Milly and Olly, Mrs. Humphry Ward [ebook e reader .TXT] 📗

the lake sparkle and glitter as if it were alive! And yet the air was not hot, for a little wind was coming to them across the water, and moving the trees gently up and down.

And what was this under the trees? Why, a kind of fireplace made of stones, and in front of it a round green bit of grass, with tufts of heather all round it, just like a table with seats.

"Who put these stones here, Aunt Emma?" asked Olly, as she and mother and Mr. Norton brought up the baskets, and put them in the green place by the stones.

"Well, Olly, long ago, when all your uncles and aunts were little, and they used to come here for picnics, they thought it would be very nice to have a stone fireplace, built up properly, so that they needn't make one every time. It was Uncle Richard's idea, and we had such fun building it up. The little ones brought the stones; and the big ones piled them together till you see we made quite a nice fireplace. And it has lasted ever since. Whenever I come here I mend it up if any of the stones have tumbled down. Numbers of little children come to picnic here every summer, and they always use our fireplace. But now, come along into the woods, children, and gather sticks."

Off they ran after Aunt Emma, and soon they were scrambling about the wood which grew along the shore, picking up the dry sticks and dry fern under the trees. Milly filled her cotton frock full, and gathered it up with both her hands; while Olly of course went straight at the biggest branch he could see, and staggered along with it, puffing and panting.

"You grasshopper, you!" said Mr. Norton, catching hold of him, "don't you think you'd better try a whole tree next time? There, let me break it for you." Father broke it up into short lengths, and then off ran Olly with his little skirts full to Aunt Emma, who was laden too with an armful of sticks. "That'll do to begin with, old man. Come along, and you and I'll light the fire."

What fun it was, heaping up the sticks on the stones, and how they did blaze and crackle away when Aunt Emma put a match to them. Puff! puff! out came the smoke; fizz--crack--sputter--went the dry fir branches, as if they were Christmas fireworks.

"Haven't we made a blazey fire, Aunt Emma?" said Olly, out of breath with dragging up sticks, and standing still to look.

"Splendid," said Mr. Norton, who had just come out of the wood with his bundle. "Now, Olly, let me just put you on the top of it to finish it off. How you would fizz!"

Off ran Olly, with his father after him, and they had a romp among the heather till Mr. Norton caught him, and carried him kicking and laughing under his arm to Aunt Emma.

"Now, Aunt Emma, shall I put him on?"

"Oh dear, no!" said Aunt Emma, "my kettle wouldn't sit straight on him, and it's just boiling beautifully. We'll put him on presently when the fire gets low."

"Olly, do come and help mother and me with the tea-things," cried Milly, who was laying the cloth as busily and gravely as a little housemaid.

"Run along, shrimp," said his father, setting him down.

And off ran Olly, while Mr. Norton and Aunt Emma heaped the wood on the fire, and kept the kettle straight, so that it shouldn't tip over and spill.

Laying the cloth was delightful, Milly thought. First of all, they put a heavy stone on each corner of the cloth to keep it down, and prevent the wind from blowing it up, and then they put the little plates all round, and in the middle two piles of bread and butter and cake.

"But we haven't got any flowers," said Milly, looking at it presently, with a dissatisfied face, "you always have flowers on the table at home, mother."

"Why, Milly, have you forgotten your water-lilies; where did you leave them?"

"Down by the water," said Milly. "Father told me just to put their stalks in the water, and he put a stone to keep them safe. Oh! that'll be splendid, mother. Do give me a cup, and we'll get some water for them."

Mother found a cup, and the children scrambled down to the edge of the lake. There lay the lilies with their stalks in the water, close to the boat.

"They look rather sad, mother, don't they?" said Milly, gathering them up. "Perhaps they don't like being taken away from their home."

"They never look so beautiful out of the water," said mother; "but when we get home we'll put them into a soup-plate, and let them swim about in it. They'll look very nice then. Now, Olly, fill the cup with water, and we'll put five or six of the biggest in, and gather some leaves."

"There, look! look! Aunt Emma," shouted Milly, when they had put the lilies and some fern leaves in the middle of the table. "Haven't we made it beautiful?"

"That you have," said Aunt Emma, coming up with the kettle which had just boiled. "Now for the tea, and then we're ready."

"We never had such a nice tea as this before," said Olly, presently looking up from a piece of bread and butter which had kept him quiet for some time. "It's nicer than having dinner at the railway station even."

Aunt Emma and mother laughed; for it doesn't seem so delightful to grown-up people to have dinner at the railway station.

"Well, Olly," said mother, "I hope we shall often have tea out of doors while we are at Ravensnest."

Milly shook her head. "It'll rain, mother. That old gentleman said it would be sure to rain."

"That old gentleman is about right, Milly," said Mr. Norton. "I think it rains dreadfully here, but mother doesn't seem to mind it a bit. Once upon a time when mother was a little girl, there came a funny old fairy and threw some golden dust in her eyes, and ever since then she can't see straight when she comes to the mountains. It's all right everywhere else, but as soon as she comes here, the dust begins to fly about in her eyes, and makes the mountains look quite different to her from what they look to anybody else."

"Let me look, mother," said Olly, pulling her down to him.

Mrs. Norton opened her eyes at him, smiling.

"I can't see any dust, father."

"Ah, that's because it's fairy dust," said Mr. Norton, gravely. "Now, Olly, don't you eat too much cake, else you won't be able to row."

"It'll be my turn first, father," said Milly, "you know I haven't rowed at all yet."

"Well, don't you catch any crabs, Milly," said Aunt Emma. "Catch crabs, Aunt Emma!" said Milly, very much puzzled. "Crabs are only in the sea, aren't they?"

"There's a very big kind just about here," said Mr. Norton, "and they're always looking out for little children, particularly little girls."

"I don't understand, father," said Milly, opening her eyes very wide.

"Have some more tea, then," said Mr. Norton, "that always makes people feel wiser."

"Father, aren't you talking nonsense?" said Olly, stopping in the middle of a piece of cake to think about what his father was saying.

"Very likely, Olly. People always do at picnics. Aunt Emma, when are you going to tell us your story?"

"When we've washed the things and put them away," said Aunt Emma, "then Olly shall sing us two songs, and I'll tell you my story."

But the children were so hungry that it was a long time before they gave up eating bread and butter, and then, when at last tea was over, what fun it was washing the cups and plates in the lake! Aunt Emma and Olly washed, and mother and Milly dried the things on a towel, and then everything was packed away into the baskets, and mother and Aunt Emma folded up the table-cloth, and put it tidily on the top of everything.

"I did like that," said Milly, sighing as the last basket was fastened down. "I wish you'd let me help Sarah wash up the tea-things at home, mother."

"If Sarah liked to let you, I shouldn't say no, Milly," said Mrs. Norton. "How soon would you get tired of it, old woman, I wonder? But come along, let's put Olly up on a rock, and make him sing, and then we'll have Aunt Emma's story."

So they put Olly up on a tall piece of rock, and he sang "The Minstrel Boy," and "Bonnie Dundee," and "Hot Cross Buns," just as if he were a little musical box, and you had nothing to do but to wind him up. He had a sweet, clear, little voice, and he looked a delightful brown gipsy, as he sat perched up on the rock with his long legs dangling, and his curls blowing about his face.

"There!" said Olly, when he had shouted out the last note of "Hot Cross Buns." "I have singed three whole songs; and now, Aunt Emma, tell us about the king and the fairies. Krick, please."

"It must be 'krick' indeed," said Aunt Emma, "if we want to get home to-night."

For the sun had almost sunk behind the mountains at their back, and the wind blowing across the lake was beginning to get a little cold, while over their heads the rooks went flying, singing "caw, caw," on their way to bed. And how the sun was turning the water to gold! It seemed to be making a great golden pathway across the lake, and the mountains were turning a deep blue, and plash, plash, went the little waves on the rocks, so softly they seemed to be saying "Good-night! good-night!"

"Well," said Aunt Emma, settling herself on a soft piece of heather, and putting her arms round Milly and Olly, "Once upon a time there was a great king. He was a good king and a wise man, and he tried to make all the people round about him wiser and better than they were before he came to rule over them; and for a long time he was very powerful and happy, and he and the brave men who helped him and were his friends did a great deal of good, and kept the savage people who lived all about him in order, and taught them a great many things. But at last some of the savage people got tired of obeying the king, and they said they would not have him to reign over them any more; so they made an army, and they came together against the king to try and kill him and his friends. And the king made an army too, and there was a great battle; and the savage people were the strongest, and they killed nearly all the king's brave men, and the king himself was terribly hurt in the fight. And at last, when night came on, there were left only the king and one of his friends--his knights, as they were called. The king was hurt so much that he could not move, and his friend thought he was dying. They were left alone in a rocky desert place, and close by there was a great lake with mountains round it--like this, Olly. It was very cold, and the moon was shining, and the king