Part 8 (1/2)
”As to my contents, they were of a rather miscellaneous character, for although Fritz had a natural love for animals, and considerable success in copying those with which he was acquainted, his knowledge of the more distant creation was limited to the quaint old woodcuts in his mother's Bible, in which they were drawn with more spirit and imagination than correctness. And so Fritz's horses, oxen, pigs, sheep, dogs, and goats were characteristic and good, but his elephant and camel, though original, were eccentric, to use a mild term. They were all executed, however, with great pains, and the wood from which they were carved was specially selected with a view to their colour and marks. Thus, for example, the tiger, though his outline and shape were rather doubtful, and he partook more than he should of the square frame of a cow, was cut out of a bit of wood where a knot had been, which caused it to be streaked in a manner very suitable to the stripes of that animal. The birds generally were a greater success, for with most of these Fritz was tolerably familiar. We had certainly all spent a very pleasant summer, high up in the Alps, with the most delicious clear sky overhead and the fragrant herbage beneath. It was so calm and clear, that the silence was broken alone by the far off sheep and goat bells, the faint low of the drowsy cattle, or the sweet song of distant birds. How often I have recalled that pleasant early life, which was so very speedily terminated.
”The toy merchant soon packed up his wares and departed, and we saw and heard nothing more, until we were unpacked from a huge case of other toys, and placed in the window of a famous toyshop in St. Paul's Churchyard. In the window there, for some months, we attracted numberless groups of delighted little admirers, but our high price placed us beyond the reach of most people. Our turn came at last; we were selected by a doating grandpapa for his pet little grand-daughter, and carefully packed up and taken to the abode of our future owner. The pretty little child was too young as yet to have such a beautiful and costly toy in her own charge, so her Mamma undertook the care of us, and Beatrice was allowed to play with us occasionally.
”She was a queer little mortal, this new mistress of ours, and not particularly fond of toys in general. She was highly delighted at first, and twice or thrice when she was allowed to play with us, she arranged us carefully in pairs on the table. But when Nurse or Mamma tried to improve her knowledge, and give her a sly object lesson on zoology, Miss Beatrice grew refractory, and cared for us no more. Unfortunately on one occasion when her Mamma was seriously ill, the nurse gave us to her to play with, to keep her quiet, and the whole house being somewhat upset by the illness, the child was not taken much notice of. Alas, when Nurse came in the evening to collect my animals and put me away, she found a most deplorable state of things. Beatrice had been dragging me about as a carriage for her doll, and had thus damaged my pretty railed gallery and staircase past all mending. My roof was in three pieces, and the reckless little savage had first strewn all my beasts over the floor, and then as deliberately walked over them. Oh, what a havoc was there!
My poor dear cows and sheep, that had cost the ingenious Fritz so much time and trouble, had not three legs to boast of between them, and as for the birds, they were most of them pounded to pieces and bits. I thought with bitter regret of the green mountain heights where we had so merrily proceeded under Fritz's laborious fingers, and had been the admiration of the whole little Swiss village.
”When Beatrice's mother was better, she was much vexed to hear what had happened to us, and was very angry indeed with Beatrice for her wilful mischief. I believe from that time, the child took a dislike to us, for she was a capricious, odd-tempered little thing, and certainly never played with us without doing us some further injury. As for the animals, they were left and dropped all over the house. Poor old Grandmamma coming to spend the day, fell down and sprained her ancle by treading on the elephant. The camel was thrown through one of the windows by a little boy visitor during a romp with Beatrice, and Aunt Priscilla was almost irreparably offended the last time she stayed there, by finding a wooden pig in her fur-lined slipper. She put her foot hastily in without seeing it, and hurt it so, that she declared she was lame for a month afterwards. In short, we were always in trouble in some way or other, and Beatrice's mother more than once threatened to give us away.
”It would have been a small consolation to us if our young owner had played with us sometimes, or taken ever so little pride in us. But no; she only took us out to bring more shame and disgrace on us, and on herself. For instance, once when her G.o.dmother took her to church for the first time, Beatrice took her handkerchief out of her pocket, and with it a number of wooden animals, which fell in a pattering shower on the pavement. Naughty Beatrice would stop in the middle of the aisle and pick us all up, to the astonishment of the congregation, the horror of her G.o.dmother, and the utter scandal of the grave old clerk. Nay, worse even, for when the sermon commenced, she rushed out of her seat, and began to hunt about under the people's feet in the free benches for a missing camelopard!
”After this terrible mishap, Nurse laid hands on all the stray animals she could find, and clapped them all hastily into my box, shutting down the lid decidedly, and promising Beatrice she should see us no more. She was as good as her word, and hid us behind a great pile of clean dimity curtains in the linen closet, where we remained snugly packed away for some time. But, alas! one day our mischievous little mistress, during one of her prowls, chanced to see the open door of the linen closet, and could not resist a sudden raid upon it. To her great joy, she found us, and carefully lugging us out, she hid us in her little cot till bedtime.
”It happened to be the day of a dinner party, and all the servants were very busy with the preparations for it, while the lady of the house was equally engaged in superintending the arrangements. In the evening, while dinner was proceeding, Beatrice, well-dressed for the occasion, was taken down into the drawing-room, to wait till she could go in to dessert. Her nurse, no doubt, was using her ears and eyes in other matters, and so the mischievous little maid was left to her own devices.
The results, however, were very unpleasantly visible to her Mamma, when having helped a lady to some trifle, she observed her become very red, and lay down her spoon. On enquiry, she found that she had met with a wooden frog in the trifle, and on further search, some more of my unlucky animals were found located among the sweet dishes. A huge dog was floundering in the jelly, and a regular flight of birds had got about the blancmange.
”The end of this disagreeable affair was, that Miss Beatrice was sent to bed in dire disgrace, and the poor innocent animals, all sticky from their sweet bath, were consigned to the fire. The few remaining creatures that were left of all the numerous flock Fritz had so proudly made, were hastily gathered together, and with me, given away next morning.
”Our next owner was a little boy, a very quiet little fellow, to whom we became the greatest treasure in the world. He thought me the most beautiful toy that was ever made, although I was in such a sadly damaged condition. His only grief was, that my stock of animals had now dwindled down to about twenty, and of these, most were maimed or deficient in some way. However, he wisely made the best of a bad matter, and set to work to repair the damage as well as he could. With his elder brother's kind help, and the loan of a glue-pot, he repaired, as neatly as possible, the breakage of my gallery and staircase. With pins, cork, and sealing-wax, he next proceeded to tinker-up the poor mutilated animals, and succeeded in making them all stand pretty firmly once more. It would have done Fritz's honest heart good to see how carefully the little fellow handled his masterpiece, and how very conscientiously he tried to put all to rights again. And if the horse _had_ two odd scarlet legs made out of sealing-wax, it was better than going a cripple for life; and as for the squirrel, he need not have grumbled, for a black pin for a tail was better than none. To be sure, he did stick the bear's head on the wrong way, but then it did not much matter, it only looked as if he had met with a tree he wanted to climb, and was looking up it.
”And so once more we were patched up into ordinary respectability, and so pretty did we look, even in our less bright condition, that at last, as Harry was a little too old to play with such toys, and cared much more for making and mending them, we were laid out in great style, and to as much advantage, on the little chess table in the bow window, and covered with a gla.s.s shade to preserve us from the dust!
”Here we dwelt in state for some years, while Harry grew up and went to school, and after that to college, and ceased to care for such trifles.
And then his mother gave us to Celia Spenser, on her birthday, who was much delighted, and for a long while we were a very favourite toy of hers; but her little brothers and sister made fresh ravages on our impaired value, although it is but fair to say the misfortunes were unintentional, and they were really sorry when they had broken any of my beams, or lost an animal. And now our turn has come to be cast aside, and so here we are with the rest of the old pensioners!”
And having said this, the Ark creaked his lid down again, and finished his story, for which he received the thanks of all the a.s.sembled party.
”Now,” said the Ball, musing gravely, ”I shall call next in order on the Marbles to relate their general history, and as I don't know which of them to ask first, I must call upon them collectively.”
[Ill.u.s.tration]
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER X.
THE MARBLES AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS.
”We are of what may be styled republican principles,” said a large China Marble, rolling out of the heap. ”Of all the speakers who have already come forward, the Kite, Doll, and yourself, for instance, are simple individuals. The Tea-things are a large family, under the rule of their mother, the Teapot; a kind of domestic despotism. The Noah's Ark might represent a const.i.tutional or limited monarchy, where the Ark is a sort of governing or holding together of the rest of the members. And so they have all very properly, as representatives, related their own peculiar history. But _we_ Marbles are a republic, and therefore can't quite tell all our story as one, because several kinds or cla.s.ses of us wish to tell their own separate tale.”
”I daresay this is all very clever, and very true,” replied the Ball, suppressing a yawn; ”but I don't quite understand all you have said.
However, let that pa.s.s; the only question before us is, how the proceedings are to be arranged in this manner. I think, as President of our party, I can hardly allow all of you to relate a distinct story, because there are several other people who are waiting in their turn, and it is due to them, as well as fair to the rest, not forgetting those who have gone before, that we should not spend all our time in hearing separately half a dozen members of your party.”
”But we have no story to tell as a body,” urged a Bright Gla.s.s Marble; ”if you won't hear us separately, we have no whole adventure to relate worth mentioning.”
The Ball, somewhat puzzled, consulted gravely with the rest; and after whispering in one corner with the Kite, and in another with the Rocking Horse--after having failed in obtaining any opinion from the Doll, who was too languid to care much about the matter, and having skilfully evaded the Humming Top, who had more to say on the subject than any one cared to hear--he once more took his place, and gave his decision thus:--
”After a consultation and council with several distinguished members of our party, I am happy to tell you that we are willing to allow three of you to relate your separate stories, on the distinct understanding that they do not exceed, in their united length, the narrations that have gone before.”