Through Fairyland in a Hansom Cab.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIX, Issue VIII, 23 August 1902, Page 504

Through Fairyland in a Hansom Cab.

By

BENNETT W. MUSSON.

(FROM

“ST. NICHOLAS.”)

CHAPTER X. GRETCHEN' LEAVES FAIRYLAND. The next day was Gretchen’s last in fairyland. In the morning l she went with Willie to call on the Transformer. They found him cleaning his bicycle. “Do you know what a cyclometer is?” he asked. “Yes,” said Gretchen, “and I will send you a gold one. Had it not been for your card I should have failed.” “What question did they ask you?” Gretchen told him. “That isn’t a hard one. How do you lower this handle-bar?” Gretchen showed Elm. “Willie can’t get through the tunnel.” “Of course not: he will have to be reduced again.” “I’m getting dizzy from being changed so much. You’ll fix me up again when we get outside, won’t 'you?” said the giant, anxiously. The magician said that he had to stay at h< me that day, but he would remember to restore Willie in the afternoon, and promptly reduced him to a little watch-maker. “Where is the Discontented Dozen?” asked Gretchen. “Changed ’em into schoolteachers and sent ’em to the robbers.” Gretchen thanked the Transformer, said good-bye, and went to the castle. There she found the king, the queen, and the members of the court assembled in the garden. “Any questions to-day?” asked the king. “Why is it that you can afford to give me so many jewels, when the army is behind in its pay?” she said. “They like to be behind. They can sign orders on the treasurer, and it’s just like writing money. You won’t mind if I ask you a question?” all,” Gretchen said politely-

“What do you think our principal faults arc?” asked the king. “In the first place,” said Gretchen, “I think you are too positive. If I should inquire, ‘What had 1 better eat?’ you would probably reply, ‘There is only answer to that—apple tarts.’ It doesn’t seem to occur to you that nearly always there can be several answers to the same question.”

“That’s a good point,” said the king. “What’s next?” “You think too much. You are like a ship with a rudder twice as large as itself.’

“I have some verses about that very subject!” cried the Poet, extracting them from his pocket, and he read the following:

“THE CRUEL FATE OF TOMMY FINK.

“There was a little gentleman whose name was Tommy Fink, Who was in trouble usually, because he wouldn’t think. When riding on his wheel he’d always look the other way, And on account of this there’d be large damages to pay. A ladder fell upon his. head. He was run over by a sled, A roof on which he jumped gave way, And other troubles came, they say, Because he wouldn’t think.

“His teacher said to him one day: ‘Now, look you, Tommy Fink; Some day you’ll die a sudden death unless you stop to think. When you are playing on the street, why ion’t you use your eyes? When you're about to do a thing, consider if it’s wise. You'll find the exercise of brain Will save you from much needless 1 pain; Bo let your better judgment prove

The wisdom of each future move, And always stop to think.’ “Once, strolling by the riverside, this little Tommy Fink Discovered there a fallen tree that stretched from brink to brink. At first he thought he’d cross the stream by walking on this tree, But second thoughts convinced him that the bridge would safer be. The while he exercised his mind A fierce old bull rushed up behind, And tossed poor Tommy from the ground Into the flood. He almost drowned Because he stopped to think!” “That was simply a case of hard luck,” said the king. "You see,” said Gretchen, “you shouldn’t think too much or too little, but just the right amount at the right time.” She had heard her father say this, and he, had used his brain to such advantage that he was a very successful wood-ehopper. “How is the Objector getting along in his new office?” she asked. “He’s sick abed,” said the king. “A nurse is with him now.” “Dear me!” said Gretchen. “I must go to see him!” And arranging to meet the royal .party at the railway station, she started for the Objector’s house. The nurse met her at the door, said IfiPr patient had arisen, and showed Gretchen into the library, where she found the Objector, clad in a dress-ing-gown, sitting in an easy-chair. “Who sent that nurse here?” he de-

manded fiercely. “I only got out of bed so that she would take the hint and go.” "What is the matter with you?” asked Gretchen.

“Palpitation of the heart,” he answered. "It came on in this way. This morning, when I started out, I thought I would begin practising my new office. The first person 1 called on was an old friend of mine, a dentist who has a very bad disposition. ‘Here,’ said I, ‘you want to be more cheerful.’

“ ‘No, I don’t,’ said he. ‘I ought to be, but I don’t want to be.’

“I insisted, and he got angry, and the more I insisted the angrier he got, till finally he turned a stream of laughing-gas on me and gave me an attack of palpitation of the heart.” The Objector looked gloomily at one of his carpet slippers. “I don’t think I care much for this new office,” ho said.

Gretchen had a long talk with him, and when she went away, taking the nurse with her, he was in a more cheerful mood.

She wished to exchange one of her diamonds for money in order to pay her bills, and Leonardo suggested that she go to a pawnbroker.

“This is a first-water diamond,” said, the pawnbroker when she offered him one. ‘.‘l can’t take it.” “Why not?” Gretchen asked.

“My customers always look for flaws and tints in them, and they would be disappointed if they didn’t find any.” “Diamonds are rarer on earth than they are here,” said Leonardo. “Why don’t you let the captain of the guard pay your bills, as he offered to do, exchange your jewels on earth, and pay him back there?” • Leonardo, as I said before, was very shrewd, and would have been a millionaire had he lived anywhere but in a cave with a lot of gnomes. As it was, he owned the cave.

“I will let him pay the bills,” said Gretchen, “but I will give him one of these four-carat diamonds in return. That will be a nice present.” “That’s a good plan,” said Leonardo, “but it isn’t business.”

They drove to the hotel, and when Gretchen said good-bye to the landlord she managed to slip the pearl check 'into his podket without his knowing it. They said farewell to the little lambs, who breathed a loud sigh of relief as Snip disappeared. At the station they found the royal party and many others waiting to say good-bye, Among them was the freshman in magic, who was now able to change a folding bed into a bale of hay. The chorus was there, too, and yelled “Hurrah!” because someone had told them to. Gretchen almost cried when she said good-bye to the cab-driver and the grasshopper. They were to have a. special train, so it was not necessary to change Snip into a satchel again. “Give this train an easy push,” said the king, “as I wish to have an opportunity to. see the scenery”; and away they went.

Gretchen was sitting next to the Poet. “How is your brother Fred getting alpng?” she. asked. “Not at all well,” he replied. “Yesterday he went" into a shoe-shop near our house,, that is kept by a friend of the Objector, and asked if they had any low men’s shoes, and the shoemakef nearly killed brother Fred for insinuating that he kept such things.”

“How unfortunate! Yours must be a; very interesting family, though—all so literary."

‘fl don’t know about that. My father was an author, but he was a moat disagreeable man about the house. Hb lived when eating .was in fashion in fairyland, and he never really forgave my mother for not liking the inside of breakfast rolls—he liked the crusts.” Presently the conductor came through the car. “Have you had any tickets lately?” Gretchen asked.

“Yes—one; it was a half-rate, though.”

At this moment the sounds of an angry discussion fell on their ears. Willie and the Promoter were having an argument as to whether enormous giants or small fairies had the better dispositions, and had almost come to blows.

“Oh, if I was a giant again I'd show you!” said Willie, doubling up his little fist. As if in answer to his wish he suddenly began to grow.

“What’s the matter?” cried the king.

“I’m growing up again,” said Willie, in a half-changed voice. “Stop the train! Get off quickly!” yelled the king; and be was none too soon, for as Willie went out of the car he had to hold his head down to keep it from bumping the ceiling. Fortunately, they were in a high part of the tunnel, that had a shaft to let in light, and the king yelled to Willie to stand under this, which he did, and instantly shot up so high that his body filled the shaft, while his legs and feet blocked the tunnel. ’

“I never saw such a fellow as that!” said the king, disgustedly. “He’s always getting small when he ought to be big. and big when he ought to be small. Who is that running down the tunnel? Why, I believe that it’s the Prompter! Come back; he won’t hurt you. Willie's iajmyej 0* 80 iie.can’t move.” a ? 1

“I suppose the Transformer’s watch must be fast.” said Gretchen. “I fixed it,” groaned Willie. “What shall we do?” asked the queen. ‘'Let us- go back to the mines and get some dynamite,” said the king. “That will never do!” said Gretchen. “Then we will bring some miners with picks, and they can pick him out,” said the king. So they walked back to a place where a number of houses were clustered around another shaft, which was very dark. “This is a diamond mine,” said the king. “The reason diamonds are so hard to get on earth is that they dig down for them; but here we dig up, which is much easier. I don’t think we ought to take you in,” he added. “The idea!” Gretchen answered, indignantly. “I wouldn’t go into your old mine now if you asked me to.” They didn’t ask her, so she waited, and the king soon returned with a number of rough looking fairies, who carried pickaxes. These fairies climbed up on Willie, clinging to his pockets and buttons, knocked off pieces of the rock with their picks, and soon made a hole through which he could get his arms. Resting his elbows on the upper earth Willie wriggled through the shaft, and the ground trembled as he hurried down the surface of the mountain.

“I’m glad he’s gone,” said the king. “He is a nice fellow, but too changeable.”

The debris was cleared from the track. They entered the train, and soon arrived at the outer end of the tunnel.

Gretchen felt very g-lad when she saw the light of an all-day sun, and the fairies gazed with awe at the beautiful valley, which some of them had not seen for hundreds of years. One member of the party rushed rapturously among the trees, bushes and rocks, his body quivering with ecstaey as he sniffed at each object; this was snip.

"What is that which passes the village so quickly?” asked the king. It was a _car covered with flags and loaded with cheering people. “There’s no engine!” cried Gretchen. “They must be celebrating the opening of the electric railway, and that’s the firsT car over the line.” “Electricity!” shrieked the fairies wildly. “There’s the Modern Spirit in front!” cried the queen. “Run! Run for your lives!” They all rushed into the cave.

Gretchen watched them until the last, fairy disappeared. Then she turned, and with Snip capering in front slowly descended the mountain.

‘I don’t think I care much for this new office,’ he said.”