Now, the dog had grown tired of following his master"s cart; and, when he saw, in the distance, something that was moving about, he bounded off to find out what it was. This something was Yvette and her little boy.
"Look, look! " exclaimed the small mother, and there was a tremble in her voice. "You see he is coming-the big wolf! "He was coming; there was no doubt about that, for he was tearing along, and his tongue was hanging out, and his ears were standing up.
The little stone boy was not at all frightened; but Yvette began to be sorry for having called the dreadful animal. Oh, if she could only get away now! But, alas! she did not dare to move or even to speak.
The dog came straight to them. Poor Yvette, half frightened to death, threw away the precious stone baby she had been petting, and, picking herself up, began to run, calling out, " Mother, mother!"The dog was quite near her, jumping up at her, and then, suddenly, he turned to go and sniff at the little stone boy. Perhaps he thought it was a bone or a piece of bread; but he soon found out his mistake, and then he rushed to the hedge to bark, and wake up all the birds.
As to Yvette, she was hurrying along as fast as her little legs could carry her, for she was in despair, as shethought the wolf was just behind her, and she fancied that she still felt his hot breath on her little hand. She stopped when she got to the steps of her home, for she was out of breath, and all trembling with terror, and she felt sure that, if she tried to scramble up the steps, the wolf would bite her legs. Suddenly, the idea which the ostrich once had came to her, and she rushed into the corner which was formed by the front of the house and the stone steps, and, holding her face close to the wall, so that she could not see the dreadful animal, she was sure that she, too, was out of his sight.
She st ay e d t he re some minu t e s, in g re at t e rror, thinking, "Oh, if I move, he"ll eat me up! " She was quite surprised even that he did not find her, and that his great teeth did not bite her, for she always thought wolves were so quick to eat up little girls. Whatever could he be doing? And then, not hearing any sound of him, she thought she would risk one peep round. Very slowly, she turned her head, and then, as nothing dreadful happened, she grew bolder and bolder.
The wolf was not in sight; and, instead of the barking which had frightened her so much, she now heard a set of little bells tinkling, and, in the distance, she saw a wagon with four horses coming along. The sound of the bells was so pleasant that Yvette forgot her duty as a mother, andstood there watching the wagon as it came on.
Suddenly the child uttered a cry of horror. Her child, her little son, was under the heavy wheels! Crunch!crunch! and it had gone by, the horrible wagon. Yvette went on to the main road, and her little heart was very full; for there, where poor Zizi had been lying, there was only some yellowish, crunched stone. Zizi had been ground into powder by the huge wheels.
"Cruel, wicked man! " she cried; and then, her eyes hap p e ning t o f all on t he he ap of st one s w hich had supplied her with a family, she saw another stone smiling at her. She ran quickly to it, picked it up, kissed it, and, happy in her new treasure, cried out to the carrier, whom she could still see in the distance, "Ah! I don"t care! I"ve another-there, then! and it"s a girl this time. I won"t have any more dreadful boys to be afraid of wolves, and to go and get themselves killed just to make their poor mother unhappy. "I wonder whether you can guess the name of the Children"s Fairy? We all know her, and she is called Fancy, or, sometimes, Make-believe.
From the French
Author.-The story is taken from the Strand Magazine. It is a translation from the French.
General Notes.-Describe the weather, the road, the bird, the leaves, the cottages, the child. What had she in her pocket? What are the chief things a boy has in his pocket? How did Yvette treat the stone? What did she call it? (Zizi is a pet name for Isidore.) What"was to be Zizi"s future? How did the dog treat Zizi? What was the end of Zizi? How did Yvette console herself?
Lesson 48
CRADlE SONg
Baby, O baby, fain you are for bed; Magpie to mopoke busy as the bee;The little red calf"s in the snug cow-shed, And the little brown bird"s in the tree.
Daddy"s gone a-shearing down the Castlereagh, So we"re all alone now, only you and me.
All among the wool-O; keep your wide blades full-O !
Daddy thinks of baby, wherever he may be.
Baby, my baby, rest your drowsy head;
The one man that works here, tired you must be; The little red calf"s in the snug cow-shed,And the little brown bird"s in the tree.
-Louis Esson
Author.-Louis Esson, or, to give him his full name, Thomas Louis Buvelot Esson, was born in 1879 at Edinburgh, and was brought to Victoria when he was but a child. He is now living in Melbourne. His verses have appeared in Bells and Bees(T. C. Lothian) and Red Gums (Fraser and Jenkinson). He has written also several short Australian plays, among them Dead Timber.
General Notes.-What does "magpie to mopoke " mean? Whereis daddy and what is he doing? Who is singing the song? Is there any sadness in it? What makes you think so?