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1891
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bequeatbefc bp B. pbillipe Stewart, ^.H
OB. A.D. 1892.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS
AND OTHER STOUIES
THE LIGHT PRINCESS
AND OTHER STORIES
BY GEORGE MAC DONALD, LL.D.
A NEW EDITION
Pontoon
CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY 1891
Lb
CONTENTS.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS THE GIANT'S HEART THE SHADOWS. .
THE LIGHT 1'RINCESS.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
WHAT ! NO CHILDREN ?
1NCE upon a time, so long ago that I have quite forgotten the date, there lived a king and queen who had no children.
And the king said to himself, " All the queens of my acquaintance have children, some three, some seven, and some as many as twelve ; and my queen has not one. I feel ill-used." So he made up his mind to be cross with his wife about it. But she bore it all like a good patient queen as she was. Then the king grew very cross indeed.
4 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
But the queen pretended to take it all as a joke, and a very good one too.
"Why don't you have any daughters, at least?" said he. "I don't say sons; that might be too much to expect."
" I am sure, dear king, I am very sorry," said the queen.
"So you ought to be," retorted the king; "you are not going to make a virtue of that, surely."
But he was not an ill-tempered king, and in any matter of less moment would have let the queen have her own way with all his heart. This, how- ever, was an affair of state.
The queen smiled.
"You must have patience with a lady, you know, dear king," said she.
She was, indeed, a very nice queen, and heartily sorry that she could not oblige the king imme- iiately.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 5
The king tried to have patience, but he suc- ceeded very badly. It was more than he deserved, therefore, when, at last, the queen gave him a daughter — as lovely a little princess as ever cried.
II.
WON'T i, JUST?
THE day drew near when the infant must be christened. The king wrote all the invitations with his own hand. Of course somebody was for- gotten.
Now it does not generally matter if somebody is forgotten, only you must mind who. Unfortu- nately, the king forgot without intending to for- get ; and so the chance fell upon the Princess Makemnoit, which was awkward. For the
6 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
princess was the king's own sister ; and he ought not to have forgotten her. But she had made herself so disagreeable to the old king, their father, that he had forgotten her in making his will ; and so it was no wonder that her brother forgot her in writing his invitations. But poor relations don't do anything to keep you in mind of them. Why don't they? The king could not see into the garret she lived in, could he ?
She was a sour, spiteful creature. The wrinkles of contempt crossed the wrinkles of peevishness, and made her face as full of wrinkles as a pat of butter. If ever a king could be justified in for- getting anybody, this king was justified in for- getting his sister, even at a christening. She looked very odd, too. Her forehead was as large as all the rest of her face, and projected over it like a precipice. When she was angry, her little eyes flashed blue. When she hated
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 7
anybody, they shone yellow and green. What they looked like when she loved anybody, I do not know ; for I never heard of her loving any- body but herself, and I do not think she could have managed that if she had not somehow got used to herself. But what made it highly im- prudent in the king to forget her was — that she was awfully clever. In fact, she was a witch ; and when she bewitched anybody, he veiy soon had enough of it ; for she beat all the wicked fairies in wickedness, and all the clever ones in cleverness. She despised all the modes we read of in history, in which offended fairies and witches have taken their revenges ; and therefore, after waiting and waiting in vain for an invitation, she made up her mind at last to go without one, and make the whole family miserable, like a princess as she was.
So she put on her best gown, went to the
8 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
palace, was kindly received by the happy monarch, who forgot that he had forgotten her, and took her place in the procession to the royal chapel. When they were all gathered about the font, she contrived to get next to it, and throw something into the water ; after which she maintained a very respectful demeanour till the water was applied to the child's face. But at that moment she turned round in her place three times, and muttered the following words, xmd enough for those beside her to he^r : —
" Light of spirit, by my charms, Light of body, every part,
Never weary human arms- Only crush thy parents' heart ! "
They all thought she had lost her wits, and was repeating some foolish nursery rhyme ; but a shudder went through the whole of them not- withstanding. Th^ Uabv.. on the contrary, began
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. g
to lau^h and crow ; while the nurse gave a start and a smothered cry, for she thought she was struck with paralysis : she could not feel the baby in her arms. But she clasped it tight and said nothing.
The mischief was done.
III. SHE CAN'T BE OURS.
HER atrocious aunt had deprived the child of all her gravity. If you ask me how this was effected, I answer, "In the easiest way in the world. She had only to destroy gravitation. " For the princess was a philosopher, and knew all the ins and outs of the laws of gravitation as well as the ins and outs of her boot-lace. And
to THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
being a witch as well, she could abrogate those laws in a moment ; or at least so clog tneir wheels and rust their bearings, that they would not work at all. But we have more to do with what followed than with how it was done.
The first awkwardness that resulted from this unhappy privation was, that the moment the nurse began to float the baby up and down, she flew from ner arms towards the ceiling. Happily, the resistance of the air brought her ascending career to a close within a foot of it. There she remained, horizontal as when she left her nurse's arms, kicking and laughing amazingly. The nurse in terror flew to the bell, -and begged the footman, who answered it, to bring up the house- steps directly. Trembling in every limb, she climbed upon the steps, and had to stand upon the very top, and reach up, before she could catch the floating tail of the baby's long clothes.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. ii
When the strange fact came to be known, there was a terrible commotion in the palace. The occasion of its discovery by the king was naturally a repetition of the nurse's experience. Astonished that he felt no weight when the child was laid h? his arms, he began to wave her up and — not down ; for she slowly ascended to the ceiling as before, and there remained floating in perfect comfort and satisfaction, as was testified by her peals of tiny laughter. The king stood staring up in speechless amazement, and trembled so that his beard shook like grass in the wind. At last, turning to the queen, who was just as horror- struck as himself, he said, gasping, staring, and stammering, —
" She can't be ours, queen ! "
Now the queen was much cleverer than the king, and had begun already to suspect that " this effect defective came by cause. "
iz THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
" I am sure she is ours," answered she. " But we ought to have taken better care of her at the christening. People who were never invited ought not to have been present."
"Oh, ho !" said the king, tapping his forehead with his forefinger, "I have it all. I've found her out. Don't you see it, queen ? Princess Makem- noit has bewitched her."
" That's just what I say," answered the queen.
"I beg your pardon, my love ; I did not hear you. — John ! bring the steps I get on my throne with."
For he was a little king with a great throne, \ike many other kings.
The throne-steps were brought, and set upon the dining-table, and John got upon the top of them. But he could not reach the little princess, who lay like a baby-laughter-cloud in the air, ex- ploding continuously.
TH2 LIGHT PRINCESS. 13
"Take the tongs, John," said his Majesty; and getting up on the table, he handed them to him.
John could reach the baby now, and the little princess was handed down by the tongs.
IV.
WHERE IS SHE?
ONE fine summer day, a month after these her first adventures, during which time she had been very carefully watched, the princess was lying on the bed in the queen's own chamber, fast asleep. One of the windows was open, for it was noon, and the day was so sultry that the little girl was wrapped in nothing less ethereal than slumber itself. The queen came into the room, and not observing that the baby was on the bed, opened
U THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
another window. A frolicsome fairy wind, which had been watching for a chance of mischief, rushed in at the one window, and taking its way over the bed where the child was lying, caught her up, and rolling and floating her along like a piece of flue, or a dandelion seed, carried her with it through the opposite window, and away. The queen went down-stairs, quite ignorant of the loss she had herself occasioned.
When the nurse returned, she supposed that her Majesty had carried her off, and, dreading a scolding, delayed making inquiry about her. But hearing nothing, she grew uneasy, and went at length to the queen's boudoir, where she found her Majesty.
" Please, your Majesty, shall I take the baby?" said she.
" Where is she ? " asked the queen.
" Please forgive me. I know it was wrong/'
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 15
''What do you mean?" said the queen, look* ins; grave.
"Oh ! don't frighten me, your Majesty ! " ex- claimed the nurse, clasping her hands.
The queen saw that something was amiss, and fell down in a faint. The nurse rushed about the palace, screaming, ' ' My baby ! my baby ! "
Every one ran to the queen's room. But the queen could give no orders. They soon found out, however, that the princess was missing, and in a moment the palace was like a beehive in a garden ; and in one minute more the queen was brought to herself by a great shout and a clapping of hands. They had found the princess fast asleep under a rose-bush, to which the elvish little wind-puff had carried her, finishing its mis- chief by shaking a shower of red rose-leaves alJ over the little white sleeper. Startled by the noise the servants made, she woke, and, furious
i6
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
with glee, scattered the rose-leaves m all direc- tions, like a shower of spray in the sunset.
She was watched more carefully after tnis, no doubt ; yet it would be endless to relate all the odd incidents resulting from this peculiarity of the young princess. But there never was a baby in a house, not to say a palace, that kept the house- hold in such constant good humour, at least below-stairs. If it was not easy for her nurses to hold her, at least she made neither their arms nor their hearts ache. And she was so nice to play at ball with ! There was positively no danger ot letting her fall. They might throw her down, or knock her down, or push her down, but couldn't let her down. It is true, they might let her fly into the fire or the coal-hole, or through the window; but none of these accidents had happened as yet. If you heard peals of laughter resounding from some unknown region, you might be sure
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 17
enough of the cause. Going down into the kitchen, or the room, you would find Jane and Thomas, and Robert and Susan, all and sum, playing at ball with the little princess. She was the ball herself, and did not enjoy it the less for that. Away she went, flying from one to another, screeching with laughter. And the servants loved the ball itself better even than the game. But they, had to take some care how they threw her, for if she received an upward direction, she would never come down again without being fetched.
1 3 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
V. WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
Bur above-stairs it was different. One day, for instance, after breakfast, the king went into his counting-house, and counted out his money.
The operation gave him no pleasure.
"To think," said he to himself, "that every one of these gold sovereigns weighs a quarter ot an ounce, and my real, live, ilesh-and-blood prin- cess weighs nothing at all ! "
And he hated his gold sovereigns, as they lay with a broad smile of self-satisfaction all over their yellow faces.
The queen was in the parlour, eating bread and honey. But at the second mouthful she burst out crying, and could not swallow it. The king heard her sobbing. Glad of anybody, but especially of
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. IQ
his queen, to quarrel with, he clashed his gold sovereigns into his money-box, clapped his crown on his head, and rushed into the parlour.
"What is all this about?" exclaimed he. " What are you crying for, queen ? >:
" I can't eat it," said the queen, looking rue- fully at the honey-pot.
' ' No wonder ! ' ' retorted the king. * * You've just eaten your breakfast — two turkey eggs, and three anchovies."
"Oh, that's not it!" sobbed her Majesty. " It's my child, my child !"
"Well, what's the matter with your child? She's neither up the chimney nor down the draw- well. Just hear her laughing."
Yet the king could not help a sigh, which he tried to turn into a cough, saying, —
"It is a good thing to be light-hearted, I am sure, whether she be ours or not."
c 9
20 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
"It is a bad thing to be light-headed," answered the queen, looking with prophetic soul far into the future.
"'Tis a good thing to be light-handed," said the king.
*' 'Tis a bad thing to be light-fingered," an- swered the queen.
" 'Tis a good thing to be light-footed," said the king.
" 'Tis a bad thing — " began the queen ; but the king interrupted her.
" In fact," said he, with the tone of one who concludes an argument in which he has had only imaginary opponents, and in which, therefore, he has come off triumphant — "in fact, it is a good thing altogether to be light- bodied."
" But it is a bad thing altogether to be light- minded," retorted the queen, who was beginning to lose her temper.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. n
This last answer quite discomfited his Majesty, who turned on his heel, and betook himself to his counting-house again. But he was not half-way towards it, when the voice of his queen overtook him.
"And it's a bad thing to be light-haired," screamed she, determined to have more last words, now that her spirit was roused.
The queen's hair was black as night ; and the king's had been, and his daughter's was, golden as morning. But it was not this reflection on his hair that arrested him j it was the double use of the word light. For the king hated all witticisms, and punning especially. And besides, he could not tell whether the queen meant \\gnt-haired or \\$L\.-hcired ; for why might she not aspirate her vowels when she was ex-asperated herself?
He turned upon his other heel, and rejoined her. She looked angry still, because she knew
23 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
that she was guilty, or, what was much the same, knew that he thought so.
" My dear queen," said he, "duplicity of any sort is exceedingly objectionable between married people of any rank, not to say kings and queens ; and the most objectionable form duplicity can assume is that of punning."
"There!" said the queen, "I never made a jest, but I broke it in the making. I am the most unfortunate woman in the world ! "
She looked so rueful, that the king took her in his arms ; and they sat down to consult.
" Can you bear this ? " said the king.
" No, I can't," said the queen.
" Well, what's to be done ? " said the king.
" I'm sure I don't know," said the queen. " But might you not try an apology ? "
" To my old sister, I suppose you mean ? " said the king.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 23
"Yes," said the queen.
" Well, I don't mind," said the king.
So he went the next morning to the house of the princess, and, making a very humble apology, begged her to undo the spell. But the princess declared, with a grave face, that she knew nothing at all about it. Her eyes, however, shone pink, which was a sign that she was happy. She advised the king and queen to have patience, and to mend their ways. The king returned discon- solate. The queen tried to comfort him.
" We will wait till she is older. She may then be able to suggest something herself. She will know at least how she feels, and explain things to us."
"But what if she should marry?" exclaimed the king, in sudden consternation at the idea.
" Well, what of that?" rejoined the queen.
"Just think! If she were to have children!
24 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
In the course of a hundred years the air might be as full of floating children as of gossamers in autumn."
" That is no business of ours," replied the queen. " Besides, by that time they will have learned to take care of themselves. "
A sigh was the king's only answer.
He would have consulted the court physicians ; but he was afraid they would try experiments upon her.
VI.
SHE LAUGHS TOO MUCH.
MEANTIME, notwithstanding awkward occur- rences, and griefs that she brought upon her parents, the little princess laughed and grew — not fat, but plump and tall. She reached the age of
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 25
seventeen, without having fallen into any worse scrape than a chimney ; by rescuing her from which, a little bird-nesting urchin got fame and a black face. Nor, thoughtless as she was, had she committed anything worse than laughter at every- body and everything that came in her way. When she was told, for the sake of experiment, that General Clanrunfort was cut to pieces with all his troops, she laughed ; when she heard that the enemy was on his way to besiege her papa's capital, she laughed hugely ; but when she was told that the city would certainly be abandoned to the mercy of the enemy's soldiery — why, then she laughed immoderately. She never could be brought to see the serious side of anything. When her mother cried, she said, —
' ' What queer faces mamma makes ! And she squeezes water out of her cheeks ! Funny mamma ! "
26 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
And when her papa stormed at her, she laughed, and danced round and round him, clapping her hands, and crying —
"Do it again, papa. Do it again ! It's such fun ! Dear, funny papa ! "
And if he tried to catch her, she glided from him in an instant, not in the least afraid of him, but thinking it part of the game not to be caught. With one push of her foot, she would be floating in the air above his head; or she would go dancing backwards and forwards and sideways, like a great butterfly. It happened several times, when her father and mother were holding a con- sultation about her in private, that they were in- terrupted by vainly repressed outbursts of laughter over their heads ; and looking up with indignation, saw her floating at full length in the air above them, whence she regarded them with the most comical appreciation of the position.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 27
One day an awkward accident happened. The princess had come out upon the lawn with one of her attendants, who held her by the hand. Spying her father at the other side of the lawn, she snatched her hand from the maid's, and sped across to him. Now when she wanted to run alone, her custom was to catch up a stone in each hand, so that she might come down again after a bound. Whatever she wore as part of her attire had no effect in this way : even gold, when it thus became as it were a part of herself, lost all its weight for the time. But whatever she only held in her hands retained its downward tendency. On this occasion she could see nothing to catch up but a huge toad, that was walking across the lawn as if he had a hundred years to do it in. Not knowing what disgust meant, for this was one of her peculiarities, she snatched up the toad and bounded away. She had almost reached her
28 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
father, and he was holding out his arms to receive her, and take from her lips the kiss which hovered on them like a butterfly on a rosebud, when a puff of wind blew her aside into the arms of a young page, who had just been receiving a message from his Majesty. Now it was no great peculiarity in the princess that, once she was set agoing, it always cost her time and trouble to check herself. On this occasion there was no time. She must kiss — and she kissed the page. She did not mind it much ; for she had no shyness in her composition ; and she knew, besides, that she could not help it. So she only laughed, like a musical box. The poor page fared the worst. For the princess, try- ing to correct the unfortunate tendency of the kiss, put out her hands to keep her off the page ; so that, along with the kiss, he received, on the other cheek, a slap with the huge black toad, which she poked right into his eye. He tried to laugh, too,
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 29
but the attempt resulted in such an odd contortion of countenance, as showed that there was no danger of his pluming himself on the kiss. As for the king, his dignity was greatly hurt, and he did not speak to the page for a whole month.
I may here remark that it was very amusing to see her run, if her mode of progression could pro- perly be called running. For first she would make a bound ; then, having alighted, she would run a few steps, and make another bound. Sometimes she would fancy she had reached the ground before she actually had, and her feet would go backwards and forwards, running upon nothing at all, like those of a chicken on its back. Then she would laugh like the very spirit of fun ; only in her laugh there was something missing. What it was, I find myself unable to describe. I think it was a certain tone, depending upon the possibility of sorrow — morbidezza, perhaps. She never smiled.
90 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
VII.
TRY METAPHYSICS.
AFTER a long avoidance of the painful subject, the king and queen resolved to hold a council of three upon it ; and so they sent for the princess. In she came, sliding and flitting and gliding from one piece of furniture to another, and put herself at last in an arm-chair, in a sitting posture. Whether she could be said to sit, seeing she received no support from the seat of the chair, I do not pretend to determine.
" My dear child," said the king, "you must be aware by this time that you are not exactly like other people. "
" Oh, you dear funny papa ! I have got a nose, and two eyes, and all the rest. So have you. So has mamma."
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 31
<J Now be serious, my dear, for once," said the queen.
" No, thank you, mamma ; I had rather not. "
" Would you not like to be able to walk like other people ? " said the king.
' ' No indeed, I should think not. You only crawl. You are such slow coaches ! "
"How do you feel, my child?" he resumed, after a pause of discomfiture.
" Quite well, thank you."
' ' I mean, what do you feel like ? "
"Like nothing at all, that I know of."
" You must feel like something."
" I feel like a princess with such a funny papa, and such a dear pet of a queen-mamma ! "
" Now really ! " began the queen; but the prin- cess interrupted her.
" Oh yes," she added, "I remember. I have
32 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
a curious feeling sometimes, as if I were the only person that had any sense in the whole world."
She had been trying to behave herself with dignity ; but now she burst into a violent fit ot laughter, threw herself backwards over the chair, and went rolling about the floor in an ecstasy of enjoyment. The king picked her up easier than one does a down quilt, and replaced her in her former relation to the chair. The exact preposition expressing this relation I do not hap- pen to know.
"Is there nothing you wish for?" resumed the king, who had learned by this time that it was useless to be angry with her.
" Oh, you dear papa ! — yes," answered she.
" What is it, my darling?"
" I have been longing for it — oh, such a time ! — ever since last night."
*' Tell me what it is."
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 33
•' Will you promise to let me have it ? "
1'he king was on the point of saying Yes, but the wiser queen checked him with a single motion of her head.
"Tell me what it is first," said he.
" No no. Promise first."
"I dare not. What is it?"
' ' Mind, I hold you to your promise. — It is — to be tied to the end of a string— a very long string indeed, and be flown like a kite. Oh, such fun ! I would rain rose-water, and hail sugar-plums, and snow whipped-cream, and — and — and — "
A fit of laughing checked her ; and she would have been off again over the floor, had not the king started up and caught her just in time. Seeing that nothing but talk could be got out of her, he rang the bell, and sent her away with two of her ladies-in-waiting.
VOL. VIII. D
34 THE LIGHT PRINCESS
" Now, queen," he said, turning to her Majesty, " what is to be done ? "
" There is but one thing lett," answered sne. "Let us consult the college of Metaphysicians.-'
" Bravo ! " cried the king ; " we will."
Now at the head of this college were two very wise Chinese philosophers — by name Hum-Drum, and Kopy-Keck. For them the king sent ; and straightway they came. In a long speech he communicated to them what they knew very well already — as who did not ? — namely, the peculiar condition of his daughter in relation to the globe on which she dwelt ; and requested them to consult together as to what might be the cause and probable cure of her infirmity. The king laid stress upon the word, but failed to discover his own pun. The queen laughed ; but Hum- Drum and Kopy-Keck heard with humility and retired in silence.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 35
Their consultation consisted chiefly in pro- pounding and supporting, for the thousandth time, each his favourite theories. For the condition of the princess afforded delightful scope for the discussion of every question arising from the division of thought — in fact, of all the Metaphysics of the Chinese Empire. But it is only juetice to say that they did not altogether neglect the dis- cussion of the practical question, -what -was to be done.
Hum-Drum was a Materialist, and Kopy-Keck was a Spiritualist. The former was slow and sententious ; the latter was quick and flighty : the latter had generally the first word; the former the last.
" I reassert my former assertion," began Kopy- Keck, with a plunge. "There is not a fault in the princess, body or soul ; only they are wrong put together. Listen to me now, Hum-Drum,
36 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
and I will tell you in brief what I think. Don't speak. Don't answer me. I won't hear you till I have done.— At that decisive moment, when souls seek their appointed habitations, two eager souls met, struck, rebounded, lost their way, and arrived each at the wrong place. The soul of the princess was one of those, and she went far astray. She does not belong by rights to this world at all, but to some other planet, probably Mercury. Her proclivity to her true sphere destroys all the natural influence which this orb would otherwise possess over her corporeal frame. She cares for nothing here. There is no relation between her and this world.
" She must therefore be taught, by the sternest compulsion, to take an interest in the earth as the earth. She must study every department of its history — its animal history ; its vegetable history ;
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 37
its mineral history ; its social history ; its moral history; its political history; its scientific history; its literary history; its musical history; its artistical history ; above all, its metaphysical history. She must begin with the Chinese dynasty and end with Japan. But first of all she must study geology, and especially the history of the extinct races of animals — their natures, their habits, their loves, their hates, their
revenges. She must "
" Hold, h-o-o-old ! " roared Hum-Drum. " It is certainly my turn now. My rooted and insub- vertible conviction is, that the causes of the anomalies evident in the princess's condition are strictly and solely physical. But that is only tantamount to acknowledging that they exist. Hear my opinion. — From some cause or other, of no importance to our inquiry, the motion of her heart has been reversed. That remarkable
38 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
combination of the suction and the force-pump works the wrong way — I mean in the case of the unfortunate princess : it draws in where it should force out, and forces out where it should draw in. The offices of the auricles and the ventricles are subverted. The blood is sent forth by the veins, and returns by the arteries. Consequently it is running the wrong way through all her corporeal organism — lungs and all. Is it then at all mys- terious, seeing that such is the case, that on the other particular of gravitation as well, she should differ from normal humanity ? My proposal for the cure is this : —
" Phlebotomize until she is reduced to the last point of safety. Let it be effected, if necessary, in a warm bath. When she is reduced to a state of perfect asphyxy, apply a ligature to the left ankle, drawing it as tight as the bone will bear. Apply, at the same moment, another of
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 39
equal tension around the right wrist. By means of plates constructed for the purpose, place the other foot and hand under the receivers of two air-pumps. Exhaust the receivers. Exhibit a pint of French brandy, and await the result."
"Which would presently arrive in the form of grim Death," said Kopy-Keck.
"If it should, she would yet die in doing our duty," retorted Hum-Drum.
But their Majesties had too much tenderness for their volatile offspring to subject her to either of the schemes of the equally unscrupulous philo- sophers. Indeed, the most complete knowledge of the laws of nature would have been unservice- able in her case ; for it was impossible to classify her. She was a fifth imponderable body, sharing all the other properties of the ponderable.
40 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
VIII. TRY A DROP OF WATER.
PERHAPS the best thing for the princess would have been to fall in love. But how a princess who had no gravity could fall into anything is a difficulty— perhaps the difficulty. As for her own feelings on the subject, she did not even know that there was such a beehive of honey and stings to be fallen into. But now I come to mention another curious fact about her.
The palace was built on the shores of the love- liest lake in the world; and the princess loved this lake more than father or mother. The root of this preference no doubt, although the princess did not recognise it as such, was, that the moment she got into it, she recovered the natural right of which she had been so wickedly deprived —
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 41
nametv, gravity. Whether this was owing to the fact that water had been employed as the means of conveying the injury, I do not know. But it is certain that she could swim and dive like the duck that her old nurse said she was. The manner in which this alleviation of her misfortune was discovered was as follows.
One summer evening, during the carnival of the country, she had been taken upon the lake by the king and queen, in the royal barge. They were accompanied by many of the courtiers in a fleet of little boats. In the middle of the lake she wanted to get into the lord chancellor's barge, for his daughter, who was a great favourite with her, was in it with her father. Now though the old king rarely condescended to make light of his mis- fortune, yet, happening on this occasion to be in a particularly good humour, as the barges approached each other, he caught up the princess to throw
42 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
her into the chancellor's barge. He lost his balance, however, and, dropping; into tne oottom of the barge lost his hold of his daughter ; not, however, before imparting to her the downward tendency of his own person, though in a somewhat different direction ; for, as the king fell into the boat, she fell into the water. With a burst of delighted laughter she disappeared in the lake. A cry of horror ascended from the boats. They had never seen the Princess go down before. Hall the men were under water in a moment ; but they had all, one after another come up to the surface again for breath, when — tinkle, tinkle, babble, and gush! came the princess's laugh over the water from far away. There she was, swimming like a swan. Nor would she come out for king or queen, chancellor or daughter. She was per- fectly obstinate.
But at the same time she seemed more sedate
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 43
than usual. Perhaps that was because a great pleasure spoils laughing. At all events, after this, the passion of her life was to get into the water, and she was always the better behaved and the more beautiful the more she had of it. Summer and winter it was quite the same ; only she could not stay so long in the water when they had to break the ice to let her in. Any day, from morning till evening in summer, she might be descried — a streak of white in the blue water — lying as still as the shadow of a cloud, or shooting along like a dolphin ; disappearing, and coming up again far off, just where one did not expect her. She would have been in the lake of a night too, if she could have had her way ; for the balcony of her window overhung a deep pool in it ; and through a shallow reedy passage she could have swum out into the wide wet water, and no one would have been any the
44 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
wiser. Indeed, when she happened to wake in the moonlight she could hardly resist the tempta- tion. But there was the sad difficulty of getting into it. She had as great a dread of the air as some children have of the water. For the slightest gust of wind would blow her away ; and a gust might arise in the stillest moment. And if she gave herself a push towards the water and just failed of reaching it, her situation would be dreadfully awkward, irrespective of the wind ; for at best there she would have to remain, suspended in her night-gown, till she was seen and angled for by somebody from the window.
" Oh ! if I had my gravity," thought she, con- templating the water, " I would flash off this bal- cony like a long white sea-bird, headlong into the darling wetness. Heigh-ho ! "
This was the only consideration that made her wish to be like other people.
THE LIGHT PRINCES*. 45
Another reason for her being fond of the water was that in it alone she enjoyed any freedom. For she could not walk out without a cortege, consisting in part of a troop of light-horse, for fear of the liberties which the wind might take with her. And the king grew more apprehensive with increasing years, till at last he would not allow her to walk abroad at all without some twenty silken cords fastened to as many parts of her dress, and held by twenty noblemen. Of course horseback was out of the question. But she bade good-by to all this ceremony when she got into the water.
And so remarkable were its effects upon her, especially in restoring her for the time to the ordinary human gravity, that Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck agreed in recommending the king to bury her alive for three years ; in the hope that, as the water did her so much good, the earth
46 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
would do her yet more. But the king had some vulgar prejudices against the experiment, and would not give his consent. Foiled in this, they yet agreed in another recommendation ; which, seeing that one imported his opinions from China and the other from Thibet, was very remarkable indeed. They argued that, if water of external origin and application could be so efficacious, water from a deeper source might work a perfect cure ; hi short, that if the poor afflicted princess could by any means be made to cry, she might recover her lost gravity.
. But how was this to be brought about ? Therein lay all the difficulty — to meet which the philosophers were not wise enough. To make the princess cry was as impossible as to make her weigh. They sent for a professional beggar ; commanded him to prepare his most touching oracle of woe ; helped him out of the court
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 47
charade box, to whatever he wanted for dressing up, and promised great rewards in the event of his success. But it was all in vain. She listened to the mendicant artist's story, and gazed at his marvellous make up, till she could contain herself no longer, and went into the most undignified contortions for relief, shrieking, positively screech- ing with laughter.
When she had a little recovered herself, she ordered her attendants to drive him away, and not give him a single copper ; whereupon his look of mortified discomfiture wrought her punishment and his revenge, for it sent her into violent hysterics, from which she was with difficulty recovered.
But so anxious was the king that the suggestion should have a fair trial, that he put himself in a rage one day, and, rushing up to her room, jjave her an awful whipping. Yet not a tear
48
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
would flow. She looked grave, and her ing; sounded uncommonly like screaming — that was all. The good old tyrant, though he pur on his best gold spectacles to look, could not discover the smallest cloud in the serene blue of her eyes.
IX.
PUT ME IN AGAIN.
IT must have been about this time that the son of a king, who lived a thousand miles from Lago- bel, set out to look for the daughter of a queen. He travelled far and wide, but as sure as he found a pnncess, he found some fault in her. Of course he could not marry a mere woman, however beau- tiful ; and there was no princess to be found worthy
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 4.3
of him. Whether the prince was so near perfec- tion that he had a right to demand perfection itself, I cannot pretend to say. All I know is, that he was a fine, handsome, brave, generous, well-bred, and well-behaved youth, as all princes are.
In his wanderings he had come across some reports about our princess ; but as everybody said she was bewitched, he never dreamed that she could bewitch him. For what indeed could a prince do with a princess that had lost her gravity? Who could tell what she might not lose next ? She might lose her visibility, or her tangibility ; or, in short, the power of making impressions upon the radical sensoriurn ; so that he should never be able to tell whether she was dead 01 alive. Of course he made no further inquiries about her.
One day he lost sight of his retinue in a great
VOL. VIII. E
So THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
forest. These forests are very useful in delivering princes from their courtiers, like a sieve that keeps back the bran. Then the princes get away to follow their fortunes. In this they have the advantage of the princesses, who are forced to marry before they have had a bit of fun. I wish our princesses got lost in a forest sometimes.
One lovely evening, after wandering about for many days, he found that he was approaching the outskirts of this forest ; for the trees had got so thin that he could see the sunset through them ; and he soon came upon a kind of heath. Next he came upon signs of human neighbourhood ; but by this time it was getting late, and there was nobody in the fields to direct him.
After travelling for another hour, his horse, quite worn out with long labour and lack of food, fell, and was unable to rise again. So he con- tinued his journey on foot. At length he entered
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 51
another wood — not a wild forest, but a civilized wood, through which a footpath led him to the side of a lake. Along this path the prince pur- sued his way through the gathering darkness. Suddenly he paused, and listened. Strange sounds came across the water. It was, in fact, the princess laughing. Now there was something odd in her laugh, as I have already hinted ; for the hatching of a real hearty laugh requires the in- cubation of gravity ; and perhaps this was how the prince mistook the laughter for screaming. Look- ing over the lake, he saw something white in the water ; and, in an instant, he had torn off his tunic, kicked off his sandals, and plunged in. He soon reached the white object, and found that it was a woman. There was not light enough to show that she was a princess, but quite enough to show that she was a lady, for it does not want much light to see that.
S2 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
Now I cannot tell how it came about, — whether she pretended to be drowning, or whether he frightened her, or caught her so as to embarrass her, — but certainly he brought her to shore in a fashion ignominious to a swimmer, and more nearly drowned than she had ever expected to be ; for the water had got into her throat as often as she had tried to speak.
At the place to which he bore her, the bank was only a foot or two above the water ; so he gave her a strong lift out of the water, to lay her on the bank. But, her gravitation ceasing the moment she left the water, away she went up into the air, scolding and screaming.
" You naughty, naughty, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY man ! " she cried.
No one had ever succeeded in putting her into a passion before. — When the prince saw her ascend, he thought he must have been bewitched^
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 53
and have mistaken a great swan for a lady. But the princess caught hold of the topmost cone upon a lofty fir. This came off ; but she caught at an- other j and, in fact, stopped herself by gathering cones, dropping them as the stalks gave way. The prince, meantime, stood in the water, staring, and forgetting to get out. But the princess disappear- ing, he scrambled on shore, and went in the direc- tion of the tree. There he found her climbing down one of the branches towards the stem. But in the darkness of the wood, the prince continued in some bewilderment as to what the phenomenon could be ; until, reaching the ground, and seeing him standing there, she caught hold of him, and said, —
"I'll tell papa."
" Oh no, you won't ! " returned the prince.
" Yes, I will," she persisted. " What business had you to pull me down out of the water, and
54 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
throw me to the bottom of the air ? I never did you any harm."
" Pardon me. I did not mean to hurt you."
" I don't believe you have any brains ; and that is a worse loss than your wretched gravity. I pity you."
The prince now saw that he had come upon the bewitched princess, and had already offended her. But before he could think what to say next, she burst out angrily, giving a stamp with her foot that would have sent her aloft again but for the hold she had of his arm, —
" Put me up directly."
"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince.
He had fallen in love with her almost, already ; for her anger made her more charming than any one else had ever beheld her ; and, as far as he could see, which certainly was not far, she had
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 55
not a single fault about her, except, of course, that she had not any gravity. No prince, how- ever, would judge of a princess by weight. The loveliness of her foot he would hardly estimate by the depth of the impression it could make in mud.
"Put you up where, you beauty?" asked the prince.
" In the water, you stupid ! " answered the princess.
"Come, then," said the prince.
The condition of her dress, increasing her usual difficulty in walking, compelled her to cling to him ; and he could hardly persuade himselt that he was not in a delightful dream, notwithstanding the torrent of musical abuse with which she over- whelmed him. The prince being therefore in no hurry, they came upon the lake at quite another part, where the bank was twenty-five feet high at
56 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
least ; and when they had reached the edge, he turned towards the princess, and said, —
" How am I to put you in ? "
" That is your business," she answered, quite snappishly. " You took me out — put me in again."
"Very well," said the prince; and, catching her up in his arms, he sprang with her from the rock. The princess had just time to give one delighted shriek of laughter before the water closed over them. When they came to the surface, she found that, for a moment or two, she could not even laugh, for she had gone down with such a rush, that it was with difficulty she re- covered her breath. The instant they reached the surface —
" How do you like falling in ? " said the prince.
After some effort the princess panted out, — " is that what you call falling in ? "
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 57
" Yes," answered the prince, " I should think it a very tolerable specimen."
"It seemed to me like going up," rejoined she.
" My feeling was certainly one of elevation too," the prince conceded.
The princess did not appear to understand him, for she retorted his question : —
' ' How do you like falling in ? " said the princess.
"Beyond everything," answered he; "for I have fallen in with the only perfect creature I ever saw."
" No more of that : I am tired of it," said the princess.
Perhaps she shared her father's aversion to punning.
" Don't you like falling in, then?" said the prince.
58 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
" It is the most delightful fun I ever had in my life," answered she. " I never fell before. I wish I could learn. To think I am the only person in my father's kingdom that can't fall ! "
Here the poor princess looked almost sad.
"I shall be most happy to fall in with you any time you like," said the prince, devotedly.
" Thank you. I don't know. Perhaps it would not be proper. But I don't care. At all events, as we have fallen in, let us have a swim together."
"With all my heart," responded the prince.
And away they went, swimming, and diving, and floating, until at last they heard cries along the shore, and saw lights glancing in all direc- tions. It was now quite late, and there was no moon.
"I must go home," said the princess. " I am very sorry, for this is delightful."
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 59
"So am I," returned the prince. "But I am glad I haven't a home to go to — at least, I don't exactly know where it is. "
"I wish I hadn't one either," rejoined the princess ; "it is so stupid ! I have a great mind," she continued, "to play them all a trick. Why couldn't they leave me alone ? They won't trust me in the lake for a single night ! — You see where that green light is burning ? That is the window of my room. Now if you would just swim there with me very quietly, and when we are all but under the balcony, give me such a push — tip you call it — as you did a little while ago, I should be able to catch hold of the balcony, and get in at the window ; and then they may look for me till to- morrow morning ! "
" With more obedience than pleasure," said the prince, gallantly ; and away they swam, very gently.
60 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
" Will you be in the lake to-morrow night ? '' the prince ventured to ask.
"To be sure I will. I don't think so. Perhaps," was the princess's somewhat strange answer.
But the prince was intelligent enough not to press her further; and merely whispered, as he gave her the parting lift, " Don't tell." The only answer the princess returned was a roguish look. She was already a yard above his head. The look seemed to say, "Never fear. It is too good fun to spoil that way."
So perfectly like other people had she been in the water, that even yet the prince could scarcely believe his eyes when he saw her ascend slowly, grasp the balcony, and disappear through the window. He turned, almost expecting to see her still by his side. But he was alone in the water. So he swam away quietly, and watched the lights
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 61
loving about the shore for hours after the princess was safe in her chamber. As soon as they disap- peared, he landed in search of his tunic and sword, and, after some trouble, found them again. Then he made the best of his way round the lake to the other side. There the wood was wilder, and the shore steeper — rising more immediately towards the mountains which surrounded the lake on all sides, and kept sending it messages of silvery streams from morning to night, and all night long. He soon found a spot whence he could see the green light in the princess's room, and where, even in the broad daylight, he would be in no danger of being discovered from the opposite shore. It was a sort of cave in the rock, where he provided him- self a bed of withered leaves, and lay down too tired for hunger to keep him awake. All night long he dreamed that he was swimming with the
THE LIGHT PRINCESS
X.
LOOK AT THE MOON.
EARLY the next morning the prince set out to look for something to eat, which he soon found at a forester's hut, where for many following days he was supplied with all that a brave prince could consider necessary. And having plenty to keep him alive for the present, he would not think of wants not yet in existence. Whenever Care in- truded, this prince always bowed him out in the most princely manner.
When he returned from his breakfast to his watch-cave, he saw the princess already floating about in the lake, attended by the king and queen — whom he knew by their crowns — and a great company in lovely little boats, with canopies of all the colours of the rainbow, and flags and streamers
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 63
of a great many more. It was a very bright day, and soon the prince, burned up with the heat, began to long for the cold water and the cool prin- cess. But he had to endure till twilight ; for the boats had provisions on board, and it was not till the sun went down that the gay party began to vanish. Boat after boat drew away to the shore, following that of the king and queen, till only one, apparently the princess's own boat, remained. But she did not want to go home even yet, and the prince thought he saw her order the boat to the shore without her. At all events, it rowed away ; and now, of all the radiant company, only one white speck remained. Then the prince began to sing.
And this is what he sung : —
" Lady fair, Swan-white, Lift thine eyes.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
Banish night By the might Of thine eyes.
Snowy arms, Oars of snow, Oar her hither, Plashing low. Soft and slow, Oar her hither.
Stream behind her
O'er the lake,
Radiant whiteness !
In her wake
Following, following for her sake.
Radiant whiteness !
Cling about her, Waters blue ; Part not from her, But renew Cold and true Kisses round her.
Lap me round,
Waters sad
That have left her
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 65
Make me glad,
For ye had
Kissed her ere ye left her."
Before he had finished his song, the princess was just under the place where he sat, and looking up to find him. Her ears had led her truly.
"Would you like a fall, princess?" said the prince, looking down.
"Ah! there you are! Yes, if you please, prince," said the princess, looking up.
"How do you know I am a prince, princess?" said the prince.
"Because you are a very nice young man, prince," said the princess.
" Come up then, princess."
" Fetch me, prince."
The prince took off his scarf, then his sword- belt, then his tunic, and tied them all together, and let them down. But the line was far too
VOL. VIII. F
66 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
bhort. He unwound his turban, and added it to the rest, when it was all but long enough; and his purse completed it. The princess just managed to lay hold of the knot of money, and was beside him in a moment. This rock was much higher than the other, and the splash and the dive were tre- mendous. The princess was in ectasies of delight, and their swim was delicious.
Night after night they met, and swam about in the dark clear lake ; where such was the prince's gladness, that (whether the princess's way of lool ing at things infected him, or he was actuall) getting light-headed) he often fancied that he was swimming in the sky instead of the lake. But when he talked about being in heaven, the prin- cess laughed at him dreadfully.
When the moon came, she brought them fresh pleasure. Everything looked strange and new in her light, with an old, withered, yet unfading new-
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 67
ness. When the moon was nearly full, one of their great delights was, to dive deep in the water, and then, turning round, look up through it at the great blot of light close above them, shimmer- ing and trembling and wavering, spreading and contracting, seeming to melt away, and again grow solid. Then they would shoot up through the blot; and lo! there was the moon, far off, clear and steady and cold, and very lovely, at the bottom of a deeper and bluer lake than theirs, as the princess said.
The prince soon found out that while in the water the princess was very like other people. And besides this, she was not so forward in her questions or pert in her replies at sea as on shore. Neither did she laugh so much ; and when she did laugh, it was more gently. She seemed altogether more modest and maidenly in the water than out of it. But when the prince, who had really faller
68 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
in love when he fell in the lake, began to talk to her about love, she always turned her head towards him and laughed. After a while she began to look puzzled, as if she were trying to understand what he meant, but could not — reveal- ing a notion that he meant something. But as soon as ever she left the lake, she was so altered, that the prince said to himself, " If I marry her, I see no help for it : we must turn merman and mermaid, and go out to sea at once."
XI.
HISS !
THE princess's pleasure in the lake had grown to a passion, and she could scarcely bear to be out ol it for an hour. Imagine then her consternation,
THE LIGHT PRINCESS, 69
when, diving with the prince one night, a sudden suspicion seized her that the lake was not so deep as it used to be. The prince could not imagine what had happened. She shot to the surface, and, without a word, swam at full speed towards the higher side of the lake. He followed, begging to know if she was ill, or what was the matter. She never turned her head, or took the smallest notice of his question. Arrived at the shore, she coasted the rocks with minute inspection. But she was not able to come to a conclusion, for the moon was very small, and so she could not see well. She turned therefore and swam home, without saying a word to explain her conduct to the prince, of whose presence she seemed no longer conscious. He withdrew to his cave, in great perplexity and distress.
Next day she made many observations, which, alas! strengthened her fears. She saw that the
70 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
banks were too dry ; and that the grass on the shore, and the trailing plants on the rocks, were withering away. She caused marks to be made along the borders, and examined them, day after day, in all directions of the wind ; till at last the horrible idea became a certain fact — that the sur- face of the lake was slowly sinking.
The poor princess nearly went out of the little mind she had. It was awful to her to see the lake, which she loved more than any living thing, lie dying before her eyes. It sank away, slowly vanishing. The tops of rocks that had never been seen till now, began to appear far down in the clear water. Before long they were dry in the sun. It was fearful to think of the mud that would soon lie there baking and festering, full of lovely creatures dying, and ugly creatures coming to life, like the unmaking of a world. And how hot the sun would be without any lake !
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 7t
She could not bear to swim in it any more, and began to pine away. Her life seemed bound up with it ; and ever as the lake sank, she pined. People said she would not live an hour after the lake was gone.
But she never cried.
Proclamation was made to all the kingdom, that whosoever should discover the cause of the lake's decrease, would be rewarded after a princely fashion. Hum-Drum and Kopy-Keck applied themselves to their physics and metaphysics ; but in vain. Not even they could suggest a cause.
Now the fact was that the old princess was at the root of the mischief. When she heard that her niece found more pleasure in the water than any one else had out of it, she went into a rage, and cvwrsed herself for her want of foresight.
"But," said she, "I will soon set ali right. The king and the people shall die of thirst ; their
72 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
brains shall boil and frizzle in their skulls before I will lose my revenge."
And she laughed a ferocious laugh, that made the hairs on the back of her black cat stand erect with terror.
Then she went to an old chest in the room, and opening it, took out what looked like a piece of dried seaweed. This she threw into a tub of water. Then she threw some powder into the water, and stirred it with her bare arm, muttering over it words of hideous sound, and yet more hideous import. Then she set the tub aside, and took from the chest a huge bunch of a hundred rusty keys, that clattered in her shaking hands. Then she sat down and proceeded to oil them all. Before she had finished, out from the tub, the water of which had kept on a slow motion ever since she had ceased stirring it, came the head and half the body of a huge gray snake. But the
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 73
witch did not look round. It grew out of the tub, waving itself backwards and forwards with a slow horizontal motion, till it reached the princess, when it laid its head upon her shoulder, and gave a low hiss in her ear. She stalled — but with joy ; and seeing the head resting on her shoulder, drew it towards her and kissed it. Then she drew it all out of the tub, and wound it round her body. It was one of those dreadful creatures which few have ever beheld — the White Snakes of Darkness.
Then she took the keys and went down to her cellar ; and as she unlocked the door she said to herself, —
" This is worth living for ! "
Locking the door behind her, she descended a few steps into the cellar, and crossing it, unlocked another door into a dark, narrow passage. She locked this also behind her, and descended a few
74
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
more steps. If any one had followed the witch- princess, he would have heard her unlock exactly one hundred doors, and descend a few steps after unlocking each. When she had unlocked the last, she entered a vast cave, the roof of which was supported by huge natural pillars of rock. Now this roof was the under side of the bottom of the lake.
She then untwined the snake from her body, and held it by the tail high above her The hideous creature stretched up its head towards the roof of the cavern, which it was just able to reach. It then began to move its head backwards and forwards, with a slow oscillating motion, as if looking for something. At the same moment the witch began to walk round and round the cavern, coming nearer to the centre every circuit ; while the head of the snake described the same path over the roof that she did over the floor, for
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 75
she kept holding it up. And still it kept slowly oscillating. Round and round the cavern they went, ever lessening the circuit, till at last the snake made a sudden dart, and clung to the roof with its mouth.
" That's right, my beauty ! " cried the princess ; " drain it dry."
She let it go, left it hanging, and sat down on a great stone, with her black cat, which had followed her all round the cave, by her side. Then she began to knit and mutter awful words. The snake hung like a huge leech, sucking at the stone ; the cat stood with his back arched, and his tail like a piece of cable, looking up at the snake ; and the old woman sat and knitted and muttered. Seven days and seven nights they remained thus ; when suddenly the serperl dropped from the roof as if exhausted, and shrivelled up till it was again like a piece o\
76 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
dried seaweed. The witch started to her feet, picked it up, put it in her pocket, and looked up at the roof. One drop of water was trembling on the spot where the snake had been sucking. As soon as she saw that, she turned and fled, followed by her cat. Shutting the door in a terrible hurry, she locked it, and having muttered some frightful words, sped to the next, which also she locked and muttered over ; and so with all the hundred doors, till she arrived in her own cellar. Then she sat down on the floor ready to faint, but listening with malicious delight to the rushing of the water, which she could hear dis- tinctly through all the hundred doors.
But this was not enough. Now that she had tasted revenge, she lost her patience. Without further measures, the lake would be too long in disappearing. So the next night, with the last shred of the dying old moon rising, she took some
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 77
of the water in which she had revived the snake, put it in a bottle, and set out, accompanied by her cat. Before morning she had made the entire circuit of the lake, muttering fearful words as she crossed every stream, and casting into it some oi the water out of her bottle. When she had finished the circuit she muttered yet again, and flung a handful of water towards the moon. Thereupon every spring in the country ceased to throb and bubble, dying away like the pulse of a dying man. The next day there was no sound of falling water to be heard along the borders of the lake. The very courses were dry ; and the mountains showed no silvery streaks down their dark sides. And not alone had the fountains of mother Earth ceased to flow j for all the babies throughout the country were crying dreadfully — only without tears.
78 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
XII.
WHERE IS THE PRINCE?
NEVER since the night when the princess left him so abruptly had the prince had a single interview with her. He had seen her once or twice in the lake ; but as far as he could discover, she had not been in it any more at night. He had sat and sung, and looked in vain for his Nereid ; while she, like a true Nereid, was wasting away with her lake, sinking as it sank, withering as it dried. When at length he dis- covered the change that was taking place in the level of the water, he was in great alarm and perplexity. He could not tell whether the lake was dying because the lady had forsaken it o/ whether the lady would not come because
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 79
the lake had begun to sink. But he resolved to know so much at least.
He disguised himself, and, going to the palace, requested to see the lord chamberlain. His ap- pearance at once gained his request ; and the lord chamberlain, being a man of some insight, perceived that there was more in the prince's solicitation than met the ear. He felt likewise that no one could tell whence a solution of the present difficulties might arise. So he granted the prince's prayer to be made shoe-black to the princess. It was rather cunning in the prince to request such an easy post, for the princess could not possibly soil as many shoes as other prin- cesses.
He soon learned all that could be told about the princess. He went nearly distracted ; but after roaming about the lake for days, and diving »n every depth that remained, all that he could
8o THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
do was to put an extra polish on the dainty pair of boots that was never called lor.
For the princess kept her room, with the cur- tains drawn to shut out the dying lake. But could not shut it out of her mind for a moment. It haunted her imagination so that she felt as if the lake were her soul, drying up within her, first to mud, then to madness and death. She thus brooded over the change, with all its dreadful accompaniments, till she was nearly distracted. As for the prince, she had forgotten him. However much she had enjoyed his com- pany in the water, she did not care for him without it. But she seemed to have forgotten her father and mother too.
The lake went on sinking. Small slimy spots began to appear, which glittered steadily amidst the changeful shine of the water. These grew to broad patches of mud, which widened and spread,
THE LIGh T PRINCESS. 81
with rocks here and there, and floundering fishes and crawling eels swarming. The people went everywhere catching these, and looking for any- thing that might have dropped from the royal boats.
At length the lake was all but gone, only a few of the deepest pools remaining unexhausted.
It happened one day that a party of youngsters found themselves on the brink of one of these pools in the very centre of the lake. It was a rocky basin of considerable depth. Looking in, they saw at the bottom something that shone yellow in the sun. A little boy jumped in and dived for it. It was a plate of gold covered with writing. They carried it to the king.
On one side of it stood these words : —
" Death alone from death can save. Love is death, and so is brave Love can fill the deepest grave. Love loves on beneath the wave."
82 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
Now this was enigmatical enough to the king and courtiers. But the reverse of the plate explained it a little. Its writing amounted to this : —
" If the lake should disappear, they must find the hole through which the water ran. But it would be useless to try to stop it by any ordinary means. There was but one effectual mode. — The body of a living man could alone stanch the flow. The man must give himself of his own will ; and the lake must take his life as it filled. Otherwise the offering would be of no avail. If the nation could not provide one hero, it was time it should perish."
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 83
XIII. HERE I AM.
THIS was a very disheartening revelation to the king — not that he was unwilling to sacrifice a subject, but that he was hopeless of finding a man willing to sacrifice himself. No time was to be lost, however, for the princess was lying motion- less on her bed, and taking no nourishment but lake-water, which was now none of the best. Therefore the king caused the contents of the wonderful plate of gold to be published through- out the country.
No one, however, came forward.
The prince, having gone several days' journey into the forest, to consult a hermit whom he had met there on his way to Lagobel, knew nothing of the oracle till his return.
84 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
When he had acquainted himself with all the particulars, he sat down and thought, —
" She will die if I don't do it, and life would be nothing to me without her ; so I shall lose nothing by doing it. And life will be as pleasant to her as ever, for she will soon forget me. And there will be so much more beauty and happiness in the world !— To be sure, I shall not see it." (Here the poor prince gave a sigh.) "How lovely the lake will be in the moonlight, with that glorious creature sporting in it like a wild goddess ! — It is rather hard to be drowned by inches, though. Let me see — that will be seventy inches of me to drown." (Here he tried to laugh, but could not.) "The longer the better, however," he resumed; "for can I not bargain that the princess shall be beside me all the time? So I shall see her once more, kiss her perhaps, — who knows ? and die looking in her eyes. It will be
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 85
no death. At least, I shall not feel it. And to see the lake filling for the beauty again !— All right ! I am ready."
He kissed the princess's boot, laid it down, and hurried to the king's apartment. But feeling, as he went, that anything sentimental would be dis- agreeable, he resolved to carry off the whole affair with nonchalance. So he knocked at the door of the king's counting-house, where it was all but a capital crime to disturb him.
When the king heard the knock he started up, and opened the door in a rage. Seeing only the shoeblack, he drew his sword. This, I am sorry to say, was his usual mode of asserting his regality when he thought his dignity was in danger. But the prince was not in the least
alarmed.
" Please your majesty, I'm your butler," said
he.
86 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
"My butler! you lying rascal! What do you mean?"
" I mean, I will cork your big bottle."
"Is the fellow mad?" bawled the king, raising the point of his sword.
" I will put a stopper — plug — what you call it, in your leaky lake, grand monarch," said the prince.
The king was in such a rage that before he could speak he had time to cool, and to reflect that it would be great waste to kill the only man who was willing to be useful in the present emer- gency, seeing that in the end the insolent fellow would be as dead as if he had died by his majesty's own hand.
"Oh! "said he at last, putting up his sword rt'ith difficulty, it was so long ; " I am obliged to you, you young fool ! Take a glass of wine ? "
" No, thank you," replied the prince.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 87
"Very well," said the king. "Would you like to run and see your parents before you make your experiment ? "
" No, thank you," said the prince.
"Then we will go and look for the hole at once," said his majesty, and proceeded to call some attendants.
" Stop, please your majesty ; I have a condition to make," interposed the prince.
"What ! " exclaimed the king, " a condition! and with me ! How dare you ? "
"As you please," returned the prince, coolly. " I wish your majesty a good morning."
" You wretch ! I will have you put in a sack, and stuck in the hole."
"Very well, your majesty," replied the prince, becoming a little more respectful, lest the wrath of the king should deprive him of the pleasure of dying for the princess. " But what good will that
88
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
do your majesty? Please to remember that the oracle says the victim must offer himself."
" Well, you have offered yourself," retorted the king.
" Yes, upon one condition."
" Condition again ! " roared the king, once more drawing his sword. " Begone ! Somebody else will be glad enough to take the honour off your shoulders."
" Your majesty knows it will not be easy to get jinother to take my place."
"Well, what is your condition?" growled the king, feeling that the prince was right.
"Only this," replied the prince: "that, as I must on no account die before I am fairly drowned, and the waiting will be rather wearisome, the prin- cess, your daughter, shall go with me, feed me with her own hands, and look at me now and then to comfort me ; for you must confess it is rather
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 89
hard. As soon as the water is up to my eyes, she may go and be happy, and forget her poor shoe- black."
Here the prince's voice faltered, and he very nearly grew sentimental, in spite of his resolution.
" Why didn't you tell me before what your con- dition was ? Such a fuss about nothing ! " ex- claimed the king.
" Do you grant it ? " persisted the prince.
" Of course I do," replied the king.
" Very well. I am ready."
" Go and have some dinner, then, while I set my people to find the place."
The king ordered out his guards, and gave direc- tions to the officers to find the hole in the lake at once. So the bed of the lake was marked out in divisions and thoroughly examined, and in an hour or so the hole was discovered. It was in the middle of a stone, near the centre of the lake, in
90 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
the very pool where the golden plate had been found. It was a three-cornered hole of no great size. There was water all round the stone, but very little was flowing through the hole.
XIV.
THIS IS VERY KIND OF YOU.
THE prince went to dress for the occasion, for he was resolved to die like a prince.
When the princess heard that a man had offered to die for her, she was so transported that she jumped off the bed, feeble as she was, and danced about the room for joy. She did not care who the man was; that was nothing to her. The hole wanted stopping ; and if only a man would do, why, take one. In an hour or two move every
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. Qi
thing was ready. Her maid dressed her in haste, and they carried her to the side of the lake. When she saw it she shrieked, and covered her face with her hands. They bore her across to the stone, where they had already placed a little boat for her. The water was not deep enough to float it, but they hoped it would be, before long. They laid her on cushions, placed in the boat wines and fruits and other nice things, and stretched a canopy over all.
In a few minutes the prince appeared. The princess recognized him at once, but did not think it worth while to acknowledge him.
" Here I am," said the prince. " Put me in."
"They told me it was a shoeblack," said the princess.
" So I am," said the prince. " I blacked your little boots three times a day, because they were all I could get of you. Put me in."
THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
The courtiers did not resent his bluntness, except by saying to each other that he was taking it out in impudence.
But how was he to be put in? The golden plate contained no instructions on this point. The prince looked at the hole, and saw but one way. He put both his legs into it, sitting on the stone, and, stooping forward, covered the corner that remained open with his two hands. In this uncomfortable position he re- solved to abide his fate, and turning to the people, said, —
" Now you can go."
The king had already gone home to dinner.
" Now you can go," repeated the princess aftei him, like a parrot.
The people obeyed her and went.
Presently a little wave flowed over the stone, and wetted one of the prince's knees. But he did
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 93
not mind it much. He began to sing, and the song he sang was this : —
" As a world that has no well, Darkly bright in forest dell ; As a world without the gleam Of the downward-going stream ; As a world without the glance Of the ocean's fair expanse ; As a world where never rain Glittered on the sunny plain ; — Such, my heart, thy world would be, If no love did flow in thee.
As a world without the sound Of the rivulets underground ; Or the bubbling of the spring Out of darkness wandering ; Or the mighty rush and flowing Of the river's downward going ; Or the music-showers that drop On the outspread beech's top ; Or the ocean's mighty voice, When his lifted waves rejoice ; — Such, my soul, thy world would be, If no love did sing in thee.
Lady, keep thy world's delight ; Keep the waters in thy sight
94 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
Love hath made me strong to go, For thy sake, to realms below. Where the water's shine and hum Through the darkness never come : Let, I pray, one thought of me Spring, a little well, in thee ; Lest thy loveless soul be found Like a dry and thirsty ground."
" Sing again, prince. It makes it less tedious," said the princess.
But the prince was too much overcome to sing any more, and a long pause followed.
"This is very kind of you, prince," said the princess at last, quite coolly, as she lay in the boat with her eyes shut.
"I am sorry I can't return the compliment," thought the prince ; "but you are worth dying for, after all."
Again a wavelet, and another, and another flowed over the stone, and wetted both the prince's knees ; but he did not speak or move.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 95
Two — three — four hours passed in this way, the princess apparently asleep, and the prince very patient. But he was much disappointed in his position, for he had none of the consolation he had hoped for.
At last he could bear it no longer.
" Princess !" said he.
But at the moment up started the princess, crying,—
"I'm afloat! I'm afloat !"
And the little boat bumped against the stone.
" Princess ! " repeated the prince, encouraged by seeing her wide awake and looking eagerly at the water.
" Well ? " said she, without looking round.
" Your papa promised that you should look at me, and you haven't looked at me once."
" Did he ? Then I suppose I must. But 1 am so sleepy ! "
g6 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
" Sleep then, darling, and don't mind me," said the poor prince.
"Really, you are very good," replied the prin- cess. "I think I will go to sleep again."
"Just give me a glass of wine and a biscuit first," said the prince, very humbly.
"With all my heart," said the princess, and gaped as she said it.
She got the wine and the biscuit, however, and leaning over the side of the boat towards him, was compelled to look at him.
" Why, prince," she said, " you don't look well ! Are you sure you don't mind it ? "
" Not a bit," answered he, feeling very faint indeed. " Only I shall die before it is of any use to you, unless I have something to eat."
"There, then," said she, holding out the wine to him.
"Ah! you must feed me. I dare not move
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 97
my hands. The water would run away di- rectly."
•' Good gracious ! " said the princess ; and she began at once to feed him with bits of biscuit and sips of wine.
As she fed him, he contrived to kiss the tips of her fingers now and then. She did not seem to mind it, one way or the other. But the prince felt better.
"Now, for your own sake, princess," said he, "I cannot let you go to sleep. You must sit and look at me, else I shall not be able to keep up."
"Well, I will do anything I can to oblige you," answered she, with condescension ; and, sitting down, she did look at him, and kept looking at him with wonderful steadiness, considering all things.
The sun went down, and the moon rose, and,
VOL. VIII. H
98 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
gush after gush, the waters were rising up the prince's body. They were up to his waist now.
" Why can't we go and have a swim ? " said the princess. " There seems to be water enough just about here."
" I shall never swim more," said the prince.
" Oh, I forgot," said the princess, and was silent.
So the water grew and grew, and rose up and up on the prince. And the princess sat and looked at him. She fed him now and then. The night wore on. The waters rose and rose. The moon rose likewise higher and higher, and shone full on the face of the dying prince. The water was up to his neck.
" Will you kiss me, princess ?" said he, feebly. The nonchalance was all gone now.
" Yes, I will," answered the princess, and kissed him with a long, sweet, cold kiss.
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. gg
"Now," said he, with a sigh of content, "I die happy."
He did not speak again. The princess gave him some wine for the last time : he was past eating. Then she sat down again, and looked at him. The water rose and rose. It touched his chin. It touched his lower lip. It touched between his lips. He shut them hard to keep it out. The princess began to feel strange. It touched his upper lip. He breathed through his nostrils The princess looked wild. It covered his nostrils Her eyes looked scared, and shone strange in the moonlight. His head fell back ; the water closed over it, and the bubbles of his last breath bubbled up through the water. The princess gave a shriek, and sprang into the lake.
She laid hold first of one leg, and then of the other, and pulled and tugged, but she could not move either. She stopped to take breath, and
too THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
that made her think that he could not get any breath. She was frantic. She got hold of him, and held his head above the water, which was possible now his hands were no longer on the hole. But it was of no use, for he was past breathing.
Love and water brought back all her strength. She got under the water, and pulled and pulled with her whole might, till at last she got one leg out. The other easily followed. How she got him into the boat she never could tell ; but when she did, she fainted away. Coming to herself, she seized the oars, kept herself steady as best she could, aud rowed and rowed, though she had never rowed before. Round rocks, and over shallows, and through mud she rowed, till she got to the landing-stairs of the palace. By this time her people were on the shore, for they had heard her shriek. She made them carry the prince to
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 101
her own room, and lay him in her bed, and light <\ fire, and send for the doctors.
" But the lake, your highness ! " said the cham- berlain, who, roused by the noise, came in, in his nightcap.
" Go and drown yourself in it ! " she said.
This was the last rudeness of which the princess was ever guilty ; and one must allow that she had good cause to feel provoked with the lord chamber- lain.
Had it been the king himself, he would have fared no better. But both he and the queen were fast asleep. And the chamberlain went back to his bed. Somehow, the doctors never came. So the princess and her old nurse were left with the prince. But the old nurse was a wise woman, and knew what to do.
They tried everything for a long time without success. The princess was nearly distracted
io2 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
between hope and fear, but she tried on and on, one thing after another, and everything over and over again.
At last, when they had all but given it up, just as the sun rose, the prince opened his eyes.
XV.
LOOK AT THE RAIN !
THE princess burst into a passion of tears, and fell on the floor. There she lay for an hour, and her tears never ceased. All <,the pent-up crying of her life was spent now. And a rain came on, such as had never been seen in that country. The sun shone all the time, and the great drops, which fell straight to the earth, shone likewise. The palace was in the heart of a rainbow. It was a
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. loj
rain of rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds, and topazes. The torrents poured from the mountains like molten gold; and if it had not been for its subterraneous outlet, the lake would have over- flowed and inundated the country. It was full from shore to shore.
But the princess did not heed the lake. She lay on the floor and wept. And this rain within doors was far more wonderful than the rain out of doors. For when it abated a little, and she pro- ceeded to rise, she found, to her astonishment, that she could not. At length, after many efforts, she succeeded in getting upon her feet. But she tumbled clown again directly. Hearing her fall, her old nurse uttered a yell of delight, and ran to her, screaming, —
"My darling child! she's found her gravity!" "Oh, that's it ! is it?" said the princess, rubbing her shouldei and her knee alternately. "I con-
io4 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
sider it very unpleasant. I feel as if I should be crushed to pieces."
' ' Hurrah ! " cried the prince from the bed. "If you've come round, princess, so have I. How's the lake?"
"Brimful," answered the nurse.
"Then we're all happy."
"That we are indeed!" answered the princess, sobbing.
And there was rejoicing all over the country that rainy day. Even the babies forgot their past troubles, and danced and crowed amazingly. And the king told stories, and the queen listened to them. And he divided the money in his box, and she the honey in her pot, among all the children. And there was such jubilation as was never heard of before.
Of course the prince and princess were be- trothed at once. But the princess had to learn
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 105
to walk, before they could be married with any propriety. And this was not so easy at her time of life, for she could walk no more than a baby. She was always falling down and hurting her- self.
"Is this the gravity you used to make so much of?" said she one day to the prince, as he raised her from the floor. "For my part, I was a great deal more comfortable without it."
"No, no, that's not it. This is it," replied the prince, as he took her up, and carried her about like a baby, kissing her all the time. "This is gravity."
"That's better," said she. "I don't mind that so much."
And she smiled the sweetest, loveliest smile in the prince's face. And she gave him one little kiss in return for all his; and he thought them overpaid, for he was beside himself with delight.
io6 THE LIGHT PRINCESS.
I fear she complained of her gravity more than once after this, notwithstanding.
It was a long time before she got reconciled to walking. But the pain of learning it was quite counterbalanced by two things, either of which would have been sufficient consolation. The first was, that the prince himself was her teacher ; and the second, that she could tumble into the lake as often as she pleased. Still, she preferred to have the prince jump in with her ; and the splash they made before was nothing to the splash they made now.
The lake never sank again. In process of time, it wore the roof of the cavern quite through, and was twice as deep as before.
The only revenge the princess took upon her aunt was to tread pretty hard on her gouty toe the next time she saw her. But she was sorry for it the very next day, when she heard that the water
THE LIGHT PRINCESS. 107
had undermined her house, and that it had fallen in the night, burying her in its ruins ; whence no one ever ventured to dig up her body. There she lies to this day.
So the prince and princess lived and were happy ; and had crowns of gold, and clothes of cloth, and shoes of leather, and children of boys and girls, not one of whom was ever known, on the most critical occasion, to lose the smallest atom of his or her due proportion of gravity.
THE GIANT'S HEART.
THE GIANT'S HEART.
I HERE was once a giant who lived on the borders of Giantland where it touched on the country of common people.
Everything in Giantland was so big that the common people saw only a mass of awful moun- tains and clouds; and no living man had ever come from it, as far as anybody knew, to tell what he had seen in it.
Somewhere near the borders, on the other side, by the edge of a great forest, lived a labourer with his wife and a great many children. One day Tricksey-Wee, as they called her, teased her bro-
U2 THE GIANT'S HEART.
ther Buffy-Bob, till he could not bear it any longer, and gave her a box on the ear. Tricksey-Wee cried ; and Buffy-Bob was so sorry and so ashamed of himself that he cried too, and ran off into the wood. He was so long gone that Tricksey-Wee began to be frightened, for she was very fond of her brother; and she was so distressed that she had first teased him and then cried, that at last she ran into the wood to look for him, though there was more chance of losing herself than of finding him. And, indeed, so it seemed likely to turn out ; for, running on without looking, she at length found herself in a valley she knew nothing about. And no wonder; for what she thought was a valley with round, rocky sides, was no other than the space between two of the roots of a great tree that grew on the borders of Giantland. She climbed over the side of it, and went towards what she took for a black, round-topped moun-
THE GIANTS HEART. 113
tain, far away ; but which she soon discovered to be close to her, and to be a hollow place so great that she could not tell what it was hollowed out of. Staring at it, she found that it was a doorway; and going nearer and staring harder, she saw the door, far in, with a knocker of iron upon it, a great many yards above her head, and as large as the anchor of a big ship. Now nobody had ever been unkind to Tricksey-Wee, and therefore she was not afraid of anybody. For Buffy-Bob's box on the ear she did not 'iiink worth considering. So spying a little hole at the bottom of the door which had been nibbled by some giant mouse, she crept through it, and found herself in an enormous hall. She could not have seen the other end of it at all, except for the great fire that was burning there, diminished to a spark in the distance. Towards this fire she ran as fast as she could, and was not far from it when something fell before her
ii4 THE GIANT'S HEART.
with a great clatter, over which she tumbled, and went rolling on the floor. She was not much hurt, however, and got up in a moment. Then she saw that what she had fallen over was not unlike a great iron bucket. When she examined it more closely, she discovered that it was a thim- ble ; and looking up to see who had dropped it, beheld a huge face, with spectacles as big as the round windows in a church, bending over her, and looking everywhere for the thimble. Tricksey- Wee immediately laid hold of it in both her arms, and lifted it about an inch nearer to the nose of the peering giantess. This movement made the old lady see where it was, and, her ringer popping into it, it vanished from the eyes of Tricksey-Wee, buried in the folds of a white stocking like a cloud in the sky, which Mrs. Giant was busy darning. For it was Saturday night, and her husband would waer nothing but white stockings on Sunday. To
: GIANT'S HEART. 115
be sure, he did eat little children, but only very little ones; and if ever it crossed his mind that it was wrong to do so, he always said to himself that he wore whiter stockings on Sunday than any other giant in all Giantland.
At the same instant Trickscy-Wee heard a sound like the wind in a tree full of leaves, and could not think what it could be ; till, looking up she found that it was the giantess whispering to her ; and when she tried very hard she could hear what she said well enough.
"Run away, dear little girl," she said, "as fast as you can ; for my husband will be home in a few minutes."
"But I've never been naughty to your hus- band," said Tricksey-Wee, looking up in the giantess's face.
"That doesn't matter. You had better go. He is fond of little children, particularly little girls."
n6 THE GSANT'S HEART.
"Oh, then he won't hurt me."
"I am not sure of that. He is so fond of them that he eats them up; and I am afraid he couldn't help hurting you a little. He's a very good man, though."
"Oh! then—" began Tricksey-Wee, feeling rather frightened; but before she could finish her sentence she heard the sound of footsteps very far apart and very heavy. The next moment, who should come running towards her, full speed, and as pale as death, but Buffy-Bob. She held out her arms, and he ran into them. But when she tried to kiss him, she only kissed the back of his head ; for his white face and round eyes were turned to the door.
" Run, children ; run arid hide," said the giantess.
" Come, Buffy," said Tricksey ; " yonder 's a great brake ; we'll hide in it."
THE GIANT'S HEART. 117
The brake was a big broom ; and they had just got into the bristles of it when they heard the door open with a sound of thunder, and in stalked the giant. You would have thought you saw the whole earth through the door when he opened it, so wide was it ; and when he closed it, it was like nightfall.
"Where is that little boy?" he cried, with a voice like the bellowing of a cannon. "He looked a very nice boy indeed. I am almost sure he crept through the mousehole at the oottom of the door. Where is he, my dear ? "
" I don't know," answered the giantess.
" But you know it is wicked to tell lies ; don't you, my dear ? " retorted the giant.
"Now, you ridiculous old Thunderthump ! " said his wife, with a smile as broad as the sea in the sun, " how can I mend your white stockings and look after little boys? You have
n8 THE GIANT'S HEART.
got plenty to last you over Sunday, I am sure. Just look what good little boys they are ! "
Tricksey-Wee and BufFy-Bob peered through the bristles, and discovered a row of little boys, about a dozen, with very fat -faces and goggle eyes, sitting before the fire, and looking stupidly into it. Thunderthump intended the most of these for pickling, and was feeding them well before salting them. Now and then, however, he could not keep his teeth off them, and would eat one by the bye, without salt.
He strode up to the wretched children. Now what made them veiy wretched indeed was, that they knew if they could only keep from eating, and grow thin, the giant would dislike them, and turn them out to find their way home ; but not- withstanding this, so greedy were they, that they ate as much as ever they could hold. The giantess, who fed them, comforted herself with
THE GIANT'S HEART. 119
thinking that they were not real boys and girls, but only little pigs pretending to be boys and girls.
"Now tell me the truth," cried the giant, bending his face down over them. They shook with terror, and every one hoped it was some- body else the giant liked best. "Where is the little boy that ran into the hall just now ? Who- ever tells me a lie shall be instantly boiled.''
" He's in the broom," cried one dough-faced boy. " He's in there, and a little girl with him."
"The naughty children," cried the giant, "to hide from me! " And he made a stride towards the broom.
"Catch hold of the bristles, Bobby. Get right into a tuft, and hold on," cried Tricksey- Wee, just in time.
The giant caught up the broom, and seeing
ITO THE GIANT'S HEART.
nothing under it, set it down again with a force that threw them both on the floor. He then made two strides to the boys, caught the dough- faced one by the neck, took the lid off a great pot that was boiling on the fire, popped him in as if he had been a trussed chicken, put the lid on again, and saying, "There, boys! See what comes of lying ! " asked no more questions ; for, as he always kept his word, he was afraid he might have to do the same to them all ; and he did not like boiled boys. He liked to eat them crisp, as radishes, whether forked or not, ought to be eaten. He then sat down, and asked his wife if his supper was ready. She looked into the pot, and throwing the boy out with the ladle, as if he had been a black beetle that had tumbled in and had had the worst of it, answered that she thought it was. Whereupon he rose to help her ; and taking the pot from the fire, poured the whole
THE GIANT'S HEART. 1-21
contents, bubbling and splashing, into a dish like a vat. Then they sat down to supper. The children in the broom could not see what they had ; but it seemed to agree with them ; for the giant talked like thunder, and the giantess answered like the sea, and they grew chattier and chattier. At length the giant said,—
"I don't feel quite comfortable about that heart of mine." And as he spoke, instead of laying his hand on his bosom, he waved it away towards the corner where the children were peeping from the broom bristles, like frightened little mice.
"Well, you know, my darling Thunderthump," answered his wife, "I always thought it ought to be nearer home. But you know best, of course.''
" Ha ! ha ! You don't know where it is, wife. I moved it a month ago."
i22 THE GIANT'S HEART.
" What a man you are, Thunderthump ! You trust any creature alive rather than your own wife."
Here the giantess gave a sob which sounded exactly like a wave going flop into the mouth of a cave up to the roof.
" Where have you got it now ? " she resumed, checking her emotion.
"Well, Doodlem, I don't mind telling you," answered the giant, soothingly. " The great she- eagle has got it for a nest egg. She sits on it night and day, and thinks she will bring the greatest eagle out of it that ever sharpened his beak on the rocks of Mount Skycrack. I can warrant no one else will touch it while she has got it. But she is rather capricious, and I con- fess I am not easy about it ; for the least scratch of one of her claws would do for me at once. And she has claws."
THE GIANT'S HEART. 123
I refer any one who doubts this part of my story to certain chronicles of Giantland preserved among the Celtic nations. It was quite a com- mon thing for a giant to put his heart out to nurse, because he did not like the trouble and responsibility of doing it himself; although I must confess it was a dangerous sort of plan to take, especially with such a delicate viscus as the heart.
All this time Buffy-Bob and Tricksey-Wee were listening with long ears.
"Oh!" thought Tricksey-Wee, " If I could but find the giant's cruel heart, wouldn't I give it a squeeze ! "
The giant and giantess went on talking for a long time. The giantess kept advising the giant to hide his heart somewhere in the house ; but he seemed afraid of the advantage it would give hex over him.
i24 THE GIANTS HEART.
" You could hide it at the bottom of the flour- barrel," said she.
" That would make me feel chokey," answered he.
" Well, in the coal-cellar. Or in the dust-hole — that's the place ! No one would think of look- ing for your heart in the dust-hole."
" Worse and worse ! " cried the giant.
" Well, the water-butt," suggested she.
"No, no; it would grow spongy there,'' said he.
" Well, what will you do with it ? "
" I will leave it a month longer where it is, and then I will give it to the Queen of the Kangaroos, and she will carry it in her pouch for me. It is best to change its place, you know, lest my enemies should scent it out. But, dear Doodlem, it's a fretting care to have a heart of one's own to look after. The responsibility is too much for me.
THE GIANT'S HEART. 125
If it were not for a bite of a radish now and then, I never could bear it."
Here the giant looked lovingly towards the row of little boys by the fire, all of whom were nod- ding, or asleep on the floor.
"Why don't you trust it to me, dear Thunder- thump?" said his wife. "I would take the best possible care of it."
" I don't doubt it, my love. But the responsi- bility would be too much for you. You would no longer be my darling, light-hearted, airy, laughing Doodlem. It would transform you into a heavy, oppressed woman, weary of life — as I am."
The giant closed his eyes and pretended to go to sleep. His wife got his stockings, and went on with her darning. Soon the giant's pretence be- came reality, and the giantess began to nod over her work.
"Now, Buffy," whispered Tricksey-Wee,"now's
126 THE GIANT'S HEART.
our time. I think it's moonlight, and we had better be off. There's a door with a hole for the cat just behind us."
" All right," said Bob ; "I'm ready."
So they got out of the broom-brake and crept to the door. But to their great disappointment, when they got through it, they found themselves in a sort of shed. It was full of tubs and things, and, though it was built of wood only, they could not find a crack.
"Let us try this hole," said Tricksey ; for the giaftt and giantess were sleeping behind them, and they dared not go back.
"All right," said Bob.
He seldom said anything else than All right.
Now this hole was in a mound that came in through the wall of the shed, and went along the floor for some distance. They crawled into it, and found it very dark. But groping their way
THE GIANTS HEART. 127
along, they soon came to a small crack, through which they saw grass, pale in the moonshine. As they crept on, they found the hole began to get wider and lead upwards.
" What is that noise of rushing?" said Buffy- Bob.
" T can't tell," replied Tricksey ; " for, you see, I don't know what we are in."
The fact was, they were creeping along a chan- nel in the heart of a giant tree ; and the noise they heard was the noise of the sap rushing along in its wooden pipes. When they laid their ears to the wall, they heard it gurgling along with a pleasant noise.
"It sounds kind and good," said Tricksey. "It is water running. Now it must be running from somewhere to somewhere. I think we had better go on, and we shall come somewhere."
It was now rather difficult to go on, for they had to climb as if they were climbing a hill ; and
isS THE GIANT'S HEART.
now the passage was wide. Nearly worn out, they saw light overhead at last, and creeping through a crack into the open air, found them- selves on the fork of a huge tree. A great, broad, uneven space lay around them, out of which spread boughs in every direction, the smallest of them as big as the biggest tree in the country of common people. Overhead were leaves enough to supply all the trees they had ever seen. Not much moonlight coukl come through, but the leaves would glimmer white in the wind at times. The tree was full of giant birds. Every now and then, one would sweep through, with a great noise. But, except an occasional chirp, sounding like a shrill pipe in a great organ, they made no noise. All at once an owl began to hoot. He thought he was singing. As soon as he began, other birds replied, making rare game of him. To their astonishment, the children found thev could
THE GIANT'S HEART 129
understand every word they sang. And what they sang was something like this : —
" I will sing a song.
I'm the owl." " Sing a song, you sing-song
Ugly fowl!
What will you sing about, Night in and Day out ?"
" Sing about the night ;
I'm the owl." " You could not see for the light,
Stupid fowl!"
" Oh ! the moon ! and the dew ! And the shadows ! — tu-whoo !"
The owl spread out his silent, soft, sly wings, and lighting between Tricksey-Wee and Buffy- Bob, nearly smothered them, closing up one under each wing. It was like being buried in a down bed. But the owl did not like anything between his sides and his wings, so he opened his wings again, and the children made haste to get out.
i3o THE GIANT'S HEART.
Tricksey-Wee immediately went in front of the bird, and looking up into his huge face, which was as round as the eyes of the giantess's spec- tacles, and much bigger, dropped a pretty cour- tesy, and said, —
" Please, Mr. Owl, I want to whisper to you."
"Very well, small child," answered the owl, looking important, and stooping his ear towards her. "What is it?"
" Please tell me where the eagle lives that sits on the giant's heart."
"Oh, you naughty child! That's a secret. For shame ! "
And with a great hiss that terrified them, the owl flew into the tree. All birds are fond of secrets ; but not many of them can keep them so well as the owl.
So the children went on because they did not know what else to do They found the way very
THE GIANTS HEART. 131
rough and difficult, the tree was so full of humps and hollows. Now and then they plashed into a pool of rain ; now and then they came upon twigs growing out of the trunk where they had no busi- ness, and they were as large as full-grown poplars. Sometimes they came upon great cushions of soft moss, and on one of them they lay down and rested. But they had not lain long before they spied a large nightingale sitting on a branch, with its bright eyes looking up at the moon. In a moment more he began to sing, and the birds about him began to reply, but in a very different tone from that in which they had replied to the owl. Oh, the birds did call the nightingale such pretty names ! The nightingale sang, and the birds replied like this : —
" I will sing a song.
I'm the nightingale." " Sing a song, long, long,
Little Neverfail !
133 THE GIANT'S HEART.
What will you sing about, Light in or light out ? "
" Sing about the light Gone away ;
Down, away, and out of sight- Poor lost day !
Mourning for the day dead,
O'er his dim bed. "
The nightingale sang so sweetly, that the child- ren would have fallen asleep but for fear of losing any of the song. When the nightingale stopped they got up and wandered on. They did not know where they were going, but they thought it best to keep going on, because then they might come upon something or other. They were very sorry they had forgotten to ask the nightingale about the eagle's nest, but his music had put every- thing else out of their heads. They resolved, however, not to forget the next time they had a chance. So they went on and on, till they were
THE GIANTS HEART. 133
both tired, and Tricksey-Wee said at last, trying to laugh, —
" I declare my legs feel just like a Dutch doll's."
" Then here's the place to go to bed in," said Buffy-Bob.
They stood at the edge of a last year's nest, and looked down with delight into the round, mossy cave. Then they crept gently in, and, lying down in each other's arms, found it so deep, and warm, and comfortable, and soft, that they were soon fast asleep.
Now close beside them, in a hollow, was another nest, in which lay a lark and his wife; and the children were awakened, very early in the morning, by a dispute between Mr. and Mrs. Lark.
" Let me up," said the lark.
" It is not time," said the lark's wife.
*34 THE GIANTS HEART.
"It is," said the lark, rather rudely. "The darkness is quite thin. I can almost see my own beak."
"Nonsense!" said the lark's wife. "You know you came home yesterday morning quite worn out — you had to fly so very high before you saw him. I am sure he would not mind if you took it a little easier. Do be quiet and go to sleep again."
"That's not it at all," said the lark. "He doesn't want me. I want him. Let me up, I say."
He began to sing ; and Tricksey-Wee and Buffy-Bob, having now learned the way, answered him : —
" I will sing a song,
I'm the Lark." " Sing, sing, Throat-strong,
Little Kill-the-dark. What will you sing about, Now the night is out ? "
THE GIANTS HEART. 13 5
" 1 can only call ;
I can't think. Let me up — that's all.
Let me drink ! Thirsting all the long night For a drink of light."
By this time the lark was standing on the edge of his nest and looking at the children.
" Poor little things ! You can't fly," said the lark.
" No ; but we can look up," said Tricksey.
" Ah, you don't know what it is to see the very first of the sun."
' ' But we know what it is to wait till he comes. He's no worse for your seeing him first, is he ? "
" Oh no, certainly not," answered the lark, with condescension ; and then, bursting into his Jubilate, he sprang aloft, clapping his wings like a clock running down.
" Tell us where—" began Buffy-Bob.
i36 THE GIANT'S HEART.
But the lark was out of sight. His song was all that was left of him. That was everywhere, and he was nowhere.
"Selfish bird!" said Buffy. "It's all very well for larks to go hunting the sun, but they have no business to despise their neighbours, for all that."
"Can I be of any use to you?" said a sweet bird-voice out of the nest.
This was the lark's wife, who stayed at home with the young larks while her husband went to church.
"Oh! thank you. If you please," answered Tricksey-Wee.
And up popped a pretty brown head ; and then up came a brown feathery body ; and last of all came the slender legs on to the edge of the nest. There she turned, and, looking down into the nest, from which came a whole litany of chirp-
THE GIANTS HEART. 137
injr* for breakfast, said, "Lie still, little ones." Then she turned to the children.
" My husband is King of the Larks," she said.
Buffy-Bob took off his cap, and Tricksey-Wee courtesied very low.
" Oh, it's not me," said the bird, looking very shy. " I am only his wife. It's my husband."
And she looked up after him into the sky, whence his song was still falling like a shower of musical hailstones. Perhaps she could see him.
" He's a splendid bird," said Buffy-Bob ; '* only you know he will get up a little too early."
" Oh, no ! he doesn't. It's only his way, you know. But tell me what I can do for you."
"Tell us, please, Lady Lark, where the she- eagle lives that sits on Giant Thunderthump's heart."
"Oh ! that is a secret."
' ' Did you promise not to tell ? "
138 THE GIANTS HEART.
"No; but larks ought to be discreet. They see more than other birds."
" But you don't fly up high like your husband, do you?"
"Not often. But it's no matter. I come to know things for all that."
" Do tell me, and I will sing you a song," said Tricksey-Wee.
" Can you sing too ? — You have got no wings ! "
"Yes. And I will sing you a song I learned the other day about a lark and his wife."
" Please do," said the lark's wife. " Be quiet, children, and listen."
Tricksey-Wee was very glad she happened to know a song which would please the lark's wife, at least, whatever the lark himself might have .hought of it, if he had heard it. So she sang: —
" ' Good-morrow, my lord ! ' in the sky alone, Sang the lark, as the sun ascended his throne.
THE GIANT'S HEART. 139
' Shine on me, my lord ; I only am come, Of all your servants, to welcome you home. I have flown a whole hour, right up, I swear, To catch the first shine of your golden hair ! '
' Must I thank you, then,' said the king, ' Sir Lark,
For flying so high, and hating the dark?
You ask a full cup for half a thirst :
Half is love of me, and half love to be first.
There's many a bird that makes no haste,
But waits till I come. That's as much to my taste.
And the king hid his head in a turban of cloud ; And the lark stopped singing, quite vexed and cowed But he flew up higher, and thought, ' Anon, The wrath of the king will be over and gone ; And his crown, shining out of its cloudy fold, Will change my brown feathers to a glory of gold.'
So he flew, with the strength of a lark he flew, But as he rose the cloud rose too ; And not a gleam of the golden hair Came through the depth of the misty air ; Till, weary with flying, with sighing sore, The strong sun-seeker could do no more.
His wings had had no chrism of gold,
And his feathers felt withered and worn and old •
i4o THE GIANT'S HEART.
So he quivered and sank, and dropped like a stone. And there on his nest, where he left her, alone, Sat his little wife on her little eggs. Keeping them warm with wings and legs.
Did I say alone ? Ah, no such thing !
Full in her face was shining the king.
' Welcome, Sir Lark I You look tired,' said he.
' Up is not always the best way to me.
While you have been singing so high and away,
I've been shining to your little wife all day.'
He had set his crown all about the nest,
And out of the midst shone her little brown breast ;
And so glorious was she in russet gold,
That for wonder and awe Sir Lark grew cold.
He popped his head under her wing, and lay
As still as a stone, till the king was away."
As soon as Tricksey-Wee had finished her song, *he lark's wife began a low, sweet, modest little gong of her own; and after she had piped away for two or three minutes, she said, —
"You dear children, what can I do for you?" "Tell us where the she-eagle lives, please," said Tricksey-Wee.
THE GIANT'S HEART. 141
"Well, I don't think there can be much harm in telling such wise, good children," said Lady Lark; "I am sure you don't want to do any mis- chief."
"Oh, no; quite the contrary," said Buffy-Bob.
" Then I'll tell you. She lives on the very top- most peak of Mount Skycrack ; and the only way to get up is to climb on the spider's webs that cover it from top to bottom."
"That's rather serious," said Tricksey-Wee.
"But you don't want to go up, you foolish little thing ! You can't go. And what do you want to go up for?"
"That is a secret," said Tricksey-Wee.
"Well, it's no business of mine," rejoined Lady Lark, a little offended, and quite vexed that she had told them. So she flew away to find some breakfast for her little ones, who by this time were chirping very impatiently. The children
142
THE GIANT'S HEART.
looked at each other, joined hands, and walked off.
In a minute more the sun was up, and they soon reached the outside of the tree. The bark was so knobby and rough, and full of twigs, that they managed to get down, though not without great difficulty. Then, far away to the north they saw a huge peak, like the spire of a church, going right up into the sky. They thought this must be Mount Skycrack, and turned their faces towards it. As they went on, they saw a giant or two, now and then, striding about the fields or through the woods, but they kept out of their way. Nor were they in much danger ; for it was only one or two of the border giants that were so very fond of children.
At last they came to the foot of Mount Sky- crack. It stood in a plain alone, and shot right up, I don't know how many thousand feet, into
THE GIANT'S HEART. 143
the air, a long, narrow, spearlike mountain. The whole face of it, from top to bottom, was covered with a network of spiders' webs, the threads of various sizes, from that of silk to that of whipcord. The webs shook, and quivered, and waved in the sun, glittering like silver. All about ran huge greedy spiders, catching huge silly flies, and devouring them.
Here they sat down to consider what could be done. The spiders did not heed them, but ate away at the flies. — Now at the foot of the moun- tain, and all round it, was a ring of water, not very broad, but very deep. As they sat watching them, one of the spiders, whose web was woven across this water, somehow or other lost his hold, and fell in on his back. Tricksey-Wee and Burly- Bob ran to his assistance, and laying hold each of one of his legs, succeeded, with the help of the other legs, which struggled spiclerfully, in getting
144 THE GIANT'S HEART.
him out upon dry land. As soon as he had shaken himself, and dried himself a little, the spider turned to the children, saying, —
"And now, what can I do for you?"
"Tell us, please," said they, "how we can get up the mountain to the she-eagle's nest."
" Nothing is easier," answered the spider. "Just run up there, and tell them all I sent you, and nobody will mind you."
"But we haven't got claws like you, Mr. Spider," said Buffy.
"Ah! no more you have, poor unprovided creatures ! Still, I think we can manage it. Come home with me."
"You won't eat us, will you?" said Buffy.
"My dear child," answered the spider, in a tone of injured dignity, "I eat nothing but what is mischievous or useless. You have helped me, and now I will help you."
THE GIANT'S HEART. 145
The children rose at once, and climbing as well as they could, reached the spider's nest in the centre of the web. Nor did they find it very diffi- cult; for whenever too great a gap came, the spider spinning a strong cord stretched it just where they would have chosen to put their feet next. He left them in his nest, after bringing them two enormous honey- bags, taken from bees that he had caught ; but presently about six of the wisest of the spiders came back with him. It was rather horrible to look up and see them all round rhe mouth of the nest, looking down on them in contemplation, a? if wondering whether tljey would be nice eating. At length one of them said, — "Tell us truly what you want with the eagle, and we will try to help you."
'i hen Tricksey-Wec told them that there was a giant on the borders who treated little children no better than radishes, and that they had narrowly
iy, THE GIANT'S HEART.
escaped being eaten by him ; that they had found out that the great she-eagle of Mount Skycrack was at present sitting on his heart; and that, if they could only get hold of the heart, they would soon teach the giant better behaviour.
" But," said their host, " if you get at the heart of the giant, you will find it as large as one of your elephants. What can you do with it ? "
" The least scratch will kill it," replied Buflfey- Bob.
" Ah ! but you might do better than that," said the spider. — " Now we have resolved to help you, Here is a little bag of spider-juice. The giants cannot bear spiders, and this juice is dreadful poison to them. We are all ready to go up with you, and drive the eagle away. Then you must put the heart into this other bag, and bring; it down with you ; for then the giant will be in your power."
THE GIANTS HEART. 147
" But how can we do that ?" said Buffy. "The bag is not much bigger than a pudding- bag."
"But it is as large as you will be able to carry."
" Yes ; but what are we to do with the heart ? "
"Put it into the bag, to be sure. Only, first, you must squeeze a drop out of the other bag upon it. You will see what will happen."
"Very well; we will do as you tell us," said Tricksey-Wee. "And now, if you please, how shall we go ? "
" Oh, that's our business," said the first spider. "You come with me, and my grandfather will take your brother. Get up."
So Tricksey-Wee mounted on the narrow part of the spider's back, and held fast. And Buffy- Bob got on the grandfather's back. And up they scrambled, over one web after another, up an.d up fast ! And every spider followed ; so that,
i48 THE GIANT'S HEART.
when Tricksey-Wee looked back, she saw a whole army of spiders scrambling after them.
"What can we want with so many?" she thought ; but she said nothing.
The moon was now up, and it was a splendid sight below and around them. All Giantland was spread out under them, with its great hills, lakes, trees, and animals. And all above them was the clear heaven, and Mount Skycrack rising into it, with its endless ladders of spider-webs, glittering like cords made of moonbeams. And up the moonbeams went, crawling and scram- bling, and racing, a huge army of huge spiders.
At length they reached all but the very summit, where they stopped. Tricksey-Wee and Buffy- Bob could see above them a great globe of feathers, that finished off the mountain like an ornamental knob.
"But how shall we drive her off? " said Buffy.
THE GIANT'S HEART. i4g
k< We'll soon manage that," answered the grandfather-spider. "Come on you, down there."
Up rushed the whole army, past the children, over the edge of the nest, on to the she-eagle, and buried themselves in her feathers. In a moment she became very restless, and went pecking about with her beak. All at once she spread out her wings, with a sound like a whirlwind, and flew off to bathe in the sea ; and then the spiders began to drop from her in all directions on their gossame. wings. The children had to hold fast to keep '.lip wind of the eagle's flight from blowing them oh. As soon as it was over, they looked into the nest, and there lay the giant's heart— an awful and ugly thing.
"Make haste, child ! " said Tricksey's spider.
So Tricksey took her bag, and squeezed a drop out of it upon the heart. She thought she heara
iSo THE GIANT'S HEART.
the giant give a far-off roar of pain, and she nearly fell from her seat with terror. The heart instantly began to shrink. It shrunk and shrivelled till it was nearly gone ; and Buffy-Bob caught it up and put it into his bag. Then the two spiders turned and went down again as fast as they could. Before they got to the bottom, they heard the shrieks of the she-eagle over the loss of her egg ; but the spiders told them not to be alarmed, for her eyes were too big to see them. — By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, all the spiders had got home, and were busy again catch- ing flies, as if nothing had happened.
After renewed thanks to their friends, the children set off, carrying the giant's heart with them.
" If you should find it at all troublesome, just give it a little more spider-juice directly," said the grandfather, as they took their leave.
THE GIANT'S HEART. 151
Now the giant had given an awful roar of pain the moment they anointed his heart, and had fallen down in a fit, in which he lay so long that all the boys might have escaped if they had not been so fat One did, and got home in safety. For days the giant was unable to speak. The first words he uttered were, —
" Oh, my heart ! my heart ! "
"Your heart is safe enough, dear Thunder- thump," said his wife. " Really, a man of your size ought not to ><e so nervous and apprehensive. I am ashamed o' you."
" You have no heart, Doodlem," answered he. " I assure you that at this moment mine is in the greatest danger. It has fallen into the hands of foes, though who they are I cannot tell."
Here he fainted again ; for Tricksey-Wee, finding the heart beginning to swell a little, had given it the least touch of spider-juice.
152 THE GIANT'S HEART.
Again he recovered, and said, —
" Dear Doodlem, my heart is coming back to me. It is coming nearer and nearer. "
After lying silent for hours, he exclaimed, —
"It is in the house, I know ! "
And he jumped up and walked about, looking in every corner.
As he rose, Tricksey-Wee and Buffy-Bob came out of the hole in the tree-root, and through the cat-hole in the door, and walked boldly towards the giant. Both kept their eyes busy watching him. Led by the love of his own heart, the giant soon spied them, and staggered furiously towards them.
"I will eat you, you vermin!" he cried. " Here with my heart ! "
Tricksey gave the heart a sharp pinch. Down fell the giant on his knees, blubbering, and crying, and begging for his heart.
THE GIANT'S HEART. 153
" You shall have it, if you behave yourself pro- perly," said Tricksey.
" How shall I behave myself properly ? " asked he, whimpering.
"Take all those boys and girls, and carry them home at once."
"I'm not able; I'm too ill. I should fall down."
"Take them up directly."
"I can't, till you give me my heart."
" Very well! " said Tricksey; and she gave the heart another pinch.
The giant jumped to his feet, and catching up all the children, thrust some into his waistcoat- pockets, some into his breast-pocket, put two or three into his hat, and took a bundle of them under each arm. Then he staggered to the door.
All this time poor Doodlem was sitting in her arm-chair, crying, and mending a white stocking.
i<4 TffR GIANTS HEART.
The giant led the way to the borders. lie could not go so fast but that Buffy and Tricksey managed to keep up with him. When they reached the borders, they thought it would be safer to let the children find their own way home. So they told him to set them down. He obeyed.
" Have you put them all down, Mr. Thunder- thump ? " asked Tricksey- Wee.
"Yes," said the giant.
"That's a lie!" squeaked a little voice; and out came a head from his waistcoat pocket.
Tricksey- Wee pinched the heart till the giant roared with pain.
" You're not a gentleman. You tell stories, " she said.
" He was the thinnest of the lot," said Thunder- thump, crying.
"Are you all there now, children?" askc I Tricksey
THE GIANTS HEART 1*5
"Yes, ma'am." returned they, after counting themselves very carefully, and with some diffi- culty ; for they were all stupid children.
" Now," said Tricksey-Wee to the giant, " will you promise to carry off no more children, and never to eat a child again all your life ?"
"Yes, yes! I promise," answered Thunder- thump, sobbing.
" And you will never cross the borders of Giantland?"
"Never."
"And you shall never again wear white stock- ings on a Sunday, all your life long.— Do you pro- mise ? "
The giant hesitated at this, and began to expos- tulate ; but Tricksey-Wee, believing it would be good for his morals, insisted ; and the giant pro- mised.
Then she required of him, that, when she gave
i56 THE GIANT'S HEART.
him back his heart, he should give it to his wife to take care of for him for ever after. The poor giant fell on his knees, and began again to beg. But Tricksey-Wee giving the heart a slight pinch, he bawled out, —
"Yes, yes! Doodlem shall have it, I swear. Only she must not put it in the flour barrel, or in the dust-hole."
" Certainly not. Make your own bargain with her. — And you promise not to interfere with my brother and me, or to take any revenge for what we have done ? "
"Yes, yes, my dear children; I promise every- thing. Do, pray, make haste and give me back my poor heart."
" Wait there, then, till I bring it to you."
"Yes, yes. Only make haste, for I feel very faint."
Tricksey-Wee began to undo the mouth of the
THE GIANT'S HEART. 157
bag. But Buffy-Bob, who had got very knowing on his travels, took out his knife with the pretence of cutting the string; but, in reality, to be pre- pared for any emergency.
No sooner was the heart out of the bag, than it expanded to the size of a bullock ; and the giant, with a yell of rage and vengeance, rushed on the two children, who had stepped sideways from the terrible heart. But Buffy-Bob was too quick for Thunderthump. He sprang to the heart, and buried his knife in it, up to the hilt. A fountain of blood spouted from it; and with a dreadful groan the giant fell dead at the feet of little Tricksey-Wee, who could not help being sorry for him, after all.
THE SHADOWS
THE SHADOWS.
|LD Ralph Rinkelmann made his living by comic sketches, and all but lost it again by tragic poems. So he was just the man to be chosen king of the fairies, tor in Fairy-land the sovereignty is elective.
It is no doubt very strange that fairies should desire to have a mortal king ; but the fact is, that with all their knowledge and power, they cannot get rid of the feeling that some men are greater than they are, though they can neither fly nor play tricks. So at such times as there happens to be twice the usual number of sensible electors, such a man as Ralph Rinkelmann gets to be chosen.
162
THE SHADOWS.
They did not mean to insist on his residence ; for they needed his presence only on special occa- sions. But they must get hold of him somehow, first of all, in order to make him king. Once he was crowned, they could get him as often as they pleased; but before this ceremony, there was a difficulty. For it is only between life and death that the fairies have power over grown-up mortals, and can carry them off to their country. So they had to watch for an opportunity.
Nor had they to wait long. For old Ralph was taken dreadfully ill ; and while hovering between life and death, they carried him off, and crowned him King of Fairy-land. But after he was crowned, it was no wonder, considering the state of his health, that he should not be able to sit quite upright on the throne of Fairy-land ; or that, in consequence, all the gnomes and goblins, and ugly, cruel things that live in the holes and
THE SHADOWS. 163
corners of the kingdom, should take advantage of his condition, and run quite wild, playing him, king as he was, all sorts of tricks ; crowding about his throne, climbing up the steps, and actually scrambling and quarrelling like mice about his ears and eyes, so that he could see and think of nothing else. But I am not going to tell any- thing more about this part of his adventures just at present. By strong and sustained efforts, he succeeded, after much trouble and suffering, in reducing his rebellious subjects to order. They all vanished to their respective holes and corners; and King Ralph, coming to himself, found himself in his bed, half propped up with pillows.
But the room was full of dark creatures, which gambolled about in the firelight in such a strange, huge, though noiseless fashion, that he thought at first that some of his rebellious goblins had not been subdued with the rest, but had followed him
M a
164
THE SHADOWS.
beyond the bounds of Fairy-land into his own private house in London. How else could these mad, grotesque hippopotamus-calves make their ugly appearance in Ralph Rinkelmann's bed- room ? " But he soon found out that although they were like the underground goblins, they were very different as well, and would require quite different treatment. He felt convinced that they were his subjects too, but that he must have overlooked them somehow at his late coronation — if indeed they had been present ; for he could not recollect .that he had seen anything just like them before. He resolved, therefore, to pay particular attention to their habits, ways, and characters ; else he saw plainly that they would soon be too much for him ; as indeed this intrusion into his chamber, where Mrs. Rinkelmann, who must be queen if he was king, sat taking some tea by the fireside, evidently foreshadowed. But she, perceiving that
THE SHADOWS. 165
he was looking about him with a more composed expression than his face had worn for many days, started up, and came quickly and quietly to his side, and her face was bright with gladness. Whereupon the fire burned up more cheerily ; and the figures became more composed and re- spectful in their behaviour, retreating towards the wall like well- trained attendants. Then the king of Fairy-land ha<l some tea and dry toast, and leaning back on his pillows, nearly fell asleep ; but not quite, for he still watched the intruders.
Presently the queen left the room to give some of the young princes and princesses their tea ; and the fire burned lower, and behold, the figures grew as black and as mad in their gambols as ever ! Their favourite games seemed to be Hide and Seek ; Touch and Go ; Grin and Vanish : and many other such ; and all in the king's bed-
166 THE SHADOWS.
chamber, too ; so that it was quite alarming. It was almost as bad as if the house had been haunted by certain creatures which shall be name- less in a fairy story, because with them fairy- land will not willingly have much to do.
"But it is a mercy that they have their slippers on!" said the king to himself; for his head ached.
As he lay back, with his eyes half shut and half open, too tired to pay longer attention to their games, but, on the whole, considerably more amused than offended with the liberties they took, for they seemed good-natured creatures, and more frolicsome than positively ill-mannered, he be- came suddenly aware that two of them had stepped forward from the walls, upon which, after the manner of great spiders, most of them pre- ferred sprawling, and now stood in the middle of the floor at the foot of his majesty's bed, becking
THE SHADOWS. 167
and bowing and ducking in the most grotesquely obsequious manner; while every now and then they turned solemnly round upon one heel, evi- dently considering that motion the highest token of homage they could show.
" What do you want ? " said the king.
"That it may please your majesty to be better acquainted with us," answered they. "We are your majesty's subjects."
" I know you are. I shall be most happy," an- swered the king.
" We are not what your majesty takes us for, though. We are not so foolish as your majesty thinks us."
"It is impossible to take you for anything that 1 know of," rejoined the king, who wished to make them talk, and said whatever came uppermost ; — *' for soldiers, sailors, or anything : you will not stand still long enough. I suppose you really be-
i6« THE SHADOWS.
long to the fire brigade ; at least, you keep putting its light out."
"Don't jest, please your majesty." And as they said the words— for they both spoke at once throughout the interview — they performed a grave somerset towards the king.
"Not jest!" retorted he; "and with you? Why, you do nothing but jest. What are you ? "
"The Shadows, sire. And when we do jest, sire, we always jest in earnest. But perhaps your majesty does not see us distinctly."
" I see you perfectly well," returned the king.
"Permit me, however," rejoined one of the Shadows; and as he spoke he approached the king ; and lifting a dark forefinger, he drew it lightly but carefully across the ridge of his fore- head, from temple to temple. The king felt the soft gliding touch go, like water, into every hollow, and over the top of every height of that mountain-
THE SHADOWS. 169
chain of thought. He had involuntarily closed his eyes during the operation, and when he unclosed them again, as soon as the finger was withdrawn, he found that they were opened in more senses than one. The room appeared to have extended itself on all sides, till he could not exactly see where the walls were ; and all about it stood the Shadows motionless. They were tall and solemn ; rather awful, indeed, in their appearance, notwith- standing many remarkable traits of grotesqueness, for they looked just like the pictures of Puritans drawn by Cavaliers, with long arms, and very long, thin legs, from which hung large loose feet, while in their countenances length of chin and nose pre- dominated. The solemnity of their mien, however, overcame all the oddity of their form, so that they were very eerie indeed to look at, dressed as they all were in funereal black. But a single glanct was all that the king was allowed to have ; for the
i7o THE SHADOWS.
former operator waved his dusky palm across his vision, and once more the king saw only the fire- lighted walls, and dark shapes flickering about upon them. The two who had spoken for the rest seemed likewise to have vanished. But at last the king discovered them, standing one on each side of the fireplace. They kept close to the chimney- wall, and talked to each other across the length of the chimney-piece ; thus avoiding the direct :ays of the fire, which, though light is necessary io their appearing to human eyes, do not agree with them at all — much less give birth to them, as the king was soon to learn. After a few minutes they again approached the bed, and spoke thus : —
"It is now getting dark, please your majesty. We mean, out of doors in the snow. Your majesty may see, from where he is lying, the cold light of ts great winding-sheet — a famous carpet for the
THE SHADOWS. 171
Shadows to dance upon, your majesty. All our brothers and sisters will be at church now, before going to their night's work."
" Do they always go to church before they go to work ? "
" They always go to church first."
" Where is the church ?"
"In Iceland. Would your majesty like to see it?"
" How can I go and see it, when, as you know very well, I am ill in bed ? Besides, I should be sure to take cold in a frosty night like this, even if I put on the blankets, and took the feather-bed foi a muff."
A sort of quivering passed over their faces, which seemed to be their mode of laughing. The whole shape of the face shook and fluctuated as if it had been some dark fluid ; till, by slow degrees of gathering calm, it settled into its former rest
172 THE SHADOWS.
Then one of them drew aside the curtains of 'J.s bed, and the window-curtains not having been yet drawn, the king beheld the white glimmering night outside, struggling with the heaps of darkness that tried to quench it ; and the heavens full of stars, flashing and sparkling like live jewels. The other Shadow went towards the fire and vanished in it. Scores of Shadows immediately began an insane dance all about the room ; disappearing, one after the other, through the uncovered window, and gliding darkly away over the face of the white snow ; for the window looked at once on a field of snow. In a few moments the room was quite cleared of them ; but instead of being relieved by their absence, the king felt immediately as if he were in a dead-house, and could hardly breathe for the sense of emptiness and desolation that fell upon him. But as he lay looking out on the snow, which stretched blank and wide before him, he
THE SHADOWS. 173
spied in the distance a long dark line which drew nearer and nearer, and showed itself at last to be all the Shadows, walking in a double row, and carrying in the midst of them something like a bier. They vanished under the window, but soon reappeared, having somehow climbed up the wall of the house ; for they entered in perfect order by the window, as if melting through the transparency of the glass.
They still carried the bier or litter. It was covered with richest furs, and skins of gorgeous wild beasts, whose eyes were replaced by sapphires and emeralds, that glittered and gleamed in the fire and snow light. The outermost skin sparkled with frost, but the inside ones were soft and warm and dry as the down under a swan's wing. The Shadows approached the bed, and set the litter upon it. Then a number of them brought a huge fur robe, and wrapping it round the king, laid him
174 THE SHADOWS.
on the litter in the midst of the furs. Nothing could be more gentle and respectful than the way in which they moved him ; and he never thought of refusing to go. Then they put something on his head, and, lifting the litter, carried him once round the room, to fall into order. As he passed the mirror he saw that he was covered with royal ermine, and that his head wore a wonderful crown of gold, set with none but red stones : rubies and carbuncles and garnets, and others whose names he could not tell, glowed gloriously around his head, like the salamandrine essence of all the Christmas fires over the world. A sceptre lay beside him — a rod of ebony, surmounted by a cone-shaped diamond, which, cut in a hundred facets, flashed all the hues of the rainbow, and threw coloured gleams on every side, that looked like Shadows too, but more ethereal than those that bore him. Then the Shadows rose gently to
THE SHADOWS. 175
the window, passed through it, and sinking slowly upon the field of outstretched snow, commenced an orderly gliding rather than march along the frozen surface. They took it by turns to bear the king, as they sped with the swiftness of thought, in a straight line towards the north. The pole- star rose above their heads with visible rapidity ; for indeed they moved quite as fast as sad thoughts, though not with all the speed of happy desires. England and Scotland slid past the litter of the king of the Shadows. Over rivers and lakes they skimmed and glided. They climbed the high mountains, and crossed the valleys with a fearless bound; till they came to John-o'-Groat's house and the Northern Sea. The sea was not frozen ; for all the stars shone as clear out of the deeps below as they shone out of the deeps above ; and as the bearers slid along the blue-gray surface, with never a furrow in their track, so pure was the watei
176 THE SHADOWS.
beneath, that the king saw neither surface, bottom, nor substance to it, and seemed to be gliding ouiy through the blue sphere of heaven, with the stars above him, and the stars below him, and between the stars and him nothing but an emptiness, where, for the first time in his life, his soul felt that it had room enough.
At length they reached the rocky shores of Iceland. There they landed, still pursuing their journey. All this time the king felt no cold ; for the red stones in his crown kept him warm, and the emerald and sapphire eyes of the wild beast? kept the frosts from settling upon his litter.
Oftentimes upon their way they had to pass through forests, caverns, and rock-shadowed paths, where it was so dark that at first the king feared he should lose his Shadows altogether. But as soon as they entered such places, the diamond in his sceptre began to shine, and glow, and flash,
THE SHADOWS. 177
sending out streams of light of all the colours that painter's soul could dream of; in which light the Shadows grew livelier and stronger than ever, speeding through the dark ways with an all but blinding swiftness. In the light of the diamond, too, some of their forms became more simple and human, while others seemed only to break out into a yet more untamable absurdity. Once, as they passed through a cave, the king actually saw some of their eyes — strange shadow-eyes : he had never seen any of their eyes before. But at the same moment when he saw their eyes, he knew their faces too, for they turned them full upon him for an instant ; and the other Shadows, catching sight of these, shrank and shivered, and nearly vanished. Lovely faces they were ; but the king was very thoughtful after he saw them, and con- tinued rather troubled all the rest of the journey. He could not account for those faces being there,
i78 THE SHADOWS.
and the faces of Shadows, too, with living eyes.
But he soon found that amongst the Shadows a man must learn never to be surprised at anything ; for if he does not, he will soon grow quite stupid, in consequence of the endless recurrence of sur- prises.
At last they climbed up the bed of a little stream, and then, passing through a narrow rocky defile, came out suddenly upon the side of a mountain, overlooking a blue frozen lake in the very heart of mighty hills. Overhead, the aurora borealis was shivering and flashing like a battle of ten thousand spears. Underneath, its beams passed faintly over the blue ice and the sides of the snow-clad mountains, whose tops shot up like huge icicles all about, with here and there a star sparkling on the very tip of one. But as the northern lights in the sky above, so wavered and
THE SHADOWS. I7g
quivered, and shot hither and thither, the Shadows on the surlace of the lake below ; now gathering In groups, and now shivering asunder ; now cover- ing the whole surface of the lake, and anon condensed into one dark knot in the centre. Every here and there on the white mountains might be seen two or three shooting away to- wards the tops, to vanish beyond them, so that their number was gradually, though not visibly, diminishing.
"Please your majesty," said the Shadows, " this is our church — the Church of the Shadows."
And so saying, the king's body-guard set down the litter upon a rock, and plunged into the multi- tudes below. They soon returned, however, and bore the king down into the middle of the lake. All the Shadows came crowding round him, re- spectfully but fearlessly ; and sure never such a grotesque assembly revealed itself before to mortal
I to
THE SHADOWS.
eyes. The king had seen all kinds of gnomes, goblins, and kobolds at his coronation ; but they were quite rectilinear figures compared with the insane lawlessness of form in which the Shadows rejoiced ; and the wildest gambols of the former were orderly dances of ceremony beside the ap- parently aimless and wilful contortions of figure, and metamorphoses of shape, in which the latter indulged. They retained, however, all the time, to the surprise of the king, an identity, each of his own type, inexplicably perceptible through every change. Indeed, this preservation of the primary 'dea of each form was more wonderful than the bewildering and ridiculous alterations to which the form itself was every moment subjected.
" What are you ? " said the king, leaning on his elbow, and looking around him.
"The Shadows, your majesty," answered several voices at once.
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"What Shadows?"
"The human Shadows. The Shadows of men, and women, and their children."
"Are you not the shadows of chairs and tables, and pokers and tongs, just as well ? "
At this question a strange jarring commotion went through the assembly with a shock. Several of the figures shot up as high as the aurora, but instantly settled down again to human size, as if overmastering their feelings, out of respect to him who had roused them. One who had bounded to the highest visible icy peak, and as suddenly re turned, now elbowed his way through the rest, and made himself spokesman for them during the re- maining part of the dialogue.
"Excuse our agitation, your majesty," said he. "I see your majesty has not yet thought proper to make himself acquainted with our nalure and habits."
1 82
THE SHADOWS.
" I wish to do so now," replied the king.
" We are the Shadows," repeated the Shadow, solemnly.
" Well ? " said the king.
" We do not often appear to men."
"Ha!" said the king.
" We do not belong to the sunshine at all. We go through it unseen, and only by a passing chill do men recognise an unknown presence."
" Ha ! " said the king again.
"It is only in the twilight of the fire, or when one man or woman is alone with a single candle, or when any number of people are all feeling the same thing at once, making them one, that we show ourselves, and the truth of things.
"Can that be true that loves the night ? " said the king.
"The darkness is the nurse of light," answered fhe Shadow.
THE SHADOWS. 183
"Can that be true which mocks at forms?" said the'king.
"Truth rides abroad in shapeless storms/' an- swered the Shadow.
" Ha ! ha ! " thought Ralph Rinkelmann, " it rhymes. The Shadow caps my questions with his answers. Very strange J " And he grew thought- ful again.
The Shadow was the first to resume.
' ' Please your majesty, may we present our peti- tion?"
" By all means," replied the king. " I am not well enough to receive it in proper state."
"Nevermind, your majesty. We do not care for much ceremony ; and indeed none of ns are quite well at present. The subject of our petition weighs upon us."
" Go on," said the king.
" Sire," began the Shadow, " our very existence
184
THE SHADOWS.
is in danger. The various sorts of artificial light, both in houses and in men, women, and children, threaten to end our being. The use and the dis- position of gaslights, especially high in the centres, blind the eyes by which alone we can be perceived. We are all but banished from towns. We are driven into villages and lonely houses, chiefly old farm-houses, out of which, even, our friends the fairies are fast disappearing. We therefore petition our king, by the power of his art, to restore us to our rights in the house itself, and in the hearts of its inhabitants."
" But," said the king, " you frighten the child- ren."
" Very seldom, your majesty ; and then only for their good. We seldom seek to frighten any- body. We mostly want to make people silent and thoughtful ; to awe them a little, your majesty."
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" You are much more likely to make them laugh," said the king.
" Are we ? " said the Shadow.
And approaching the king one step, he stood quite still for a moment. The diamond of the king's sceptre shot out a vivid flame of violet light, and the king stared at the Shadow in silence, and his lip quivered. He never told what he saw then ; but he would say :
"Just fancy what it might be if some flitting thoughts were to persist in staying to be looked at."
"It is only," resumed the Shadow, " when our thoughts are not fixed upon any particular object, that our bodies are subject to all the vagaries of elemental influences. Generally, amongst worldly men and frivolous women, we only attach ourselves to some article of furniture or of dress ; and they never doubt that we are mere foolish and vague
i85
THE SHADOWS.
results of the dashing of the waves of the light against the solid forms of which their houses are full. We do not care to tell them the truth, for they would never see it. But let the worldly man or the frivolous woman and then "
At each of the pauses indicated, the mass of Shadows throbbed and heaved with emotion ; but they soon settled again into comparative stillness. Once more the Shadow addressed himself to speak. But suddenly they all looked up, and the king, following their gaze, saw that the aurora had begun to pale.
" The moon is rising," said the Shadow. "As soon as she looks over the mountains into the valley, we must be gone, for we have plenty to do by the moon : we are powerful in her light. But if your majesty will come here to-morrow night, your majesty may learn a great deal more about us, and judge for himself whether it be
THE SHADOWS. 187
fit to accord our petition ; for then will be our grand annual assembly, in which we report to our chiefs the things we have attempted, and the good or bad success we have had."
" If you send for me," returned the king, "I will come."
Ere the Shadow could reply, the tip of the moon's crescent horn peeped up from behind an icy pinnacle, and one slender ray fell on the lake. It shone upon no Shadows. Ere the eye of the king could again seek the earth after be- holding the first brightness of the moon's resur- rection, they had vanished ; and the surface of the lake glittered cold and blue in the pale moon- light.
There the king lay, alone in the midst of the frozen lake, with the moon staring at him. But at length he heard from somewhere a voice that he knew.
t88 THE SHADOWS.
"Will you take another cup of tea, dear?" said Mrs. Rinkelmann.
And Ralph, coming slowly to himself, found that he was lying in his own bed.
"Yes, I will," he answered; "and rather a large piece of toast, if you please ; for 1 have been a long journey since I saw you last."
" He has not come to himself quite," said Mrs. Rinkelman, between her and herself.
"You would be rather surprised," continued Ralph, "if I told you where I had been."
" I dare say I should," responded his wife.
" Then I will tell you," rejoined Ralph.
But at that moment, a great Shadow bounced out of the fire with a single huge leap, and covered the whole room. Then it settled in one corner, and Ralph saw it shaking its fist at him from the end of a preposterous arm. So he took uie hint, and held his peace. And it was as well
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lor mm. For I happen to know something about the Shadows too ; and I know that if he had told his wife all about it just then, they would not have sent for him the following evening.
But as the king, after finishing his tea and toast, lay and looked about him, the shadows dancing in his room seemed to him odder and more inexplicable than ever. The whole chamber was full of mystery. So it generally was, but now it was more mysterious than ever. After all that he had seen in the Shadow-church, his own room and its shadows were yet more wonderful and unintelligible than those.
This made it the more likely that he had seen a true vision ; for instead of making common things look commonplace, as a false vision would have done, it had made common things disclose the wonderful that was in them.
t9o THE SHADOWS.
" The same applies to all art as well," thought Ralph Rinkelmann.
The next afternoon, as the twilight was growing dusky, the king lay wondering whether or not the Shadows would fetch him again. He wanted very much to go, for he had enjoyed the journey exceedingly, and he longed, besides, to hear some of the Shadows tell their stories. But the dark- ness grew deeper and deeper, and the Shadows did not come. The cause was, that Mrs. Rinkel- ,mann sat by the fire in the gloaming ; and they could not carry off the king while she was there. Some of them tried to frighten her away by playing the oddest pranks on the walls, the floor, and ceiling; but altogether without effect: the queen only smiled, for she had a good con- science. Suddenly, however, a dreadful scream was heard from the nursery, and Mrs. Rinkel- mann rushed up -stairs to see what was the
THE SHADOWS. 191
noatter. No sooner had she gone than the two warders of the chimney-corners stepped out into the middle of the room, and said, in a low voice, —
" Is your majesty ready ? "
" Have you no hearts?" said the king; "or are they as black as your faces ? Did you not hear the child scream? I must know what is the matter with her before I go."
"Your majesty may keep his mind easy or that point," replied the warders. "We had tried everything we could think of to get rid of her majesty the queen, but without effect. So a young madcap Shadow, half against the will of the older ones of us, slipped up-stairs into the nursery; and has, no doubt, succeeded in appalling the baby, for he is very lithe and long- legged. — .Now, your majesty."
" I will have no such tricks played in my nur»
199
THE SHADOWS.
sery," said the king, rather angrily. "You might put the child beside itself."
"Then there would be twins, your majesty. And we rather like twins."
" None of your miserable jesting ! You might put the child out of her wits."
" Impossible, sire ; for she has not got into them yet."
" Go away," said the king.
" Forgive us, your majesty. Really, it will do the child good ; for that Shadow will, all her life, be to her a symbol of what is ugly and bad. When she feels in danger of hating or envying any one, that Shadow will come back to her mind and make her shudder."
"Very well," said the king. "I like that. Let us go."
The Shadows went through the same ceremonies and preparations as before ; during which, the
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young Shadow before - mentioned contrived to make such grimaces as kept the baby in terror, and the queen in the nursery, till all was ready. Then with a bound that doubled him up against the ceiling, and a kick of his legs six feet out behind him, he vanished through the nursery door, and reached the king's bed-chamber just in time to take his place with the last who were melting through the window in the rear of the litter, and settling down upon the snow beneath. Away they went as before, a gliding blackness over the white carpet. And it was Christmas- eve.
When they came in sight of the mountain-lake, the king saw that it was crowded over its whole surface with a changeful intermingling of Shadows. They were all talking and listening alternately, in pairs, trios, and groups of every size. Here and there, large companies were absorbed in attention
VOL. VIII. O
194 THE SHADOWS.
to one elevated above the rest, not in a pulpit, or on a platform, but on the stilts of his own legs, elongated for the nonce. The aurora, right over- head, lighted up the lake and the sides of the moun- tains, by sending down from the zenith, nearly to the surface of the lake, oreat folded vapours, luminous with all the colours of a faint rainbow.
Many, however, as the words were that passed on all sides, not a shadow of a sound reached the ears of the king : the shadow-speech could not enter his corporeal organs. One of his guides, however, seeing that the king wanted to hear and could not, went through a strange manipulation of his head and ears ; after which he could hear perfectly, though still only the voice to which, for the time, he directed his attention. This, how- evct, was a great advantage, and one which the king longed to carry back with him to the world of men.
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The king now discovered that this was not merely the church of the Shadows, but theii news-exchange at the same time. For, as thf Shadows have no writing or printing, the onlj way in which they can make each other ac- quainted with their doings and thinkings, is to meet and talk at this word-mart and parliament of shades. And as, in the world, people read their favourite authors, and listen to their favourite speakers, so here the Shadows seek their favourite Shadows, listen to their adventures, and hear generally what they have to say.
Feeling quite strong, the king rose and walked about amongst them, wrapped in his ermine robe, with his red crown on his head, and his diamond sceptre in his hand. Every group of Shadows to which he drew near, ceased talking as soon as they saw him approach : but at a nod they went on again directly, conversing and relating and
196 THE SHADOWS.
commenting, as if no one was there of other kind or of higher rank than themselves. So the king heard a good many stories. At some of them he laughed, and at some of them he cried. But if the stories that the Shadows told were printed, they would make a book that no publisher could produce fast enough to satisfy the buyers. I will record some of the things that the king heard, for he told them to me soon after. In fact, I was for some time his private secretary.
"I made him confess before a week was over," said a gloomy old Shadow.
" But what was the good of that ? " rejoined a pert young one. " That could not undo what was done."
" Yes, it could."
" What ! bring the dead to life?"
" No ; but comfort the murderer. I could not Wi*- to see the nitiable miserv he was in. He was
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far happier with the rope round his neck, than he was with the purse in his pocket. I saved him from killing himself too."
" How did you make him confess ? " " Only by wallowing on the wall a little." " How could that make him tell? " "He knows."
The Shadow was silent ; and the king turned to another, who was preparing to speak. " I made a fashionable mother repent." "How? "broke from several voices, in whose sound was mingled a touch of incredulity.
" Only by making a little coffin on the wall," was the reply.
" Did the fashionable mother confess too ? " "She had nothing more to confess than every- body knew."
" What did everybody know then ?"
" That she might have been kissing a living
98 THE SHADOWS.
child, when she followed a dead one to the grave. — The next will fare better."
" I put a stop to a wedding," said another.
'* Horrid shade ! " remarked a poetic imp.
" How ? " said others. " Tell us how."
" Only by throwing a darkness, as if from the branch of a sconce, over the forehead of a fair girl. — They are hot married yet, and I do not think they will be. But I loved the youth who loved her. How he started ! It was a revelation to him."
" But did it not deceive him ? "
" Quite the contrary."
* ' But it was only a shadow from the outside, not a shadow coming through from the soul of the girl."
"Yes. You may say so. But it was all that was wanted to make the meaning of her forehead -nanifest — yes, of her whole face, which had now
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and then, in the pauses of his passion, perplexed the youth. All of it, curled nostrils, pouting lips, projecting chin, instantly fell into harmony with that darkness between her eyebrows. The youth understood it in a moment, and went home miser- able. And they're not married yet."
" I caught a toper alone, over his magnum of port," said a very dark Shadow ; "and didn't I give it him ! I made delirium tremens first ; and then I settled into a funeral, passing slowly along the length of the opposite wall. I gave him plenty of plumes and mourning coaches. And then I gave him a funeral service, but I could not manage to make the surplice white, which was all the better for such a sinner. The wretch stared till his face passed from purple to grey, and actually left his fifth glass only, unfinished, and took refuge with his wife and children in the drawing-room, much to their surprise. I believe he actually
,00 THE SHADOWS.
drank a cup of tea ; and although I have often looked in since, I have never caught him again, drinking alone at least."
" But does he drink less? Have you done him any good ? "
" I hope so ; but I am sorry to say I can't feel sure about it."
" Humph ! Humph ! Humph ! " grunted va- rious shadow throats.
"I had such fun once! "cried another. "I made such game of a young clergyman ! "
"You have no right to make game of any one."
"Oh yes, I have — when it is for his good. He used to study his sermons — where do you think?"
" In his study, of course. Where else should it be?"
" Yes and no. Guess again."
THE SHADOWS. »t
*• Out amongst the faces in the streets ?"
** Guess again."
•• In still green places in the country ? "
" Guess again."
" In old books ? "
4 'Guess again."
"No, no. Tell us."
" In the looking-glass. Ha 1 ha ! ha ! "
" He was fair game ; fair shadow game. "
" I thought so. And I made such fun of him. one night on the wall ! He had sense enough to see that it was himself, and very like an ape. So he got ashamed, turned the mirror with its face to the wall, and thought a little more about his people, and a little less about himself. I was very glad ; for, please your majesty,"— and here the speaker turned towards the king — "we don't like the creatures that live in the mirrors. You call them ghosts, don't you?"
20* THE SHADOWS.
Before the king could reply, another had com- menced. But the story about the clergyman had made the king wish to hear one of the shadow- sermons. So he turned him towards a long Shadow, who was preaching to a very quiet and listening crowd. He was just concluding his sermon.
"Therefore, dear Shadows, it is the more need- ful that we love one another as much as we can, because that is not much. We have no such excuse for not loving as mortals have, for we do not die like them. I suppose it is the thought of that death that makes them hate so much. Then again, we go to sleep all day, most of us, and not in the night, as men do. And you know that we forget everything that happened the night before ; therefore, we ought to love well, for the love is short. Ah ! dear Shadow, whom I' love now with ail my shadowy soul, I shall not love thee to-
THE SHADOWS. 203
morrow eve, I shall not know thee ; I shall pass thee in the crowd and never dream that the Shadow whom I now love is near me then. Happy Shades ! for we only remember our tales until we have told them here, and then they vanish in the shadow-churchyard, where we bury only our dead selves. Ah ! brethren, who would be a man and remember ? Who would be a man and weep ? We ought indeed to love one another, for we alone inherit oblivion ; we alone are renewed Math eternal birth; we alone have no gathered weight of years. I will tell you the awful fate of one Shadow who rebelled against his nature, and sought to remember the past. He said, ' I will remember this eve.' He fought with the genial influences of kindly sleep when the sun rose on the awful dead day of light ; and although he could not keep quite awake, he dreamed of the foregone eve, and he never forgot his dream.
ao4 THE SHADOWS.
Then he tried again the next night, and the next, and the next ; and he tempted another Shadow to try it with him. But at last their awful fate over- took them ; for, instead of continuing to be Shadows, they began to cast shadows, as foolish men say ; and so they thickened and thickened till they vanished out of our world. They are now condemned to walk the earth a man and a woman, with death behind them, and memories within them. Ah, brother Shades ! let us love one another, for we shall soon forget. We are not men, but Shadows."
The king turned away, and pitied the poor Shadows far more than they pitied men.
11 Oh ! how we played with a musician one night," exclaimed a Shadow in another group, to which the king had first directed a passing thought, and then had stopped to listen. — " Up and down we went, like the hammers and dampers on his
THE SHADOWS. .05
piano. But he took his revenge on us. For after he had watched us for half an hour in the twilight, he rose and went to his instrument and played y shadow-dance that fixed us all in sound for ever Each could tell the very notes meant for hinj and as long as he played we could not stop, buf went on dancing and dancing after the music, just as the magician— I mean the musician — pleased. And he punished us well ; for he nearly danced us all off our legs and out of shape into tired heaps of collapsed and palpitating darkness. We won't go near him for some time again, if we can only re- member it. He had been very miserable all day, he was so poor ; and we could not think of any way of comforting him except making him laugh. We did not succeed, with our wildest efforts ; but it turned out better than we had expected, after all ; tor his shadow-dance got him into notice, and he is quite popular now, and making money
2o6 THE SHADOWS.
fast. — If he does not take care, we shall have other work to do with him by-and-by, poor fellow ! "
" I and some others did the same for a poor play-writer once. He had a Christmas piece to write, and being an original genius, it was not so easy for him to find a subject as it is for most of his class. I saw the trouble he was in, and collecting a few stray Shadows, we acted, in dumb show of course, the runniest bit of nonsense we •could think of; and it was quite successful. The poor fellow watched every motion, roaring with laughter at us, and delight at the ideas we put into his head. He turned it all into words, and scenes, and actions ; and the piece came off with a splendid success."
" But how long we have to look for a chance o' doing anything worth doing ! " said a long, thi;., especially lugubrious Shadow. " I have only
THE SHADOWS. 207
done one thing worth telling ever since we met last But I am proud of that."
"What was it? What was it?" rose from twenty voices.
" I crept into a dining room, one twilight, soon after Christmas-day. I had been drawn thither by the glow of a bright fire shining through red window-curtains. At first I thought there was no one there, and was on the point of leaving the room and going out again into the snowy street, when I suddenly caught the sparkle of eyes. 1 found that they belonged to a little boy who lay very still on a sofa. I crept into a dark corner by the sideboard, and watched him. He seemed very sad, and did nothing but stare into the fire. At last he sighed out; — ' I wish mamma would come home.' 'Poor boy!' thought I, ' there is no help for that but mamma.' Yet I would try to while away the time for him. So out of my
»o8 THE SHADOWS.
corner I stretched a long shadow arm, reaching all across the ceiling, and pretended to make a grab at him. He was rather frightened at first ; but he was a brave boy, and soon saw that it was all a joke. So when I did it again, he made a clutch at me ; and then we had such fun ! For though he often sighed and wished mamma would come home, he always began again with me; and on we went with the wildest game. At last his mother's knock came to the door, and, starting up in delight, he rushed into the hall to meet her, and forgot all about poor black me. But I did not mind that in the least ; for when I glided out after him into the hall, I was well repaid for my trouble by hearing his mother say to him, — ' Why, Charlie, my dear, you look ever so much better since I left you ! J At that moment I slipped through the closing door, and as I ran across the . I heard the mother say, — ' What Shadow
THE SHADOWS. 209
can that be passing so quickly ? ' And Charlie answered with a merry laugh, — 'Oh! mamma, I suppose it must be the funny shadow that has been playing such games with me all the time you were out' As soon as the door was shut, I crep4 along the wall and looked in at the dining-room window. And I heard his mamma say, as she led him into the room, — 'What an imagination the boy has ! ' Ha ! ha ! ha ! Then she looked at him, and the tears came in her eyes ; and she stooped down over him, and I heard the sounds 01 a mingling kiss and sob. "
"I always look for nurseries full of children," said another; and this winter I have been very fortunate. I am sure children belong especially to us. One evening, looking about in a great city, I saw through the window into a large nursery, where the odious gas had not yet been lighted. Round the fire sat a company of the
VOL. VIII. F
210 THE SHADOWS.
most delightful children I had ever seen. They were waiting patiently for their tea. It was too good an opportunity to be lost. I hurried away, and gathering together twenty of the best Shadows I could find, returned in a few moments; and entering the nursery, we danced on the walls one of our best dances. To be sure it was mostly extemporized; but I managed to keep it in harmony by singing this song, which I made as we went on. Of course the children could not hear it : they only saw the motions that answered to it ; but with them they seemed to be very much delighted indeed, as I shall presently prove to you. This was the song :—
Swing, swang, swingle, swuff ! Flicker, flacker, fling, fluff!
Thus we go,
To and fro ;
Here and there,
Everywhere,
THE SHADOWS.
Born and bred ; Never dead, Only gone.
On ! Come on.
Looming, glooming,
Spreading, fuming,
Shattering, scattering,
Parting, darting,
Settling, starting,
All our life
Is a strife,
And a wearying for rest On the darkness' friendly breast.
Joining, splitting,
Rising, sitting,
Laughing, shaking,
Sides all aching, Grumbling, grim, and gruff. Swingle, swangle, swuff !
Now a knot of darkness : Now dissolved gloom ; Now a pall of blackness
Hiding all the room. Flicker, flacker, fluff ! JBJack. and blade enough !
THE SHADOWS.
Dancing now like demons ;
Lying like the dead ;
Gladly would we stop it,
And go down to bed !
But our work we still must do,
Shadow men, as well as you.
Rooting, rising, shooting,
Heaving, sinking, creeping ; Hid in corners crooning ;
Splitting, poking, leaping, Gathering, towering, swooning.
When we're lurking,
Yet we're working, For our labour we must do, Shadow men, as well as you. Flicker, flacker, fling, fluff! Swing, swang, swingle, swuff ! '
" 'How thick the Shadows are! ' said one of the children— a thoughtful little girl.
" ' I wonder where they come from,' said a dreamy little boy.
" ' I think they grow out of the wall,' answered the little girl ; ' for I have been watching them
THE SHADOWS. 213
come ; first one, and then another, and then a whole lot of them. I am sure they grow out of the walls.'
" ' Perhaps they have papas and mammas,' said an older boy, with a smile.
'"Yes, yes; and the doctor brings them in his pocket,' said another, a consequential little maiden.
" ' No ; I'll tell you,' said the older boy : 'they're ghosts.'
"' But ghosts are white.'
" 'Oh! but these have got black coming down the chimney.'
" 'No,' said a curious-looking, white-faced boy of fourteen, who had been reading by the firelight, and had stopped to hear the little ones talk; 'they're body ghosts; they're not soul ghosts.'
"A silence followed, broken by the first, the dreamy-eyed boy, who said, —
214 THE SHADOWS.
" ' I hope they didn't make me ; ' at which they all burst out laughing.
"Just then the nurse brought in their tea, and when she proceeded to light the gas we vanished."
" I stopped a murder," cried another.
"How? How? How?"
" I will tell you. I had been lurking about a sick room for some time, where a miser lay, appa- rently dying. I did not like the place at all, but I felt as if I should be wanted there. There were plenty of lurking-places about, for the room was full of all sorts of old furniture, especially cabinets, chests, and presses. I believe he had in that room every bit of the property he had spent a long life in gathering. I found that he had gold and gold in those places ; for one night, when his nurse was away, he crept out of bed, mumbling and shaking, and managed to open one of the chests, though he
THE SHADOWS. 215
nearly fell down with the effort. I was peeping over his shoulder, and such a gleam of gold fell upon me, that it nearly killed me. But hearing his nurse coming, he slammed the lid down, and I recovered.
" I tried very hard, but I could not do him any good. For although I made all sorts of shapes on the walls and ceiling, representing evil deeds that he had done, of which there were plenty to choose from, I could make no shapes on his brain or con- science. He had no eyes for anything but gold. And it so happened that his nurse had neither eyes nor heart for anything else either.
" One day, as she was seated beside his bed, but where he could not see her, stirring some gruel in a basin, to cool it for him, I saw her take a little phial from her bosom, and I knew by the expression of her face both what it was and what she was going to do with it. Fortunately the cork
Ji6 THE SHADOWS.
was a little hard to get out, and this gave me one moment to think.
" The room was so crowded with all sorts of things, that although there were no curtains on the four-post bed to hide from the miser the sight of his precious treasures, there was yet but one small part ol the ceiling suitable for casting myself upon in the shape I wished to assume. And this- spot was hard to reach. But having discovered that upon this very place lay a dull gleam of firelight thrown from a strange old dusty mirror that stood away in some corner, I got in front of the fire, spied where the mirror was, threw myself upon it, and bounded from its face upon the oval pool of dim light on the ceiling, assuming, as I passed, the shape of an old stooping hag, who poured something from a phial into a basin. I made the handle of the spoon with my own nose, ha ! ha!"
THE SHADOWS. 217
And the shadow-hand caressed the shadow-tip of the shadow-nose, before the shadow- tongue resumed.
" The old miser saw me : he would not taste the gruel that night, although his nurse coaxed and scolded till they were both weary. She pretended to taste it herself, and to think it very good ; but at last retired into a corner, and after making as if she were eating it, took good care to pour it all out into the ashes."
" But she must either succeed, or starve him, at last," interposed a Shadow.
"I will tell you."
"And, "interposed another, "he was not worth saving."
" He might repent," suggested a third, who was more benevolent.
"No chance of that," returned the former. " Misers never do. The love of money has less
2i8 THE SHADOWS.
in it to cure itself than any other wickedness into which wretched men can fall. What a mercy it is to be bora a Shadow ! Wickedness does not stick to us. What do we care for gold ! — Rub- bish!"
" Amen ! Amen ! Amen ! " came from a hundred shadow-voices.
"You should have let her murder him, and so you would have been quit of him."
" And besides how was he to escape at last ? He could never get rid of her, you know."
" I was going to tell you," resumed the narrator, " only you had so many shadow-remarks to make, that you would not let me."
"Go on ; go on."
" There was a little grandchild who used to come and see him sometimes — the only creature the miser cared for. Her mother was his daughter ; but the old man would never see her,
THE SHADOWS. 219
because she had married against his will. Her husband was now dead, but he had not forgiven her yet. After the shadow he had seen, however, he said to himself, as he lay awake that night — I saw the words on his face — * How shall I get rid of that old devil ? If I don't eat I shall die ; and if I do eat I shall be poisoned. I wish little Mary would come. Ah ! her mother would never have served me so.' He lay awake, thinking such things over and over again, all night long, and I stood watching him from a dark corner, till the dayspring came and shook me out. When I came back next night, the room was tidy and clean. His own daughter, a sad-faced but beautiful woman, sat by his bedside j and little Mary was curled up on the floor by the fire, imitating us, by making queer shadows on the ceiling with her twisted hands. But she could not think however they got there. And no
990 THE SHADOWS.
wonder, for I helped her to some very unaccount- able ones."
" I have a story about a granddaughter, too," said another, the moment that speaker ceased.
"Tell it. Tell it."
"Last Christmas-day," he began, "I and a troop of us set out in the twilight to find some house where we could all have something to do ; for we had made up our minds to act together. We tried several, but found objections to them all. At last we espied a large lonely country-house, and hastening to it, we found great preparations making for the Christmas dinner. We rushed ' ito it, scampered all over it, and made up our minds in a moment that it would do. We amused ourselves in the nursery first, where there were several children being dressed for dinner. We generally do go to the nursery first, yout majesty. This time ive were especially charmed with a little
THE SHADOWS. 221
girl about five years old, who clapped her hands and danced about with delight at the antics we per- formed ; and we said we would do something for her if we had a chance. The company began to arrive ; and at every arrival, we rushed to the hall, and cut wonderful capers of welcome. Between times, we scudded away to see how the dressing went on. One girl about eighteen was delight- ful. She dressed herself as if she did not care much about it, but could not help doing it prettily. When she took her last look at the phantom in the glass, she half smiled to it.— But we do not like those creatures that come into the mirrors at all, your majesty. We don't understand them. They are dreadful to us. —She looked rather sad and pale, but very sweet and hopeful. So wt wanted to know all about her, and soon found out that she was a distant relation and a great favourite of the gentleman ot the house, an old
222 THE SHADOWS.
man, in whose face benevolence was mingled with obstinacy and a deep shade of the tyrannical. We could not admire him much ; but we would not make up our minds all at once : Shadows never do.
"The dinner bell rang, and down we hurried. The children all looked happy, and we were merry. But there was one cross fellow among the servants, and didn't we plague him ! and didn't we get fun out of him ! When he was bringing up dishes, we lay in wait for him at every corner, and sprang upon him from the floor, and from over the banisters, and down from the cornices. He started and stumbled and blundered so in consequence, that his fellow- servants thought he was tipsy. Once he dropped a plate, and had to pick up the pieces, and hurry away with them ; and didn't we pursue him as he went ! It was lucky for him his master did not see how he went
THE SHADOWS. 22?
on ; but we took care not to let him get into any real scrape, though he was quite dazed with the dodging of the unaccountable shadows. Sometimes he thought the walls were coming down upon him, sometimes that the floor was gaping to swallow him; sometimes that he would be knocked to pieces by the hurrying to and fro, or be smothered in the black crowd.
" When the blazing plum-pudding was earned in, we made a perfect shadow- carnival about it, dancing and mumming in the blue flames, like mad demons. And how the children screamed with delight !
"The old gentleman, who was very fond r* children, was laughing his heartiest laugh, wher a loud knock came to the hall-door. The fait maiden started, turned paler, and then red as th* Christmas fire. I saw it, and flung my hand* across her face. She was very glad, and I know
*34 THE SHADOWS.
she said in her heart, ' You kind Shadow ! " which paid me well. Then I followed the rest into the hall, and found there a jolly, handsome, brown- faced sailor, evidently a son of the house. The old man received him with tears in his eyes, and the children with shouts of joy. The maiden es- caped in the confusion, just in time to save herself from fainting. We crowded about the lamp to hide her retreat, and nearly put it out; and the butler could not get it to burn up before she had glided into her place again, relieved to find the room so dark. The sailor only had seen her go, and now he sat clown beside her, and, without a word, got hold of her hand in the gloom. When we all scattered to the walls and the corners, and the lamp blazed up again, he let her hand
£<>•
" During the rest of the dinner the old man watched the two, and saw that there was some-
THE SHADOWS. «5
thing between them, and was very angry. For he was an important man in his own estimation, and they had never consulted him. The fact was, they had never known their own minds till the sailor had gone upon his last voyage, and had learned each other's only this moment. — We found out all this by watching them, and then talking together about it after-wards. — The old gentleman saw, too, that his favourite, who was under such obligation to him for loving her so much, loved his son better than him ; and he grew by degrees so jealous that he overshadowed the whole table with his morose looks and short answers. That kind of shadowing is very different from ours ; and the Christmas dessert grew so gloomy that we Shadows could not bear it, and were delighted when the ladies rose to go to the drawing-room. The gentlemen would not stay behind the ladies, ^ven for the sake of the well-known wine. So the
VOL. VIII. Q
ia6 THE SHADOWS,
moody host, notwithstanding his hospitality, was left alone at the table in the great silent room. We lollowed the company up- stairs to the drawing- room, and thence to the nursery for snap-dragon ; but while they were busy with this most shadowy of games, nearly all the Shadows crept downstairs again to the dining-room, where the old man still sat, gnawing the bone of his own selfishness. They crowded into the room, and by using every kind of expansion — blowing themselves out like soap bubbles— they succeeded in heaping up the whole room with shade upon shade. They clus- tered thickest about the fire and the lamp, till at \ist they almost drowned them in hills of dark- ness.
" Before they had accomplished so much, the children, tired with fun and frolic, had been put to bed. But the little girl of hve years old, with whom we nad been so pleased when first we
THE SHADOWS. 227
arrived, could not go to sleep. She had a little room of her own ; and I had watched her to bed, and now kept her awake by gambolling in the rays of the night-light. When her eyes were once fixed upon me, I took the shape of her grandfather, representing him on the wall as he sat in his chair, with his head bent down and his arms hanging listlessly by his sides. And the child remembered that that was just as she had seen him last ; for she had happened to peep in at the dining-room door after all the rest had gone up-stairs. * What if he should be sitting there still,' thought she, 'all alone in the dark ! ' She scrambled out of bed and crept down.
" Meantime the others had made the room below so dark, that only the face and white hair of the old man could be dimly discerned in the shadowy crowd. For he had filled his own mind with shadows, which we Shadows wanted to draw
Q *
228 THE SHADOWS.
out of him. Those shadows are very different from us, your majesty knows. He was thinking of all the disappointments he had had in life, and of all the ingratitude he had met with. And he thought far more of the good he had done, than the good others had got. ' After all I have done for them,' said he, with a sigh of bitterness, 'not one of them cares a straw for me. My own child- ren will be glad when I am gone ! ' — At that instant he lifted up his eyes and saw, standing close by the door, a tiny figure in a long night- gown. The door behind her was shut. It was my little friend, who had crept in noiselessly. A pang of icy fear shot to the old man's heart, but it melted away as fast, for we made a lane through us for a single ray from the fire to fall on the face of the little sprite ; and he thought it was a child of his own that had died when just the age of her child-niece, who now stood looking for her gran..l-
SHADOWS. 229
father among the Shadows. He thought she had come out of her grave in the cold darkness to ask why her father was sitting alone on Christmas -day. And he felt he had no answer to give his little ghost, but one he would be ashamed for her to hear. But his grandchild saw him now, and walked up to him with a childish stateliness, stumbling once or twice on what seemed her long shroud. Pushing through the crowded shadows, she reached him, climbed upon his knee, laid her little long-haired head on his shoulders, and said, — * Ganpa ! you goomy ? Isn't it your Kissy- Day too, ganpa ? '
"A new fount of love seemed to burst from the clay of the old man's heart. He clasped the child to his bosom, and wept. Then, without a word, he rose with her in his arms, carried her up to het room, and laying her down in her bed, covered her up, kissed her sweet little mouth uncon
230 THE SHADOWS
scious of reproof, and then went to the drawing- room.
"As soon as he entered, he saw the culprits in a quiet corner alone. He went up to them, took a hand of each, and joining them in both his, said, ' God bless you ! ' Then he turned to the rest of the company, and 'Now,' said he, 'let's have a Christmas carol.' — And well he might; for though I have paid many visits to the house, I have never seen him cross since ; and I am sure that must cost him a good deal of trouble. "
"We have just come from a great palace," said another, "where we knew there were many child- ren, and where we thought to hear glad voices, and see royally merry looks. But as soon as we entered, we became aware that one mighty Sha- dow shrouded the whole ; and that Shadow deep- ened and deepened, till it gathered in darkness about the reposing form of a wise prince. When
THE SHADOWS. 23?
vve saw him, we could move no more, but clung heavily to the walls, and by our stillness added to the sorrow of the hour. And when we saw the mother of her people weeping with bowed head for the loss of him in whom she had trusted, we were seized with such a longing to be Shadows no more, but winged angels, which are the white shadows cast in heaven from the Light of Light, so as to gather around her, and hover over hei with comforting, that we vanished from the walls, and found ourselves floating high above the towers of the palace, where we met the angels on their way, and knew that our service was not needed."
By this time there was a glimmer of approaching moonlight, and the king began to see several of those stranger Shadows, with human faces and eyes, moving about amongst the crowd. He knew at once that they did not belong to his dominion.
*3* THE SHADOWS.
They looked at him, and came near him, nnd passed slowly, but they never made any obeisance, or gave sign of homage. And what their eyes said to him, the king only could tell. And he did not tell.
"What are those other Shadows that move through the crowd?" said he to one of his subjects near him.
The Shadow started,