E . D .

IN G R A TE F UL REMEMB RAN CE OF

YE A R S OF A ND

KI N D NESS ,

L I TTL E S TO R Y

I S

ZIB tD i ra teb .

2 0 0 0 4 0 5
 C O N TE N T S .

C R AP . PA G E

I . I N TR O D U OTO R Y : TH E N AMES IN TH E O LD

B OO KS

II . A L ITT LE S AIL O R I N A CO OKE D H A T

A M O N G ST CHI MN E Y PO T S
TH E

W AN T E D TH E N EX T O F K I N
—

FR O M T H E C H IMN E Y PO TS To T H E W ES T ERN

S EA

N O D EM O N STR ATI ON
PE T ERKIN

VI I I .
“
C ALL ME G R AN N Y
O N FO REI GN S H O R E S

X . TH E W RITIN G IN OLD MOTH ER H UBBAR D

A TE LE GR AM
EP O SE D MO N A R O H EIG N IN G
'

TH E D AN D TH E R

MO N A R O H
A C O N TEN TS .

CR A P PA G E

N E V ER A MA N ,
N EV ER A NYT H I N G BUT A
CO WARD .

G UE S T S
’
SI R N I CH O LA S S

I N TH E D UC K PO N D
TO M A U S T E N To TH E
R ES C U E

CH RIST MA S TI D E
A B O U T A S H IP AND A S TA G E CO A CH -

S I R N I O O O S TA RT S UP O N A J O U RN E Y

TH E R E T UR N J O U R N E Y

TH E I N VISIB LE PIL O T

J O E S N ELL S L AST H O WL
’

XX I I I . TW O N E W N AM ES I N T H E O L D B LUE B OO K
 L I S T O F I L L U S TR A TI O N S .

PA G E

N I CCO L ITTL E Frontesp z ece

’

L
’

, A AD

“
A FE W MO RE S T I T CH ES D ARLI N G AND T H EN
O NL Y , ,

I W ILL C O ME ”

TH ERE S N E W S I N I T F O R Y O U
“ ’

MR CARE W WE L C O MES MR S TREMAIN E AND H E R

. .

CH IL DREN
AND THERE WAS PE T ERKI N H IMSELF ,

SLEEK S H I NY AND B E AUT IF UL

,
”
,

“
TH E B OY U SE D To SIT AT H ER FEE T ,
A ND LIS T E N
T O T H E S T O RIES O F TH E B R AV E TREMA INE S
WH O H A D G O N E B E F O RE ”

TH E A R TIS T S AT O N TH E S T E P S O F T H E CALVAR Y

H E T OO K T H E B O Y O N H IS K N EE AND KISSED T H E ,

TANN E D FO RE H E AD AND T H E G O LD E N H A IR
L AD Y TRE MAI N E RE AD S O F N I C C O S S AF E T Y U ND ER
’

H I S P O R TR AI T
xii LI S T OF I LL US TR A TI O N S .

I AM V ER Y G LAD To SEE Y O U
N I CC O D ARLI N G WILL Y O U C O ME To ME ?
, ,

S I R N I C H O L A S S G U ES T S
’

S I R N I CH O LA S T AL KIN G To T H E WH IT E G OO SE

N I CC O W RITES T O J O E S NELL

S I R N I CH OL AS O FF ERS O L D G R AN N Y A U STE N

I E P LE ASE G RAN N Y I WILL

YO U , , TH E S H IP

N I CC O FA L L S A SLEE P

N I CC O S TAR T S UP O N H IS J O UR N E Y

G O IN G To T H E R ES C U E

TH E C O O KE D 11A T
 L I TTL E SI R N I CH OL A S .

C H A PTE R I .

I N TR O D U C TO R Y TH E N A ME S IN TH E O LD B O O KS .

TH great pe opl e who li ved in the large house

E Y w ere

on the cliff j ust above the little C orn i sh Village of

,

Trec a stle. Th os e Tremain es of Trecastle had always

b een great ; they dated their desce n t from a brave
k night who had ta ke n the Black Pri n c e to the
French wars in his own S h i p and who came h om e
,

crowned W ith laurels and built a house for himself

,

on a cliff which overlooked the wide A tlantic ; and in

time a village sprung up at the foot of the cliff ,

which w a s for the most part in habited by fi shermen

and their wives and families Upon a great head
.

land which stretched out into the sea a li ttle chapel ,

was b uilt which was dedicated to S t Nicholas the .

,

patron S aint of sailo rs where ligh ts were a lways

,
2 L I TTL E SI R N I CH O L A S .

kept b urning at night as a landmark to the toilers

on the sea and where monks and friars passin g
,

along that wi ld rocky coast would spend hours pray

ing for the safety of the livin g and for the repose of ,

the souls of the dead .

But this w as hun dreds of years ago ; now a beauti

ful church stood upon a little grassy mound which
ov e rlooked the sea and the old chapel was never
,

used except when the wind howled more furiously

,

than usual and the waves h ea t more wildly against

,

the ru gged rocks ; then loving hands would take ,

candles to the Headland and place them in the ,

windows a s a gu ide a n d a welcome to the fishermen

as they neared the shore .

I t became an estab l ished custom that th e eldest

son of the house of Tremaine should be baptized
Nicholas and that he should go into the navy
, .

There was 9 Nicholas Tre m aine the A dmiral

.
, ,

twelfth Baronet who had fought in a great naval

,

battle and whose last tho u ght as he lay mortally

,

wounded was for the s a ilors who h a d do n e th eir duty

so nobly and had been struck down by th e enemy s
,
’

fir e .

“
a fter those poor fellows first he had said
L ook ,

to the doctors ; most of them have wives and chil

“
 I N TR O D UC TO R Y . 3

dren at home and I am a lonely old man an d my

, ,

’
life s work is done .

His young descendant the eldest son of the ,

present Baronet serv ed with the Naval Brigade in

,

the trenches b efore S e b astopol an d one night was ,

giving a drink o f water to a wounded sailor lad the ,

only son of his old nurse who had b een shot down ,

by his si de when a bu l let ca m e whizzing through the

,

’
air and lodged deep in the brave you ng middy s breast .

Jack A usten his old playfellow in that far away

,
-

C ornis h V illage crawled to him and opened his

,

jacket and tried to staunch the blood but it was a ll ,

of no avail the doctor came up at th at moment and ,

shook his head hopelessly .

” ’
Jack said Nicholas Tremaine don t fret old
“
, , ,

fellow ; give my love to father and mo t her I m glad —

’

it s me and not y ou because of dear old nurse and

’

, ,

they w ill have Walter still

’
tell them that I m sorry
—

not to go home ; and please take mother the little

p rayer book that is in my pocket and tell her that I
-

always said my prayers and tried to do my duty .

H e closed his eyes then and he never s poke again ;

,

the battle of his short life was fought ; and su rely

well fought .

Jack A usten went home invalided to tell the story ,

4 LI TTLE S I R N I CH O LA S .

of that winter s night in the tren ches to S i r Nicholas

’
,

and L ady Tremaine as they sat in the old library

of the House on Lh e C li ff sorrowing for their brav e
,

sai l or boy
.

I n that library there were two old books o n e b lue , ,

and the other red with so lid sil v er C lasps ; and in

,

the blue b ook was written the story of all the

Tremain es who h a d been sai lors and the red book
,

told of those who h a d been Sol di ers ; but there were

many more sailors than soldiers amongst them b e ,

gin nin g with that one who had fought in the French
wars with th e Black Prince an d who had b uil t the
old ho u se
.

Those two b ooks contained some v ery remarkable

specimens of handwriting I n some cases the i nk
.

was so faded that it was almost impossible to make

o u t what was writte n there i n quain t old E nglish
,

characters sometimes with who l e sentences of

,

C ornish dial ect comin g in and addi n g to the puzzle .

When Jack A usten had gone away that day after ,

telling the father and mother all that Master

”
Nicholas had do n e for hi m S i r Nicholas opened the
,

blue book and o n a fair whi te page wrote the record

,

of the life and death of the sailor lad then he sai d

to his wife H i s name and th e fact that he did h l S
,
 I A TR O D UC TO R I
’
5
’

duty are written in another book my dear an d , ,

therefore we can be glad that God has taken h i m

”
to Himself .

A n d L ady Tremaine j oined her hands and looked ,

out of the window upon the boundless sea and she ,

too could give thanks when she thought of th e

writing in that other book which is Th e Book of ,
“

”
L ife
.

A n d as young Nicholas had said when he was

dying in the trenches they had Wal ter still their
, ,

soldier boy who had gone to I ndia the year before

, ,

thirsting for glory ; three years afterwar ds he espe

c i a l l y distinguished hims elf by his gallant conduct at

the siege of L uck now and his old father opened the
,

red book and wrote the account of his brave deeds

,
.

A f ter a time he came home on twenty months

’

leave of absence bri nging something like sunshine

,

into the desolate house Then he went b ack to

.

I ndia for n in e l ong years and again the j oyful n ews

,

arrived that he was o n his way home b ringing with ,

him his sweet young wife and his three years old ,

”
boy Nicco as they cal l ed hi m who sent hi s l o v e
, , ,

and his kisses to grandfather an d grandmother an d ,

wanted the m to kno w that some day he would b e a “

”
sailo r a n d wear a cocked hat
. .
6 L I TTL E S I R N I C H OL A S .

How the ol d fol ks i n the old home l o nged for th e

’
day when the echoes of a little child s laughter would
once more rin g through the house .

But one November night a n oble ship in the

ch an nel was run down by a foreign vessel in a dense ,

fog There were only fi ve survivors left to tell the

.

t al e ; and a week afterwards there was a funeral in

the churchyard b y the sea and C aptain Walter
,

Tremain e and his you n g wife were laid to their rest

where the wav es dashing again st the old walls seemed
al ways to b e sin g in g a sweet sad lullaby
,
Very few .

of the bo dies were recovered from that fatal wreck ;

that of the li ttle chil d was never washed ashore and ,

so in the red book poor old S i r Nicholas wrote the

sad end of h i s brave soldie r son s life and in the
’

sailor s book there was a little entry of three l in es

’
.

“
Nicholas Tremaine a little lad aged three years
, .

Wh o would have been a sailor had not God taken

,

hi m u n to Himse lf in a terrible S h ipwrec k .

”
“
Th e sea shall gi v e up her dead .
8 LI TTLE S I R N I CH O L A S .

bu t in such a s trangely altered voice just as though ,

he were going to cry .

Jack A usten used to sit in his warm comfortable ,

cottage on winter evenings a n d tell his old mother and

,

his wife and his little boy and gi rl that sto ry of the
brave young middy whose grave was on the side
of the C rimean Hill and Tom and Peggy were
,

’
nev er tired of listening to their grandmother s stories
about the days when the soldier and th e sailor
were as l ittle as they wer e ; but they talked to thei r
companions m ost of little Nicco the baby boy who ,
-

had said that when he grew up to be a man he meant

“

”
to be a sailor an d wear a c ook ed hat .

S o it was that N i c c o s name became a kind of house

’

‘
hold word amongst the V illage children they spoke
of him with bated breath as one who in stead of being
, ,

a sailor had gone to the Paradise of God to the L and

, ,

beyond the S ea .

A t C hris tmastide they all wi th thei r fat h ers and

,

mothers went u p to the House on th e C li ff and in the

, ,

old hall stood a grand C h ristmas Tree from which

every one received a present the v ery thing he or ,

she happened most to want and the children sang ,

their hymns and Christmas C arols and S i r Nicholas ,

and L ady Tremaine greeted them all kindly and ,

 A LI TTLE S A I LOR IN A C O C R E I) H A T
.
9

courteously and tried to smile as brightly as they

,

had al w ays done .

My dear what shall we do about th e Christmas

,

”
Tree ? the old A dmiral had said to his wife don t
’

”
think y ou could bear it .

Yes I am su r e I cou l d and it is what our own

, ,

bright lads would have wished us to do i t would have

hur t them to think tha t the village child ren were
deprived of the t reat to which they l o ok for w ard all
the yea r round .

S o the invitations were sent out as usual and the ,

sailors and their wives wondered that the master and

m istress could do it but they loved them all the ,

better for their thought for the little ones .

O n the walls of the old hall were two portraits

which every man woman and child had seen before , ,

a middy in his n e w uniform and a young soldier in his ,

scarlet tunic and dark faci ngs and between those two ,

hu n g another picture which had come from I ndia on ,

C hristmas E v e th e gift of an artist frie n d of C aptain

,

Tremaine s
’
.

I t represented a lovely little golden haired boy -

almost a baby in a tiny s a ilor s sui t putting a little

,
’

cocked hat on his head whilst at his feet lay a ship ,

upon which he was gazing proudly .

 LI TTLE S I R N I CH O L A S .

A nd b eneath the picture was written

N ICCO ,
A L I TTL E LAD ,

’
and in a corner was scrawled the artist s name in those
queer kin d of hieroglyphics which artists love to
indulge in and which it is v e ry di fficult for any one
,
-

else to decipher ; but after a good deal of spelling

backwards and for w ards Jack A usten who was the ,

best scholar in the V illage satisfied himsel f that ,

the n ame the man had meant to Write although it ,

w a s done badly enough w a s John R andall and he “

, ,

turned to his wife and said

That Joh n R an dall must be a clever chap to make
such a beautiful pic ture as that I m thinking J ane, ’
,

'

that when our dear old master and m i stress goes to

'

their own tr ue Home they ll be able to tell which of

,
’

the b lessed babies the re is their own little Master

Nicco
A n d Jane drew out her pocket handkerchief and -

wiped her eyes as she too looked at t h e sweet face of

,

the baby sailor boy who was to have been the comfort
-

of S i r Nichol as and L ady Tremai n e s old age had not ’

God willed it otherwise .

That portrait of the little lad had not b een gazed

upon all the ev ening it h a d a red curtain before it ,

 A L I TTLE SA I LO R I N A C O CK ED H A T
. 11

an d it was onl y when the A dmiral and his wife had

b idde n their guests good night and go n e back to the-
,

qui et of th eli b rary to talk of those they had l oved and

lost that R obinson the old b utler drew back the
, , ,

curtain an d said
Th e master and mistress wanted you to see this ,

’ ’
only th ey couldn t quite bear the tal k about it ; it s
o ur little Master Nicco as would ha v e bee n the j oy
,

of a ll of us only onl y
,
—

Then poor old R o b inson who had b een a page at ,

the House o n the Cl iff when he w as bu t nine years old ,

and was now a grey h aired old man almost past his
-

work turned his head away and those Wh o were near

, ,

hi m saw the tears roll down his cheeks and he wen t ,

o n in a broken voice whi ch very few of them heard

’
Perhaps he would n t have been strong enough to
’
fi ght and that s the reason why he was not to b e a
,

sa il or lad God onl y knows what the next one who

-

comes h ere will be like b ut the last sailor Nicholas

was our d ear you ng middy who saved y our l ife Jack , ,

A usten a n d the old line has en ded now and whe n ,

when our old master goeS a new line will begin new
—
, ,

people W i l l come to the house and the good old times ,

”
will have passed away .

'
Th ere w a s deep silence for a few moments th en ,
12 LI TTLE S I R N I CH O L A S .

came a tramp of foo tsteps and the boys and gi rls who
,

’
had been in to the housekeeper s room to get their caps
and hats and cloaks came filing in most of them
, ,

wrapped up for the walk do w n the steep hill on that ,

clear frosty night

,
.

They had none of them seen the picture and it w as ,

Jack A usten who said to them ,

W alk gently my lads and lasses and look at this ;

“
, ,

it s the pictu r e of our ow n little Master Nicco who

’

ought to have been here to night onl y he was -

drowned at sea .

Th e impetuous footsteps were hushed and many a ,

pair of wondering eyes looked at the sweet childish

’
face and little To m A usten took o ff his fish er s cap
, ,

just as he had been taught to do when he went

into Church and all the other boys followed his
,

example and the girls dropped their little curtseys

, ,

as you see children in foreign l ands sh owing reverence

to the picture of some saint they have been taught to
honour or to some wayside cross w hich they pass on
,

their way to school or to their play .

Twas a strange sight S i r Nicholas a very strange

, ,

”
sight my lady said R obin so n when hal f an hour
, , ,

a fter w ards he took some message in to the library and ,

told how little Tom A usten had taken the lead which
 A LI TTL E S A I L O R IN A C O O KE D H A T . 13

all the others had followed Twas if I might be .

,

so bold as to speak what s in my mind owning him ’

as their little Master even though he was so far away

, .

I t wasn t as though they were a bo w ing and a curtsey

’
- -

’
ing to a picture twas as if the real little sailor lad was
,
-

”
there a looking at them out of his sweet b lue eyes
,
-
.

S i r Nicholas and L ady Tr emaine coul d not answer ,

but they each went up to the old man and took his
hand and then he went away mutteri n g about the
,
“

”
good old times which were so quickly passi n g away .

Q uickly certainly b ut not to end j ust yet not

, , ,

un til three more s u mmers had come w ith sunshine

and gl adness three more winters with storm and cold
, .

Then in the s w eet sprin gtide w hen the hedges

, ,

were bright with flowers and the rippli n g waves ,

played gently against the churchyard wall S i r Nichola s ,

”
Tremaine went to the other S hore and the House
“
,

on the Cl iff was the property of the new Baronet onl y ,

strange to say no one kne w where that Baronet w as

,

to be fo u nd .
 C H A PTE R III .

A MO N G ST TH E CH I MN E Y PO TS .

TH AT same bright A pril sun w hi ch shone over the

little C ornish vill age under the C liff shone to o over ,

the great city of L ondon over the grand hous es and

, ,

the dull streets and the w retched cour ts and alleys

, ,

in which such swarms of hum an beings li ved their

daily lives whether of j oy or of sorrow of pleasure
, ,

or of pain of luxury and seeming idlen ess or of

, ,

poverty and hard work a y sometimes worse than all

, ,

else of utter hopeless misery and star vation

,
.

I t is with a dull house in one of the dulles t of dull

streets that we hav e to do n ow or rather with a room
,

in that house a top room three pairs of st a irs high a n d

, ,

yet although it w as so high up the bright su nshine

, ,

seldom found its way through the narro w wi ndows ,

fr om whi ch you looked out upon what seemed to be

a fores t of chimney pots wi th great clouds of smoke
,

ri si ng from them .
 L I TTL E S I R N I CH O L A S .

wh ich an elder sister of h er age generally assumes

towar ds a small boy of seven especially when that ,

small boy was worrying her considerably and order ,

ing her to pu t down that rubbishy old work and

“

c ome and pl a y w i th him

. .

“
O nly a few more stitches darling and then I wil l
, ,

”
come she had said e v er so many times
,
.

But the fe w stitches seemed to grow into a great

m an y and the boy s tamped and screamed and threw
, ,

D obbin into the farthest corner of the room thereby ,

breakin g the only sound leg w hich remained to him .

A n d still the girl stitched on with a grave troubled

, ,

look u pon h er face only glancing up now and then a n d

,

sayin g G erald darling I w i ll see what I can do to

, , ,

”
D obbin a s soon as I have done these last few stitches .

Meantime Gerald had followed D obbin into the

corner and was amusing himself by knocking him
,

against the wall and thus speedily reducing the

,

headless steed into a shapeless mass

, .

A t last the boy left off screami ng and stamping ,

and stood be fore his sister his han dsome little face
,

flushed and angry his fist clenched as though he

,

meant mischief
’
I ll tell mother about you he s ai d as a terribly
, ,

ha rd blow fell upon the head which w as bent so

O ly
n a few m ore sti t ch es, da rli n g a nd th en I w i ll c om e
, .
 A MONG S T TH E CHI MNE Y P O TS .
19

in dustriously over the shirt I l l tell her that you ,

“ ’

are a bad wicked Margaret and I hate you

, , .

There we r e tears in the gentle brown eyes which

looked up for an instant into the little boy s face ’

’
then two mo r e stitches were put in and Margaret s ,

task was done .

”
Gerald she said and there was a ring of pain
, ,

in her voice what do you want ? You kno w dear

, , ,

I was obliged to finish my work ; I can play with

”
you now for a little while if you wish it .

’
“
I don t wan t to play ans w ered Gerald looking
, ,

j ust a little ashamed of himself ; I hav e nothing to

play with now that D obbin 1s all smas h ed ; what I
,

want is threepence to buy another horse there is a

beauty at t h e toy shop round the corner and I must ,

”
have it ; I must go and get it now , at once .

’
I can t gi v e you threepence darling ; I haven t
“ ’

got it .

You have ; it s in the bo x ; I saw it there this

morning .

’
I put it there for the milkman dear it s all we ,

”
hav e in the house ; we owe it to him .

’
“
You ll hav e heaps of money to morrow w hen -

you take those o l d shi r ts home I tell you I m u st .

h ave the th reepence I w i l l hav e another D obbin the

,
20 LI T TLE S I R N I CHOL A S .

little boys in the square hav e such beauti ful horses ,

’
why shouldn t I have one and again Gerald
stamped his little foot and looked at his sister
defiantly whilst he made a dash at the old box
,

which contained the riches of the family .

This time Margaret asserted herself Ge rald she .

,

said pushing h i m back gently and taking possession

,

of the box and putting it upon a shelf out of his

reach Gerald you are n ot to have the money ; you
,
“
,

”
must learn to be obedient .

A noth er howl from Gerald .

Wh y shouldn t I have a horse as well as those

’

stuck up little swells in the square he said .

They a re not stuck u p Gerald their fathers and

,

mothers are rich and we are poor they can a fford to

,

”
have things and we can not,
.

’
That s just it ; why a re we poor why aren t we
’
“
,

rich Mother says I ought to be a lord or a bar

’
bar I forget what ; but I don t care about that I
only want to have a lot of money and to buy every ,

thing I like .

There was only one picture han ging u p in that poor ,

barely furnished room a pictur e of the Holy C hild

-

in the Manger at Bethlehem and Margaret looked at ,

it with a puzzled exp ression upon h er g rave face ;

 A JII O N G S T TH E C H I MN E Y P O TS
. 21

she could not put the thought that came to her into
wo rds much less explain it to Ge rald ; but she said
,

to herself
He was poor ; th e cle rgyman said so when he
'

gave me the little picture and He knows that we are ,

poo n
Gerald she said gently if you are a good boy
, ,
“
,

I will try and buy the horse for you to morro w when -

I take my work to the shop .

But Gerald was not to be pacified and was ponder ,

ing in his own mind h o w he could get the box

down fr om its e m inence and try and possess himself
,

of the coveted threepence when the door opened , ,

and a small pale sad l ooking woman entered the

, ,
-

room .

Gerald da rted at her at once and c ried ,

Mother Margaret is horribly cross she will not

,

let me have threepence to b u y a n e w horse and ,

”
mine is smashed to atoms look at it and the child , ,

pointed ru efu lly to the heap of fragments in the

corner .

Margaret how can you be so unkind to the poor

,

little fellow when you know h ow few pleasures come

,
’

into his life ? and the mother stooped down an d

kissed Gerald lovingly and allo w ed herself to be
,

E
 LI TTL E S I R NI C HOL A S .

p ulled towards the box which she took dow n fr om ,

the shelf and gav e the threepence to the boy who

, ,

glanced triumphantly at Margaret and said

I told you mother would give it to me .

There was a kn ock at th e outer door and Margaret ,

took up a j ug and said in a v oi c e that had something ,

of a tremble in it I s there any money for the

mi lkman mother
,

“
No n ot to day ; tell him he shall have it to
,
-

morrow dear Mr Plummer had not time to look

, . .

”
at my cards to day and the poor little woman
-
,

sighed wearily whil st Gerald entreated her to let

,

him go to the corner shop at once and buy the

lo v ely horse .

“
A fter tea darling I will go with you Be a good
, , .

boy for a few minutes and then mother will do any ,

”
thing you like .

Mother s always a darling said Gerald t h rowing

’
, ,

’
his arms round his mother s neck and Maggie is ,
“

always cross and I don t like her

,
’
.

“
Hush hush ! my boy S h e is v ery good ; she
,
.

’ ”
works v ery hard and she s only a little girl .

’ ’ ’

,
No she isn t she s a great b ig girl S he ll be .

”
bigger than you are soon and not half so n ice , .

A gain the mother stooped and kissed the hands ome

 C H A PTE R I V .

WA N TED —
TH E NEX T O F KI N .

S E V EN years had passed since that day years of —

’
poverty and hardship for the young clerk s salary of
, ,

course died with him and he had had no time to

, ,

make provision for the future .

Th e mother took her child ren to L ondon ; she

had no relatives of her own and she had an idea that

,

she might do something in the great city which would

provide food for her little ones S h e could paint
.

flowers very nicely and she man aged to get an intro

,

duction to a la rge publishing firm and from them ,

she got almost constant employment and very scanty ,

pay .

Th e children grew as children always do grow

, ,

w hether they a r e brought up in luxury or poverty ; and

in spite of the poverty one of them at least throve for

search a ll L ondon through it would have bee n i m
,

p ossib le to fin d a finer strong er little fellow than

-

,
 WA N TED —
TH E N EX T OF KI N ; 25

Gerald with h i s rosy cheeks and bright b rown eyes

, .

He w a s so small a n d helpless when his father died

that perhaps it was but natural that he became his
, ,

’
mother s first thought and that the little inde ,

pendent Margaret was left to get on as best she could ,

and to take care of herself .

S h e grew into a l ittle pale thoughtfu l girl looking , ,

after Gerald when his mother w a s b usy at her

painting and giv ing up her will to his
,
so that ,
“

mother might draw her pretty flowers and not be ,

’
troubled by b aby s crying .

A n d so the years had gone on a n d Margaret did ,

her own work now and Gerald in his imperious way

,

’
ruled the little household Th e girl s li fe was a .

st ran ge one spent upon her mother a n d her b rother

, ,

and yet lived very much to herself .

S h e w a s always hearing of those better days “

that ha d been of those better days which ought to

,
“

” ’
come again ; only somehow they di dn t ; and she
kept on wonderin g and wo n dering h o w they would
come and whether she could help to hurry them
,

on.

There was an old shoemaker who lived i n the ,

opposite room who in his way was something of a

,

scholar and one day Margaret had con fi ded her di fli

.
26 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

to him and asked h i m how she could make

c u l ti es ,
“

better days come for mother and Gerald .

O ld Nolan had looked puzzled for an instant then ,

he had scratched his head which was a trick he had , ,

and put his glasses up over his forehead and ham ,

mered the nails resolutely into a b oot he w a s mend

ing ; then he said
’
I t s strange you should ask me that question this

evening li ttle Miss for last night I was at the church

, ,

in Heliotrope Gardens and the m inister there him , ,

as is so good to the poor and gives away all he has , ,

says he My friends if the days seem dark there s

, , ,
’

better ones a coming to a l l of you who does your

-

work well and faithful as our Master who died for us

,

on the C ross did His work and the longest day must ,

come to an end and the daw n m ust come and all

, ,

our troubl es and all our sufferings and all we gives

, ,

u p for others are the tracks that lead u s on to

the better days that will nev er end and the sunlight ,

that will never set ; and so we must set our footsteps

in the track of the dawn and walk straight o n till ,

we get to our true Home though there may be a ,

mortal deal to bear before we gets there .

’

Margaret did not quite understand all that was

meant by this but somehow it seemed to comfort
,
 WA N TED —
TH E N EX T OF KI N 27

her ; an indistinct idea which she could not have put

into words was in her mind that if she worked hard
, ,

and bore things patiently better days would come

, ,

although they might be ever so far off although it

might be very dark before the dawn came although
the r e might be very much wo rk to do b efore she ,

could find time to rest .

’
S h e was thinking abou t old Nolan s words as she
stood at the table w ashing up the tea things on that ,

A pril eve n ing when we fi rst make her acquaintance .

Gerald and his mother had gone round to the toy

sh 0 p and she was left to do the work that had to
,

b e done ; the tea cups were washed then Gerald s

’
-

’
kn ickerbockers and her mother s dress had to be
mended and her ow n much worn stockin gs darned
,
.

S h e hardly k n e w where to begin for the daylight was ,

waning fast and she was feeling very tired and

,

weary .

A f ter a moment s thought she decided in fa vo u r of

’

the knickerbocke rs for it would not do for Gerald to

,

wear his best ones again the next day .

S h e took her chair to the window a n d looked out ,

towards the D ome of S t Paul s and there all bathed

.
’

in a flood of golden light stood the C ross poin ting to

,

the sky .
28 L I TTL E SIR NI C HOL A S .

Th esmoke an d mist had cleared off and the su n ,

went down behind the chimney pots in all its glory ,

and as the girl looked at its last lingering rays she

sighed and said to herself
’
I don t think I can do much more than these
kn ickerbockers to night for there is hardly any oil in-

the l amp and no money to buy any but perhaps to

, ,

morrow will be a better day Mother and I will both .

get our money and we shall b e able to give poor ,

”
Gerald a little treat .

There was a knock at the door and old Nolan in , ,

’
his cobbler s apron put his head in , .

”
Be you alone little Miss ? he said , .

Yes Mr Nolan quite alone

, . .

W ell I ain t fit to come in not having had time

,
’

to so much as to wash my hands all along of Mr , .

’
S picer s soles as he w as bound to have to ni ght ; and -

then I got the S ta n da r d sent in to me for half an

hour by a neighbour who knows as I like the news
, ,

’ ’
and there s news in it I m a thinking not for me but ,
-

, ,

”
for y ou .

me for u s Mr Nolan
For —
,
.

Yes for a l l of you,

What w a s your father s .
’

name my dear I beg your pardon I mean little

,
—
,

Miss
 W A NTED -
THE NEX T OF KI N . 29

E dward Tremaine E dward John Tre m aine

, .

I thought as much see here it is ,

Wanted the n ext of kin of E dward John Tre

,

maine late a clerk in the To rc h est er branch of the

,

’
Th ere s n ew s in i t

Nation al Bank A pply to Messrs

.
Harris and .

’
Graham S olicitors L in coln s I n n Fields
, ,
’
.

Th e k n ickerbockers dropped from poor M a rgaret s

han ds a frightened look came upon her face

,

F
30 L I TTL E SI R N I C HO L A S .

Fatheris dead she said He did live at Tor

,
.
“

’ ”
chester but what s next of kin Mr Nolan ? , .

Wh y his nearest relations to be sure little Miss

, , , ,

you and the little Gent to say n othing of your ,

Mother .

“
What do they want us for
’
There s something more here little Miss ; I rea d ,

this fi rst b ut nev er took no notice of it it s ab out

,

a fun eral down in C ornwall not very far from my ,

old home as I l eft when I was a lad of eleven yea r

,

old ; I minds now that I heard the name long lo n g ,

ago and t w as that that m ade yours come like

,
’

something I had known afore when you first come to

’
li ve here I t s old S i r Nichol as Tremaine as was a
.
,

b a roni te as is dead and b uried an d both his sons are

, ,

dead also t w o fi ne chaps according to the paper as

, , ,

ever trod in shoe l eather one a sailor and the other ,

a soldier ; the sailor was killed in the R oosi a n war ,

and the soldier was a coming home from I ndia and -

he and his wife and their little boy was drou n ded so ,

w hen the poor old gentlema n died he left ne er a

’

son n or a grandson to be a b a roni te afte r him only ,

some far away cousin who might b e dead too for ,

’
aught any one knew and if he can t b e found the
, ,

’
titl e that s the b a roni tec y wou l d become extin guished
, , ,
32 L I TTL E SI R N I C HO L A S.

Thenthe door opened and Gerald b roke in look

, ,

ing very flushed and excited carrying an unshapely ,

wooden horse in one hand and a penny trumpet in ,

th e other and trying with all his might to perform a

,

tune upon the instr u ment .

Nolan disappeared as fast as he could only stop ,

ping for on e moment in the doorway to say to

Margaret
’
You won t forget to mention the L ord Mayor s
“ ’

first cousin to your ma little Miss ; if I recollec ts

,

right his soles was co rk and I kn ow I gave him ,

”
entire satisfaction .

”
Margaret said Mrs Tremaine in a somewhat
, .
,

peevish tone what is that old man doin gin here

, ,

”
preventing you from going on with your work ?
Mother dear he has b rought this newspaper for
“
, ,

’
us to read ; you will understand it all ; it s about the
’
next of kin of E d w ard John Tremaine indeed that s
all he came to speak about except I w a s to tell you ,

’
he made a pair of boots for the L ord Mayor s first
cousin and gave h i m entire satisfaction !
,
 C H A PTE R V .

FR O M TH E C H I MN EY PO TS TO TH E W E S TE R N S E A .

IT w as j ust t w o months after w ards ; the sun still

shone into the dreary L ondon room but its shadows ,

fell on nothing but the four walls .

There was not a stick of furniture in the place ,

except an old st e el which no one had thought worth

,

ca rrying away and in the midst of a l ittle heap of

,

dust which had been swept into a corner one of ,

’
D obbin s hind legs might have been discovered ; b ut
D obbin s little owner was no longer there to mour n
’

over the loss of the old toy n or to clamour for a new

,

one .

Th e one picture had gone from the wall ; it was

hanging now in a bright little room in the old House
on the C l i ff where the sunlight fel l upon th e deep
,

b lue Western S ea a n d upo n the grand rocks w hich

,

girt the w i ld C o rnish coast .

You will see from this that what old Nol an had
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

read in the S ta n da r d was all quite true and Gera ld ,

was the next of kin who had been wanted when old
S i r Nicholas Tremaine died .

I t had all been settled very quickly There had of .

course b een lawyers to see and a good deal of ,

busin ess to arrange and little Mrs Tremaine was

,
.

n ervous and bewildered and o n ly seemed capabl e of,

realising the fact that Gerald h er darling her idol , ,

was a real live Baronet the head such a tiny head ,

as it was of one of t h e oldest families in C ornwall

,
.

A s for Gerald hi mself he at once seemed to rise to

the dignity of his position and to imagine that he ,

was to rule ev ery one with whom he came in contact .

“
You see Mr Nolan he said n o w that I am
, .
, ,
“

rich and a B a ron et I can do anything I like nobody

,

’
will dare to refuse to obey me ; I l l hav e to rule
”
e v ery o n e do w n at Trecastle .

’
“
E xcuse me S i r Gerald but there s one person
, ,

’
as you ll have to learn to rule afore you tries it on
”
upon others .

“
Wh o is it ? asked the small Baronet drawing
himself up to his fu ll height .

’
“
I t s yourself S i r Gerald
,
answered the old man ,

’
lookin g very grav e i t s your own heart and your
,
“

own temp ers .

 To TH E WE S TE R N SE A . 35

You are a very impertinent old man Mr Nolan , .

,

”
and I l l tell mother not to let you m ake my boots
’
,

and Gerald dashed out of the room and slammed the

door after him wh ilst the shoemaker remarked to
,

himself
’
I m thinking that some day the little B a roni te s
’
“

pride will have a fall .

I t had some w hat of a fal l the ne x t day when the ,

boy i n sisted upo n going to the board school and ,

telling his companions there that he did not in ten d ,

to speak to them any more when he met them i n

the street for he w a s a gentl eman n ow more than a
,
—

gentleman a Baronet with thousands of pou n ds of

, ,

his v ery own and a b eauti ful house and horses and
, ,

carriages as grand in fact a great deal grander than

, , ,

anythin g they had ever seen ev en in the park , .

Th e se young cock n eys were n ot a s im pressed as

they ought to hav e b een at the news which was
communicated to them with what they considered a
,

good deal of swagger by the small b oy who had

,

never been much of a favourite with them .

I am sorry to have to record that they used

l anguage towards h i m which was anything b ut com
p l i m en ta r
y and,when they got outside the door
(Gerald ha d chosen twe l v e o clock wh en the boy s
’
36 L I T TL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

were leav in g school as the best opportunity of

,

imparting the intelligen ce which he felt sure would

awe and impress them so much ) they b egan to ,

empty their pockets and to draw from their respec

,

ti v e depths anything they could fi nd there with

”
which they might pelt the B a roni te .

S mall sto n es and hard ro u nd b alls of dirty sticky

, ,

’
paper which had contained b ulls eyes and ora nge peel
, ,

and in one case an egg fell upon the unfortunate S ir

,

Gera ld in wild confusion as he ran at full speed throu gh

,

the streets about a dozen boys in full chase laughing

, ,

and jeering and wanting to kn ow what he would

,
“

stand them now that he was a b igger swell than the

,

Prince of W ales hisself

He reached home at last and then he turned ,

’
round and said You re nasty cads you are not fi t
,
“
, ,

for a gentleman to speak to Before he could get .

inside the door a blow fell upon his cheek and a

, ,

pit ous scream mingled with the h ooti ngs and

e

yell i ng s of the angry b oys .

Poor Gerald rushed u pstairs and p ou re d out his

woes to his mother who pette d him an d tried to
, ,

soothe him a n d b athed the swollen face which the

, ,

n ext day an d for some days afterwards bore traces

, ,

of the co mb a t in which he h a d b een en g ag e d

 TO TH E WE S TE R ZV S E A . 37

That
s fall numb er one said old Nolan to him
’

’
self as he heard poor Mrs Tremaine s account of the
.
“

”
w ickedness of those dreadful boys I wonder how
.

’
many more there ll have to be afore the poor little
’
swell will have learnt the lesson that we v e all got to
learn to rule hisself
—
.

I t was Margaret who in her quiet old fashioned

,
-

way did the work that had to be done in those spring

,

days which came and went so stran gely with all

, ,

their n ew experiences .

There was n o one in the outside world to come to

that little family in the top room and congratulate ,

them upon their good fortune in fact no one but the ,

lawyers and old Nolan knew anythin g ab out it for of ,

course the boys at the board school tho u ght no more

about Gerald after the da y they had chased him
through the streets and the C lergyman of the Church
where the mother and her children went on S undays ,

and who had given Margaret the: little picture at

Christmas tide was away for a holiday and when he
, ,

return ed he wondered where the gentle littl e girl with

the grave look upon her face had gone .

There was a good deal of shopping to be done ,

mourning to be bought for the old man none of them

had ever seen of who m even Mrs Tremaine hersel f
, .

G
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

had scarcely known the existence until that day when

,

th e account of the funeral i n the S ta n da r d recalled to

her mind that he was the fa r away cousin of whom

her husband had sometimes spoke n in a v ague kind
”
of way as the swell of the family .

Th e lawyer had suggested the desirability of mov

ing into other lodgings for the two or three weeks that
must elapse b efore the j ourney to C ornwall could b e
made .

I t was done : a k i n d of b reak between the poverty

stricke n abode amongst the chimney pots and the
grandeur of the old C ornish home .

A kind letter had come from L ady Tre m ai n e say

ing that as soon as she could she would move to the
,

old D ower House which stood in a li ttle n ook at the

foot of the cliff .

I t had been the home for many years of the widows

and daughters of the house of Tremain e ; and now
the poor old lady was goin g to it alone the last of the ,

old direct line and of the good old times

,
.

A ll the furniture of the House on the C liff was

entailed ; every book in the old library belonged to
the b oy Baronet ; but Messrs Harris and Graham had
.

begged h er to ask for anything she might like to have ,

to take away with her to her new home and a l l she ,

 L I TTL E SI R N I CHO L A S .

and th e young Baronet who was very condescending

,

to hi m and told him he was going to b uy a b eautiful

,

po ny the next day .

’
Good b ye little Miss he sai d to Margaret
-
, ,
I m
’
glad better times has come to you but you ll think ,

’
of the track that leads to the dawn and you ll walk ,

’
straight along in it for it s the only way Home
, .

“
Yes Mr Nolan I ll try and I l l look out for you
, .
,
’

,
’

’
every day and I m sure the people at Trecastl e will like
,

'
your b O O tS I will be sure to tell them about the
L or d May or s first cousi n .
 C I I A FTE R VI .

N O D E MO NSTR A TI O N .

ALL that h a d happened in the li ttle village by th e

W estern S ea durin g those last fe w years had come so
suddenly and unexpectedly that the s i mpl e vill a ge folk
,

hardly seemed to understand what might come n ext ,

and waited on from day to day not knowing what

they were to expect .

A t last the news came the h eir was found and he

, ,

was a little boy of sev en or eight years old the son of ,

a b a nk er s clerk not a bit of a sailor about him to say

’

, ,

noth i ng of a soldier possibly a common looking little -

fello w who would grow into a money grubbing man

,
-

so different from all those open hearted open handed , ,

generous Tremaines who had been the lords of Tre

,

castle for all those hund reds of years .

Th e fishermen settled all this as they smoked the i r

pipes before their cottage doors and their w ives en
,

dors ed what they said as they stood at their wash tubs ,

 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

or sat at th eir knitting looking u p sorrowfully at the

,

”
library windo w where they knew their own lady “

was sitti n g in the sunshine gazing upon the sea and

, ,

upon the little Churchyard where her loved ones had

’
been laid to their rest beneath the Church s shade .

”
S even years old ,
J ac k A uste n had said when poor ,

old R obinson in tremb l ing tones h a d told the n ew

’
baronet s name and age ; and our little S i r Nicco
would have been j ust six if he d a b een S pared ’ ’
.

Then ro u gh hands were dashed across eyes which ,

whether they were old or young were full of tears and , ,

deep silence fell upon them all as they thought of the

,

little lad who had wanted to be a sailor .

Gerald ! exclaimed another fisherman S ir ,

“

Gerald ind e ed I take it it is a heathenish name as

, ,

’
no Tremaine was ever called by before ; t aint E nglish
is it ?
’ ’
No answered A usten I don t think it is ; t aint
, ,

’
R oosi a n n either nor French
,
maybe it s D utch .

They all agreed that it w a s D utch ; anyhow as it ,

’
wasn t E nglish it didn t much matter what it was
’
,

and they consoled themselves with the thought that “

’
after all it was better that the clerk s son should not
” ”
be a S i r Nicholas nor a S i r E dward nor any name
“
, ,

that h a d ever belon g ed to the Tremaines of the g ood

 NO DEMONS TRA TI O I V . 43

old times ; twas better they said that he should

, ,

”
b e di fferent i n every way from their old masters .

O f course it was very foolish of them and v ery ,

wrong to talk in this way of poor little S i r Geral d ;

but those loyal C ornish fi shermen were a somewhat
obstin ate race forming their own opinions and stick
, ,

ing to them manfully .

There w ere no changes to be made in the old

house ; all the family pictures were to be left as they
had been han ging in the hall only that one which
, ,

had come from I ndi a w a s carried dow n to the C o ttage

( as the D ower House was ca ll ed ) by R obi n so n
, h im
’
self and hung up in L ady Tremai n e s ow n sittin g
,

room A n d li ttle Tom A usten and some of the other

.

children who had follo w ed the old b utl er down the

,

drive were allowed to hav e o n e more look at the

,

picture of the b aby sailor boy i n his cocked hat an d

,

again the b oys too k o ff their fisher caps an d the ,

girls drop p ed their little cu rtsies j ust as they h a d ,

’
done when they had seen N i c c o s likeness for the ,

first time three years before

,
.

He should ought to ha v e been S i r Nicholas said ,

Tom who was a determi n ed youngster of te n years

,

old and I hate th i s new S i r Gerald as is co m ing

,
“
,

that I does .
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

Which of course was very wrong of Tom but you

see his father and mother had expressed thei r opinion
somewhat freely in his presence and it was not to be ,

w ondered at that he should follo w sui t .

’ ’
“
He s a D u tchman ain t he ? said some of the
,

”
other boys and D utchmen are no good
, .

W hich also of course was a v ery wrong thing of

the boys to say considering they had not the most
,

re mote acquaintance with any D utchman in fact ,

the smallest of them asked if he was the same as “

”
Jack the giant killer and was assured that that
,

gentleman whate v er his faults may hav e been was an

, ,

E nglishman .

’
For Jack s a real E n glish name said Tom
A usten with an air of authority ; there 3 n o mistake
“
,

about that .

You will see by all this that the good people of

Trecastle were not prepared to welco m e the new
Baronet at all warmly and as the day drew n ear for
,

his arri v al things grew worse instead of better .

Th e good old vicar tried to make them see that

’
all that had happened w a s not S i r Gerald s fault ;
tha t the sorrows which had come to them one by
one had been dealt by Him who in His mercy and
, ,

His love knows what is best for all of us

,
.
 NO D E A / O N S TR A I I O N . 45

They had always b een ready to take h i s fatherly

advice but they would not do so now they kne w all
,

”
that he said was right but you see they told him , , ,

’
“
you see sir as h o w we ain t so wicked as to fight
, ,

’
against God s will ; them as is gen e is gone to a ,

’
better L and an d w e couldn t wish them b ack only
,

’ ’
we don t want no one in their place we re qu ite con
’
tented with our own lady in the house and don t ,
’

”
need no strangers here .

They argued as a great man y people argue and ,

submitted as a great many people thi n k they submit

that is to say they accepted half God sent them
, ,

because in reality there was no help for it but so ,

long as they co u l d fight they were determined ,

to do it .

They could not e v en had they wished it cal l bac k

, ,

those for w hom they mourned from their home in ,

Paradise but they could an d did rebel against him

, , ,

who was comin g amongst them now they would not

see that the same loving Hand ruled it all had taken ,

from them what He willed and now gave them what ,

He willed .

There were one or two of th e you nger men who

were at home for a time on leave from their ships ,

who had seen something of the world and w h o kne w ,

H
46 L I TTL E SIR NI C HOL A S .

that S i r Gerald w a s not comin g amongst them as

an intruder and who suggested that some sho w of
,

welcome should b e given to the new Baronet ; just

a few of them to stand at the lodge gates a n d give
”
the carriage a bit of a cheer as it drove in , .

But such a thing was not to be thought of .

W e re honest men if we re anything at all said

’ ’

, ,

’
Jack A usten and we ain t a gei ng to pretend what
,

’ ’
we can t feel I ain t even goin g t o allo w my childre n
.

’
to go out when we kn ows they re a coming ; my -

’
missus and me d on t thi nk it wou l d b e decent like
to the memory of him as is gone I hope B en and .
,

D ick that you wo n t mak e no demo n stratio n as we

’

”
men of Trecastle could n ot approve of .

A n d Ben and D ick said they woul d do nothing

that the others did not sanction .

S o it c a me about that on the evening of that day

upon which old Nolan had stood o n the platform of
Paddington S tation to wish the trav ellers good bye -

those same travellers were met by the Tremain e car

ri a e at a little wayside station about t w o mil es from
g
Trecastle and were driven to their n ew home
, They .

were all three very tired and worn out with the long
j ourney but Gerald mo v ed restlessly from side to side
,

looking out for the triumphal arches and the pro ,

 L I T TL E SIR NI CHOL A S
.

then he burst into a flood of tears and laid his tired ,

’
h ead upon his mot her s shoulder .

S h e soothed him as best she could and made him ,

lift his cap as the old lodge keeper O pened the gates
a n d dropped a curtsey and when th ey drove u ,p to
the door of the house two or three of the servants
,

were standing there ; and Mr C arew the old vicar .

, ,

came forward and in hi s kind cou r teous way wel

, , , ,
’

comed Mrs Tremaine and her children to the O ld

.

House on the C li ff .

Then they all went into the great hall where the
portraits of all the Tremaines looked down upon this
little descendant of theirs who had come to claim his ,

rights
.

R obinson came to them there v ery sti ff and grave , , ,

and digni fied and he gave a letter to Mrs Tremaine

,
.

a few shaky lines of kindly greeting from the child

less old lady who had gone to her lonely home at the
C ottage that morn ing .

I hope your boy will be worthy of his name ,

she wrote ; I feel that I love him already because I ,

love all children and because God has sent him in

,

my little Ni ec e s place I will pray every day that

’
.

”
the Father s best b lessin s may rest u pon him
’
g .

R obins on waited to see whether there w a s any

 N O D E MO N S TR A TI 01V . 49

an s wer to the letter ; meanwhi le Gerald and Margaret

were looking at the portraits on the walls .

Mr Ca rew
.
l
w e c om es Mr s . Tr em a i n e a nd h er c hi ldr en .

What s gone from there

’

asked the boy , in the

 L I TTL E SI R N I CHO L A S .

little imperious tone in which he usually spoke ; an d

he pointed to where between the middy and the ,

soldier a mark and some na i ls on the wall showed

,

that something had been remo v ed .

R obinson ans w ered in the most frigid ton e l ook ,

i ng v ery much displeased .

I t was a beautiful picture of our own little Master

Nicco as hung there and it s gone to my lady at the
,
’

”
C ottage .

’
O h said the little Baronet
, I l l hav e my like ,

ness taken and hav e it hung up there

, .

I t was a childlike speech and poor Gerald did n ot ,

mean any harm b ut R obinson bestowed upo n him a

,

glan ce of such withering scorn that he felt fright en ed ,

an d again began to cry and to say he was hungry .

There was no answer to the note o n ly Mrs , .

Tremaine s kin d regards and she and S i r Gerald

’

”
would call at the C ottage the next morning .

R obinson went dow n to the v illag e to be greeted

on all sides by questions as to what the new comers
were like for of course th e se peeps behin d the
b linds had not been particularly satisfactory .

’
“
Mrs Tremaine of course ain t a Tremaine at
.
, ,

all and it coul dn t b e expected she would be l ike

,
’

them and the b o v S i r Gerald well you might have

, , ,
 N0 D E A ] O N S TR A TI O N . 51

thought that there might have been j ust a so m ething

that would have been a bit like them as is gone but ,

’
there ai n t ! He s a big fellow for his age with brow n
’

’
c u rly hair and rosy cheeks but he won t do after them ,

’
as we ve kn own for so long he ain t one of them no
’

more than than ,

—

”
“
Than a D utchman is put in young To m A uste n , .

”
No no more than a D utchman is said R obin ,

son real ly poor old man because he did not k n ow

, , ,

what else to say .

“
A n d the girl Mr R obinson what is she like
, .
,

’
A softened expression came u p on R obinson s face
as he said ,

W ell she s more one of the old sort than any of

’

’
the three ; there s something about her though I ,

’
don t know what it is that s like the old master and ,
’

her name is Margaret the same as our own lady s ,

’

”
nothing outlandish like Gerald and R obinson gave a ,

gru n t of dissatisfaction as he walked sorrowfully away .

“
Well said Jack A uste n to his friends as they sat
,
”
,

an d smoked their pipes that n ight and watched the ,

stars coming out one by one and shining on the sea ,

I think as how everything has gone off very satis

’
fa ctory ; there isn t one of us in the village as has
”
s eemed glad to see S i r G e rald .
 C H A PTE R VI I .

PE TE R K I N .

VE R Y earl y th e next morning Margaret and Gerald

were standing upon the terrace of the House on the
C liff lookin g out upon the sea an d the rocks and at ,

the fish i ng b oats coming i n to the lit tl e harb our after

-

’
their night s work .

I t was all very new and very full of delight to those

L ondo n b red children
-
They had slept off their
.

’
fatigues and Margaret s usually grave face was brigh t
,

with smiles and some of her funny little old fashioned

,
-

ways seemed to hav e left her dur ing those last few
weeks .

S h e looked more of a child than she had done when

w e saw her in the top room thinking of how she,

could best get through the work that was b efore her .

From the terrace the brother and sister went i n to

the poultry yard and the stables and t h e ga rdens
-
,

and when at last they were c a lled i n to breakfast in to ,

 '
PE 7ERKI N . 53

a pretty room all bright with fr esh cut flowers it -

seemed to the girl although she did not pu t it into

,

wo rds that their lines had indee d fallen in a plea

, , ,

s a n t place and that the he rit a ge t hat had come to

,

”
Gerald was a goodly heritage .

A n d the little Ba ronet himself was just at this pa r

ti c u l a r time delighted with eve rything but u n fo r , ,

tu n a t el y he was a young gentleman w h o i f he took

, ,

an idea i nto his head wished it carried out at once ,

and would brook no delay .

His mother had always tried to please him and to ,

give in to h i m in everything Just as she had yielded

.

to him on that A pril evening in L ondon when we

first made hi s acq uaintance in the matter of the ill
,

fated D obbin s successor she had a l ways y ielded to

’

him when it was pos sible someti m es when it seemed

almost impossible to do so .

Th e child had had through all hi s little life what ,

is a ve ry bad thing for all child ren a y and for gro w n , ,

up people too to have his o w n way

,
—
.

N o w as he sat at b r eak fast ther e came into his

, ,

lit tle head or rathe r r eturned m t o his lit tle head an

, ,

idea which had been there for some days past but ,

w hi ch he kn ew could not n ossi b l y be car ried out in

L ondon .
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

It was n ot this time to go to the corner shop and

buy a n ew D obbin although there was some sort of
,

relationship to the D obbin in cident in it inasmuch as ,

it had to do with h orsefl esh .

Th e Baronet wanted a pony and have it he must ,

before the day was out .

I n vai n his mot h er told him that she feared it woul d

b e impossible to gratify his wish that day but it should ,

be in quired about at once ; probably there was not

such a thing in the village as a pony that would be
fit for him to ride on .

I n vai n Margaret tried to pacify him by tellin g him

that very l ikely L ady Tremaine would be able to tell
him where he would be able to get the wished for -

animal .

Gerald would not listen to reason he kicked an d

screamed an d alarmed the footman who was a
, ,

’
n ephew of R obin son s and who gave it as his opinio n
,

’
in the serv ant s hall that the new Baronet had a
,
“

”
temper .

A t last came a di v ersion in the shape of a pea

cock with the most gorgeous of all g org eous tails ,

who appeared at the open wi ndow and condescende d ,

’
to b e fed out of the children s han ds and to S pread ,

ou t his tail to its ful l est exten t .

 L I TTL E SIR NI C HO L A S .

b ought for our littl e M a ster Nicco and I think I sho ul d ,

like him always to have his liberty and not to belong ,

to any one else S o R obert you understan d you re

.
’
, , ,
’

not to mention Peterkin on pain of my most severest

displeasure My lady w ill settle it all w ith Mrs Tre
. .

”
main e .

S o with these words ringing in his ears and the

,

fear of U ncle R obinson s most severest displeasure ’

hanging over his head R obert li ngered a s long as he ,

could e v er the co ffee pot and the you n g Bar o n et w ent

-

behind him and pulled his coat tails and said

,
-

“
D i d you hear what I said about a pony R obert ?
I beg your pardon S i r Gerald ; I ,

Mrs Tremaine came to the rescue contrary to her

.
,

u sual custom whe r e her boy was conce r ned .

”
Gerald she said you a re not to tease R obert
, ,

we are going to see L ady Tremaine and we will ask ,

h er about the pony .

’
Yes my L ady I mean ma am answered R obert
, , , ,

l ooking up wi th an air of relief my L ady w ill be

”
able to tell you all about i t .

”
L et us go at once said the impatient Gerald , .

No darl ing it is too early ; I have things to see

, ,

about in the h ouse but you and Margaret can go ,

down to the beach and perhaps some more fish i ng ,

 PE TE R K I ZV . 57

boats will come in and you will see them unloading ;

,

I will come do w n to you there and then we will go ,

”
and see L ady Tremaine .

Th e boy a n d gi rl went off togeth er down the steep

avenue with its green flo w er covered banks a nd its
-

spreading shady t rees into the quiet village nestling

,

at the foot of the cli ff the old grey ivy covered -

church standi ng j ust above it whilst fa r away into,

the sea stretched th e grand headland the little chapel ,

of S t Nicholas rising on its summit seeming to keep

.
,

watch and ward over the rocky bay beneath .

Trecastle boasted o f a village green where the ducks ,

and geese waddled about in stat ely fashion either ,

basking in the sunshine or finding their way to the

,

muddy pond which stood in a fa r away corner where -

they revelled in a swim and partook of what food they

,

could find .

Th e ducks and geese did not have the whole of

the green to themsel v es ; two donkeys disputed th e
right of possession with them and the white gande r
, ,

who w a s looked upon as a kind of leader by his fellow

geese and ducks used to fly at the legs of the grey don
,

key s and occasionally there w a s a good deal of excite

,

ment amo n gst the children who thought it gr eat fun

,

”
to see Neddy p u rsued by Goosey Gander .
58 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

But it was n ot often that these little scenes took

place on t h e whole b oth b irds and beasts conducted
themselv es with great propriety and l iv ed on the
,

best of terms.

Beyond the green there was a paddock and just ,

rising above the w all that enclosed it was a pretty ,

little red b rick b uilding which might ha v e bee n any

,

thing but which really was a stable

, .

How it came to be there was that when little Nicco

,

was expected home with his father and mother S i r ,

Nicholas had b ought the prettiest D artmoor pony

that ever was seen for his gran dson and it was found
, ,

that there was n ot a stall in th e stable for him ; so

there w as nothing for it but to build him a little
house of his own and it was thought that it would
,

be a good thing for him to have the paddock as a

kind of small park where he could roam at pleasure
, .

S o the red b r ick stable was built and Peterkin ,

was installed there waiting for Nicco to come home

,

and ride him .

But as you know Nicco did not come hom e an d

, , ,

for two or three years Peterkin h a d l ived a very lazy

life and he was so very fat and in such good con
dition that there was n o doubt that the paddock
rass was very excellent gr ass
g .
 PE TER X 1I V . 59

O f course that was not his only food

,
ever was . N
pony so sp oilt an d pampered He was the pet of the .

whole village from S i r Nicholas and L ady Tremaine

,

down w ards .

Jack A usten took c a re of him and little Tom was ,

his devoted slave I t was a generally known fact in

.

’
Trecastle that Tom s pence which were few and far ,

between were spent upo n s u gar beautiful w hite

,
—

sugar for Peterkin

—
.

Gerald and Margaret stood for a time on the

green and admired the geese an d the ducks an d
,

the donkeys .

No one interrupted them I t was the hour when .

every one was b usy the men o n the b each men ding
their nets the women at their house work the children
,
-

at schoo l
A fter a time th e b rother and sister wandered on
towards the beach and the paddock ; the gate was
half O pen and there nibbling the grass and then
, , ,

raisin g h i s pretty shapely head to look at the ih

tru ders was Peterki n himself sleek a n d shiny an d
, , , ,

beautiful .

For an insta n t Margar et b elie v ed herse lf to b e in

fairylan d for there stood exactly what Geral d wanted
, .

S ur ely the fairies m u st h ave built that pretty little

 L I TTL E SI R NI C HO L A S .

stable with th e s w eet clematis trailing round the o p en

,

door and then put the pony to live in it

, .

For Margaret was a believer in fair ies S ometimes .

she had fancied they had lived amongst the chimney

pots but this s w eet seaside village was a much more
,

fitting residence for them than dingy s m oky L ondon , .

Gerald was of a more practical turn of min d and ,

to do him j ustice he w a s a brave fearless little fellow

, ,

and he went up to Peterkin and patted his head and ,

the pony who was of a sociable nature rubbed him

, ,

self against his cheek and was ev idently incli ned to

,

make friends .

Margaret exclaimed the boy his handsome little

, ,

face all in a glow ; Margaret here is the very pony ,

for me D i d you ever see such a beauty ?

.

By this time Margaret had descended from fairy

land and h a d begun to think that the red brick
,

stable could hardly have be en the work of fairy

fingers raised especially for her little brother s
,
’

benefi t
’
“
Geral d dear sh e said I don t suppose you can
, , ,

have it I t must belong to someone else some little

.

”
boy perhaps who is very fond of it
, , .

A scowl came upon the little baronet s face

’
.

I mean to t a ke i t he said whoever it belongs , ,

A n d th ere w as Pe terk i n hi msel f ,
l
s eek , shi n y , a n d bea u tifu l .

K
64 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

before them looking at Gerald defiantly and holdin g

, ,

in his hand a small paper parcel .

W h o are you ? said Gerald

’
the pony doesn t “

’
belong to you He s mine and I m S i r Gerald Tre
.
,
’

mai ne .

O h you be be you ? W ell for all that Peter

, , , ,

’
kin don t belo n g to you no more than he do to me .

’
I m his little groom that s w hat I a m and m y
’

, ,

name s Tom A usten and my father is Jack A usten

’

, ,

and our b oat is called the Merm a i d and I have th ree ,

sisters a n d,

But at this juncture the family history was inter

r u te d by Pete rkin himself who trotted up to To m
p , ,

and began to sni ff at th e small paper parcel which

he held as thou gh he knew it w a s intended for him
,
.

”
Good Peterkin good old b oy said Tom lovingly
, , ,

you shall have your s u gar you shall and nobody , ,

else shall have you You belongs to our little Master

.

”
Nicco as is dead and to no one else
, , .

Peterkin proceeded to eat and enj oy the sugar a n d ,

the little Baronet and the little S ailor stood and looked
at each other while something of the old troubled
,

’
look came upon Margaret s face .

”
Gerald dear she said
,
it is getting late and
, ,
“
,

”
mother w ill be looking for us .
 PE TE R K I I V . 65

want a ride upon the pony answered Gerald

I , ,

and I w i l l have it Pu t the saddle on him Tom

.
, ,

and give me th e pretty little whip .

To m stood perfectly still E vidently he had not .

the smallest intention of obeying Gerald s orders

’

D o you h ear what I say ? Pu t on hi s saddle .

’
No S i r Gerald ; I ain t a going to I t was S i r
,
-
.

Nicholas who said as how he was nev er to be ridden

’
by anybody and father wouldn t let me do it and
, ,

Mr R obinson would most ki ll me if I tried and I

.
,

don t w a n t to do it for I l o v es little Master Nicco and

’

, ,

”
I wish he was here n o w .

Gerald with clenched fist pushed Margaret on one

’
side and aimed a blo w at Tom s face
, .

Th e other w ould have re t urned it had not another

actor appeared on the scene a strong hand was lai d ,

’
upon the boy s arm and a manl y v oice said ,

Tom h o w dare you ?,

Tom coloured crimson and looked up at the tal l ,

gentleman who stood ther e with a smile upon his

,

face that was half sad and half amused

, , .

”
“
I beg your pardon sir said the boy on ly he
, , ,

(and he pointed somewhat scornfully at Geral d )

“
wanted me to put the sad dle on Peterkin a n d I ,

’ ”
couldn t and I wouldn t ’
.
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

heard it all Tom a n d I l l speak to your father ’

I , ,

about it Go home now my boy and learn respect

.
, ,

for your superiors A s to you S i r Gerald I think

.
, ,

the best thing you can do is to make up your mind

that Peterkin can never be yours and there is no ,

good in your thinking he can .

A t the beginning of this speech the small Baronet

began to O pen his mouth a nd indulge in one of those
yells which were always so successful with h i s mother ,

in O btaini ng his wishes but one glance at the cal m ,

determined face which looked upon hi m so gravely

caused him to change his mind and seize Mar ,

a ret s hand and d raw her away as quickly as he

’

g ,

could .

I am very sorry said the girl gently very sorry

, ,

indeed sir but Gerald wants a pony and he thought

, , ,

he could hav e this one because you see poor little , , ,

N icco is dead .

“
Yes I kno w it I k now all about it Nicco
,
. .

(and the manly voice softened as the stra n ger spoke

)
Nicco was a great friend of mine I loved him very .

”
dearly .

Margaret looked puzzled I t seemed such a strange .

thing that this tall bearded stranger should have been

’
a friend of little N i c c o s who had lived his short life
,
 PE TERKI I V . 67

in I ndia and had b e en drowned at sea but of course

, , ,

if he said it it must be tr u e
, .

I am very sorry that Nicco is dead she said , .

”
Thank s my child I am sure you a r e
, , .

By this time they had reached the gate where a ,

group O f village children j ust ou t of school were , ,

peering in curiously havi n g heard Tom s account of

,
’

’ ”
the n e w Baronet s cheek .

I f the gentleman had not been there they might ,

have expressed their opinion of S i r Gerald rathe r too

openly ; as it was they contented themselves with
,

staring at him rather rudely and it w a s a good thing

, ,

that at that moment the grey donkey and the white

goose came up evidently knowin g that there was
,

something wrong and feeling that as lo rds of th e

,

village green it was their duty to inqui re into things

, .

Th e donkey kicked the goose and the goose ,

pecked at the donkey then a chase began in which

the child ren j o i ned and j ust then Mrs Tremaine
, .

appeared and in a fe w words the stranger told her of

,

’
Ge rald s trouble and added kindly
,

“
I dare say it will be ve ry easy to find ano t he r
”
pony for h i m soon .

“
But I want Peterkin I don t want another pon y ,
’

a nd litt l e Nic c o is d ead a n d ,

68 L I TTL E SI R NI CH OL A S .

Mother broke in Margaret

,
this gentl em ,

’ ”
was N i c c o s friend .

”
“
Yes said the strang er his father and moth
, ,
“

were the greatest friends I ever had My n ame .

Joh n R andall ; when Nicco was two years old

”
pain ted hi s picture .

Then he lifted his hat and walked away soo n ,

b e foll owed by Tom A usten and the vil lage childr e

,

w h o used to look for w ard to his yearly v isits

Trecastle as a great ev ent in their l i v e s .
 C H A PTE R VI I I
“
C A L L ME GR A NN Y
.

L A DY TR E MA I N E sitting alone in her sitting

w as

room at th e C ottage with a sa d expression upon her

gentle old face which looked sadder as sh e gazed
, ,
“

at the picture on the wall opposite to her and ,

murmured i n a low voice my little Nicco

, .

The nthrough the open window came the sound of

’
children s voices and the old lady got u p nervously
, ,

and there was a flush upon her usu ally p ale c h ec k

as she went to w ards the door which th e next minute
,

‘
was opened by R obinson who in his s ti ffest and
,

most important tone announced

“
S i r Gerald Mrs and Miss Tr em a ine
, . .

Th e old l ady smiled as she met h er visitors a nd ,

S poke a few trembling words of cordial wel come .

Gerald w as on his very best behavi our h e S a t

d own qu i te quietly and looked u p at the pict ure an d .

whispered to Margaret :
70 L I T TL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

’
I sup p ose that is poor little N i c c o s liken ess
isn t he a pretty little boy ? I wish he had not been
’

”
drowned I wish he w a s here now to play with me .

”
“
C ome here dear and give me another kiss said
, , ,

L ady Tremaine who had heard the somewhat audible,

whisper and Gerald went up to her an d put his

,

little arms round h er n eck and said

“
I love you L a dy Tremaine W hat am I to call
,
.

”
you ?
There was a moment s pause another glan ce at
’

N i c c o s likeness and then the old lady drew the

’

little boy more closely to her side and stroked h i s

brown curls .

“
C all me granny darling she said ; it is what
, ,
“

he would have called me if he had been her e .

’ ”
“
He was a good li ttle boy wasn t he ? inquired ,

Gerald .

Yes a v ery good little boy

,
.

Wh y does he wear a cocked hat ?

Because he used to call himsel f Nicco a little ‘
,

lad who some day would be a sailor an d wear a

,

’
cocked hat .

I l l b e a sailor some day said Gerald ; Mother

“ ’
,

’
says a l l the Tremaines are sailors a n d I ll fight and ,

”
n ot be afraid .
72 L I TTL E SI R N I CHOL A S
.

him f or a time for perhaps our own l i ttle Nicco

,

might come home for you know his body was not, ,

found a nd there was j ust a faint h O pe that he might

,

hav e been pi ck ed up alive ; then when all hope died

away S i r Nicholas still said that no on e else w a s to
have th e pony and I feel I must respect his wishes
,
.

S O Gerald my b oy we must look out for another

, , ,

pon y for you ; I will tell R obinson to make inquiries

”
about it t O m orro w
o
.

Poor Mrs Tremaine by this time was visibly

.

trembling and Margaret in her agitation had got u p

,

and walked to the window They n eed hav e had no .

fear ; they could har dly bel ieve it was Gerald who
said quite gently
Thanks Grann y only please let it b e a pretty
, ,

”
one like Peterk i n .

TW O days afterwards a pony appea red n ot quite ,

a s perfect as Peterkin such another animal was not to

—

be found anywhere b ut G erald was qui te content—

,

and used to ride ab out the coun try v ery fearlessly

a n d e v en those who had bee n most prej udiced against

h i m were obliged to confess that he was a plucky “

litt l e chap and there must be some Tremai n e blood

,

”
i n him somewhere .

Th e summer days passed quietly away ; a gover _ _

 "
CA L L ME G RA NN Y
- . 73

ness from the neares t town came out every day by

train and taught Margaret and Gerald ; for the gi rl s ’

education had o f course bee n very much negl ected ,

and the b oy h a d never had any ot h er teachin g than

t h e few months at the L ondon board school .

I
Th ey Were both very intelligent and v ery anxious
,

t o i mprove Margaret was j ust as loving and gentle

.

in her new life as she had been in the O l d one a n d ,

Gerald was certainly a much b etter boy than he h a d

H e was wilfu l and perverse still b ut L ady Tre

,

’
maine s qui et in fluence had done its work and i t ,

was a matter of w on der a n d astonishment to h er that

the villagers did not li ke him better O f course .
,

they were all v ery respectful to him now ; R obinson

in a so l emn v oice h a d told the m it was their L ady s ’

wish t hat they shoul d be so even To m A usten took

off hi s fish er s cap civilly when the little b aronet
’

rode past h i m on D andy an d used to console him

,

self for the e ffort that civility cost him by saying

’
C ompa re that ere pony with Pete rkin ! why he
’ ’
ain t fit to hold a candle to him I wo u ld n t waste a
'
l ump o f sugar upon hi m n o t if I kno wed it
,
.

There was a new occupant of a little two roomed -

cottage look ing out upo n the green N o le ss a

.
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

person than old Nolan who had arrived there one ,

day after the receipt of a rather i ll spelt letter from -

Margaret in which she told him th at the shoemaker

,

who had worked for every one had gone off to

A ustra l i a and n o w
,
the people had to go a l ong
way to buy their boots and shoes and she had ,

spoken to R obinson who knew eve rything and he

, ,

had said that if Mr Nolan would come there he was

.

sure he would do a wonderful business .

” ’
He knows about the L ord Mayor s fi rst cousin ,

the girl added as a postc ri pt and he thin ks you must ,

”
be very clever S o Nolan came and Margaret w a s
.
,

very glad to see h i m ; it seemed like a bit of the ol d

li fe coming into that new stran ge life she was lead
,

ing now not that that old life had not been very ful l
O f troubles and the n ew life did n ot seem to have

any real trouble in it but it w a s v ery lonely ; there

,

was so little to do except lessons and there w a s no

one to think for no one for whom she could gi ve up
,

anything as she had done in the old days for her

, ,

mother and Gerald .

I think it was nice to go without butter and to ,

”
let them hav e it sh e one day said to herself it was
,
“

doing something for them that they didn t know

”
abou t an d I liked it it made me happy
, .
 “
CA LL I lI E G RA NNY .
”
75

S he told old Nolan of her trouble and j ust as he ,

had helped her before he helped her n o w , .

”
You see little Miss he said he as was goo d to
, , ,
“

me in L ondon the Minister at the church in Helio

,

trope Gardens said once that there was something for

, ,

all of u s to do ; some of us had to do things and some of ,

us had to bear things and perhaps the bearing is the

,

’
hardest like but it s what the Master comed to teach
,

us ; He lived more th a n thirty years at Nazareth and ,

we don t hear of nothing that He di d except to be

’

subj ect to His Parents and it must have been hard ,

for Him to see all the wickedness that was in the

world He had come to save and yet to do nothin g ,

to stop it like until His Father and our Father called

, , ,

Him to His work and that work led to the C ross

,

atop of th e hill of C alvary .

I ain t saying it as the Minister said it li t tle

’
“
,

’ ’
Miss b u t it s all I can remember and it s helped me
, ,

’
many a time when I v e sat at my work and never ,

seemed to do nothing for n obody ( for of c ou rse I

don t count the boots and shoes for which I m paid )
’ ’

and maybe it may help you just to think that if you ,

learns to bear doing nothing for n obody the time will ,

’
come when you ll do the doing all the better b ecause ,

”
O f the patience and the waitin g .
76

It did help the girl she remembered the O ld

man s words very O ften as she looked at the picture
’

in her roo m and thought of the L ifeo f patient wait

,

ing begun in the Manger and ended on the C ross

,
.

There is very little to tell O f those sum m er days ,

each one of the m was very like the o th er very calm ,

a n d tranquil ; the grea test excitement to the ch i ld r

en
was a n occasional visit to one of the nearest to wn s
whe n any shoppin g was necessary Mr R andall the
. .

artist was another excitem ent ; he used to come to

Trecastl e for a day or two and t hen go away and then
, ,

came back again .

He use d to sit upon the beach and pain t the grand

rocks whilst the village children stood round him and
,

wondered an d admire d and bought penny paint b oxes

,

for themselves an d t ried to imitate h i m

, .

But a far more wonderful painting than th e sea or

the rock s or the l ittle fishing boats was a likeness Of
, ,

Peterkin with Tom A usten standing at his head .

I t was inten d ed as a Christmas present for L a dy

Tremain e and it was to b e a profound secret
, .

Mr R andall al so pain te d Geral d s picture I t wa s?

’
l

. .

a very pretty one b ut th e l ittl e vil lagers as they

’

, ,

peeped i n at the d oo r Of th e arti st s studio which

’
,
’
’

by the way was one of the r ooms i n O l d Nolan s ’

 CA L L ME GRA NNY .
”
77

’
cotta ge pronounced it very infe rior to Ni ece s
,

likeness .

“
W ill you put m e on a c ook ed hat ? the boy h a d
’ ’
said for you kno w when I m big I m going be a
,
“

sailor .

N Mr R andall h a d a n swered I don t think

.
,
’

’
I can do that we ll wait t i ll you are one .

Geral d looked angry but said noth ing truth to tell

, ,

the a rtist was the one person besides L ady Tremaine

of whom he stood in considerable awe ; perhaps he
remembered his first introduction to him in the pad
dock and thought it well to gi v e into him at once as
, ,

he instinctively felt that he would most surely have to

do so in the end .

He told his trouble about the cocked hat to L ady

Tr emain e who sympathized with him and said she
,

should h ave liked to have seen him l n one in the

p i cture .

Th e lo n ely lady had taken the boy into her loving

old heart in a way that some of the v illage folks

,

resented A fter all it was but natural ; he was a tak

.

ing little fellow i n the l ong run an d always good an d ,

obedient to her .

S h e felt that her l oved o n es were at rest and that ,

before lo ng she would go to them ; meantime she was

M
 L I T TL E SIR NI C HOL A S
.

thankful for th i s ne w interest in her sorrowful li fe and ,

the boy used to sit at her feet and listen to the stories ,

o f the brave Tremaines who had gone before as she ,

read them to him out of the old blue and red books .

’
I l l be a sailor Granny and I l l do my duty and
’

, , ,

then when I m dead shot through the heart by a

’

b ul let somebody will write about me m y w i fe perh a ps

,
—

’
or my son w ouldn t it sound grand ?
“
Never mind about the bullet my boy the O l d , ,

’ ’
lady would answer ; it s a grand thing to die for one s
’
country but it s the grandest thing of all to be ho n est
,

and true and G od fearing and to do one s duty ;

, ,
’

p ray that you may do that Gerald and then all else , ,

that comes will be right .

Yes I will Granny the boy would ans w er and

, , ,

she would sit and think what a sweet little fellow he

was and w ish that everybody would love him as
,

they had been prepared to love N icco .

“
He is so good she one day said to Mr R andall
, . .

When he has learn t to give up his own will and to ,

”
think of others before himself I shall like him better , ,

answered the artist He is a spoilt boy L ady Tre

.
,
~

maine but it is quite possible that he may be yet

,

”
l icked into shape .

I n her secret heart she thou ght he was unj ust to

 "CA L L ME G RA NNY .
”
81

her favourite b u t she could not quarrel with him for

,

”
his loyalty to Nicco his little friend
, .

Perhaps by the time you come to see us again he

”
may have had the necessary lickin g she said with a
,

smile .

A n d he lau ghed as he answered ,

“
Perhaps so an d now I must wish you good bye
,
-

you will think of me sometimes at my work on the

Breton coast and when I come home late in the
,

”
autum n I will run down and see you again .

Then he looked u p at the picture he had pai n ted ,

and as he remembered those days in the I ndian

bungalow when the b ab y sailor boy had to be
,

nursed into quiet so that he m ight catch the ex

,

pression of the sunny little fa ce he smile d sadly a n d

,

went on his way with the thought of Nicco a n d

,

hi s father and mother uppermost in his mind .

 C H A PTE R I X .

O N FO R E I GN SH OR ES .

N E A R the town and harbour of Brest where th e ships ,

of the French Navy stand at anchor ther e is a little ,

fishing vi llage called Plougastel and at the top of the

,

b i l l which leads up from the shore is the old chu r ch ,

w hilst in the churchyard whi ch stands i n front o f it

1s a C al va ry where in the carved stone fi gures you

,

can read the Bible story the Nativity the E piphany , ,

the C rucifixion the holy deeds of the S ain ts the

, ,
“

su fferings of the Martyrs .

High above all else this beautifu l Calvary stands ;

sailors look for it as they toss about in their little
boats along the stormy coast and it speaks to them
,

of courage in danger of hope and safety when the pe rils

,

of their life of toil shall have passed away and the ,

sweet sunlight of the other S hore shall welcome them

to their res t
.

I t was a glorious S ep tember da y ; a fe te day in

 FO R GI V SH OR ES 83
’

ON EI .

Plougastel the villagers were in their holiday dress ;

,

they had begun the day in church the children had ,

walked in procession round t h e C alvary singing sweet ,

childish hymns in the old Breton language which —

,

by the way has a v ery strong like n ess to the W elsh

,

tongue and to what is still spoken in the remote

,

parts of C orn w all .

Th e banners had waved in the soft breeze the ,

clear voices had mingled with the distant sound of

the waves as they dashed against the shore
,
.

I t seemed as though those strange stone figures of

the Holy O nes of old overshadowed with their shelter
ing arms that quaint b ut most solemn and re verent
,

procession .

Th e elders had had their procession the day before

they had got up very early i n the morning and had ,

j ourneyed miles away to the vi llage of Fol gu e t and

there before a High A ltar erected in a great field , ,

thousands of t h ese simple Bretons had kn elt and ,

worshipped and giv en thanks to their God and their

, ,

S aviour .

I t h a d been too far to take the children ; so t his

day the 9 th of S eptember was given to them a day
, ,

of prayer and worship and thankfulness and inno

, , ,
~

c ent c h ildish j oy .
84 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

S u ch quaint little O l d world things they looked

-

so utte rly unlike anything we E nglish ever see i n our

o w n country ; it was no marvel that a tall auburn

b earded E nglishman stood and gazed at them a dmi r

i ngl y and wished he could have pain ted the sce n e
,

then and there .

A s it was he was busy with pencil and paper and

, ,

when the procession filed into the church and the ,

priest had afterwards dismissed the children with his

blessing the artist sat on the steps of the C alvary
,

surrounded by a little group of boys a n d gi rls all ,

eager to see what he was drawin g surprised and ,

delighted beyond measure when they recogn is ed their

own quaint little dresses .

Mr R a n dall for of course you know that the E ng

.
,

lishman w a s Mr R andall could speak fluent French

.
, ,

and a little Breton patois so he entered into co n ver

,

satio n with the children heard their family histories

, ,

and was invi ted into several houses to eat pancakes

for pancakes are the great institution of Brittany
fe te days ; looked up on much in the same way as
our children at home look upon plum pudding at
C h ristmas .

He promised to v isit them later in the day mean ,

while out came his co l our box an d a little girl ,

 “

85
’

G I V fE O I eE I G N

'
appeared u pO n h i s block d ressed i n a d ark frock an d
,

a red b edi c e l aced up the fron t a nd a funn y l i t tl e

’
’
' ‘ '

,
"
gay sh a w l a nd a n em b roi dered a pron and a tight
’

, ,

fitting ca p of many colours ad orn e d with gold a nd ,

s ilver lace tied under her chin .

,

Th e A rti st sa t on th e steps of th e C a l v ary .

Th e face the fa c eof L ucie G ou a rh n é the prettiest

w as ,

little girl in a l l t h e village and w hen Mr R andall , .

looked round to see which of t h e boys h e would

paint the small est z of t hem all a little fellow of
, ,

about six years ol d w a s pushed f o rw ard b y u n i v ersa l

, .

consent .
86 L I TTL E SI R I V] C HOL A S .

Paint A ndré monsieur they said paint little

, , ,
“

A n dre ; his clothes are quite new and h e has n o

'
,

’
mother only a grandmother an d he is l enfa n t dc
, ,

l a mer ( the child of the sea) and he is a good l ittle ,

”
boy .

Mr R andall looked at A ndré and thought his

.
,

at tire was certai nl y the smartest an d newest there .

I t consisted of a v ery bright blue j acket a green ,

waistcoat wi th brass b uttons a small fril l ed shirt ,

front loose white trowsers and a red fisher cap

, ,
.

A ndré was a slight delicate looking little fellow ,

with blue eyes and bright golden hair and a com ,

plexion that would have been v ery fair had it n ot

been tanned by the sun and the sea .

There was a timid expre ss i on i n the blue eyes as ,

he raised them to the artist s face and said ’

“
Please monsieur may I take the picture home to
, ,

my grandmother ; she is very old ?

Yes certainly my little man you shall have a
, , ,

picture to morro w I am afraid I cannot spare this one

-
.

to day What is your grandmother s name ?

-
.
’

A n n ette Pen v ra z if you please monsieur , , .

A n d you are A ndré Penvra z

No monsieur I m A ndr é but not Penvra z ’

, , , .

A z i c k l ez a d is my name .
£8

’
most faithful friend a man ever had I cou ld n t but ,
-

lo ve the b oy and I hav e managed to make this l ittle

, _

chap look like him .

I n the e v ening of tha t S eptember day th e weather

changed the wind rose and the wav es were high
, ,

and came dashin g over the rocks against the shore ;

th e fish i n boa ts whi ch l 1a d gon e out i n the afternoon
g
—

were trying to get b ack as fast as they could for the

coast was a dangerous one and each hour in creased
,

the fury of the raging pitiless storm

, .

Th e v illagers had assembled on the beach ; the

children seemed to enj oy being blown about and ,

merry shouts of laughter were heard as some huge

wave came in and a shower of foam i ng spray co v ered
,

the m from head to foot .

They had taken off their hOl i da v suits and n ow i n ,

their loose trowsers and blue smocks the boy s felt fl ee

to do any thing they liked they di d not k n ow what
fear was ; eve n then a few of them were anxious to
get into o n e of the little boats a n d try their 1 o wi ng
p o w ers
.

A com mand from their resp ective mothers sto pp ed

them ; then th e y began to run races an d to c li m b the
mast of a disabled v essel which had been driven
ash 01 e i n the last gale and abo v e the whistling win d
,
 ON FOREI GN SHORES . 89

a n d the roaring waves you could hear their you n g

°
c l c ar voices singing one of the strange old monoto
,

nous songs which told of the marvellous exploits o f

some Breto n hero O f l ong ago .

Mr R a ndall stoo d and watche d the m a n amused

.
,

spectator of the sce n e S uddenly it seemed to him a s

.

though he heard a little plaintive cry an d loo king L

,

round h e sa w A n dre sitting i n a li ttle cleft of a rock

-

looking pale and frightened .

What is it my man ? he said

,
”
.

A n dre did not a n swer and a little girl who was

-

, ,

standing near spoke for him, .

“
I t is always so monsieur when there is a storm
, ,

D o not cry A ndre she con

”
x
h e is afraid of the sea
—
.
, ,

t i n u ed; your father is quite safe and soo n he will be ,

home and Mére A nnette is cooking the p ancakes

, ,

and there is to be a grand supper an d A n dré shall ,

”
have the bi ggest pan cake for himself .

B u t ev en the thought of the biggest pancake h a d

no power of attraction for the little boy at that mo
ment ; he rubbed the sleeve of his blouse violently
across his eyes and he tried to stifle the sobs t hat
,
-

came so t hick an d first b ut come they wou l d still

, ,

and at last Mr R an dall lifted hi m up in hi s s trong

.

arms and a ske d him if he shoul d carry him h ome

, .
90 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

For an swer A ndré wound his little arms round the

artist s neck and laid his head on his sho u l der con
’

fidi ngl y .

“
Where does he live my girl ? ,

Upthe hill mon sieur close to the church ; I wil l

, ,

”
sho w you the way .

S O the three started O ff together leav in g the others ,

on the shore to welcome the fishermen who were j ust

coming in U p the hill they went Mr R andall carry
.
, .

ing hi s little burden the girl clattering o n b efore them

,

in her wooden shoes singing litt l e snatches of song

,

i n a shrill piping v oice .

A t last sh e stopped before a low buildi ng with a

thatched roof l ev el with the top of the door Tw o
, .

or three fowls walked out as she walked in and ,

b eckoned to Mr R andall to follow her

. .

M ere A nnette is v ery deaf she said ; there she ,

“

It was a strange dwellin g into which the artist was

introduced he took it all in at a glance and m ade ,

up his mind that the very next day he would ask

permission to draw it .

S uch an in terior is not O ft e n to be seen he said

“
,

Th e floor was of earth v ery u n ev en in some pla ces

, ,
 L I / TL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

’
man s kindness a n d proceeded to say that he was the
,

clever monsieur who dre w the beautiful pictures and ,

’ '

who was going to give her A ndré s picture the very

ne xt da y .

The n the ol d woman looked l ovingly at the sleepy

little boy and again bowed to Mr R andall and fetch
,
.
,

ing a pl ate from a distan t corn er of the room she took

a beautiful brown pan cake from the pan and begged
him to eat it which of course he did and expressed
, ,

his approval and gratitude through litt l e Jeannette ,

who was delighted to act as in terp reter he havi ng ,

'
entirely failed to m ake the deaf old woman hear or
understand one word he said .

He received a gracious permission to come the

next day and paint that strange interior ; then with
,
.

‘
a parting glance at the sleepin g A n dré he went b ack
t o the queer little inn where he had take n u p his

quarters for a few days .

He heard the sound of footsteps comi ng from the

beach and he pictured the si m l pe Breton folk sitting
,

on the hard benches a t their fe te day supper si n ging

-

their old songs and telling their strange O l d legen dary

tales Then he turned into his roo m and had h i s first
.

experience of one of those strange shutting u p bed

’

steads which he had see n in M ere A nnette s cotta ge

’
.
 ON FOREI GN SHORES . 93

I t was somewhat close and stu ffy and this may

,

’
have accounted for the artist s troubled dreams in ,

which A n dré and li ttle Nicco and storms a nd s hi p

,

wrecks were mixed u p i n stran g e confusion an d whe n

,

at las t he awoke the su n was streaming into h i s room

, ,

and he heard the chattering of little v oices under his

w indo w,
and the nam e of the E nglish gen tleman w as
u po n every tongue .

Whe n he came down to b reakfast a little party of

‘
three or four children wal ked into the sa l l e a m a nger
in the most unceremo nious way to know when A ndré s
,
’

likeness would be ready for M ere A nnette A n dré him

.

self i n his holiday suit e viden tly dressed up for the

,

occasion had quite recovered from his fright and

, ,

seemed perfectly at his c a se with his new friend .

 C HA PTE R X .

TH E W R I TI N G I N O LD MO TH ER H UB B A R D .

TH EY all went up together and sat on the steps of

t h e C alvary and A n dre s likeness grew b e fore their
’

delighted eyes and it was a mattero f diffi culty to

,

get them to move when dinner time came .

A fter that meal was o v er there w as a counter ,

attraction of some kind on the beach and b esides this , ,

Mr R andall had an nounced his intention of goin g

.

’
to M e re A nnette s cottage and drawing her room .

This the children looked upon as a great wan t of

taste on his part for there was really nothing pretty
,

in that room .

Now Jean G ou a rh n é had some beautiful pictures

in his house ships and horses pigs and cows which
, , ,

th e monsieur would do we ll to copy b ut as for the ,

Penv ra z abode what could he see in it

,

They shrugged their little shoul ders in true French

fashion and Mr R andall felt that he had fall e n co n
, .

si dera b l
y in their estimation .
96 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL AS .

and her dog and has m a d e up a story from his

,

’
picture book although he can t read it because it s
,
’

”
not a French book Tell mon sieur about it A nd ré
.
, .

Mr R andall went on with his p ainting the little

.
,

girl s words ringin g i n his ears

’
.

Th e child of the sea ; Fran c ois Pen vra z picked

him u p and brought him home to Mere A nnette ;
b e repeated the words in French and said What do , ,
“

you mean Jeannette ? when and where and how was

, , ,

he picked u p
Jeannette did not answer the question for A ndré ,

had trotted off to a corner of the room and out of ,

a little woo den box had b rought out a tattered

book a very strange book to be found in any Breto n
—

house n one other than a copy of th at learned and

—

”
popular work O ld Mother Hubbard
, .

There were the old dame and her dog o n the

frontispiece j ust the same familiar picture upo n
,

which Mr R andall in common with m ost E nglish

.
,

men had gazed with delighted eyes when h e was a

,

little boy there were the verses so graphically

describing the thrilling incidents of th e tale , and
there was one thing more something on the fly l eaf , ,

wh ere of c ourse there was n o picture upon which it

, , ,

might ha ve b een n atural th at the artist would like to

 OLD MO TH ER H UBB A RD . 97

linger an d yet at which he stared in a bewildered

,

fashio n for a second or two .

There were a few words written there wh ich Mr ,

R a ndall himself would have been the first person to

confe ss were somewhat di fli c u l t to decipher for he ,

was always willing to own hi s own deficiencies and , ,

strange though it may seem it was his own hand ,

writing upon which h e was looking and the words ,

he read were
Nicco a little l a d from his friend Joh n R andal ]
, , .

Th e children stood looking at h i m wonderi ngly ,

eviden tly astonished at his want of taste in not turn

ing over the leaves of O ld Mother Hubbar d more
“

quickly .

A t last he took the boy on his knee and kissed the

tanned forehead and the golden hair and said in a , ,

voice which trembled so that Jean nette said after

wards that she thought h e had been crying ,

“
Nicco Nicco my little lad
, ,
.

”
A z i c kl ez a d repeated Nicco (we must call our
,

little hero by his right n ame now) A z i ck l ez a d ,

“
,

’ ”
that s my n ame ! and a look was upon his face as
though something o n ce familiar but long forgotten , ,

’
had come to him an d h e patted the artist s cheeks
,

and pulled his long beard and said Nicco Nicco ,

“
, ,
 L I TTL E SI R I VI C H O L A S .

A z i c k l ez a d
and then he l aughed merril y evident ly
, ,

very well pleased with himself a nd his frien d .

No more of the in terior of the cottage was drawn

H e took th e b oy on hi s k n ee , an d kis se d th e ta nn ed
foreh ea d , a n d th e
g olden h a i r
.

that day nor the next nor the n ext A hasty sketch
, , .

was taken of it j ust the very hour before Mr R andall

, .

and Nicco left for E ngland a w eek aft erwards, .

But before that time came there was very much to

100 L I TTL E SI R N I CHOL A S .

d a zzled at the thought that his humble home had

sheltered what he chose to call an E ngli sh Milord
”
a real S are .

D u rin g the fe w days before Fran c ois came home Mr , .

R andall had picked up the princip al detai l s of the

finding of Nicco .

I n a ra ging storm on that wild Breton coast o n e ,

O cto b er n ight an I talian brig had been wrecked

, .

S h e fired her guns and Fran c ois Pen v raz an d another

,

b rave fi sherm an went off to the rescue an d saved ,

’
one ma n out of six I n that m an s ar ms was a l ittle
.

boy .

Th e poor fellow only lived two days and during ,

that time he told how it was that the child had b ee n

a passenger on b oard that ill fated b rig -
.

S h e had come upo n a homeward bou n d stea mer -

cut in two in a fog Th e captai n ha d waited about

.

near the wreck to do what he could but the o nly ,

living creature who had b een rescued by him was a

little boy They had picked up a few b oxes a n d
.
,

those were washed ashore upo n the beach at Plou

gastel a n d the conten ts di v ided bet w een Penv ra z and
,

h i s companion .

Nothing of any great val ue was found A few .

cl othes some I ndian swe e tmeats and in o n e little

, ,
 OLD . l l O TH E R HUBBA RD . 101

’
case a child s wa rdrobe underlinen m ost daintily —

’
made some pretty frocks and a tiny sailor s suit ;
, ,

last but not least the famous History of Mother

, ,

”
Hubbar d .Th e fashion of the little clothes and the
marks on the linen were the same as those which the
boy was wearing ; and when he saw the book he
hailed it as an old friend and proceeded to embrace ,

the old lady and the dog rapturously .

There w a s one more proof of identity which Mr .

R an dall could establish .

He remembered h ow one day when Nicco was a

baby his father had drawn down his sleeve and shown
,

him a strangely large mole on the fa t little left a rm ,

and there it was n ow clearly and distinctly proving

, ,

if fu rther p roof were necessary that A ndré was none ,

other th an S i r Nicholas Tremaine .

Mr R andall wrote to Messrs Harris and Graham

. .
,

’
of L in coln s I nn Fields a nd told them the strange
,

story and he sent off a telegram to Mr C arew

, .

Tell L ady Tremain e that Nicco is found beyond the

”
shado w of a doubt Both of us home within a week
. .

Th e l ast day came the la st time for Nicco to play

,

with hi s little friends or to sit in the old house with

,

his Father and Grandmother as he sti l l called ,

Fran c ois Pen vra z and M ere A nn e t te .

102 L I TTL E SI R N I CH OL A S .

I n spite of the j oy Mr R andall felt at having found

.

the boy his heart was very fu ll of sadness for last

, ,

ti m es are sad things to thoughtful minds they mean

that what has bee n can n ever come again quite in the ,

’
sa m e way and N i c c o s si mple life in the Breton
,

fishi ng v i ll a ge in another day would be a thing of

'
, ,

the past and the l ittle feet would enter into the n e w
,

and yet untried path of the future .

There was a supper given in hi s honour in the

room with the hard seats and the wooden table and ,

the beds (shut up for the occasion ) in the co rner , .

Poor old M e re A nn ette made more pancakes than

she had ever made in her life and she sat at the head ,

of the festive board and her son sat at the foot , ,

with Mr R andall on one side of h im and Nicco on the

.
,

other .

’
They drank th e little Baronet s health and called ,

”
him Milord S are Nicholas and the poor little fello w , ,

who was so sleepy that he could scarcely keep his

eyes O pen m ade a little speech which he had learnt
,

by heart in which he said

,

Thank you all my kind friends and I love you

, ,

v ery much and I hop e y ou will all come and see me

,

in E nglan d and I will p ray to the good God to bles s

,

”
you a l l .
104 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

’
w as told they were A ndré s present ( he was always
A nd r é to her) she cried for joy and kissed the boy
, , ,

and told him he was the comfort of her old life .

O ne c ow had been her heart s desire for years ;

’
“

what could she say of two ? God was too good to

”
her .

Th e poor old soul walked off with her treasures to

the long empty stables at the back of the house and
-
, ,

when she returned to the solitary room she went up ,

’
and kiss e d little N i c c o s likeness .

I t was all she could do now for by that time Nicco,

himself was in the ferry boat half way over to Brest

-

from whence he and Mr R andall were to t ak e the

.

tra in for Cherbourg .

A l l the village had go n e do w n to the b each to see

them off Nicco l n his holiday suit with a large red
—
,

rose in his button hole -

.

They cheered the little lad lustily and shook ,

hands with him and kissed him and seemed as ,

tho u gh they could not part with him .

A gain the C ure blessed him again poor Fran c ois ,

Penv ra z took him in his arms and bade him never

fo rget him, nor M ere A nnette and promised in ,

broken whispers that he would soon come to E ng

,

land to see him in his gran d n ew home .

 OLD A I O TH E R HUBBA RD . 105

Poor Nicco did not quite understand what it a l l

meant ; h e cheered also until he stood by Mr
, .

’
R andall s side upon the ferry boat and then when
-

he saw red an d blue handkerchiefs raised to the eyes

of young and old ( even Monsieur l e C uré s red ’

handkerchief was v erv conspicuous ) and when he

heard the echo of loud sobs the loudest of all pro
,

c eedi n
g fr om little Jeannette he took out his hand
,

kerchief ( which was blue) and sobbed for company s ’

sake and Mr R andall lifted him up and bade him

,
.
,

’
take off his fish er s cap and wav e it He waved that
.

and the handkerchief together and kept on doing it

, ,

until the group on the shore had turned home w a rds .

”
A n d so it was that Milord S are Nicholas looked
“

his last look for a long long time Upon his old home
, .
 C H A PTE R X I .

A TE L E GR A M .

TH E V icar
of Trecastle was at dinner when he
receive VI r R andall s telegram
s. .
’
.

He was an old man and generally took an afte r

,

dinne r nap but on that evening he astonished his

,

servants by rin ging the bell m ore violently than he

had ever been known to ring it before and told ,

the housemaid that he did not want anything

more than the soup of which he had already par
taken he was going up to the C ottage and he did not
,

know when he should be back

I beg your pardon sir
“
,
answered S arah who
, ,

had lived at the Vicarage for fiv e and thirty years — -

’ ”
but I h O pe my L ady isn t il l ?
I l l !what are you dreaming about my good girl ? ,

(Mr Carew always called S arah a girl althou gh she

.

would be fifty on h er next birthday) I ll I shou l d.

“

think not sh e has not been so w ell for years ; that is ,

when I get u p there she wi l l be better than she has

108 L I T TL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

Never mind about the secrets you ha ve kept my ,

good gi rl I only want you to keep this one for a

,

’
day or two S arah it s wonderful news that came
.
,

inside that yellow envelope you brought me in j ust

now O ur own little Master Nicco is alive and well
. .

Mr R andall has found him in some out of the way

.
- - -

”
French place and he 7 ,38 S i r Nicholas .

S arah felt as though she ought to faint ; it was a

thing she always seemed to think she ou ght to do if
she was told any great news whether sad or j oyful ; ,

fortunately she never managed to accomplis h it and ,

'

on this occasion she only sank down upon a chair ,

and the good old Vicar hurried a w ay an d left h er to

recover as best she could
W hen a few min utes after w ards she returned to
, ,

the kitchen and was questioned by the cook as to

’
the cause of the master s extraordinary behaviour
w ith respect to the leg of mu t ton she drew herself ,

u
p with dig n ity and said she hoped she
,
k n ew
“
her
”
place better than to ask any questions .

Meanwhile Mr C arew was walki n g as quickly as

, .

he could running was impossibl e eve n under such

—
,

circumstances to the C ottage—

.

Th e sun had long set but the harvest moon was

,

ri i ng a bove t h e he a dl a nd
s and leavi ng a track of
,
 A TEL EGRA M 109

light upo n the sea and as he stood waiting for ,

adm i ssion at the door he took O ff h i s hat and ,

thanked God for his goodness and murmured ,

”
Th e sea has given up her dead .

”
R obinson he s a id as he stood i n the hall
, ,

taking off his great coa t R obinson my good fellow , , ,

”
shake hands .

’ ’
R obinson s fears for the Vicar s sanity were roused ,

as S arah s had been at this very peculiar greeting

’
,
.

Mr C are w was known for miles round as being

.

the most pleasant gentleman that ever was but h e ,

was not in the habit of shaking hands with the

butler except on Christmas D a y and then he did it
, ,

in a quiet clerical kind of way not at all with the

, ,

excitement of this evening .

“
You ll stay outside the door if you ple a se R obin
’

son i h case I want y ou

,
I should like you to be .

within call ; I think it j ust possible your mistres s

may faint though of course I ll do it as gently as I
,
’

”
can.

”
“
Yes sir answered R obinson respectfully try ing
, , ,

to conceal hi s astonishment then as the door O f L ady ,

’
Tremaine s sitting room closed behi n d the Vicar he -

said to himself ,

O n e wo u ld th ink he w a s a going to draw a tooth -

Q
110 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

’
for her ladyship I hope he hasn t had a stroke of
.

a r a l l i l s or anythin g like that v e heard as it ofte n

’

p I .

begins by the parties as is took not kn ow i n g what

”
they are saying of .

Mr C arew ne ed have been under no appreh ension

.

as to the way in which the gentle O l d l a dy might

take the news he had brought her .

S h e was sitting near the windo w looking at the ,

moon upon the sea ; she had told R obinson not to

draw do w n the blinds and only the soft light o f a
,

’
shaded lamp w a s upon the table under Niec e s
likeness throwing a glow upon the bright little
,

fa ce .

“
I was looking at the wondrous sea sh e said , ,

after she had greeted h i m in her usual courteous way .

A n d he laying his hand upo n her arm and looki n g

, ,

straight up at the picture said Wondrous indeed , , ,

L ady Tremaine so wondrous that she sometimes

, ,

gi v es u p her dead
S omething in his face and in the tone of his vo 1ce
told her what i t was he had come to say .

”
You have brought me news she said news , ,

of our little Nicco Tel l it me please at once I can

.

”
bea r i t .

H e handed her the teleg ram and she went to the ,

112 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

that will come to those he loved so well on earth ,

whom he loves with a better lo v e n ew

For answer she bowed h er head upon her hands ,

and the Vicar heard her murmur Poor little Gerald

, ,

”
it will be hard for him .

U p to that moment the good Vicar had not given

the poor little ( supposed) Baronet a thought ; there
had been n o room for a ny one but Nicco l n his lo v ing
’
old heart ; he had been his father s and his uncle s
’

tutor he had baptized t hem and prepared them for

,

C onfirmation and W alter s b oy must necessarily be

’

very dear to him .

When th e thought of Gerald did come to him he ,

was very so rry for th e boy and wondered what would

,

become of him and of his mother and sister .

”
I have o n ly one r e quest to make said L ady,

Tremaine ; when we know a little more I should ,

like to tell Mrs Tremaine and Gerald about it m yself

. .

I shou l d like to make it as easy for them as possible ,

for it will be very hard .

I am sure you will do it better than any one else .

O f cou rse it must be a te rrible disappointment to them ,

”
but still they ought to be glad that Ni cco is found .

I think Gera ld will be ; he is a brave generous ,

little fellow he has been very good to me and has

 A TE L E G R A I II . 113

b rightened my lonely old life for the last three

months ; and now my little Nicco is coming my ,

own littl e sailo r l a d to bring me still greate r

,

brightness .

Poor R obinson stood for a long time outsi de his

’
mistress door until at last the Vicar came ou t and told
,

him that her ladyship wished to speak to him .

He poor old fello w behaved more foolishly than

, ,

any on e when he was told the news he sobbed like

a baby and could hardly b e persuaded from going
,

do w n to the village to blazon it abroad .

“
I t must be a secret until we he a r more partien
lars L ady Tremaine said
,
I hope I can trust y ou
.
,

R obinson .

Thus put upon his metal of course the old man ,

felt that he must not tell any one the j oy that had
come to the v illage with the light of the harvest
moon only he explained to his friends afterwards
, ,

that those two days had nearly proved fatal to him ,

had it not been for an occasional dose O f peppermint

wate r which he al w ays maintained was the finest
, , ,

medicine ou t he felt sure he should have died of

,

”
combustion of the heart .

Tw o days a ft er w ards anothe r visitor arr ived fo r

,

L ady Tremaine and spent most o f the day in h e r

,
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

sitting room the Vicar being called in in the after

,

noon to assist at the council .

Th e v isitor was the senior partner of the firm of .

Messrs Harris and Graham of L incoln s I nn Fields

.
,
’
.

There was a great deal of talk in that usually quiet

little room a great deal of dry law detail w hich it
,

would be rather wearisome to write abou t still more ,

wearisome perhaps to read L ady Tremaine was for .

the present Mr Harris assured her until she

, .
,

appointed any one else the natural guardian of her ,

’
dead son s boy .

’
Th e estate was absolutely N i c c o s subj ect only to ,

’
the payment of his Grandmother s dower apart from
this she was a rich woman having inherited a large ,

fortune from her mother and with her own she could ,

do as she liked without in any way wronging Nicco

, .

What she liked to do and what she did do was , ,

to settle a large sum of money then and there upon

G erald and a smaller sum upon his mother and
,

sister .

“
I t is but j ust she said and I am fond of the
, ,
!

boy .

Neither Mr Harris nor the Vicar attempte d to

.

oppose her wishes ; they knew they had no right

whatever to do so they cou l d but say and think that
 L I I TL E NI CHO L A S
’

SIR .

had come to her ; the loss to them Poor Mrs Tre . .

maine who was a good little wo m an was really glad

, ,

for the friend who had b een so kin d to her h ey ; what

it all meant to Gerald she had hardly time to thi nk ,

for the kind O l d lady was sitting with her hand in

hers telli ng all that sh e had done and how glad and
, ,

thankful she had been to do it .

A s for Gerald him self he had a v ague idea that ,

every thi ng would go on j ust as it had done before ,

only that he wo uld have what he was always longin g ,

for a companion of his own age some one better than

, ,

the fisher b oys who were the o nl y lads in Trecastle

, .

L ady Tremaine put her arm round him and kissed

’
him and said
,
You don t mind about i t do you
,
“
,

G erald
’
N ot a bit Granny ; I m awfully glad I l l be S i r
,
’

Gerald and he ll be S i r Nicholas and I will ride

,
’

’
D andy and he will ride Peterkin and won t we hav e
, ,

”
fun ?
Yes dear I hope you will be great friends and
, , ,

have great fun ; only Gerald you will not be S i r , ,

Gerald any more although everything el se will be

,

”
j ust the same .

“
A n d will he Nicco be S i r Nicholas ?
, ,

Yes dear because you see S i r N icholas my b u s

, , , , ,
 A TE L E G R A I I I . 117

band was his grandfather and his uncle Nicholas

, ,

and his father died and so the little boy our little
, ,

Nicco is the rightful heir ; it was only because we

,

thought he was dead Gerald that you came to us , , ,

b u t I am glad you did come my boy and in all else , , ,

but that you will not b e S i r Gerald every thing w i l l ,

be j ust as it has been .

“
A n d you will be my Granny still said the boy , ,

”
“
and you wil l love me best .

I will aways love you very much dear , .

Better th a n Nicco you have never seen him ,

”
and you may not like him a bit .

Gerald my boy Nicco must always be dearest to

, ,

me for the sake of those who are gone but for your ,

”
own sake I must always love you very dearly then ,

she kissed him more lovingly than she had ever kissed
him before and he went away with his Mother with
,

something of the O l d scowl upon his han dsome little

face .

Mother he said if she doesn t al w ays love me

, ,
“ ’

”
better th a n she loves Nicco I will hate him ,
.

Hush darling you must not say such things as

, ,

”
that Nicco is her own little grandson .

Gerald did not answer for they were in the vil ,

lage by this time and there every one was astir the
,

R
118 L I TTL E SIR NI CH O L A S .

fi rst tidings of the great news had oozed out and

eve ry man woman a n d child i n the place talked as fast
, ,

and loud as he or she could a n d in their pleasure ,

and excitement they all greeted Mrs Tremaine and .

G e rald with great respect and even co rdial ity , Tom .

A usten himsel f the cen t re as he usually w a s of the

, , ,

youngsters took off his cap and made quite a low b o w

, ,

”
and said Good evening sir ; a fine evening ain t it ?
“
, ,
’

’
Poor little chap I m sorry for him for he ll neve r
, ,
’

”
be nothing more than a D utchman now he said to ,

his companions .

A t which piece of wit the othe r s of cou rse laughe d ,

but in thei r hearts they were all rather sorry for the
manly little fellow .

Human nature is better than we gene rally gi v e it

credit for being ; no one except a co w ard likes to hit a
man or a boy either when he s down and poo r
, ,
’

Gerald w a s down n o w To have been a Baronet and

.
,

then to be by common co n sent sen tenced neve r to

ri se above being a D utchman ( although none of the
Tr ecastle child ren could have quite defined what a
D utchman meant ) was O f course a position which
,

called fo rth some pity .

Th e boy and his mother went home to tell the

great news to Ma rgaret .
 L I TTL E SIR NI CHO L A S .

news h a d been duly discussed and Nolan who knew , ,

everything and had h a d friends in B rittany once upon

,

a time had given his O pinion as to the length of ti m e

,

the j ourney would take she said timidly Mr Nolan, ,

.
,

I want Gerald to love Nicco ; do you think he will

’
This was a point u p on which the O l d shoemaker s usual
oracle could not of course b e said to have gi v en any
O pinion . A l l he could do was to scratch his head an ,

experiment to which he always resorted when he

was puzzled and to say I hope he will little Miss
, , , ,

’ ”
I m sure I think as how he ought to .

A n d i f he doesn t Mr Nolan what am I to do ?

’

, .
,

I expects little Miss h i m in Heliotrope Gardens

, ,

would say Just b ear it and b e patient it s j ust one

, ,
’ ’

of them things where doing won t do nothing a n d ’

h ea ri ng will do a lot and you can get alon g the track

,

by h ea ri ng just as much as by doing ; and perhaps if

,

I may make so bold as to say it if you ll j ust put it

’

’
into your prayers that you re a bit an xious about it ,

’
I l l put it into mine and God will answer them ,

praye rs in the way He thinks best and it will be al l ,

right little Miss as h i m in Heliotrope Gardens say s

, , ,

although sometimes it may seem a bi t rough and

”
croo k ed lik e .
 C H A PTE R X I I .

TH E DEPO SED MO N A R C H AN D TH E R EI G N I N G
MO NA R CH .

J US T one week had passed away si n ce that even ing

when the Vic a r had received the yello w env elope the ,

contents of which were to make so much di fference

in the lives of so many of ou r friends A nd now a .

second yello w envelope had come to the village post

o ffi ce not this time addressed to the Vicar but to
,

L ady Tr emaine herself Th e message came from

.

Plymouth and said

, A l l well home by the fi ve
”
o clock t rai n
’

Five minutes after its receipt at th e C ottage ,

R obin on stood u pon the v il lage green and read it

s

in loud tones to the assembled crowd A nd the .

c rowd cheered as only E nglish m e n ca n cheer and ,

the white ge e se and the grey donkey respectively

cackled a n d brayed and the other geese and the
,

ducks and the old brown do nkey (

, who was gener
122 L I TTL E SI R NI CH OL A S .

ally sup posed to be too old and too stupi d to do

anything) followed their leade rs and cackled and ,

brayed also and the noise altogether was so deafening

,

that R obinson was obliged to beg them to be quiet ,

as h er ladyship was sitting at her windo w and it ,

might distu rb her Her ner v e ; was a bit upset that

.

”
morning as was but natu ral like
, .

O f course the clamour at once ceased

,
No on e .

in all Trecastle would think of disturbing their own “

lady —
no one but the brown donkey who showed ,

his stupidity by braying loudly until every one had

gone away ; then he ste pped and ate his dinner .

I t seem ed the longes t afternoon that any of the

good people of Trecastle h a d ever known .

They had nothing to do but to wait for all the ,

preparations had been made There was an arc h .

,

gay with flowers at the entrance of th e village ; the re

,

were flags hanging from eve ry cottage w i ndow and ,

eve ry mast of every boat was decorated in some w a y

or another .

A n d there were more Welcomes and L ong “ “

L ives than you could count in all imaginable places , ,

the most original being suspended upon cards of

different sizes round the necks of th e donkeys an d
the geese and the ducks who all see m ed to rise to
,
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

he had taken very particular pain s with his window .

A midst several vases of flowers (or rather what were ,

supposed to represent vases some being ginger beer ,

-

b ottles and others milk jugs) stood a pair of shiny

-

Wellington boots ornamented with two red paper

,

wreaths and suspended abo v e them was a card beari ng

, ,

the follo w ing inscription

WE L C O ME AND L O NG L I '
FE r o SIR N I C KL I S ,

F R O M TI MO TH Y NO L A N ,

Once B ootma k er to th e f a st Ca sei n Of th e R i te Wussh ipfa l l

TH E LOR D MA R E OF L O ND O N .

I t m ay
be well to remark here that S i r N i c k l i s
w a s much struck with these boots and pointed them

out to Mr R andall as they drove past O f course

. .
,

he did not understand E nglish so could not read th e ,

writing ; doubtless in his little mind he tho u ght it

looked very well although he said nothing about it
,
.

Th e hours of that S eptember afternoon passed

a w ay as all hours do pass away whether they b rin g ,

j y or sorrow with them Th e sun shone brightly

o . ,

as it had done all th rough the da y and at fi ve ,

’
o clock the church bells began to chime out their
glad welcome to the little boy who was comi ng to the
home of his ancestors .
 DEPOSED A N D REI GNI NG MONA RCHS . 125

A nd as the bells began to ring th e wind began to ,

rise borne in upon the wav es with a low moaning

,

sound which portended a coming storm But no one

,
.

heeded the portent very much for there w a s not one ,

single Trecastle boat at sea No fisherman amongst .

them all would have been absent from the v illage on

that day e ven had they kn ow n that a shoal of
,

pilchards was waitin g for them outside .

Through the clan g of the b ells and the m ea n i n g ,

waves and the whistling wind another sound w a s

, ,

heard the rumble of carriage wheels and soon the

—
,

’
horses heads were seen turnin g the corn er of the
road an d two old fiddl ers struck up S ee the
,
“
,

”
conquering h ere comes ! and a rush was m ade at
the old fashioned landau where the Baronet sat by
-

the side of Mr R andall look ing v ery shy and very

.
,

tired .

A t Cherbourg a little over coat had b een bought

,
-

for h i m and he h a d worn it du ring the voyage to

,

Pl ymouth in fact until he a n d his friend found

, ,

themselves the sole occupants of the first class car -

ri a e by which they were to travel to S t P t k

g e ro c s .

S tation .

Then the artist bethought himself of making the

lit t le lad look as tidy and as pictures que as possible ,
126 L I TTL E SI R NI CH O L A S .

so he took off the over coat and smoothed the rather-

,

crumpled shi rt frills and put a rose into the little

,

button hole a n d then he looked at him and thought

-

what a sweet little fellow he was and how they had ,

all loved him at Plougastel and then he sighed and ,

wondered what t his new life might be to the chil d .

’
Niec e s dress was what it h a d been on the fe te
day when he first saw him only a pa i r of blue and
, ,

red striped trousers had been substituted for the white

ones which rather added to the a l rea dv brilliant
,

colouring of the other parts of his att i re ; and so it

was in this strange u n E nglish dress that S i r -

Nicholas Tremaine made his triumphal entry in to

the village .

Th e carriage stopped at the paddock gates for a ,

bright idea had struck s ome one which was that j ust , ,

under the words of welcome to My noble little “

R i der Peterkin should be in waiting bridled and

, ,

saddled with Tom A usten standing at his head

, .

Th e e ffect was grand ; Peterkin held up his head

’

bravely and Nicco clapped his little hands w ith

,

delight when he saw him and was told by Mr R a n , .

dall that he was his very own pony E very one .

wanted a shake O f the hand poor Nicco was thoroughly ,

be w ildered be fore i t w a s all ove r but he bore it very ,

128 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

sented themselves to the Baronet who at the sight , ,

of them went off into a merry laugh and someh o w

, ,
,

looked upon them as old friends for donkeys and ,

geese and ducks a re much the same all the world over ,

and at Plougastel there were a great m a ny of them .

A nother minute or two and the c a rri a ge w a s ,

d rivi ng slowl y u p the steep drive which led to the

C ottage and for the first time Nicco looked upon
,

Tr ecastle Bay and saw the great waves dashi n g

against the rocks .

A h ea t from the other side was trying to make its

wa
y across ,
one moment rising above the billows the ,

next moment hidden ben eath them A n d a s he .

,

looked Nicco drew nearer to his friend and put his

, ,

little hand i n his and said

O h Monsieur they will b e drown ed indeed they
, ,

No my little la d they are quite sa fe this is

, ,

”
n othi n g of a storm Nicco ,
.

O h yes it is a storm , the waves are high I wish

,
.

”
the little b oat would come to shore .

By this time they were at the door of the C ottage ,

and o n the steps stood the Vicar and R obin son Mr . .

R andall got out first an d lifted the little fel l ow

,

i n his arms .
 DEPOSED A N D REI GNI NG III ON A R CH S . 129

My little lad God bless you said the Vicar the

, , ,

tears in his O l d eyes .

“
Welcome home S i r Nicholas said R o b in son in
, ,

’ ”
a shaky voice ; I m glad to see y ou sir , .

For answer Nicco held out his little hand and

,

”
said H o w do you do ? to each of them ; then he
lifted his little red cap and bowed and added his ,

”
last new word S ank you,
.

W hen he had done this he cl ung very closely to

Mr R andall as though he were afraid O f what would
.
,

happen nex t .

Th e good man had made somewhat of a mistake

he was devoted to children to Nicco in p articular , ,

but this only made him over anxious that the b oy

should please his Grandmother .

’
He had truth to tell resented the ol d lady s
, ,

evident affection for Gerald and he wanted the first ,

impressions of his little friend to be g ood ; con

sequen tly he had t ried hard to schoo l h i m into
,

proper behaviour and as a m atter course had ever

, , ,

don e it Th e l ittle lad had not b ee n prepared for

.

’
the villagers ovation and he had take n it quite,

natural ly and did his part well but he k n ew now

, ,

that he was go i n g to be in troduced to a grandmother

w h o was not Mere A nn ette and his courag e faile d ,
130 L I TTL E SI R I VI C H O L A S .

him and Mr R andall had to carry him u pstairs and

, .

push him gently into the room .

A n old lady tall and gra ceful and digni fi ed as

, , , ,

unlike the old woman sitting in the chimney corner

o f the poor old house at Plougastel as can possibly

be imagined advanced to meet him and then knelt

, ,

down and put her arms round him and sobbed little ,

gentle sobs and said Nicco Nicco thank God you

, , ,

”
have come home .

A n d all poor Nicco did was to wriggle and try and ,

get away from those lo vi ng arm s .

Nicco speak to your Grandmother

, ,

R andall .

”
How do you do Madame ? ,

Not Madame Nicco darling Granny , , .

'

O f course Nicco did not understand what was

expected of him and looked at his friend for an ,

explanation I t was given in French a language of

.
,

which poor L ady Tremaine did not understand o n e

word .S h e h a d learnt to read it when she was at
school but it was a l l forgotten now
,
.

”
“
You are to say Granny Nicco said Mr R andall , , .
,

getting impatient .

B u t Nicco either could not or would not obey he

began to c ry and to say he wanted to go b ack to
132 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

Ithink he is afraid of the storm ; he al w ays was ,

they tell me at Plougastel

,

his time La dy Tremaine smi l ed but it w a s a

T ,

grave so rro w ful smile ; He has changed his mind

,
“

since the days when he resolved to be a sailor she ,

said
There is time enough for him to change it again
within the next few years ; I am quite sure he will
”
never be a cowar d .

“
I hope not ; no Tremaine ever was one Perhaps .

he is tired poor little man and he had better go

, ,

home at once Mrs Tremain e has your room ready ;

. .

we hope you wi l l stay as long as you can until ,

Nicco has made frien ds with us all S O Nicco was .

told to wish his Grandmother good bye which he -

did by holding u p hi s little fa ce for a kis s and ,

saying S ank y ou and then he once more put his

, ,

’
hand in his friend s and trotted off j oyfull y
, .

He was n ot so frighten ed at the thought of his

n ext v isit ; he knew he was to see a little boy not
much older th a n himself with whom he was to play , ,

and there was a girl also bigger than Jeannette but , ,

j ust as k i n d and good as she was and the boy would ,

be his brother and the girl his sister

, .

Th ey stood i n the b a l l a s h e j umped out of the

 DEP OSED AN D R E I G N / [VG [MONA RCHS. l 33

car riage and Gerald in his black velvet suit w i t h

,

lace collar and cu ffs a manly handsome little fellow

, , ,

went forward to mee t him a s he had been tol d to

I a m v ery g la d to
“ see y ou .

do and shook han ds with him and sa id I am very

, , ,

”
glad to see you.

A n d Nicco this time did not say the usual H o w

13 4 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

do you do but by some happy inspiration he took

,

o ff his cap and stood for a minute looking round

,

hi m on the doorstep then he smile d and made a

, , ,

”
little bow and said S ank you
, , .

A n d thus it was that the deposed mo n arch and

the reigning monar ch met o n the thr eshold of the
old Ho u se on the C liff
 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

had been shy enough on that first evening he shrank ,

from her more and more as the days went on .

A s soon as he got into her pretty sitting room he —

w a s anxious to get away ; he was al w ays v e ry still ,

very quiet standin g and looking at h er w ith the

,

wistful blue eyes which reminded her of her own

dead boys ; but th ey had only looke d wistful
sometimes when they had done wrong perhaps and
, ,

were asking forgiveness at other times they used to

light up with frolic and fun and looked very much
,

’
as Niece s looked in the picture Mr R andall h a d .

painted.

Th e artist had ofte n seen that expression in them

since ; the village people said that the sparkle of

,

his blue eyes would mark him out anywhere for a

”
Tremaine ; b u t the poor loving old Grandmother
never saw it .

He used to go to see her every day with Gerald ;

and the boy who was really as nothi ng to her was ,

always bright and pleasant and loving whilst the ,

little one wh o ought to have been eve rything to her ,

would hardly let her as much as caress him .

I t was easily to be accounted for at first ; of

course all was so new and strange to him that it
might have been expected he w o uld not be quite at
 NE VER A N Y TH H VG B UT A CO WA RD . 13 7

his c a se with any on e but in a very few days in

, ,

spite of his n atural shyness the bright childish ,

’
nature asserted itself and N i c c o s laugh sounded
,

thro u gh the old rooms at the House on the C li ff j us t ,

.

a s merrily as Gerald s di d ; and when he went down

’

to the village he won all hearts by his funny little

foreign ways ; and his delight and courage the fi rst
time he mounted Peterkin made Tom A usten his
most devoted slav e .

Th e old Breton costume w a s put away and the ,

boy appeared in a sailor s dress and hat , and in the

’

evening he looked a sweet l ittle gentlem a n in a King

’
C harles suit of b lack velvet like Gerald s .

He and his littl e cousin were very good friends but ,

’
all Niec e s childish devotion was given to Margaret ;
he followed her about the house like a dog and it ,

was very pretty when he had learnt to put a few

,

E nglish words together to hear him say ,

Ma rga z et ,
“
,

”
take car e of Nicco A z i ck l ez a d .

His nu rse C lementine by name who had bee n

, ,

bo rn in E ngland of Fr eneh parents did not t a ke very ,

much notice of him ; perhaps she tho u ght it better

policy to make much of Gerald and so to please
’ ’
Gerald s mother S h e used to laugh at Niece s strange
.

ways and tell him h e was not a bit of a ge ntleman ;

,
138 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

it was no wonder that her L adyship liked Master

Gerald so much better than she liked him ; no won
der that she was sorry that he had come back from
”
the dirty old woman in Brittany .

Th e blue eyes used to do mo r e than sparkle then ;

they used to glitter with just such a light as had
shone in the eyes of some of those old Tremaines who
had stood face to face with the fee by land a n d sea ,
.

and the little fe et would come down with a stamp ,

and the angry little voice would say M ere A n n ette ,

”
is not dirty (which by the way Nicco was hardly
, , ,

the t ruth) she is my dear dear grandmere and I

,
“
, ,

want to go back to her .

U nfortunately Marga ret did not understand one

,

word of these conversations she only saw that Nicco

w a s angry whether rightly or wrongly of course she
could not j udge .

S h e ask ed him what was wrong and his explana ,

tion was gi v en in voluble French ; then she appealed

’
to C lementine who answered O h it s nothing at all
, , , ,

Miss but his ways are not l ike the ways of a l ittle
,

gentleman not like Master Gerald s ways and I was

,
’

only trying to teach him b etter and law haven t he

, , ,
’

got a temper 1
Mothe r Ma rgaret said to her mother that evening
,
 L I T TL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

the cottage and C lementine had j eered at him and

, ,

told h i m he would never be a sailor never anythi n g ,

but a coward .

Th e poor little fellow had c r ied and said ,

N O no I cannot be a sai l or ; I am afraid o f the sea

, ,
.

S h e only laughed at him and went back to th e

’
O l d story of L ady Tremaine s love for Gerald and ,

added I t was no wonder h er L adyship liked the

,

brave little boy who feared nothing better than a

, ,

”
little coward .

S h e did not mean quite all she said ; sh e was a

heedless thoughtless girl and Gerald was very much
, ,

more independent and gave her much less trouble ,

than Nicco did and as she was rather inclined to be

,

lazy she really liked him the better o f the two Th e .

day came when she was sorry for all her thoughtless
words and would when it was too late have done a
, , ,

great deal to recall them B u t we can none o f us .

recall anything we have either said or done ; we can

only repent and with God s help amend
,
’
.

Th e t r aces of tears were upon N i c c o s face when

’

he paid his vi sit to the C ottage and C lementine was ,

asked to explain what it all meant S h e told L ady .

Tremai n e that it was only because he was afraid of the

win d and that he had said he would never be a sailor
, .
 NE VE R A NYTHI NG B UT A CO WA RD . 141

You don t mean that do you Nicco ? said L ady

’

, ,

Tremain e .

Clementine interpreted the question also the a n ,

swer which was No never never ; oh please never

, , , , , ,

”
send me to sea to be drowned in the big waves .

L ady Tremaine did not speak she only looked ve ry ,

sad and very disappointed .

N icco went away and then his grandmother got

,

down the old blue book from the shelf and unclasped
the silver clasps and she put her pen through the
,

record of Nicholas Tremaine a little lad who would ,

”
have been a sailor had God spared his life which ,

was written in her husband s hand w riting ’

.

O f course it really had no right there b ut when ,

sh e had heard that the boy was safe she had written ,

these words Th e sea h a s given up her dead and

, ,

our boy is comin g home .

S h e had pleased herself by thinking poor old lady , ,

that some day in the far distance some one else would
’
write the story of S i r Nicholas Tremaine s brave
deeds and that what was there already might stan d
,

as a sort of p re face to what would come after w ards .

S h e sighed as she drew th e big black marks across

the page and wondered from whom the boy inherited
,

his co w ardi ce A nd yet she loved him so ; if

.

U
142 L I TTL E SI R NI CHO L A S .

only he could have b een as b rav e and manly as

Gerald was .

Poor Nicco went home unconscious o f the black

marks against his name in the blue book Probably .

had he kn own that they stood there he wo u ld not

have taken i t much to hear t for he did not in the ,

least understand the contents of the bulky volume

which G ranny (he had learnt to call her G ranny n o w )
used to read to Gerald as he sat at her feet lis tening
eagerly .
Q

’
I t was very like one of the b ooks in the old C uré s
study at Plougastel which he knew was a l l a b ou t the
,

S aints written i n L atin and he supposed the blue

, ,

book was also about th e S aints only writte n i n ,

'

E nglish and he made up his mind that as soon a s

, _

he cou l d understand E nglish he w ould ask Granny ,

if she would read to him about Madame S t A nne ; ,

whose picture stood side by side with h i s O w n in the ,

ol d Breton home .

A l l through t h e afternoon the storm raged and ,

the waves roa red a nd Nicco sat near the fire and
, _

stu di ed Mother Hubbard He would not be induced .

to play He said h i s head a ched and C lementine

.
,

t old him that he was a stupid little boy, and that he

“

"
w o u l d never be a man nothing b ut a coward , all in
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

’
heard a little sob proceeding from Niec e s room .

Clementine h a d gone down to her supper so the ,

girl opened the door and went in to find t h e poor ,

little fellow crying and trembling and yet t rying ,

with all his might not to make a noise .

”
N icco darling she said
,
will you come to me ?
, ,

He held out his little arms and she went and ,

fetched a warm shawl from her o w n room which ,

was only next door and took h i m in there and sang

,

to him in a l o w gentle v oice which sounded very

,

sweet through the howling win d and the rain which ,

was beating so fast again st the window .

S h e asked h i m what was the matter but of course , , ,

he did not u nderstand what she meant ; only he

stroked her cheek and said Good Ma rga z et good
, ,
—

”
to A z i ck l ez a d A n d all she coul d do was to sing on
.
,

and to murmur from time to time poor little “

”
Nicco poor little man
,
.

No no Nicco no man Clementine say no man

, .

on e cow

Not a cow darling Clementine could not have

, .

”
said th at .

“
N O man one c o w , repeated Nicco dolefully , ,

twining h i s l ittle arms more closely round Margare t s ’

neck .
 NE VER A NYTHI NG B UT A CO WA R D . 1 45

She held him u p to look at h er little pictu re and ,

then a smile came upon the tearful face for that ,

picture was an old friend O ne like it only e v er so

.
,

m uch larger hung upon the wall of a little side

,

Chapel in the C hu r ch at Plougastel and now when ,

Nicco saw it he bowed his head and made the sign

,

of th e C ross as he had been taught to do in h i s old

,

home and he said a little French p r ayer and he

, ,

’ ”
pointed to the Holy C hild and said L E nfa n t Jesus, .

Ma rgaret knew j ust enough French to know that

enfant meant child so she answered, ,

Yes Nicco darling Jesus was a little ch ild and

, , ,

”
He loves little children .

He seemed to understan d that she was saying

something about the pictu r e for he nodded his head ,

approvingly and then the long lash es closed over the

,

tired eyes and Nicco was asleep

, .

Margaret carried him back to his little bed and ,

le ft h i m there and when she said her own prayers

, ,

she asked more earnestly than she h a d eve r asked

before th at God would take care of the boy and
, ,

”
make every one good to him C lementine and all , .

Th e next morning Nicco returned to the subj ect

which h a d evidently troubled him so much a s he lay
awake in the sto r m the night befo r e .
146 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

Nicco no man only one cow he said l oc k i ng , ,

’
u
p into Margaret s face wistfu lly .

Margaret shook her head as though sh e could I i dt

understand so the little boy proceeded to explainhi s
,

m eaning in French C l em en ti n e di t qu e je n e sem i s

,

’ ”
ja m a i s ja ma i s ri en qu n n p ol tr on
a n hem me ,
f
.

Th e last word was the only one the girl was able
” ”
to grasp Poltron she repeated
. Poltron Nicco ? , , ,

’
O u i y eez Margaret r i en qa u n po l tr on
,
No , .

man one cow

,
.

Margaret went to the schoolroom an d got out the

French and E nglish dictionary and looked out for ,

the word p ol tr on There it stood p o l tr on a .

—
,

coward .

C lementin e had called him a coward an d made h i m ,

unhappy I t was too bad of her too cruel and Mar

.
,

garet went off to her mother to tell her the tale a nd ,

to ask that the nurse might b e rebuked But Mrs . .

Tremaine stood somewhat in awe of the smart French

maid who had once said

,
that in her form er “

situation she had been allowed to man age her nursery

”
and her children in her own way and had in timated ,

C lem en ti n e sa y s th a t I sh a ll n ev er be a ma n , n ev er an
y th i ng
”
bu t a c o w ar d .
 C H A PTE R X I V .

’
SI R N I CH OLAS S G U E STS .

’
TH O SE months that followed Niec e s arrival were
amongst the most stormy that the sailors on the wild
C ornish coast e v er remembered to h ave experienced .

I t seemed as though the wind was al w ays b lowin g ,

the sea always roaring .

Th e b oy was co ns tantly hearing tales of shipwreck

from Clementine who evidently thought these recita ls
,

good for her charge and the poor little fellow used
,

to lie in his bed alone and trembling yet t rying with ,

all his might to fight a ga 1n st his fears .

Margaret used to go into his room every night as

she went to bed and speak to him lovin gly and try
, ,

to soothe him ; he di d not understand half she said

at fir st b ut in the quick way in w hich childre n pick
,

up a language he picked up a great many new words

,

e ach day and two or three n ights after that one w he n

,

she had held him in her arms and shown him the
 G UES TS
’
SIR N I CH OL A S S . 149

little picture he had looked up at her and smiled and

,

said
Nicco not one c o w no mo re one man n o w , .

A fterwards when he really could speak E nglish

,

v ery fa irly he told h er i n his simple childish way

, , , ,

h o w all th rough his little life he had been afraid o f

the wind and the big wav es I t seemed that he .

either r emembered that night when Fran c ois Penv ra z

had brought him ashore out of the raging sea or he ,

h a d hea rd the Breton people tel l the story so often th at

it was always in his mind a li v ing startling reality
, ,
.

C h ristmas was very near when N icco confided his

fears and troubles to Margaret and she had tried to ,

tell him how God was always near him and the holy ,

A n gels had charge over him He used to li k e her to

.

tal k to him ; it seemed to take some of the fears

away Th e old C uré at Plougastel had told him the
.

same thing and if he said it it must be right and

, , ,

Margaret must be right als o although she was only ,

a little gi rl and of course n ot as wise as Monsieur

, , ,

l e C uré .

“
Margaret he said on e day why does Gra nny
, ,

(Nicco rolled the r in Granny wonderfully ) want me

t o be one sailo r boy

Margaret answe red by tell ing hi m a ll about the

x
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

b rave Tremaines who had been sail ors whose names ,

had been Nicholas and she ended up b y saying

, ,

“
and it is because of all this Nicco dear that y our , , ,

G ranny is so disappointed that you will not be a

”
sailor.

D oes she cry b ecause of it .

I don t know but perhaps she does sometimes ;

’

”
1 think it makes her sad .

Then there came upon Niec e s face a look Ma rgaret

’

had ne ver seen there be fore a look that was almost ,

stern in its evident determination .

Margaret Nicco w i l l b e one sailor ; he will ask

,

God to make him o n e brave sailor boy and Granny ,

will not be what you call that tri ste sad no more
,
— —
, ,

and Nicco will j ump into the big wave and n ot have ,

”
no fear for the A ngels will hold him u p
, .

A n d the boy looked out upon the troubled sea and ,

the ster n look u pon the little face changed into a

smile.

But neither big folks nor little fol ks get rid of

, ,

their fears at once e v en though they struggle a gainst

,

t hem and pray to God to help them

,
Th e help w i l l .

’
c ome but it comes in God s ow n good
, time an d ,

i n His own way .

S o many and many a ti me after that day poor ,

 L I TTL E SIR NI C HO L A S .

She did not like the idea of it at all ; she could not
bear the thought of leaving her mother and Gerald , ,

and Nicco in fact she did not quite know h ow they

,

would get on witho u t h er ; she had been so accus

t e med to think for others that she could not live ,

wi thout it ; she made opportunities for herself and ,

in the n e w luxu rious li fe she was as helpful and

u seful as she had been in the poor room amo n gst the

chimney pots -
.

S h e had found out there were other ways besides

eating dry bread in which she could give up her o w n
,

will and forgot herself

,
S h e was most anxious
.
,

perhaps about Nicco Gerald was his mother s first

,
’

thought but the poor little Baronet had no one to

,

turn to in his troubles or to talk to about his fears

, .

Gerald was o n the whole good to him that w as

, , ,

one comfort ; the fear that it might have been other

wise had almost passed away but there was still a ,

shadow of anxiety about it i n the little m aiden s ’

hea rt and she put it into her prayers as old Nolan

, ,

ha d advised her to do and he put it into his and so

, ,

she tried to t rust and not to worry .

Things went on v ery quietly during the weeks

b efore Christmas Nicco used to w a lk down by himself
.

now to the C ottage and sit with his Grandmother an d

,
 G UES TS
’
SIR N I CH OLA S S . 153

talk to her in his little shy way : and then Gerald

would come in after lessons were over bright and ,

merry and affectionate and when he appeared the

, ,

other was very silent .

He was learning to admire his cousin very much ,

to look upon him as a kind of hero whom he would

much like to imitate H e really wanted to please
.

”
Granny and the way to please her was to be like
,

Gerald ; for did she not love him best and was she ,

not sorry that he had come away from M e re A nnette ,

and robbed yes that was the word C le m entin e had

—
,

use d robbed the handsome little fellow of his rights 2

—

I t was this that was always in his mind when h e

sat in the little sitting room looking over the sea
-

this that made him so shy and so frightened ; for he

felt that he was not wanted there that Mr R andall , .

had brought him away from his own home to take

away what ought to have been Gerald s ’
.

O f course he was altogether in the wrong poor little ,

fellow ; of course he stood then and always first and , ,

’
foremost in L ady Tremaine s affections ; she loved
him so dearly that she wanted him to be all she ha d
imagined he would b e the bright brave little lad of
,

the picture and Gerald was all this she thought so ,

she could not help wishing that N icco were more l ike
 L I TTL E SIR NI CHO L A S .

his c ou sm more like her own two fearless little sons

,

had b een when they were his age A n d yet Nicco .

was fearless enough in some ways ; put aside that

ner v ous dread of wind and sea and he was e v ery bit
,

as b rav e as Gerald .

He rode j ust as well as the other boy did ; in fact

Tom A usten said his seat was every bit as good as
that of the master of the b ou n ds himself ; whilst ,

Master Gerald well he did well enough but he

, , ,

couldn t hold a candl e to S i r Nicholas n o more than

’

D andy could hold a candle to Peterkin and see him

amongst the animals at the farm ; horses and dogs
and pigs and b u lls and cows why he was j us t as much
”
at home with them as the farmer himself .

I t had been said on the authority of To m A usten ,

who was a truthful boy that u pon o n e oc casio n when

,

the two boys were walking i n a n arrow lan e Gerald ,

had run away from a somewhat fierce look ing b ull -

whilst the little Baronet had stood his grou n d like a

man and walked quietly o n as though he was p a ss
,
“

”
ing a mouse .

This of course has n othi n g to do with our story

b ut Tom b eing a reli able authority it is as well to
know his ideas upon the subj ect in this t rue chronic l e
of the life of S i r Nicholas .
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

very ugly terrier ensconced on one of the oak chairs ,

and the r e were cocks and hens m nu m era b l e pecking at

the Turkey carpet and amongst this extraordinary
,

gathering stood Nicco laughing and talki ng to his ,

guests a lternately in French and E nglish Then the

,
.

storm burst .

Mrs Tremaine was as angry as it was in her gentle

.

n ature to be C lementine looked unutterable things

, ,

and thundered out torrents of French adj ectives which ,

no one but Nicco understood and he poor little fellow , , ,

was not laughing now on the contrary very big tears ,

started to his blue eyes and ran down his cheeks , .

Margaret and Gerald looked on hardly knowi n g ,

whether it was expected of them to laugh or cry .

”
Nicco said Mrs Tremaine how dare you be
, .
,

”
have like this !
Poo rN i c c o s E nglish vocabu lary failed him entirely
’

”
S z l w a s p l a z t Madame he began
“ ’ ’ ’

ne w .
, ,
.

Tell him I can t understand what he says C lem

’

e n ti n e ask him to tell you what it a l l means .

E xplain yo ursel f you naughtiest of all most ,

”
na ughty little boys said Clementine in French
, .

A n d in Fr ench the explanation was given and duly

t ranslated by the furious C lementine .

’
“
H e says ma am that he w a s out p layin g on the
, ,
S i r N i ch ol a s
’
s G u est s.

Y
16 0 L I TTL E SIR NI C HOL A S
.

off the p remises which he l ooked upon as his own

,

peculiar right .

I t was a S ilent walk which Mrs Tremaine and .

Nicco had to the C ottage ; he knew he was in

disgrace and it began to dawn upon him that he
,

had been naughty that he ought to have remembered

,

that it was n o t E ngli sh custom to allow animals to

make themselves at home in E nglish r ooms as they ,

used to do in M ere A nnette s cabin and in h i s ’

secret heart he thought E ngl ish customs un friendly

and inhospitable infinitely inferior to the free and
,

easy l ife of the good people of Plougastel .

”
“
I ought to have remembered he said to him ,

self I know I ought Granny will be very angry ;

, .

she will say what Cl ementine says that Gerald would ,

not have done it and she wi ll love me ever so little ;

,

I daresay she w i ll not l ove me any more at all .

When they reached the C ottage Mrs Tremaine .

went straight u p stair s and told Nicco to wait until

-

she called him so he sat down in the hall and

,

talked as best he could to R obinson who was always ,

delighted to see him .

“
I hop e y ou are quite well S i r Nicholas he , ,

Yees sank you

, , R ob i n so n e
,
but naughty .
 G UES TS l Gl
’ ‘
S IR N I CH OL A S S .

’
No no si r I don t believe that
, , ,
.

Yees naughty about pigs and cocks and dining

, , ,
‘

”
room .

A l l this of cours e was as so much Hebre w a n d

G reek to R obin son who could only repeat that he ,

was quite sure S i r Nicholas was not naughty and at ,

’
this moment Mrs Tremaine s voice was heard calling .

to Nicco to come ri p stairs -

.

There sat L ady Tremaine and the Vicar and the ,

poor little lad turned ve ry red as he stood before ,

the m holding h is sailor s hat in his hand and twist ’

ing it about in a nervous kind of fashion .

’
Nicco said L ady Tremaine very slowly you
, , ,
“

have not been good .

”
No Granny , .

’
D on t you know tha t you should not have opened
”
the window and let the pigs into the dining room ? -

”
Yees Granny , .

Wh y did you do it then ?

To Plougastel to the house of M ere A nnette , ,

l ee c och on s the pigs al w ays come , , .

”
“
Yes sa id Mrs Tremaine
, I dare say he was .
,

’
allowed to do these kind of things in M ere A nnette s
house Clementine says that the Breto ns are a very
.

dirty set of people she ,

 L I TTL E SI R NI C H OL A S .

M ere A n nette no dirty M ere A nnette good , ,

cried Nicco who had only taken i n three words of

,

what Mrs Tr emaine had said. M ere A nn ette no

”
dirty C lementine no good
, .

Th e b oy thre w his hat upon the ground and

clenched his little fist and repeated ,

“
M ere A nnette good C lementine no good pigs , ,

nice .

A t this last piece of information Mr C arew , .

laughed audibly and L ady Tremaine strange to say

, , ,

did not seem to be in the least bit an gry ; she put

her arm round Nicco and took him on her kn ee , ,

and then the long pent up sobs b urst out and the ,

li ttle fellow dropped his head upon her shoulder and ,

let it rest there .

You will not do it agai n will you Nicco ? she , ,

asked gently .

“
No nevare more nevare more but M ere A nnette
, , ,

goo df
“
Yes we all know S h e is very good dear ; we know
, ,

”
t hat Nicco l o v es her .

For answer Nicco lifted up his l ittle face all b righ t ,

with smiles for a kiss and when L ady Tremaine had

, ,

given it very warmly she turned to the Vicar and ,

said cheerfully :
,
 C H A PTE R XV .

IN TH E D U C K PO ND .

C L EME N TI N E had a great deal of work to do during

the early part of D ecember ; the usual C hr istmas
’
t r ee was to take pla ce on Holy I nnocents D a y in the
o l d hall ,
and S i r Nicholas Tremaine had al ready
issued invitations requesting the p l easure of the
”
company of his village friends at an e v ening party .

Th at is to say the invitations had been sen t out b y

,

Mrs Tremaine in h i s name ; he only looked at the

.

cards and seemed very much amused and excited a

,

the thought of giving a party o f his very own and ,

he requested that there should be a great many

pancakes made for the occasion ; b ut whe n he was
told that E nglish boys and girls v ery much preferred
pl u m pudding he was quite satisfied only he said
, ,

that ev ery o n e must hav e a v ery good supper l ik e

’ ”
M ere A nnette s suppers .

’
C lementine s work i n those days was to dress
 I N TH E D UCK P OND . 165

dolls of all kinds and sizes for the tree ; she had a
French girl s taste for millinery and dressmaking
’

and very much preferred sitting in her ow n room ,

making fashionable little bonnets and gown s to ,

walking along the muddy roads with Nicco .

Th e v illage w a s so quiet so much a part of the ,

grounds of the House on the C liff that the little ,

Barone t was allowed on those D ecemb er mornings

, ,

’
after h i s hour s lessons were over to roam about ,

pretty much as he pleased and to amuse himself as ,

best he could S ometimes Gerald wou l d j oin him

.

when his work was done and the o n ly restrictio n ,

laid on the boys was that they were n ot to go near

the beach nor attempt to climb the rocks
, .

There was another b oy who j oined them some

times but Nicco did not care for him as a companion
, .

He was a great strong fellow of ten years old Joe ,

S nell by name the son of a butcher who had lately

,

come to Trecastle from Truro .

Mrs Tremaine who was very particu l ar about her

.
,

’
son s companions did not kn ow of the acquaintance
,

which had sprung u p between Gerald a n d Joe and ,

the former had made Nicco un derstand that he was

to say nothing about it .

Th e little fellow obeyed him in this as he did i n

z
 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S
.

all things for Gerald was his ideal of everything

,

that was b rave and manly ; whatever he did was

right in h i s eyes ; if Gerald liked Joe S nell Nicco ,

felt that it was his duty to like him also so he tried ,

with all his might to think that Joe was a v ery

’
nice boy but he coul dn t quite bring himself to see
,

it A n d one day in spite of his respect for his cousin s

.
,
’

better j udgment he came to the conclusion that Joe

,

”
was a bad boy a bad cruel boy
, .

I t all happened on this wise

Nicco was standing at on e end of the green
t alking to the white goose w h o always seemed ,

pleased to see him and to understand what he said

,

the donkeys on that day were at the other end of

the green and looking at them was Joe S nell
, .

Had he contented himself with looking at them ,

or even talking to them it would have been all r ight ;

,

he had as much right to look at and talk to the

donkeys as Nicco himself had to interview the white
goose ; but in a minute or two he proceeded to pick
u
p some la rge stones which were lying in a heap at

the side of the path and to pelt the unfortunate

animals vigoro u sly Th e grey donkey was young
.

a n d active and instantly trotted off at full speed

, ,

b ut the poor old brown fellow was rather sti ff in the

 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

balance slipped on the slippery grass and fell head

, ,

long into the duck pond .

A merry ringing laugh echoed through the air a ,

pair of little hands were clapped in unr estrained

amusement Nicco had not the smallest wish to be
.

’
unki nd nor to rej oice at Joe s misfortunes ; the fact
,

was he did not consider it a misfortune at all rather ,

a good j oke than otherwise Th e small b oys at .

Plougastel had often of their ow n free will amused

, ,

themselves by wadi n g thr ough a dirty pond Nicco ,

amongst them and they had all enj oyed it immensely

, ,

and had ne v er been rebuked for it b y their elders .

Then i n this i nstan ce there was the j oy of having

, ,

rid the poor old b rown donkey of his tormentor and ,

given him time to j oin his companions at the end of

the green so Nicco stood and looked at Joe fl ou n der
,

i ng out of the po n d the mud stickin g to hi s clothes

, ,

an d his face and hair ; and ag ain the little B a ronet

laughed merrily at the sorry fi gure he cut Joe .

himself took a v ery different v iew of the matter ; he

scowled fi ercely at Nicco and b roke out into a ,

torrent of angry words which perhaps it was quite as

,

well the other did not understand ; he saw howev er , ,

that Joe was v ery angry in fact it struck him that,

he was b egin ning to cry so the kin d little heart was

,
 IN TH E D UCK P ON D . 169

touched and Nicco approached the fal len h ere with

,

true French politeness and taking out his l ittle ,

pocket han dkerchi ef he proceede d to kneel o n the

-

grass and to rub the other s very dirty trowsers

,
.

But Joe pushed him rudel y away ; he was now

unmistakably blubb ering ( no other word will e xpress
the form his anger took) an d rushed off in the ,

di rection of his home .

Then Nicco walked up to the two donkeys and ,

seeing that the b lood was really flowing fast from

Brownie s leg he tore h i s pocket handkerchief into
’

,
-

small strips and proceeded to bind up the inj ured

,

limb just as he had seen Fran c ois Penv raz bind up

,

’
h i s old horse s leg one day when he had stumbled up
the steep Plougastel hill .

There were three admiring spectators of thi s li ttle

scene O ne w as the grey do nkey who expressed his
.
,

a ppro v al by going up to Nicco a n d ru b bing his head

lo v ingly again st him Th e other two were Nolan .

and Tom A usten who were b oth standing o n the

,

’
steps of the old shoemaker s cottage .

”
A in t our l ittle S i r Nicco a brick ?
’
said Tom .

’ ’
O h an d ain t that ere Joe S nell a cowar d ? I l l be one
,

”
with him yet I will and shaking his fis t in the di rec
, ,

tio n of the butcher s shop Tom ran off to hi s di nner

’

,
.
170 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

“
Good morning ,
Sir Nicholas ,
said Nolan with a ,

Good morning S are answered Nicco with

, , ,

another bow may I enter ?

,

C ertainl y S i r Nicholas certainly if you will do

, , ,

”
me the honour .

Nicco understood that he had p ermission to go in ,

and there he sat looking at the funny old china

,

o rnaments on the chimney piece and losing his -

heart completely to a lady made of shells of which ,

the shoemaker begged his acceptance .

A fter this he went off quite happily without ,

giving another thought to Joe or the duck pond b u t ,

thinkin g a good deal about the b row n donkey and ,

wondering whether hi s treatment of his l eg had done

him good .

I n the afte rn oo n he and Gerald went out for a

ride an d o n their return Margaret met them an d
, ,

lookin g v ery grav e took Nicco u p to the nursery I t .

was won derful how those two un derstood each

other ; they could carry o n quite a long co nv ersation
n ow o n all kinds of su bj ects
, .

”
Nicco darli n g b egan the girl I am so sorry ;
, , ,
“

do you kn ow that Mrs S n ell from the shop has been

.

here about her boy Joe and she says you were very ,
 L I TTL E SIR N I CHO L A S .

cannot quite unde rstand it for S i r Nicholas is a m ost

,

kind hearted little fellow ; he would not willingly hurt

-

a fly .

He has hurt my b oy said Mrs S nell applying

,
.
,

a pocket handkerchief ornamented with v ery deep

-

lace to her eyes hurt him so much that I tremble

”
for the consequences .

I hope no real harm has been done Mrs S n ell , .

,

”
and that your fears exaggerate the evil .

”
Madam an d Mrs S nell rose from her seat with
, .

all the dign ity she could command Madam m y ,

“
—

”
boy has lungs .

This was a fact which poor Mrs Tremaine was of .

course not prepared to dispute so all she said was ,

S i r Nicholas is out now but directly he comes ,

home I will of course speak to him on the subj ect ,

and I am quite certain whatever he has done he wil l

b e quite ready to apologize for it he is al w ays so sorry
”
when he knows he has b een in the wrong .

S o Mrs S nell took her departure with a feeling of

.

somethi n g like satisfaction in her heart at the pros ,

p ec t of Joe receiving an apology from a live Ba r onet

for of course she knew perfectly well that all that

had suffered in the ducking were Joe s n ot too new
clothes .
 IN TH E DUCK P OND : 173

Mrs . Tr emaine
deputed Margaret to inquire into the
circu m stances of the case and as we have seen the
, , ,

girl took Nicco into the nursery and tried to find out
how it had all happened b u t it was of n o u se Nicco
,
.
,

bound as he considered b y his promise would give no ,

explanation whatever and Margaret had to go back

,

to her mother and tell her that the boy would not
,

S peak .

S h e was very sorry about it poor child still more , ,

so when she heard that L ady Tremaine would have

’
to be told of Niece s n aughtiness for she knew that ,

the ol d lady would be drea dq y v exed at hearin g

tha t her li ttle grandso n had b een rude and in thi s ,

case more than rude cruel to any of the village

—
,

children especially perhaps to Joe S nell who was a

, ,

comparative stranger hi s parents havin g o n ly settled

,

at Trecastle within the last year .

”
Perhaps Joe will die she said to herse lf for
, ,

Mrs Tremain e had made the most of it and told her

.
,

’
of his mother s fears for hi m a n d then oh then ,
“
, ,

what will become of my l ittle Nicco when I have gone

to school
A n d the bea ri ng without the power of doi ng was
, ,

v ery hard for the girl all through that evening

through which Ni c co sat study i ng Mother Hubbard ,

A A
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

hi susual solace in all his trou b les and looking very ,

p uzzled as he tried to spell out the E nglish words .

S h e went up to her room as usual o n her way to

bed an d found hi m lyin g wide awake the light of the ,

’
win ter s m oo n shining on his little fair fa ce .

Nicco dear she said you are v ery sorry ab out

, , ,

”
Joe S nell I am sure you are
, .

N 0 an swer not one single word of regret for the

,

fault of which he was accused .

You are very sorry you pushed Joe in to the

’
on df
p
“
N 0 push ,
an swered Nicco shaking his hea d .

”
But Joe w a s in t he pond .

Yeez —
ma i s oui cer ta i/nemen t .

How did he get there ?

A nother t hi s time a more decided shake of the
—

’
head an d a look upon the child s face of mingled
,

sorrow and determination .

You will n ot speak out to me you wi ll not tell ,

”
me the tr uth Nicco darling , , .

No speak no tell no Joe answered Nicco

— —
, ,

turning his face to the wal l and closing his eyes as , ,

much as to say he di d n ot in tend to ho l d any further

con v ersation on the su bject an d poor Margaret aston , ,

i sh ed a n d u n ha pp y wen t to her ow n room fu l l of the

,
 CH A PTE R X VI .

TO M A U STEN TO TH E R ES C U E .

FO R on the v ery e v e n in g of the i n ciden t of th e duck

pond there was a rin g at the C otta ge door and much
, ,

to R obin so n s astonishment Tom A usten dress ed in

’

, ,

his very b est hi s face shi nin g w ith the extra soap he
,

had used for the occasion reques te d an interview with

,

her L adyship .

Tain t her hour for seein g v isitors Tom

’ ’
“
N ot , .

e v en the Vicar hims e l f would thin k of calli n g at this

time of day e x cept his b usiness was something quite
,

out of the common .

My b usiness i s quite out of the commo n ,

answered Tom with a b road grin o n his ho n est round

,

face .

R obin son smiled incredulously thin king that pos ,

sib l y it was the not u n commo n b usiness of beggi ng

from her L adyship for the football cl ub of which Tom ,

was a small though prominent member

, .
 T OJ I A US TEN TO TH E RESC UE . 177

Perhaps I could take a message for you TOm ,

’ ’
No you can t Mr R obinson
,
I t s something, . .

v ery particular indeed as Mr Nolan and me saw , .

,

and as her L adyship should ought to kno w Mr . .

Nolan he would hav e come hissel f b ut his rheu

, ,

m a ti c s is aw ful b ad so he s told me what to say and

’

, ,

’
I m a goin g to say i t myself
-
.

S till R obinson hesitated .

’
I t s all about our littl e S i r Nicco Mr R obi n ,
.

son contin ued the b oy and oh my eyes ain t he

, ,
“
, ,
’

”
a b rick l
“
C ome in Tom wipe your feet on the mat and
, , ,

”
walk up gently .

’
I t was the first time in Tom s life that he had made
”
a formal ca ll upo n her L adyship and n ow he stood ,

be fore her shy and awkward and n ot knowing what ,

to say He had made up ever so many speeches

.
,

and n ot o n e of them would come into his mind .

What ca n I do for you Tom ? sa id L ady Tre ,

”

maine kindly and instinctively feeling for her purse

, .

”
Nothi ng my lady an swered the boy looking up
, , ,

’
at N i c c o s likeness and stan ding first on one fe e t , ,

then on the other .

I hope father and mother and grandmother a n d

, , ,

”
all the children are quite wel l .
 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

Yes thank you my lady all but Benj ami n

, , , ,

”
who s a cutting of a tooth
’
-
.

I expected one of the football club to come round

fo r my usual subscription To m I suppose it is to ,
.

”
b e paid to you .

’ ’
No my lady ; I ain t the tr ea su r y
,
I t s Bob .

’
Croft .Please my lady I v e come my l ady to say
, , , ,

that our little S i r Nicco is a brick an d Joe S nell is a ,

b ig coward .

L ady Tremaine was completely mysti fi ed as to

what the b oy meant ; then at last bit by h i t it , ,

’
c a me ou t Th e story of Joe s cruelty of Niec e s i n
.
,

’
t erv en ti on of th e b ig b oy s fall into the duck pond
,
-

’
a n d the little b oy s merrime n t and lastly of the ,

beauty of the sight of seein g the little chap I ,

”
mean the little Gent said Tom colouring crimson , ,
.

’
a b in ding up old Brownie s leg
-
along of his little ,

”
handkercher .

A n d at the thought of it all tears real honest , ,

’
tears stood in Tom s eyes and L ady Tremaine turn ed
, ,

her head away an d looked into the fi re .

’
I shouldn t have made h ol d to come my lady , ,

o nly Mr Nol an seed that ere Mrs S nell dressed he

. .
,

said li ke a pol l parrot a going u p to the House an d

, ,
-

’
he kn owed sh e d a g o n e to tell her tal e an d sa ys he
-

, ,
 L I T TL E SI R NI CHO L A S .

than usual anim ation and Nicco instead of bein g a

, ,

cruel sulky l ittle boy was transformed into some

,

thin g of a hero .

’
Th e little fellow s face was b right with smiles when
”
he heard that Granny was pleased that he had been
a brave boy and had tried to prevent Joe S nell fr om
,

hurting Brownie but C lementine had given him a

ta lking to about the in iquity of whi ch he had
’
b een guilty and the probable danger to Joe s l ife
, ,

and when the remembrance of this returned to him ,

of bourse he was un happy and it took all Margaret s

,
’

powers of persu asion to make him u n derstand that

the fact of Joe fal ling in to the duck pond was not h i s -

fault b ut was to be attributed to the slippery grass

, .

O f course it was very d i ffi cult to see the nice dis

,

tin ction for Margaret s Fren ch a n d h is E n glish were

,
’

equally weak an d n either of them cared to e nlist

,

’
Clementin e s services as an interpreter .

On one point Nicco was v ery positive an d that ,

was he must write a note to Joe S nell and express

, ,

his regret a t having caused him to spoil hi s clothes ,

and perhaps to die C leme n tin e had most distinctly

.

stated that thi s was the only thing he coul d do I t .

was she was sure what Master Gerald woul d ha v e

, ,

done un der similar circumsta nces n ot that anyo n e ,

 TO M A US TEN TO TH E RESC UE .

could imagine that Master Gerald ever could have

been placed in such ci rcumstan ces for he was a little ,

gentleman

N i cco w r i tes to J oe Sn el l .

A nd I
shall nev er be a ge n tleman nor a man ,

neither shall I C lement i n e ? and will it always be a

, ,

pity that I came away from Plougastel and from M ere

A nnette
 L I TTL E SIR N ] CHO L A S
.

Yes always Cl ementi n e had answered ; b ecause

, ,
“

your tastes are so low that you are b etter fitted for
a peasant than for a baronet an d Master Gerald is ,

”
al w ays a gentleman .

“
D oes Granny think so still Clemen tin e ? asked ,

the poor little tearful v oice .

“
Yes of course she does answered C lementine
, , ,

hardly think in g of what she was sayin g and givin g ,

’
the who l e of her attention to one of the dol l s gow n s
so Nicco turn ed sorrowfully away and printed a little
French l etter which with the assistan ce of a di e
, ,

t i on a ry Marg aret tran slated i n to E nglish

,
.

Nicco had lear n t to write a l ittle at the vi ll age

school at Plo u gastel and the master had said he did
,

wonderfully for his ag e but the epistle addressed to

,

Joe S nell was certainly a comical productio n ; what

it m a y have b een in the original we cannot tell Here .

is Margaret s tran slation

’
Nicco had particularly
requested that all the words were to b e his wor ds .

D EA R J OE S NE L L ,
regret much that I you hav e pushed
I
into the pond but I did not do it express and I
, ,

’ ’
you ask p ardon a n d I hope that you do n t go to die
,
.

N I CH O L A S TR EMA I N E .
 C H A PTE R XV I I .

CH I
R S TMA S TI D E .

O course as the days passed on with all the excite

F ,

ment of the C hristma s tree all the great boxes of

-

toys and sweets arrivin g poor Nicco forgot his

,

troubles or at least thought of them v ery seldom ;

,

’
the dolls bonnets and gowns got more and more en
grossing to C lementine and the child ren amused
,

themselves pretty much as they lik ed sometimes i t ,

’
must h e confessed getting into every one s way but
, ,

generally kept in pretty good order by little old ,

fashioned Margaret ; who in her grave fashion w a s

,

’
very happy making warm clothes for the fis h erm en s
wives and children , and thinking how pleasant it was
to be able to do something for somebody .

Nicco was a good deal at the C ottage in those days

before Chr istmas for there was something going on
,

there in which he took more pleasure even than in

”
the preparations at the House A t Granny s own
“ ’
.

suggestion a large b ox was going off to Plougastel ,

 C H R I S TI II A S TI D E . 18 5

presents for all N i c c o s friends from M ere A nnette

’

’
to the youngest of little J caun ette s sisters who w as ,

just six months ol d .

There were some beautiful w a rm gloves for the old

C uré j ust such a pair as Nicco had seen on Mr
,
.

C a re w s hands and had said Oh if Monsieur l e C uré

’

, , ,

had some gloves like that he wou l d always be warm ,

”
and have no chilblains .

Th e new C urate Mr L yte by name who knew

, .
,

French very well heard this little speech and repeated

,

it to the Vicar who in h i s turn repeated it to L a dy

, , ,

Tremaine and whe n she heard it she determined

,

that the C uré should have some glo v es ; and Nicco was
told this whereupon he requested that Mere A nnette
,

and every one else might ha ve glo v es al so but this ,

of course w as not to b e thought of the Breton

peasants woul d not have k n own how to put the glove s
on b a d they received them so all kinds of other warm ,

things stuffs for petticoats a n d shawls and h a ndk er

—
, ,

chiefs comforters together with doll s and hors es and

, , ,

whips were packed into huge cases and sent off with
—
,

h e especial ly
S i r Nichola s Tremain e s l o v e and k isses (
’

requested that the kisses should b e put in ) to all his

Christmas D a y came at last and Nic c o an d Gerald

,
 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

stood side by side in church and each raised his clear

,

young voice in the sweet Nativity hymn

0, c om e, dore H i m ,
l et us a

0 c om e l et u s a dore H i m
, , ,

0, c om e l et u s a dore H i m,
,

Chr i st th e L ord ”
.

O f course Gerald san g the E nglis h words but N 1000 ,

sang the L atin ones ; the old words he had l earnt at

Plougastel with the little Breton children from the ,

C uré himself .

Th e tune sounded strangely fami l iar to the l ittle

Baronet an d the Trecastl e peop l e wondered as they
, ,

heard him j oin in the hymn at the top of his v oice .

Then the Vicar told them in hi s sermon that the

wh o le C atholic C hurch that is the C hurch of Christ
, ,

all o v er the world sang that same hymn on the Birth

,

day of the L ord in many a different l anguage the ,

faithful called upon all C h ristians to adore the Holy

C hild 1n His manger b e d
A ltogether C hr istmas D a y was a hap py day to th
.

, e

l ittle l ad who was still somethi n g o f a stra n ger a m ongst

,

hi s own p eo p le .E v ery o n e was v ery good to hi m ,

ev en Cl ementine had gi v en him a little present an d ,

had deign ed to tell hi m he h a d been a b etter b oy

18 8 L I T TL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

C ur e but the prayer was the same he asked God to

—

b less them all for the sake of the child Jesus b ecau se
, ,

it was C hristmas D a y Then came another little .

prayer al l by itself
Please God make Joe S n ell kind to the poor old
, ,

b rown do nkey for he is v ery old

,
.

’
O f course you u n derstand that Niec e s prayers
,

were said in French .

‘
Th e wind w a s how l ing fiercely n ow an d some of ,

the old fears came b ack to him so he hid his face in ,

his hands and prayed one more li ttle prayer

,
'

Please God make me a brav e sail or and not

, , ,

afraid of the big wav es for that will please Granny , ,

and she will not b e ashamed of poor Nicco a littl e ,

”
lad.

Three more days then came the great ex c itement

, ,

’
S i r Nicholas Tremaine s party .

S uch a party it was ! nothing like it had b een

known for years ; every one had tried to make it as
grand as possible a k i n d of second welcome to the l ittle
,

Baronet such a C hristmas tree had never b efore b een -

seen not only because of its S ize b ut b ecause of the

, ,

beautiful things w hich were on it Th e little host .

received his guests as though he had b een accustomed

to give parties all through his short life and when ,
 CHRI S TMA S TI DE . 18 9

supper was ann ou n ced and old Granny A usten who

, ,

was a martyr to rheumatism was ho b blin g along ,

with much di fli cu l ty S i r Nicholas we n t forward and

,

S ir N i c h ola s ff
o er s ol d G ra nn y A u ste n hi s

o ffered her his arm and the children led by Tom

, ,

A usten gave a loud cheer

, .

I t was such a graceful little act done so prettily ,

and so innocently that they could n ot help cheering

,

to show their approval of it ; and the elders L ady ,

0 O
19 0 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

Trem a in e amongst them looked as though they ,

felt inclined to cry but of course no one could , ,

reall y cry at such a party as th is with such a ,

supper not o n ly to look at but to eat ! the plum

, ,

puddings all of a blaze exactly as Nicco expressed

, ,

”
it like beautiful fi reworks
,
“
.

O ld Nolan was there in a pai r of n e w boots the ,

fac sim ile of those he had once made for the L ord
-

Mayor s fi rst c ou sm 1ndeed there was a rumour in

’

the vill age that they were the v ery same boots w hi ch
’
had decorated the shoemaker s cottage on the day of
N i c c o s arri v al at Trecastle
’
.

A n d Mrs S nell was there i n great grandeur

. more ,

li ke a poll parrot tha n ev er Tom A usten rema rked , ,

and Nicc o had tried to tell her that he hoped Joe

had not caught cold that day in the pon d .

S h e did not u n dersta n d what he said b u t smiled ,

b enign ly upon th e l ittl e b oy who with his own hands , , ,

had presented Joe with a beautiful red sati n n ecktie ,

’
which she remarked would ex actly suit the darling s
, ,

”
complexion .

W ell the party came to a n e n d as a l l parties do ,

, ,

and the days passed on v ery much as they had done

,

before except that the go v erness did not come any

,

more an d Mr L yte came ev ery morni ng an d tau ght

, .
,
192 L I T TL E SIR NI C HO L A S .

sweet garden flowers were in full bloom ; then the

young school girl returned to the House on the C li ff ,

very much grown very much improved in every way

,

every one said looking more of a child although she

, ,

was six months older ; but the little heart was as

’ ’
loving as ever and ev ery o n e s troubles and eve ry one s
, ,

cares came to Margaret j ust as though they had been

her o w n in the same way as they had once come to
,

her as she sat and stitched at the shirts in the old

days and looked out u p o n the gilded C ross of S t
, .

Paul s C a th edra L
’
 C H A PTE R XV I I I .

A B O UT A SH IP AN D A S TA G E -

C O A CH .

B UTthose six months which had passed before Mar

garet came home again had brought some changes
in to N i c c o s li ttle l ife Things were not quite as they
’
.

had been when she went away ; the fear that had
been in her heart when the little Baronet came to the
House o n the Cliff on that S eptember day and which ,

for a time had b een lulled to rest came b ack to her

,

now with redoub led force .

E very day she had prayed the old prayer and ,

asked God to make Gerald love Nicco and she had ,

added the words although I think he does lo v e

“

him ; but when she kn elt once more in her own

room she left out that l ast cl ause for she knew that
, ,

her brother did n ot love his little cousin ; she saw it

o n the very fir st e v ening of her return and each day ,

she became more and more con vi n ced of it and it ,

was the one trou b le amidst the j oy of those su m mer

,

holidays .
19 4 L I TTL E SIR NI C HOL A S .

It
was a long time before she heard bit by b it of , ,

much that had happened durin g those si x months to

which we must go b ack now an d take a peep b eh m d ,

the scenes .

You must n ot thin k too hardly of Gerald for per ,

haps in all that had passed and in a ll that was to come

, ,

those ab out h i m were more to blame than he was .

He had had h i s own way al ways ; he could b rook n o

c ontradiction now and when it came he fought against
, ,

it as a great m an y older people do and in the fight

, ,

he fell a s we all must fall s oo n er or later if we fight

, , ,

for what is wrong for our Guardian A ngel who b attles

for us when we are struggling for the right takes his ,

shelteri ng wings fr om us whe n our battle is fought ,

’
not for the right b ut for our own self W ill s sake
,
-
.

A n d poor Gerald had a friend who was n ot a good

friend for him none other of course you will guess
, ,

than Joe S nell He had nev er b een told that Joe

.

was not to b e his friend and yet in his inmost heart

he had an idea that n ei ther L ady Tremaine nor h i s
mother would appro v e of the intimacy ; for this reason
it was he had bou n d poor Nicco to sil ence on the
subj ect and so it was that to the sin of self will
,
-

was added the sin of deceit .

To do h i m j ustice he had not been j eal ous of

,
 L I TTL E SI R N I CHO L A S .

so an d C lementine an d Joe S nell were always tellin g

,

him that it was v ery ev ident which was her ladyship s ’

favourite which she would have liked to b e the

,

Baronet but he did n ot seem to heed what they said

,

h e was kind enou g h to Nicco who al w ays ga v e in to ,

h i m and they were v ery g ood frie n ds and seemed to

, ,

u nderstan d each other v ery well .

A day came whe n L ady Tremaine had to choose

b e twee n the b oys a n d whe n Geral d had to gi v e u p to
,

Nicco .

There li v ed i n a v illage n ear Trecastle a poor ,

’
decrepid paralysed man who once had b ee n a ship s
, ,

carpe nter and who for months past had been emp l oy
, , ,

ing his time in makin g a most beautiful toy frigate ,

w hich was pronoun ced b y e v ery o n e to b e quite

perfect masts sail s canno n s might all hav e come
—
, , ,

’
out of her Maj esty s dockyard .

A n d this gem of gems was warranted to be sea

w orthy her powers had bee n tried b y Jack A usten
himself who went o u t to sea in his own b oa t a n d there
,

launched the frigate which sailed along gracefully i n

,

sight of the admirin g crowd on the b each amongst ,

who m stood Nicco and Gerald .

What is old Harris goin g to do with it

“
as k ed
some 0 11 6 .
 A SHI P A N D A S TA G E COA CH
-
. 19 7

I kn ows an swered the ever loquacious Tom -

A uste n he (1 like to make it a present to our little

“

S i r Nicco but you see poor chap he s back in his

’

, , ,

”
rent and he must sell it
,
.

“
What good would i t b e to him ? whispered Joe
S nell who was standing near Gerald and next to Tom
, ,

’
when this speech was made ; why he haven t got th e “
,

pluck to sail it ; I saw him turn quite white the other

day when you and he were on the rocks Master ,

Gerald a n d a big wave came u p and washed over

, ,

you both A fine fellow to have a ship like that

.
,

’
wouldn t he be
“
I t will be our birthdays next week a nswered ,

’
Gerald ; he ll be sev en and I shall be eight ; his ,

is on the 9 th of March and mine is on the 1 1th so , ,

Gran ny said we were to keep them together ; and ,

’
oh Joe I must have th e frigate do you thin k she ll
, ,

give it to me ?
O f course she wi l l Master Gerald ; she knows ,

what a coward he is Miss C lementine came to tea

.

with us last S unday and she told my mother all ,

abo ut it .

7
I

A n d at that moment looking at the frigate dancing,

on the tO p of the cres ted waves Geral d repeated th e ,

Wa rds h e had u sed a l l t h os e months ago .

D D
 L I T TL E S IR NI CH O L A S .

Joe
he sai r if he gets it I l l hate him
,
“ ’
.

A n d Joe grinned and the grin was not a pleasan t

one ; for he had never fo rgotten the episode of the
duck pond .

’
Tom s idea o n the subj ect of the frigate turned out
to be right O n the ve ry next day three crisp fiv e
.

’
pou n d notes w ere locked up in p oor old Harris s
generally empty mon ey box and his rent was paid-

that very evenin g .

I am so glad to be able to help h i m and m yself

too L ady Tremain e had said to Jack A usten ;
,
I
want a little present for Master Gerald and he loves
ships I was only yesterday wondering h ow I co u ld
.

get a really good one for him I have order ed wha t .

I think S i r Nicholas w ill like much better from L on ,

don but of co u rse he shall have his choice especially

, ,

as you say poor ol d Harris wished to give him the

”
S hip .

Jack was disappointed but of course he could not,

presume to say anything more on the subj ect and the ,

dear old lady was quite happy for the cas e from L ondo n ,

had arrived that v ery morning Her orders had bee n .

carried out most successfull y and both she and ,

R obinson were almost childish in the i r delight at the

s ight of a beauti ful stage coach drawn by the mos
-
t ,
 ’

200 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

and w h en it was over Nicco and Gerald were requeste d

,

to go a n d visit the peacock for a few minutes .

'

Th e room was cleared of the b reakfast thin g s and

the coach and th e shi p were carried in and placed in
th ecentre of the room Then the b oys were called in
.
,

and there was a S hout of delight as they caught sight

o f the lovely toys .

’
L ady Tremaine s eyes were fi xed upon Nicco his ,

w ere riveted u pon the coach and were twinkling ,

merril y and sparkl ing with anticipated fun

,
.

Th en he turned to the ship and in a moment in , ,

what seemed a most unaccountable fashion the old ,

wistful timid expression came upon the little face

, ,

and Nicco turn ed his b ack deliberately upon the

coach .

L ady Tremain e looked puzzled b i1t not in the ,

least suspecti ng what was coming made a Little ,

speech .

Nicco darling sh e said (Nicco b o th understood

, ,

and S poke E nglish ve ry well now ) Nicco darling do , , ,

you remember one day when y ou were sitting at my

window seeing a coach pass by and saying how mi rch
, ,

you wo u ld like a little one of your very own ? S o I

sent to L on don for this one Poor old Harris wished .

to make you a prese nt of the ship but I have bought ,

 A SHI P AN D A STA G E COA CH -
201

it and somehow I have an idea that Gerald w ill like

,

it better than y ou would bu t because Harris m ade it , ,

I want you to have your choice Which S hall it be .

,

darling coach or ship

,

Nicco turned round and look ed steadfastly at the

coachman but the sp arkl e in his eyes had n ot come
,

ba ck .

’
There was a mome n t s pa use and then h e a n ,

”
sw ered I f you ple a se Granny I will hav e th e S hip
, , , .

’ ’
You sha n t you young coward shouted Geral d
, ,

his voice trembling with passion ; what good is a

’
ship to you ? I m going to be a sail or and you ne ver ,

’
can b e one b ecause you re afraid of the wav es you
”
kno w you are .

’
Gerald I m asham ed of you said L ady Tremaine
, , .

I n ever kn ew unti l n ow what a naughty b oy you

”
could b e .

I tell
’
But Gerald s anger was past a l l control .
“

you I will hav e the ship he said clenching his fist

, , , .

’
He is a coward He doesn t care for the sea H e . .

only cares for pigs and dirty animals He s only fit .

’

”
to live with the dirty old w o m an i n Brittany .

”
“
Gerald and this time it was the little Baronet
,

’
who spoke you S ha n t call my friends by b a d
,
’

” '
na mes I f you do I will fight you and he stood
.
, ,
2 02 L I T TL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

with his little arms folded and with a funny exp res ,

sion of determination u pon h i s face .

”
Nicco darling said L ady Tremaine a re y ou
,
;
, ,
“

quite s u re you would like the s hi p better than th e

beautiful coach
Nicco coloured crimson and did not answer for a ,

min ute A t last he said

.

“
1 like the beautiful coach G ran ny but I like , ,

better to have the ship because becau se I have ask ,

—

God to m ake me brave and when I m big I m going ,

’ ’

to be one sailo r and wear one cocked hat ; b u t i f

, ,

you plea se could Gerald not have one othe r ship

,

“
C er tainl y n ot Gerald has b eh a v e d so badly
.
J

that I do not think he deserves to have the coach .

I n any case I should not think o f getti n g a ship m ade

,

”
for h i m .

O h pl ease please pardon him

, , said Nicco , , ,

’
taking G ranny s hand in his and kissing it He , .
“

is brave and h e likes m u ch the sea and he was

, ,

disappoint that is all B ut he will sail my ship and

, .
,

I will drive his coach and that will be fine , .

”

G er ald stood looking at the frigate but n ot utteri n g ,

o n e wo r d I t w a s the first time he had heard the

.

gentle ol d lady speak angrily and truth to tell he , , ,

w a s frigh tened .
 A SHI P AN D A S TA G E COA C H
-
. 205

Gerald are you sorry for having b een so

,

n augh ty
Yes b ut I wan t the frigate .

”
You cannot have it .

Perhaps he better hav e it b egan Nicco .

My b oy I will not allow rt I t is you rs and old

,
.
,

Harris will be v ery glad that you hav e chosen it .

S o it was settled and the boys went home with

,

their treasures which were wheeled u p the hill on a

,

truck and n othing more was said b y either of them

,

’
on that day for Granny s manner had a w ed them both
, .

I n the afternoon when the ship was taken down to

,

the b each to b e sail ed u p o n the calm blue sea Gerald ,

whispered to Joe S nell He o n ly did it to spite me ;

,

he would ha v e liked the coach e v er so m uch b etter ,

”
and I hate him .

A n d Gerald was partly right I t had cost Nicco .

a great effort to gi v e u p the much co v eted v ehicle b ut ,

he had done it b ecause he wished to show Granny that

some day he meant to b e a sailor and a sai l or ought , ,

of course to l o v e a ship
, .

I t was becau se o f that Margaret he told h er in

, ,

those summer holidays because Granny liked the

,

p icture w he n I was one b aby boy a nd h a d a sh ip that ,

I wanted to hav e th i s one that old Harris made .

E E
 C H A PTE R X I X .

SIR NI CC O S TA R TS U PO N A J O UR NE Y.

IT was fr om that day th at the real troubles of poor

N i c c o s li fe began O utwardly things went on j ust the
’
.

same as they had done before There were the daily .

lessons and the daily rides and walks and play and
, , ,

the usual visits to Granny .

Th e frigate w as often taken to t h e beach for a sail ;

the coach was often driven in the grounds There .

were no quarrels o v er either but the hatred that had

,

come into Gerald s heart was there still and Joe S nell
’

would not let it die out .

Th e t w o boys were greater friends than ever .

When they met which was ve ry often Nicco was

, ,

always sure to be made unhappy A ctually cruel .

they dared not be but they laughed at him and

, ,

sneered at him and many and many a time the little

,

Baronet heard the old story of how un fi t he was for

his position h ow much better it would have been i f
,
208 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

O ne June evening the boys had taken their

wickets and b ats to a fi eld near the house saying ,

they were going to have some cricket .

Th e wickets were no sooner put up than Joe

appeared upon the scene flushed with excitement ;
,

a Punch and Judy sho w had ap peared in the v ill age ,

the most beautiful thing that had ever b een seen ,

and Gerald must go to it at once .

A l l right answered the boy b ut what ab out

, ,

”
him ? and he poin ted to Nicco .

He must c om e too I suppose

,
.

S o th e matter was explained to the littl e Baronet ,

who at the first moment was delighted at the idea ;

he had never seen a Punch and Judy show he had
only heard of all its glories from Gerald who of ,

cour se had often stood at the corner of a L ondon

street and gazed upon the sight A n d n o w Punch
,
.

and Judy were really to be seen upon th e v illage

green . Nicco literall y clapped h i s hands with
delight at the thought ; the next minute he said ,

timidly
“
Geral d we cannot go without to ask lea v e ; we
must not .

There was a whispered conference b etwee n the

fr iends w h o ca m e to the conclusion that l eave w ould
,
 SI R NI CCO S TA R TS UP ON A jO UR N E Y . 209

certainly not be granted for all the v illagers would b e

,

as sembled upon the green except those who were ill , ,

and the fact of the boys mixing with the children ,

and so running any risk of infection was what had ,

been most positi v ely forbidden .

“
D o you choose to come or not Nicco ? said ,

Gerald .

“
I would much like it Gerald and there were , ,

tears of disappointment in the blue eyes I would ,

v ery much like to see Punch and Judy and Toby , ,

”
b ut we cannot go without to ask l eave .

”
Bosh ej aculated Joe in a loud aside ; don t
,
“ ’

”
listen to him Master Gerald ,
.

I m not going to said Gerald looking it m u st

“ ’

, , ,

h e confessed very uncomfortable ; b ut I must talk “

,

” ’
to him or he ll go and tell
,
.

I say Nicco you must do as you like of c oi rrse ;

, ,

every one knows that you are a coward and afraid of ,

’
everything ; I mean to go and that s my b u sm ess , ,

but you must promise that you will not tell any one
about it ; n ot Mother nor Granny nor any o n e if ,

”
you do I l l never speak to you again
’

Nicco hesitated .

’
“
You w ouldn t be a sneak would you ? said ,

G erald m ore k indly .

210 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

No I n o want to sneak but

, ,

But you wil l promi se you know you say you

would never break a promise .

”
“
Yes in low timid hesitating tones Yes I ,
.
“
,

promise .

Thanks a n d you l l wait for me here until I come

“ ’

”
back ; you must not go home w ithout me .

”
Yes .

Th e two boys walked off an d Nicco laid dow n ,

upon the grass and tried to work out a puzzle

,

which older people than himself often try to w ork

out the puzzle b etween right and w rong about
, ,

what he ought to have done and what he ought ,

not to hav e done .

W ell he was you know only a l ittle boy an d he

, , , ,

ended up b y thin king that perhaps he was in the

wrong ; that E nglish boys were di ffer ent from Breto n
boys and that what he knew would have been wrong
,

for the latter very wrong in deed Mons1eu r l e C uré

—
,

would hav e said might n ot b e v ery wrong for the

—

former I t was not a satisfactory solution of the

.

puzzle of course but somehow or other it sent

, , ,

Nicco to sleep .

I t must have been quite an hour before the other

two boy s re tu rn ed from the show for the sun had ,
212 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

p athetic to n es ; a rare shame I c a l l i t that littl e

“
‘ ,

S i r Nicco shou l d have come here w hen no one

wan ted him and took your place ; mother and Mis s
,

C lementine was talking about it o n S unday night ,

’
and saying what a power of money you d hav e b a d if
he d hav e stayed in that dirty French place and left
’

you to b e the B a roni te ; everybody w ould have like d

it ev er so m u ch b etter her L adyship b est of all I t , .

’
was j ust a robbing you that s what it was ; it was ,

j ust being a regular thief .

But I had n ot any more money when I was a

Baro n et so that does not make a bit of differ
,

”
ence .

O h don t it though ? ,
Wh y that was nearly a
’

year ago ; of course n ow you are so much bigger

you d hav e had whate v er you liked if he hadn t
’

,
’

”
come an d robb ed y ou .

’
I don t care about anything if I could b ut hav e
“

”
the cannon and some gunpowder Joe an swered , ,

Gerald who was jus t a ; determined to have his own

,

way as he had b een in the days of the ill fated -

D obbin I wish y ou could man age to get them for

.
“

me .

I l l try Master Gerald ; I promise y ou I w ill b u t

“ ’

, ,

' ”
I m afraid it will take a lo n g time .
 SI R NI C CO S TA R TS UP ON A j O UR N E Y . 2 13

’
A ll
right C ome on Nicco it s getting late you
.
, ,

must not go on sleeping any longer .

S o Nicco j umped u p and rubbed his eyes not

because they wanted rubb ing to enable him to open
them but because there were great big tears in them
, ,

whi ch he did not mea n the others to see .

Wa s the Punch and Judy nice he said in a little

tremblin g voice .

’
“
O h yes i t was all right
, ,
But you re not to say .

”
any thing about it You promised you kno w .
, .

Poor Nicco dre w himself up with a l l the di gni ty of

his seven years .

I will keep my promise he said ; I will n ot tell ,

”
one story .

“
C ome on n o w L et us run as fast as we can
, . .

”
Good night Joe ,
.

S o Joe went his way and the other two started off ,

at fu ll speed and found C lementine j us t coming to

,

look for them .

Mrs Tremaine was at the C ottage so no questions

.
,

were asked by anybody as to h o w those two last hours

had been spent and soon after w ards both the boy s ,

were in bed o ne of them fast asleep as soon as his

,

brown head touched the pillo w B u t the little .

golden head tossed restlessly from side to side an d

F F
2 4 LI TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

th efair little face was flush ed with mingled fear and

excitement for life was a more complex thing to
,

Nicco now than i t had b ee n two hours before as he ,

lay on the grass trying to work out the puzzle He

,
.

gave it u p at last He felt he was too small a boy to

.

unrav el so great a mystery .

O nce in Plougastel a b oy had been v ery naughty

, , ,

and stolen so m e money from another b oy and Men ,

sieur l e C ur e had told h i m what to do and made it ,

all right .

A n d n ow he Nicco whom t h ey h a dall lo v ed so much

, ,

in th at old home of his was a thief also He did not,

.

quite understand h ow b u t Joe S nel l had said it quite

,

plainly that even ing and C lementine had ofte n said

,

something very like it b efore but n ot quite so

plainly .

What was to be done ? How could he give Gerald

b ack what he had take n from him ?
A b right idea came into the litt l e troub l ed head
he would go to Plougastel and tell Mo n sieur l e C u re
'
a l l about it He was sure he kn ew the way first to
.
,

t h e station that was n ot far off then to Ply mouth ;

-

then to C herb ourg ; then to Brest ; and then across

in the ferry boat to his old home and oh woul dn t
-

,
’

they be glad to see h im ! They would want him

216 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

drawers in his room He got it out and p roceeded to

.
,

try to get himself into it I t was a matter of some .

di fficulty for he had gr own considerably during those

,

nine months and both the j acket and waistcoat were

,

very tight whilst the trousers which wer e inte n ded

, ,

to be long were considerably above his ankles

, .

Ho w ever by means of a good deal of pulling and

,

twisting he managed to get dressed at last e v en to

, ,

’
the red fish er s cap He knelt do w n and said his .

little mornin g prayers .

God b less everyb ody in Trecastle he said and , ,

”
make me o n e brave sailor boy .

Then he added one more petition

Please God make Joe S nell kind to the b rown
, ,

”
donkey when I m gone away ’
.

He put his little purse in to his pocket and g ot ,

upon his bed and took down t w o pictures from the

’
w al lr on e Margaret s C hristmas present to him
, the ,

Holy C hild in the Manger ; the other o n e Mr , .

R andall had sent him from R ome Jesus i n the ,

’
fish erm a n s boat bidding the rough waves be
sti ll.

These presents he put into an old bag which

Fra n qoi s Pen vra z had given him as a parting present .

Then he went quickly dow n stairs into the dinin g -

 SI R NI C CO S TA R TS UP ON A 10 UR N EI ’
. 217

room and opened the French win dow whi ch led out
,

upon the terrace Bolts and bars were not supposed

.

to be needed at Trecastle and very soon he was

,

run ning down the steep hill in the sweet fresh m om

ing air his c h ec k s all
,
his blue eyes dan cing
with m erriment .

N i cc o sta rts u pon hi s j

our n ey .
 CH A PTE R XX .

TH E R ETU R N J O UR NE Y .

O N the gree n were the two donkeys and the geese , ,

an d
the ducks walking about in a lazy sleepy kind of
, ,

fashi on and seeming rather startled at the quaint

,

little gentleman who i ntruded upon th e usual solitud e

of the early morning hour .

Nicco patted Brown ie and confided to h i m that he

,

was going away but that everybody would be v ery

,

kind to him Joe S nell and all ; then he wished the

,

others the grey donkey and the ducks and the

—

geese a general good bye and walked quickly o n

— -

towards the paddock .

There was not a creature astir the fishermen had

gone ou t two or th ree hours earlier the women and ,

children were still in bed Th e paddock gate was .

’
unlocked and the door of Peterkin s stable w a s O pen
, ,

and Peterkin himself was there looking out upon the

world u p on that bright June mornin g .
220 L I T/ L E SIR N I CII OL A S .

however was a matter of l ittle cons equence he had

,

ridden the farmer s horse at Plougastel without any

’

attempt at a saddle ; w h y should he not ride Pe t er

k i n i n t h e same way ?
Th e bridle was a l l right ; the sagacious pony hel ped
Nicco to put the bit into his mouth as well as he
could and seemed q u ite to understand the urgency of
,

the case .

I n a fe w minutes he and his noble little ride r

were on thei r way to the station But as they n eared
.

it somebody was seen walking along the road carrying

a large parcel .

I t was none other than old Nolan tak ing some b oots,

for which he had an order from Plymouth to catch ,

the early u p t rain .

Good mor ni n g Mr Nolan said S i r Nicholas

, .
,

j oyously tak ng o ff h i s fish er s cap

’

,
i .

Nolan stood transfixed to the spot ; such a vision

at such an hour w as not an every day occurrence in
-

fact as the shoemaker a fterwards expressed it I t was ,

“

not a sight which a man could expect to see mo r e

”
than once in his lifetime . He rubbed his eyes and
stared and speech failed him completely
, .

”
S hal l I carry your parcel ? said Nicco always ,

p olite
.
 TH E RET URN [ 0 O RNEI ’
. 221

’
No thank y ou S i r Nicholas ; I m much obliged
, , ,

I m su re ; but m ight I be so bold as to ask w here

’
, ,

ou are going
y
To Plougastel Mr Nolan to my old ho m e to see
,
.
, ,

”
a l l my friends .

E xcuse me S i r Nicholas but does her L ady ship

, ,

know that you hav e gone away ?

Nicco co l oured crimson .

No she does not know but she wil l n ot care ;

, ,

then with a funny little air of woul d b e self assertion

,
- -

he said I can do as I like ; I am S i r Nicholas Tre

,

was the fi rst time in his littl e reign of nin e

It
mo nths that Nicco had e v er tried to impress any one
with his dign ity and the effort was so great th at
,

the poor littl e fellow was completely overcome b y

’
it and hid his face in Peterki n s mane and so b bed
,

audibly .

”
You must come home al ong of me S i r said
“
, ,

Nolan laying his rough hand ten derly upon the boy s
,
’

arm .

No n o I will not c ome to that home ; I want to

, ,

go to my ow n home to M ere A nnette s house " ’

, .

You shall go there another day sir ; I don t ,

’

doubt as how her L adyship will let you go b u t not ,

G o
222 L I T TL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

now not this morning A nyho w come home along

,
.
,

”
of me and have some breakfast
,
.

“
May I have my breakfast to your house Mr
'
, .

Nolan
“
Yes sir you shall have a c u p of tea and some
, , ,

’
b read and honey that s the bes t I v e got to give
’

I like better honey than anything I will come ,

’
answered Nicco letting the reins drop over Pete rkin s
neck and a l l o w m g old Nolan to lead the pony back
,

by the road he had travelled only a quarter of an

hour before .

Th e parcel of boots was deposited at a wayside

cottage and very soon poor N i c eo tired with all the
, ,

unusu a l excitement was sitting in the old shoemaker s

,
’

roo m enj oying his breakfast .

’
By seven o clock Peterkin was carrying his little
master up the hill to the House on the C liff where no ,

one suspected what had happened during those early

morning hours when eve ry one was fast asleep .

Nolan tried to explain m atters to R obert w h o in , ,

his turn tried to explai n them to Mrs Tr emaine at

, .
,

whose door he kn ocked and begged her to come and

”
speak to h i m in the morning room He had an .

instinctive feeling that he would rather not consign

’
S i r Nicholas to C lementine s tender mercies .
224 L I T TL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

want to go to Plougast el to M ere A n n ette

I .

’
D on t you lo v e us Nicco ? ,

”
Yes oh yes ,
.

Then why do you want to leave us ?

Because because I m o n e— —
’

O ne what darling ? ,

O nly a sob came this time and that determi n ed ,

expression which they all thought meant obstinacy

’
and sulkiness was upo n the little boy s face .

Not one word m ore was to b e got out of him ;

not e v en w hen in th e afternoo n Granny came to see
him and took him on her knee and tried to coax him
, ,

into telling her the reaso n of his strange littl e freak .

He said he loved them all but he a lso wanted to ,

go to Plougastel a n d begged to be taken there

, .

”
“
I hav e the moneys he sai d I have nine , ,
“

pennies in my purse for to pay my j ourney oh , , ,

please please let me go for I am one

, ,

Then he b roke off and sob bed again then again ,

he asked piteous l y to b e taken home

, , .

“
S ome day you shall go to see M e re A nnette my ,

”
darling said L ady Tremaine o n ly you must promise
, ,

”
ne v er to run away again .

I promise I quite promise Granny for some day

, , ,

”
is very soon .
 TH E RET URN j 0 UR N E T
. 225

A nd with this hope he was happy only he ,

often asked whether th e ne x t day would b e some

“

”
day an d he was al ways making plan s for his
,

j ourney in which p lans Peterkin was included

, .

A n d a ll this went o n u n ti l the end of July when ,

Margaret came home an d saw the change in the

,

little b oy which no one else had detected .

S h e was more l o v ing tha n e v er a n d he c l ung to

,

her just as he had do n e in the days when he first

came to his home b ut his o n e thought seemed to b e
,

h o w to please Gerald there was somethin g touching ,

and yet inex pl icab l e in the way in which he gav e i n

,

to his cousin in e v erything e v e n to the l ength of

,

going privately to Granny and asking if he might

,

make him a presen t of the frigate .

This Granny dec li n ed to allow at the same time,

she said she would see whether old Harris could

make an other ship for Gerald .

Margaret was more and more puzz l ed as the days

went on .

Joe S nell did not seek Gerald s society during her

’

holidays ; he had ne v er l iked her had al ways felt ,

that in the episode of the b row n donkey an d the

’
duck pond she had b een the little Baronet s warmest
,

champion ; but it ne v er came into her head in a ny

226 L I TTL E SIR NI C H OL A S .

way to connect Joe with Nicco and although she ,

felt quite sure that Gerald did not love his little
cousin he dared not show his dislike openly ; cer
,

t a i n l y not enough to account for the g rave tro ubled

look which often e v en when he was in his merriest

,

’
moods came upon N i c c o s face
,
.

“
I hope the days are good for you little Miss , ,

ol d Nolan had sai d to her when she went to visit ,

’
him ; I v e put that into my prayers as we agreed upon
all th em months ag one and if all ain t right now you
,
’
,

”
may be quite sure that the better days is a coming -
.

’
I do n t kn ow w hether it i s all right Mr Nolan , .

’ ”
sometimes I don t think it i s quite .

W ell little Miss there s always clouds about as

’

, , ,

him of Heliotr op e G ardens put in a b eautiful l etter

he wrote to me last week ; but if we only looks
s traight ahead and walks straight on the track of
, ,

the dawn shines brightest w here the clouds h a s

”
looked darkest .

A n d Margaret went back to school wondering ,

whether i n the winter when she came home again , ,

with the clouds , and the wind an d the rain there , ,

would b e really better days than ther e had been

“

du ring that time of summer sunshin e with al l its ,

outward gladness .
228 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

Gerald were maki ng b ut n ev er like the loyal hearted ,

—

littl e ge n t l eman he was goi n g b ack to that summer

,

d ay when the two b oys had gone t o the green to

,

see Pu n ch an d Judy n or alluding in any way to the

,

accusatio n which he had heard Joe b ring ag ai n st

himself .

I n a l itt l e b ook of E nglish prayers which Mr .

C arew had gi v e n him Nicco had written on the fl y

,

leaf in his b ig round hand Please God pardon m e , , ,

if I was a ti ef w ithout to know it and take me to ,

”
Pl ougastel and make Geral d the Baro n et
, .

I t was a D ecember day an d the wind was ho w lin g

,

fi ercel y coming up to the shore i n great puffs from

,

the sea b ut Nicco although he did n ot like it was

, , ,

not as frightened as he used t o b e He had to l d .

Granny only that v ery morning that he quite meant

to b e a sail or a n d she had laughed a n d said A n d
, ,

”
wear a c ook ed hat Nicco darling ?
, ,

U pon which N icco only shook his head and looked ,

doubtful .

’
O n his way home he said to himself No I don t , ,

think I will wear o n e cocked hat I think it s only .

’

the sai lor o fficers who wear th ese a n d I m going t o ,

’

b e one sail or like Fra n gzoi s Penvra z n o t in a big —

ship only in a little b oat to catch the fish at D ou

,
 TH E I N VI SI BL E PI L OT . 229

a rn en ez for I am going to be one sailor at Plougastel

, ,

and Gerald will go into a big ship and wear a cocked

hat and be a big A dmi ral But all sailors must be
,
.

brave and not frightened and I w ill be one a n d I w ill , ,

w rite a letter from Plougastel and tell Granny abou t ,

”
it and say th at I was not afraid of the big waves
,
.

That afternoon Joe S nell came to the wo rkshop ,

and brought with him something that Gerald had

been wanting for many months for which he had been ,

saving up his pocket money and which Joe had ,

now got him from Plymouth where he had b een the ,

day before .

I t was a little cann o n and some gunpowder Th e .

two boys were looking at it and admiring it when ,

Nicco went into the room .

W hen can we let it off said Gerald .

’ ’
I don t know I m sure answered Joe
,
This ,
.

afternoon perhaps if you could come dow n al ong of

, ,

me to the sands to Pu ddi c omb e Bay where n o one

, ,

will see us for it will make an awful noise going off

, .

’
I t won t hurt w ill it ? said Gerald timi dly
, .

”
Hurt ! I should rather think not and Joe ,

’
laughed scornfully ; but of course if you re afraid , ,

’
you d best not come .

I m not one bit frightened S hall we g o at o n ce ? .

H H
23 0 L I TTL E SIR NI CHOL A S .

for Mother is out an d she said I must go d own to

,

’
the drawi ng room at four o clock because somebody
-

”
is coming to see us who kn ew my father .

”
“
A l l right then come alo n g a n swered Joe
, , .

O h Gerald p l ease do not go

,
D o n ot shoot the
, , .

little gun I t might b low you up like the m a n in

.
,

”
the boat was b lo w n up and Mother (Nicco always ,

called Mrs Tremain e Mother now) would n ot like

.

”
it
.

”
Be quiet will you ? said Geral d angrily and
, ,

don t go an d tell ta les Mind your ow n business No

’
. .

one asks you to fire the can n o n You are too great .

a coward .

S o the two friends we n t off and Nicco wen t b ack ,

to the nursery where Clementin e sat at work More

, .

dolls were i n hand for the coming C hristmas tree and -

she w a s v ery busy o v er them and di d n ot tal k to ,

him except once to ask where Master Gerald was

, .

”
He answered gone out w ith Joe S nell b ut she did
, ,

n ot seem to hear the inf ormatio n an d w ent on ,

working w hilst the little boy amused himself with

,

his toys .

He had a S light cold an d it had been decided that ,

he was n ot to go out that aftern oo n .

Four o clock came and Mrs Tremaine who h a d

’
.
, ,
23 2 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

I will not be one coward said the boy I w il l

,

”
go and help them .

’
He took U p his sailor s hat but to get into hi s ,

great coat and his thick boots would take too long ,

for he kne w that the tide was coming up fast and he ,

kne w too that all the fishermen had gone out in their
boats that morning and would not be in until late at
,

n ight perhaps not until the next morning

,
.

For a n instant he thought of appealing to R obert

the next he remembered that he had heard him ask
leave to go down to the village to see his mother ;
and C lementine was afraid of the sea and Gerald said ,

that all women were cowards so it w a s no good c al l ing

,

C ook or A nne or Maria or any of them to the rescue .

He opened the hall door and was almost blown ,

down by a gust of wind ; but again he said to himsel f ,

I w ill n o t be on e coward I will be a b r ave sailor

,

boy. S o on he went do w n a steep short path to the

shore and again up a little incline behind which the
, ,

tiny bay which was called Pu ddi c om b e Bay was

, ,

situated .

I n the midst of it was a great rock where the boys

used to be allowed to play wheneve r any one was
with them but where they were strictly forbidden to
,

go alone .
 TH E I N VI SI BL E PI L OT . 23 3

That ock was now surrounded by water and the

r

waves wer e dashing against it furiously each minute ,

rising higher and higher ; and in the fast gathering

d a rkness Nicco thought he saw two little figures
w a ving their arms high in the air and it seemed to ,

him a s through the roaring wind he heard a shr ill ,

’
clear voice Gerald s voice crying for help
, ,
.

A n d he the brave little sailor boy was helpless as

, ,

he stood there lookin g down at the pitiless waves

,

rushing faster and faster 0 11 towards the place where

,

Gerald and J o e stood .

He j oined his little hands and said O h please ,

“
, ,

”
Jesus tell the sea to be calm and as though in
, ,

’
answer to the simple prayer ther e was a moment s ,

lull ; the great mist of S pray cleared away for a n

instant and at the foot of the little cli ff upon w hich
,

h e stood he saw a fish erm a n s boat made fast to the

’

rock tossing u p and down amid the restless waves .

He kne w w hose boat it was a n old one of Jack —

A usten s waiting till he could find time to make it

’

seaworthy .

A n d then a thought i t must have been a heaven

—

sent thought came into Ni ec e s head I will take

’
—

the b ea t out to them and I wi l l row them back .

He went down the steep pa th and sto od upon the ,

234 L I T TL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

rock to which the boat w a s fastened I n the little .

C hapel on the summit of the Headland the wo m en

had put some candles to guide the sailors to the
shore ; Nicco looked Up at the gleam of light then he ,

made the sign of the C ross as he had seen the sailors

,

do in his old Breton home before they went to sea ,

then he to ok the rope into his little hands and with ,

'
a mighty c fl ort tried to unloose it from the iron ring
to which it was made fast But no mighty effort .

was needed the waves had done their work ; the

,

continual frettin g had loosened the rope and as ,

Nicco touched it it gav e way

, .

A nother moment and the little lad was in the boat ,

trying with all his might to take up the c a rs It .

was of no use those poor little arms were powerless ,

and the brave little heart sank as another cry more , ,

piteous than the last rose from the distant rock above
, ,

the fury of the waves .

A n d the waves heard the low plaintiv e sob which

came from the little sailor boy in his agony of de
spair ; and they passed it on to the angels who were
watch i ng as he sat in the stern of the boat which was ,

dri fting he knew not whither A n d with the little .

sob was mingled a prayer : O h Jesus come into the

“

boat and tell the sea to be calm .

23 6 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

fishi n g
-
boats which had been disabled early in the
day and was on its way home came to the rescue, ,

and the fishermen took the three boys safe to shore .

He heard it all afterwards b u t on that evening

,

they carried him up to the House on the C li ff pale ,

and almost lifeless with an ugly wound on h i s fo re

,

head and his little limbs sti ff and rigid .

Gerald and Joe were all right except for the fright
and the exposure to cold but one of th ose fierce
,

waves had thrown Nicco from his seat at the helm to

the bottom of the boat and left him lying there
,

se n seless.
 C H A PTE R XX I I .

’
J O E SNEL L S LA ST H O WL .

FO R weeks Nicco ho v ered between life and death .

Christmas came and there was no Ch ristmas tree

,
-

for the vil l age children and if there had b een any
,

amusement of any kind outside the House on the

C li ff it is n ot at all likely th at any one would have
,

’
ca red to avail themselves of it for every one s heart ,

was in that sick room where L ady Tremaine and

-

Mrs Tremain e and Margaret sat day after day

.
,

watching and waiting .

For Margaret had come home a week before the

C hristmas holidays b egan ; Nicco had asked for her
’
in hi s delirium and every one s first thought i n
,

those winter days was to do what he wi shed ,

although he poor litt l e man was not conscious of

, ,

what his wishes were .

Ge rald wandered about the house v ery sad and ,

lo n ely an d Joe S nell came u p e v ery morning an d

,

I I
238 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

e v ening to k n ow the latest news A n d he and .

Gerald used to shake hands in a quiet sort of way ,

without many words and Gerald would say ,

”
I t was all our fault Joe ,
.

A n d Joe would answer in such a subdued v oice ,

that you would hardly hav e known it to b e his ,

“
Yes I know i t Master Gerald ; and if he gets
, ,

'
well there s noth ing as I won t do for him for he s
’ ’

the best and bravest little gent as ever I kn owed ,

”
and mother says so too .

A n d To m A usten and Joe struck up a friendship

in those sad days which no one would have won
dered at more than themselves h a d they had a ny ,

thought for any one but Nicco .

A n d with the Christmas Hymns of praise and with

’
the A ngels song went up the prayer in which every
man woman a n d child in the old church j oined
, , ,

“
that it would please God to give their little master
”
back to them once more even as He had given him ,

to them before from the depths of the sea

, .

A n d when the n e w year dawned hope came into ,

their hearts .

A wonderful L ondon doctor was sent for and he ,

said ,
that with great care v ery great care indeed
“
,
,

the little boy might ge t wel l .

240 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S
.

possession of the poor little tender hear t But it .

was al l made right n ow .

They told him that he had sav ed Gerald s li fe and

’

Joe s also an d he did n ot seem quite to understand

’

it he only looked u p at his little picture and said ,

“
I think Jesus must have b ee n in the b oat although
’

I did n ot see Him b ecause my head was hurt but I m

,

’ ”
glad if I m not one coward a n d not one tief no more
,
.

’
O ne day at Niec e s own request Joe S nell was
, ,

asked to come up to see him an d the little thin , ,

white hand was held out and the sweet little v oice
,

’
said Please kiss me Joe and I m sorry about
, ,

”
the pond and you ll b e ki nd to the b row n donk ey
,
’
.

Whereupo n Joe actually howl ed then he ran away , ,

but ever afterwards until poor Brownie died of old

,

age he made him his especial care

, .

O ne more request Nicco made ; it was that he

might be taken to Plougastel to see M ere A n n ette ;
that was months afterwards when he l ay upon his ,

little couch on the terrace i n the sprin g sunshine ;

Mr R andall was at Trecastle then come all the way
.
,

from R ome to see the little la d .

This wish too was granted ; the artist and Mrs .

Tremaine an d Gerald and Margar et and of course

, , ,

’
C lementine ( for of all N i c c o s many slav es C lementin e
 WL
’

j O E SNEL L S L A ST H 0 . 241

was the most devoted ) went off with Nicco in a

,

yacht to the old home where M ere A nnette still

,

’
sat in the chimney corner and kissed Ni ec e s like ,

ness every day and talked to him as though he

,

were with her stil l

A n d when he stood by her looking pale and thin ,

and unlike the little boy she had parted from she ,

did not recogn ise him unt i l he said

’ ’
M ere A nnette c est moi c est A z i ck l ez a d
, Then ,
.

she took him up in her arms and cried over him , ,

and proceeded to get the frying pan and to make -

him some pancakes A n d Monsieur l e C uré took th e

.

boy into th e C hurch and knelt with him before th e

,

A l tar and thanked God for b rin ging h i m fr om death

, ,

unto l ife and it almost seemed to Nicco as though

,

those martyrs an d saints and a ngels as they looked

, , ,

down upon him as he sat with his little old friends

upon the steps of the C alvary sm i led a welcome to ,

him in his old home and told hi m to b e brave and

,

good as they had been .

There was not one of all those good Breton fol ks

who was n ot happy during that week when the yacht
lay at anchor in the little harbour and when Milo rd ,
“

”
S are Nicholas went in and out amongst them as he
had done in the old days .
242 L I T TL E SI R NI CHOL A S
.

A nd w hen he went away they cried as they had

c ried when they had par ted from him before but h e ,

told them he should come a gain very soon ; an d he

’
kep t his promise E ach year the little lad s summer
.

holidays wer e spent in the swee t Breton village .

”
“
L ittle Miss said Nolan the day a fter the yachting
,

’ ’
party came home it s all right now ain t it ? there s
,
“
,
’

b een clouds but the track of the daw n h a s been all

,

’
the clearer I v e wrote all about it to him at Helio
”
trope Gardens .

Yes Mr Nolan than k you answered Marga ret

, .
, ,

shyly ; and do you know I think and so does Nicco , ,

that you have helped us to h ea r things by tellin g u s

about him in Heliotrope Gardens .

A n d Nolan made a ve ry low bow a n d answere d , ,

Thank y ou little Miss I don t think I ever felt

“ ’

so p roud in all my life not even on the day when

’
the L ord Mayor s fi rst cousin expressed his entire
”
satisfaction a bout them boots .
244 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

D a n d y is n o l onger alive repor t says that he one

day ate too many carrots ( to which v egetable he was
particu l arly partial) and died an hour after w ards .

Th e old brow n donkey too is dead the grey one , ,

is ali v e and well although not quite so active as when

,

we last saw him .

There are geese and ducks ( a white goose con

spi c u ou s amongst them )waddling about as of yore ,

probably the great great great gran dchildren of our old

- - -

friends for of course there have been some changes

at Trecastle during all these years although time h as ,

dealt v ery tenderly with the good p eop le of the little

village by the sea .
1

O ld Mrs A usten has b een take n to her rest b ut

.
,

Jack and h is wife and Tom are standing at the door

of their cottage and old Nol an is with them and Joe
, ,

S nell the village c a rpenter is there also holding in

, , ,

his arms an extremely fat baby whose n ame i s Nicho

las Gerald for Joe is a married man n ow and his
, ,

wife is n one other than Peggy A usten Tom s sister ,

’
.

'
Th e b a b y i s decorated with blue b ows and looks grave ,

and important as tho u gh he quite understood wha t

,

was expected of him ; in fact he sets Up a loud crow , ,

as a ringing deafeni n g cheer breaks from the assembled

,

cro w d and a carriage drives quickly al o ng the road

, .
 N E W N A I lI E S I N TH E OL D BL UE B OOK . 245

I the carriage are t w o young men s u b lieutenan ts

n ,
-

i n the navy bronzed by the hot E gyptian sun for

, ,

they had stood side by side on the deck of t h e good

ship Tr oja n at the bomb a rdment of A lexandria .

O ne of them is a golden haired lad ( perhaps you

-

could hardly call h i m a man ) tall and slight with blue

, ,

eyes which generally had in them the real Tremaine

“
spark le but j ust n ow the spa rkle is somewha t
,

obscured by a mist which seems to rise before them .

Th e other is a great broad shouldered fel l ow with -

b rown hair and brown eyes and such a pale wan face
, ,

although there is a bright smile u pon it now t hrough ,

which ho w ever the old women say s haking their

, , ,

heads that they can detect a gre a t deal of su ff ering ;

,

and the same m i st which seems to have affected S i r

’

Nicholas rises before a great many eyes as they fall ,

upon a pair of crutches w hich are lying upon the

,

front seat of the carriage ; for they all know what

thos e crutches mean and that in all human probability
,

Ge rald will need their support all the rest of his life .

For as the shells fell thick and fast U pon the deck
of the Tr oja n i n the harbour of A lexandria Gera ld
, ,

threw hims elf b efore Nicco and receiv ed the missile

, ,

which must otherwise have inevitably S t ruck hi s cousin .

A t first the surgeo n said that there was no hope of

K x
246 L I TTL E SI R NI C HOL A S .

’
the brave young sailor s life but God willed it other
wise Gerald did not die but the hitherto bright active ,

life was hencefor w ard to be one of inaction and it ,

might be of su fferin g
, .

Geral d knew all this and n ot one word of reb e llion

, ,

n ot even of regret had escaped his lips

, .

You must let me be your steward old fellow he , ,

said to Nicco and stay at the old House and look

, ,

after everything there and take care of every one as I

, ,

know you yoursel f would do and you will go and win ,

all kin ds of honours and come home covered with,

laure ls the greatest Tremai n e of them all since the

, ,

time of E dward I I I .

To which speech poor Nicco whose name had ,

appeared in the admiral s dispatches as conspicuous ’

for brav ery could not answer one word but could
, ,

o nly lay his head U pon his hands and sob as he had ,

n ot sobbed since he was a little boy .

W elcome home S i r Nicholas welcome home

, ,

”
Mr Gerald shouted the crowd on th e green and
.
, ,

hands were stretched out and caps were wav e d a n d ,

Nicholas Gerald S nell was dep osited in some

mysterious manner i n to S i r N i c h ol a s s in experienced ’

arms whereupon he turn ed round an d p atted Geral d s

, ,
’

p a le face .
248 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

A ndthere on the steps stood Granny very old and ,

bent but with the same loving smile upon h er face

,

with which she always greeted both her sailor lads .

A n d Mrs Tremaine l ooking quiet and gentle as of o l d

.
, ,

and Margaret grown into a tall and graceful woman

, ,

were ther e also and Mr C arew leaning on his stick a n d

,
.
,

Mr R andall bright and cheery only h i s beard was

.
, ,

grey now instead of auburn A n d a little in the .

background were C lementine and R obert O nly poor .

old R obinson was not there .

Tell S i r Nicco as how my one wish was to see

”
him again he said befo r e he died but maybe we
, ,
“

shall know each other in the place w here God is

’
calli ng me Give him his old servant s love and
.

duty and tell Mr Gerald that next to my own S i r

,
.

”
Nicco I think most of h i m
, .

They were a quiet happy party in the old library

on that first evening of the young sailors return I f ’
.

there was some sadness in the sight of Gerald there ,

was hope and thankfulness also somethin g of pride ,

in the thought of the loyal hearted young fello w w h o -

had been willing to lay down his life for his friend .

A fter a time and only at G erald s entreaty Nicco

’

, ,

went out of the room He came b ack very soon and .

,

stood there for an instant in the doorway in full

N E W I VA ME S IN TH E OL D BL UE B OOK . 2 49

u n iform his cocked hat o n his head The n he took

,
.

it off and went up to Granny and made her a l ow

,

b o w and laid it at her fee t

,

He has kept his word Granny hasn t he said , ,

’

’
Gerald smilin g brightly
,
He s a sailor in a c ook ed
.
“

”
hat .

I t was too much for poor old L ady Tremaine S he .

had borne u p bravely all through the evening but ,

n o w she could only t h re w her arms round her tall

youn g grandson s neck and sob out Nicco Nicco’

, , , ,

”
my little lad .

He led her gen tly t o a chair which stood near

Gerald s couch and said
’

, ,

“
I have a cocked hat gran ny but he is to have , ,

something that n o Tremaine has ever had yet Th e .

Q ueen is going to gi v e him the Victoria C ross for hi s

distinguished courage in saving my li fe W e only .

heard about it th is morning That is somethin g for .

you to write in the blue book .

I t was written that very night in a feeble trem ,

bling hand when Nicco went to th e cottage with

,

G ranny .

I t was the story of a short but faithful ser vice that ,

chro nicle of Gerald Tremaine “

and u n dern ea th ,

it Granny wr ote ,
250 L I TTL E SI R NI CHOL A S .

Greater love hath no m a n than this that a man ,

lay dow n his life for his friend .

’
S h e wrote too of Niec e s b rav e deeds duri n g the
, ,

bombardment of A l exan dria Then she left the re .

m a i n der of the story whatever it might be to be, ,

fi l led up in the years that were to come by some ,

other hand .

W e kn ow an d b el iev e that the I nv isible Pilot in

who m Nicco trusted i n his childhood and w hom he ,

trusts still will bring him through the waves of this

,

troublesome world to the L and of E verlasting L ife .

A n d so we leave them all w ith their footsteps set in ,

the track of the dawn which slowly perhaps but most

, , ,

surely leads upwar ds and onwards out of the shadows

,

that han g about all earthly things t o the full gl ory ,

of the S un shine a n d to the light of th e S mile of

,

G od.

Th e C ook ed H a t.

P RI NTED B Y 3. 8 . V IRT E
U A N D CO LI M TED C I TY
I ,
R O A D , L ON D ON .
 FR ED E R I C K WA R N E cox
s

N E W B eer s n
I ra r euse PR O PE R .

N O W R E A D V .

medium 8 c loth gilt be velled bo ds p i ce 6i

I n v o, , ar , r

R O B I N S O N C R US O E .

By D A N I E L D E F O E W ith N otes L ife etc b y WILLI A M L R ! . , , .

,

W ith S i xtee O ig in l P ge C olou ed Pl tes

n rd nume ous E g vi gs
a a s. r a an r n ra n

I n m edium 8 o cloth gilt b e v elled bo ds p ice 7 6d v , , ar , r 3 . .

T H E S W I S S FA MI L Y R O B I N S O N .

d C mpl t E diti o n T sl ted b y M S H B PA U L L

‘
A N ew a n o e e . ra n a R . . . .

Vi th T H d ed I llust tio s d S ixtee P ge Pla t s fi ely p inted in c ol ours

wo un r ra n an n a e n r

I n medium 8 cloth gilt be velled bo ds p ice 7 6d y o, , ar , r 3. .

GR I MMS ’
FA I R Y TA L E S .

s tio b y M S H B PA U L L A N ew Tran l a n R . . . .

Wi th nume ous O igi l I llust tio s d S ixtee P ge Pl t s fin ely p i ted i n col ours
r r na ra n an n a a e r n .

I n medium 8 o cl oth g ilt b e vel le d boa ds p ice 6d v , , r , r .

TH E A R A B IA N N I G H TS .

F om the T sl tio of the R r ra n a n S V. G F TO W N S E N

. . D ,

With ume o s O i gi l I ll ust tio s d S ixtee P g e Pl te

n r u r na ra n an n a a s fin ely p inted i n c ol our:
r

Inm edium 8 vo cl o th gilt bev el led boa ds

, , r , 7s 61 . .

H AN S A N D E RS E N S FA I R Y TA L E S
’
.

sla tio b y Mas H B PA U L L

A N ew Tra n n . . . .

W i th ume ou s O igin l I llust tio s d P g e Pl tes fi ely p i ted i n c lou s

n r r a ra n an a a n r n o r .

Th i s ne weditio co t ins se ve ral ddition l F i T l f the fi st t i me t l ted from

n n a a a a a es , or r ra ns a
D n sh b y M a P UL I Th si xtee co u ed pl tes b y D nish ti st
i rs. A . e n c r a a re a a ar .

I n l ge c ow 8 cloth g ilt p i ce Gd ar r n vo, , r .

O YO L O P/E D I O S C I E N C E S I MPL I FI E D .

By J H PE PPE R l a te Professor of C hemist ry a nd H onora ry D irector of th R oya l Pol y e

I sti tutio etc W th 65 d E dm

. .
,

t oc h mc F
’

h R
’

n n, i ou r t evu e a
2 d
.

w i t ra w n .

Th k emb c
e w or m n
ra es u c n r , R E A r , E M TI m -
rc rr v, u nc na r rs PN U A C S , w or
-
I ce.
d CH EMIS T R Y
,
an
l dem d f wo ks of scie ce w itte i such m e to be si l y d
.

Th g e e n era an or r n r n n a a nn r as ea un e r
s ood b y h you
t t c ll by pe so s speci lly t i ed i s i e ti fic pu sui h
n as w e as r n no t a ra n n c n r ts, as
seemed the Pu l h to i ify h ep i ti g of th is highly successful wo k I
to rs crs nst t e r r n n -
r ts
style i l ci d while i poi t l scie ti fi c ex ct ss othi is t bl f
.

s u n
g A
n 0 n a ne n n w a nt rn no a e ea ture
is h omp ti v e b e ce of pu e ! tech ic l te ms he wo k e l i ty b d
.
, .

t e c a ra a s n r n a r r rs, I n r a a an
book of i st uc i e expe ime ts chl e i hysics d chemist : ,
.

n t v n n an
e p pe s w itte b y y d y D ; Wh n
r r r
de i l l fi d io s f ‘y b p
,
Th e ru : w n n o n na a r r n ura a an e
sto e B ewste Ty d I C ook es B ow i g S ieme s N ad S tew T m
,
n r r, n r oQ r n n n o a rt , a ur
d he s with b ief s mm y f P h tog p hy by Joh S p ll e E q
, , , , ,
an ot r . a r u ar o o ra n i r, s .

I I . .
 I n l ge c ow
ar r n 8 wo , cl th gilt
o 640 pp p ice r 6d or Pop l u ar E ditio cloth giltn, ,

p i ce s
. .
,
r r.

S PO R T I N NH H WY L A N D S ,

E u ro p e , A si a , A f ica
r , a nd A m e ri c a , etc .

By II A .Th O ld S h k
.
y
" e
"
A utho of H u ti g G ou ds of the O ld W o ld & c e an
'
,
r n n r n r , .

W ith O H u d ed nd E ighty I llust tio s d Memoir of the A utho

ne n r a ra n an r,

M jo H A L a r . . e v eso n.
”

Th Ti m i n spe ki g of
e of his wo ks o b se v ed A si ce e de votio to his t
es , a n on e r r n r n ar
ele v tes M jo L i to ki d of t oub dou of hun ti g c usa des : d giv es elo , ,

a a r ev es o n n a n r a r n r an

q nce to h
ue p i ctu es of fo est sce e y
is r r n r .

I n l ge c ow
ar r n 8 vo , gilt p ice s ,
r r.

PE T E R PE N N I L E S S
G a m e k e e per a n d G e n t le m a n .

By G C H R I S TO P H E R D A V I E S
"
. .

A uth of or Wildc t owe

Th e S w a n a nd H er C ew
r a T r,
”
Th e N o folk B o ds 8m
r r a
W i th m y O g l I llust ti'o s by H S T N N R D , .

an ri i na ra n . A A .

This is i e v e y espect good he lthy boy s b ook

n r T he e is othi
r goody goody a a r n n -

bo t it Th p i i pl u i g t h ough Pete s sto y is W h e v e t i ght h d

.
’ ’
a u e r nc e r nn n r r r at r r an

fi d h to do do i t w i th l l thy m i ght e"d the volume W out g i i g

'
. ,

n et d a an n o o ne c a n r a i a n n
much useful k owledge told i ve y i te esti g m e
, ,
n , n a r n r n a nn r .

I n l ge c ow
ar r n gilt p ice 53
8 v o, , r .

H A R R Y R A Y MO N D
H is A d v e n t u re s S la v e r s a m o n g Pi r a t e s , , a nd C a nn i b a l s .

By C omma nder L O VE TT C A ME R"O N C -

B R N
utho of A c oss A f i c & &
.
, . .
, .

A r r r a , c .
, c.

W ith E ight f ll p ge I llust tio s b y F A FR SER u -

a ra n . . A .

T hi s wo k b y the well k ow r d g ll t ex p lo e d utho of A c oss A f ic i s

-
n n an a an r r an a r
“
r r a a
most exc i t i g sto y of d ve tu e ; fi st W i th pi tes d sl ve s ext W i th the te ib le
, ,

n r a n r r ra an a r n rr

c ib ls I t is w itte powe fully d g ph i c lly d the e is R o bi

,
F h
a ns w o a re a nn a r n r an ra a an r 3. n
uo of e l i ty bout ome of the e lly te ib le sce es esp eci lly th t of the
.
,
so n r s c air r a a s r a rr n a a
O de l H y is b ve boy d h i s eg o tte d ts dmi b ly d w T the
,

r a a rr a ra an n r a n an a re a ra ra n. o
ve y d the i te est is ke p t u p d e ve i fi d tow ds the close of the t le
.
,
r en n r an n nt e nS i e ar a
G ow p e de s well l ds i l l fi d g e t mu eme t d i te est th se p ge
.
,

r n u
-
r a r , as as a ,
w n r a a s n an n r in e a s

I n c own 8
r v o, cloth gi lt ext ra ,
p ice 5
r 3.

R O N A L D H A L L W WX
O r, H e W o u ld b e a S a i l or .

By A R TH U R L E E K N I G H T .

A utho of Th C uise of the Th & &c r

“
e r es e u s , c. , .

W i th E ight F ull p ge I llust tio s b y W S -

a ra n . TA C E v.

I n R o ld H l l i f x we h v e pictu e of m itime li fe u de the fl g M K ight

na a a a a r ar n r a r. n
t fou d it ecess y to go b ck to the old time f sto y b ut h show
.

m no n n ar a w ar or a se a r as n
how he oism still exists ( it e ve will )i H M jesty s N vy Th utho himself h
-

,
’
r as r n er a a e a r as
se ved i it midshi p m d is the efo e well b le to desc i b e the life d d v e tu es
.

r n as a a n, a n r r a r an a n r

of you g ge tlem
a A n d those of R o
n nld well d g phic lly told d will b
an.
”
na a re an ra a an e
i te se ] i te esti g to high' sp i i ted E glish boys The e m y sto i es pu blished
n n n r n -
r n r a re an sea -
r
,

b t we M K i ht s the o ly o es de li g wi th the p ese t W i th the life t

.
,
u li e e ve r. n a re n n a n r n , or a
of th mode B
se a midsh i p m
e rn ri t i s a
n
.
 G Chri stopherDavi es Popul arWorks New andCheaperEditions
’
—
. .

I n la r ge c ow r n 8 vo , cloth gilt p ice 3 ,

r : 6d .

T H E S WA N A N D H E R C R E W ;
O r, Th e A d v e n t u re s o f T h re e Y o u n g N a t u ra l i s t s a n d S po rt s m en
o n t h e B ro a d s a n d R i v er s o f N o r fo l k .

B G C H R I S T O P H 'E R D A V I E Q
utho of ete Pe iless I h N o folk B o ds
.
,
”
A r r nn e r r a ti c.
W i th Postsc ipt d ume ous I llust ti o s r an
,

n r ra n .
,

I l ge c ow 8 cloth gilt p ice 3 6d

n ar r n vo , , r s. .

W I L D C A T TO W E R ;
O r, Th e A d v e n t u re s o f F o u r B o y s i n P u r s u i t o f S port a nd
N a t u ra l H i s t o ry i n T h e N o rt h C o u n t ri e .

By G C H R I S T O P H E R D A V I E S
W i th ume ous I llust tio s
.

n r ra n .

F om the E di b g h C
r M D v ies c
n ur ot b e ch ged with ov e wee i g
ou r a n t : r a a nn ar an r n n
of his did ttempt to t ke the wo ld b y su p ise
.

p H ow n o vi e rs. N e no t a a r r r as a ew
W te to a C lq h
r A if he dou b ted h i s bi l i ty to i te est g ow
n or a o uo o u n. p p eo p le he s a n r r n u -

m de his fi st v e tu e with b ook f boys I t

a r n r o ce h led'
h b oys b oo of
a or w as a t n ai as t e
’

the se so d few ju v e i les e d Sw C ew its fi st ppe ce

.

a h
n, a n h d H n w o r a t e an a n er r on r a a ra n
will e fo get h del i ght i t g ve them
ev r r t e a .
”

I n l ge c ow
ar r n 8 vo, cloth gilt p ice , r 33 .

TH E L A N D O F FI R E
A T a l e o f A d v e n t u re .

By C A PTA I N MA Y N E R E I D
W ith ume ous I llust 'tio s d b ief L ife of the A utho
.

n r ra n an a r r.

S pe k i g of C pt i M y e R eid s de th Tfi B i m g / m D i ly P t s ys
'
a n a a n H
a n a e r zn za a os a e
lef t howe ve this wo k b eh i d him the l st l bou of h i p
r, I t h l l the old ch c
r n a
,

a r s en as a a ra
the full k owledge the lo v e of d v e tu e the spi it the cy v i ou of the
, , .

i ti
‘
t er s
S c l p H u te
a
‘
cs—
Th D ese t H ome 8
n r, Th b ook h
’
n
e
g
e ough i t i s i c me it to
,

r
’
a
10
n r
e
,

as
r ,

n
ra
n r n
r
r
m ke it f vou ite t y t"i me A leg cy so to spe k of t ied d t ue f ie d it
.
,

a a a r a an s a a a a r an r r n
sho uld be dou b ly welcome
.
, , ,
.

I l ge c ow 8 cloth gi lt p ice 6d n ar r n v o, , r .

C O N J U R E R D I C K;
O r, Th e A d v e n t u re s o f a Y o u n g W i z a r d .

By A N G E L O J L E WI S (P ofesso r H O FFMA N N ) r

W ith I llust t i o s
. .

ra n .

Th P ofesso h e excelle t vei of humou ; d p t f om the m usi g ch cte

r r as a n n n r an a ar r a n a ra r
of his n ti v e the e is ful ess of k owledge i mp ted to the B i tish you gste h
a rra r a n n ar r n r, w o
d th t co j u i g i s i d i spe s b le b ch of educ tio
, o .

i
s eon m v ce a n r n an n n a ra n a n.

cloth g i lt p ice 3 6dI n ar l ge c ow r n 8 v o, , r 3. .

D O N A L D A N D D O R OT H Y ;
By MA R Y MA P E S D O D G E E dito of S t N i k l M g i e r c o as a a z n
\Vith ume ous I llust tio s
, . .

n r ra n
‘
.

A l l those you g peo p le h h ve t yet m den c q u i t ce ith D o n ld d w o a no a a a n an w a an

'
D o othy m y b e ecomme ded to get the v olume t o ce
r a r they will t l y jy
n a n as no on en o
the h p py sce es of t s tl ntic l i fe b ut W i ll fi d fl vou cf myste y i to the b
, 0 _
a n ra n a a n a a r r n ar
C ra p/a c .
 I n l ge c ow
ar r n 8 vo , cloth gilt p i e 3 , rc 5. 6d .

0N D UT Y .

By A N G E L I C A S E L B Y .

W ith ume ous O igi l I llust tio s by E G R EY NOL D S n r r na ra n

"
. . .

O D uty i next emely tu l sto of child l i

s an fe M S ome s of
r fice i na ra r
y
h l d R e i me t is o de ed to I d i ; h i s wife ccom p i es him
r. r an r n a
d the i o ly ch i ld
.
,
H i an n
g r r n a a an an r n
e G ce is left to the c e of M S ome s b othe S N o to M ve s d his W fe
, ,
I i tt ra ar rs. r
’
r r, ir r n an r
,
, an i
S N o to h st o g p ejudice g i st soldie s d h bee d pl d t his siste s , .

ir r n as a r n r a a n r an as n i ~
e a se a r
m yi g ; G ce h howe ve b ee t i ed i mil i t y f sh i o to set duty d
,
a rr n o ne ra a s, r, n ra n n ar a n, an
cou ge fi st ra d o b ed i e ce (
r the fi st duty of sold
a s v ut u e s , a n i e ) the fi st of l l dut i es n r a r as r a
in h c se lso ; d the b l ch cte of the l i ttle sold i e eco c i les h i m to the p
er a a an no e a ra r
“
r r n ro
f i
e ss o n t l st Th M ve s ch i ld e
a a v e y musi g d the i esc p d s d
e an r r n a re r a a an r a a an
d ve tu es just wh t sm ll e de s l i ke e
.

,
a n r a re a a r a r .

I n c owr n 8 v o, cloth gilt p ice 6d ,

r

E TH E L FO R T E S C U E
C h a rg e O r, L e t f in .

By C E C I L I A S E L B Y L O W N D E S .

A utho r of N H o no urs
" O nly G i ls & c ew r .
, , ,

I llust tio s b y E W ith full p ge O

S NE -
a ri g na li ra n va n CA N LL.

A b ight im ted t le f f mil y life ; eco d of e y i te esti g d tu l eve ts

r an a a o a a r r v r n r n an na ra n
E thel he self is ch m i g h m lovely p ictu e of E gl ish m ide
, .

r a ar d h n e ro e— a r an n a n — an er
su ou d i gs d sto y
rr n q l l del i ghtful
n The e is much thought l
an i the t le ;
r a re e ua a so , n
d sh ewd o b se v t i o s upo l fii
r a
d society i the p ese t d y sp i kle its p ges
.
,
an
Without "
r
"
r a
e ch i g " goody goodyism the e i s much mo e t h me e m mg
a ny r a n
n
or
n i an
-
n
r
r n
r
a
ana
r n
r a
a

us
.

st r oy in E the For tesc u e .

,

I n c own 8
r vo, cloth gilt p i ice , 6d .

E D E N T O PA T MO S
I n c i d e n t s a n d S c e n e s i n B i bl e H i s t o ry .

By the R ev G O R D O N C A L TH R O P . .

W ith O rigi na l I llustra tio ns a nd Ma ps .

A little b ook of S c ip tu ra l na r a ti ves a nd ch a ra cte rs i n te nded for elde r child re n

r r It
t kes lo g ge f om E i E de to S t Joh i P tmos d touches m y of the
.

a a n ra n r ve n n n n a an an
su bjects most l i k ly to be pp ec i ted b y the e de s f whom i t is w itte I t i s ill s
.
,

e a r a r a r or r n u
t d by e g vi g s d m p s the l tte i te d d f the p u pose of gi mg d i st i ct
.

t ra e n ra n an a — a r n n e or r v a n
ide of b ttle fi l d m ig tio s d such like m tte s Th object h l d is
a a -
e s, d the ra n an a r e e ne w an
v olume is to im p t to ch i ld e deepe i te est S c i p tu e by m k i g it seem e l d , ,
.

ar r n a r n r in r r a n r a an
l i fe l ke wh lst little poss ib le is dded to the s c ed sto y
,
’
i , i as as a a r r .

I n c owr n 8 v o, cloth gilt gi lt edges p ice , , r a s.

R E A L G R I T .

By S I L A S K . H OC KI N G .

" "&
A utho of H Be y I vy r er nn , , c., &C .

W i th S i x O i g i l I llust tio s by A W r na ra n . . C oo r i m
 I n c w ro n 8 vc , cloth gilt gilt edges p ice , , r a s. 64 .

FO R A B IGA I L :
A W e s t C o u n t ry S t o ry
-
.

By S I L A S "K H OC KI N G
"
utho of H Be y D ick s F i y I vy tc
.
,
’

A r er nn , a r , , e .

W ith S i x O igi l I llust tio s b y W S S T C E Y r na ra n . . A .

I t is i te sely i te es i g d e ve exciti g i some of i ts i cide ts ; it bou ds i

n n n r t n an n n n n n a n n
g phic p ss ges d ti i g Si tu t i o s ; d h v" e hesi t t i o desc ibi g i t
,

ra a a an s rr n a n an w e a no a n in r n as

th most po e ful sto y M H ock i g h

e w r yet w i tter r. n as r n .

I n c owr n 8 v o, cloth gilt gilt edges p ice , , r 23 . 6d .

A L ON G D E LAY .

B y T H O MA S K E YW O R T H
A utho of G y s Boy Th N g h V icto y etc
,
’ ”
r b ra n n , e a res o ro u r , .

W ith S ix O igi l I llust tio s r na ra n .

The e is b oth p th
r d humou i this sim p le sto ry of two l i ttle w ifs
a os a n r n a Tr um and
T ot whose d v e tu es l i kely to be followed W i th l ively i te est ,
r a n r a re a n r .
,

I n c owr n 8 vo, cloth gilt gilt edges p ice , , r 2 3. 6d .

L A YT O N 0 R 0 FT .

B A L C E I S O ME R T O N
Bi b le of
,
Th e Tom
“
A ut or .

W ith O igi I llust tio s r na l ra n .

Th mo l of th is sto
e ra is well exp es ed i n th wo ds T ke c e of you boys ; ev e r s e r a ar r n r
let them be i dl ; gi v e t em occu p t i o d te ch them to l i e m l y : the m l i est
,

e an a n, a n a an an
thi g ext to el"igio
n n self espect feel i g wh ch W i ll m ke them shu e ve y
r n, i s
.

r —
a n i a n r c on
ctio
,
temp ti b l e a n.

I c ow n 8 cloth gilt p ice 6d n r v o, , r 2 s. .

ME N O F N O T E
T h ei r B oy h oo d a nd S c h o o ld a y s .

By E R N E S T F O S TE R .

\Vith O igi l I llust tio s r na ra n .

A most i te esti g ccou t of the e ly d ys of few of the g e test m of the p ese

n r n a n ar a a r a en r nt
d p st ce tu y an a n r .

I n c ow
cloth gilt p ice 647
r n 8 v o, , r 2s . .

TH E B OY S O F H O L Y W R IT A N D B IB L E
N A R R A T I VE S .

W ith O igi na l C olou red I llu t a tions

r s r .

A full eco d of the y outh

r r a nd b oyhood o f i r zi ny of the most p omi e t ch cte s i the r n n a ra r n
B gli e .

I n c owr n 8 v o, cloth gilt p ice , r ex. 6d .

FE MA L E C H A R A C TE R S O F H O LY W R IT .

By the R H UG H H UG H E S D D E V ,
. .

“ ith O i gi l I llust tio s P i ted i C olou s

’
r na ra n r n n r .

'
I he sto y of the li ves of mo e th twe ty of the mothe s d wome of I s el is told
r r an n r an n ra in
this volume b lo v i g h d N 3 7 55 8 9 3 y a n an . —
2 — 20 ,
 I n Cr ow n 8 v e, cloth gilt p ice ,
r a s.

TH E D A N E S I N E N G L A N D ;
A T a le o f th e T i m e s o f K i n g A l fr e d .

B; “
A . H . E N GL E B A C H .

W ith O igi l I l lust tio r na ra n8 .

I this volume h utho h e de vou ed to p ese t p ictu e of

n t e a r as n a r r n a r th e sti i g
rr n

whe E gl d h me cy of the bold S c d i vi

”
n n an k g
w as a t t e r an na a n sea ~
in s.

P T S H ILLI N S E C H R iCE w o G A .

N E W S E R I E S FO R B OY S .

!TH E S TA N L E Y L I B R A R Y ) .

I c ow
“
r n 8v o , cloth ext ra , e ch olume illust ted b y
a v ra ne w a nd o igi l e g vi gs by
r na n ra n
f st te tists i r -
ra ar .

1 TH E K N G S B E L L TO W E R I ’
: R o m a n c e of th e O l d e n Ti m e
A
D RE W i th
B i l I llust tio s b y W ER
.

R A N O ri na A C OO P
‘ ra n

t U By
. . . .

a 1 TR E A S R E F D E R : A S t o ry o f a L o s t G a l l eo n
R D W i th I llust tio s by W E
. .

GO ON O r i g i na l . ra n S S TA C Y . . .

8 JA C L O C K E : A Ta l e o f t h e W a r a n d t h e W a v e B y D r G o nno u
LES W i th O i l I l lust t io s by F A FR SER
. . .

ST A B ri na ra n A
By the
. . .

4 E R N E S T FA I R F E L D ; o r TW O Te r m s a t S t A n dr e w s
’

A N M L N MA W i th O igi l I llust t i o s b y F A FR SER

. . .
,
R e v. . . A A , . . r na ra n . . A .

Th S t ley L i b y v olumes
e an speci ll suit b le f b oys They consist of he lthy
ra r a a or a
st i i g sto i es of school l i fe d d ve t e yy l d d
a re . ,
rr n r an a n ur an an sea .
,

PR i C E O N E S H ILLI N G E A CH
N EW S E R IE S FO R B OYS .

!TH E GO R D O N LIB R A R Y .

I n s a cloth ext e ch volume co t i s 8 p ges nd is illust ted b y

m l l c own 8 r v o, ra , a n a n 12 a a ra
m full p ge i llust t i o s d ov e 3 sm lle e g vi gs i the tex t
u e rous -
a
o

ra n , an r 0 a r n ra
,
n n .

1 TH E W R E C K I N G O F TH E SA t H I R E ” By H E N R Y a
“
i
2 T H E O UT P O S T By R A N D RE
. . .

U N D E R TH E A V A L A N C H E By W J G O R D O N
. . . .

3
TH E G U N R O O M H E R O E S By A R T H R L E K N I HT
. . . . .

4 -
U E G
B W G OR DO N
. .

TH E K I N G S TH A N E ’

By P L
. . .

6 E X PE L L E D : A S to ry o f as to S c h o o l D L A KB
'
A U
B R A N D RE
. . .

7 E B B A N D FL O W
TH E MA J O R S C A M A I G N By C a pt J P E R CY G RO VES
. . . .

’
8
TH E P U R S U E D By W J G O R D O
. . . . .

9 . . . . N .

Th G o do L i br y co sists of
e r excelle t se ies of ta les of d ve tu e d p il
n ar n an n r a n r an er
x t l y fitt d t del i ght S p i ited d i tellige t l ds The e is much o igi l ity of p l t
.

e ac e o r an n n a r r na o
d q u i te d f esh desc i tio s of sce e y i some of them mo e especi l ly i n
. ,
an new an r r n n r n r a
fi der the A v l che e O utpost Th se h lov e sto ies of th l d
,
“ ”
n d a an an o w o r e o sea
k i gs W i ll be del i ghted with Th K i s T h e full it i of pe i lous sit tio ns d
.

n e n an as s r ua an
b ve deeds ; whi le “G oom H e oes b ings i m w thy of the old"fl g into the
ra un r -
r r e ro s or a
ve y e ntu d W i ll e th l the boys h love the ' E xpelled i sto y of
schoopl fe wi th which most e de s will symp thise
r r se an n ra w o sea . s a r
i d Th W ecking of the r a r a an
“
e r
S ay/ g at eco d of the old smuggling d ys Th em i i ng volumes fu l l of
a e
“
is a r r a e r a n a re
exc t i g i te est f l l e de s
.

i n n r or a r a r
These v olumes dmi b ly illust ted nd p e tti ly b o nd and w i ll m k e l a b l
.

a re a ra ra a r u a va u e
'
a d d t i o ns to ny youth s boo kshelf
,
i a .

LO ND O N AN D N E W YO R K : F R E DE R I C K W A R N E AN D CO .