CHAPTER V.
"AND now," said the squirrel, when the tea-things were cleared away thatevening, "now for dancing-school. If we are going to a ball, we reallymust be more sure of our steps than we are now. Coon, oblige me with awhisk of your tail over the hearth. Some coals have fallen from thefire, and we shall be treading on them."
"When the coals are cold," replied the raccoon, "I shall be happy tooblige you. At present they are red-hot. And meantime, as I have no ideaof dancing immediately after my supper, I will, if you like, tell youthe story of the Useful Coal, which your request brings to my mind. Itis short, and will not take much time from the dancing-lesson."
Right willingly the family all seated themselves around the blazingfire, and the raccoon began as follows:--
THE USEFUL COAL.
There was once a king whose name was Sligo. He was noted both for hisriches and his kind heart. One evening, as he sat by his fireside, acoal fell out on the hearth. The King took up the tongs, intending toput it back on the fire, but the coal said:--
"If you will spare my life, and do as I tell you, I will save yourtreasure three times, and tell you the name of the thief who steals it."
These words gave the King great joy, for much treasure had been stolenfrom him of late, and none of his officers could discover the culprit.So he set the coal on the table, and said:--
"Pretty little black and red bird, tell me, what shall I do?"
"Put me in your waistcoat pocket," said the coal, "and take no morethought for to-night."
Accordingly the King put the coal in his pocket, and then, as he satbefore the warm fire, he grew drowsy, and presently fell fast asleep.
When he had been asleep some time, the door opened, very softly, and theHigh Cellarer peeped cautiously in. This was the one of the King'sofficers who had been most eager in searching for the thief. He nowcrept softly, softly, toward the King, and seeing that he was fastasleep, put his hand into his waistcoat-pocket; for in thatwaistcoat-pocket King Sligo kept the key of his treasure-chamber, andthe High Cellarer was the thief. He put his hand into the waistcoatpocket. S-s-s-s-s! the coal burned it so frightfully that he gave a loudshriek, and fell on his knees on the hearth.
"What is the matter?" cried the King, waking with a start.
"Alas! your Majesty," said the High Cellarer, thrusting his burntfingers into his bosom, that the King might not see them. "You were juston the point of falling forward into the fire, and I cried out, partlyfrom fright and partly to waken you."
The King thanked the High Cellarer, and gave him a ruby ring as areward. But when he was in his chamber, and making ready for bed, thecoal said to him:--
"Once already have I saved your treasure, and to-night I shall save itagain. Only put me on the table beside your bed, and you may sleep witha quiet heart."
So the King put the coal on the table, and himself into the bed, and wassoon sound asleep. At midnight the door of the chamber opened verysoftly, and the High Cellarer peeped in again. He knew that at nightKing Sligo kept the key under his pillow, and he was coming to get it.He crept softly, softly, toward the bed, but as he drew near it, thecoal cried out:--
"One eye sleeps, but the other eye wakes! one eye sleeps, but the othereye wakes! Who is this comes creeping, while honest men are sleeping?"
The High Cellarer looked about him in affright, and saw the coalburning fiery red in the darkness, and looking for all the world like agreat flaming eye. In an agony of fear he fled from the chamber,crying,--
"Black and red! black and red! The King has a devil to guard his bed."
And he spent the rest of the night shivering in the farthest garret hecould find.
The next morning the coal said to the King:--
"Again this night have I saved your treasure, and mayhap your life aswell. Yet a third time I shall do it, and this time you shall learn thename of the thief. But if I do this, you must promise me one thing, andthat is that you will place me in your royal crown and wear me as ajewel. Will you do this?"
"That will I, right gladly!" replied King Sligo, "for a jewel indeed youare."
"That is well!" said the coal. "It is true that I am dying; but nomatter. It is a fine thing to be a jewel in a king's crown, even if oneis dead. Now listen, and follow my directions closely. As soon as I amquite black and dead,--which will be in about ten minutes from now,--youmust take me in your hand and rub me all over and around the handle ofthe door of the treasure-chamber. A good part of me will be rubbed off,but there will be enough left to put in your crown. When you havethoroughly rubbed the door, lay the key of the treasure-chamber on yourtable, as if you had left it there by mistake. You may then go huntingor riding, but not for more than an hour; and when you return, you mustinstantly call all your court together, as if on business of thegreatest importance. Invent some excuse for asking them to raise theirhands, and then arrest the man whose hands are black. Do youunderstand?"
"I do!" replied King Sligo, fervently, "I do, and my warmest thanks,good Coal, are due to you for this--"
But here he stopped, for already the coal was quite black, and in lessthan ten minutes it was dead and cold. Then the King took it and rubbedit carefully over the door of the treasure-chamber, and laying the keyof the door in plain sight on his dressing-table, he called his huntsmentogether, and mounting his horse, rode away to the forest. As soon as hewas gone, the High Cellarer, who had pleaded a headache when asked tojoin the hunt, crept softly to the King's room, and to his surprisefound the key on the table. Full of joy, he sought the treasure-chamberat once, and began filling his pockets with gold and jewels, which hecarried to his own apartment, returning greedily for more. In this wayhe opened and closed the door many times. Suddenly, as he was stoopingover a silver barrel containing sapphires, he heard the sound of atrumpet, blown once, twice, thrice. The wicked thief started, for it wasthe signal for the entire court to appear instantly before the King, andthe penalty of disobedience was death. Hastily cramming a handful ofsapphires into his pocket, he stumbled to the door, which he closed andlocked, putting the key also in his pocket, as there was no time toreturn it. He flew to the presence-chamber, where the lords of thekingdom were hastily assembling.
The King was seated on his throne, still in his hunting-dress, though hehad put on his crown over his hat, which presented a peculiarappearance. It was with a majestic air, however, that he rose andsaid:--
"Nobles, and gentlemen of my court! I have called you together to prayfor the soul of my lamented grandmother, who died, as you may remember,several years ago. In token of respect, I desire you all to raise yourhands to Heaven."
The astonished courtiers, one and all, lifted their hands high in air.The King looked, and, behold! the hands of the High Cellarer were asblack as soot! The King caused him to be arrested and searched, and thesapphires in his pocket, besides the key of the treasure-chamber, gaveamble proof of his guilt. His head was removed at once, and the King hadthe useful coal, set in sapphires, placed in the very front of hiscrown, where it was much admired and praised as a BLACK DIAMOND.
* * * * *
"And _now_, Cracker, my boy," continued the raccoon, rising from hisseat by the fire, "as you previously remarked, now for dancing-school!"
With these words he proceeded to sweep the hearth carefully andgracefully with his tail, while Toto and Bruin moved the chairs andtables back against the wall. The grandmother's armchair was moved intothe warm chimney-corner, where she would be comfortably out of the wayof the dancers; and Pigeon Pretty perched on the old lady's shoulder,"that the two sober-minded members of the family might keep each otherin countenance," she said. Toto ran into his room, and returned with alittle old fiddle which had belonged to his grandfather, and stationedhimself at one end of the kitchen, while the bear, the raccoon, and thesquirrel formed in line at the other.
"Now, then," said Master Toto, tapping smartly on the fiddle. "Stand upstraight, all of you! That's the first thing, you know."
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br /> Up they all went,--little Cracker sitting up jauntily, his tail cockedover his left ear, Coon pawing the air gracefully, but not quite sure ofhimself; while Bruin raised his huge form erect, and stood like a shaggyblack giant, waiting further orders.
"Bow to partners!" cried Toto.
Coon and Cracker bowed to each other; and Bruin, having no partner,gravely saluted Miss Mary, who stood on one leg and surveyed theproceedings in silent but deep disdain.
"Jump, and change your feet!"
But this order, alas! was followed by dire confusion. Bruin dropped onall-fours, and frantically endeavored to stand on his fore-paws, withhis hind-legs in the air, throwing up first one great shaggy leg andthen another, and finally losing his balance and falling flat, with athump that shook the whole house.
"Dear me!" cried the grandmother, starting from her chair. "Dear, dearme! Who is hurt? What has happened? Are any bones broken?"
"Oh, no! Madam," cried the bear, rising with surprising agility for oneof his size; "it's nothing! nothing at all, I assure you. I--I was onlyjumping and changing my feet. But I cannot do it!" he added, in anaggrieved tone, to Toto. "It isn't possible, you know, for a fellow ofmy build to--a--do that sort of thing. You shouldn't, really--"
"Oh, Bruin! Bruin!" cried Toto, wiping the tears from his eyes, as heleaned against the dresser in a paroxysm of merriment. "I didn't _mean_you to do that! Look here! this is the way. You jump--_so!_ and changeyour feet--_so!_ as you come down. There, look at Coon; he has the idea,perfectly!"
The astute Coon, in truth, seeing Bruin's error, had stood quietly inhis place till he saw Toto perform the mystic manoeuvre of "jump andchange feet," and had then begun to practise it with a quiet grace andease, as if he had done it all his life.
"Now, then, attention all! Forward and back!" And heplayed a lively air on his fiddle.--PAGE 97.]
The squirrel, meanwhile, had obeyed the first part of the order byjumping to the top of the clock, where he sat inspecting his littleblack feet with an air of comical perplexity.
"Change them, eh?" he said. "What's the matter with them? They'll dovery well yet awhile."
"Don't be absurd, Cracker!" said Toto, rather severely. "Come down andtake your place at once! Now, then, attention all! Forward and back!"and he played a lively air on his fiddle.
The bear brightened up at once. "Ah!" he said, "I am all right when wecome to forward and back. Tum-tiddy tum-tum, tum-tum-tum!" and hepranced forward, put out one foot, and slid back again, with an air ofenjoyment that was pleasant to behold.
"That's right!" said the master, approvingly. "Stand a littlestraighter, Bruin! Cracker, you don't point your toe enough. Hold yourhead up, Coon, and don't be looking round at your tail every minute._Tum_-tiddy tum-tum, _tum_-tum-tum! _tiddy_-iddy tum-tum,_tum_-tum-tum! Balance to partners! Here, Bruin! you can balance to me.Turn partners, and back to places! There, now you may rest a momentbefore you begin on the waltz step."
"Ah! that is _my_ delight," said the squirrel. "What a sensation weshall make at the wedding! One of the woodmouse's daughters is verypretty, with such a nice little nose, and such bright eyes! I shall askher to waltz with me."
"There won't be any one of my size there, I suppose," said the raccoon."You and I will have to be partners, Toto."
"And I must stay at home and waltz alone!" said Bruin, goodnaturedly."It is a misfortune, in some ways, to be so big."
"But great good fortune in others, Bruin, dear!" said Pigeon Pretty,affectionately. "I, for one, would not have you smaller, for the world!"
"Nor would I!" said the grandmother, heartily. "Bruin, my friend andprotector, your size and strength are the greatest possible comfort tome, coupled as they are with a kind heart and a willing--"
"Paw!" cried Toto. "Your sentiments are most correct, Granny, dear; butBruin _must_ not stand bowing in the middle of the room, even if he isgrateful. Go in the corner, Bruin, and practise your steps, while I takea turn with Coon. And you, Cracker, can--"
But Master Cracker did not wait for instructions. He had been watchingthe parrot for some minutes, with his head on one side and his eyestwinkling with merriment; and now, springing suddenly upon her perch, hecaught the astonished bird round the body, leaped with her to the floor,and began to whirl her round the room at a surprising rate, in tolerablygood time to the lively waltz that Toto was whistling. Miss Mary gaspedfor breath, and fluttered her wings wildly, trying to escape from hertormentor, and presently, finding her voice, she shrieked aloud:--
"Ke-ke-kee! ki-ko! ki-ko-KAA! Let me go, you little wretch! Let me gothis instant, or I'll peck your eyes out! I will--"
"Oh, no, you won't, my dear!" said Cracker. "You wouldn't have the heartto do that; for then how could I look at you, the delight of my life?Tiddy-_tum_! tiddy-_tum_! tiddy-_tum_ tum-tum! just see what a prettystep it is! You will enjoy it immensely, as soon as you know it a littlebetter." And he whirled her round faster and faster, trying to keep pacewith Coon and Toto, who were circling in graceful curves.
Suddenly the grandmother uttered an exclamation. "Toto!" she cried, "didyou put that custard pie out in the snow to cool? Bruin doesn't like ithot, you know."
Toto, his head still dizzy from waltzing, looked about him inbewilderment.
"Did I?" he said. "I am sure I don't know! I don't remember what I didwith it. Oh, yes, I do, though!" he added hastily. "It is there, on thatchair. Bruin! Bruin, I say! mind what you are about. It is just behindyou."
Thus adjured, the good bear, who had been gravely revolving by himselfin the corner until he was quite blind, tried to stop short; at the sameinstant the squirrel and the parrot, stumbling against his shaggy paw,fell over it in a confused heap of feathers and fur. He stepped hastilyback to avoid treading on them, lost his balance, and sat downheavily--on the custard pie!
At the crash of the platter, the squirrel released Miss Mary, who flewscreaming to her perch; the grandmother wrung her hands and lamented,begging to be told what had happened, and who was hurt; and theunfortunate Bruin, staggering to his feet, stared aghast at the ruin hehad wrought. It was a very complete ruin, certainly, for the platter wasin small fragments, while most of its contents were clinging to his ownshaggy black coat.
"Well, old fellow," said Toto, "you have done it now, haven't you? Itried to stop you, but I was too late."
"Yes," replied the bear, solemnly, "I have done it now! And I have alsodone _with_ it now. Dear Madam," he added, turning to the old lady,"please forgive me! I have spoiled your pie, and broken your platter;but I have also learned a lesson, which I ought to have learnedbefore,--that is, that waltzing is not my forte, and that, as the oldsaying is, 'A bullfrog cannot dance in a grasshopper's nest.' This is mylast dancing lesson!"