Volume IX Part 10 (1/2)

”But there were some Ishmalites comin' along that way, and the awful eleven budders took him out of the deep, dark hole, an' sold him to the Ishmalites, and they sold him away down in Egypt. An' his poor old papa cried, an' cried, 'cause he thought a big lion ate Joseph up; but he wasn't ate up a bit; but there wasn't no post-office nor choo-choos,[1]

nor stages in Egypt, an' there wasn't any telegraphs, so Joseph couldn't let his papa know where he was; an' he got so smart an' so good that the king of Egypt let him sell all the corn an' take care of the money; an'

one day some men came to buy some corn, an' Joseph looked at 'em an'

there they was his own budders! An' he scared 'em like everything; _I'd_ have _slapped_ 'em all if _I'd_ been Joseph, but he just scared 'em, an'

then he let 'em know who he was, an' he kissed 'em an' he didn't whip 'em, or make 'em go without their breakfast, or stand in a corner, nor none of them things; an' then he sent 'em back for their papa, an' when he saw his papa comin', he ran like everything, and gave him a great big hug and a kiss. Joseph was too big to ask his papa if he'd brought him any candy, but he was awful glad to see him. An' the king gave Joseph's papa a nice farm, an' they all had real good times after that.”

”And they dipped the coat in the blood, an' made it all bluggy,”

reiterated Toddie.

”Uncle Harry,” said Budge, ”what do you think _my_ papa would do if he thought I was all ate up by a lion? I guess he'd cry _awful_, don't you?

Now tell us another story--oh, _I'll_ tell you--read us 'bout--”

”'Bout Bliaff,” interrupted Toddie.

”_You_ tell _me_ about him, Toddie,” said I.

”Why,” said Toddie, ”Bliaff was a brate bid man, an' Dave was brate little man, an' Bliaff said, 'Come over here'n an' I'll eat you up,' an'

Dave said, '_I_ ain't fyaid of you.' So Dave put five little stones in a sling an' asked de Lord to help him, an' let ze sling go bang into bequeen Bliaff's eyes an' knocked him down dead, an' Dave took Bliaff's sword an' sworded Bliaff's head off, an' made it all bluggy, an' Bliaff runned away.” This short narration was accompanied by more spirited and unexpected gestures than Mr. Gough ever puts into a long lecture.

”I don't like 'bout Goliath at all,” remarked Budge. ”_I'd_ like to hear 'bout Ferus.”

”Who?”

”Ferus; don't you know?”

”Never heard of him, Budge.”

”Why--y--y--!” exclaimed Budge; ”didn't you have no papa when you was a little boy?”

”Yes, but he never told me about any one named Ferus; there's no such person named in Anthon's Cla.s.sical Dictionary, either. What sort of a man was he?”

”Why, once there was a man, an' his name was Ferus--_Of_ferus, an' he went about fightin' for kings, but when any king got afraid of anybody, he wouldn't fight for him no more. An' one day he couldn't find no kings that wasn't afraid of n.o.body. An' the people told him the Lord was the biggest king in the world, an' he wasn't afraid of n.o.body or nothing.

An' he asked 'em where he could find the Lord, an' they said he was way up in heaven so n.o.body couldn't see him but the angels, but he liked folks to _work_ for him instead of fight. So Ferus wanted to know what kind of work he could do, an' the people said there was a river not far off, where there wasn't no ferry-boats, cos the water run so fast, an'

they guessed if he'd carry folks across, the Lord would like it. So Ferus went there, an' he cut him a good, strong cane, an' whenever anybody wanted to go across the river he'd carry 'em on his back.

”One night he was sittin' in his little house by the fire, an' smokin'

his pipe an' readin' the paper, an' 'twas rainin' an' blowin' an'

hailin' an' stormin', an' he was so glad there wasn't anybody wantin' to go 'cross the river, when he heard somebody call one 'Ferus!' An' he looked out the window, but he couldn't see n.o.body, so he sat down again.

Then somebody called 'Ferus!' again, and he opened the door again, an'

there was a little bit of a boy, 'bout as big as Toddie. An' Ferus said, 'h.e.l.lo, young fellow, does your mother know you're out?' An' the little boy said, 'I want to go 'cross the river.'--'Well,' says Ferus, 'you're a mighty little fellow to be travelin' alone, but hop up.' So the little boy jumped up on Ferus's back, and Ferus walked into the water. Oh, my--_wasn't_ it cold? An' every step he took that little boy got heavier, so Ferus nearly tumbled down an' they liked to both got drownded. An' when they got across the river Ferus said, 'Well, you _are_ the heaviest small fry I ever carried,' and he turned around to look at him, an' 'twasn't no little boy at all--'twas a big man--'twas Christ. An' Christ said, 'Ferus, I heard you was tryin' to work for me, so I thought I'd come down an' see you, an' not let you know who I was.

An' now you shall have a new name; you shall be called _Christ_offerus, cos that means Christ-carrier.' An' everybody called him Christofferus after that, an' when he died they called him _Saint_ Christopher, cos Saint is what they called good people when they're dead.”

Budge himself had the face of a rapt saint as he told this story, but my contemplation of his countenance was suddenly arrested by Toddie, who, disapproving of the unexciting nature of his brother's recital, had strayed into the garden, investigated a hornet's nest, been stung, and set up a piercing shriek. He ran in to me, and as I hastily picked him up, he sobbed:

”Want to be wocked.[2] Want 'Toddie one boy day.'”

I rocked him violently, and petted him tenderly, but again he sobbed: