[Illustration]
No-Time-Land . .
A STORY
FOR . . .
GIRLS AND BOYS.
. BY .
M. J. C. FULTON.
Tasmania:
PRINTED AT THE EXAMINER OFFICE, LAUNCESTON.
1901.
[Illustration]
To all my dear little Nephews, Nieces, and
other little boys and girls, this Story is
dedicated, trusting they will derive both
amusement and profit from its pages.
Wishing them all a “Happy New Century.”
From their affectionate Aunt and Friend,
MARY J. C. FULTON.
LEITH,
TASMANIA,
DECEMBER, 1900.
[Illustration]
A STORY OF NO-TIME-LAND.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
“Guy, come and play with me.”
“Oh! I can’t, Tina, I have no time; I am going fishing soon with Urie
Cass.”
“Oh, dear!” said the little voice; “you never get time, Guy, to have a
game.”
“Cannot you have one game with her, sonny!” said his mother; “the wee
girlie is dull playing by herself all day.”
“But mother, dear, I have no time now,” and so saying, Guy shouldered
his fishing rod and walked off.
But his mother’s sad, grieved expression seemed to haunt him all day,
and his little sister’s voice echoed so in his ears, that the fishing
was not altogether such an enjoyable time as he expected. He got back
tired and hungry, and soon after tea he was glad to go to bed.
He was just dropping off to sleep, when his eyes seemed to wander
to the open window, where the moonbeams were dancing in, as if they
had come to see what sort of a room it was, and what the inmate was
like. They are inquisitive little things, you know; both moonbeams and
sunbeams. They like to get into all the odd dark corners, and if people
are dirty and slovenly in their work, they show up the dust, and dirt,
as much as to say: “Oh, fie, for shame, you slovenly creatures!”
Just as Guy’s eyes alighted on the windows he saw two ladies come
floating in on the moonbeams. “There he is,” one of them whispered,
“that is the little boy who has no time. Let us carry him off to
No-Time-Land.”
[Illustration: “_He saw two ladies come floating in on the moonbeams._”]
Guy was fascinated at the beauty of his visitors; so much so that he
never thought of hiding under the bed-clothes; but it would have been
little use if he had done so, for these kind of ladies see everything,
like the fairies of fairyland. They lifted him up; it was no use his
struggling, for he seemed quite powerless and unable to move a limb.
While they were carrying him, Guy noticed they were very pretty.
Gueldine, as her companion called her, had golden hair and large brown
eyes, with golden brown lashes and eyebrows, the other had chestnut
brown hair, and large blue eyes, with dark brown lashes and eyebrows;
her name was Crystal.
They ought to have changed eyes, he thought: but perhaps they would not
have looked so nice? His eyes next went to their dresses. Gueldine’s
dress was pure white, with a gold thread interwoven through it, and a
gold sash with long ends. It gave her a very dazzling appearance. On
her hair she wore a crescent moon of diamonds and rubies. Crystal’s
dress was white, with silver interwoven, a silver sash with long ends;
in her hair were stars made of diamonds and sapphires.
Away they went, over hills and water, then he caught sight of dim grey
hills in the distance, as they drew nearer to them the two ladies
exclaimed――“Here we are in No-Time-Land.”
They floated across to the nearest town, and placed him on a bench in
the middle of one of the parks, as it was getting daylight, and said,
“Good-by, little boy, we have no time to stop,” and away they went.
Guy watched them till he could see them no longer, and as it was fast
getting daylight, and things were becoming clearer every minute, he
roused himself, as he found now he could move, and looked around.
Dear me! What a dreadful untidy-looking place; and so it was, for
papers were lying about everywhere. In the centre of the square was a
fountain, but it was broken; the wall round the basin was crumbling
and falling to pieces; the water seemed stagnant, the flower beds, and
grass lawns were overgrown with weeds, and everything looked sadly
neglected and forlorn. A boy came sauntering along, so Guy said to
him――“Boy; why does your park look so neglected and untidy?” The boy
stared at him.
“Are you a stranger?” he asked at last.
“Yes,” said Guy.
“Well,” said the other; “no one has time here to put it right.”
“Are they so busy,” asked Guy.
“Too busy to answer your questions,” replied the other, and walked off.
“No time either for manners,” shouted Guy; but the boy was out of
earshot, so did not hear.
“I will go into the town,” he thought, “and see what it is like,” so
got up and strolled about; but everywhere he went the same neglect met
his eyes. He became very hungry after a while, and seeing a young woman
hurrying along, went up to her.
“Is there any place here where I can get something to eat, please
ma’am,” asked Guy.
“Oh! I have no time to talk to little boys,” she said.
Again and again he asked the same question, and received the same
reply. He at last saw a pastry cook’s shop, and went in. People kept
coming in and ordering things, and, eating them, went out, saying, “I
have no time to pay, put it down.” A little girl came in and asked for
two penny buns.
“Why don’t you pay for them?” asked Guy.
“No one pays here,” she said, “we have no time.”
How dreadfully dishonest, he thought.
“Please ma’am,” said Guy, “I am so hungry, can you give me some bread
and butter and milk? but I have no money to pay for it.”
She handed him a couple of rolls and some butter on a plate, also a
large tumbler of hot milk.
“Never mind about money,” she said; “I have no time to take it. I will
just put it down,” and she immediately started to eat a cake.
[Illustration: “_Never mind about money,” she said; “I have no time to
take it._”]
Guy began to laugh, saying――“That’s a funny way to put it down.”
“No time for anything else,” she replied.
Guy sighed. I am getting quite tired hearing those words, he thought to
himself, “No time, no time,” always dinned into one’s ears. As he had
finished his meal he went out.