Part 50 (1/2)
”Well?”
”It sounds almost absurd--but--I wanted to tell you--we ought to _pray_,” he stammers, ”it is the best thing against sorcery!”
”To pray? Perhaps so!!” Whereupon the two pike discover that it is years since they prayed last.
They cannot remember a word.
”Ashre,”[116] begins one.
”Ashre,” repeats the other, and comes to a standstill.
”Oh, I want to pray!” moans the first.
”So do I!” chimes in the second, ”for when all is said and done, we are but fis.h.!.+”
A door opens in the wall, a little way, and two heads are seen in the aperture--a tipsy-looking man's head, and a woman's with curl papers.
”Ah,” exclaims the man's head, joyously, ”this is something like!
Pike--carp--and all the other good things.”
”I should hope so! And I have sent for meat besides.”
”My knowing little wife,” chuckles the man's head.
”There, there, that will do.”
And the heads disappear.
”Did you hear?” says a pike, ”there are carp, too.”
”They have the best of it.”
”How is that?”
”To begin with, they have made no contracts, they are free agents.
Secondly, they can leap.”
”If they would only give a _good_ leap, they would find themselves back in the river.”
”Quite true.”
”And something good might come of it for us. Wait a bit--let's try!
Carp!”
The carp have suddenly swum to the surface of the water, and are poking their noses over the edge of the bowl.
The pike, face to face with the carp: