Fairy Prince and Other Stories Part 16

"Or _anything_!" said my Mother.

"U-m-m-m," said the Blinded Lady.

"Understanding of course," said my Father, "that we ourselves have not seen the papers yet!"

"Nor a.s.sisted in any way with the choice of subject," said my Mother.

"Nor with the treatment of it!"

"U-m-m," said the Blinded Lady.

"I will now proceed to read," said my Father.

"So do," said the Blinded Lady.

My Father so did.

He took a paper from his pocket. He cleared his throat. He put on his eye-gla.s.ses. He looked a little surprised.

"The first one," he said, "seems to be about 'Ginger-bread'!"

"_Ginger-bread?_" said the Blinded Lady.

"Ginger-bread!" said my Father.

"Read it!" said the Blinded Lady.

"I will!" said my Father.

Ginger-bread is very handsome! It's so brown! And every time you eat a piece you have to have another! That shows its worth as well as its handsomeness! And besides you can smell it a long way off when you're coming home! Especially when you're coming home from school! It has mola.s.ses in it too.

And that's very instructive! As well as ginger! And other spices! The Geography is full of them! Mola.s.ses comes from New Orleans! Spices come from Asia! Except Jamaica Ginger comes from Drug Stores! There are eggs in ginger-bread too!

And that's Natural History and very important! They have to be hen's eggs I think! I had some guineas once and they looked like chipmunks when they hatched. You can't make ginger-bread out of anything that looks like chipmunks! It takes three eggs to make ginger-bread! And one cupful of sugar! And some baking soda! And----

"Oh Tus.h.!.+" said the Blinded Lady. "That isn't a picture! It's a recipe!--Read another!"

"Dear me! Dear me!" said my Mother. "Now some child is suffering!" She looked all around to see which child it was.

Carol kicked Rosalee. Rosalee kicked me. I kicked Carol. We all looked just as queer as we could outside.

"Read _on_!" thumped the Blinded Lady.

My Father read on.

"This next one," he said, "seems to be about Soldiers!"

"Soldiers?" said the Blinded Lady. "Soldiers?" She sat up very straight.

She c.o.c.ked her head on one side. "Read it!" she said.

"I'm reading it!" said my Father.

The most scrumptious sight I've ever seen in my life is Soldiers Marching! I saw them once in New York! It was _glorious_! All the reds and the blues and the browns of the Uniforms! And when the Band played all the different instruments it seemed as though it was really _gold_ and _silver_ music they were playing! It makes you feel so brave! And so unselfis.h.!.+ But most of all it makes you wish you were a milk-white pony with diamond hoofs! So that you could _sparkle_! And _prance_! And _rear_! And _run away_ just for fun! And _run_ and _run_ and _run_ down clattery streets and through black woods and across green pastures _snorting fire_--till you met more Soldiers and more Bands and more Gold and Silver Music! So that you could _prance_ and _sparkle_ and _rear_ and _run away_ all over again,--with _flags flying_!

"U-m-m," said the Blinded Lady. "That _is_ pretty! And spirited too!--But--But it doesn't exactly warm the heart.--And no one but a boy, anyway, would _want_ to think about soldiers every day.--Read the next one!" said the Blinded Lady.

"Oh all right," said my Father. "Here's the last one."

"Read it!" said the Blinded Lady.

"I'm trying to!" said my Father. He cleared his throat and put on his eye-gla.s.ses all over again. "Ahem!" he said.

"The most beautifulest thing I've ever seen in all my life is my Mother's face. It's so----"

"_What?_" cried my Mother.

My Father looked at her across the top of his gla.s.ses. He smiled. "_Your face!_" he said.

"W--what?" stammered my Mother.

My Father cleared his throat and began all over again.

The most beautifulest thing I've ever seen in all my life is my Mother's face! It's so pleasant! It tries to make everything so pleasant! When you go away it smiles you away!

When you come home it smiles you home! When you're sick it smiles you well! When you're bad it smiles you good! It's so pretty too! It has soft hair all full of little curls! It has brown eyes! It has the _sweetest_ ears!--It has a little hat! The jolliest little hat! All trimmed with do-dabs! And teeny pink roses! And there's a silver ribbon on it! And----

"My Mother had a hat like that!" cried the Blinded Lady.

"_Did_ she?" said my Mother. Her face still looked pretty queer and surprised.

The Blinded Lady perked way forward in her chair. She seemed all out of breath. She talked so fast it almost choked her!

"Yes! Just _exactly_ like that!" cried the Blinded Lady. "My Mother bought it in Boston! It cost three dollars! My Father thought it was an awful price!--She wore it with a lavender dress all sprigged with yellow leaves! She looked like an angel in it! She _was_ an angel! _Her_ hair was brown too!--I haven't thought of it for ages!--And all full of little curls! She had the kindest smile! The minister said it was worth any two of his sermons! And when folks were sick she went anywhere to help them! _Anywhere!_--She went twenty miles once! We drove the old white horse! I can see it all! My brothers' and sisters' faces at the window waving good-bye! My father cautioning us through his long gray beard not to drive too fast!--The dark shady wood's road! The little bright meadows!--A blue bird that flashed across our heads at the watering trough! The gay village streets! A red plaid ribbon in a shop window! The patch on a peddler's shoe! The great hills over beyond!--There was hills all around us!--My sister Amy married a man from way over beyond! He was different from us! His father sailed the seas! He brought us dishes and fans from China! When my sister Amy was married she wore a white crepe shawl. There was a peac.o.c.k embroidered in one corner of it! It was pretty! We curled her hair! There were yellow roses in bloom! There was a blue larkspur!----"

The Blinded Lady sank back in her chair. She gave a funny little gasp.

"I _remember_!" she gasped. "The Young Man's eyes were _blue_! His teeth were like pearls! When he asked the way to the trout brook he laughed and said----"

The Blinded Lady's cheeks got all pink. She clapped her hands. She sank back into her Skirts. Her eyes looked awful queer.

"I see _everything_!" she cried. "_Everything!_--Give the Peac.o.c.k Feather Fan to the Magician!"

Rosalee looked at Carol. Carol looked at me. I looked at Rosalee.

"To the Magician?" said my Father.

"To the Magician?" said my Mother.

"To the Young Darling who wrote about her Mother's Face!" thumped the Blinded Lady.

My Father twisted his mouth.

"Will the 'Young Darling' who wrote about her Mother's Face please come forward--and get the Peac.o.c.k Feather Fan!" said my Father.