THE LAND OF PANTOMIME.

Otago Witness, Issue 4069, 8 March 1932, Page 68

THE LAND OF PANTOMIME.

Betty was lying in bed thinking how lovely the pantomime had been that afternoon. It was all about the adventures of Dick Whittington and his faithful friend, Tommy the cat, and Betty was sure she had never seen such a nice cat before in her life, nor such a clever one. He had carried Dick’s bundle for him, and then when the Sultan gave them the money for killing the rats he had walked off, oh, so proudly, with the bags of gold held firmly in his mouth.

Suddenly Betty heard a peculiar tapping at the window. Whatever could it be? Then there was a faint mewing sound. Why, it must be a cat! Betty jumped out of bed and put on her dressing gown and cosy slippers, and, as it was a bright moonlight night, she was able to make her way quite easily to the window. Yet, sure enough, outside on the window-ledge stood a large grey cat with a blue ribbon round his neck, and in his right paw he held a large square envelope. Betty pushed open the window and then exclaimed: “ Why, I’m sure you’re the darling pussy in the pantomime! ” “Meow, meow,” said the cat, nodding his head emphatically. He held out the envelope to Betty, who took it from him. It had her name and address on the outside. She opened it. and inside was a gilt-edged card which said:— Her Royal Highness, the Sleeping Beauty, requests the pleasure of Miss Betty Brown's company at the Ball to he held tonight at the Palace to celebrate the anniversary of her Royal Highness’s awakening from her hundred years’ sleep. “Oh, lovely, lovely! ” cried Betty, clapping her hands, “but how to I get there ? ” The cat nodded towards his back and said, “ Meow! ” “ On your back, Pussy ? ” asked Betty. “Meow, Meow! ” said pussy, nodding his head again. “ But we’ll fall off the window-ledge and be killed, ’’ said Betty doubtfully.

The cat shook his head quickly and said “ Meow, Meow ” in such a way that Betty felt quite reassured.

She clambered out of the window and got on his back. The next moment he jumped from the window-ledge on to the veranda below and ran quickly along this until he came to a spot right above the front door porch on to which he leaped. It was an easy matter to jump from there to the ground. He signed to Betty to get off his back, and you can imagine how surprised she was to see' a magnificent crystal coach standing there, and harnessed to it six cream ponies. The cat opened the door of the coach, and she saw inside it was seated a beautiful lady in white satin. “ Well, Betty,” said the lady, “ don’t you know who I am ? ” Betty said shyly:“ I’m afraid I don’t.” “ I’m Cinderella, and I’m going to take you to the ball at the palace,” replied the lady. By this time the crystal coach was moving swiftly down the road, and the cat was sitting opposite Cinderella and Betty, calmly washing his face. Soon the coach left the road and entered a forest. Suddenly Cinderella leant forward and said: “Look, Betty, there are Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” Betty looked out of the window and there they were, arm in arm, and evidently the best of friends, “ They will be going to the ball, too,” said Cinderella. In a moment or two Cinderella told Betty to look out of the window again, and this time she saw Red Riding Hood and the Wolf hurrying along on their way to the ball. At last they reached the palace, which was made of gold, studded with emeralds, Cinderella, Betty, and the cat were led by servents in powdered wigs and kneebreeches into the ballroom,' and there a wonderful sight met Betty’s eyes. On a throne at the end of the room sat the Sleeping Beauty receiving het guests. There were hundreds of fairies in exquisite dresses of all the colours of the rainbow, and yet! there was Dick Whittington in a fine satin suit talking to Idle Jack.

Just then the Prince came up and asked Cinderella to dance with him, and they glided away to the beautiful music which was now being played. Suddenly a clock struck 12. It was midnight! The cat turned to Betty and said: “ It’s midnight. Now, I can speak.” “Oh! You darling,” said Betty. “I did like you so much in the pantomime, and how kind of you to bring me the invitation to the ball.” “ Charmed, charmed,” replied the cat, bowing with his right paw over his heart. Shall we dance? ” “ Oh, thank you,” said Betty. “ I’ll be delighted. But I do wish I’d had time to put on my party frock. It’s such a pretty one.” They danced round and round to the music, and Betty saw Red Riding Hood dancing with Aladdin, Dick Whittington with Little Miss Muffet, and the Wolf with one of the Three Bears. Every one from the pantomime seemed to be there—the Good Fairies, with their silver wings; the Demon Kings, looking quite jovial; the Knave of Hearts, who stole the Tarts, and the Queen of Hearts, both apparently quite friendly now. Puss in Boots was there, too, and, farther on, Betty saw Sinbad, Robinson Crusoe, and Man Friday. At last the cat said: “ I’m afraid we’ll have to be going, Miss Betty. I must see you safely home before dawn.” He led her out into the palace courtyard, where a fine aeroplane stood. “Oh!” said Betty, “that’s just like the aeroplane in the pantomime.” “It is the one from the pantomime,” replied the cat, “and we are going home in it.” He helped Betty into the aeroplane and then he put on a leather helmet and a pair of goggles. Betty thought he looked very funny, but did not say so in case he might be offended. Off flew the aeroplane, and in less than five minutes there they were above Betty’s home. They circled round and alighted quite near the front door. Everything was dark and everyone seemed to be fast asleep. The cat took

Betty on his back and clambered up on to the porch, along the veranda, and up the water spout to her bedroom window. When she was safely inside he bowed like a courtier and bade her “ Goodnight.” Betty stood and watched him make his way back to the aeroplane, and waved to him till he was out of sight. She jumped into bed saying to herself: “ What a darling pussy, and what a lovely adventure! ” And no sooner had her head touched the pillow than she was fast asleep.—B. E. S., in the Glasgow Weekly Herald. „

TO ALL.

Dear Little Folk, My watch stopped at 3.30, and there I was, thinking I had an hour and a-half before I needed to cease work, when, in reality the time was a-quarter past 4. So I began talking about the boon that clocks and watches were—when they kept going—but what a nuisance they were when they stopped—when the editor passed me the following information, which I think you will like to read too. It comes from an Australian paper:— “In these days of electric clocks, worked from the mains, of master clocks ticking off the minutes on a hundred others, few give a thought to the art of clock-making or its evolution. “ Just over 300 years ago, on August 22, 1631, Charles I gave to British clockmaKers their charter of incorporation, and they became ‘ Master Wardens and Fellowship of the Art or Mystery of Clockmaking of the City of London.’ “ Only 300 years before the charter was granted did clocks come into use in Europe, although the invention of the clock is usually ascribed to Gerbert, a Benedictine monk (afterwards Pope Silvester), in 996.

King Alfred is said to have observed the lapse of time by noting the gradual shortening of a marked candle, and up to Gerbert’s invention the sundial and the hour glass appear to have been the sole means of measuring the time.

“ Water clocks were used in the monasteries in the eleventh century, though it is believed that they were without dials and merely struck a bell at certain intervals as a call to prayer. “ St.. Paul’s Cathedral probably had a clock in 1286—at any rate there was a clock-keeper then. Two years later Westminster possessed a clock driven by a weight, and in .1292 Canterbury was so equipped. Within the next 50 years Exeter, St. Albans, and Glastonbury were furnished with clocks. The famous astronomical dock installed in St. Albans Cathedral in 1326 was made by Richard de Wallingford, who was the son of a St. Albans blacksmith, and who became abbot there.

“ Clockmaking was a blacksmith’s sideline in those days. The clock made for Glastonbury Abbey by Peter Lightfoot, a monk, in 1325. was removed in Henry VIII’s reign to Wells Cathedral. Its exterior is still there, but its works are at South Kensington.

“ It was in the fourteenth century, too, that portable clocks were first known. They were hung on walls and their movements regulated by weights and lines. “ The Society of Antiquaries possesses a portable clock made in Prague in 1525, and this is said to be one of the oldest in a perfect state. “ Many English names figure in the annals of clockmaking. There was Robert Hooker, who is credited with the invention of the spiral spring to provide motive power, and of the anchor escapement. “ This led the way for the making of watches, which are a history in themselves.”

It is all very interesting, is it not, children? As I wound my own little watch after reading these paragraphs I apologised to it for blaming it tor stopping, when really it was my own fault for letting it run down. —Your loving DOT.