William Bowen

“ But danger is nothing to men like these,
When suddenly the lookout, a Portuguese
Who had better been below a-shelling peas,
Shrieked out, 'They are coming! By twos and threes!
On the starboard bow! We are lost!—"
"We're lost! we're lost! we're lost!" came a terrible cry from the forward part of the ship, as if in echo of Mr. Mizzen's song. "We're lost! The dippers! The dippers!"
Everyone jumped up, even Aunt Amanda. The Cabin-boy whispered in Freddie's ear, in great excitement, "N-n-n-now you'll s-see!"
A man came running down the deck, followed by all the skippers and mates. ”

“ Under the softening influence of fruit-cake and lemonade Freddie found his tongue.
"What's a Churchwarden?" he said suddenly into the lemonade-glass, which was just under his nose.
"Bless the baby!" said Aunt Amanda.
"It's a long clay pipe, young man," said Toby, chewing the end of his pen-holder, "like you've seen in the case out there in the shop."
"That ain't what he means," said Aunt Amanda. "You mean a man, don't you, Freddie?" ”

“ He restored the cutlass to the Practitioner, who raised it high and gave a swinging slash downward with it, as if to test his eye and arm. The Practitioner then rolled his right shirt-sleeve up to his shoulder; he was the largest man in the party, and his arm was the arm of a blacksmith.
"Stop!" cried Mr. Punch. "One moment! Captain Lingo! You are a Henglishman, aren't you?"
"I am an Englishman," said the Captain, swelling out his chest. "Long live King James!"
"Hi am a Henglishman also," said Mr. Punch, swelling out his chest. "You carn't murder a fellow-countryman in cold blood, now can you? ”

“ His eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped; he was so astonished that he took his hand from Ketch's hair and put up his knife.
"That's the idea," said Aunt Amanda. "You're more of a man than I thought. Mr. Ketch, you had better get up."
"Madam," said Captain Lingo, making her a bow, "'tis a bold action and generous. I trust I am able to respond to it in kind. My duty to you, ma'am; your obedient humble servant. Ketch, thou white-livered dog, get up, and thank this lady for thy life." ”

“ You're enchanted now, under the name of Queen Miranda."
"But Shiraz the Persian told us he would disenchant us, and he did."
"No, no. You were yourselves before, and now you are enchanted."
"My brain is in a whirl," said Queen Miranda. "Are we ourselves now, or were we ourselves before?"
"By crackey," said Toby, "it's too much for me, and I give it up. Anyway, what we want to know is, can you cure the Chevalier?"
"I can, and I will," said the old man. "There's nothing the matter with him, except that he isn't himself. As soon as he's himself again, he'll be well. ”

“ The people in them were apparently of all the nations of the earth; there were brown men and yellow men and black men, as well as white; men with slant eyes, with round eyes, with flat noses, with beak-noses, with wooly hair, with straight hair; there were turbans, and fezzes, and hoods, and white gowns, and coloured robes, and velvet jackets, and cotton blouses; and from all the venders rose such a hubbub as Freddie had never in his life heard before, except once in the Gaunt Street Theatre at home. ”

“ Aunt Amanda screamed. Toby and Mr. Punch came to her at once and supported her on each side. There was a great hubbub. Everyone tried to speak at once. Freddie felt his hand grasped in the strong hand of Mr. Toby, and he began to feel somewhat less afraid. Over the hubbub could be heard the Cabin-boy's wild laugh.
"Everybody quiet!" shouted Mr. Mizzen. "We must think what we had better do." ”

“ Aunt Amanda spread out the map on the table beside her, and the others gathered round.
"It's an island!" cried Toby.
"On the Spanish Main," said Aunt Amanda.
"The Spanish Main!" said the Sly Old Fox. "A beautiful country! Full of palms,—and grape-nuts,—What you might call a real work of nature! Full of parrots, and monkeys, and lagoons, and other wild creatures; a work of nature, my dear friends, a real work of nature."
"And pirates," said Freddie, earnestly. ”

“ Toby?"
"What note?" said Toby.
"Why, your note to my mother, explaining about me and——"
"By crackey!" cried Toby. "Blamed if I didn't clean forget all about it! Now ain't that too bad! What on earth are we going to do about it?"
"Well!" said Aunt Amanda. "Now ain't that just like you, Toby Littleback? I declare if your head wasn't fastened on you'd——"
"Wery reprehensible," said Mr. Punch. "Wery."
"My dear friends," said the Sly Old Codger, "let us not be disquieted on such a morning as this. Everything is so beautiful. So beautiful! And without any expense whatever. It is a precious thought. ”

“ All eyes turned to the table where the thirteen murdered pirates had been sitting. They were gone. Their chairs were vacant.
The Churchwarden calmly put the stopper in his bottle and restored it to his pocket.
"Humph!" said he. "Nothing like Odour of Sanctity. Never knew it to fail. No harm to human persons, but no wicked spirit as ever lived can stand against it; and a blessed good thing the bottle didn't break as we came down the water-fall. No perfumery in this world like Odour of Sanctity!" ”

“ Freddie's head sank against Aunt Amanda's shoulder, and his eyes closed; and in another moment he was asleep. Aunt Amanda herself nodded, and her eyes closed; she was asleep too. Toby yawned, and leaned heavily against the Sly Old Codger; his eyes closed, and—in short, every eye closed, and every frame relaxed heavily against its neighbor, and at last, doubled over in a closely huddled group in the exact center of their mattresses, the whole party slept; each and every one. ”

“ Freddie thought they were precisely like the imps he had seen at Hanlon's Superba. When the white man reached the shop-door they had nearly caught him. He paused at that moment, looked wildly about him, saw the open door of the shop, and dashed in and banged the door to behind him. The imps came tumbling up and hesitated an instant before the men at the door; and in that instant the Churchwarden showed the most unexpected presence of mind. ”

“ There was only a light breeze, and The Sieve was hardly moving.
Mr. Mizzen was scratching the head of Marmaduke the parrot, who was perched on the Able Seaman's wrist. From the forward part of the deck, where the skippers and mates were sitting in a party of their own, could be heard the tinkle of a guitar and the sound of a voice singing.
"One always enjoys," said Mr. Punch, "a bit of singing by moonlight on the water. Hi remember when I was a lad—"
"Why don't you sing for us yourself?" said Toby. ”

“ When the prince, our present King, was thirty years old, his father the King, who was then alive, gave a great ball at the palace, and at this ball the old King declared to the assembled court that he desired to build a tower; a mighty tower, higher than any other in the world, where he might seek repose from time to time; a tower so tall that it would reach the cloud that hangs perpetually on the mountain. ”

“ In a moment they were standing under the stars on a brick pavement before a church, and on the pavement against the church wall was an empty chair.
"Ah!" said the Churchwarden, and sat down in the chair.
"Mercy on us!" cried Aunt Amanda. "We're home!"
"Blamed if we ain't!" said Toby. "It's our own street, and I can almost see the Tobacco Shop from here!" ”

“ The suit of clothes which Mr. Littleback wore was beyond any doubt a brand new suit. The ground color of it was a rich mauve, if you know what that is; not exactly purple, nor violet, but somewhere in between; and up and down and across were stripes of brown, making good-sized squares all over him; it was extremely beautiful. His collar was a high white collar, very stiff, and it held up his chin in front like a whitewashed fence. His necktie was of a pale-blue satin, with little pink roses painted on it, yes sir, painted! mind you, by hand! ”

“ The Old Tobacco Shop, when he arrived, looked as it had looked on the fateful day when he had last seen it. He paused before the door, and gazed at Mr. Punch. He half expected the little man to step down and shake hands with him; but Mr. Punch did not move a muscle; he did not even look at Freddie; he held out in one hand a packet of black cigars, and his wooden face, if it expressed anything at all, showed the great calm which he must have felt when he got back to his little perch. Freddie looked up at the clock in the tower, with some thought that the hands might be together ”

“ And when the Churchwarden pulled out his little perfume bottle and showed it around, and explained to Mr. Hanlon what it had done, the poor man was so overcome that he put his head down on the Churchwarden's shoulder and wept.
"This'll never do!" cried Toby. "Ain't we never, never, going to get down to this here map? I never see such a time as I've had, trying to examine this here map! One thing right after another! Mr. Hanlon, I'll tell you what it's about, and then you can see it for yourself. Would you like to stay here with our little party? It's a good deal safer than out-of-doors." ”

“ Toby dropped his package and leaned across the counter in amazement.
"What's that you say?"
"Freddie!" cried the Little Boy, bursting with pride.
"Well! Bless my soul! If I ever in my life! As sure as the world! Strike me dead if he didn't say it as plain as—! Young man," said Mr. Toby, solemnly, and he walked to the end of the counter, opened the swinging gate, came through, stood in front of Freddie, and shook him by the hand. "Young man, I congratulate you. It's all right now. ”

“ At that moment Aunt Amanda, forgetting her lameness, struggled to her feet, hobbled to the kneeling [Pg 137] man, and throwing her body between him and the knife, shrieked at Captain Lingo.
"Stop! stop! you bloodthirsty villain! Ain't you got no shame? What are you going to murder him for? Ain't he done the best he could? You're a big bully, that's all you are! You ain't a man at all, you're a monster! Put up that knife, and take your hand out of his hair! Ain't you ashamed of yourself?"
Captain Lingo was taken completely by surprise. ”

“ Toby. "We've got to have a little celebration over this here event, and we'd better go in and see Aunt Amanda about it, right now!"
He grasped Freddie's hand again, and pulled him to the back door, and through into the back room where Aunt Amanda was sitting by the table with the wax flowers, sewing.
"Quick! quick! Tell Aunt Amanda your name now, quick! What's your name?" cried Mr. Toby.
"Freddie!" said the Little Boy, very distinctly, but looking down at the carpet, for fear he should seem proud.
"We're grown up today," cried Mr. Toby, "and we've got to celebrate!" ”

“ Aunt Amanda looked at him, as he sat so seriously on his hassock at her feet, munching his fruit-cake and sipping his lemonade; and she pulled out her pocket-handkerchief and blew her nose again, very loud. She appeared to have a cold. Toby paid no attention to her; his head was lying sidewise on his left arm on the table, and he was squinting at the sheet of paper, and every time his pen came down he closed his mouth tight, and every time his pen went up he opened his mouth wide. Freddie and Aunt Amanda had plenty of time to talk. ”

“ In the evening, as the travellers were plodding onward, Ketch walked for a time at the head of Aunt Amanda's mule. Aunt Amanda leaned forward and said to him:
"Ketch, are we going to have more bacon tonight?"
"No, ma'am," said he, in a low voice. "We'll have supper in High Dudgeon. My old mother's the cook there. You heard me mention her yesterday morning. I've an idea there'll be pigeon pies for supper. And mark what I'm saying to you, ma'am." His voice sank to a whisper. "If you get a pigeon pie for supper, look careful to see what's inside of it before you eat it." ”

“ Freddie did not believe it for a moment; obviously the Churchwarden was bragging.
"The street looks pretty good," said Freddie, "after being away so long. Would you rather sit here on the pavement than do anything else?"
"I believe you, son. I'd rather sit here on a sunny [Pg 233] day with a pipe and a newspaper than have all the treasure of the Incas."
Freddie was glad to hear that the Churchwarden did not regret the loss of his share of the treasure, though whether Captain Lingo belonged to the Incas he did not know.
"I don't care anything about the treasure myself," said he. ”

“ He gave another pull, and blew out another cloud. The white smoke lay above the heads of the company in a thick mass; it grew thicker, so that he could not see through it; it began to move, as if in a high wind. He drew on the pipe once more, and blew out another cloud of smoke. He knew what was coming, and in fact the same thing happened that had happened to him before. The white cloud churned about, with its barber-poles and jets of fire, coming down closer and closer upon him, and in a jiffy he was sitting in midair on his hassock, and then he felt himself falling, falling ”

“ The walls of the tower were by this time coming closer together, and the stair was even steeper than before. They were panting for breath, and Mr. Punch and Mr. Toby seemed to be all but exhausted. "We are almost at the top," said Mr. Hanlon. "Keep on. Don't give up." ”

“ I want him, and he gave me a piece of paper, and he talks like a singing-book, and there's a parrot that stutters, and they have to bale out the water with dippers because the ship's named The Sieve, and we mustn't lose the paper because the runaway sailor wore false whiskers, and he feeds on tacks instead of pins, and we have to hold on tight to the paper, and one of the men on the ship is always late, and we mustn't lose the paper, because——"
"Stop! Stop!" said Aunt Amanda. "What on earth is the child talking about? What's all this about a Sailorman and a paper?" ”