The Project Gutenberg EBook of Lill's Travels in Santa Claus Land and other Stories by Ellis Towne, Sophie May and Ella Farman This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Lill's Travels in Santa Claus Land and other Stories Author: Ellis Towne, Sophie May and Ella Farman Release Date: May 4, 2007 [EBook #20112] [This file was first posted on December 15, 2006] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LILL'S TRAVELS IN SANTA CLAUS LAND *** Produced by David Newman, David Wilson, Chuck Greif, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net BACK COVER UNCAPTIONED FRONTISPIECE ILLUSTRATION L I L L ’ S T R A V E L S I N S A N T A C L A U S L A N D . AND OTHER STORIES. BY ELLIS TOWNE, SOPHIE MAY AND ELLA FARMAN. UNCAPTIONED TITLE PAGE ILLUSTRATION BOSTON: 1878. E PRINTER'S DECORATION LILL’S TRAVELS IN SANTA CLAUS LAND. FFIE HAD BEEN PLAYING WITH HER DOLLS ONE COLD DECEMBER MORNING, AND LILL HAD BEEN READING, UNTIL BOTH WERE TIRED. BUT IT STORMED TOO HARD TO GO OUT, AND, AS MRS. PELERINE HAD SAID THEY NEED NOT DO ANYTHING FOR TWO HOURS, THEIR LITTLE JAWS MIGHT HAVE BEEN DISLOCATED BY YAWNING BEFORE THEY WOULD AS MUCH AS PICK UP A PIN. PRESENTLY LILL SAID, “EFFIE, SHALL I TELL YOU a story.” “O YES! DO!” SAID EFFIE, AND SHE CLIMBED UP BY LILL IN THE LARGE ROCKING-CHAIR IN FRONT OF THE GRATE. SHE KEPT VERY STILL, FOR SHE KNEW LILL’S STORIES WERE NOT TO BE INTERRUPTED BY A SOUND, OR EVEN A MOTION. THE FIRST THING LILL DID WAS TO FIX HER EYES ON THE FIRE, AND ROCK BACKWARD AND FORWARD QUITE HARD FOR A LITTLE WHILE, AND THEN SHE SAID, “NOW I AM GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT MY thought travels, AND THEY ARE APT TO BE A LITTLE QUEERER, but O! ever so much nicer, than the other kind!” AS LILL’S STORIES USUALLY HAD A FORMAL INTRODUCTION SHE BEGAN: “ONCE UPON A TIME, WHEN I WAS TAKING A WALK THROUGH THE GREAT FIELD BEYOND THE ORCHARD, I WENT WAY ON, ’ROUND WHERE THE PATH TURNS BEHIND THE HILL. AND AFTER I HAD WALKED A LITTLE WAY, I CAME TO A HIGH WALL—BUILT RIGHT UP INTO THE SKY. AT FIRST I THOUGHT I HAD DISCOVERED THE ‘ENDS OF THE EARTH,’ OR PERHAPS I HAD SOMEHOW COME TO THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA. BUT AFTER WALKING A LONG WAY I CAME TO A LARGE GATE, AND OVER IT WAS PRINTED IN BEAUTIFUL GOLD letters, ‘SANTA CLAUS LAND,’ AND THE LETTERS WERE LARGE ENOUGH FOR A BABY to read!” How large that might be Lill did not stop to explain. UNCAPTIONED ILLUSTRATION “BUT THE GATE WAS SHUT TIGHT,” SHE CONTINUED, “AND THOUGH I KNOCKED AND KNOCKED AND KNOCKED, AS HARD AS I COULD, NOBODY CAME TO OPEN IT. I WAS DREADFULLY DISAPPOINTED, BECAUSE I FELT AS IF SANTA CLAUS MUST LIVE HERE ALL OF THE YEAR EXCEPT WHEN HE WENT OUT TO PAY CHRISTMAS VISITS, AND IT would be so lovely to see him in his own home, you know. But what was I TO DO? THE GATE WAS ENTIRELY TOO HIGH TO CLIMB OVER, AND THERE WASN’T EVEN a crack to peek through!” HERE LILL PAUSED, AND EFFIE DREW A LONG BREATH, AND LOOKED GREATLY disappointed. Then Lill went on: “BUT YOU SEE, AS I WAS POKING ABOUT, I PRESSED A BELL-SPRING, AND IN A MOMENT—JINGLE, JINGLE, JINGLE, THE BELLS WENT RINGING FAR AND NEAR, WITH SUCH A MERRY SOUND AS WAS NEVER HEARD BEFORE. WHILE THEY WERE STILL RINGING THE GATE SLOWLY OPENED AND I WALKED IN. I DIDN’T EVEN STOP TO INQUIRE IF SANTA CLAUS WAS AT HOME, FOR I FORGOT ALL ABOUT MYSELF AND MY MANNERS, IT WAS SO LOVELY. FIRST THERE WAS A SMALL PAVED SQUARE LIKE A COURT; IT WAS SURROUNDED BY ROWS AND ROWS OF DARK GREEN TREES, WITH several avenues opening between them. “IN THE CENTRE OF THE COURT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MARBLE FOUNTAIN, WITH STREAMS OF SUGAR PLUMS AND BON-BONS TUMBLING OUT OF IT. FUNNY-LOOKING LITTLE MEN WERE FILLING CORNUCOPIAS AT THE FOUNTAIN, AND PRETTY LITTLE BAREFOOT CHILDREN, WITH CHUBBY HANDS AND DIMPLED SHOULDERS, TOOK THEM AS SOON AS THEY WERE FILLED, AND RAN OFF WITH THEM. THEY WERE ALL TOO MUCH OCCUPIED TO SPEAK TO ME, BUT AS I CAME UP TO THE FOUNTAIN ONE OF THE FUNNY LITTLE fellows gave me a cornucopia, and I marched on with the babies. UNCAPTIONED ILLUSTRATION “We went down one of the avenues, which would have been very dark ONLY IT WAS SPLENDIDLY LIGHTED UP WITH CHRISTMAS CANDLES. I SAW THE BABIES WERE SLYLY EATING A CANDY OR TWO, SO I TASTED MINE, AND THEY WERE DELICIOUS —THE REAL CHRISTMAS KIND. AFTER WE HAD GONE A LITTLE WAY, THE TREES WERE SMALLER AND NOT SO CLOSE TOGETHER, AND HERE THERE WERE OTHER FUNNY LITTLE FELLOWS WHO WERE CLIMBING UP ON LADDERS AND TYING TOYS AND BON-BONS TO THE TREES. THE CHILDREN STOPPED AND DELIVERED THEIR PACKAGES, BUT I WALKED ON, FOR THERE WAS SOMETHING IN THE DISTANCE THAT I WAS CURIOUS TO SEE. I COULD SEE THAT IT WAS A LARGE GARDEN, THAT LOOKED AS IF IT MIGHT BE WELL CARED FOR, AND HAD MANY THINGS GROWING IN IT. BUT EVEN IN THE DISTANCE IT DIDN’T LOOK NATURAL, AND WHEN I REACHED IT I FOUND IT WAS A VERY UNCOMMON KIND OF A GARDEN INDEED. I COULD SCARCELY BELIEVE MY EYES, BUT THERE WERE DOLLS AND DONKEYS AND DRAYS AND CARS AND CROQUET COMING UP IN LONG, STRAIGHT ROWS, AND EVER SO MANY OTHER THINGS BESIDE. IN ONE PLACE THE WOODEN DOLLS HAD ONLY JUST STARTED; THEIR FUNNY LITTLE HEADS WERE JUST ABOVE GROUND, AND I THOUGHT THEY LOOKED VERY MUCH SURPRISED AT THEIR SURROUNDINGS. FARTHER ON WERE CHINA DOLLS, THAT LOOKED QUITE GROWN UP, AND I SUPPOSE WERE READY TO PULL; AND A GARDENER WAS HOEING A ROW OF SOLDIERS THAT DIDN’T LOOK IN A VERY healthy condition, or as if they had done very well. “THE GARDENER LOOKED FAMILIAR, I THOUGHT, AND AS I APPROACHED HIM HE STOPPED WORK AND, LEANING ON HIS HOE HE SAID, ‘HOW DO YOU DO, LILIAN? I am very glad to see you.’ “THE MOMENT HE RAISED HIS FACE I KNEW IT WAS SANTA CLAUS, FOR HE LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE THE PORTRAIT WE HAVE OF HIM. YOU CAN EASILY BELIEVE I WAS GLAD THEN! I RAN AND PUT BOTH OF MY HANDS IN HIS, FAIRLY SHOUTING THAT I was so glad to find him. “He laughed and said: “‘WHY, I AM GENERALLY TO BE FOUND HERE OR HEREABOUTS, FOR I WORK IN the grounds every day.’ “AND I LAUGHED TOO, BECAUSE HIS LAUGH SOUNDED SO FUNNY; LIKE THE BROOK GOING OVER STONES, AND THE WIND UP IN THE TREES. TWO OR THREE TIMES, WHEN I THOUGHT HE HAD DONE HE WOULD BURST OUT AGAIN, LAUGHING THE VOWELS IN THIS WAY: ‘HA, HA, HA, HA! HE, HE, HE, HE, HE! HI, HI, HI, HI, HI! HO, HO, ho, h-o-oo!’” LILL DID IT VERY WELL, AND EFFIE LAUGHED TILL THE TEARS CAME TO HER EYES; AND SHE COULD QUITE BELIEVE LILL WHEN SHE SAID, “IT GREW TO BE SO FUNNY THAT I COULDN’T STAND, BUT FELL OVER INTO ONE OF THE LITTLE CHAIRS THAT WERE GROWING in a bed just beyond the soldiers. “When Santa Claus saw that he stopped suddenly, saying: “‘THERE, THAT WILL DO. I TAKE A HEARTY LAUGH EVERY DAY, FOR THE SAKE OF digestion.’ “THEN HE ADDED, IN A WHISPER, ‘THAT IS THE REASON I LIVE SO LONG AND DON’T GROW OLD. I’VE BEEN THE SAME AGE EVER SINCE THE CHRONICLERS BEGAN TO TAKE NOTES, AND THOSE WHO ARE BEST ABLE TO JUDGE THINK I’LL CONTINUE TO BE THIS WAY FOR ABOUT ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-SIX YEARS LONGER,—THEY PROBABLY TOOK A NEW OBSERVATION AT THE CENTENNIAL, AND THEY know exactly.’ “I WAS GREATLY DELIGHTED TO HEAR THIS, AND I TOLD HIM SO. HE NODDED AND WINKED AND SAID IT WAS ‘ALL RIGHT,’ AND THEN ASKED IF I’D LIKE TO SEE THE PLACE. I SAID I WOULD, SO HE THREW DOWN THE HOE WITH A SIGH, SAYING, ‘I DON’T BELIEVE I SHALL HAVE MORE THAN HALF A CROP OF SOLDIERS THIS SEASON. THEY CAME UP WELL, BUT THE ARMS AND LEGS SEEM TO BE WEAK. WHEN I GET TO town I’ll have to send out some girls with glue pots, to stick them fast.’ “THE TOWN WAS AT SOME DISTANCE, AND OUR PATH TOOK US BY FLOWER-BEDS WHERE SOME EXQUISITE LITTLE TOYS WERE GROWING, AND A HOT-BED WHERE NEW VARIETIES WERE BEING PROP—propagated. PRETTY SOON WE CAME TO A PLANTATION OF YOUNG TREES, WITH RATTLES, AND RUBBER BALLS, AND IVORY RINGS GROWING ON THE BRANCHES, AND AS WE WENT PAST THEY RANG AND BOUNDED about in the merriest sort of a way. “‘THERE’S A NICE GROWTH,’ SAID SANTA CLAUS, AND IT was A NICE GROWTH FOR BABIES; BUT JUST BEYOND I SAW SOMETHING SO PERFECTLY SPLENDID THAT I didn’t care about the plantation.” “WELL,” SAID LILL IMPRESSIVELY, SEEING THAT EFFIE WAS SUFFICIENTLY EXPECTANT, “IT WAS A LOVELY GROVE. THE TREES WERE LARGE, WITH LONG drooping BRANCHES, AND THE BRANCHES WERE JUST LOADED WITH DOLLS’ CLOTHES. THERE were elegant silk dresses, with lovely sashes of every color—” JUST HERE EFFIE COULDN’T HELP SAYING “O!” FOR SHE HAD A WEAKNESS FOR SASHES. LILL LOOKED STERN, AND PUT A WARNING HAND OVER HER MOUTH, AND went on. “THERE WAS EVERYTHING THAT THE MOST FASHIONABLE DOLL COULD WANT, growing in the greatest profusion. Some of the clothes had fallen, and there WERE FUNNY-LOOKING GIRLS PICKING THEM UP, AND PACKING THEM IN TRUNKS AND BOXES. ‘THESE ARE ALL RIPE,’ SAID SANTA CLAUS, STOPPING TO SHAKE A TREE, AND THE CLOTHES CAME TUMBLING DOWN SO FAST THAT THE WORKERS WERE BUSIER THAN EVER. THE GROVE WAS ON A HILL, SO THAT WE HAD A BEAUTIFUL VIEW OF THE COUNTRY. FIRST THERE WAS A PARK FILLED WITH REINDEER, AND BEYOND THAT WAS the town, and at one side a large farm-yard filled with animals of all sorts. “BUT AS SANTA CLAUS SEEMED IN A HURRY I DID NOT STOP LONG TO LOOK. OUR PATH LED THROUGH THE PARK, AND WE STOPPED TO CALL ‘PRANCER’ AND ‘DANCER’ AND ‘DONDER’ AND ‘BLITZEN,’ AND SANTA CLAUS FED THEM WITH LUMPS OF SUGAR FROM HIS POCKET. HE POINTED OUT ‘COMET’ AND ‘CUPID’ IN A DISTANT PART OF the park; ‘Dasher’ and ‘Vixen’ were nowhere to be seen. UNCAPTIONED ILLUSTRATION “HERE I FOUND MOST OF THE HOUSES WERE SWISS COTTAGES, BUT THERE WERE SOME FINE CHURCHES AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ALL OF BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED BUILDING BLOCKS, AND WE STOPPED FOR A MOMENT AT A LONG DEPOT, IN WHICH A locomotive was just smashing up. “SANTA CLAUS’ HOUSE STOOD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TOWN. IT WAS AN OLD- FASHIONED LOOKING HOUSE, VERY BROAD AND LOW, WITH AN ENORMOUS CHIMNEY. THERE WAS A WIDE STEP IN FRONT OF THE DOOR, SHADED BY A FIG-TREE AND GRAPE- VINE, AND MORNING-GLORIES AND SCARLET BEANS CLAMBERED BY THE SIDE OF THE LATTICED WINDOWS; AND THERE WERE GREAT ROUND ROSE-BUSHES, WITH GREAT, round roses, on either side of the walk leading to the door.” “O! IT MUST HAVE SMELLED LIKE A PARTY,” SAID EFFIE, AND THEN SUBSIDED, as she remembered that she was interrupting. “INSIDE, THE HOUSE WAS JUST COZY AND COMFORTABLE, A REAL GRANDFATHERLY SORT OF A PLACE. A BIG CHAIR WAS DRAWN UP IN FRONT OF THE WINDOW, AND A BIG BOOK WAS OPEN ON A TABLE IN FRONT OF THE CHAIR. A GREAT PACK HALF MADE UP WAS ON THE FLOOR, AND SANTA CLAUS STOPPED TO ADD A FEW THINGS FROM HIS POCKET. THEN HE WENT TO THE KITCHEN, AND BROUGHT ME A LUNCH OF MILK AND strawberries and cookies, for he said I must be tired after my long walk. “AFTER I HAD RESTED A LITTLE WHILE, HE SAID IF I LIKED I MIGHT GO WITH HIM TO THE OBSERVATORY. BUT JUST AS WE WERE STARTING A FUNNY LITTLE FELLOW STOPPED AT THE DOOR WITH A WHEELBARROW FULL OF BOXES OF DISHES. AFTER SANTA CLAUS HAD TAKEN THE BOXES OUT AND PUT THEM IN THE PACK HE SAID slowly,— “‘Let me see!’ “HE LAID HIS FINGER BESIDE HIS NOSE AS HE SAID IT, AND LOOKED AT ME ATTENTIVELY, AS IF I WERE A SUM IN ADDITION, AND HE WAS ADDING ME UP. I GUESS I MUST HAVE COME OUT RIGHT, FOR HE LOOKED SATISFIED, AND SAID I’D BETTER GO TO THE MINE FIRST, AND THEN JOIN HIM IN THE OBSERVATORY. NOW I AM AFRAID HE WAS NOT EXACTLY POLITE NOT TO GO WITH ME HIMSELF,” ADDED LILL, GRAVELY, “BUT THEN HE APOLOGIZED BY SAYING HE HAD SOME WORK TO DO. SO I FOLLOWED THE LITTLE FELLOW WITH THE WHEELBARROW, AND WE SOON CAME TO WHAT LOOKED LIKE THE ENTRANCE OF A CAVE, BUT I SUPPOSE IT WAS THE MINE. I FOLLOWED MY GUIDE TO THE INTERIOR WITHOUT STOPPING TO LOOK AT THE BOXES AND PILES OF DISHES OUTSIDE. HERE I FOUND OTHER FUNNY LITTLE PEOPLE, BUSILY AT WORK WITH PICKS AND SHOVELS, TAKING OUT WOODEN DISHES FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE CAVE, AND CHINA AND GLASS FROM THE TOP AND SIDES, FOR THE DISHES HUNG down just like stalactites in Mammoth Cave.” HERE LILL OPENED THE BOOK SHE HAD BEEN READING, AND SHOWED EFFIE A picture of the stalactites. “IT WAS SO CURIOUS AND SO PRETTY THAT I SHOULD HAVE REMAINED LONGER,” said Lill, “only I remembered the observatory and Santa Claus. “WHEN I WENT OUTSIDE I HEARD HIS VOICE CALLING OUT, ‘LILIAN! LILIAN!’ IT SOUNDED A GREAT WAY OFF, AND YET SOMEHOW IT SEEMED TO FILL THE AIR JUST AS THE WIND DOES. I ONLY HAD TO LOOK FOR A MOMENT, FOR VERY NEAR BY WAS A HIGH TOWER. I WONDER I DID NOT SEE IT BEFORE; BUT IN THESE QUEER COUNTRIES YOU ARE SURE TO SEE SOMETHING NEW EVERY TIME YOU LOOK ABOUT. SANTA CLAUS WAS STANDING UP AT A WINDOW NEAR THE TOP, AND I RAN TO THE ENTRANCE AND COMMENCED CLIMBING THE STAIRS. IT WAS A LONG JOURNEY, AND I WAS QUITE OUT OF BREATH WHEN I CAME TO THE END OF IT. BUT HERE THERE WAS SUCH A COZY, LUXURIOUS LITTLE ROOM, FULL OF STUFFED CHAIRS AND LOUNGES, BIRD CAGES AND FLOWERS IN THE WINDOWS, AND PICTURES ON THE WALL, THAT IT WAS DELIGHTFUL TO REST. THERE WAS A LADY SITTING BY A GOLDEN DESK, WRITING IN A LARGE BOOK, AND SANTA CLAUS WAS LOOKING THROUGH A GREAT TELESCOPE, AND EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE HE STOPPED AND PUT HIS EAR TO A LARGE SPEAKING-TUBE. WHILE I WAS resting he went on with his observations. “PRESENTLY HE SAID TO THE LADY, ‘PUT DOWN A GOOD MARK FOR SARAH Buttermilk. I see she is trying to conquer her quick temper.’ “‘TWO BAD ONES FOR ISAAC CLAPPERTONGUE; HE’LL DRIVE HIS MOTHER TO THE insane asylum yet.’ “‘BAD ONES ALL AROUND FOR THE CROSSLEY CHILDREN,—THEY QUARREL TOO much.’ “‘A good one for Harry and Alice Pleasure, they are quick to mind.’ “‘And give Ruth Olive ten, for she is a peacemaker.’” JUST THEN HE HAPPENED TO LOOK AT ME AND SAW I WAS RESTED, SO HE POLITELY ASKED WHAT I THOUGHT OF THE COUNTRY. I SAID IT WAS MAGNIFICENT. HE SAID HE WAS SORRY I DIDN’T STOP IN THE GREEN-HOUSE, WHERE HE HAD WAX DOLLS AND OTHER DELICATE THINGS GROWING. I WAS VERY SORRY ABOUT THAT, AND THEN I said I thought he must be very happy to own so many delightful things. “‘OF COURSE I’M HAPPY,’ SAID SANTA CLAUS, AND THEN HE SIGHED. ‘BUT IT IS AN AWFUL RESPONSIBILITY TO REWARD SO MANY CHILDREN ACCORDING TO THEIR DESERTS. FOR I TAKE THESE OBSERVATIONS EVERY DAY, AND I KNOW WHO IS GOOD and who is bad.’ “I WAS GLAD HE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS, AND NOW, IF HE WOULD ONLY TELL ME WHAT TIME OF DAY HE TOOK THE OBSERVATIONS, I WOULD HAVE OBTAINED REALLY VALUABLE INFORMATION. SO I STOOD UP AND MADE MY BEST COURTESY AND SAID, — “‘Please, sir, would you tell me what time of day you usually look?’ “‘O,’ HE ANSWERED, CARELESSLY, ‘ANY TIME FROM SEVEN IN THE MORNING TILL TEN AT NIGHT. I AM NOT A BIT PARTICULAR ABOUT TIME. I OFTEN GO WITHOUT MY OWN MEALS IN ORDER TO MAKE A RECORD OF TABLE MANNERS. FOR INSTANCE: LAST EVENING I SAW YOU TURN YOUR SPOON OVER IN YOUR MOUTH, AND THAT’S VERY unmannerly for a girl nearly fourteen.’ “‘O, I DIDN’T KNOW you WERE LOOKING,’ SAID I, VERY MUCH ASHAMED; ‘and I’ll never do it again,’ I promised. UNCAPTIONED ILLUSTRATION UNCAPTIONED ILLUSTRATION “THEN HE SAID I MIGHT LOOK THROUGH THE TELESCOPE, AND I LOOKED RIGHT DOWN INTO OUR HOUSE. THERE WAS MOTHER VERY BUSY AND VERY TIRED, AND ALL OF THE CHILDREN TEASING. IT WAS QUEER, FOR I WAS THERE, TOO, AND THE bad-est OF ANY. PRETTY SOON I RAN TO A QUIET CORNER WITH A BOOK, AND IN A FEW MINUTES MAMMA HAD TO LEAVE HER WORK AND CALL, ‘LILIAN, LILIAN, IT’S TIME for you to practise.’ “‘Yes, mamma,’ I answered, ‘I’ll come right away.’ “AS SOON AS I SAID THIS SANTA CLAUS WHISTLED FOR ‘COMET’ AND ‘CUPID,’ AND THEY CAME TEARING UP THE TOWER. HE PUT ME IN A TINY SLEIGH, AND AWAY WE WENT, OVER GREAT SNOW-BANKS OF CLOUDS, AND BEFORE I HAD TIME TO THINK I WAS LANDED IN THE BIG CHAIR, AND MAMMA WAS CALLING ‘LILIAN, LILIAN, IT’S time for you to practise,’ just as she is doing now, and I must go.” So Lill answered, “Yes, mamma,” and ran to the piano. EFFIE SANK BACK IN THE CHAIR TO THINK. SHE WISHED LILL HAD FOUND OUT HOW MANY BLACK MARKS SHE HAD, AND WHETHER THAT LADY WAS MRS. SANTA CLAUS—AND HAD, IN FACT, OBTAINED MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION ABOUT MANY things. BUT WHEN SHE ASKED ABOUT SOME OF THEM afterwards, LILL SAID SHE DIDN’T KNOW, FOR THE NEXT TIME SHE HAD TRAVELED IN THAT DIRECTION SHE FOUND SANTA CLAUS LAND had moved. I PRINTER'S DECORATION WHAT HAPPENED TO KATHIE AND LU. T WAS A VERY GREAT MISFORTUNE, AND IT MUST HAVE BEEN A SAD AFFLICTION TO THE FRIENDS OF THE TWO CHILDREN, FOR BOTH WERE ONCE PRETTY AND charming. It came about in this way. LITTLE WINNIE TENNYSON—SHE WASN’T THE DAUGHTER OF MR. ALFRED TENNYSON, THE POET-LAUREATE OF ENGLAND, BUT was AS SWEET AS ANY ONE OF THAT GENTLEMAN’S POEMS—HAD BEEN TO THE CITY; AND SHE HAD BROUGHT HOME SO MANY WONDROUS IMPROVEMENTS THAT HER TWO LITTLE BOSOM FRIENDS, LU MEDWAY AND KATHIE DYSART, WERE ALMOST STRUCK DUMB TO BEHOLD AND TO hear what Winnie said and what Winnie had. FOR ONE THING, THERE WERE SOME WOODEN BLOCKS, ALL FLUTED AND GROOVED, AND WINNIE COULD HEAT THESE BLOCKS IN THE OVEN, AND WET HER HAIR, AND LAY it between them, and O! how satin-smooth the waves would be,—hair-pin- crimps and braid-crimps were nothing to this new and scientific way. WINNIE ALSO MADE IT A MATTER OF PRIDE TO DISPLAY HER OVERSKIRTS. THESE WERE ARRANGED WITH EVER SO MANY TAPES ON THE INSIDE, AND WOULD READILY TIE UP INTO THE MOST RAVISHING BUNCHES AND PUFFS—HOW LU AND KATHIE, WEE- EST MITES OF WOMEN THOUGH THEY WERE, DID ENVY WINNIE HER TAPES! THEIR MAMMAS DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO LOOP A DRESS—WITNESS THEIR LITTLE SKIRTS pinned back into what Kathie called a “wopse.” SHE ALSO HAD BROUGHT SOME TINY PARLOR SKATES, AND, WITHAL, MANY AIRS AND GRACES WHICH HER TWO YOUNG-LADY AUNTIES HAD TAUGHT HER, AMONG OTHERS A FUNNY LITTLE NEW ACCENT ON SOME OF HER WORDS,—THE WORD “PRETTY” IN particular. And, last of all, she had been taught to dance! “And I can show you,” WINNIE SAID, EAGERLY, “’CAUSE IT GOES BY ‘STEPS,’ and uncle says I take them as pr-i-tty as Cousin Lily.” NOW, IN CONNAUT, LITTLE GIRLS DON’T DANCE—NOT nice LITTLE GIRLS, NOR NICE big girls either, for that matter. THE DIMPLED MOUTHS OPENED IN ASTONISHMENT. “THAT IS WICKED, WINNIE Ten’son, don’t you know?” “O, BUT ’TISN’T,” SAID WINNIE. “MY AUNTIES DANCE, AND THEIR MAMMA, my grandmamma, was at the party once.” “WE SHALL TELL OUR MOTHERS,” SAID LU. “I’LL BET YOU’VE COME HOME A proud, wicked girl, and you want us to be as bad as you are.” WINNIE ALREADY HAD HER CLASS BEFORE HER. “WINNIE ALREADY HAD HER CLASS BEFORE HER.” Now Winnie was only six years old, about the same age as her virtuous FRIENDS, AND SHE DIDN’T LOOK VERY WICKED. SHE HAD PINK CHEEKS, AND BLUE EYES, AND DIMPLES. SHE STOOD GAZING AT HER ACCUSERS, FIRST AT ONE AND THEN at the other. “LUIE,” SAID KATHIE, GRAVELY, “WE MUSTN’T CALL WINNIE WICKED TILL WE ask our mothers if she is.” “NO, I DON’T THINK I WOULD,” SAID MRS. TENNYSON, LOOKING UP FROM HER SEWING, HER CHEEK FLUSHING AT THE SIGHT OF TEARS IN HER LITTLE WINNIE’S GENTLE eyes. ON THE WAY HOME, THEY CHANCED TO SEE THEIR OWN MINISTER WALKING ALONG. LU STOPPED SHORT. “KATHIE,” SAID SHE, “I KNOW IT’S AWFUL WICKED NOW, OR ELSE WE NEVER SHOULD HAVE MET THE MINISTER RIGHT HERE. I’M JUST going to tell him about Winnie.” She went up to him, Kathie following shyly. “Mr. Goodhue, Winnie Ten’son is a nawful wicked girl!” “She is!” SAID MR. GOODHUE, STOPPING, AND LOOKING DOWN INTO THE LITTLE eager face. “Yes, sir, she is. She wants us to dance!” “She does!” “YES, SIR, SHE DOES. SHE WANTED US TO LEARN THE STEPS, RIGHT DOWN IN HER garden this afternoon. Would you dance, Mr. Goodhue?” “WOULD I? PERHAPS I MIGHT, WERE I AS LITTLE AND SPRY AS YOU, AND Winnie would teach me steps, and it was down in the garden.” THE LITTLE GIRLS LOOKED UP INTO HIS FACE SEARCHINGLY. HE WALKED ON laughing, and they went on homeward, to ask further advice. AT HOME, TOO, EVERYONE SEEMED TO THINK IT A MATTER FOR SMILES, AND laughed at the two tender little consciences. SO THEY BOTH RAN BACK AFTER DINNER TO MRS. TENNYSON’S. BUT ON THE WAY KATHIE SAID, “THEY LET US, THE MINISTER AND EV’RY BODY, BUT IF IT IS wicked ever, how isn’t it wicked now?” “I s’pose ’cause we’re children,” Lu said wisely. The logical trouble thus laid, they tripped on. THEY WERE DRESSED IN SWEET PINK, AND THEIR SUN-BONNETS WERE AS FRESH AND CRISP AS ONLY THE SUN-BONNETS OF DEAR LITTLE COUNTRY SCHOOL-GIRLS EVER CAN BE. IT WAS A MOST MERRY SUMMER DAY; ALL NATURE MOVING GLADSOMELY TO THE FULL MUSIC OF LIFE. THE LEAVES WERE FLUTTERING TO EACH OTHER, THE GRASSES sweeping up and down, the bobolinks hopping by the meadow path. Their friend Winnie came out to meet them, looking rather astonished. “We’re going to learn,” shouted Lu, “get on your bonnet.” “But you wasn’t good to me to-day,” said Winnie, thoughtfully. “WE DIDN’T DA’ST TO BE,” SAID KATHIE, “TILL WE’D ASKED SOMEBODY THAT knew.” MRS. TENNYSON WAS HALF OF THE MIND TO CALL HER LITTLE DAUGHTER IN; YET she felt it a pity to be less sweet and forgiving than the child. WINNIE ALREADY HAD HER CLASS BEFORE HER. “NOW YOU MUST DO JUST AS I DO. YOU MUST HOLD YOUR DRESS BACK SO,—NOT GRAB IT, BUT HOLD IT BACK NICE, AND YOU MUST BEND FORWARD SO, AND YOU MUST POINT YOUR SLIPPERS SO,—NOT stand flat.” VERY GRACEFUL THE LITTLE DANCING-TEACHER LOOKED, TIP-TOEING HERE, GLIDING THERE, TWINKLING THROUGH A SERIES OF PRETTY STEPS DOWN THE LONG GARDEN walk. BUT THE PUPILS! DO THE BEST SHE MIGHT, STURDY LITTLE KATHIE COULDN’T MANAGE HER DRESS. SHE GRASPED IT TIGHTLY IN EITHER FAT LITTLE FIST. “MOTHER Bunch!” Lu giggled behind her back. KATHIE’S FACE GOT VERY RED OVER THAT. IT WAS WELL ENOUGH TO BE “DUMPLING,”—EVERYBODY LOVES A DUMPLING; BUT “MOTHER BUNCH!” SO SHE BOUNCED AND SHUFFLED A LITTLE LONGER, AND THEN SHE SAID SHE WAS GOING home. BUT MISS LU WASN’T READY. SHE GREATLY LIKED THE NEW FUN, THE HOPPING AND WHIRLING TO WINNIE’S STEADY “ONE, TWO, three! ONE, TWO, three!” THERE WAS A GROWN-UP, AFFECTED SMIRK ON HER DELICATE LITTLE FACE, AT WHICH MRS. TENNYSON LAUGHED EVERY TIME SHE LOOKED OUT. I THINK LU WOULD HAVE HOPPED AND MINCED UP AND DOWN THE WALK UNTIL NIGHT, IF WINNIE’S MOTHER hadn’t told them it was time to go. “I DON’T LIKE HER OLD STEPS,” SAID KATHIE. THEY WERE SITTING ON A DAISY bank near Mr. Medway’s. “WELL, I DO,” SAID LU. “AND YOU WOULD, TOO, IF YOU WASN’T SO CHUNKED. You just bounced up and down.” Kathie burst out crying. “I’ll bet dancing steps is wicked, for you never WAS SO MEAN BEFORE IN YOUR LIFE, SO! AND YOU DIDN’T DANCE NEAR SO PRETTY as Winnie, and you needn’t think you ever will, for you never will!” “Oh! I won’t, won’t I?” said Lu, teasingly. “NO, YOU WON’T. I WON’T BE WICKED AND SAY YOU ARE NICE, FOR YOU’RE horrid.” “You’re wicked this minute, Kathie Dysart, for you’re mad.” AND AS SHE LAUGHED A NAUGHTY LAUGH, AND AS KATHIE GLARED BACK AT HER, THEN IT WAS THAT THAT WHICH HAPPENED BEGAN TO HAPPEN. LU’S DELICATE, ROSY MOUTH COMMENCED DRAWING UP AT THE CORNERS IN AN UGLY FASHION, AND HER NOSE COMMENCED DRAWING DOWN, WHILE HER DIMPLED CHIN THRUST ITSELF OUT IN A TAUNTING MANNER; BUT THE HORROR OF IT WAS THAT SHE COULDN’T STRAIGHTEN HER lips, nor could she draw in her chin when she tried. “YOU dis’gree’ble THING!” SHRIEKED KATHIE, LOOKING AT HER AND FEELING DREADFULLY, HER EYEBROWS KNOTTING UP LIKE TWO LITTLE SQUIRMING SNAKES. “IF I’M A MOTHER BUNCH, YOU’RE A BEAN-POLE, AND YOU’LL BE AN UGLY OLD WITCH some day, and you’ll dry up and you’ll blow away.” BY THIS TIME THE TWO LITTLE PINK STARCHED SUN-BONNETS FAIRLY STOOD ON end at each other. “Kathie Dysart, I’ll tell your Sunday-school teacher, see if I don’t.” “Tell her what? you old, old, OLD thing!” THEY GREW OLDER AND UGLIER EACH MOMENT. “THEY GREW OLDER AND UGLIER EACH MOMENT.” KATHIE DYSART LOVED HER SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER, AND NOW SHE was IN A RAGE. SHE COULDN’T BEGIN TO SCOWL AS FIERCELY AS SHE FELT; HER CHEEKS SUNK IN, HER LIPS DREW DOWN, HER NOSE GREW SHARP AND LONG IN THE EFFORT. AND, ALL AT ONCE, AS THE CHILDREN SAY, HER FACE “FROZE” SO. OH! IT WAS PERFECTLY HORRID, THAT WHICH HAPPENED TO THE TWO LITTLE DEARS, IT WAS INDEED. THEY COULD NOT POSSIBLY LOOK AWAY FROM EACH OTHER, AND THEY GREW OLDER AND UGLIER EACH MOMENT! WHY, THEIR VERY SUN-BONNETS—THOSE FRESH LITTLE PINK SUN-BONNETS—SHRIVELED INTO OLD WOMEN’S CAPS, AND EVEN IN THE HEARTS OF THE POOR LITTLE OLD CRONES THE HARDENING PROCESS WAS GOING ON, A FIERCE FIRE OF HATE SCORCHING THE LAST CENTRAL DROP OF DEW, UNTIL NOTHING WOULD EVER, ever grow and bloom again. It was all over with Lu and Kathie forever and ever. ALL THIS WAS LONG AGO, OF COURSE—INDEED, IT HAPPENED “ONCE UPON A TIME.” IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT NOW TO VERIFY EACH POINT IN THE ACCOUNT. ON THE CONTRARY, I SUPPOSE IT JUST POSSIBLE THAT THERE MAY BE A MISTAKE AS TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CHILDREN’S CLOTHES—THE CHANGE OF THE SUN-BONNETS into caps, for instance. BUT, AS A WHOLE, I SEE NO REASON TO DOUBT THE STORY. OFTEN, AND QUITE recently, too, I have seen little faces in danger of a similar transformation. WHERE ANGER, ENVY, SPITE, AND SOME OTHERS OF THE ILL-TEMPERS, GAIN CONTROL OF THE NERVES AND MUSCLES OF THE HUMAN COUNTENANCE, THEY PULL AND TWITCH AND KNOT AND TIE THESE NERVES AND MUSCLES, UNTIL IT IS ALMOST impossible to recognize the face. SOMETIMES THIS CHANGE HAS PASSED OFF IN A MINUTE; BUT AT OTHER TIMES IT HAS LASTED FOR HOURS, AND THERE IS always DANGER THAT THE FACE WILL FAIL TO RECOVER ITS PLEASANTNESS WHOLLY, THAT TRACES WILL REMAIN, LIKE WRINKLES IN A RIBBON THAT HAS BEEN TIED, AND THAT, AT LAST, THE TRANSFORMATION WILL BE FINAL and fatal, and the fair child become and remain “a horrid old witch.” OF ONE THING WE ALL ARE CERTAIN—THAT THE MOST GOSSIPING AND MALICIOUS PERSON NOW LIVING WAS ONCE A FAIR AND INNOCENT CHILD; SO WHO SHALL SAY THAT this which I have related did not happen to Lu and Kathie? PRINTER'S DECORATION H PRINTER'S DECORATION FLAXIE FRIZZLE. ER NAME WAS MARY GRAY, BUT THEY CALLED HER FLAXIE FRIZZLE. SHE HAD LIGHT CURLY HAIR, AND A CURLY NOSE. THAT IS, HER NOSE CURLED UP AT THE end a wee bit, just enough to make it look cunning. What kind of a child was she? WELL, I DON’T WANT TO TELL; BUT I SUPPOSE I SHALL HAVE TO. SHE WASN’T gentle and timid and sweet like you little darlings, oh, no! not like you. And MRS. WILLARD, WHO WAS THERE VISITING FROM BOSTON, SAID SHE WAS “dreadful.” She was always talking at the table, for one thing. “MAMMA,” SAID SHE, ONE DAY, FROM HER HIGH CHAIR, “YOUR LITTLEST ONE doesn’t like fish; what makes you cook him?” MAMMA SHOOK HER HEAD, BUT FLAXIE WOULDN’T LOOK AT IT. MRS. WILLARD WAS SAYING, “WHEN WE GO TO RIDE THIS AFTERNOON WE CAN STOP AT THE SLATE- quarry.” Who WAS GOING TO RIDE? AND WOULD THEY TAKE THE “LITTLEST ONE” TOO? Flaxie meant to find out. FLAXIE FRIZZLE. FLAXIE FRIZZLE. “DO YOU LOVE ME, MAMMA?” SAID SHE, BEATING HER MUG AGAINST HER RED waiter. “When you are a good girl, Flaxie.” “WELL, LOOK RIGHT IN MY EYES, MAMMA. DON’T YOU SEE I are A GOOD GIRL? And mayn’t I go a-riding?” “Eat your dinner, Mary Gray, and don’t talk.” HER MOTHER NEVER CALLED HER MARY GRAY EXCEPT WHEN SHE WAS troublesome. “I WANT TO TELL YOU SUMPIN, MAMMA,” WHISPERED SHE, BENDING FORWARD