"THE CROWD BEGAN TO HUSTLE HIM ACROSS THE ROOM.""THE CROWD BEGAN TO HUSTLE HIM ACROSS THE ROOM."
"Tut! Tut!" said a trembling voice near him; and Davy caught sight of the Hole-keeper, also struggling in the midst of the crowd, with his great book hugged tightly to his breast.
"What does it all mean?" said Davy, anxiously.
"It means that we are to be taken before the king," said the Hole-keeper, in an agitated voice. "Don't say a word until you are spoken to, and then keep perfectlystill;" and the next moment they were dragged up to a low platform, where the king was sitting on a gorgeous tin throne. He was precisely like the rest of the creatures, except that he was a little larger, and wore a blue paper coat and a sparkling tin crown, and held in his hand a long white wand, with red lines running screw-wise around it, like a barber's pole. He stared at Davy and the Hole-keeper for a moment, and then called out, "Are the chairs buttered?"
"They are!" shouted the crowd, like one man.
"Then sit down!" roared the king.
The crowd shuffled off in all directions, and then engaged in a confused struggle for the chairs. They fought desperately for a few moments, tearing each others' shirts, and screaming out hoarse little squawks of pain, while the king thumped furiously with his wand, and the Hole-keeper trembled like a leaf. At last all were seated and the hubbub ceased, and the king, frowning savagely at the Hole-keeper, exclaimed, in a terrible voice, "Who broke the barley-sugar skylight?"
The Hole-keeper began fumbling at the leaves of his book in great agitation, when the king, pointing at him with his wand, roared furiously: "Boilhim, at all events!"
"Tut! Tut! your majesty," began the Hole-keeper, confusedly, with his stiff little tunic fairly rustling with fright; but before he could utter another word he was rushed upon and dragged away, screaming with terror.
"Don't you go with them!" shouted Davy, made really desperate by the Hole-keeper's danger. "They're nothing but a lot of molasses candy!"
At this the king gave a frightful shriek, and, aiming a furious blow at Davy with his wand, rolled off the platform into the midst of the struggling crowd. The wand broke into a hundred pieces, and the air was instantly filled with a choking odor of peppermint; then everything was wrapped in darkness, and Davy felt himself being whirled along, heels over head, through the air. Then there came a confused sound of bells and voices, and he found himself running rapidly down a long street with the Goblin at his side.
THE BUTTERSCOTCHMEN.
Bells were pealing and tolling in all directions, and the air was filled with the sound of distant shouts and cries.
"What were they?" asked Davy, breathlessly.
"Butterscotchmen," said the Goblin. "You see, they always butter their chairs so that they won't stick fast when they sit down."
"And what makes you that color?" said Davy, suddenly noticing that the Goblin had changed his color to a beautiful blue.
"Trouble and worry," said the Goblin. "I always get blue when the Butterscotchmen are after me."
"Are they coming after us now?" inquired Davy, in great alarm.
"Of course they are," said the Goblin. "But the best of it is, they can't run till they get warm, and they can't get warm without running, you see. But the worst of it is thatwecan't stop without sticking fast," he added, anxiously. "We must keep it up until we get to the Amuserum."
"What's that?" said Davy.
"It's a place they have to amuse themselves with," said the Goblin,—"curiosities, and all that sort of thing,you know. By the way, how much money have you? We have to pay to get in."
Davy began to feel in his pockets (which is a very difficult thing to do when you're running fast), and found, to his astonishment, that they were completely filled with a most
"BELLS WERE PEALING IN ALL DIRECTIONS.""BELLS WERE PEALING IN ALL DIRECTIONS."
extraordinary lot of rubbish. First he pulled out what seemed to be an iron ball; but it proved to be a hard-boiled egg, without the shell, stuck full of small tacks. Then came two slices of toast, firmly tied together with a green cord. Then came a curious little glass jar, filled with large flies. As Davy took this out of his pocket, the cork came out with a loud "pop!" and the flies flew away in all directions. Then came, one after another, a tart filled with gravel, two chicken-bones, a bird'snest with some pieces of brown soap in it, some mustard in a pill-box, and a cake of beeswax stuck full of caraway seeds. Davy remembered afterward that, as he threw these things away, they arranged themselves in a long row on the curb-stone of the street. The Goblin looked on with great interest as Davy fished them up out of his pockets, and finally said, enviously, "That's a splendid collection; where did they all come from?"
"I'm sureIdon't know," said Davy, in great bewilderment.
"And I'm sureIdon't know," repeated the Goblin. "What else is there?"
Davy felt about in his pockets again, and found what seemed to be a piece of money. On taking it out, however, he was mortified to find that it was nothing but an old button; but the Goblin exclaimed, in a tone of great satisfaction, "Ah! hold on to that!" and ran on faster than ever.
The sound of the distant voices had grown fainter and fainter still, and Davy was just hoping that their long run was almost over, when the street came abruptly to an end at a brick wall, over the top of which he could see the branches of trees. There was a small round hole in the wall, with the words "Pay Here" printed above it, and the Goblin whispered to Davy to hand in the button through this hole. Davy did so, feeling very much ashamed of himself, when, to his surprise, instead of receiving tickets in return, he heard a loud exclamation behind the wall, followed by a confusedsound of scuffling, and the hole suddenly disappeared. The next moment a little bell tinkled, and the wall rose slowly before them like a curtain, carrying the trees with it apparently, and he and the Goblin were left standing in a large open space paved with stone.
Davy was exceedingly alarmed at seeing a dense mass of Butterscotchmen in the centre of the square, pushing and crowding one another in a very quarrelsome manner, and chattering like a flock of magpies, and he was just about to propose a hasty retreat, when a figure came hurrying through the square, carrying on a pole a large placard, bearing the words:—
"JUST RECEIVED!THE GREAT FRUNGLES THING!ON EXHIBITION IN THE PLUM-GARDEN!"
At the sight of these words the mob set up a terrific shout, and began streaming out of the square after the pole-bearer, like a flock of sheep, jostling and shoving one another as they went, and leaving Davy and the Goblin quite alone.
"I verily believe they're gone to look at my button," cried Davy, beginning to laugh, in spite of his fears. "They calledmeFrungles, you know."
"That's rather a nice name," said the Goblin, who had begun smiling again. "It's better than Snubgraddle, at all events. Let's have a look at the curiosities;" and here he walked boldly into the centre of the square.
Davy followed close at his heels, and found, to his astonishment and disappointment, that the curiosities were simply the things that he had fished out of his pockets but a few minutes before, placed on little pedestals and carefully protected by transparent sugar shades. He was"THE GOBLIN TURNED HIS TELESCOPE TOWARD HIM.""THE GOBLIN TURNED HIS TELESCOPE TOWARD HIM."on the point of laughing outright at this ridiculous exhibition, when he saw that the Goblin had taken a large telescope out of his pocket, and was examining the different objects with the closest attention, and muttering to himself, "Wonderful! wonderful!" as if he had never seen anything like them before.
"Pooh!" said Davy, contemptuously; "the only wonderful thing about them is, how they ever camehere."
At this remark the Goblin turned his telescope toward Davy, and uttered a faint cry of surprise; and Davy, peering anxiously through the large end, saw him suddenly shrink to the size of a small beetle, and then disappear altogether. Davy hastily reached out with his hands to grasp the telescope, and found himself staring through a round glass window into a farm-yard, where a red Cow stood gazing up at him.
JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK'S FARM.
It was quite an ordinary-looking farm-yard and quite an ordinary-looking Cow, but she stared so earnestly up at Davy that he felt positively certain she had something to say to him. "Every creature I meetdoeshave something to say," he thought, as he felt about for the window-fastening, "and I should really like to hear a Cow"—and just at this moment the window suddenly flew open, and he pitched head-foremost out upon a pile of hay in the farm-yard, and rolled from it off upon the ground. As he sat up, feeling exceedingly foolish, he looked anxiously at the Cow, expecting to see her laughing at his misfortune, but she stood gazing at him with a very serious expression of countenance, solemnly chewing, and slowly swishing her tail from side to side. As Davy really didn't know how to begin a conversation with a Cow, he waited for her to speak first, and there was consequently a long pause. Presently the Cow said, in a melancholy, lowing tone of voice, "The old gray goose is dead."
"I'm very sorry," said Davy, not knowing what else to say.
"She is," said the Cow, positively, "and we've buriedher in the vegetable garden. We thought gooseberries would come up, but they didn't. Nothing came up but feathers."
"That's very curious," said Davy.
"Curious, but comfortable," replied the Cow. "You see, it makes a feather-bed in the garden. The pig sleeps there, and calls it his quill pen. NowIthink that pigpens should be made of porcupine quills."
"So do I," said Davy, laughing. "What else is there in the garden?"
"Nothing but the bean-stalk," said the Cow. "You've heard of 'Jack and the Bean-stalk,' haven't you?"
"Oh! yes, indeed!" said Davy, beginning to be very much interested. "I should like to see the bean-stalk."
"You can'tseethe beans talk," said the Cow, gravely. "You mighthearthem talk; that is, if they had anything to say, and you listened long enough. By the way, that's the house that Jack built. Pretty, isn't it?"
Davy turned and looked up at the house. It certainly was a very pretty house, built of bright red brick, with little gables, and dormer-windows in the roof, and with a trim little porch quite overgrown with climbing roses. Suddenly an idea struck him, and he exclaimed:—
"Then you must be the Cow with a crumpled horn!"
"It's not crumpled," said the Cow, with great dignity. "There's a slight crimp in it, to be sure, but nothing that can properly be called a crump. Then the story was all wrong about my tossing the dog. It was thecat that ate the malt. He was a Maltese cat, and his name was Flipmegilder."
"Did you tosshim?" inquired Davy.
"Certainly not," said the Cow, indignantly. "Who ever heard of a cow tossing a cat? The fact is, I've never had a fair chance to tossanything. As for the dog, Mother Hubbard never permitted any liberties to be taken withhim."
"I'd dearly love to see Mother Hubbard," said Davy, eagerly.
"Well, you can," said the Cow, indifferently. "She isn't much to see. If you'll look in at the kitchen window you'll probably find her performing on the piano and singing a song. She's always at it."
Davy stole softly to the kitchen window and peeped in, and, as the Cow had said, Mother Hubbard was there, sitting at the piano, and evidently just preparing to sing. The piano was very remarkable, and Davy could not remember ever having seen one like it before. The top of it was arranged with shelves, on which stood all the kitchen crockery, and in the under part of it, at one end, was an oven with glass doors, through which he could see several pies baking.
Mother Hubbard was dressed, just as he expected, in a very ornamental flowered gown, with high-heeled shoes and buckles, and wore a tall pointed hat over her nightcap. She was so like the pictures Davy had seen of her that he thought he would have recognized her anywhere.
MOTHER HUBBARD SINGS A SONG.MOTHER HUBBARD SINGS A SONG.
She sang in a high key with a very quavering voice, and this was the song:—
I had an educated pug,His name was Tommy Jones;He lived upon the parlor rugExclusively on bones.And if, in a secluded room,I hid one on a shelf,It disappeared; so I presumeHe used to help himself.
He had an entertaining trickOf feigning he was dead;Then, with a reassuring kick,Would stand upon his head.I could not take the proper change,And go to buy him shoes,But what he'd sit upon the rangeAnd read the latest news.And when I ventured out, one dayTo order him a coat,I found him, in his artless way,Careering on a goat.
I could not go to look at hatsBut that, with childish glee,He'd ask in all the neighbors' catsTo join him at his tea.And when I went to pay a bill(I think it was for tripe),He made himself extremely illBy smoking with a pipe.
There was something about the prim language of this song that sounded very familiar to Davy, and when Mother Hubbard chanced to turn her face towards him he was surprised to see that she looked very like old Miss Peggs, his school-teacher. While she was singing the song little handfuls of gravel were constantly thrown at her through one of the kitchen windows, and by the time the song was finished her lap was quite full of it.
"I'd just like to know who is throwing that gravel," said Davy, indignantly.
"It's Gobobbles," said the Cow, calmly. "You'll find him around at the front of the house. By the way, have you any chewing-gum about you?"
"No," said Davy, greatly surprised at the question.
"So I supposed," said the Cow. "It's precisely what I should expect of a person who would fall out of a window."
"But I couldn't helpthat," said Davy.
"Of course you couldn't," said the Cow, yawning indolently. "It's precisely what I should expect of a person who hadn't any chewing-gum." And with this the Cow walked gravely away, just as Mother Hubbard made her appearance at the window.
"Boy," said Mother Hubbard, beaming mildly upon Davy through her spectacles, "you shouldn't throw gravel."
"I haven't thrown any," said Davy.
"Fie!" said Mother Hubbard, shaking her head; "always speak the truth."
"I am speaking the truth," said Davy, indignantly. "It was Gobobbles."
"So I supposed," said Mother Hubbard, gently shaking her head again. "It would have been far better if he had been cooked last Christmas instead of being left over. Stuffing him and then letting him go has made a very proud creature of him. You should never be proud."
"I'm not proud," replied Davy, provoked at being mixed up with Gobobbles in this way.
"You may define the wordproud, and give a few examples," continued Mother Hubbard; and by this time she had grown to be so surprisingly like Miss Peggs that Davy immediately clasped his hands behind him, according to rule, and prepared to recite.
"Proud means being set up, I think," he said, respectfully; "but I don't think I know any examples."
"You may take Gobobbles for an example," replied Mother Hubbard. "You'll findhimset up in front of the house, and mind you don't aggravate him;" and after again beaming mildly through her spectacles she disappeared from the window, and Davy went cautiously around the corner of the house, curious to see what Gobobbles might be like. As he approached the front of the house he heard a loud, thumping noise, and presently he came in sight of Gobobbles, who proved to be a large and very bold-mannered turkey with all his feathers taken off except a frowzy tuft about his neck. He was tied fast in a baby's high chair, and was thumping hischest with his wings in such a violent and ill-tempered manner that Davy at once made up his mind not to aggravate him under any circumstances. As Gobobbles caught sight of him he discontinued his thumping, and, after staring at him for a moment, said sulkily:—
"I can't abide boys!"
"Why not?" said Davy.
"Oh, they're so hungry!" said Gobobbles, passionately. "They're so everlastingly hungry. Now don't deny that you're fond of turkey."
"Well, Idolike turkey," said Davy, seeing no way out of the difficulty.
"Of course you do!" said Gobobbles, tossing his head. "Now you might as well know," he continued, resuming his thumping with increased energy, "that I'm as hollow as a drum and as tough as a hat-box. Just mention that fact to any one you meet, will you? I suppose Christmas is coming, of course."
"Of course it is," replied Davy.
"It'salwayscoming!" said Gobobbles, angrily; "I never knew a time yet when itwasn'tcoming!"
"Idon't mind having it come," said Davy, stoutly.
"Oh, don't you, indeed!" said Gobobbles. "Well, then,Idon't mind havingyougo!" and here he began hopping his chair forward in such a threatening manner that Davy turned and walked away with as much dignity as he could assume.
As he went around the corner of the house again hefound himself in a pleasant lane, bordered on either side by a tall hedge, and, as he was now out of sight of Gobobbles, he started off on a gentle run by way of getting out of the neighborhood as soon as possible. Before he had gone a dozen steps, however, he heard a thumping sound behind him, and, looking back, he saw, to his dismay, that Gobobbles had in some way got loose from his high chair, and was coming after him, thumping himself in a perfect frenzy. In fact, his appearance was so formidable that Davy did not pause for a second look, but started off at the top of his speed.
Gobobbles, however, proved himself to be a capital runner, and, in spite of all Davy's efforts, he could hear the dreadful thumping sound coming nearer and nearer, until it seemed to be just at his heels. At this instant something sprang upon his back; but, before he could cry out in his terror, a head was suddenly thrust over his shoulder, and he found the Goblin, who was now of a bright purple color, staring him in the face and laughing with all his might.
THE GIANT BADORFUL.
"Goblin," said Davy, very seriously, as the little man jumped down from off his back, "if you are going to play such tricks asthatupon me I should like to go home at once."
"Where's the harm?" said the Goblin, sitting down on the grass with his back against a wall and smiling contentedly.
"The harm is that I thought it was Gobobbles," said Davy, indignantly.
"Oh, you needn't be afraid of Gobobbles!" said the Goblin. "He's got all that he can attend to, taking care of himself. You see, he's wanted for Christmas, but why anybody should wanthimto eat is more than I can understand. Why, he's seventy years old if he's a day, and as indigestible as an old cork."
Just at this moment a loud, rumbling noise, like distant thunder, came from behind the wall against which the Goblin was leaning, followed by a tremendous sneeze, that fairly shook the ground.
"What's that?" whispered Davy to the Goblin, in great alarm.
"It's only Badorful," said the Goblin, laughing. "He'salways snoring and waking himself up, and I suppose it's sleeping on the ground that makes him sneeze. Let's have a look at him;" and the Goblin led the way along the wall to a large grating.
Davy looked through the grating, and was much alarmed at seeing a giant, at least twenty feet in height, sitting on the ground, with his legs crossed under him like a tailor. He was dressed in a shabby suit of red velveteen, with a great leathern belt about his waist and enormous boots, and Davy thought he looked terribly ferocious. On the grass beside him lay a huge club, thickly studded at one end with great iron knobs; but Davy noticed, to his great relief, that some little creeping vines were twining themselves among these knobs, and that moss was growing thickly upon one side of the club itself, as though it had been lying there untouched for a long time.
The giant was talking to himself in a low tone, and after listening attentively at the grating for a moment, the Goblin shrieked: "He's making poetry!" and, throwing himself upon the ground, kicked up his heels in a perfect ecstasy of delight.
"Oh, hush, hush!" cried Davy, in terror. "Suppose he hears you!"
"Hears me!" said the Goblin, discontinuing his kicking and looking very much surprised. "What if he does?"
"Well, you know, hemightnot like being laughed at," said Davy, anxiously.
"JUST LISTEN TO THIS.""JUST LISTEN TO THIS."
"There's something in that," said the Goblin, staring reflectively at the ground.
"And, you see," continued Davy, "a giant who doesn't like what's going on must be a dreadful creature."
"Oh! there's no fear ofhim" said the Goblin, contemptuously, motioning with his head toward the giant. "He's too old. Why, I must have known him, off and on, for nearly two hundred years. Come in and see him."
"Will he do anything?" said Davy, anxiously.
"Bless you, no!" said the Goblin. "He's a perfect old kitten;" and with these words he pushed open the grating and passed through, with Davy following tremblingly at his heels. Badorful looked up with a feeble smile, and merely said, "Just listen to this:"—
My age is three hundred and seventy-two,And I think, with the deepest regret,How I used to pick up and voraciously chewThe dear little boys whom I met.I've eaten them raw, in their holiday suits;I've eaten them curried with rice;I've eaten them baked, in their jackets and boots,And found them exceedingly nice.But now that my jaws are too weak for such fare,I think it exceedingly rudeTo do such a thing, when I'm quite well awareLittle boys do not like to be chewed.And so I contentedly live upon eels.And try to do nothing amiss,And I pass all the time I can spare from my mealsIn innocent slumber—like this.
Here Badorful rolled over upon his side, and was instantly fast asleep.
"You see," said the Goblin, picking up a large stone and thumping with it upon the giant's head, "you see, he's quite weakhere; otherwise, considering his age, he's a very capable giant."
At this moment a farmer, with bright red hair, thrust his head in at the grating, and calling out, "Here comes Gobobbles!" disappeared again; and Davy and the Goblin rushed out, and were just in time to see Gobobbles go by like a flash, with a crowd of people armed with pitchforks in hot pursuit. Gobobbles was going in fine style, bounding over the hedges and stone-walls like a kangaroo, and thumping vigorously, as usual, with his wings, and Davy and the Goblin were just setting off on a run to join in the chase, when a voice said, "Ahem!" and, looking up, they saw Badorful staring at them over the top of the wall.
"How doesthisstrike you?" he said, addressing himself to Davy:—
Although I am a giant of the exhibition size,I've been nicely educated, and I notice with surpriseThat the simplest rules of etiquette you don't pretend to keep,For you skurry off to races while a gentleman's asleep.Don't reply that I was drowsy, for my nap was but a kindOf dramatic illustration of a peaceful frame of mind;And you really might have waited till I woke again, insteadOf indelicately pounding, with a stone, upon my head.Very probably you'll argue that our views do not agree,—I've often found that little boys have disagreed with me,—But I'm properly entitled, on the compensation plan,To three times as much politeness as an ordinary man.
Davy was greatly distressed at having these severe remarks addressed to him.
"If you please, sir," he said earnestly, "Ididn't pound you."
At this the giant glared savagely at the Goblin, and continued:—
My remarks have been directed at the one who, I supposed,Had been violently thumping on my person while I dozed;By a simple calculation, you will find that there is dueJust six times as much politeness from a little chap like you.
"Oh! you make me ill!" said the Goblin, flippantly. "Go to sleep."
Badorful stared at him for a moment, and then, with a sickly smile, murmured, "Good-afternoon," and disappeared behind the wall.
Davy and the Goblin now hurried off in pursuit of Gobobbles, and presently came upon the crowd of farmers who had joined hands in a ring, and were dancing around a large white object lying on the ground. Davy pushed his way eagerly through the crowd, expecting to see Gobobbles; but the white object proved to be the Cockalorum hemmed in by a ring of pitchforks sticking in the ground, and with his feathers more rumpled than ever.
"Dear me!" exclaimed Davy, perfectly amazed, "I thought we were chasing Gobobbles!"
"Of course you did," said the Goblin, complacently; "but in this part of the world things very often turn out to be different from what they would have been if they hadn't been otherwise than as you expected they were going to be."
"But you thought so yourself," began Davy, when, to his distress, the Goblin suddenly faded into a dull pinkish color, and then disappeared altogether. Davy looked about him, and found that the Cockalorum and the dancing farmers had also disappeared, and that he was quite alone in a dense wood.
"COCKALORUM HEMMED IN BY A RING OF PITCHFORKS.""COCKALORUM HEMMED IN BY A RING OF PITCHFORKS."
THE MOVING FOREST.
"Oh, dear!" cried Davy, speaking aloud in his distress, "I do wish people and things wouldn't change about so! Just so soon as ever I get to a place it goes away, and I'm somewhere else!"—and the little boy's heart began to beat rapidly as he looked about him; for the wood was very dark and solemn and still.
Presently the trees and bushes directly before him moved silently apart and showed a broad path beautifully overgrown with soft turf; and as he stepped forward upon it the trees and bushes beyond moved silently aside in their turn, and the path grew before him, as he walked along, like a green carpet slowly unrolling itself through the wood. It made him a little uneasy, at first, to find that the trees behind him came together again, quietly blotting out the path; but then he thought, "It really doesn't matter, so long as I don't want to go back;" and so he walked along very contentedly.
By and by the path seemed to give itself a shake, and, turning abruptly around a large tree, brought Davy suddenly upon a little butcher's shop, snugly buried in the wood. There was a sign on the shop, reading, "Robin Hood: Venison," and Robin himself, wearing a clean white apronover his suit of Lincoln green, stood in the door-way, holding a knife and steel, as though he were on the lookout for customers. As he caught sight of Davy he said, "Steaks? Chops?" in an inquiring way, quite like an every-day butcher.
"Venison is deer, isn't it?" said Davy, looking up at the sign.
"Not at all," said Robin Hood, promptly. "It's the cheapest meat about here."
"Oh, I didn't mean that," replied Davy; "I meant that it comes off of a deer."
"Wrong again!" said Robin Hood, triumphantly. "It comesona deer. I cut it off myself. Steaks? Chops?"
"No, I thank you," said Davy, giving up the argument. "I don't think I want anything to eat just now."
"Then what did you come here for?" said Robin Hood, peevishly. "What's the good, I'd like to know, of standing around and staring at an honest tradesman?"
"Well, you see," said Davy, beginning to feel that he had, somehow, been very rude in coming there at all, "I didn't know you were this sort of person at all. I always thought you were an archer, like—like William Tell, you know."
"That's all a mistake about Tell," said Robin Hood, contemptuously. "Hewasn't an archer. He was a crossbow man,—the crossest one that ever lived. By the way," he added, suddenly returning to business with the
"'VENISON IS DEER, ISN'T IT?' SAID DAVY, LOOKING UP AT THE SIGN.""'VENISON IS DEER, ISN'T IT?' SAID DAVY, LOOKING UP AT THE SIGN."
greatest earnestness, "you don't happen to want any steaks or chops to-day, do you?"
"No, not to-day, thank you," said Davy, very politely.
"To-morrow?" inquired Robin Hood.
"No, I thank you," said Davy again.
"Will you want any yesterday?" inquired Robin Hood, rather doubtfully.
"I think not," said Davy, beginning to laugh.
Robin Hood stared at him for a moment with a puzzled expression, and then walked into his little shop, and Davy turned away. As he did so the path behind him began to unfold itself through the wood, and, looking back over his shoulder, he saw the little shop swallowed up by the trees and bushes. Just as it disappeared from view he caught a glimpse of a charming little girl, peeping out of a latticed window beside the door. She wore a little red hood, and looked wistfully after Davy as the shop went out of sight.
"I verily believe that was Little Red Riding Hood," said Davy to himself, "and I never knew before that Robin Hood was her father!" The thought of Red Riding Hood, however, brought the wolf to Davy's mind, and he began to anxiously watch the thickets on either side of the path, and even went so far as to whistle softly to himself, by way of showing that he wasn't in the least afraid. He went on and on, hoping the forest would soon come to an end, until the path shook itself again, disclosing to view a trim little brick shop in thedensest part of the thicket. It had a neat little green door, with a bright brass knocker upon it, and a sign above it, bearing the words:—
"Sham-sham: Bargains in Watches."
"Well!" exclaimed Davy, in amazement. "Of all places to sell watches in that's the preposterest!"—but as he turned to walk away he found the trees and bushes for the first time blocking his way, and refusing to move aside. This distressed him very much, until it suddenly occurred to him that this must mean that he was to go into the shop; and, after a moment's hesitation, he went up and knocked timidly at the door with the bright brass knocker. There was no response to the knock, and Davy cautiously pushed open the door and went in.
The place was so dark that at first he could see nothing, although he heard a rattling sound coming from the back part of the shop; but presently he discovered the figure of an old man, busily mixing something in a large iron pot. As Davy approached him he saw that the pot was full of watches, which the old man was stirring with a ladle. The old creature was very curiously dressed, in a suit of rusty green velvet, with little silver buttons sewed over it, and he wore a pair of enormous yellow-leather boots; and Davy was quite alarmed at seeing that a broad leathern belt about his waist was stuck full of old-fashioned knives and pistols. Davy
"'HOW MANY WATCHES DO YOU WANT?' SAID SHAM-SHAM, IN A PEEVISH VOICE.""'HOW MANY WATCHES DO YOU WANT?' SAID SHAM-SHAM,IN A PEEVISH VOICE."
was about to retreat quickly from the shop, when the old man looked up, and said, in a peevish voice:—
"How many watches do you want?"—and Davy saw that he was a very shocking-looking person, with wild, staring eyes, and with a skin as dark as mahogany, as if he had been soaked in something for ever so long.
"How many?" repeated the old man, impatiently.
"If you please," said Davy, "I don't think I'll take any watches to-day. I'll call"—
"Drat 'em!" interrupted the old man, angrily beating the watches with his ladle; "I'll never get rid of em—never!"
"It seems to me"—began Davy, soothingly.
"Of course it does!" again interrupted the old man, as crossly as before. "Of course it does! That's because you won't listen to the why of it."
"But Iwilllisten," said Davy.
"Then sit down on the floor and hold up your ears," said the old man.
Davy did as he was told to do, so far as sitting down on the floor was concerned, and the old man pulled a paper out of one of his boots, and, glaring at Davy over the top of it, said, angrily:—
"You're a pretty spectacle! I'm another. What does that make?"
"A pair of spectacles, I suppose," said Davy.
"Right!" said the old man. "Here they are." And pulling an enormous pair of spectacles out of the otherboot he put them on, and began reading aloud from his paper:—
My recollectest thoughts are thoseWhich I remember yet;And bearing on, as you'd suppose,The things I don't forget.But my resemblest thoughts are lessAlike than they should be;A state of things, as you'll confess,You very seldom see.
"Clever, isn't it?" said the old man, peeping proudly over the top of the paper.
"Yes, I think it is," said Davy, rather doubtfully.
"Now comes the cream of the whole thing," said the old man. "Just listen to this:"—