Coppertop

“ Kiddiwee and Coppertop were enraptured. And they gazed wonder-eyed at the beautiful sea-maidens.
Lower still drifted the Albatross, and there came a dreamy far-away look into his eyes.
So near the ocean was he now that one of the enchanting sea-maidens leapt out of the foam towards him, and winding her arms round his neck, she pressed her lips to his beak.
Instantly a terrible change too place!
The song of the sea-maidens turned to cruel laughter. The golden tresses of their hair became coarse seaweed. Their eyes glowed with a pale green light, and their lips grew hard and cruel. ”

“ The Pyramid now seemed only half its original size, and the river looked like a little stream. And before many moments had passed, there was no difference in size between the Pyramid and themselves, and the surrounding country lay stretched beneath them like a map.
“We must be awfully huge!” cried Coppertop, in a high-pitched voice, screwing up her little eyes. “Yet I don’t feel a bit conceited!”
“That’s because there is nobody here but ourselves,” said Tibbs, “and we’re all as large as each other. Wait till we meet some ordinary people—we shall feel like Greek gods then!” ”

“ Coppertop fell to her knees, and buried her face in her hands. But Tibbs, although rather shaken, faced him boldly. And Kiddiwee actually ran toward Amon Ra fearlessly, attracted by the bright sun-disk which shone in his forehead.
“Foolish ones!” said Amon Ra in a mighty voice, deep and melodious as the thunder of an organ. “Why have you ventured here? You who have dared to kill a sacred crocodile!” ”

“ Whatever shall we do?” cried Coppertop, beside herself with fear.
“Don’t be ’fraid, Cece,” said Kiddiwee; “I’ll just shoo him away.”
“Stupid! He wouldn’t even see you,” cried Tibbs. “Look out, he’s coming! We must run!” And he seized hold of the other two and pulled them along with him, helter-skelter down the snowflake, away from the bear. They could hear the thud! thud! of his great paws, under which the snow shook. ”

“ As the poor Albatross lay stretched upon the ocean, slowly sinking, from the four corners of his body arose four carved posts, and his back became a large feather mattress!
The Four-Posted Bed at Sea.
Before Coppertop, Tibbs or Kiddiwee could recover from their astonishment, the Albatross turned into the old four-posted Bed!
“That’s the second time you’ve saved us!” cried Coppertop, clapping her hands with joy. “When we get home, I’ll buy you a real golden counterpane, [Pg 61] and you shall live in a crystal case, and never be slept on unless you wish.” ”

“ The White Elephant, feeling the weight on her back grow less—as Miss Smiler grew smaller—scrambled to her feet, and made off into the jungle, trumpeting joyfully.
As for Coppertop, the first rush of the East Wind blew her off the Camel’s back and whirled her up into a tall palm tree. And there she hung—by the leg of her pyjamas—in mid air. ”

“ The day is always after to-morrow, but he never catches it.”
[Pg 130] “Well, I’m after a December day, and I never catch that,” sighed Coppertop.
“Hush!” suddenly cried the old Mother-bird. “There goes the Mikado!”
“The Mikado!” exclaimed Coppertop; “why, he lives in Japan!”
“Well, isn’t this Japan, stupid?” snapped the old Mother-bird.
“Is it? I thought it was India,” said Coppertop, wearily, “nothing seems to be right. I’ve got feathers instead of hair, and I eat worms! I don’t believe I’m me at all! I must be someone else, but if I’m not ‘me,’ who am I?” ”

“ It’s simply screaming with laughter now!”
“Oh, crikey!” laughed Tibbs. “It’s a lively little beggar!”
“Yes. It’s tiggling so!” giggled Coppertop. “I can hardly hold it!”
For Miss Smiler was now racing round and round her hand as fast as her legs would carry her.
“She’ll grow to any size we want her, I believe,” said Coppertop.
“Ough!” exclaimed Kiddiwee; “I’d like her as big as a real one, I would!”
“Hush!” warned his sister; “don’t let her hear you say that! She IS a real one, or, at least, she [Pg 104] thinks she is. ”

“ Oh, much huger! I wish I had someone to scrumble and squeege now! It’s simply miserable being alone!”
“Those who love as you do are never alone,” said a soft rich voice from the mist in front of her. For she had now reached the tablecloth of cloud which hung over the mountain top.
Coppertop was startled. And yet she did not feel really afraid—the voice was too gentle for [Pg 67] anyone to be afraid of. It reminded her of her mother’s voice.
“Do not fear, little one!” continued the voice. “It is I, Waomba, who speaks.”
“I don’t think I know you, do I?” stammered Coppertop. ”

“ I thought I heard——” began Coppertop.
“’Es, so did I!” exclaimed Kiddiwee.
“I say, this is jolly funny! Where on earth are we?” cried Tibbs. And the three bewildered children sat up on the sand and gazed around them, trying vainly to make out where they were, and how they got there.
“Heavens! Why, we’ve got to the Pyramids, somehow!” exclaimed Coppertop, staggering to her [Pg 100] feet and gazing up helplessly at the huge stone monument towering above them. “Isn’t it simply tremendous?”
“Let’s climb it!” exclaimed Tibbs. ”

“ Kiddiwee always took Coppertop’s part in any dispute that arose.
“I’m not crying! But he needn’t be so grumpy, and on a beastly old day like this, too!”
“That’s why!” cried Tibbs. “You shouldn’t have called us on such a day! It’s warm and cosy in the Far-away-Beyond,” he added, with a shiver.
[Pg 20] “You don’t seem to understand,” said Coppertop, with tears in her eyes. “Mummie and Daddy are coming home to-day, and it simply must be fine. This is just a horrid July day that’s gone astray! We really can’t have it here on the first of December. Whatever can we do about it?” ”

“ Oh, Miss Smiler, tell us how!” cried Coppertop.
“Easy as—smiling,” assured the Camel. “I’ll just push the Rajah’s Palace down, and then sit on the White Elephant till she consents to marry the East Wind.”
“I think that is an excellent plan, my dears!” cried Mr. Atom. “The East Wind will be so grateful to you for your assistance that he’ll surely spare you a December day. He’s in Tibet at present, cooling down after his rage. So if you take MY advice, you’ll carry out your plan at once. Ta-ta!” ”

“ He dislikes foreigners. Take my advice and turn back. You’re near his temple now.”
“Oh, we can’t turn back now!” cried Coppertop. “I’ve never seen Amon Ra. He’s the Sun God. Daddy told me about him. We must go on.”
“Well, I’m going on, for one,” agreed Tibbs.
“’Es, so am I!” echoed Kiddiwee, although his voice trembled. ”

“ Atom. “Things are seldom as bad as they seem. Keep up your hearts and your heels, and you’ll never drown.”
“I don’t believe I care much if I do!” sighed Coppertop. “Things are so awfully disappointing—just when I thought I had it, too! If I don’t get it soon, Mummie and Daddy will arrive on no day at all, and I shan’t be there either. They’ll be terrifikly upset—I know they will. And I’m just dying to see them.”
“You’ll die without seeing them, my dear, if you don’t do as I tell you. Keep your heart and your heels up.”
“Cheer up, old girl!” said Tibbs, who was swimming close by. ”

“ Biddy-be-sure mounted her broomstick, and, flying over the parapet, she hovered under the Blarney Stone with her apron spread out, to catch Coppertop if she fell.
White and anxious, Tibbs helped Coppertop over the side of the Castle, holding tightly to her legs until she was able to grasp the iron rail, which has been put there for the purpose. She was now hanging over the side of the Castle, upside-down! ”

“ As it said this last word the voice became quite fierce, and so surprised Coppertop that she sat up and dried her eyes hastily. “But where are Tibbs and Kiddiwee?” she faltered. “I’m dreadfully unhappy about them.”
“Some folks are never happy unless they’re unhappy about something!” droned the voice, grown soft and almost feathery again. “They’ll be all right—boys always are. ”

“ Yet this same man when, as often happened, he took Gillian and Coppertop for a run into the country in his car, was as simple and considerate and kindly as a man could be. Coppertop adored him, and, as Gillian reflected, the love of children is rarely misplaced. Some instinct leads them to divine unfailingly which is gold and which dross. ”

“ Everything has a price in this world, dearie! Nothing is given away. We must earn everything that is worth having, and then we know how to value it. I guess you’ve pretty well earned your wish by now, and there’s only one thing more to do——”
“Oh, do say!” cried Coppertop, anxiously.
“Well, you must kiss Biddy-be-sure, or the Blarney Stone, and then the December day will be yours.” ”

“ And, to their surprise, they found that their heads had smashed through the snow under which they had been concealed, and they were once more able to look out upon the great white world.
[Pg 39] “We are still growing!” cried Tibbs.
“We shall be giants soon,” replied Coppertop; “but I only hope our clothes grow as well, or we shall look too silly for words.”
“How lovely to be giants!” cried Kiddiwee, gleefully.
And now the world round them seemed to be growing very small.
“The Clerk of the Weather did us little harm with his blizzard after all,” remarked Tibbs.
“Horrid person,” said Coppertop. ”

“ At the words the thundercloud melted away, and Coppertop found herself far out over a wide [Pg 28] ocean, and falling rapidly. She tried to fly up, but her wings had been injured by the storm, and were useless.
“I suppose I shall be drowned,” she muttered to herself, as she fell faster and faster, “and that will be the end of me and the December day. I suppose Tibbs and Kiddiwee are down there too, and that’ll be the end of them. I ought to be simply terrified, but I’m not. This falling-down feeling is so funny, that I believe, if I’m not dreadfully careful, I shall laugh instead.” ”

“ As soon as her back was turned, Tibbs seized the sleeping form of Kiddiwee in his arms, rushed out of the den with him, and, running down the long crevice road at breakneck speed, was soon out of reach of the Elderly Spinster Spider.
“Goodness gracious!” said Kiddiwee, waking up suddenly, and using one of Coppertop’s expressions—perhaps he had been dreaming of her—“Wherever am I? Why! it’s Tibbie. Oh, I am glad, I am!” and he threw his arms round his elder brother’s neck, and gave him a real big squeeze.
“Stop that!” cried Tibbs. “Fellows don’t hug each other,” but he was pleased nevertheless. ”

“ I shouldn’t wonder but what they were washed off by that sudden shower we had,” he added, gurgling gleefully at the remembrance of his little joke, at the same time holding up an immense fin, upon which lay three pairs of gauzy wings.
“Oh, you dear, great person!” cried Coppertop. And I think that she would have embraced him, then and there, had there been any part small enough for her to put her arms round.
“Thanks awfully. You’re an old sport!” cried Tibbs.
And Kiddiwee lisped, “You’re the beautifullest whale of all the whales, you are!” ”

“ It’s painful enough to look at them.”
“Do be quiet!” warned Coppertop. “If he hears you he’ll chop your head off! That’s what he’s waiting to do with mine, I expect.”
“Don’t you let him take such a liberty,” cried Miss Smiler. “Once you lose your head you don’t know where you are. And it’ll be extremely hard to put it on again.”
“Oh, I’ve had such arguments with the horrid old thing! I’ve told him all that. If only Tibbs and Kiddiwee were here to drive him away,” she added, tearfully.
“They’re not so very far away,” replied Miss Smiler, peeping round the edge of the Lantern. ”

“ Girls are funny,” remarked Tibbs, grandly.
“But it isn’t a little thing,” said Coppertop.
“Well, anyhow, you are!”
“’Es, and Tibbs and me is too,” piped up Kiddiwee, “twemendously small!”
“Small, are we?”
[Pg 31] “Rather,” assured Tibbs; “why we’re not as large as these snowflakes, see.”
“Good gracious!” exclaimed Coppertop, “so we are! However did it all happen?”
“Oh, don’t bother about that,” said Tibbs again.
“Pretend we know,” suggested Kiddiwee.
“All right. That’ll be rather fun,” assented Coppertop. And so it was settled. ”

“ Swiftly over the snow and ice trotted the Bear, climbing, at times, to the top of a huge iceberg, to spy out the way, and the children had to hold tightly to his fur as he swung along.
Mile after mile they went, and Coppertop felt sure they must be nearing their journey’s end.
“We shall soon get the December day at this rate!” cried Tibbs.
“Will you?” screamed a piercing voice in their ears. “Not if I can prevent it! Oh, dear me, no!”
[Pg 35] “The Clerk of the Weather!” they all three exclaimed.
Before they could utter another word, they found themselves in the midst of a terrific blizzard. ”

“ Bats only fly in the twilight! These have wings like flying fish,” said one who had travelled far.
[Pg 50] “Queer fish!” sneered another. “I shouldn’t like to eat ’em. You try.”
“Gracious! I only hope they don’t!” cried Coppertop, in alarm.
“They’d better not attempt to!” said Tibbs, rolling back his sleeves. “Do you remember that lovely sea-gull pie we ate last Sunday!” he cried in a loud voice.
“We didn’t——” began Coppertop.
“Hush!” warned Tibbs. “Look!”
For at the mention of “sea-gull pie” the birds nearest to them grew pale, and edged nervously away. ”

“ UNDER THE SNOW “IT’S getting so warm, it is. I can hardly find any breff,” cried Kiddiwee.
“I call it beautifully cosy. This is how the snow keeps the flowers warm, I suppose. I like it,” said Coppertop.
“Oh, dear! It’s getting hotterer and hotterer!” he panted.
“The snow is melting all round us—we shall soon have room to walk,” said his sister. “And there will be more air, too.”
“The question is, how are we going to get out?” cried Tibbs.
“If you had any sense—which I very much doubt—you wouldn’t want to, at least till the blizzard’s gone!” piped up a little shrill voice beside them. ”

“ And as she said this, there came a nervous tap-tap at the door.
Coppertop lay very still, with a wildly-beating heart, wondering if she had really heard a tap on the door or not.
Then a voice said:
“Miss Celia! Are you awake?” It was Jane, the maid, who spoke, but in a voice so hushed and mysterious that it sent a shiver down the child’s back.
“I—I suppose so,” replied Coppertop, sitting up in bed to make quite sure. “What is it, Jane?” ”