pain in her ankle the girl was moved.
"Have you ridden all the way from cantonments, little man? What for?"
"You belonged to Coppy. Coppy told me so!" wailed Wee Willie Winkie,
disconsolately. "I saw him kissing you, and he said he was fonder of you
van Bell or ve Butcha or me. And so I came. You must get up and come
back. You didn't ought to be here. Vis is a bad place, and I've bwoken
my awwest."
"I can't move, Winkie," said Miss Allardyce, with a groan. "I've hurt my
foot. What shall I do?"
She showed a readiness to weep afresh, which steadied Wee Willie Winkie,
who had been brought up to believe that tears were the depth of
unmanliness. Still, when one is as great a sinner as Wee Willie Winkie,
even a man may be permitted to break down.
"Winkie," said Miss Allardyce, "when you've rested a little, ride back
and tell them to send out something to carry me back in. It hurts
fearfully."
The child sat still for a little time and Miss Allardyce closed her
eyes; the pain was nearly making her faint. She was roused by Wee Willie
Winkie tying up the reins on his pony's neck and setting it free with a
vicious cut of his whip that made it whicker. The little animal headed
toward the cantonments.
"Oh, Winkie! What are you doing?"
"Hush!" said Wee Willie Winkie. "Vere's a man coming--one of ve Bad Men.
I must stay wiv you. My faver says a man must _always_ look after a
girl. Jack will go home, and ven vey'll come and look for us. Vat's why
I let him go."
Not one man but two or three had appeared from behind the rocks of the
hills, and the heart of Wee Willie Winkie sank within him, for just in
this manner were the Goblins wont to steal out and vex Curdie's soul.
Thus had they played in Curdie's garden, he had seen the picture, and
thus had they frightened the Princess's nurse. He heard them talking to
each other, and recognized with joy the bastard Pushto that he had
picked up from one of his father's grooms lately dismissed. People who
spoke that tongue could not be the Bad Men. They were only natives after
all.
They came up to the boulders on which Miss Allardyce's horse had
blundered.
Then rose from the rock Wee Willie Winkie, child of the Dominant Race,
aged six and three-quarters, and said briefly and emphatically "_Jao!_"
The pony had crossed the river-bed.
The men laughed, and laughter from natives was the one thing Wee Willie
Winkie could not tolerate. He asked them what they wanted and why they
did not depart. Other men with most evil faces and crooked-stocked guns
crept out of the shadows of the hills, till, soon, Wee Willie Winkie was
face to face with an audience some twenty strong. Miss Allardyce
screamed.
"Who are you?" said one of the men.
"I am the Colonel Sahib's son, and my order is that you go at once. You
black men are frightening the Miss Sahib. One of you must run into
cantonments and take the news that Miss Sahib has hurt herself, and that
the Colonel's son is here with her."
"Put our feet into the trap?" was the laughing reply. "Hear this boy's
speech!"
"Say that I sent you--I, the Colonel's son. They will give you money."
"What is the use of this talk? Take up the child and the girl, and we
can at least ask for the ransom. Ours are the villages on the heights,"
said a voice in the background.
These _were_ the Bad Men--worse than Goblins--and it needed all Wee
Willie Winkie's training to prevent him from bursting into tears. But he
felt that to cry before a native, excepting only his mother's _ayah_,
would be an infamy greater than any mutiny. Moreover, he as future
Colonel of the 195th, had that grim regiment at his back.
"Are you going to carry us away?" said Wee Willie Winkie, very blanched
and uncomfortable.
"Yes, my little _Sahib Bahadur_," said the tallest of the men, "and eat
you afterward."
"That is child's talk," said Wee Willie Winkie. "Men do not eat men."
A yell of laughter interrupted him, but he went on firmly,--"And if you
do carry us away, I tell you that all my regiment will come up in a day
and kill you all without leaving one. Who will take my message to the
Colonel Sahib?"
Speech in any vernacular--and Wee Willie Winkie had a colloquial
acquaintance with three--was easy to the boy who could not yet manage
his "r's" and "th's" aright.
Another man joined the conference, crying: "O foolish men! What this
babe says is true. He is the heart's heart of those white troops. For
the sake of peace let them go both, for if he be taken, the regiment
will break loose and gut the valley. _Our_ villages are in the valley,
and we shall not escape. That regiment are devils. They broke Khoda
Yar's breast-bone with kicks when he tried to take the rifles; and if we
touch this child they will fire and rape and plunder for a month, till
nothing remains. Better to send a man back to take the message and get a
reward. I say that this child is their God, and that they will spare
none of us, nor our women, if we harm him."
It was Din Mahommed, the dismissed groom of the Colonel, who made the
diversion, and an angry and heated discussion followed. Wee Willie
Winkie standing over Miss Allardyce, waited the upshot. Surely his
"wegiment," his own "wegiment," would not desert him if they knew of his
extremity.
* * * * *
The riderless pony brought the news to the 195th, though there had been
consternation in the Colonel's household for an hour before. The little
beast came in through the parade ground in front of the main barracks,
where the men were settling down to play Spoil-five till the afternoon.
Devlin, the Color Sergeant of E Company, glanced at the empty saddle and
tumbled through the barrack-rooms, kicking up each Room Corporal as he
passed. "Up, ye beggars! There's something happened to the Colonel's
son," he shouted.
"He couldn't fall off! S'elp me, 'e _couldn't_ fall off," blubbered a
drummer-boy. "Go an' hunt acrost the river. He's over there if he's
anywhere, an' maybe those Pathans have got 'im. For the love o' Gawd
don't look for 'im in the nullahs! Let's go over the river."
"There's sense in Mott yet," said Devlin. "E Company, double out to the
river--sharp!"
So E Company, in its shirt-sleeves mainly, doubled for the dear life,
and in the rear toiled the perspiring Sergeant, adjuring it to double
yet faster. The cantonment was alive with the men of the 195th hunting
for Wee Willie Winkie, and the Colonel finally overtook E Company, far
too exhausted to swear, struggling in the pebbles of the river-bed.
Up the hill under which Wee Willie Winkie's Bad Men were discussing the
wisdom of carrying off the child and the girl, a look-out fired two
shots.
"What have I said?" shouted Din Mahommed. "There is the warning! The
_pulton_ are out already and are coming across the plain! Get away! Let
us not be seen with the boy!"
The men waited for an instant, and then, as another shot was fired,
withdrew into the hills, silently as they had appeared.
"The wegiment is coming," said Wee Willie Winkie, confidently, to Miss
Allardyce, "and it's all wight. Don't cwy!"
He needed the advice himself, for ten minutes later, when his father
came up, he was weeping bitterly with his head in Miss Allardyce's lap.
And the men of the 195th carried him home with shouts and rejoicings;
and Coppy, who had ridden a horse into a lather, met him, and, to his
intense disgust, kissed him openly in the presence of the men.
But there was balm for his dignity. His father assured him that not only
would the breaking of arrest be condoned, but that the good-conduct
badge would be restored as soon as his mother could sew it on his
blouse-sleeve. Miss Allardyce had told the Colonel a story that made him
proud of his son.
"She belonged to you, Coppy," said Wee Willie Winkie, indicating Miss
Allardyce with a grimy forefinger. "I _knew_ she didn't ought to go
acwoss ve wiver, and I knew ve wegiment would come to me if I sent Jack
home."
"You're a hero, Winkie," said Coppy--"a _pukka_ hero!"
"I don't know what vat means," said Wee Willie Winkie, "but you mustn't
call me Winkie any no more. I'm Percival Will'am Will'ams."
And in this manner did Wee Willie Winkie enter into his manhood.
NOTES
WASHINGTON IRVING
Washington Irving, the son of a Scotch merchant, was born in New York,
April 3, 1783. As his health was delicate his education was desultory,
and at sixteen he began to study law but without much seriousness. He
spent most of the time in reading, being in this way really
self-educated. His health continuing a matter of concern, he took many
excursions up the state to the woods, with much physical benefit. In
many of the up-state towns he mingled in society to such a degree that
he was in danger of becoming a mere society man. However, all the time
he was doing some writing, a part of which appeared in _The Morning
Chronicle_ when he was but nineteen.
In 1804, his health continuing poor, it was decided to send him to
Europe. There he stayed nearly two years, visiting France, England, and
Italy, being everywhere received by society and meeting the best people,
as he was a remarkably agreeable young man. The trip completely restored
his health.
On his return to America in 1806, he again plunged into society, giving,
however, a hint of his future occupation in _Salmagundi_, a semi-monthly
periodical of short duration, on the model of _The Spectator_, written
in conjunction with two of his brothers in 1807-1808. In the meantime he
had been admitted to the bar. In 1809 appeared "The Knickerbocker
History of New York," a piece of humor and satire which made him famous.
At this time occurred the death of his fiancée, a loss from which he
never recovered. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he served for four
months on the staff of the Governor of New York.
In 1815 he went again to Europe, this time on the business of his
brothers' firm, to which he had been admitted, and he stayed there
seventeen years. The firm failing in 1818, he turned to literature and
began the publication in 1819 of "The Sketch-Book," a collection of
sketches and narratives in the manner of _The Spectator_. This book
definitely established him as an author, being received both in America
and in England with delight. Besides being successful financially it
gave him an introduction to literary society. "Bracebridge Hall" and
"The Tales of a Traveller" appeared soon after, in 1822 and 1824
respectively. Irving himself had been for years much of a traveller,
both from inclination and from the demands of his health.
In 1826 Irving went to Spain to write his "Life and Voyages of
Columbus," which appeared in 1828. This residence in Spain, which lasted
till September, 1829, was a fruitful one, as Spanish subjects appealed
to his imagination. Besides the "Columbus," he wrote "The Conquest of
Granada," "The Companions of Columbus," and "The Alhambra." These books
were financially profitable in addition to being literary successes.
Throughout these years he enjoyed, as usual, the pleasures of charming
society. His stay in Spain was terminated by his unexpected appointment
as Secretary of Legation to the Court of St. James.
Returning to England, he was received with honors, the Royal Society of
Literature awarding him in 1830 one of the two annual medals and the
University of Oxford making him an honorary D.C.L. In 1831 he resigned
and the next year returned to America.
America greeted him with enthusiasm. After an extended tour of the South
and West he settled at Tarrytown, on the Hudson, a few miles north of
New York, to enjoy the domestic life afforded by numerous relatives, and
to do the writing which was more than ever necessary for the support of
the relatives who had become dependent on him. At Sunnyside, as his
place was named, he resolutely devoted himself to literary work, after
declining several offers of public office. He was a regular contributor
to _The Knickerbocker Magazine_ at an annual salary, and he wrote
several volumes, not now much read, while working on more ambitious
literary projects.
In 1842 he received the unexpected and unsolicited honor of appointment
as Minister to Spain. For four years he continued in office, performing
his duties with tact and discretion. In 1846 he returned finally to his
home, where he devoted his last days to a long-contemplated "Life of
Washington," a task almost beyond his powers. On the 28th of November,
1850, he died, honored as no American man of letters had ever been.
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY:
WARNER: Washington Irving.
BOYNTON: Washington Irving.
CRITISCM:
HOWELLS: My Literary Passions.
THACKERAY: Nil Nisi Bonum (Roundabout Papers).
RICHARDSON: American Literature.
NOTES TO "RIP VAN WINKLE"
This story appeared with four other papers in the first number of "The
Sketch-Book," which was published in America in May, 1819, as the work
of one Geoffrey Crayon.
PAGE 1. DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER: the supposed author of "The
Knickerbocker History of New York." All this prefatory matter is merely
to carry out the pretence, as do the Note and Postscript at the end.
2. PETER STUYVESANT: last Dutch governor of New York, born in Holland in
1592, died in New York in 1672. A man of short temper and with a wooden
leg from the knee. FORT CHRISTINA: built by the Swedes on the Delaware
River near the present city of Wilmington. There was no fighting.
15. FEDERAL OR DEMOCRAT: the two political parties after the close of
the Revolutionary War. TORY: name applied to all followers of the king
during the war.
16. STONY POINT: this promontory on the west bank of the Hudson was
captured by the British, and later recaptured by the Americans under
General Anthony Wayne. ANTONY'S NOSE: a bold cliff, in the shape of a
nose, on the east bank of the river. The name is now usually spelled
with an _h_.
18. HENDRICK HUDSON: really Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the employ of
the Dutch East India Company. He was on a voyage to discover a
north-east passage, when he explored the river which bears his name. The
_Half Moon_ was the name of his boat.
EDGAR ALLAN POE
Edgar Allan Poe, the child of poor travelling actors, was born in
Boston, January 19, 1809. Left an orphan in his third year, he was taken
into the family of Mr. John Allan of Richmond, who gave him his name.
Soon he became a great pet of his foster-parents, who rather spoiled
him. In 1815 the Allans went to England, where the boy was in school at
Stoke Newington, a suburb of London, till June, 1820, when the family
returned to Richmond. His education was continued in private schools and
by the aid of tutors till he entered the University of Virginia,
February 14, 1826. At the University he developed a passion for drink
and gambling, which led Mr. Allan to place him in his own counting-room
at the end of the session in December, though he had done extremely well
in some of his studies. Not liking the irksomeness of this occupation,
Poe left to make his own way.
He first went to Boston, where he succeeded in having some of his verses
published. His resources failing, he enlisted in the United States Army,
being assigned to the artillery and serving in different stations, among
them Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina. His conduct being
excellent, he was appointed Sergeant-major in 1829. Shortly afterward he
was reconciled to Mr. Allan, who secured him an appointment to West
Point. At the Academy he neglected his duty, was court-martialled, and
was dismissed March 7, 1831.
Poe now settled in Baltimore, where he devoted himself to writing,
winning a prize of one hundred dollars for his tale, "A MS. Found in a
Bottle." He lived with his aunt, Mrs. Clemm, to whose daughter he became
engaged and whom he married in 1836 in Richmond, where he had gone to
become an assistant on _The Southern Literary Messenger_.
His habits and unfortunate disposition made it impossible for him to
remain long in one position. After some drifting, he settled in
Philadelphia in 1838, where he did hack work until he became associate
editor of _Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and American Monthly Review_ in
July, 1839. In 1840 appeared a volume of his tales which attracted
favorable notice. In 1841 he became editor of _Graham's Magazine_, but
in this year, too, his wife became a hopeless invalid. Anxiety about her
had doubtless much to do with the subsequent condition of Poe's mind. In
the next year again he lost his position. At this time he fell into
wretched poverty. Then, as always, his aunt gave him the devotion of a
mother. The fortunate gaining of another hundred-dollar prize, this time
for "The Gold Bug," helped along together with some work on _Graham's_
in a minor capacity.
New York was his next location, where he was on _The Evening Mirror_. In
1845 his "Raven" was published and at once sprang into phenomenal favor.
Lecturing, magazine work, and the editing of _The Broadway Journal_
occupied the next year. In 1846 he moved to Fordham. There ill-health
and poverty so oppressed him that money had to be raised to take care of
the family. In 1847 Mrs. Poe died. From this time till his own death,
October 7, 1849, his mind, long clouded and affected by his habits,
became hopelessly diseased.
Poe was a genius of great analytical power and imagination, but unstable
and morbid. His ability has always received great recognition in Europe,
particularly in France, where a translation of his tales appeared in his
lifetime.
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHY:
WOODBERRY: Edgar Allan Poe.
HARRISON: The Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe.
CRITICISM:
STEDMAN: Poets of America.
GATES: Studies and Appreciations.
BROWNELL: American Prose Masters.
NOTES TO "THE GOLD BUG"
This story, which is classed in the group entitled "Stories of
Ratiocination" (see Introduction), was first published in _The Dollar
Newspaper_ of Philadelphia in June, 1843, winning a prize of one hundred
dollars.
PAGE 23. TARANTULA: the bite of this spider was once supposed to cause a
form of madness which made the victim dance. Compare the musical term
"tarantelle." HUGUENOT: French Protestant. Many fled to South Carolina
from persecutions in France. SULLIVAN'S ISLAND: Poe has been criticised
for his inaccuracies concerning this island. He should have known it
well, as he was stationed at Fort Moultrie in 1828 when a private in the
United States Artillery.
24. SWAMMERDAMM: Jan Swammerdam--one final _m_ according to the Century
Dictionary--(1637-1680). A distinguished Dutch naturalist.
27. SCARABÆUS CAPUT HOMINIS: (Latin) _a man's head beetle_. There is no
such species known.
29. SYPHON: Negro dialect for ciphering, a colloquial word for
"reckoning in figures." Poe hardly seems successful in representing the
sounds of the speech of Negroes. Not much attention had been paid to the
subject in literature at that time. To-day, since the work of Joel
Chandler Harris in "Uncle Remus" and of Thomas Nelson Page in "In Ole
Virginia," we rather look down on these early crude attempts. NOOVERS:
Negro dialect for manoeuvres in the sense of movements.
32. EMPRESSEMENT: (French) _eagerness_.
44. CURVETS AND CARACOLES: the prancing and turning of a horse.
45. VIOLENT HOWLINGS OF THE DOG: it is popularly supposed that a dog,
through its extraordinary sense of smell, can indicate the presence of
parts of a human body, though buried.
48. COUNTER: obsolete term for pieces of money.
49. SOLUTION OF THIS MOST EXTRAORDINARY RIDDLE: this story exemplifies
Poe's power in such work. He specialized on it in magazines.
52. LONG BOAT: "The largest and strongest boat belonging to a sailing
ship."--_Century Dictionary_.
54. AQUA REGIA: (Latin) _royal water_. A chemical compound so called
from its power of dissolving gold. REGULUS OF COBALT: early chemical
term referring to the metallic mass of an ore.
55. CAPTAIN KIDD: William Kidd, about whose early life nothing is
positively known, was commissioned by the Governor of Massachusetts Bay
Colony in 1695 to put down piracy. With a good ship under him, however,
he himself turned pirate. On his return he was arrested, sent to
England, tried, and executed in London in 1701. Some of his buried
treasure was recovered by the colonial authorities in 1699.
58. GOLCONDA: a place near Hyderabad, India, noted for its diamonds.
CRYPTOGRAPHS: from two Greek words meaning _hidden_ and _write_. The
commoner term is "cryptogram."
59. SPANISH MAIN: the ocean near the coast of South America and the
adjacent parts of the Caribbean Sea over which the Spaniards exercised
power.
67. INSIGNIUM: (Latin) _a sign_.
NOTES TO "THE PURLOINED LETTER"
This detective story was published in "The Gift" for 1845.
PAGE 69. NIL SAPIENTIÆ, etc.: (Latin) _Nothing is more hateful to wisdom
than too great acuteness_. C. AUGUSTE DUPIN: clever amateur who solves
the mysteries which baffle the police. Most writers of detective stories
follow this example set by Poe. AU TROISIÈME: (French) _on the third
floor_. FAUBOURG: (French) section of a city. SAINT GERMAIN: a section
of Paris on the south bank of the Seine, once the abode of the French
nobility. AFFAIR OF THE RUE MORGUE: a reference to the detective story,
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue." THE MURDER OF MARIE ROGÊT: a reference
to another detective story, "THE MYSTERY OF MARIE ROGÊT." The writer is
playing the same part as does Dr. Watson in the various Sherlock Holmes
stories by Conan Doyle. PREFECT: (French) _chief_.
71. CANT OF DIPLOMACY: set phrases used in intercourse between
representatives of governments by which they hint at their meaning.
73. HÔTEL: (French) _residence_. AU FAIT: (French) _expert_.
76. MICROSCOPE: since Poe's time the microscope is, in stories, almost
an invariable part of a detective's outfit.
79. ABERNETHY: John Abernethy (1764-1831). A celebrated London
physician.
80. ESCRITOIRE: "A piece of furniture with conveniences for writing, as
an opening top or falling front panel, places for inkstand, pens, and
stationery, etc."--_Century Dictionary_. PROCRUSTEAN BED: In Greek
mythology, Procrustes (derivatively "the stretcher") was a giant who
tied those whom he caught on a bed, making them fit by stretching them
out if too short, and by cutting off their limbs if too long.
82. ROCHE FOUCALD: François La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680). A French
moralist known for his "Maxims" published in 1665. LA BOUGIVE: In the
edition of Poe's works prepared by Edmund Clarence Stedman and Professor
George Edward Woodberry, this name is given as La Bruyère. Jean de La
Bruyère (1645-1696) was a French moralist. MACHIAVELLI: Nicolo
Machiavelli (1469-1527). A celebrated statesman and writer of Florence,
Italy, whose book "The Prince" is based on unscrupulous principles.
CAMPANELLA: Tomaso Campanella (1568-1639). An Italian writer.
83. RECHERCHÉ: (French) _far-fetched_. POLITICAL: a rare word, meaning
"pertaining to the police."
84. NON DISTRIBUTIO MEDII: (Latin) _a non-distribution of the middle, or
the undistributed middle_. This is a mistake in reasoning. When the
Prefect reasons that all fools are poets, therefore all poets are fools,
he has no middle term at all; that is, no class of which poets and fools
are both members. Correct reasoning is represented by this: all men are
mortal; John is a man; therefore John is mortal. Between mortal and
John, two terms, there is a middle term, men, of which both are members.
DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS a higher form of mathematics. PAR EXCELLENCE:
(French) _above all_. IL Y A, etc.: (French). _The odds are that every
public idea, every accepted convention, is a foolish trick, for it is
suitable for the greatest number._ CHAMFORT: Sebastian Roch Nicolas
Chamfort (1741-1794). A French writer of maxims. AMBITUS: (Latin) _a
going around_. Poe means by this example and by those that follow that
mere similarity of two words does not make them of the same meaning.
85. BRYANT: Jacob Bryant (1715-1804). An English writer on mythology.
86. INTRIGANT: (French) _intriger_.
87. VIS INERTIÆ: (Latin) _the force of inertia_, the same as _inertia_,
a term of physics which denotes the tendency of a body to remain at rest
or in motion.
88. MINISTERIAL HÔTEL: house of the minister or cabinet officer.