
"Aunt Esmerelda is afraid of spooks," said Grandfather, laughing.
"Indeed, I don't know how to explain it myself. What do you suppose we
found this morning? That Malay kris of which I told you, that hangs in
the parlor, was thrust through the grater and buried so deep in the
kitchen floor that Fergus and I could hardly get it out."
Mary, bringing breakfast, announced,
"Jeremiah's shut up somewhere again. We can hear his cries but can't
tell where he is."
"Not in the sofa again, I hope," said Grandfather.
"Not there," said Mary. "He sounds as if he were in the chimney."
"Impossible," said Grandfather. "But then, impossible things happen
every day in this house. We'll have breakfast first, at any rate."
After breakfast Grandfather, Fergus, and Uncle Jonah found the place in
the chimney where Jeremiah was caught and, knocking in a hole, let him
out.
Very dirty he was, all covered with soot, and very much ashamed. He
hurried away with lowered head and tail and didn't reappear until he
had cleaned his coat.
Even then he would not look at Hortense, try as she would to catch his
eye.
[Illustration]