A Little Mother to the Others Part 40

"You'll never know fear any more, Little dear; Good-by, Rub-a-Dub."

"Oh, don't Di! You make me feel so frightened," said Orion. "Why do you talk like that? Can't you 'member nothing?"

"Course I 'member," said Diana. "Rub-a-Dub's dead."

"Never know fear, Little dear; Rub-a-Dub's dead."

"Come this way," said Orion, taking her hand.

She was quite willing to follow him, although she did not in the least know where she was going.

"S'pect I aren't well," she said at last. "Don't be fwightened, poor little boy. S'pect I aren't k'ite well."

"I's so hungry," moaned Orion.

"Well, let's go into the house; let's have bekfus. Where's Fortune?

Come 'long, Orion; come 'long."

They had reached the highroad now, and were walking on, Orion's arm flung round Diana's waist. Suddenly, rattling round a corner of the country road, came a man with a milk cart. He was a very cheery-looking man with a fat face. He had bright blue eyes and a kindly mouth.

"Hullo!" he said, when he saw the two little children coming to meet him. "Well, I never! And what may you two be doing out at this hour?"

Diana gazed up at him.

"I's going to the garding," she said. "I's to meet Iris in garding. We is to 'cide whether it's to be a pwivate or a public funeral."

"Bless us and save us!" said the man.

"Don't mind her," said Orion; "she's not well. She fell off a horse last night, and there's something gone wrong inside her head. I s'pect something's cracked there. She's talking a lot of nonsense. We has runned away, and we is desperate hungry. Can you give us a drink of milk?"

"Well, to be sure," said the man, smacking his lips as he spoke. "I never saw anything like this afore, and never heard anything like it, neither. Why, it's like a page out of a printed book. And so you has run away, and you belong to the circus, I guess. Why, you are in your circus dresses."

"See my bow and arrow," said Diana. "I is the gweat Diana; I is the gweatest huntwess in all the world."

"To be sure; to be sure!" said the man.

"And I am Orion," said the boy, seeing that Diana's words were having a good effect. "You can watch me up in the sky on starful nights. I am a great giant, and this is my girdle, and this is my sword."

"I never heard anything so like a fairy tale afore," said the man.

"Are you sure you are human, you two little mites?"

Diana took no notice of this.

"I want to get into the garding," she said. "I want to lie down in the garding; I want Iris; I want mother. Man, do you know that my mother has gone away to the angels? She is playing a gold harp and singing ever so loud; and once we had a little mouse, and it was called Rub-a-Dub, and it's deaded. We gived it a public funeral."

"Oh, do let us have some milk, and don't mind her!" said Orion.

The man jumped down off the cart, and, turning a tap in the great big can, poured out a gla.s.s of foaming milk. He gave it to Orion, who drank it all off at the first draught. He then filled out a second measure, which he gave to Diana. She took it, raised it to her lips, took one or two sips, and then gave it to Orion.

"There's something sick inside of me," she said. "I don't know what's the matter; I isn't well."

"She had a bad fall last night at the circus," said Orion. "She fell from one of the rings. I s'pect something's cracked inside her head."

"I s'pect something's c'acked inside my head," echoed Diana, looking up piteously. "I want to go to the garding; I want to lie down."

"Well, look here," said the man; "this is more than I can understand.

You had best, both of you, go back to the circus, and let the people who has the charge of you see what's the matter."

"No!" screamed Orion; "never! never!"

He suddenly put wings to his little feet, and began to fly down the road, away from the milkman.

Diana stood quite still.

"Aren't he silly little boy?" she said. "But he mustn't go back to circus, milkman; it would kill him. I isn't able to wide to-day, 'cos I's c'acked inside my head; and he mustn't wide without me, 'cos it would kill him. Couldn't we go to your house, milkman, and rest there for a bit?"

"Well, to be sure; I never thought of that," said the man. "So you shall, and welcome. Jump up beside me on the cart, missy."

"I can't, 'cos my head's c'acked," said Diana.

"Then I'll lift you up. Here, you sit there and lean against the big milk can. Now, we'll set Peggy going, and she will soon overtake little master."

Diana laughed gleefully.

"Do you know, you's an awfu' nice man?" she said.

"I am glad you think so, missy."

The man took the reins and Peggy started forward. They soon overtook little Orion, who was lifted also into the milk cart. Then the milkman turned swiftly round and carried the children back to a small house on the outskirts of the town. When he got there he called out in a l.u.s.ty voice:

"Hi, Bessie! are you within?"

A woman with a smiling face came to the door.

"Now, what in the world is the matter with you, Jonathan?" she answered.

"Only this, wife. I met the queerest little pair in all the world on the road. Can't you take them in and give them rest for a bit? I believe the little miss is hurt awful."

"I's c'acked inside my head, but it don't matter," said Diana.

The woman stared from the children to the man; then something in Diana's face went straight to her heart.

"Why, you poor little mite," she said, "come along this minute. Why, Jonathan, don't you know her? Course it's the little missy that we both saw in the circus last night. Didn't I see her when she fell from the ring? Oh, poor little dear! poor little love!"

CHAPTER XXIII.