Charlotte B. Herr

“ Thinking had always been hard work for Mamma Goose. And besides, her family kept her so busy that she had no time for it anyway. There was always something to be done for the babies.
For Mamma Goose had a whole dozen of the dearest little goslings, and she was very proud of them. They were soft, and round, and fluffy, like little yellow balls, and besides being prettier than any other babies in the barnyard, they were so bright, too, and knew as much as any gosling could be expected to know,--far more than little Red Hen's chicks, even though she did make such a fuss about them! ”

“ Every day when Big Mary sat in the sunshine, Freckle Frog crept out from under the rock, and hid in the grass, and watched her. She thought Big Mary was wonderful, but she thought that the blue silk dress and the pink parasol were more wonderful still, and the little soft muff,—that was the most wonderful of all! And poor little Freckle Frog wished that she had a blue silk dress with lace, and a pink parasol like Big Mary. ”

“ To be sure the maid was beautiful, with the softened beauty of a moonlit night in summer, her eyes beneath her dusky hair like stars between the branches of dark trees, her voice that of the forest stream when it sings itself to sleep. Yet past all doubt he knew that not one among the gorgeous throng that crowded about Elizabeth would ever see that beauty, no English ear take heed to hear the music of her voice. Nay, he could even, as he thought of it, picture the amazement of the great queen, could hear her scornful laughter, should he present, to help adorn her court, a savage Indian girl! ”

“ To all of it the princess listened with fast-beating heart and a desire, ever growing, to make herself a place in this splendid stranger's world. Was not she then, also, the daughter of a king? Yet how different and how unimportant beside that wonderful woman of whom he spoke! For father she boasted the great chief Torquam, feared by every tribe in the north and rich because of the gold hidden in many a canyon among the distant mountains; yet her woman's instinct told her that to this proud Englishman her people were at best little more than a curiosity, almost, indeed, a cause for laughter. ”

“ Then the Morning Glory Ladies fluttered with joy, for they loved parties, and they smiled and answered her: "Yes, indeed, we shall come, Little Freckle Frog, and wear our best dresses, too."
Then at last Freckle Frog was perfectly happy, and she laughed to herself and said:
"It really doesn't matter about my being pretty any more, for every one likes me now!" ”

“ Far beneath her the noisy breakers spilled in liquid silver on the beach. Above their musical booming no other sound could be heard. Then suddenly she saw him. A tiny boat it was, tossing dangerously close to the great rounded boulder which, together with a still larger one from which it had at some distant time been broken off, formed the outermost boundary of the curving Beach of Moons. The dark figure standing erect in the boat strove with the aid of an oar to keep it from being dashed to pieces against the giant rock. ”

“ The goslings could hunt for their breakfasts almost as well as their mother, while little Red Hen had to scratch up every thing her children ate. And as for the water--well, the chicks were simply not in it there! They did not like to be in the water at all, but the goslings loved their morning bath in the brook better than anything else in the whole day. ”

“ The world is always loveliest while it lies waiting for the sun!”
That day, perhaps, from among them all, lived longest within the memory of young Harold,—the porpoises playing fearlessly around her canoe as the princess, with graceful, effortless strokes, paddled around one after another of the pointed tongues of rock; the flying fish, skimming the surface of the ocean until, by virtue of their speed alone, they rose like gleaming bows of silver from the foam. ”

“ Hurrying along the beach at sunset only a few days later, Wildenai caught the first glimpse of the returning vessel as it stole around a distant point. For the space of a second her heart stood still, then throbbed wildly, but whether with joy or pain she could not herself have told. One question only demanded all her thought. Should she let Lord Harold know? Perhaps the great white captain would not remember their bay. Perhaps,—her breath came fast,—perhaps the ship, unseen by anyone, would pass and Lord Harold remain behind content. ”

“ Robin Redbreast to give his big party in the orchard, and little Freckle Frog had been invited, and more than that, her own cousin, Billy Bullfrog, had promised to sing, and of course she wished to look just as nice as she could.
So early one fine day, she went to see the Morning Glory Ladies who live near the back porch and always wear such beautiful dresses, and she said to them:
"Oh, dear Morning Glory Ladies, your dresses are always so beautiful! But have you seen Big Mary's blue silk trimmed with lace? It is more beautiful still, the loveliest dress in the whole world! ”

“ Nor did any member of the tribe forget in his own crude fashion to deck himself for the occasion. The warriors adorned their heads with feathers and daubed their cheeks and lips with ochre. The women clothed themselves in loose-hanging tunics of doeskin girt with strings of wampum, and hung about their tawny shoulders the lovely greens and blues of uncut turquoise. Meanwhile, also, the great chief Torquam donned his ceremonial dress, a string of eagle feathers held by the crimsoned quills of the porcupine and extending down his back until almost it touched the ground. ”

“ Then, noting her puzzled, downcast face, with the impulsive changeableness which had so endeared him to her, he caught one little brown hand and raised it to his lips.
“But I do love thee even as thou art, my Wildenai,” he told her with the careless assurance of one much older speaking to a child. “Is not a wild rose sweet as any garden bloom? Nay, methinks 'tis often sweeter!”
Again he laughed and the little princess laughed with him now, for into her heart at his words had come a happiness so unlooked for and so wildly sweet as wholly to bewilder her. ”

“ The big white cock and all the chickens were just as glad as he was, for now they knew that the fox would never come any more. Mamma Goose, too, was just as glad as the rest, for now she knew that she would never need to bother herself to think about the goslings again. ”

“ Yet instantly he laid it aside as the slender form of his daughter darkened the doorway.
“Ah, Wildenai, little wild rose, welcome art thou as sunshine after rain!” His eyes lighted with the tenderness never seen there by any other than this motherless girl. He stretched his hand to her and the princess came silently and knelt before him.
“My father,” she said firmly, though in so low a tone that Torquam bent to hear. “Oh, father, thou art always wise! Thou only knowest best. I come to thee to tell that I will wed Cabrillo. I will wed with him whenever thou dost choose!” ”

“ With wildly beating heart the young girl watched the vessel tack to clear the long curve of the coast. But once before in all her life had she seen such another monster winged canoe, and that had been when Senor Don Cabrillo first cast anchor in the Bay of Moons below, now almost a year ago. For many a week had the young man lingered, renewing the friendship with the Mariposa cemented more than eighteen years before when his father, hindered by storms in his adventurous journey up the coast, cast anchor off the shore,—the first white man to see their island. ”

“ She even laughed carelessly.
“Men are so impatient,” she teased, “But we'll go today.”
Nevertheless, it was not until the rose of sunset rested among the hills that at last they found themselves on the crest of the tall cliff which commanded so wide a stretch of the ocean and the shimmering valleys below.
“It reminds one of the Bay of Naples,” observed Blair, pausing to scan the rocky coastline against which, far beneath them, the foaming breakers threw themselves. He shaded his eyes with his hand and looked far out to sea. “What a wonderful place for a watch tower it would have made!” ”

“ He was the first to speak when they struck again into the main trail.
“I wished for something about a rose, a wild rose,—want to guess?” He eyed her mischievously.
“Hush,—mustn't tell!” she laughed. “Your wish won't come true if you tell.” Then, for no reason at all, she blushed.
Never, in truth, during her twenty-three years of working, and scrimping, and going without, had life shown to the little art teacher so fair and generous a side, seemed so extravagantly joyous an affair as during that magic week. The spending of money, it was easy to see, meant little or nothing to Blair. ”

“ Strings of Japanese lanterns bobbed merrily above the narrow village streets. Everywhere were laughter and movement and color from the bathing beaches, dotted with gay umbrellas—even to the last yacht anchored round the point.
To the man making slow progress down the crowded wharf from the afternoon boat this holiday world into which he thus suddenly stepped, presented an appearance so different from that he had pictured as almost to bewilder him. At sight of the jaunty little motorbus waiting to haul him up the winding grade to the hotel, he actually hesitated. ”

“ That very afternoon she would finish her sketch of the cavern. Then tomorrow she would go back to Pasadena and the long gray round of work. Desolately she wandered up the secret trail to Wildenai's bower. Never had her sympathy for the deserted princess been so keen. Perhaps, she mournfully considered, if the spirit of the Indian maiden still lingered there it might feel sympathy for her as well. Perhaps she, too, would find comfort in the spot where that other woman had paid an equal price for her impulsiveness. ”

“ For this was not the clumsy Spanish galleon she remembered. The prow was not nearly so high, nor was the incoming vessel as large in any respect as had been that other. Yet, though fear died, wonder grew. What new variety of strangers, then, was about to visit them? For that the ship intended to anchor she was by this time sure. Steadily it bore on until within a scant half mile of the crescent shaped beach where lay the royal village of the tribe. At length, as if in fear to trust themselves closer to the rocky shore, the crew were seen to bring the vessel sharply about. ”

“ That night, while the rain tapped softly at her tepee, the princess dreamed of a wondrous land beyond the sea where proudly she walked by her white chief's side and fair women with braided, golden hair spoke kind words of welcome, smiling at her out of sweet blue eyes. ”

“ Into this boat immediately several sailors swung themselves and after a short delay, amidst the shouting of the Indians, now running in wild excitement up and down the beach, the men picked up their oars and started for the land.
“Alla-hoa, Wildenai!”
Up the stony trail leading to her cavern scrambled an Indian runner, a lithe youth who flung himself breathless at her feet.
“Thy father, oh princess, sends me to summon thee to his lodge. Strangers,—paleface strangers,—enemies, who can tell, are coming. See,—the ship!” ”

“ He seemed amused. “But what hast thou to pray for, oh fair princess?”
Her cheeks glowing with quick color, she replied: “It were not fitting that any maiden tell for what she prays!”
The words were spoken with such gravity that the young man flushed under the rebuke.
When she left him at the doorway of the cavern that evening she said as she made a gay little gesture of farewell: “Today the land, but tomorrow we shall find still more beautiful things that lie hidden under the deep waters. You shall see!” ”

“ The princess laughed softly.
“He does not know you yet,” she defended her pet. “He will soon learn to love you, too.”
“I will catch fish with thee next time thou goest,” declared young Harold later as they ate together. “There's no reason I can see why I should stay mewed up forever in this cave. I fear not Indians! No, not even Torquam, thy father, himself.”
For an instant Wildenai seemed alarmed. Then she laughed.
“You are afraid of nothing. I knew it!” she exclaimed with pride. “Nor would there be much danger. ”

“ Wildenai made obeisance and for a brief moment the two surveyed each other in silence. Then,
“It is well thou art come, my beloved one,” spoke the chief. “Stranger pale-faces will soon be amongst us.”
“Wildenai feels no fear, my father,” quietly answered the girl.
“If they come in friendship,” quickly Torquam replied, “then indeed may all be well. But the ship is not of the Senor's fleet, and if so be that we must fight, thou wert better hidden in the cave. We shall see.” ”

“ Blair wandered the length of the cavern and back before he replied.
“You think him a coward, I suppose.” He still looked as though he wanted to laugh, yet something in his tone seared her outraged pride. He might as well have touched an iron to quivering flesh. “You ought to remember, however,—I mean every woman ought to remember,—that when a girl lets a man know that she cares for him she generally forfeits, then and there, whatever interest she may have had for him. Wildenai risked too much. ”