Mr. Dyer; and there was a town council held to consider what they should
do to express their feelings to him. He had declined six times being
made selectman, and he did not want to ring the bell as sexton. There
did not seem to be anything in the way of an office they could offer him
that he would accept.
At last Mr. Jones suggested that the best way to please the father was
to give something to the son. "Something for Jedidiah!" exclaimed Mr.
Jones. "The next time I go to New York, I'll go to a toy-shop; I'll buy
something for Jedidiah."
So he did. He came home with the Noah's Ark. It was a moderate-sized
ark, painted blue, as usual, with red streaks, and a slanting roof, held
down with a crooked wire. It was brought to Jedidiah, one evening, just
as he was going to bed; so the crooked wire was not lifted, for Mrs.
Dyer thought he had better go to bed at his time and get up early and
look at his ark. But he could not sleep well, thinking of his ark. It
stood by his bedside, and all night long he heard a great racket inside
of it. There was a roaring and a grunting and a squeaking,--all kinds of
strange noises. In the moonlight he thought he saw the roof move; if the
wire had not been so crooked it surely would have opened. But it didn't,
not till he took it downstairs, and Mrs. Dyer had got out her
ironing-board, that the animals might be spread out upon it; then
Jedidiah lifted the roof.
What a commotion there was then! The elephant on the top, and his trunk
stretched out; in a minute or two he would have unfastened the wire; the
giraffe's long neck was stretched out; one dove flew away directly, and
some crows sat on the eaves. Mr. and Mrs. Dyer and Jedidiah started
back, while the elephant with his trunk helped out some of the smaller
animals, who stepped into rows on the ironing-board as fast as they were
taken out.
The cows were mooing, the cats mewing, the dogs barking, the pigs
grunting. Presently Noah's head appeared, and he looked round for his
wife; and then came Shem and Ham and Japheth with their wives. They
helped out some of the birds,--white, with brown spots,--geese, and
ducks. It took the elephant and Noah and all his sons to get the horses
out, plunging and curvetting as they were. Some sly foxes got out of
themselves, leaping from the roof to the back of a kneeling camel.
Jedidiah's eyes sparkled with joy. Mrs. Dyer sat with folded hands, and
said, "Why, Mr. Dyer!" And Mr. Dyer occasionally helped a stray donkey,
whose legs were caught, or a turkey fluttering on the edge. At last a
great roaring and growling was heard at the bottom of the ark. The
elephant nodded his trunk to the giraffe; the camel was evidently
displeased; Noah and his sons stood together looking up at the roof.
"It's the wild animals," said Jedidiah.
"If they should get out," thought Mrs. Dyer; "all the wild tigers and
the lions loose in the house!" And she looked round to see if the closet
door were open for a place of retreat.
Mr. Dyer stepped up and shut the roof of the ark. It was in time; for a
large bear was standing on his hind legs on the back of a lion, and was
looking out. Noah and his family looked much pleased; the elephants
waved their trunks with joy; the camels stopped growling.
"I don't wonder they are glad to get out," said Jedidiah. "I do believe
they have been treading down those wild animals all night."
Mrs. Dyer wondered what they should do with the rest. Come Tuesday she
would want her ironing-board,--perhaps baking-day, to set the pies on.
"They ought to have some houses to live in, and barns," said Jedidiah.
Then it was Mr. Dyer had said they could never get them back into the
ark; and Jedidiah had said, "We might ask the 'grateful people,'"--for
this was the name the inhabitants of Spinville went by in the Dyer
family ever since the time of the potatoes.
The story of their coming for the potatoes had been told over and over
again; then how the "people" felt so grateful to Mr. Dyer. Mr. Dyer said
he was tired of hearing about it. Mrs. Dyer thought if they meant to do
anything to let Mr. Dyer see they were grateful, they had better not
talk so much about it. But Jedidiah called them the "grateful people;"
and it was he that caught the first glimpse of the procession when it
came up with the ark, Mr. Jones at the head. He had some faith in them;
so it was he that thought there ought to be a village built for Noah and
his family; and when Mr. Dyer had some doubts about building it he
suggested, "Let's ask the 'grateful people.'"
What they did will be told in another chapter.
II.
ABOUT THE GRATEFUL PEOPLE AND THE WILD BEASTS.
That very afternoon there was a great rush to see Jedidiah's Noah's Ark,
and there was immense enthusiasm about it. Some brave ones opened the
roof and looked in upon the growling wild animals. The girls liked the
lambs the best; the boys were delighted with the foxes that jumped on
the edge of the boat that formed the ark.
In a day or two there was a flourishing little village built on a smooth
place on the other side of Mr. Dyer's house. The minister's daughter had
brought a little toy village she had with red roofs, and one of the men
scooped out the houses, which were made of one block of wood, but could
now accommodate Noah and his family, and each one picked out a house to
match the color of his garments.
Tom Stubbs built a barn of wooden bricks for the larger animals, and
Lucy Miles brought a pewter bird-cage, with a door that would open and
shut, for the birds. The elephant knocked out a brick with his trunk as
soon as he went into the barn, but that made a good window for him to
look out of. Jedidiah himself made the loveliest coop for the hen; and
the boys had a nice time over a pond they dug in the mud, for the ducks.
Indeed, it occupied Spinville for some time; and Noah, Shem, and Ham
did not sit down much, but looked very busy. There was a fence built
round the whole village, high enough to keep in the elephants and the
giraffes, though they could look over. There was a bit of pasture-land
shut in for the cows, who fell to nibbling as soon as they were put in
it. A clover-leaf lasted one of the sheep two days. The tinman sent
some little tin dippers no bigger than a thimble, and the children were
delighted to see the animals drink. The boys handed one of the dippers
into the ark for the tigers. The giraffes found a bush just high enough
for them to eat from. The doves sat on the eaves of the ark, and
Agamemnon brought some pickled olives, as he had no olive-branch for
them.
The children were never tired of seeing the camels kneel and rise. They
made them carry little burdens,--stones that were to be cleared from the
field, chips from the henhouse. Sometimes the camels growled; then the
children took off a chip or two from their burdens,--the last ounce,
they thought.
The "grateful people" sent a large umbrella, used by the umbrella-maker
for a sign, that could be opened over the whole village in case of a
rain; and the toy-shop man sent a tin teapot, though Mrs. Dyer did not
venture to give Noah and his family any real tea; but it was a very
pretty teapot, with a red flower upon it. Mrs. Noah liked it, though it
was almost large enough for the whole family to get into.
All this was not the work of a day, by any means. First, all Spinville
had to come and look at the things, and then it had to discuss the whole
affair. Mrs. Dyer's knitting got on bravely, for so many of her friends
came in to sit in her best parlor, and talk it all over. Mrs. Dyer
agreed with them; she thought it was all very strange. She should be
thankful if only the tigers would never get out. She did not like having
tigers running in and out of the house, even if they were no bigger than
your thimble. She thought it quite likely some of the boys would let
them out some day; but it was no use looking forward. So, day by day,
the people came to look at the wonderful village. There was always
something new to see. At last, one of the deacons declared Jedidiah
ought to charge so much a sight. It was as good a show as the menagerie,
any day; and everybody was willing to give ten cents for that, children
half-price.
This made great talk. Should Jedidiah charge for the show, or not? Mr.
Dyer would have nothing to say about it. Mrs. Dyer thought they might as
well; then there would be fewer children in her front yard picking at
the currants. At last it was settled that Spinville should pay two cents
a sight, children half-price, and strangers could see the village for
nothing; but all those who had contributed anything towards the ark
should have a right to visit it with their families, without paying.
There was a great rush after this to see who was going to pay. It turned
out only the schoolmaster's and doctor's families had to buy tickets;
and when it came to that, Mr. Dyer said he would not let them pay
anything. So Jedidiah did not gain much by it; but he and a few of his
friends made some tickets, all the same, printing on them "Noah's Ark.
Admittance, two cents; children, half-price;" and a good many children
bought tickets for the fun of it.
At last there came a crash. One afternoon, Tim Stubbs, in setting up a
new pump, gave a knock to the ark, and sent the whole thing over. The
roof snapped open, and out came all the wild beasts. The hyenas laughed,
the lions roared, the bears growled, and the tigers leaped about to see
whom they could devour; Noah jumped up on top of the pump; the elephant
knocked out a side of the barn, to see what was the matter; all the
wives ran for the houses, and there was a general confusion. A leopard
seized a young chicken. Mrs. Dyer came out with a rolling-pin in her
hand. Tim and Tom Stubbs declared they would catch the animals, if
Jedidiah would only find something safe to put them in.
"If we only had a cave!" exclaimed Lucy Miles, who had hidden behind the
kitchen door.
Tim and Tom Stubbs caught one of the tigers, just as Jedidiah appeared
with his mother's bandbox. He had thrown his mother's caps and her
Sunday bonnet on the spare-room floor. They shut the tiger up in the
bandbox, then found one of the bears climbing up the pump after Noah.
Jedidiah brought a strong string, and tied him to a post. All the rest
of the boys ran away at first, but ventured to come back and join in the
search for the rest of the beasts.
The hunt grew quite exciting. One of the boys, who had read African
travels, prepared a leash of twine, and made a lasso, and with this he
succeeded in catching the two hyenas. Then no one knew if all the beasts
were caught or no. The boy who had read the travels could tell a long
list of wild animals that ought to be in the ark. There was the
rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the jaguar; there was the leopard, the
panther, the ocelot. Mrs. Dyer put her hands up to her ears in dismay.
She could not bear to hear any more of their names; and to think she
might meet them any day, coming in at the wood-house door, or running
off with one of the chickens!
But the Stubbses thought very likely all these animals never were in
this ark at all, though they might have been in the original Noah's Ark.
This was only a play ark, after all, and you could not expect to find
every animal in it. The minister's wife said she did not know what you
should expect. The ark was quite a different one from any she had seen.
She had bought them for her children, year in and year out, and she had
never seen anything of the sort. You might expect a hippopotamus, or any
kind of beast. Those she had bought were always of wood, and the legs
broke off easily. You could mend them with Spalding's Glue; but even
Spalding was not as good as it used to be, and you could not depend
upon it.
Meanwhile the hunt went on. The Spinville people began to be sorry they
had ever bought a Noah's Ark. They had expected nothing of the sort. At
last the two leopards were found,--beautiful creatures, who lashed their
tails wildly; and before long, two hippopotami were discovered in the
duck-pond, wallowing in their native element. They were very fierce and
wild, and were caught with great difficulty. These were put in the
bandbox with the others. It was a strong, old-fashioned box; but it was
feared it would not last long for the wild beasts. Jedidiah tied it up
with some twine, and it was put for the present in the spare-room
closet.
Mrs. Dyer did not sleep well that night, though her doors had been shut
all day. She dreamed she heard lions all the night long, and was sure a
rhinoceros could get in at the window. Why had Mr. Dyer ever been so
generous with his potatoes? Why had he invited all the people to come?
Of what use had the Noah's Ark been? Jedidiah had got along without toys
before; now his head was turned. Better for him to amuse himself digging
potatoes, or seeing to the squashes, than meddling with the beasts.
And there were the Spinville boys round before breakfast. They were
there, indeed, and began again their search for the beasts. The girls
sat at the chamber windows, watching the chase. Under a cabbage-leaf,
fast asleep, the stray tiger was found. The boy learned in Natural
History went over the terrible list of all the fierce animals. "Yes,
there were ocelots and cougars and jaguars, peculiarly shy and
stealthy in approaching their prey," so the book said. "There was the
chibiguasu----" But Jedidiah said he didn't believe _his_ Noah
cared for such out-of-the-way beasts; they must have come in since his
ark. They had enough to do to catch the regular wild animals, and these
at last they found in some number. They were all seized, and with
difficulty put into a wooden lozenge-box. There was great delight; there
must be all; the ark surely could have held no more. Lions, tigers,
leopards, panthers, lynxes, wildcats,--all the animals necessary for
a respectable ark, all in twos.
But, oh horror! a jaguar was discovered, also, at the last moment just
before school. One jaguar, and there must be another somewhere. The one
found answered the description completely: "the body yellow, marked with
open black figures, considerable variety in the marking." A stray jaguar
in Spinville! so fierce a beast! No one could be sure of his footsteps.
Noah, his sons and their wives, had not been unmoved. Their satisfaction
had been great. They had carried water to the bears, and had looked much
pleased; and now they shook their heads at seeing only one jaguar.
"I think they must be all caught but that one jaguar," said Jedidiah.
"They look satisfied, and are going about their daily work; and it is
time we found some place for the wild beasts. They will come through
mother's bandbox before long."
The boys went to school. There was great consultation all that day,
which ended in Tom Stubbs bringing a squirrel-cage. It was just the
thing, for the wires were near enough to keep the animals in, and
everybody could have a look at them. But how were they to be got into
the squirrel-cage? There came a new question. Tim Stubbs remembered he
had often caught a butterfly under his hat, and a very handsome
butterfly, too, and he was sure he had him; but just as he lifted the
brim of the hat to show the other fellows that he was really there, the
butterfly would be off.
Happily there was no afternoon school, and a grand council of the
boys was held, assisted by some of the selectmen. The beasts in the
lozenge-box were easily disposed of, for it had a sliding cover, which
was dexterously raised high enough to let the beasts all into the
squirrel-cage. Then handy Tim Stubbs punched a hole in the bandbox
opposite to the entrance of the squirrel-cage, and one by one the
leopards and the rest were allowed to make their way into the wiry
prison. The tiger made a dash, but in vain; he was imprisoned like the
rest.
This is our last news from Spinville.
It is more than a month since the Spinville stage set out on its weekly
trip for that place. It was an old stage; the horses were old, the
harness was old, the driver was old. It is not then to be wondered
at that in crossing the bridge on the old road, which is so little
travelled that it is never kept in repair, the old wheel was caught in
a chink between the boards, the old coach tumbled over, the driver was
thrown from his seat and broke his leg, the horses fell on their knees,
and the whole concern was made a complete wreck.
Now, the stage-driver was the owner of the old coach and team. He had
always said the thing did not pay; he would give it all up. Indeed, he
only had driven to Spinville once a week to see the folks himself.
Nobody ever went there, and nobody ever came away, except once a year
Mr. Jones, and he had a team of his own. So there is no communication
with Spinville. That a jaguar is loose is the latest news.
XI.
CARRIE'S THREE WISHES.
Carrie Fraser was a great trouble to her mother, because she was always
wishing for something she had not got.
"The other girls always have things that I don't," she complained to her
mother. Her mother tried to explain to Carrie that she had a great many
things the other girls didn't have.
"But they are not always wishing for my things, just as I wish for
theirs."
"That is because they are not such 'teasers' as you are," her mother
would reply. "You do not hear them from morning till night teasing for
things they have not got."
Another thing in Carrie troubled her mother very much. She used a
great many extravagant phrases. She was not satisfied with saying even
"perfectly lovely," "splendid," "excruciatingly jolly." Her mother might
have permitted these terms, and was used to hearing the other girls use
them; but Carrie got hold of the strangest expressions and phrases, I am
afraid to put them into this story; for every boy and girl is perhaps
already too familiar with such, and I might only spread the use of them.
I will mention that "bang-up" and "bumptious," and that class of
expressions were her favorites, and the best-educated boy or girl will
be able to imagine the rest. This story will show how a careless use of
words brought Carrie to grief, and taught her a severe lesson.
One day, as usual, she had been complaining, and wishing she could have
everything she wanted. Her mother said: "You remember the old story of
the old couple who had their three wishes granted, and how they never
got any good from it."
"But that was because they acted like such geese," exclaimed Carrie. "I
could never have been so elephantinely idiotic! First, they wasted one
wish, for a black pudding."
"That is a sausage," said her mother.
"Yes, they asked for a common, every-day sausage to come down the
chimney; then they got into a fight, and wished it would settle on one
of their noses; and then they had to waste their last wish, by wishing
it off again! It is too bad to have such luck come to such out-and-out
idiots."
Mrs. Fraser was just setting out for the village street, to order the
dinner. The Governor was expected to pass through the place, and was to
be met at the Town Hall. Jimmy, the only son in the family, had gone off
to see the show.
"Now, if he were a real, genuine governor," said Carrie, "like a prince
in a fairytale, you would go and beseech him to grant your wishes. You
would fall on your knees, or something, and he would beg you to rise,
and your lovely daughter should have all that she wished."
"I am afraid you are very foolish," sighed Mrs. Fraser; "but I will see
the Governor. Perhaps he can advise what is best."
It seemed to Carrie as if her mother were gone a great while. "She might
have got six dinners!" she exclaimed to herself. "How tiresome! I wish I
had gone down myself, anyway. All the girls and boys have gone, and I
might have seen the Governor."
But she passed the time in rocking backward and forward in a
rocking-chair; for to her other faults Carrie added that of laziness,
and when the other girls had gone down town, and had urged her to go
with them, she had been quite too lazy to go for her hat or to hunt up
her boot button-hook.
"It seems as if Jimmy might have come back to tell about things," she
went on. "Oh dear me! if I had only a chariot and four to go down with,
and somebody to dress me and find my boots and my hat and my gloves,
then it would have been worth while to go. I mean to make out a list of
wishes, in case somebody should grant me the power to have them."
She took out a little blank-book from her pocket, and began to write
down:--
"1. A chariot and four, man to drive, striped afghan, etc.
"2. Maid to find and put on hat, boots, etc.
"3. Plenty of hats, boots, and gloves for the maid to put on, and so
that they could be found when wanted."
"That would be bully!" said Carrie, interrupting herself. "If I had
gloves in every drawer and on every shelf, I should not have to be
looking for them. I might have a hat on every peg in the house except
what Jimmy uses. I might have a sack over the back of every chair, and
gloves in the pockets of each. The boots could be in each corner of the
room and on all the top shelves. But boot-hooks! there's the stunner!
Where could one find boot-buttoners enough? They do get out of the way
so! I should have six in every drawer, one in each pocket, half a dozen
in Mamma's basket, a row on the mantelpiece--on all the mantelpieces.
Then perhaps I could do without a maid; at least, save her up till I
grow older. Let's see. That makes three wishes. They generally have
three. If I strike out the maid, I can think of something else. Suppose
I say something to eat, then. Chocolate creams! I never had enough yet."
At this moment Mrs. Fraser returned, looking quite heated and
breathless. She had to fling herself into a chair by the window to
recover strength enough to speak, and then her words came out in gasps.
Carrie did leave her rocking-chair and tried fanning her mother, for she
saw she had something to say.
"What is it? What have you seen? Have you got something slam-bang for
me? Is the Governor coming here? Couldn't you raise any dinner?"
Carrie's questions came out so fast that her mother never could have
answered them, even with the breath of a Corliss engine; much less,
panting as she was now.
"Yes, I saw him; I managed to see him," she gasped out. "The guns were
firing, the cannon were booming, the bells were ringing----"
"Oh! I dare say! I dare say!" cried Carrie, eager to hear more. "I could
hear them up here. That was not worth going to town for. What did the
Governor say?"
"My dear! my dear!" panted Mrs. Fraser, "he said you could have your
three wishes."
"What! The chariot and four (that means horses), the maid, and the
boot-hooks,--no, the maid was scratched out,--not the chocolates?" asked
Carrie, in wonder.
"No, no! I don't know what you mean!" said Mrs. Fraser; "but you can
have three wishes; and I have hurried home, for they are to be told as
the clock strikes twelve,--one to-day, one to-morrow, one the next
day,--the moment the clock strikes, and I am only just in time. You are
to wish, and you will have just what you wish."
Both Carrie and her mother looked at the clock. The hand was just
approaching twelve. Carrie could hear a little "click" that always came
from inside the clock before it struck.
"I have written out my wishes," she hurried to say; "but I don't want
the chariot yet, because everybody is coming back from town. And I don't
want any more hats and boots just now. But, oh! I do want some chocolate
creams, and I wish this room was 'chock full of them.'"
As she spoke the clock struck; and when it stopped she could speak no
more, for the room was as full of chocolate creams as it could hold.
They came rattling down upon her head, filling in all the crannies of
the room. They crowded into her half-open mouth; they filled her
clutching hands. Luckily, Mrs. Fraser was sitting near the open window,
and the chocolate creams pushed her forward upon the sill. There were
two windows looking upon the piazza. One was made of glass doors that
were shut; the other, fortunately, was quite low; and Mrs. Fraser seated
herself on the edge, and succeeded in passing her feet over to the other
side, a torrent of chocolate creams following her as she came. She then
turned to see if she could help Carrie. Carrie was trying to eat her way
toward the window, and stretched out her arms to her mother, who seized
her, and with all her strength pulled her through the window.
"They are bully!" exclaimed Carrie, as soon as she was free. "They are
the freshest I ever ate. Golumptious!"
"Oh, Carrie," said her mother, mournfully, "how can you use such
expressions now, when you have wasted your opportunity in such an
extravagant wish?"