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CHAPTER XX
While Everychild and the giant had made their visit to the castle of the cruel king, their companions had remained in the old house at the foot of the hill, and great was their delight when the two who had been absent returned, bringing with them Prince Arthur, toward whom all the children felt immediately drawn.
It was quickly decided that the prince should be allowed to rest before they resumed their journey; and as they were very comfortable where they were, they agreed not to stir until the next day. They still had an abundance to eat; and besides, they had not yet explored the walled garden, very shady and inviting, which they could see from the kitchen windows.
In the afternoon, then, they all invaded the walled garden, where they found much to gladden their hearts. The juniper trees were quite perfect; and the flowers, though they had been so long neglected, seemed really to have been waiting for them. The different kinds of flowers each had a bed of their own; the larkspur and poppies and coxcomb and hollyhocks and columbines, and each seemed to lean forward and say, "Come and see us! Come and see us!" And so the children made the rounds of the garden, visiting each variety of flower.
At last they sat down on the stone benches which surrounded a fine grass-plot with an ancient sundial in the middle.
Many of the children were content to sit quietly and rest; but Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue, being very young, and naturally rather playful, could not restrain themselves, and they took their places on the grass and began to play. They looked simply charming: Little Bo-Peep being dressed in a white frock with short sleeves having any number of flounces. She wore a Gainesborough hat of delicate materials, with cherry ribbons ending in tassels of the same color hanging down behind. She also wore red slippers having buckles set with rubies.
Little Boy Blue was arrayed in blue rompers, cunningly made of one piece, and very ample.
It seemed that they had long resided close to each other, and had often played together; and now, almost without any pre-arrangement at all, they began a game which consisted of singing and dancing.
They stood facing each other on the grass, and Little Boy Blue began the following song:
"Oh, Little Bo-Peep, when the sun is shining
And the birds are up in the tree;
When there's never a cause for sad repining,
And we're happy as we can be;
When breezes blow through the vale and hollow,
And glade and garden and glen,
Oh, whom does your heart in its rapture follow,
And whom do you think of then?"
Little Bo-Peep listened, smiling, and with her head a little to one side, until the stanza was finished, and then she replied as follows:
"Oh, Little Boy Blue, when the skies are beaming
And my heart is happy and free,
When the green grass smiles, where it lies a-dreaming,
And the birds are up in the tree,
I lift my eyes to the arch above us,
So soft and tender and blue,
And I know that the earth and the sky both love us,
And I tenderly think of you,
Of you,
Of you, of you, of you!"
Then they both bowed graciously and began their dance. They advanced toward each other so that the palms of their right hands touched; and then they receded, moving obliquely; and then advanced again, touching the palms of their left hands. A moment later they had clasped both hands, holding them high, and were hopping about in a circle.
But it seemed that the song was not yet finished; and presently they were facing each other again, and Little Bo-Peep sang the following stanza:
"Oh, Little Boy Blue, when the star of even
Hangs low o'er the lonely hill,
When the night-wind sighs through the fields of heaven
And the world is lonely and still;
When you almost fear that the birds and flowers
Will never waken again,
And you lie and dream through the long night hours,
Oh, whom do you dream of then?"
No sooner had Little Bo-Peep completed her stanza than Little Boy Blue responded:
"Oh, Little Bo-Peep, from my friendly pillow
I gaze at the even star;
Then I sail away on a gentle billow,
Where dreaming and visions are.
And never a doubt nor a fear assails me
The whole of the long night through,
And the welcomest dream of all ne'er fails me,
For I constantly dream of you,
Of you,
Of you, of you, of you!"
They repeated their dance at the end, and then, blushing and stumbling, they made their way to one of the stone benches and sat down.
All the children applauded generously; but during the silence which followed, Grettel remarked:
"For my part, I like games that have kissing in them."
Cinderella merely gazed at her, in reply to this, with lifted chin and half-closed eyes.
Then Hansel observed: "If you'd leave it to me, I'd prefer sitting at a table where there'd be something left after you'd filled yourself as full as a drum."
Prince Arthur seemed to feel that Hansel and Grettel had struck a wrong note, and he said, "Upon my word, it seemed to me that the singing and dancing weren't half bad!"
"They were just perfect," declared Everychild.
"That's really what Arthur meant," interposed Will o'Dreams.
There was almost unanimous agreement then that the song and dance had been very well done, the strongest testimony of all being offered by the little black dog, who approached Little Boy Blue and asked, quite as plainly as if he had spoken, to have the entertainment prolonged.
But as the entire band hoped to be on their way early in the morning, it was agreed, after a time, that a good night's sleep was the best thing they could have; and as the sun had now set, they went into the house, and each chose a place in which to spend the night.
The clamor of voices soon sank to a sleepy murmur; and presently there was such silence that the house might indeed have been a haunted one, just as the village superstition held it to be.
There would have been nothing more worth recording in the adventures of that day but for the fact that Everychild, at the last moment, felt an irresistible desire to explore the attic of the old house. And this he undertook to do, after all his companions had, as he supposed, fallen asleep.