XIII.MR. NUTCRACKER.
And so it came about that Polly began on the morrow, without any more ado, the story of Mr. Nutcracker; for Mother Pepper said that she might sit down as soon as the dishes were washed, and tell it to Joel. So this is it:—
“Mr. Nutcracker,” began Polly in her gayest fashion, “was very high up in the world. In fact, he didn’t like to have anybody above him. So he built his house clear up ever so far above everybody else. Then he was quite satisfied.”
“What kind of a house?” broke in Joel.
“Never mind. You wait till you hear more of the story,” said Polly. “Well, Mrs. Nutcracker liked her house that he built her very much indeed. That is, she would have liked it, but the children, the little Nutcrackers, you see, wouldn’t stay in.”
“Oh, dear me!” exclaimed Joel.
“No; they kept jumping out as fast as they could. And those that didn’t jump out, tumbled out.”
“Oh, dear me!” said Joel again.
“Until it was very dreadful,” declared Polly, shaking her brown head; “for it kept poor Mrs. Nutcracker running every minute to the door of her house to try to keep her children in. At last she said to her husband, Mr. Nutcracker, ‘Pa, you surely must build me a house nearer to the ground.’”
“And did he?” cried Joel, absorbed in interest.
“No, he said, ‘Oh, never! No Nutcracker has ever lived lower down in the world than we are! and I can’t do it, my dear!’”
“That was bad of him,” exploded Joel with very red cheeks; “bad, mean old man not to do as Mrs. Nutcracker wanted him to do. Wasn’t he, Polly?”
“Well, you’ll see,” said Polly, hurrying along as fast as she could. “And the little Nutcrackerses kept jumping and tumbling out of the house at a great rate, until one day something very dreadful happened.”
“Tell about it,” cried Joel, hugely pleased.
“Yes, I’m going to. Well, Pa Nutcracker had gone off about his business, and Mrs. Nutcracker was doing the work, when suddenly there was a loud noise down on the ground, and two or three of the little Nutcrackerses jumped out to the door, and leaned over, and said they were going down to see what it was, and then away they rushed with a hop, skip, and a jump. And six of them, brothers and sisters, said they were going; and they were in such a hurry they didn’t look straight before them, and they tumbled through the air—whiz—whiz”—
“Did they come on their heads?” cried Joel excitedly.
“No; they stuck their feet out, and they came right down on them,” said Polly, “just as good as could be. So you see they weren’t hurt a bit. Well, and then as Mrs. Nutcracker was all alone, why she thought she might as well go too. So she went down. And there was the Nutcracker house left all by itself. Then came the dreadful thing.”
“What was it?” asked Joel fearfully, and snuggling closer to Polly.
“Well, at first it was just as still,” said Polly,dropping her voice to a little whisper, “you can’t think how still it was, Joey Pepper. Not a creature was stirring, and”—
“Why didn’t she shut the door,” cried Joel, “when she went out, and put the key in her pocket? Say, Polly?”
“Why, there wasn’t any key,” said Polly, racing along. “Now, you mustn’t stop me any more, Joe, else I never’ll get through.”
“Mr. Nutcracker wasn’t a nice man at all, I think,” said Joel in great disapproval, “if he couldn’t give ’em a key. Was he, Polly?”
“You’ll see,” said Polly, redoubling her speed.
“Well, when Mrs. Nutcracker ran along so swiftly, being in such a hurry, you see, her great long train to her dress swept out and”—
“Is it a train of cars?” asked Joel, his eyes sticking out as far as possible. “O Polly! I’ve never seen ’em, ’cept in a picture.”
“No,” said Polly. Then she burst out laughing, “How could a train of cars be hanging on Mrs. Nutcracker’s dress, Joe? Dear me, that would be funny!”
“You said train,” declared Joel, dreadfully disappointed.
“I know; but this is different. It’s somethingmade like the rest of the dress, and it hangs off when the one who’s got the dress on walks, and she can swish it around perfectly splendidly; just like this, Joel Pepper,” andPollyhopped to her feet, andbegan to parade up and down the old kitchen floor, holding an imaginary trailing gown, and then letting it fall like a peacock’s tail as it swept the ground, while she held her head high, and sailed off.
Polly began to parade up and down the old kitchen floor.
Polly began to parade up and down the old kitchen floor.
“Hoh, how you look!” cried Joel in disdain.
“Joel,” she cried, coming up to him, with sparkling eyes and her cheeks rosy red, “it must be perfectly lovely to have a train to your dress. Oh, don’t I wish I had one just like that picture in Mr. Beebe’s book! Then I’d have a fan, a red fan just like that lady—no,” said Polly, wrinkling her brows as she tried to decide, “I b’lieve I’d rather have a pink fan, Ben does so love pink. Yes, my gown shall be pink, too, pink satin with sweet little white flowers all over it, and shiny. O Joel, it shall shine just like everything!” and Polly swept up and down again like a lady of fashion.
“Well, that isn’t Mrs. Nutcracker,” called Joel loudly, in an injured tone.
“Oh, I forgot!” exclaimed Polly, all her airsand graces tumbling off from her in a flash, and she skurried back to Joel. “Oh, let me see! where was I?”
“You said Mrs. Nutcracker’s long train swept out,” supplied Joel.
“Oh, yes, so I did. Well, and you know the dreadful creature that was always watching to see if he could find the Nutcracker house left all alone, caught sight of her long train sweeping away, and he snapped his green eyes with delight and he laughed a perfectly dreadful laugh, and he said, ‘Now I have it, now I have it!’”
“Oh! who was he?” screamed Joel, flinging himself forward almost into Polly’s lap.
“Wait, and you’ll see,” she replied, laughing. “Well, so, sure enough, just as soon as Mrs. Nutcracker was fairly off, in hurried this dreadful creature, right in the doorway of the Nutcracker house.”
“Did he get on Mr. Nutcracker’s bed?” cried Joel.
“Wait, and see,” said Polly again.
“You say, ‘wait and see,’ every single time I ask anything,” grumbled Joel.
“And I am going to all through this story,” said Polly coolly; “so it won’t be any use for you to ask me, Joe. Well, and there he was as quick as could be, inside that dear little house, and all those Nutcrackers away.”
Polly spread her hands in a sad little way.
“Oh, dear me!” exclaimed Joel in distress.
“Well, now you know when Mrs. Nutcracker went down she didn’t mean to stay long, but she met a friend,”—
“Who was it?” asked Joel abruptly.
“Oh, it was—dear me!” said Polly, bursting into a little laugh; “it was her cousin, and”—
“You said it was her friend,” corrected Joel.
“Well, and so it was,” said Polly merrily. “I’m sure a cousin is a very nice friend, indeed.”
“I wish I had a cousin,” said Joel; “I’ve never had one. Why don’t we have some, Polly?”
“Some what?” asked Polly absently, with her mind on the story, wondering how she should end it.
“Some cousins,” said Joel, twitching her gown. “Why don’t we ever have any; say, Polly?”
“Oh, some folks don’t have any,” said Polly, stifling a sigh as she thought how very nice it would be to have a houseful of cousins to go and see.
“I s’pose poor folks don’t have any,” said Joel reflectively.
“Um—maybe,” said Polly, her chin in her hands, and only half hearing what he said.
“Well, do go on,” begged Joel in alarm lest he should never get the end of that story, and jogging her elbow; “what next, Polly?”
“Oh!” Polly started suddenly and rushed on again. “Yes, there he was, that dreadful creature right in the”—
“You said that,” cried Joel. “Mrs. Nutcrackermet her cousin, you told already; now what next?”
“So I did,” said Polly brightly. “Yes, she met her cousin, and so they stopped to talk and to ask after each other’s families; and that took a good deal of time, you know; and all this while there was that dreadful creature in Mrs. Nutcracker’s little house.”
“Oh, dear me!” cried Joel.
“Yes; and there were all the little Nutcrackerses having such a good time running round, trying to find out what the noise was all about, and Mr. Nutcracker, too, he”—
“Polly,” asked Joel suddenly, “what was the noise about?”
“Oh! it was nothing but a boy driving a lot ofpigsto market, and theywouldn’t go the way he wanted ’em to; so he chased ’em, and he switched his stick over their backs, and they squealed awfully. And the little Nutcrackerses were so sorry that they had taken the trouble to come down just for that; so they said they’d race up home again and see who would beat.”
And the pigs wouldn’t go the way he wanted ’em to.
And the pigs wouldn’t go the way he wanted ’em to.
“O Polly!” cried Joel, in great excitement; “and did they, and find the dreadful creaturewith the green eyes waiting for ’em in their home? Did they, Polly?”
“Yes,” said Polly; “they did. And the littlest of the Nutcrackerses, Jim Nutcracker, hegot home first; and he rushed in the doorway screaming out, ‘I’ve beaten—oh—dear me!’ there was the great creature lying down on the floor, ready to eat him up!”
Joel clapped his little brown hands in delight. “Make him bite him,” he begged; “do, Polly.”
“Oh, no, I can’t!” said Polly; “he was such a little Nutcracker, you know. Well, he tumbled right back against his brothers and sisters rushing up. ‘Don’t go in,’ he screamed at them. So they stopped, and all got in a round ring, and thought about it. And the dreadful creature in the house kept, oh, so still, hoping little Jim Nutcracker hadn’t seen him, or at least that he’d come back and bring his brothers and sisters with him. And pretty soon Mrs. Nutcracker got through talking with her cousin; and so she came hurrying up home, and after her, running as fast as could be, because you see it was getting late, came Mr. Nutcracker.
“‘Oh, here come mammy and pappy!’ screamed all the children, as glad as they could be; and”—
“Oh! make Mr. Nutcracker fight the dreadful man with the green eyes in his house,” criedJoel; “make him knock him down, and hit him and bang him all over and”—
“O Joey!” cried Polly.
“Yes, do,” begged Joel; “and bite him till he squealed just like the pigs. Will you, Polly?”
“Well, you’ll see,” said Polly again, nodding wisely. “Now, Mr. Nutcracker wasn’t a bit afraid; so he cried out very boldly, ‘Be quiet, my children,’ to all the little Nutcrackerses; ‘I’ll take care of the bad creature in our house.’ But Mrs. Nutcracker was awfully scared, for she thought if she had only stayed at home the dreadful thing couldn’t have got in. So when Father Nutcracker started to go and fight the bad, wicked creature, she just grasped hold of his ta—I mean, his train, and”—
“Did Father Nutcracker wear a dress?” cried Joel, in the greatest astonishment.
“He?—oh, no!” laughed Polly; then little gurgles kept running up and down her throat, while Joel persisted, “You said so; you said she grabbed hold of his train, so there.”
“O Joey, I didn’t say ‘grabbed,’” corrected Polly who dearly loved to use nice words.
“Well, anyway, you said she took hold of it,and he had a train just like Mrs. Nutcracker’s, so he must have worn a dress,” cried Joel stoutly; “I think that’s funny.”
“So I sh’d think,” said Polly, laughing again. “Well, now, he didn’t wear a dress, and you mustn’t interrupt me again, Joe; if you do, I shall never get through this story in all this world. ‘Come, children,’ cried Mrs. Nutcracker,”—and Polly dashed off speedily; “‘help me to hold your Pa, for he mustn’t fight that dreadful thing in our house.’ So all the little Nutcrackerses ran up to their mother, and helped her hold Mr. Nutcracker fast and”—
“Oh, I think that’s too bad!” howled Joel, horribly disappointed; “now there won’t be any fight, Polly Pepper!”
“You wait and see,” advised Polly once more; “then I guess you’ll like it, Joel Pepper.”
So Joel smiled again quite comfortably; since Polly said he’d like it, he was quite sure he should. And so, on Polly hurried. “Well, there was Mr. Nutcracker with Mrs. Nutcracker and all those little Nutcrackerses hanging on to him, oh, so tight and fast! so he couldn’t get away you see, although he begged and begged. And then Mrs. Nutcracker spoke up loud and sharp,‘Children, you hold tight on to your Pa, and don’t you let him go; while I run down and get the cousins to come and help us.”
“O Polly! now I know,” exclaimed Joel in great glee; “there’s going to be a big, big fight. I like it a great deal better to have all those cousins come and help, I do, Polly, truly.”
“So I thought,” said Polly bobbing her brown head. “Well, I must hurry. So Mrs. Nutcracker ran as fast as her feet would carry her, down to the ground, and she called every one of those cousins she’d been talking to such a little while ago, and the big tears rolled out from her eyes, and she couldn’t speak for a whole minute.
“‘Dear, dear, dear!’ cried all the cousins, huddling around her, ‘what is the matter, Cousin Nutcracker?’
“And then she finally told them all about it; and every one of those cousins promised he’d go up with Mrs. Nutcracker, and help to drive out the bad, wicked creature who had stolen into her house.”
“Oh, that was nice!” screamed Joe, in a joyful tone. “Now there’s going to be a big, big fight;” and he wriggled all over in great satisfaction.
“And so up they all came in a troop—I guess there was a dozen of ’em,” said Polly.
“Oh, my!” exclaimed Joel.
“Yes; and Mrs. Nutcracker rushed up ahead of ’em all, to her husband. ‘Pa,’ she cried, ‘here we are—we’ll help you to drive out the bad, naughty, wicked thing from our house.’
“And every single one of those cousins said, ‘Yes, we’ll help you, Cousin Nutcracker.’
“So the little Nutcrackers let their pa go; and they were very glad to do so, for they ached all over holding him so long,—he was very big, you know; and he kicked dreadfully, and bit and scratched, whenever he didn’t like things, and”—
“That wasn’t nice in a man,” observed Joel; “I ain’t going to bite and scratch when I’m grown up, Polly.”
“Hey?” said Polly. “Oh!” and then she laughed. “Well, don’t interrupt again, Joel,” she warned, holding up her finger. “Well, Father Nutcracker, he said, ‘Now, Ma and children,’ turning to the little Nutcrackerses, ‘and you, cousins, let’s plan how we’ll do this thing; since you’ve come, you might as well help, though I could have done very well alone.Now, I’m going ahead; and just as soon as my nose sticks in the doorway, do you jump in and scream, “Now we got you!” and we’ll all hop on to that dreadful horrid creature, and beat him, and pitch him out of our house.’”
Joel gripped Polly’s arm in speechless enjoyment.
“‘All right,’ said the cousins, bobbing their heads. ‘And I approve of your plan, Pa,’ said Mrs. Nutcracker very proudly; and the little Nutcrackerses hopped and skipped in joy, and so they started.”
Joel’s eyes got very big, but he didn’t say a word as he clung to Polly’s arm.
“And don’t you think,” said Polly, “that the hateful, bad old thing in the Nutcrackers’ house didn’t hear them coming; they all stepped on the tips of their toes, you know; and he just winked and blinked his green eyes as he said to himself, ‘I’ll catch ’em every one pretty soon.’ And then he looked up, and there was Mr. Nutcracker’s nose in the doorway.”
Joel jumped as if he were shot. “O Polly!” he screamed.
“And after him came all those cousins and Mrs. Nutcracker. She was slower, ’cause shewas so big, you know; yes, and every single one of those little Nutcrackerses; they just ran in between all the others, and all together they jumped and hopped onto the great big dreadful creature, and”—
“Make him hop at them, and kick, too, Polly, that big man with the green eyes!” howled Joel, quite gone in excitement.
“Oh, it was very dreadful!” exclaimed Polly, holding up both hands, “for about a minute or so. And instead of the great, dreadful thing crying out, ‘I’ve got you!’ he began to whimper and beg. ‘Oh, let me go! let me go!’ And pretty soon all the whole bunch of Nutcrackerses, and their cousins who had come to help, just lifted up that bad, wicked, horrid thing with the green eyes, that had stolen into their house, and they pitched him, head over heels through the doorway, and down—down; and he was ten feet long; so he was dreadful slow in”—
“O Polly Pepper!” roared Joel, “what you saying? why, there isn’t any man so big as that.”
“It wasn’t a man,” said Polly coolly.
“Wasn’t a man?” fairly squealed Joel; “what was it?”
“A great brown, striped snake,” said Polly; “he was lovely, but he was bad you know, to steal into the Nutcrackers’ house when they were all away.”
Joel tumbled back and thought a minute. “Was Mr. Nutcracker a man, Polly?” he asked, fixing his black eyes upon her face.
“Oh, no!” said Polly with a little laugh. “Why, didn’t you guess, Joey Pepper? He was the sweetest dear of an old gray squirrel you ever saw; so of course he had to have a brush-train, just like Mrs. Nutcracker’s, you know.”