Part 11
'I had not made myself comfortable many minutes before I saw two old men coming along the road from the town; so old were they indeed, that they could only creep along by leaning one against the other. Right up to the barrel they crawled, and then, to my surprise, they scrambled over its sides and disappeared. Presently two more just as old and decrepit came along and disappeared in the same way. Now three more came, then two again, and then only one, all as old and wretched as could be, and each one crawled into the barrel and vanished. This went on for some time when, unable to restrain my curiosity and wondering why on earth the barrel didn't become full, I hurriedly left my hiding-place and looked therein, to find that it yet remained quite empty. I had barely time enough to regain my hiding-place when more and more old men came along the road and disappeared into the barrel.
'This went on all day, and when the evening drew near, I could see my little man approaching from the town. As I expected, he walked straight up to the barrel, and in a twinkling had vanished inside. Without giving myself a moment to think, I once more left my hiding-place and climbed into the mysterious old tub. It was certainly rather a tight fit, but I managed to get in somehow or other. Presently I was astonished and alarmed to find that the bottom of the barrel, which I had imagined to rest on the earth, began to give way and open like a trap-door, and I felt myself sinking lower and lower, down a sort of well. The next thing, I found myself at the bottom of the well, and at the mouth of a tunnel so narrow and low that I could only go through it on my hands and knees. This, however, I proceeded to do, and found that it opened into a great chamber cut out of the solid rock.
'Not daring to enter, I gazed into this strange place, which was lighted with many candles all affixed to the rocky walls with their own tallow. On the centre of the floor was piled a great heap of children's toys,--tin trumpets, wooden horses, drums, hoops, skipping-ropes, rocking-horses, peg-tops, in fact, every conceivable toy that a sensible child could wish for. Around this great heap, instead of children, sat all the poor miserable old men I had seen enter the barrel, and amongst them I now perceived my husband, who certainly seemed no happier than the rest. Securely hidden in the narrow passage from every one in the room, I could now watch all that took place, in the greatest comfort.
'Not a word was said by any of the decrepit creatures as they stared absently at the toys in the middle of the room. Presently one whom I took to be their host, as I had not seen him enter the barrel, took from a peg on the wall, from which it had been suspended by a piece of string, an old bent tin pipe and proceeded to play. At once the wrinkled faces of the poor old fellows began to brighten up, and as the music grew more lively, they rocked their withered frames to and fro to the tunes. Soon, one by one, they stood upon their feet, and seeming to lose their old age as the music every moment became more enchanting, they forgot their feebleness and danced gaily about the room.
'Younger and younger they grew, until my husband appeared to be such a dapper and bright little man that I could not prevent myself from leaving my hiding-place and going up to him and clasping him round the waist. Not a bit surprised did he seem to see me there, and as we danced merrily up and down the room, to my great joy and astonishment, I felt myself growing younger every moment, whilst the rest of the company, now all transformed to fine young men, danced in one circle round us, as handsome a couple as you would wish to see.
'Still the magical music continued, and if anything grew more and more enchanting as we grew younger and younger, until we seemed to be frolicsome boys and girls once more. At last we found ourselves to be a crowd of little toddling children, and, my word! how we grabbed at the great heap of toys placed there for our amusement, and what a time we had to be sure!
'Under the great heap of toys, we discovered the most glorious tarts, pastries, cakes and sweets, and it didn't seem to matter how much you ate of them, for you never lost your appetite for more. At last, alas! the wonderful music quieted down, and by degrees we once more lost our childhood, then our youth, and, when the music suddenly stopped, we all returned to our old selves again, and fell flat on our faces quite tired out, while our host hung up his old tin pipe on its peg in the wall.
'When we had all somewhat recovered, I fixed my eye upon my husband. "Now," thought I, "I've got you. This is how you waste your time, is it? And why you come home late for supper." The conscience-stricken creature trembled before my gaze, and then made a rush for the door. All made way for him, but I quickly followed through the tunnel and mounted a ladder which led to the trap-door at the bottom of the barrel, out of which I climbed, but only in time to see the rascal disappear into the town. I then made the best of my way home.
'He had not returned when I arrived, so I waited three whole days and nights, prepared to make the unnatural man feel to the full my resentment at his shameful conduct. On the fourth day, as he had not come home, I went back to the tub, and not seeing any sign of him, I gave a kick to the old thing and sent it rolling over and over on its side. Would you believe me, there was not the slightest trace of any passage or well ever having existed beneath it. Since then I have wandered all over the country in search of this ungrateful wretch.' And the indignant woman, having finished her story, once more attempted to drag the affrighted little merchant away. Bill again intervened, and after a few very kind words, successfully persuaded her to allow her husband to remain with them, at the same time inviting her to make one of their brave band.
This she only consented to do on condition that the policeman also never left them, 'as you never know,' said she, 'what the little wretch will be up to next.'
The policeman having no objection to fall in with her wishes, they all marched on in peace.
* * * * *
THE CAMP-FOLLOWERS
Time was now getting on, and the fidgety old King, weary of being constantly on the move, became more and more impatient to reach his journey's end. For many days they had been crossing the great desert, and were fast approaching the further side when, one evening, the aggravating old fellow decided that they should march on right through the night. In vain did Bill point out to him how tired they all were; the old King would not even listen to him, so, whether they liked it or not, they had to jog on.
Wearily they trudged along, and towards morning they came upon a great stone sphinx, in the arms of which there nestled a company of little children, every one of whom was fast asleep. Presently, as the sun rose and shone under the lids of their eyes, they, one by one, awakened, and stared in mute astonishment at the dusty figures before them. Assuring them that they had nothing to fear at their hands, Bill, with the King's permission, invited them all to breakfast. Seated in a great circle on the sands, beneath the old sphinx, every one did his utmost to make the strangers comfortable and to remove their natural shyness; and, in a little while, it was a very jovial party that sat demolishing the substantial breakfast prepared for them. Many songs were sung and stories told by Bill and his comrades, and presently one of the little fellows, who appeared to be the youngest of their new friends, stood up and related the following story:--
'We are all brothers and sisters, and lived, until yesterday, with our good parents upon a sandbank in the mouth of the river Blim which, as you know, is one of the smaller tributaries of the river Nile. Our father was a fisherman, and upon the only spot on the bank which remained invariably high and dry, the clever man had erected a shed which served us for home, and which, at least, protected us from the showers of spray blown from the rough seas, and the chill winds that blew across the neighbouring marshes, as well as the cold rains that, in the fall of the year, flooded the adjacent country for miles around. A dozen stout beams, that had been cast up by the waves, served, each with one end deeply embedded in the wet sand, as a framework for our humble mansion. These were covered over with numerous skins of fish and pieces of old rag, all neatly stitched together by our industrious mother, or pinned by fish-bones skilfully sharpened by grinding their ends between two stones. Our good dad's stock-in-trade consisted of one long piece of frayed string, with a sharpened fishbone, bent in the form of a hook, fastened at one end, a small boat and a paddle, the former of which he had skilfully fashioned out of an old basket that had been washed ashore, and over which he had stretched more of the rags and fish-skins, of which we always possessed a goodly supply saved over from our meals.
'During the long winter months we were entirely cut off from our fellow creatures by the floods and the terrible storms at sea, and were compelled to subsist entirely upon our own resources; and thus we learnt, after many a bitter trial, to make almost everything we required from the spoils brought home by our hard-working father. The flesh of the fish, of course, served us for meat, either fresh or pickled in brine, and then dried in the sun. The roes, prepared in the same way, were our only delicacies, and, by an indulgence in these, we used to celebrate our many birthdays. Fish dripping we had in plenty, and the bones were dried and ground between two rocks, making the finest flour for bread and pies. The tails and fins were always saved, and, after a simple drying process, made excellent fuel, easily set alight with sparks kindled by knocking two stones sharply together. A fine black ash was left from fires kindled in this way, which, mixed with a little sea-water, made one of the purest inks. The good dad always encouraged us to make notes on the smooth white skins of the young dab, bleached and dried in the sun, explaining how useful they would be to us in after-life, and showed us how to cut pens from the larger bones of the fish. The only parts which the unselfish man reserved for himself were the eyes which, when dried, were his only substitute for tobacco in that lone part of the world, and which he smoked in a pipe most beautifully carved by himself, from the spine of an old cod.
'The heads of the fish served the younger children for bricks, or even, after a little trimming, for dolls, with which they amused themselves during the long winter evenings. Many another device had we whereby we made the most of our very small opportunities, but you will readily see how dependent we were for everything upon the good fortune and resources of our father, without whom we should all very quickly have perished.
'For many days and nights at a time our good dad would remain upon the sea, returning sometimes with a good supply of fish; at other times, alas! with only one or two little dabs, or even with nothing at all. Yet, by dint of saving up for a rainy day, when we had more than enough for our present needs, we managed to jog along fairly comfortably. One sad winter's evening, however, our good parent returned, having caught nothing but a very small dab and a very severe cold. Our anxious mother, in a state of alarm, lit a great fire and, after making him take a bowl of steaming fish gruel, with his feet at the same time in a bath of hot sea-water, she sent him to bed, and covered him up with as many fish skins as she could spare from the house. The next day he was decidedly worse, and our anxiety increased day by day as he showed no signs of improvement. Very soon, with no one to replenish our larder, our stores began to run low, and starvation stared us in the face.
'At last one morning the invalid called our eldest brother to him and said to him:--"Son, our stores are all eaten up, and unless we obtain food by to-morrow morning we shall all surely die, so take my boat and fishing-line and see what luck will attend you." With tears in his eyes, the good-hearted boy left the house and very soon embarked.
'Having paddled some way out to sea, he threw his line, and fished and fished. After a little while he drew it in again to find, alas! that he had caught nothing. For the second time he cast his line, and fished and fished and fished, but on again pulling in the line he found that he had no better luck. He now for the third time threw out his line, and fished and fished and fished and fished, yet no better fortune attended him; so, bitterly disappointed, he wound up the tackle and paddled home.
'Sorrowfully the unhappy father heard of his eldest son's want of success, and then sent for his second eldest son, and requested him to see if fortune would be kinder to him than it had been to his brother. But, alas! he returned likewise without even so much as a whitebait. Then, one after the other, he sent all his sons except myself, who am the youngest of all, but not a little piece of luck awaited any of them. The wretched man now called me to him and said:--"Son, hitherto I have been reluctant to send one so young upon such an errand, but, alack-a-day! you are now our only hope; unless good fortune waits upon you we shall all perish."
'After comforting him as much as I could, and assuring him that I would do my best, I hastened down to the shore and embarked in the little boat. I paddled a good way out to sea until I came to a suitable fishing-ground, and then threw out my line. I fished and fished and fished and fished, and on drawing in my line found nothing on the hook except the bait, a wretched piece of dried fish skin, which looked very draggled as it rose from the water. "Better luck next time," thought I, as I threw my line for the second time, and fished and fished and fished and fished and fished. Yet, on pulling up the line, I found to my dismay that instead of better luck I had even worse, if that were possible, for the wretched bait had vanished from the hook. "Once more," thought I, as I dropped my line overboard for the third time, "and, fish or no fish, I must give it up, even though we all die of starvation." So I fished and fished and fished and fished and fished with all my might, and when at length I had hauled it in you may imagine my distress when I discovered that not merely was there no fish upon the line, but that the hook itself had disappeared. With tears of rage and disappointment I now gave it up and prepared to return, but I had not gone very far when I thought, "Shall I have just one more try even without hook or bait?" And not giving myself any time to think about it, I hurled my line out for the fourth time and fished and fished and fished and fished and fished and fished and fished as hard as I could, when fancying that I felt a nibble, I hauled it in as quickly as possible and found an old sardine-tin which had become entangled in the line.
'Hastily opening the tin, all I found therein was the head of an old sprat. "Alas!" said I to myself, "is this, after all my troubles, the only food I can take to my suffering father and hungering mother and brothers and sisters; better it would have been had we never been born!" and the tears streamed down my face.
'As I bent low over my miserable catch a great shadow passed across the boat and suddenly looking up, I beheld a beautiful albatross sailing in the sky above me. No sooner did the graceful creature catch sight of the head of the sprat than it swooped down upon the tin that contained it, snatching it from my hands, and flew off with it as speedily as possible. Now it happened I had not let go my hold on the line, the other end of which was still fastened to the tin, so that in a very few minutes I felt myself lifted bodily up and whirled through the air and out to sea at a great speed. Dangling many feet beneath the great bird, on and on I was carried over the tops of the waves, in the greatest anxiety lest the marauding fowl should take a lower flight, in which case I should inevitably have been plunged into the sea and drowned.
'How many miles we travelled thus it would be impossible for me to tell, but at length my arms grew tired of holding on and supporting my weight, and I began to fear every moment that I should slip off into the sea, when I beheld a fishing-boat in the distance, right in our course. Hoping that we should reach it before my strength gave out I anxiously watched the vessel as we gradually drew near. At last I found myself directly over the boat, and shutting my eyes, I let go my hold on the line, and dropped down right on to a pile of fish in the middle of the deck, sending them flying in all directions amongst the astonished fisherman.
'My remarkable appearance amongst them had the most astonishing effect upon the fishermen. They one and all leapt into the sea, and notwithstanding my endeavours to entice them back to the boat, and to explain to them my sudden descent upon their vessel, the affrighted creatures swam off to the distant shore, which, let us hope, they reached in safety.
'Looking around me I now discovered, to my great joy, that the boat was full of the finest fish, so, seizing the oars, I turned her head towards home, where I arrived with my prize on the following morning, after a hard night's work, rowing the heavily-laden craft to shore.
'The rejoicings were great, as you may well imagine, when my good parents and brothers and sisters beheld me again, for all had given me up for lost, our old boat having been washed ashore the previous evening. A great meal of fish was prepared as soon as possible, at which we all ate heartily after so long a fast, and the old gentleman's condition was greatly improved by the meal.
'Long before the large supply of food had been consumed, the good living and comfort had restored our dad's health, and he was able to resume his fishing. Being now so much better equipped with the fine boat in which I had returned, and with the splendid tackle we discovered therein, good luck always attended his fishing and we never wanted any more.
'In the course of time it became necessary that their children should all leave them and seek their fortunes, and only yesterday morning, with many tears, we bade adieu to our kind-hearted parents and started on our journey.'
The young strangers were now all thoroughly refreshed by their breakfast, and learning the nature of the campaign upon which the King and his army were engaged, willingly offered their assistance as camp-followers, or in any other way that they might be useful. The King very gratefully accepted their services, and before resuming the march the whole army went out of their way and visited the kindly fisherman. The King was pleased to confer many honours on the old fellow, and, before leaving him, promised to look after his numerous family, and in the future to provide for all their wants.
* * * * *
THE SIEGE OF TROY
Early one fine morning, before the soldiers had arisen, the King, in a very excited state, called his general to his bedside and, pointing through the opening of his tent, said:--
'Bill, can you see, far away upon the horizon, that little point of light?' And Bill, straining his eyes in the direction indicated, was indeed able to detect a little flash, as though the sun were shining upon a cucumber frame many miles away.
'Well,' said the old man, 'that is the reflection of the sun upon the dome of my palace in Troy.'
Bill, delighted that at last they were nearing their journey's end, went off and awakened the camp with the glad news, and all came running out and gazed in the direction of Troy; and so heartened were the brave fellows at the sight that they gave three resounding cheers.
Their eagerness to be off was so great that there was no breakfast that morning, and soon performing a hurried toilet, and speedily packing up their sticks, they were on the move once more. The King's excitement knew no bounds and, after distributing amongst his followers the contents of his pocket, he insisted on climbing out of his chariot, and giving each of his officers in turn a ride therein. Having travelled some little way, the King suddenly called a halt, and held up his hand for silence, and then, in the clear air, could be heard the bells of Troy! More excited than ever, the King now took off his crown, and removing some of the jewels with the pen-knife which Bill had presented to him on his birthday, gave one to each of his chief officers.
In a little time the towers of Troy came into view, on the further edge of the great plain they were crossing, and the elated King, quite beside himself with joy and expectation at this glorious sight, stood upon the seat of his chariot and danced, much to the alarm of Boadicea, who was wheeling him. He then sat down again, and, taking off his slippers, he threw them, one by one, as high into the air as he could, and caught them as they descended. As they came nearer and nearer to their goal the old fellow's spirits rose to such a pitch that something really had to be done, so the musician was told-off to play soothing tunes to him, and in time the excitable creature calmed down, only, however, to break out again when they halted that night before the walls of Troy. At last, to keep him quiet once and for all, and out of everybody's way, they put him to bed with a soothing-draught made up by the doctor.
The approach of the gallant fellows had been closely observed from the watch-towers of the city, and, in consequence, they found the gates fast closed when they halted before them. And, as nothing could be done that night, they fixed up their camp and retired to rest.
On the following morning, Bill sent the merchant's wife as an ambassadress into the city, to demand its instant surrender, and very gladly she undertook the task.
'This is quite in my line,' said she, as she knocked for admittance at the gate, through which she was admitted after a little delay. Bill waited anxiously for her reappearance, hoping that the King of Persia would be wise enough to give up the city without further trouble, but suddenly a great roar resounded from the other side of the walls, and almost immediately afterwards the ambassadress, with tufts of the Persian King's hair held between her clenched fingers, was thrown out of the gates.
'There's nothing for it now,' thought Bill, 'but to lay siege to the place,' and he at once proceeded to walk round the city and examine the nature of the ground; after which he mustered his whole force before him, and disposed them according to the accompanying plan:--
In this way Bill completely surrounded the city, allowing no provisions of any kind to enter, and prepared to wait until the inhabitants had exhausted all their stores, and could hold out no longer.
These were the instructions of General Bill to his army, to be faithfully carried out during the siege:--