by L. T. Meade
CHAPTER IV.
THE STABLE CLOCK.
It was rather desolate standing at the other side of Ralph's door in thepassage. There was plenty of light in the passage, but no sunshine, andMaggie felt her excitement cooling down and her heart beating tranquillyagain. All that delightful energy and zest which she had shown whendressing herself, which she had felt when she had danced into her cousin'sroom, had forsaken her. She walked slowly back to her own little chamber,wondering what she had better do now, and thinking how very disagreeable itwas to be spoken of as "a muff." Was it really only the middle of thenight, and had she better just ignominiously undress herself and go back tobed?
No; she would not do that. It was horrid to think of Ralph sound andhappily asleep, and of nurse asleep, and father and mother also in theland of dreams. Maggie felt quite forlorn, and as if she were alone in theworld. But at this moment a thrush perched itself on a bough of clematisjust outside the window, and sang a delicious morning song. The littleprincess clapped her hands.
"The birdies are up!" she exclaimed. "I expect lots of delightful creaturesare up in the garden. I'll go into the garden. Perhaps, after all, Ralph ismore of a muff than me."
She swung her garden hat on her head, and ran softly and quicklydownstairs. All the doors were barred and locked; the place felt intenselystill and strange; but Maggie found egress through a small side window,which she easily opened; and, once in the garden, her loneliness andsadness vanished like magic. She laughed aloud, and ran gayly hither andthither. The butterflies were out, the birds were having a splendid morningconcert, and the flowers were opening their petals and taking their morningbreakfast from the sunshine.
"Oh, dear! Ralph is the muff, and I am the good one, after all!" exclaimedMaggie aloud. She ran until she was tired, then went into an arbor at oneend of a long grass walk, and sat down to rest herself. In a moment themost likely thing happened--she fell asleep. She slept in the arbor, withher head resting on the rustic table, until the stable clock struck six;that sound awoke her. She rubbed her drowsy eyes and looked around. Jim,the boy who had smiled the night before when he saw Maggie and Ralphtalking together, passed the entrance to the little arbor at this momentwith a bag of tools slung over his shoulder. Maggie called to him:
"Jim, come here; aren't you surprised? I'm up, you see."
"Why, Miss Maggie!" exclaimed the astonished stable-boy, "you a sitting inthe arbor at this hour, miss! Oh, dear! oh, dear! ain't you very cold,missie? And was you overtook with sleep, and did you spend the night here?Why, I 'spect your poor pa and ma were in a fine fright about you, MissMaggie."
"Oh, do, they are not," answered Maggie, shaking herself, and running up toJim, and taking hold of one of his hands. "They know nothing at all aboutit, Jim. They are all in their beds, every one of them, sound, fast asleep.Even my new Cousin Ralph is asleep. He said I was a muff, but I 'spect heis. Isn't it 'licious being up so bright and early, Jim?"
"Well, no, missie, I don't think it is. I likes to lie in bed uncommonmyself, so I do. I 'ates getting up of a morning, Miss Maggie; and wheneverI gets a holiday, don't I take it out in my bed, that's all!"
"Oh, you poor Jim!" said Maggie in a very compassionate tone. "I didn'tknow bed was thought such a treat; I don't find it so. Well, Jim, I'm glad,anyhow, you're obliged to be up this morning, 'cause you and me, we can becompany to one another. I'm going with you into the stable-yard now."
"Oh! but, missie, I has to clean out Snowball's stable, and get anotherstable ready for Master Ralph's pony Raven, and that's all work that alittle lady could have no call to mix with. I think, missie, if I was you,I'd go straight back to my bed, and have another hour or two before SirJohn and her ladyship are up."
But Maggie shook her head very decidedly over this proposition.
"No," she said, "I'm going to the stable-yard; I'm going to look atSnowball. I don't think very much of Snowball; I think he'll have to besold."
Jim opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows a trifle at this proof ofinconstancy on Maggie's part, but he thought fit to offer no verbalobjection, and the two walked together in the direction of the stables.Here the large stable clock attracted the erratic little maid's attention;she suddenly remembered the dreadful feeling of shame which had swept overher when Ralph had asked her to tell him the hour. She had earnestly wishedat that moment that she had been a good child, and had learned how to tellthe time when Miss Grey offered to teach her. It would never do for Ralphto discover her deficiency in this matter. Perhaps Jim could teach her. Sheturned to him eagerly.
"Jim, do you know what o'clock it is?"
"Yes, missie, of course; it's a quarter-past six."
"Oh! how clever of you, Jim, to know that. Did you find it out by lookingup at the stable clock?"
"Why, of course, Miss Maggie; there it is in front of us. You can see foryourself."
Maggie's face became very grave, and her eyes assumed quite a sadexpression.
"I want to whisper something to you, Jim," she said. "Stoop down; I want tosay it very, very low. I don't know the clock time."
Jim received this solemn secret in a grave manner. He was silent for amoment; then he said slowly:
"You can learn it, I suppose, Miss Maggie?"
"Oh, yes, dear Jim; and you can teach me."
Jim began to rumple up his hair and to look perplexed.
"I--oh! that's another thing," he said.
"Yes, you can, Jim; and you must begin right away. There's a big, roundwhite thing, and there are little figures marked on it; and there are twohands that move, 'cause I've watched them; and there's a funny thing at thebottom that goes tick-tick all the time."
"That's the pend'lum, Miss Maggie."
"Yes, the pend'lum," repeated Maggie glibly. "I'll remember that word; Iwon't forget. Now, go on, Jim. What's the next thing?"
"Well, there's the two 'ands, miss; the little 'and points to the hours,and the big 'un to the minutes."
"It sounds very puzzling," said Maggie.
"So it is, miss; so it is. You couldn't learn the clock not for a score ofdays. I took a week of Sundays over it myself, and I'm not to say dull. Theclock's a puzzler, Miss Maggie, and can't be learned off in a jiffy,anyhow."
"Well, but, Jim, Ralph mustn't find out; he mustn't ever find out that Idon't know it. It would be quite dreadful what Ralph would think of methen; he wouldn't ever, ever believe that I could turn out as well as Jo.You don't think Jo such a wonderful girl, do you, Jim?"
"Oh, no, Miss Maggie; I don't think nothing at all about her. I'd betterget to my work now, miss."
"Yes, but you must teach me something about the old clock, just to makeRalph s'pose I know about the hour."
"Well, miss, you can talk a little bit about the pend'lum, and the big 'andand the little 'un, and you can say that you think the stable clock isfast; it is that same, miss, and that will sound very 'cute. Now I must goto my sweeping. William will be round almost immediately, and he'll be everso angry if I have nothing done, so you'll please to excuse me, miss."
Maggie left the stable-yard rather discontentedly.
It was not yet half-past six, and breakfast would not be on the table fortwo long hours. What should she do? After all, perhaps she was a muff toget up in the middle of the night; perhaps she was the silly one, andRalph, so snug and rosy and comfortable in his little bed, was the wise andgood one. Some things very like tears came to Maggie's bright blue eyes asshe turned back again to the garden, for she was beginning to feel a littletired, and oh! very, very hungry. She wondered if Jo ever got up at fouro'clock in the morning, and if Ralph had ever called Jo a muff; but ofcourse he had not. Jo was doubtless one of those unpleasant model littlegirls about whom nurse sometimes spoke to her on Sunday: little girls whoalways did at once what their old nurses told them, who never rumpled theirpinafores, nor made their hair untidy, nor soiled their clean hands, butwalked instead of running, and smiled instead of laughing. Nurse had spokenover and over of these dear little lady-like mi
sses. These little girlsdelighted in doing plain needlework, and were intensely happy when theyconquered a fresh word in their reading, and they always adored theirgovernesses, and were rather sorry when holiday time came. When nurse spokeabout these children, Maggie usually interrupted her vehemently with theexclamation. "I hate that proper good little girl!" and then nurse's smalltwinkling brown eyes would grow full of suppressed fun, and she wouldpassionately kiss her spoiled darling.
Maggie, as she walked through the garden, where the dew was stillsparkling, quite made up her mind that Jo belonged to this unpleasant orderof little maids, and she determined to dislike her very much. As she wassauntering slowly along she passed a small narrow path which led into ashrubbery; directly through the shrubbery was another path, which branchedout in the direction of Maggie's neglected garden; suppose she went and dida little weeding in her garden; or no, suppose she did what would be muchmore enchanting, suppose she paid a visit to Ralph's rabbits! Ralph hadcomplained the night before of the hutch where his pets had been put; hehad grumbled at its not being bright enough, and large enough, and cleanenough. Suppose Maggie went and furbished it up a little, and looked atRalph's pets, and gave them some lettuce leaves to eat.
In a moment she had flown through the shrubbery, had passed the littleneglected garden and the half-finished rockery, and was kneeling down bythe hutch where Ralph's rabbits had made for themselves a new home.
There they were, two beautiful snow-white creatures, with long silky hair,and funny bright red eyes, and pink noses. They had not a black hair oneither of their glossy coats. Ralph had said they were very valuablerabbits, and because of the extreme purity of their coats he had calledthem Lily and Bianco. Maggie, too, thought them lovely; she bent close tothe bars of the hutch and called them to her, and tried to stroke theirnoses through the little round holes. Bianco was very tame, but Lily was alittle shy, and kept in the background, and did not allow her nose to berubbed. Maggie showered endearing names on her; no pet she had everpossessed herself seemed equal to Ralph's snow-white rabbits. After playingwith them for a little she ran into the kitchen garden to fetch somelettuce leaves, and with a good bundle in her arms returned to therabbit-hutch. At so tempting a sight even Lily lost her shyness, andpressed her nose against the bars of her cage, and struggled to get at thetempting green food.
"They shall come out and eat their breakfasts in peace and comfort, thedarlings!" exclaimed Maggie. "Here, I'll make a nice pile of it just bythis tree, and I'll open the door, and out they'll both come. While theyare eating I can be cleaning the hutch. What a nice useful girl I am, afterall! I expect Ralph will think I'm quite as good as that stupid old Jo ofhis. Come along, Bianco pet; here's your dear little breakfast ready foryou. Oh, you darling, precious Lily! you need not be afraid of me. I wouldnot hurt a hair of your lovely coat."
Open went the door of the hutch, and out scampered the two white rabbits.They bounded in rabbit fashion toward the green lettuces, and when Maggiesaw them happily feeding, she turned her attention to the hutch.
"No, this is not a proper hutch," she said to herself. "It's not largeenough, nor roomy enough, nor handsome enough. I don't wonder at poor Ralphbeing put out--he felt he was treated shabby. I must speak to father aboutit. There must be a new hutch made as quick as possible. Well, I had betterclean this one while the dear bunnies are at their breakfast. I'll see if Ican get some fresh straw. I'll run round to the yard and try if I can pullsome straw out of one of the ricks. I really am most useful. Good-by,Bianco and Lily; I'll be back with you in a moment, dear little pets."
The rabbits did not pay the slightest heed to Maggie's loving words. It isto be feared that, beautiful as they were in person, they possessed butsmall and selfish natures; they liked fresh lettuces very much, and whenthey had eaten enough they looked around somewhat shyly, after the mannerof timid little creatures. The whole place represented a strange world tothem, but as there was not a soul in sight, they thought they mightexplore this new land a little. Bianco bounded on in front, and lookedback at Lily; Lily scampered after her companion. In a short time theyfound themselves on the boundary of a green and shady and pleasant-lookingwood. In this wood doubtless abounded those many good and tempting thingsto which rabbits as a race are partial. They went a little further, andlost themselves in the soft green herbage. When Maggie returned to therabbit-hutch, with her arms full of straw and her rosy cheeks much flushed,Bianco and Lily were nowhere to be seen.
