IV
MOON MAGIC
The Three Jolly Anglers is an inn of a distinctly jovial aspect, withits toppling gables, its creaking sign, and its bright lattices, which,like merry little twinkling eyes, look down upon the eternal riverto-day with the same half-waggish, half-kindly air as they have donefor generations.
Upon its battered sign, if you look closely enough, you may still seethe Three Anglers themselves, somewhat worn and dim with time andstress of weather, yet preserving their jollity through it all with anheroic fortitude--as they doubtless will do until they fade awayaltogether.
It is an inn with raftered ceilings, and narrow, winding passageways;an inn with long, low chambers full of unexpected nooks and corners,with great four-post beds built for tired giants it would seem, andwide, deep chimneys reminiscent of Gargantuan rounds of beef; an innwhose very walls seem to exude comfort, as it were--the solidcomfortable comfort of a bygone age.
Of all the many rooms here to be found I love best that which is calledthe Sanded Parlour. Never were wainscoted walls of a mellower tone,never was pewter more gleaming, never were things more bright andspeckless, from the worn, quaint andirons on the hearth to thebrass-bound blunderbuss, with the two ancient fishing-rods above. Atone end of the room was a long, low casement, and here I leaned,watching the river near-by, and listening to its never-ceasing murmur.I had dined an hour ago; the beef had been excellent--it always is atthe Three Jolly Anglers--and the ale beyond all criticism; also my pipeseemed to have an added flavour.
Yet despite all this I did not enjoy that supreme content--thatphilosophical calm which such beef and such ale surely warranted. Butthen, who ever heard of Love and Philosophy going together?
Away over the uplands a round, harvest moon was beginning to rise,flecking the shadowy waters with patches of silver, and, borne to myears upon the warm, still air, came the throb of distant violins. Thisserved only to deepen my melancholy, reminding me that somebody orother was giving a ball to-night; and Lisbeth was there, and Mr. Selwynwas there, of course, and I--I was here--alone with the brass-boundblunderbuss, the ancient fishing-rods and the antique andirons on thehearth; with none to talk to save the moon, and the jasmine that hadcrept in at the open casement. And noting the splendour of the night,I experienced towards Lisbeth a feeling of pained surprise, that sheshould prefer the heat and garish glitter of a ball-room to walkingbeneath such a moon with me.
Indeed, it was a wondrous night! one of those warm still nights whichseem full of vague and untold possibilities! A night with magic in theair, when elves and fairies dance within their grassy rings, or bidingamid the shade of trees, peep out at one between the leaves; or again,some gallant knight on mighty steed may come pacing slowly from theforest shadows, with the moonlight bright upon his armour.
Yes, surely there was magic in the air to-night! I half wished thatsome enchanter might, by a stroke of his fairy wand, roll back theyears and leave me in the brutal, virile, Good Old Times, when menwooed and won their loves by might and strength of arm, and not bygold, as is so often the case in these days of ours. To be mountedupon my fiery steed, lance in hand and sword on thigh, riding down theleafy alleys of the woods yonder, led by the throbbing, sighing melody.To burst upon the astonished dancers like a thunder-clap; to swing herup to my saddle-bow, and clasped in each other's arms, to plunge intothe green mystery of forest.
My fancies had carried me thus far when I became aware of a small,furtive figure, dodging from one patch of shadow to another. Leaningfrom the window, I made out the form of a somewhat disreputable urchin,who, dropping upon hands and knees, proceeded to crawl towards me overthe grass with a show of the most elaborate caution.
"Hallo!" I exclaimed, "halt and give the counter-sign!" The urchin satup on his heels and stared at me with a pair of very round, bright eyes.
"Please, are you Mr. Uncle Dick?" he inquired.
"Oh," I said, "you come from the Imp, I presume." The boy nodded around head, at the same time fumbling with something in his pocket.
"And whom may you be?" I inquired, conversationally.
"I'm Ben, I am."
"The gardener's boy?" Again the round head nodded acquiescence, as withmuch writhing and twisting he succeeded in drawing a heterogeneouscollection of articles from his pocket, whence he selected a very dirtyand crumpled piece of paper.
"He wants a ladder so's he can git out, but it's too big fer me tolift, so he told me to give you this here so's you would come an'rescue him--please, Mr. Uncle Dick." With which lucid explanation Benhanded me the crumpled note.
Spreading it out upon the windowsill, I managed to make out as follows:
DEAR UNKEL DICK: I'm riting this with my hart's blood bekors I'm aprisner in a gloomie dungun. It isn't really my hart's blood it's onlyred ink, so don't worry. Aunty lisbath cent me to bed just after teabekors she said I'm norty, and when she'd gone Nurse locked me in so ican't get out and I'm tired of being a prisner, so please i want you toget the ladda and let me eskape, please unkel dick, will you.
yours till deth, REGINALD AUGUSTUS.
Auntie was reading Ivanhoe to us and I've been the Black Knight and youcan be Gurth the swine-herd if you like.
"So that's the way of it?" I said.
"Well! well! such an appeal shall not go unanswered, at least. Waitthere, my trusty Benjamin, and I'll be with you anon." Pausing only torefill my tobacco-pouch and get my cap, I sallied out into the fragrantnight, and set off along the river, the faithful Benjamin trotting atmy heels.
Very soon we were skirting blooming flower-beds, and crossing trimlawns, until at length we reached a certain wing of the house from awindow of which a pillow-case was dangling by means of a string.
"That's for provisions!" volunteered Ben; "we pertended he wasstarving, so he lets it down an' I fill it with onions out of thevegetable garden." At this moment the curly head of the Imp appearedat the window, followed by the major portion of his person.
"Oh, Uncle Dick!" he cried in a loud stage-whisper, "I think you hadbetter be the Black Knight, 'cause you're so big, you know."
"Imp," I said, "get in at once, do you want to break your neck?"
The Imp obediently wriggled into safety.
"The ladder's in the tool-house, Uncle Dick--Ben'll show you. Will youget it, please?" he pleaded in a wheedling tone.
"First of all, my Imp, why did your Auntie Lisbeth send you to bed--hadyou been a very naughty boy?"
"No-o!" he answered, after a moment's pause, "I don't think I was sovery naughty--I only painted Dorothy like an Indian chief--green, withred spots, an' she looked fine, you know."
"Green, with red spots!" I repeated.
"Yes; only auntie didn't seem to like it."
"I fear your Auntie Lisbeth lacks an eye for colour."
"Yes, 'fraid so; she sent me to bed for it, you know."
"Still, Imp, under the circumstances I think it would be best if yougot undressed and went to sleep."
"Oh, but I can't, Uncle Dick!"
"Why not, my Imp?"
"'Cause the moon's so very bright, an' everything looks so fine downthere, an' I'm sure there's fairies about--Moon-fairies, you know, andI'm 'miserable."
"Miserable, Imp?"
"Yes, Auntie Lisbeth never came to kiss me good-night, an' so I can'tgo to sleep, Uncle Dick!"
"Why that alters the case, certainly."
"Yes, an' the ladder's in the tool-house."
"Imp," I said, as I turned to follow Benjamin, "oh, you Imp!"
There are few things in this world more difficult to manage than acommon or garden ladder; among other peculiarities it has a mostunpleasant knack of kicking out suddenly just as everything appears tobe going smoothly, which is apt to prove disconcerting to the novice.However, after sundry mishaps of the kind, I eventually got it rearedup to the window, and a moment afterwards the Imp had climbed down andstood beside me, drawing the breath of freedom.
As a precautionary measure we proceeded to h
ide the ladder in a clumpof rhododendrons hard by, and had but just done so when Benjaminuttered a cry of warning and took to his heels, while the Imp and Isought shelter behind a friendly tree. And not a whit too soon, for,scarcely had we done so, when two figures came round a corner of thehouse--two figures who walked very slowly and very close together.
"Why it's Betty--the cook, you know--an' Peter!" whispered the Imp.
Almost opposite our hiding-place Betty paused to sigh heavily and stareup at the moon.
"Oh, Peter!" she murmured, "look at that there orb!"
"Ar!" said Peter, gazing obediently upward.
"Peter, ain't it 'eavenly; don't it stir your very soul?"
"Ar!" said Peter.
"Peter, are you sure you loves me more than that Susan thing at thedoctor's?" A corduroy coat-sleeve crept slowly about Betty's plumpwaist, and there came the unmistakable sound of a kiss.
"Really and truly, Peter?"
"Ar!" said Peter, "so 'elp me Sam!" The kissing sound was repeated,and they walked on once more, only closer than ever now on account ofthe corduroy coat-sleeve.
"Those two are in love, you know," nodded the Imp. "Peter says thecheese-cakes she makes are enough to drive any man into marrying her,whether he wants to or not, an' I heard Betty telling Jane that sheadored Peter, 'cause he had so much soul! Why is it," he inquired,thoughtfully, as he watched the two out of sight, "why is it, UncleDick, that people in love always look so silly?"
"Do you think so?" I asked, as I paused to light my pipe.
"'Course I do!" returned the Imp; "what's any one got to put their armround girls for, just as if they wanted holding up--I think it'sawfull' silly!"
"Of course it is, Imp--your wisdom is unassailable--still, do you know,I can understand a man being foolish enough to do it--occasionally."
"But you never would, Uncle Dick?"
"Alas, Imp!" I said, shaking my head, "Fortune seems to preclude allchances of it."
"'Course you wouldn't," he exclaimed; "an' Ivanhoe wouldn't--"
"Ah, but he did!" I put in; "have you forgotten Rowena?"
"Oh!" cried the Imp dolefully, "do you really think he ever put his armround her?"
"Sure of it," I nodded. The Imp seemed much cast down, and evenshocked.
"But there was the Black Knight," he said, brighteningsuddenly--"Richard of the Lion Heart, you know--he never did!"
"Not while he was fighting, of course, but afterwards, if history is tobe believed, he very frequently did; and we are all alike,Imp--everybody does sooner or later."
"But why? Why should any one want to put their arm round a girl, UncleDick?"
"For the simple reason that the girl is there to put it round, Isuppose. And now, Imp, let us talk of fish."
Instinctively we had wandered towards the river, and now we stood towatch the broad, silver path made by the moon across the mystery of itswaters.
"I love to see the shine upon the river like that," said the Imp,dreamily; "Auntie Lisbeth says it's the path that the Moon-fairies comedown by to bring you nice dreams when you've been good. I've got outof bed lots of times an' watched an' watched, but I've never seen themcome. Do you think there are fairies in the moon, Uncle Dick?"
"Undoubtedly," I answered; "how else does it keep so bright? I used towonder once how they managed to make it shine so."
"It must need lots of rubbing!" said the Imp; "I wonder if they everget tired?"
"Of course they do, Imp, and disheartened, too, sometimes, like therest of us, and then everything is black, and people wonder where themoon is. But they are very brave, these Moon-fairies, and they neverquite lose hope, you know; so they presently go back to their rubbingand polishing, always starting at one edge. And in a little while wesee it begin to shine again, very small and thin at first, like a--"
"Thumb-nail!"
"Yes, just like a thumb-nail; and so they go on working and working atit until it gets as big and round and bright as it is to-night."
Thus we walked together through a fairy world, the Imp and I, whileabove the murmur of the waters, above the sighing of the trees, camethe soft, tremulous melody of the violins.
"I do wish I had lived when there were knights like Ivanhoe," burst outthe Imp suddenly; "it must have been fine to knock a man off his horsewith your lance."
"Always supposing he didn't knock you off first, Imp."
"Oh! I should have been the sort of knight that nobody could knock off,you know. An' I'd have wandered about on my faithful charger, fightingall sorts of caddish barons, and caitiffs, an' slaying giants; an' I'dhave rescued lovely ladies from castles grim--though I wouldn't haveput my arm round them, of course!"
"Perish the thought, my Imp!"
"Uncle Dick!" he said, insinuatingly, "I do wish you'd be the BlackKnight, an' let me be Ivanhoe."
"But there are no caitiffs and things left for us to fight, Imp, and nolovely ladies to rescue from castles grim, alas!"
Now we had been walking on, drawn almost imperceptibly by the magicthread of the melody, which had led us, by devious paths, to a lowstone wall, beyond which we could see the gleam of lighted windows andthe twinkle of fairy-lamps among the trees. And over there, amid themusic and laughter, was Lisbeth in all the glory of her beauty, happy,of course, and light-hearted; and here, beneath the moon, was I.
"We could pretend this was a castle grim, you know, Uncle Dick, full ofdungeons an' turrets, an' that we were going to rescue Auntie Lisbeth."
"Imp," I said, "that's really a great idea."
"I wish I'd brought my trusty sword," he sighed, searching about forsomething to supply its place; "I left it under my pillow, you know."
Very soon, however, he had procured two sticks, somewhat thin andwobbly, yet which, by the magic of imagination, became transformed intoformidable, two-edged swords, with one of which he armed me, the otherhe flourished above his head.
"Forward, gallant knights!" he cried; "the breach! the breach! On! on!St. George, for Merrie England!" With the words he clambered upon thewall and disappeared upon the other side.
For a moment I hesitated, and then, inspired by the music and thethought of Lisbeth, I followed suit. It was all very mad, of course,but who cared for sanity on such a night--certainly not I.
"Careful now, Imp!" I cautioned; "if any one should see us they'll takeus for thieves, or lunatics, beyond a doubt."
We found ourselves in an enclosed garden with a walk which led betweenrows of fruit trees. Following this, it brought us out upon a broadstretch of lawn, with here and there a great tree, and beyond, thegleaming windows of the house. Filled with the spirit of adventure, weapproached, keeping in the shadow as much as possible, until we couldsee figures that strolled to and fro upon the terrace or promenaded thewalks below.
The excitement of dodging our way among so many people was intense;time and again we were only saved from detection by more than onewandering couple, owing to the fact that all their attention wascentred in themselves. For instance, we were skirmishing round a clumpof laurels, to gain the shadow of the terrace, when we almost ran intothe arms of a pair; but they didn't see us for the very good reasonthat she was staring at the moon, and he at her.
"So sweet of you, Archibald!" she was saying.
"What did she call him 'bald for, Uncle Dick?" inquired the Imp in aloud stage-whisper, as I dragged him down behind the laurels. "He's nota bit bald, you know! An' I say, Uncle Dick, did you see his arm, itwas round--"
"Yes--yes!" I nodded.
"Just like Peter's, you know."
"Yes--yes, I saw."
"I wonder why she called him--"
"Hush!" I broke in, "his name is Archibald, I suppose."
"Well, I hope when I grow up nobody will ever call me--"
"Hush!" I said again, "not a word--there's your Auntie Lisbeth! Shewas, indeed, standing upon the terrace, within a yard of ourhiding-place, and beside her was Mr. Selwyn.
"Uncle Dick," whispered the irrepressible Im
p, "do you think if wewatch long enough that Mr. Selwyn will put his arm round--"
"Shut up!" I whispered savagely. Lisbeth was clad in a long, trailinggown of dove-coloured silk--one of those close-fitting garments thatmake the uninitiated, such as myself, wonder how they are ever got on.Also, she wore a shawl, which I was sorry for, because I have alwaysbeen an admirer of beautiful things, and Lisbeth's neck and shouldersare glorious. Mr. Selwyn stood beside her with a plate of ice cream inhis hand, which he handed to her, and they sat down. As I watched herand noticed her weary, bored air, and how wistfully she gazed up at thesilver disc of the moon, I experienced a feeling of decidedsatisfaction.
"Yes," said Lisbeth, toying absently with the ice cream, "he paintedDorothy's face with stripes of red and green enamel, and goodness onlyknows how we can ever get it all off!"
Mr. Selwyn was duly shocked and murmured something about 'the efficacyof turpentine' in such an emergency.
"Of course, I had to punish him," continued Lisbeth, "so I sent him tobed immediately after tea, and never went to say good-night, or tuckhim up as I usually do, and it has been worrying me all the evening."
Mr. Selwyn was sure that he was all right, and positively certain thatat this moment he was wrapped in balmy slumber. Despite my warninggrasp, the Imp chuckled, but we were saved by the band striking up.Mr. Selwyn rose, giving his arm to Lisbeth, and they re-entered theball-room. One by one the other couples followed suit until the longterrace was deserted. Now, upon Lisbeth's deserted chair, showingwonderfully pink in the soft glow of the Chinese lanterns, was the icecream.
"Uncle Dick," said the Imp in his thoughtful way, "I think I'll be abandit for a bit."
"Anything you like," I answered rashly, "so long as we get away whilewe can."
"All right," he whispered, "I won't be a minute," and before I couldstop him he had scrambled down the steps and fallen to upon the icecream.
The wonderful celerity with which the Imp wolfed down that ice creamwas positively awe-inspiring. In less time almost than it takes totell the plate was empty. Yet scarcely had he swallowed the lastmouthful when he heard Mr. Selwyn's voice close by. In his haste theImp dropped his cap, a glaring affair of red and white, and before hecould recover it Lisbeth reappeared, followed by Mr. Selwyn.
--"It certainly is more pleasant out here!" he was saying.
Lisbeth came straight towards the cap--it was a moral impossibility thatshe could fail to see it--yet she sank into her chair without word orsign. Mr. Selwyn, on the contrary, stood with the empty ice plate inhis hand, staring at it in wide-eyed astonishment.
"It's gone!" he exclaimed.
"Oh!" said Lisbeth.
"Most extraordinary!" Said Mr. Selwyn, fixing his monocle and staringharder than ever; "I wonder where it can have got to?"
"Perhaps it melted!" Lisbeth suggested, "and I should so have loved anice!" she sighed.
"Then, of course, I'll get you another, with pleasure," he said andhurried off, eyeing the plate dubiously as he went.
No sooner was Lisbeth alone than she kicked aside the train of herdress and picked up the tell-tale cap.
"Imp!" she whispered, rising to her feet, "Imp, come here at once,sir!" There was a moment's breathless pause, and then the Imp squirmedhimself into view.
"Hallo, Auntie Lisbeth!" he said, with a cheerfulness wholly assumed.
"Oh!" she cried, distressfully, "whatever does this mean; what are youdoing here? Oh, you naughty boy!"
"Lisbeth," I said, as I rose in my turn and confronted her, "Do notblame the child--the fault is mine--let me explain; by means of aladder--"
"Not here," she whispered, glancing nervously towards the ball-room.
"Then come where I can."
"Impossible!"
"Not at all; you have only to descend these steps and we can talkundisturbed."
"Ridiculous!" she said, stooping to replace the Imp's cap; but beingthus temptingly within reach, she was next moment beside us in theshadows.
"Dick, how could you, how dared you?"
"You see, I had to explain," I answered very humbly; "I really couldn'tallow this poor child to bear the blame of my fault--"
"I'm not a 'poor child,' Uncle Dick," expostulated the Imp; "I'm agallant knight and--"
"--The blame of my fault, Lisbeth," I continued, "I alone must faceyour just resentment, for--"
"Hush!" she whispered, glancing hastily about.
"--For, by means of a ladder, Lisbeth, a common or garden ladder--"
"Oh, do be quiet!" she said, and laid her hand upon my lips, which Iimmediately imprisoned there, but for a moment only; the next it wassnatched away as there came the unmistakable sound of some oneapproaching.
"Come along, Auntie Lisbeth," whispered the Imp, "fear not, we'llrescue you."
Oh! surely there was magic in the air to-night; for, with a swift,dexterous movement, Lisbeth had swept her long train across her arm,and we were running hand in hand, all three of us, running across lawnsand down winding paths between yew hedges, sometimes so close togetherthat I could feel a tress of her fragrant hair brushing my face with atouch almost like a caress. Surely, surely, there was magic in the airto-night!
Suddenly Lisbeth stopped, flushed and panting.
"Well!" she exclaimed, staring from me to the Imp, and back again, "wasever anything so mad!"
"Everything is mad to-night," I said; "it's the moon!"
"To think of my running away like this with two--two--"
"Interlopers," I suggested.
"I really ought to be very, very angry with you--both of you, she said,trying to frown.
"No, don't be angry with us, Auntie Lisbeth," pleaded the Imp, "'causeyou are a lovely lady in a castle grim, an' we are two gallant knights,so we had to come an' rescue you; an' you never came to kiss megood-night, an' I'm awfull' sorry 'bout painting Dorothy'sface--really!"
"Imp," cried Lisbeth, falling on her knees regardless of her silks andlaces, "Imp, come and kiss me." The Imp drew out a decidedly grubbyhandkerchief, and, having rubbed his lips with it, obeyed.
"Now, Uncle Dick!" he said, and offered me the grubby handkerchief.Lisbeth actually blushed.
"Reginald!" she exclaimed, "whatever put such an idea into your head?"
"Oh! everybody's always kissing somebody you know," he nodded; "an'it's Uncle Dick's turn now."
Lisbeth rose from her knees and began to pat her rebellious hair intoorder. Now, as she raised her arms, her shawl very naturally slippedto the ground; and standing there, with her eyes laughing up at mebeneath their dark lashes, with the moonlight in her hair, and gleamingupon the snow of her neck and shoulders, she had never seemed quite sobewilderingly, temptingly beautiful before.
"Dick," she said, "I must go back at once--before they miss me."
"Go back!" I repeated, "never--that is, not yet."
"But suppose any one saw us!" she said, with a hairpin in her mouth.
"They shan't," I answered; "you will see to that, won't you, Imp?"
"'Course I will, Uncle Dick!"
"Then go you, Sir Knight, and keep faithful ward behind yon apple tree,and let no base varlet hither come; that is, if you see any one, besure to tell me." The Imp saluted and promptly disappeared behind theapple tree in question, while I stood watching Lisbeth's dexterousfingers and striving to remember a line from Keats descriptive of abeautiful woman in the moonlight. Before I could call it to mind,however, Lisbeth interrupted me.
"Don't you think you might pick up my shawl instead of staring at me asif I was--"
"The most beautiful woman in the world!" I put in.
"Who is catching her death of cold," she laughed, yet for all her lighttone her eyes drooped before mine as I obediently wrapped the shawlabout her, in the doing of which, my arm being round her, verynaturally stayed there, and--wonder of wonders, was not repulsed. Andat this very moment, from the shadowy trees behind us, came the rich,clear song of a nightingale.
Oh! most certainly the air
was full of magic to-night!
"Dick," said Lisbeth very softly as the trilling notes died away, "Ithought one could only dream such a night as this is."
"And yet life might hold many such for you and me, if you would onlylet it, Lisbeth," I reminded her. She did not answer.
"Not far from the village of Down, in Kent," I began.
"There stands a house," she put in, staring up at the moon with dreamyeyes.
"A very old house, with twisted Tudor chimneys and pointed gables--yousee I have it all by heart, Dick--a house with wide stairways and longpannelled chambers--"
"Very empty and desolate at present," I added. "And amongst otherthings, there is a rose-garden--they call it My Lady's Garden, Lisbeth,though no lady has trod its winding paths for years and years. But Ihave dreamed, many and many a time, that we stood among the roses, sheand I, upon just such another night as this is. So I keep the oldhouse ready and the gardens freshly trimmed, ready for my lady'scoming; must I wait much longer, Lisbeth?" As I ended the nightingaletook up the story, pleading my cause for me, filling the air with amelody now appealing, now commanding, until it gradually died away inone long note of passionate entreaty.
Lisbeth sighed and turned towards me, but as she did so I felt a tug atmy coat, and, looking round, beheld the Imp.
"Uncle Dick," he said, his eyes studiously averted, doubtless onaccount of the position of my arm, "here's Mr. Selwyn!"
With a sudden exclamation Lisbeth started from me and gathered up herskirts to run.
"Whereaway, my Imp?"
"Coming across the lawn."
"Reginald," I said, solemnly, "listen to me; you must sally out uponhim with lance in rest, tell him you are a Knight-errant, wishful touphold the glory of that faire ladye, your Auntie Lisbeth, and whateverhappens you must manage to keep him away from here, do you understand?"
"Yes, only I do wish I'd brought my trusty sword, you know," he sighed.
"Never mind that now, Imp."
"Will Auntie Lisbeth be quite--"
"She will be all right."
"I suppose if you put your arm--"
"Never mind my arm, Imp, go!"
"Then fare thee well!" said he, and with a melodramatic flourish of hislance, trotted off.
"What did he mean about your arm, Dick?"
"Probably this!" I answered, slipping it around her again.
"But you must get away at once," whispered Lisbeth; "if Mr. Selwynshould see you--"
"I intend that he shall. Oh, it will be quite simple; while he istalking to me you can get back to the--"
"Hush!" she whispered, laying her fingers on my lips; "listen!"
"Hallo, Mr. Selwyn!" came in the Imp's familiar tones.
"Why, good Heavens!" exclaimed another voice, much too near to bepleasant, "what on earth are you doing here--and at this time of night?"
"Looking for base varlets!"
"Don't you know that all little boys--all nice little boys--should havebeen in bed hours ago?"
"But I'm not a nice little boy; I'm a Knight-errant; would you like toget a lance, Mr. Selwyn, an' break it with me to the glory of my AuntieLisbeth?"
"The question is, what has become of her?" said Mr. Selwyn. We waitedalmost breathlessly for the answer.
"Oh! I 'specks she's somewhere looking at the moon; everybody looks atthe moon, you know; Betty does, an' the lady with the man with a funnyname 'bout being bald, an'--"
"I think you had better come up to the house," said Mr. Selwyn.
"Do you think you could get me an ice cream if I did?" asked the Imp,persuasively; "nice an' pink, you know, with--"
"An ice!" repeated Mr. Selwyn; "I wonder how many you have had alreadyto-night?"
The time for action was come. "Lisbeth," I said, "we must go; suchhappiness as this could not last; how should it? I think it is givenus to dream over in less happy days. For me it will be a memory totreasure always, and yet there might be one thing more--a little thingLisbeth--can you guess?" She did not speak, but I saw the dimple comeand go at the corner of her mouth, so I stooped and kissed her. For amoment, all too brief, we stood thus, with the glory of the moonlightabout us; then I was hurrying across the lawn after Selwyn and the Imp.
"Ah, Mr. Selwyn!" I said as I overtook them, "so you have found him,have you?" Mr. Selwyn turned to regard me, surprise writ large uponhim, from the points of his immaculate, patent-leather shoes, to theparting of his no less immaculate hair.
"So very good of you," I continued; "you see he is such a difficultobject to recover when once he gets mislaid; really, I'm awfullyobliged." Mr. Selwyn's attitude was politely formal. He bowed.
"What is it to-night," he inquired, "pirates?"
"Hardly so bad as that," I returned; "to-night the air is full of theclash of armour and the ring of steel; if you do not hear it that isnot our fault."
"An' the woods are full of caddish barons and caitiff knaves, you know,aren't they, Uncle Dick?"
"Certainly," I nodded, "with lance and spear-point twinkling throughthe gloom, but in the silver glory of the moon, Mr. Selwyn, walk errantdamozels and ladyes faire, and again, if you don't see them, the lossis yours." As I spoke, away upon the terrace a grey shadow paused amoment ere it was swallowed in the brilliance of the ball-room; seeingwhich I did not mind the slightly superior smile that curved Mr.Selwyn's very precise moustache; after all, my rhapsody had not beenaltogether thrown away. As I ended, the opening bars of a waltzfloated out to us. Mr. Selwyn glanced back over his shoulder.
"Ah! I suppose you can find your way out?" he inquired.
"Oh, yes, thanks."
"Then if you will excuse me, I think I'll leave you to--ah--to do it;the next dance is beginning, and--ah--"
"Certainly," I said, "of course--good-night, and much obliged--really!"Mr. Selwyn bowed, and, turning away, left us to our own resources.
"I should have liked another ice, Uncle Dick," sighed the Imp,regretfully.
"Knights never ate ice cream!" I said, as we set off along the nearestpath.
"Uncle Dick," said the Imp suddenly, "do you 'spose Mr. Selwyn wants toput his arm round Auntie Lis--"
"Possibly!"
"An' do you 'spose that Auntie Lisbeth wants Mr. Selwyn to--"
"I don't know--of course not--er--kindly shut up, will you, Imp?"
"I only wanted to know, you know," he murmured.
Therewith we walked on in silence and I fell to dreaming of Lisbethagain, of how she had sighed, of the look in her eyes as she turned tome with her answer trembling on her lips--the answer which the Imp hadinadvertently cut short. In this frame of mind I drew near to thatcorner of the garden where she had stood with me, that quiet, shadycorner, which henceforth would remain enshrined within my memory forher sake which--
I stopped suddenly short at the sight of two figures--one in the capand apron of a waiting maid and the other in the gorgeous plush andcold braid of a footman; and they were standing upon the very spotwhere Lisbeth and I had stood, and in almost the exact attitude--it wasdesecration. I stood stock still despite the Imp's frantic tugs at mycoat all other feelings swallowed up in one of half-amused resentment.Thus the resplendent footman happened to turn his head, presentlyespied me, and removing his plush-clad arm from the waist of the trimmaid-servant, and doubling his fists, strode towards us with a trulyterrible mien.
"And w'ot might your game be?" he inquired, with that supercilious airinseparable to plush and gold braid; "oh, I know your kind, I do--Iknow yer!"
"Then, fellow," quoth I, "I know not thee, by Thor, I swear it and Ogthe Terrible, King of Bashan!"
"'Ogs is it?" said he indignantly, "don't get trying to come over mewith yer 'ogs; no nor yet yer fellers! The question is, wo't are you'anging round 'ere for?" Now, possibly deceived by my pacificattitude, or inspired by the bright eyes of the trim maid-servant, heseized me, none too gently, by the collar, to the horrified dismay ofthe Imp.
"Nay, but I will, give thee moneys--"
&n
bsp; "You are a-going to come up to the 'ouse with me, and no bloomingnonsense either; d'ye 'ear?"
"Then must I needs smite thee for a barbarous dog--hence--baseslave--begone!" Wherewith I delivered what is technically known in"sporting" circles as a "right hook in the ear," followed by a "leftswing to the chin," and my assailant immediately disappeared behind abush, with a flash of pink silk calves and buckled shoes. Then, whilethe trim maidservant filled the air with her lamentations, the imp andI ran hot-foot for the wall, over which I bundled him neck and crop,and we set off pell-mell along the river-path.
"Oh, Uncle Dick," he panted, "how--how fine you are! you knocked yonfootman--I mean varlet--from his saddle like--like anything. Oh, I dowish you would play like this every night!"
"Heaven forbid!" I exclaimed fervently.
Coming at last to the shrubbery gate, we paused awhile to regain ourbreath.
"Uncle Dick," said the Imp, regarding me with a thoughtful eye, "didyou see his arm--I mean before you smote him 'hip and thigh'?"
"I did."
"It was round her waist."
"Imp, it was."
"Just like Peter's?"
"Yes."
"An' the man with the funny name?"
"Archibald's, yes,"
"An'--an--"
"And mine," I put in, seeing he paused.
"Uncle Dick--why?"
"Ah! who knows, Imp--perhaps it was the Moon-magic. And now by mytroth! 'tis full time all good knights were snoring, so hey for bedand the Slumber-world!"
The ladder was dragged from its hiding place, and the Imp, havingmounted, watched me from his window as I returned it to the laurels forvery obvious reasons.
"We didn't see any fairies, did we, Uncle Dick?"
"Well, I think I did, Imp, just for a moment; I may have been mistaken,of course, but anyhow, it has been a very wonderful night all the same.And so--God rest you, fair Knight!"