THE CLOWN COUNTRY
Flippityflop's house proved to be one big room, built under the
platform, and lighted by a soft glow from hidden electric lamps. The
walls were covered with bright-yellow silk hangings and on the floor
was a crimson carpet. All around the sides were wide benches with
soft cushions of purple velvet, and near the middle of the room was a
small table of blue and silver. On the walls Dot noticed several
gaudily colored pictures of Clowns, and when Flippityflop saw the
children looking at these pictures he said:
"Those are portraits of my father and grandfather and great-grandfather.
They were all Princes of this Valley of Merryland, as well as good men
and clever Clowns. Therefore I am proud of them."
"They look very jolly," said Dot.
"They were jolly, and proved a comfort to thousands of children. But
you must be hungry, and I trust you will allow me to offer you some
dinner. What will you have?"
"What you got?" inquired Tot.
"Well, I have in my cupboard some fried goldfish, boiled buttercups
and pickled shoelaces," he answered.
"Don't want any," said Tot.
"These seem rather foolish things to eat," remarked Dot.
"Of course, they are foolish things," agreed Flippityflop,
cheerfully. "Everything we do here is foolish. You certainly can't
expect wisdom in a country of Clowns."
"Course not," said Tot.
"If you'll send to the boat for our basket, I think we will prefer to
eat the things we brought with us," declared Dot.
"Certainly!" answered the Prince, and immediately sticking his head
through the trapdoor, he asked a Clown who stood outside to fetch the
basket.
It came in a remarkably short time, and then Flippityflop assisted
Dot to lay the cloth on the blue and silver table, while the children
proceeded to eat of the sandwiches, cake and apple-tarts that
remained in the basket.
"Wouldn't you like something to drink?" asked the Prince.
"I am rather thirsty," admitted Dot; "have you any milk?"
"No, we do not use milk in this Valley," he answered. "But we have
some excellent green paint, or, if you prefer it, I can give a bottle
of red mucilage."
"No, thank you," said Dot; "we couldn't drink those. Perhaps you will
bring us some fresh water from the river."
"But the water is quite wet," exclaimed the Clown, "and is liable to
make you damp. Surely you won't think of drinking it!"
"Oh, yes; we're accustomed to drinking water," said the girl.
So the water was sent for, and Dot and Tot took long and refreshing
drinks, although their action alarmed Flippityflop, who urged them to
eat a few handfuls of sawdust afterward to absorb the dampness.
"Do all the Clowns live in this Valley?" asked the girl, when the
table was cleared.
"Yes, all except those we send into the world to amuse the children,"
answered Flippityflop. "You see, we train them all very carefully,
and every year one is selected to go into the world."
"How do they get there?" asked the child.
"At the upper edge of our Valley there is one place not so steep as
the rest. The Clown who is leaving us climbs to this place and finds
himself on the top of a mountain. So he makes himself into a ball, as
he has been taught to do, and rolls down the mountain into the
outside world, where he travels around until he finds a circus to
join."
"Oh!" exclaimed Dot. "I've seen 'em--in circuses."
"To be sure; that's the proper place for Clowns. Do they make the
children laugh?"
"Sometimes," said the girl.
"When they do not," said Flippityflop, gravely, "they are imitation
Clowns, and were never trained in this Valley of Merryland. The real
Clowns are sure to make you laugh. But come, it is time our people
were gathering on the platforms for their evening practice. Would you
like to watch them?"
"Yes, indeed!" cried Dot, joyfully; and Tot clapped his hands and
echoed: "'Deed, yes!"
So Flippityflop lifted them through the hole to the top of the padded
platform, where they saw a strange and merry sight.
All the platforms on both sides of the street were now occupied by
Clowns, who were performing in a most marvelous manner. The trees
were full of electric lights, which shed brilliant rays over the
scene and enabled the children to see everything distinctly.
"Come with me," said their friend, "and I will lead you through the
street, that you may see what my brothers are doing."
They left the Prince's platform and came to the next, where three
gaily dressed Clowns were bounding into the air and whirling around
before they came down again. Every time they jumped they cried: "All
right, Mr. Johnson!" in their shrill voices, and often one of them
would fall on his head or back instead of landing on his feet. When
this happened they were not hurt, for the platform was soft and
yielding; so they sprang up at once and tried it over again, laughing
at their own mishaps.
At the next platform were some juggling Clowns. One of these placed a
light ladder on his shoulders, and another ran up it and stood upon
his head on the top rung.
In another place the Clowns threw small silver balls into the air,
one after the other, and then caught them cleverly as they came down.
Near the end of the street a Clown, dressed in a costume of scarlet
with green spots upon it, and wearing a white, pointed cap upon his
head, was singing a comic song. They stopped to listen while he sang
as follows:
A goat to a barber went one day;
"Just trim my beard," the goat did say,
"And cut my hair in a stylish way"--
Sing shivvy, shovvy, shavey!
The barber then began to snip,
But soon he let the scissors slip,
And cut the goat upon his lip--
Sing shivvy, shovvy, shavey!
Then Mr. Goat, with angry bleat,
Gave one big jump from out his seat,
And knocked the barber off his feet--
Sing shivvy, shovvy, shavey!
"Enough!" he cried, "I'll have you know,
If barbers treat their patrons so,
I'll just allow my beard to grow!"
Sing shivvy, shovvy, shavey!
After each verse another Clown cracked a long whip at the singer,
which made him leap into the air and screw his face up in such a
comical way that Dot and Tot were greatly amused, and applauded him
rapturously.
Just across the street was another singing Clown; but this one was
dressed in a curious costume that was all white on one side of his
body and all red on the other side. This fellow balanced the point of
his cap upon the end of his nose, and then, making a bow, sang the
following song:
Little Tommy Harris
Made a trip to Paris.
There he went within a tent,
Saw a convex firmament;
Then he peered within a booth,
Saw a shark without a tooth,
Heard a dumb man sing and chant,
Saw a crimson elephant.
Next he walked into a street,
Saw a lamp-post drink and eat,
Heard a turtle loudly roar,
Saw a rainbow through a door.
Then a man without a leg
Danced upon a horse's egg.
Then a steeple on a dome
Cried, "My boy, you'd best go home."
But as Tommy homeward sped,
He awoke--and was in bed!
Little Tommy Harris
Never went to Paris!
This singer had so droll an expression on his face that Tot yelled
with rapture, and Dot found herself laughing heartily. Indeed, the
whole performance was a delight to the children, and they were sorry
when a bell rang and put a stop to the antics of the Clowns.
At once the they all dived into the trapdoors of their platforms, and
Flippityflop said they had gone to bed and would not appear until the
next morning.
The children were somewhat tired by the adventures of the day, so
when Flippityflop helped them to gain the room under his platform,
they crept to the soft-cushioned benches that lined the walls and lay
down. In less than a minute Dot and Tot were fast asleep, curled up
side by side, with their arms entwined.
Next morning they were awakened by the strains of sweet music. Dot at
once sat up and asked, "What is that?"
"That is my alarm clock," answered Flippityflop, who had been
reclining upon a bench at the other side of the room. "It tells me
when it is time to get up."
"It's a queer alarm clock," said the girl.
"But a very good one," returned the Clown. "It is really a big
music-box under the bench, which starts playing every morning at seven
o'clock. So, instead of being awakened by a rattling and clanging of
bells, such as most alarm clocks make, I open my eyes with a
sensation of pleasure, and get up feeling jolly and content.
"I think it's a lovely clock," said Tot.
"Won't you join me at breakfast?" asked the prince. "I'm going to
have a dish of scrambled egg-shells and a few fried buttons. The
eggshells make our complexion white and chalky, and we are very fond
of them."
"I prefer to eat something from our basket," replied the girl. "But
Tot may eat the egg-shells and buttons, if he wants them."
"Don't want 'em!" cried Tot. "Want bread and butter."
"Well, I declare!" said the Clown. "What peculiar tastes you children
have!"
But he allowed them to breakfast from their own stock of food, and
when the meal was finished Dot said, "We must be going now; but first
I wish to thank you for the pleasant time we have had in your Valley.
We enjoyed the Clowns very much indeed."
"Nice Clowns," declared Tot, with emphasis.
"I'm sorry to have you go," said Flippityflop, "but I suppose you
cannot stay here always, especially as you are going to visit our
Queen."
Then he carried the big basket down to the boat for them, and all the
Clowns came to the river bank in a long procession, to bid them
good-bye.
After they were seated in the boat and had begun to float out into
the river again, the Clowns started singing a comic song, in one big
chorus, as a farewell entertainment.
Dot and Tot laughed and waved their handkerchiefs at the jolly
fellows until the archway leading into the next Valley was reached,
and as the shadow of the rocks fell upon them and shut out their view
of the First Valley of Merryland, they sighed and turned wonderingly
to face whatever adventures might lie before them.