it is? the sun is setting," and she took out her watch. "Why, only see!
after 7 o'clock! we must stop now. I had no idea we had been reading
some and making up some of this story so long; come, little boy, time
for your bread and milk; as the good dog is safe, we will bid him
good-bye to-night, and I will read you the rest to-morrow."
"Dear Beppo, I love him," said Willie, skipping about the room; "I hope
I shall always be an honest dog--an honest boy I mean," he continued,
laughing. "How splendid to have every body trust you, and leave all
kinds of treasure for you to take care of! Mamma, would you like me to
take care of grandma's portrait? I know that is a great treasure: I
would put it under my bed and stare at it all day."
"But what would you do at night?" said his mother, laughing.
"Oh!" said Willie, "to be sure! why, we must have a dog like Beppo, you
know. I am the griffin, see how fierce I look!" and Willie looked so
fierce, that his mother pretended to be terribly frightened, and ran
away, Willie tearing after her, his blue eyes dancing with fun, and they
were both having a fine scamper, when Willie's father stood laughing at
the door.
And now tea was ready; Willie's tea was bread and milk. He never had
rich cake, or sweetmeats, or strong tea, or hot bread, which are all
very fine while you are eating them, but which create quite a riot in
the stomach of a delicate child, and often lay the foundation of
life-long indigestion. He had a mother who was really kind, and did her
utmost to save him from bodily pain, and took unwearied pains in storing
his mind with noble thoughts, a love of truth, and a contempt for every
thing mean. Her almost hourly prayer was, that her only son and child
might grow up to be a Christian--"to love God with all his heart, and
his neighbor as himself"--and, so far, the dear little fellow had richly
rewarded her care.
The next day Willie studied his lessons, and knew them perfectly, and
played on the lawn before the house. Although more than once his eyes
sparkled with impatience to hear the rest of the delightful story, he
did not annoy his mother, as some children do, with such expressions as
these: "Come, now--right away. I want to hear the rest of that story.
Oh! dear me! how long you are! I--wish--you--would--COME." Oh, no;
Willie knew that his dear mother had many things to do, and he did not
say one word about Beppo till about the same time the next afternoon, as
his mother took her seat by the large and pleasant window which looked
out upon the lawn; then he went up to her, and put his arms round her
neck, and kissed her as before, and said: "Mamma, Mr. Fowler, the
Phrenologist, says you can tell all about a boy, by the bumps on his
head. I think I must have a prodigious bump of liking to have stories
read or told to me. I have thought all day about Beppo and the hateful
old griffin; but I have not said any thing or teased you--have I, mamma?
I have been as quiet as a drum with a hole in it--haven't I, mamma?"
"It hardly needs a tongue to understand you, my dear boy, your eyes
talk so fast; and as to the bumps, there is one very large one of loving
me, I am certain; for you are a good, thoughtful child, but rather a
small one for wanting to scamper and frolic in the open air. Come, I
will make the same bargain as yesterday; half an hour's exercise, and
then the story."
"Certainly," said Willie, with a pleasant laugh; "if you asked me to
stand on my head, I would do it, mamma--or try, any way. I wish your
ladyship good afternoon for half an hour," and Willie put his feet
together, turning out his toes, and made such a very low and polite bow
to his mother, that he nearly tumbled on his nose, and then ran out on
the lawn.
As his mother watched him, she smiled, and sighed, and said to herself,
"If my little Willie were only stronger, every desire of my heart would
be fulfilled;" and then she repeated to herself those pleasant words of
Willis:--
"There's something in a noble boy--
A brave, free-hearted, careless one,
With his unchecked, unbidden joy--
His dread of books, and love of fun--
And in his clear and ready smile,
Unshaded by a thought of guile,
And unrepressed by sadness--
Which brings me to my childhood back,
As if I trod its very track,
And felt its very gladness."
When the half hour was over she called Willie, and he came bounding
in--his cheeks flushed and his eyes sparkling; and it did not take long,
let me tell you, to arrange his bench and sit close beside his mother,
ready for the fine treat she had promised him.
"Where did I leave off, Willie?"
"Where the dog bade good-bye to the griffin, and came out in the
moonlight," said Willie, whose memory was excellent.
"Yes. Well, Beppo now curled his tail, in the very last fashion, over
his leg, and trotted off in fine style to the cat's house. When he was
within sight of it, he stopped to take a drink and a bath in a pond near
by; and who should be there, to be sure, but the old magpie!
"'And what do _you_ want, friend?' said she, turning up her nose--for
Beppo looked rather shabby after his confinement in the cave and his
long journey.
"'I am going to see my cousin the cat,' answered he.
"'_Your_ cousin--pretty well, indeed!' said the magpie; 'don't you know
she is going to be married to Reynard the fox? This is not the time for
her to receive the visits of a clumsy fellow like you.'
"These uncivil words put the dog in such a passion that he very nearly
bit the magpie. Such bad news, too! It was too bad. But, keeping his
temper--as dogs and every body else should always try to do--and
_without answering_ a word, he went, at once, to his cousin's residence.
"The cat had a beautiful house, full of comfortable arm-chairs, and
sofas covered with pink satin. She kept a French cook, who prepared the
most delicious dishes of mice and small birds, smoking hot, from morning
till night; and you would think it rained cream, she had such a quantity
always on hand. There was no water to be seen, for a cat hates
water--though, strange to say, she is particularly fond of fish; and our
cat would have had a broiled whale for breakfast, no doubt, if smaller
fry were wanting--for she denied herself nothing.
"When Beppo arrived, the cat was sitting at the window trying to catch a
fly. Her motions were so graceful, and she looked so beautiful, that
Beppo lost his heart immediately. Never had he seen so charming a cat
before. So he came up, wagging his tail at a great rate, and with his
most amiable air; when the cat, getting up, shut the window in his face,
and, lo! Reynard the fox appeared instead.
"'Come out here, you rascal!' growled Beppo, showing his teeth--'come
out, I say, you mean fellow, and get what you richly deserve. I have not
forgiven you your trick, and you see I am no longer shut up in a cave,
or unable to punish your wickedness.'
"'Oh, go home, you silly fellow!' sneered the fox, 'you have no business
here; and, as for fighting you--pshaw!' Then the fox left the window,
and disappeared. But Beppo was dreadfully enraged, and began to kick and
scratch at the door, and made such a racket that presently the cat
herself came to the window.
"'How now?' she said, angrily, 'what do you mean by such rudeness? Who
are you, and what do you want at my house?'
"'Oh, my dear cousin!' said Beppo, 'do not speak so severely; I have
come here on purpose to pay you a visit, and to entreat you not to
listen to that villain Reynard. You have no idea what a bad fellow he
is.'
"'What!' said the cat, blushing, 'do you dare to abuse your betters in
this fashion? I see very well you have a design on me. Go, this instant,
or--'
"'Enough, madam!' said the dog, proudly,--for he was very much
wounded--'you need not speak twice to me. I wish you good morning.'
"And he turned slowly away, and went under a tree, where he took up his
lodgings for the night. But the very next morning there was a great
excitement in the neighborhood. A stranger, of a very different style of
travelling from that of the dog, had arrived in the middle of the night,
and fixed his abode in a large cavern, hollowed out of a steep rock.
The noise he made, in flying through the air, was so great that he had
awakened every bird and beast in the parish; and such a twittering, and
crowing, and barking, and mewing, and growling, and roaring were never
heard in the night before, when honest folks are supposed to be
sleeping. Reynard, whose bad conscience never let him sleep very
soundly, put his head out of the window and perceived, to his great
alarm, that the stranger was nothing less than a monstrous griffin.
"You must know that the griffins are the richest beasts in the whole
world. They perfectly roll in diamonds--not to speak of any quantity of
marrow-bones; and that is the reason why, like misers, they keep so
close at home. Whenever it does happen that they go to the expense of
travelling, all the world is sure to know it, and talk about it.
"The old magpie was in the most delightful state of agitation. What
could the griffin want? she would give her ears if any body could get at
him to know, and, being determined to find out, she hopped up the rock,
and pretended to be picking up sticks for her nest.
[Illustration: "Hollo! you are the very Lady I want to see."]
"'Hollo, ma'am!' cried a very rough voice, and she saw the griffin
putting his head out of the cavern. 'Hollo! you are the very lady I want
to see; you know all the people about here, don't you?'
"'All the _best_ company, your lordship, I certainly do,' answered the
magpie, putting her head on one side, and dropping a very low courtesy.
"Then the griffin marched out, with great dignity, to smoke his pipe in
the open air; and, blowing the smoke in the magpie's face, in order to
set her quite at her ease, continued--
"'My dear madam, are there any respectable beasts of good family in this
neighborhood?'
"'Oh dear! the most elegant society, I assure your lordship,' cried the
magpie. 'I have lived here myself these ten years,' she continued,
drawing up and trying to look twice her size, 'and the great heiress the
cat yonder, attracts a vast number of strangers.'
"'Pooh! fiddlesticks!' said the griffin, 'much _you_ know about
heiresses; there is only one heiress in the whole world, and that is my
daughter.'
"'Bless me! has your lordship a family? I beg you a thousand pardons, I
thought you were a bachelor. I only saw your lordship's own carriage
last night, and did not know you brought any one with you.'
"'My daughter went first, and was all settled before I arrived. She did
not disturb you, I dare say, as I did, for she sails along like a swan;
but I have the gout in my left claw, and am rather apoplectic, and that
is the reason I puff and groan like an express engine, when I take a
journey.'
"'Ah, indeed! quite sorry, I declare! Shall I drop in upon Miss Griffin,
and see how she is after the fatigue of her journey?' said the magpie,
walking up.
"'You are too kind, but I don't intend her to be seen while I stay here;
she is such a wild young thing, I am afraid of the young beasts running
away with her, if they once heard how very handsome she is; she is the
very picture of me, but she is so terribly giddy! not that I should
care, if she went off with a rich and fashionable young fellow, if I
did not have to give her her fortune, which is enormous, and I don't
like parting with money, ma'am, when I have once got it, that's a fact.
Ha, ha! ho, ho!'
"'Dear me! you are too witty, my lord. But, if you refused your consent,
what then?' said the curious magpie, who was crazy to know all about so
grand a family.
"'Oh, I should have to pay it all the same, ma'am; it was left to her by
her uncle, the dragon. But don't tell, I beg of you.'
"'Oh my! not for the world; your lordship may be quite easy. I wish your
lordship a very good morning.'
"Away flew the magpie, and she did not stop till she got to the cat's
house. The cat and the fox were at breakfast; they had cream, fricaseed
chicken, stewed mice, fried oysters, boiled fish, roasted butterflies,
baked grasshoppers, and frizzled frogs; a breakfast fit for a king. The
fox was just making a tender speech, for he had his paw on his heart.
'Beautiful scene!' cried the magpie, which made the cat turn scarlet,
and she invited the magpie to take a seat.
"Then off went the magpie's tongue, like a sewing machine, 'glib, glib,
glib; chatter, chatter, chatter; clup, clup, clup; tick-a, tick-a,
ticka.'"
This made Willie laugh. "What a tell-tale," he cried, rising up in his
seat and bumping down again, two or three times.
"Yes, indeed," continued his mother, "for she did not stop till she had
related the whole story of the griffin and his daughter, and ever so
much besides, that the griffin had never told her.
"The cat listened with the greatest attention. Another young lady in the
place, and richer than her--she felt a little jealous. 'But is Miss
Griffin handsome?' said she, smoothing her beautiful long whiskers.
"'Handsome!' cried the magpie, 'O if you could only see the father! such
a splendid mouth! a mile wide; such eyes! as yellow as an orange; and
such a complexion! all manner of colors--and he declares she is the very
image of him! But what do you say, Mr. Reynard? You, who have travelled
so much, have, perhaps, seen the young lady.'
"'Why, I can't say I have,' answered the fox, who had been in a brown
study; 'but she must be wonderfully rich! I dare say that jackanapes,
the dog, will be making up to her.'
"'Ah! by the way, my dear,' said the magpie, 'what a fuss he made at
your door yesterday; why would you not permit him to enter?'
"'Oh!' said the cat, looking very proper and demure, 'Mr. Reynard says
he is a dog of very bad character--pretending to be good-natured, and
then biting your nose off, if he can. Dear me! I hope he won't quarrel
with you, dear Reynard.'
"'With me! O, the poor wretch, no! he might bluster a little; but he
very well knows, that if I am once angry he is a goner--I should make
mince meat of him; but I did not mean to boast of myself.'
"In the evening, Reynard would have given his ears to go to see the
griffin, but what could he do? There was the dog, sitting under the
opposite tree, watching for him, and Reynard had no wish to prove his
boasted courage. But, as usual, he resolved on a trick to get rid of
Beppo.
"A young buck of a rabbit, a sort of country beau, had called in upon
his cousin the cat, to pay her his respects, and Reynard, taking him
aside, said: 'Look here, my young friend, do you see that shabby-looking
dog under the tree? Well, he has insulted the cat, your cousin, and you
ought to punish him. In my situation, you know, I can do nothing; but if
you do not notice it you will have that horrid old magpie calling you a
coward.'
"The rabbit looked very foolish; he was a timid little fellow, and he
did not want to fight; he told the fox he was no match for Beppo, and,
although he was very fond of his cousin, he did not wish to interfere in
her domestic affairs, and he tried every possible way to get out of the
scrape; but the artful fox flattered him, and told him that Beppo was
the biggest coward in the whole world, and would not fight, but would
make him an humble apology, which would be a great feather in his (the
rabbit's) cap, and at last the rabbit promised to go and ask the dog to
fight.
"'Well,' said the fox, 'all right; go to the great field the other side
of the woods, and I'll follow in half an hour; and, I say--hark! In
case he does agree to fight, and you feel the least afraid, I'll be
there and take it off your hands, with the greatest pleasure. Depend
upon _me_, my dear sir.'
"Away went the rabbit. The dog was astonished at the great show of
courage; but on hearing that the fox would be present, he consented in a
moment to go. This did not gratify the rabbit very much; he went very
slowly, and, seeing no fox there, his heart sank down to his paws; and
while the dog had his nose to the ground to smell if the fox was coming,
the rabbit took to his heels, slipped into a burrow, and left Beppo to
walk back again.
"Meanwhile, the fox went softly to the rock; he looked about very
carefully, for he had a notion that a griffin papa would not be very
civil to foxes.
"There were two holes in the rock--one below, and one above; and while
Reynard was peering about, he saw a great claw from the upper hole
beckoning to him.
"'Ah! oh!' said the fox, 'that must be Miss Griffin;' so he approached,
and a voice said: 'Charming Mr. Reynard, I am locked up in this dismal
hole; do you not think you could contrive to deliver me?'
"'O goodness!' cried the fox, tenderly, 'what a beautiful voice, and ah!
my poor heart, what a lovely claw! Is it possible that I hear the
daughter of my lord, the griffin?'
"'Hush, flatterer! not so loud if you please. My father is taking a
walk, and is very quick of hearing. He has tied me up by my poor wings
in the corner, for he is terribly afraid of some one running away with
me. You know, I have all my fortune settled on myself.'
"'Talk not of fortune,' cried the fox, 'but how can I deliver you? Shall
I enter, and knaw the cord?'
"'Alas!' answered Miss Griffin, 'it is an immense chain I am bound with.
However, you may come in and talk more at your ease.'
"The fox peeped all round, and seeing no sign of the griffin, he entered
the lower cave, and stole up-stairs to the upper story; but, as he went
on, he saw such immense piles of jewels and gold, and all sorts of
treasure, that he did not wonder at the old griffin sneering at the
cat's calling herself an heiress. He was so delighted with this wealth,
that he entered the upper cave, resolved to consider Miss Griffin the
most beautiful creature in the world.
"There was, unfortunately, a great chasm between the landing-place and
the spot where the young lady was chained, and he found it impossible to
pass. The cavern was very dark, but he saw enough of Miss Griffin's
figure to perceive, in spite of her hooped petticoat, that she was the
image of her father, and the most hideous scarecrow the earth ever saw.
"However, he concealed his disgust, and began to compliment her about
her beauty, and did it so well, that she was, or pretended to be,
enchanted with him. He implored her to run away with him the moment she
was unchained.
"'That is impossible,' said she, 'you might as well ask me for a piece
of my nose, for my father never unchains me except in his presence, and
then I cannot stir out of his sight.'
"'The good-for-nothing wretch!' said Reynard; 'I wish the rocks would
come down about his ears: what is to be done?'
"'Why, there is only one thing that I know of,' answered Miss Griffin,
'which is this: I always make his soup for him, and if I could mix
something in it that would put him fast asleep, before he had time to
chain me up again, I might slip softly down, and carry off all the
treasure on my back.'
'Oh! delightful!' exclaimed Reynard, 'what invention! what wit! I will
go and get some poppies, that will set him snoring directly.'
"'Alas!' sighed Miss Griffin, 'poppies have no effect upon griffins; the
only thing that can ever put my father fast asleep, is a nice young cat
boiled in his soup; it is perfectly astonishing what a charm it is. But
where to get a cat? it must be a young lady cat, too!'
"Reynard was a little startled when he heard this; so very singular,
that a boiled cat would put any one to sleep; but he thought that
griffins were different from the rest of the world, and, of course,
nothing was too hard to do to win such a rich heiress.
"'I know a cat, a maiden cat,' said he; 'but I feel rather unpleasant at
the thought of having her boiled in the griffin's soup. Would not a dog
do as well?'
"'Oh, you mean thing!' said Miss Griffin, pretending to weep, you love
the cat; 'it's as plain to be seen as your ears; go and many her, and
leave me here to die of grief!' and she began to cry and bo-hoo like ten
hyenas.
"In vain the fox said that he did not care a straw for the cat; nothing
now would satisfy her but a solemn promise that he would bring poor puss
to the cave, to be boiled for the griffin's soup."
"Oh! what a bad, bad, wicked fox!" cried Willie; "if I knew how to fire
a gun, I would shoot him--I would pull his tail off--I would give him
soup made of stones and sticks--that I would!"
"Yes, he was a mean, wicked fellow," said his mother; "but wait till you
hear the end." And now, Miss Griffin and he had a grand consultation,
how they should entrap the poor cat, and Reynard said at last: 'The best
way will be to put a basket out of the window, and draw it up by a cord;
the moment it arrives at the window be sure to clap your claw on the
cat, for she is terribly active.'
"'Fiddle!' answered Miss Griffin; 'I should think myself a goose, if I
did not know how to catch a cat!'
"'It must be when your father is out,' said the fox.
"'Oh! certainly; he takes a walk, you know, every evening.'
"'Well, let it be to-morrow, then,' said Reynard, for he was impatient
for the treasure.
"This being arranged, Reynard thought it time to make off; he stole down
stairs and tried to steal some of the treasure by the way, but it was
too heavy for him to carry, and he came to the conclusion, that to get
the money he must take the lady, too.
"When he returned to the cat's house, and saw how plain every thing
looked, after the jewels in the griffin's cave, he quite wondered how he
had ever thought she was the least good-looking, but he concealed his
wicked intention, and made himself particularly agreeable.
"'Only guess where I have been!' said he. 'To our new neighbor, the
griffin--a most charming person. As for that silly magpie, she told a
tremendous fib--for he has no daughter at all. He has heard of your
beauty, my dear, and, on my telling him we were going to be married, he
insisted upon giving a great ball and supper, in honor of the event, and
I have accepted the invitation.'
"'Oh! dear! of course,' said the pretty creature, who felt highly
delighted. 'I shall wear my white satin with the lace flounces, and, no
doubt, he will ask me to be his partner, when we dance the Lancers.'
"'And only think! what a delicate attention,' said the fox. 'As all his
treasure is on the ground floor, he gives the ball in the second story,
so he will hang a basket out for the company, and draw them up with his
own claw--how condescending!'
"The cat, who had never been much in society, was almost crazy with
delight, at the prospect of going to such a grand party, and talked of
nothing else. When the evening came, the fox, looking out of the window,
saw his old friend Beppo, watching for him as usual. 'Ah! that torment!
I had quite forgotten him; what is to be done now? If he once gets hold
of me, I shall be a dead fox in five minutes after.'
"But, as usual, the fox thought of a cunning trick; he desired the cat
to set out first, and to wait for him at the corner. 'You just leave the
door open,' said he, 'and I will follow directly.'
"When the cat made her appearance, Beppo walked up to her very humbly,
and begged her to allow him to say a few words to her; but Reynard had
so poisoned her mind against him, that she made her back up into an
arch, and I am sorry to say, with an action that looked very much like
spitting, went past him without answering. Ah! how angry it made him
with Reynard; but his rage was changed to joy, when he saw that the cat
had left the door open. 'Now, wretch!' thought he, 'you cannot escape
me.' So he walked in quickly, at the door; but what was his surprise, to
see Reynard lying down, panting, as if his heart would break, and
rolling his eyes, as if he was in the very worst kind of fit.
"'Oh! my friend,' he said, in a weak, trembling voice, 'I am dying; put
your paw upon mine, and say you forgive me.'
"In spite of his anger, Beppo was so good and generous, that he could
not bite a dying enemy.
"'You served me a very mean trick. You left me to starve in a hole, and
you have made my cousin dislike me; I meant to punish you, but if you
are really dying, that alters the affair.'
"'Oh! oh!' groaned the fox, 'I am past help; the cat has gone for doctor
Ape, but he'll never come in time. What a thing it is to have a bad
conscience on one's death-bed. But wait till the cat returns, I will do
you justice with her, before I die.'
"The good-natured dog was very sorry to see his enemy in such a dismal
state, and he did his best to console him.
"'Oh! oh!' said the fox, 'I am burning with fever,' and he hung his
tongue out till you could nearly see the roots, and rolled his eyes,
till they nearly came out of the top of his head.
"'Is there no water here?' said Beppo, looking round.