THE FATE OF THE LEADEN TEA-THINGS.
The rest of the Toys having thanked the Hoop for his story, he once more
rolled himself lazily into a comfortable position, and took his rights
by calling upon the leaden Teapot, to entertain them next. But such an
uproar arose among all the leaden Tea-things; the cups and saucers,
clattering and clanking like mad, and the milk jug even mounting on the
sugar basin to be heard the better, that for a few moments no one could
be heard. But the little Teapot set to work vigorously, and soon reduced
her unruly family to order. She rolled one teacup here, and bowled over
another there, piled up the plates before they knew where they were, and
toppled down the milk jug into its proper place, before it recovered
enough to defend itself. Then she sat down and volubly began her story,
while her tribe were temporarily pacified.
"I am afraid," said she, "you will not like my story at all, for it's
not half so lively and entertaining as the Hoop's, in fact there's
nothing merry about it, but quite the reverse. I can tell you nothing of
my birthplace or of my original history, for you see I've had a large
family to keep together, and look after, and I've been so battered and
knocked about in my course through life, that my memory is sadly
impaired. So I can only tell you that we all came from Germany, where we
were made, and were carefully packed in a little pasteboard box, in
which we travelled to the English house to which we were sent, with
numbers of others. We remained for some time in seclusion on the shelf
of the toy warehouse, and were then drafted off to a little toy-shop at
the West end of London. Our present owner was a notable little woman,
the wife of a head workman at a large cabinet manufactory, and as she
had two or three small children, she was glad to make ends meet by
fitting out her front parlour as a little toy-shop. It was a very quiet,
nice street, not far from a large hotel, and as the rents were rather
high, the houses were only let to fairly respectable people. The little
woman let her first floor, neatly, but plainly, furnished, to an elderly
lady; and by all these small helps, added to her husband's wages, they
lived very comfortably, and brought up their little ones nicely. A
younger sister of the wife's lived with them, and was a great help in
waiting on the old lady and in serving the customers.
"Rose was such a good-tempered girl, she was a great favourite with all
the young purchasers; she never cared what trouble she took to suit
them, and turned over the whole stock of toys that she might find what
they wanted. All the little poor children in the neighbourhood used to
watch to see when she came into the shop to make their small bargains.
She never grumbled while they picked out the prettiest faces that suited
their fancy among the halfpenny wooden dolls, and she kept a choice
corner of very cheap toys on purpose for all these little ones, who so
rarely knew what the pleasure of buying a toy was. But I think she had
her reward when she saw the little eyes nearly sparkle, and the pale,
thin faces get a little colour, as they trotted happily off with their
few and scanty treasures cuddled up in their old ragged pinafores. We
lay for a long time on the counter with our lid off, to tempt the young
folks who came to the shop, so I had some opportunity to see all the
different customers.
"I suppose my own busy, careful life, with all my tribe of young ones,
has made me understand all these things better, for I remember so much
of this time, while I have forgotten a great deal else. How often I have
seen the richer class of children come in with their governesses or
servants, and just glancing over the toys carelessly, they have selected
what they wanted, and have gone off, with no more than a passing
pleasure with their possessions. And very likely in a fortnight the same
party have returned again, and carried off something else, feeling more
careless than before at the sight of the playthings they had almost
exhausted.
"Different to them, as station and dress could make them, were Rose's
little friends. The golden hair, or dark braids of the little ladies,
and their flower-like faces, set off with their trim hats, and tasteful,
cool, well-made dresses, did not contrast more strongly with the sallow
faces, ragged, short locks, tangled with wind and weather, and the
patched or ragged garments of the poorer children, than did their
manners and wants. These latter little ones were the small evening
audience who flattened their noses against the bright, gas-lighted
window of the gay toy-shop, and who knew all its contents by heart, as
well as its owner. But they never hoped, poor little souls! except in
dreams, for all these beautiful toys. Dirty little Polly, who stood
pointing with her smutty finger, and elbowing her sister to look at the
grand doll dressed in muslin and ribbon, only gazed at it in a sort of
ecstatic rapture, and had no more idea, indeed far less, of having it
for her very own, than little Lady Edith had of owning the Crystal
Palace. Pence, scanty, hard-earned pence, were too much wanted for bread
and food, to be easily got to lay out even in two half-penny dolls in a
year! But when a happy piece of good fortune did come about, and these
poor little creatures really had a whole penny they could call _their
own_, oh, how difficult it was to spend it! How much they wanted for it!
and what a business it was to decide what it should be laid out in! And
the one-jointed doll or penny cart was like a pot of gold to its happy
little owner for months afterwards!
"Rose had other friends as well, however, as these poor little ragged
customers, for her pleasant face and gentle voice made her popular with
all, and she had a tasteful way of arranging the one window of the
toy-shop that made it quite attractive to older eyes than the children.
One day in late autumn, a lady, with a nurse and a little girl, paused
before it for a moment, and after a brief inspection they came into the
shop.
"'I think a box of tea-things will be almost the best thing for her,
Lee,' said the lady to her nurse.
"'I sould ike a bots of tea-sings wey mush!' said the little thing, as
the servant sat down, and placed her on her lap.
"'So you shall have some, my pet, and then you will be able to make tea
for all the dollies,' replied the nurse.
"'Have you any boxes of wooden tea-things?' asked the lady.
"Rose placed before them a tolerably large assortment; some made of
china, very brightly ornamented with pink and blue flowers; some made of
glass, white with tiny gold sprays and stars, but these were voted
dangerous for baby, because they would break easily, and might cut her
little fat hands. Then the wooden sets were examined, but they were
painted freely, and mamma and nurse thought they might go to the rosy
mouth more closely and often than would be quite wholesome, and baby
would not look at the plain, white Swiss carved tea-sets, pretty as they
were.
"'Fower ike those, wey pitty,' cried she, eagerly, as Rose brought out
our box of large polished leaden tea-things.
"'Then she shall have them!' decided Mamma at once, 'and a very good
choice too, Lee, don't you think so? They will be quite safe, and
neither break nor spoil so easily as the rest. How much are they? I will
take these please!'
"And so Rose packed us carefully up in paper and gave us to the nurse,
who, taking up the little girl, carefully tied on her warm fur cape and
carried her after the lady. They walked for a short distance, and then
stopped at the door of a house in a handsome square. The lady's
beautiful dress and elegant air had somewhat prepared me for our new
home, which was one of luxury. The lady, after tenderly kissing the
little one, stopped at the door of her dressing room, while the nurse
and my new owner mounted another flight, and reached the spacious and
airy day nursery. The little rosy girl was rolled out of all her velvet
wraps, and a very pretty snowy embroidered pinafore was put on her,
after her glossy bright flaxen curls had been carefully arranged by the
nurse. The little thing had borne all this very impatiently, and had
fretted and fidgeted to get away to her new toys; but her nurse would
not let her go till she was "made tidy," as she called it.
"'You shall have your little table, Miss Lily,' said she, 'and make tea
till bedtime afterwards, if you like, but you must stand still first,
like a lady, and be made to look neat. Don't you know mamma never goes
down to breakfast or dinner till Lance has dressed her and done her
hair?'
"But when these operations were all over, Nurse set out the little
table, and covered it with a clean towel for a table cloth, and placed
Lily's pretty wicker chair beside it. And when the real nursery teatime
came, she gave Lily a lump of sugar, broken into little bits with the
scissors, and two nice, dry biscuits to play with. So fat little Lily
was mightily contented, and spread out her toys, and played at making
tea for her dolls, while she herself ate up the biscuits and sugar with
great delight. And by-and-bye Mamma came up to see how all was going on,
before she went down to dinner, and she found her pet, trotting round
the little table and humming like a big humble bee.
"And so the time went merrily by, and if we had a few misfortunes, still
we got on pretty well. To be sure, I gained this great dint in my side
owing to my little mistress setting the leg of her chair suddenly on me.
And some of the saucers and plates were swept up with the dust, and
thrown away by a new, careless nursery maid. But on the whole we were
rather well off, for Nurse was a patient, orderly woman, and went round
the day nursery every evening herself, picking up the pet's playthings
and putting them away.
"And as for dear little merry Lily, she grew and throve, like a
sweet-tempered child as she was, as fair as her namesake blossoms. She
had called herself "Fower" in her childish talk, because Lily was not
easily managed by her little tongue, and she had quite understood that
she was called after the pretty-looking, innocent, white flowers that
blossomed in the same month as her birthday fell in, the merry month of
May.
"One unfortunate day when we had been there some time, to the amazement
of Nurse, she got up in such a fretful, cross humour nothing would
pacify her. This was unusual, and so was her turning away from her nice
bread and milk, and crying peevishly when she was spoken to. The poor
child was evidently ailing, and Nurse lost no time in sending down word
of it to her mistress. The fond mother hurried upstairs, but little Lily
would only cling to her and sob, and bury her flushed face on her
shoulder. So the doctor was sent for in haste, and he came quickly, and
pronounced that the little one was sickening for some illness; measles,
_he hoped_, but he could not positively say. So poor Mamma sat there,
and gave Lily the medicine, and tried to amuse her with setting us in
order before her. But Lily pushed us all away so hastily that we rolled
to all corners of the room, and Nurse was too busy and sad to pick us up
in a hurry that day, or for many days after.
"For poor little Lily grew worse, and the doctor pronounced it to be
fever, and of a very severe kind. Days and days the little feverish head
tossed wearily on the pillow, and then all the golden curls were cut
off, matted as they were, and laid aside carefully in a drawer by poor
Nurse, who cried over them as if her heart would break. The fever
subsided, but the little exhausted body had not strength to recover from
it, and she grew daily weaker, quite too weak to be removed to a fresh
air. Poor Nurse picked us up one night, half unconsciously, and put us
back in the old toy drawer, where we remained, till one afternoon she
came hastily to fetch us out again. She carried us downstairs into the
beautiful bed-room where Mrs. Arden slept. But both Papa and Mamma were
too anxious about their only darling to be very particular about their
own comfort, and so her father slept in his dressing-room close by,
while the mother kept a ceaseless watch by the sick bed.
"When the lid was taken off, and nurse turned us out on the white
counterpane, I could hardly recognise my little mistress. Did these
sunken cheeks and hollow eyes, these little wasted hands belong to the
"Fower," as she had called herself? She was indeed a faded flower, a
drooping lily, and her bright, golden curls were all gone, like her
rosy, childish bloom. But sickness had not been able to subdue the
innocent, loving nature and bright spirit; and though the smile on her
pale little mouth made her mother turn away in tears, it was the same
happy tone in the weak thread of a voice that whispered:--
"'Fower make tea now! Fower been _so_ sick, but see like some tea!
mother make it now!' and the little head, shorn so sadly of its golden
glories, fell back weakly on the pillow, and the sudden gleam of light
died out of the blue eyes.
"'Yes, dear one, mother _will_ make tea for "Flower," so many cups; and
when Lily gets better and grows a strong girl again, mother and she will
have feasts every day, and all day long.'
"'Fower like that, but _so_ tired;' breathed the little one, feebly, and
so Nurse hastened to catch us all up from the bed, and hurriedly
cramming us into the box, she put us on the dressing table.
"Next day "Fower" seemed to brighten up a little, and when we were laid
out on the bed, she took us up languidly, and pretended to drink. But
she was soon weary, and even our slight weight was too heavy for the
frail hand. And so day after day passed by with no great change, finding
us each morning laid out on the bed, near the little weary hands, tired
of doing nothing; and afternoon saw us gathered away, while the curtains
were drawn across the window to keep out the bright glare of the spring
sunshine. And day by day the tender mother hoped on, while the more
experienced Nurse shook her head, and the skilful doctor was silent,
though so _very_ gentle with the anxious mother and the little drooping
child.
"At last a day came, one of the early ones in May, when even Lee thought
Lily looked clearer and brighter. Papa brought in a bunch of the finest
lilies of the valley from Covent Garden Market, and his poor, wan little
"Fower" was delighted with them.
"'It will be her birthday in a week,' said her mother, cheerfully; 'Papa
must bring her some more then. I hope Lily will be better, and able to
sit up then!'
"'Fower have a gand tea party, and pum take, so fine! where's my
tea-fings?'
"Nurse brought out the pet playthings, and arranged them on the bed
before little "Fower," and Papa went off in quite gay spirits to his
business. And Mamma took out a little white frock she had been
embroidering for "Fower's" birthday wear, and which had been laid away
for a long while out of sight. Nurse seemed to have no very settled
purpose in the work way, and stole quietly about, arranging everything
in a still dreamy kind of fashion. Meanwhile little "Fower" lay back in
the soft bed, supported on downy pillows, and with pale pink lined
muslin curtains floating round her. Her blue eyes rested upon us with a
bright, far-away look that did not last long, as the fingers of one hand
played with us, the other holding the bunch of lilies.
"Presently Nurse came rapidly over. 'The dear child is fainting!' she
said, as she held up the little shorn head.
"'Fower thirsty!' murmured the little voice, like a faint sigh, as the
blue eyes seemed to lose all their light, and the lilies dropped out of
the open fingers.
"'Lily, _my_ Lily!' cried the poor mother, eagerly, 'look up, my
darling, you are better dear; let mother give her a little water out of
her tiny teacup.'
"The kind-hearted nurse laid down the heavy head, and spent all her
heartfelt care now on her poor mistress. Her little "Fower" had gone in
an angel's hand, to be planted a living blossom in her heavenly Father's
garden, where her deep thirst would be satisfied quite, and the shining
robe of the white lilies of heaven was waiting for her.
"The little worn-out, earthly form was laid to rest with the bunch of
lilies in the cold hands, and a wreath of fresh-gathered flowers on her
head. And poor Nurse, thoughtfully gathered up all the toys that the
little one had played with, and put them carefully out of the desolate
mother's sight. And in after years I heard that other little blossoms
came to fill up that grand nursery, but Nurse never loved them as she
did little "Fower," and the mother gave her all the toys, very
tearfully.
"'I don't like to hoard them up,' she said, 'for after all I need no
memorials to remind me of my Lily, and I like to think of her growing
now a sweet, fair flower in her heavenly Father's garden, and yet I
could not bear to see all these things played with and thrown about in
the nursery. So take them, Nurse, and let them give pleasure to other
little ones.'
"And thus Nurse Lee took charge of us, and one evening coming to drink
tea in Mrs. Spenser's nursery, she brought us all in our box for Miss
Celia, who was then a little girl. But since she grew older, we were
stuffed away by chance in this old cupboard. I told you all fairly that
mine was a melancholy story," added the Teapot, in an injured sort of
voice, "and you see I am right, and now I've done!"
The rest of the Toys did not make much remark, for they were all rather
saddened by the story of little "Fower," but the Ball, who could not be
very grave for long together, bounced up briskly, and told the Teapot,
she was entitled to call on any of the rest of the company for a story
in turn.
"I would rather not," replied the Teapot, eagerly; "I am but a foolish
body at all such formal doings. Pray let the next in turn favour us."
Then the Ball, rather afraid of a discussion, turned it off with a joke
and said:--
"Well, then, in your name I will call upon the Kite for a story, for, as
he flies so high, he can't be very nervous, and no doubt he has seen a
good deal in high latitudes, that we shall be glad to hear!"
The Kite waved a graceful bow all round, and professed his entire
readiness to be at the service of the company.
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