Part 5 (1/2)
”At the same moment the bogghun stopped; and out from the surrounding coppice rushed the Princess Panka and her attendants.
”'Where is my mola.s.ses candy?' asked the bogghun. Three of the attendants presented him with three one-pound packages; and thus in a moment I understood the whole villanous plot. The Princess Panka rushed to where Polpetti lay, and s.n.a.t.c.hed the golden nose-ring from her lovely nose. Fastening it in her own hideous snub, she sprang to her feet with a shrill yell of triumph. 'At last!' she cried,--'at last I have it!'
”'Hideous witch!' I exclaimed. 'You have no nose to wear it in! You are uglier than the blue-faced monkey, or the toad with three tails.
The very sight of you makes the leaves drop off the trees with horror.
You odious, squint-eyed--'
”'Catch that parrot!' shrieked the enraged Panka. 'Wring that parrot's neck! Pull his feathers out! Let me get at him!'
”I rose in the air, and flying round her head, continued--'Snub-nosed, monkey-faced, bald-headed [this adjective was not exactly correct, but I was too angry to choose my words], hump-backed _Ant-eater_!!!'
and with the last word, the most opprobrious epithet that can be applied to an African, I gave the creature a peck in the face that sent her tumbling over backwards, and flew off among the trees. A storm of arrows followed me, but I escaped unhurt, and flying rapidly, was soon far away from the spot.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”'Hideous witch!' I exclaimed.”]
Here the parrot paused to take breath, having become quite excited in telling her story.
”Ahem!” said the woodchuck. ”May I be permitted to ask a question, Miss Mary?”
”Certainly,” replied the parrot graciously. ”What is it, Woodchuck?”
”Did I understand,” said the woodchuck cautiously, ”that the bogghun _never_ takes his tail out of his mouth?”
”Never!” replied the parrot. ”Never, upon any occasion!”
”Then how,” asked Chucky, ”did he eat the mola.s.ses candy?”
”Woodchuck,” said the parrot, with great severity, ”the question does credit neither to your head nor to your heart. I decline to answer it!”
The woodchuck looked sulky, and scratched his nose expressively. The racc.o.o.n, who had been on the point of asking the same question himself, frowned at him, and said he was ashamed of him. ”Pray continue your story, Miss Mary!” said he. ”I a.s.sure you we are all, with perhaps _one_ exception [the woodchuck sniffed audibly], quite faint with excitement and suspense. What became of you after the Princess's death?”
”I remained in the forest,” said the parrot. ”I could not go back to the village without the Princess; the King would have put me to death if I had made my appearance.
”For some time I lived alone, a.s.sociating as little as possible with the uneducated birds of the forest. At length, finding my life very solitary, I accepted the claw and heart of a rich and respectable green parrot, who offered me a good home and the devotion of a life-time. With him I pa.s.sed several quiet and happy years; but finally we were both surprised and captured by a band of American sailors, who had penetrated to this distance in the forest in search of ivory. They treated us kindly, and carried us miles and miles till we came to a river, where other sailors were waiting with a boat. In this we embarked, and after rowing for several days, came to the mouth of the river, near which their s.h.i.+p was waiting for them.
”In the confusion of boarding, my husband managed to make his escape.
He flew back to the sh.o.r.e, calling to me to follow him; but, alas! I was too closely guarded, and I never saw him again. He was a very worthy parrot, and a kind husband, though sometimes greedy in the matter of snails.”
The parrot sighed, meditated for a few moments, with her head on one side, on the virtues of her departed lord, and then continued,--
”My life on board s.h.i.+p was a very pleasant one. Petted and caressed by the sailors, I soon lost my shyness, and became once more accustomed to the society of men. I learned English quickly, and could soon whistle 'Yankee Doodle' and 'Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue.' One phrase I objected very much to repeating, 'Polly wants a cracker.' I disliked crackers extremely, and could not endure the name of Polly; but for some time I could not get anything to eat without making this stupid remark.
”One day I received a shock which nearly caused me to faint. I was sitting on the taffrail, watching two of my particular friends, Joe Brown and Simeon Plunkett, who were splicing ropes. They always spliced better, I noticed, when my eye was on them. They were talking about some adventure in the forest, and suddenly I caught the words, 'golden nose-ring.' I had been half dozing; but this roused me at once, and I began to listen with all my ears.”
”How many ears has she?” growled the woodchuck, in a low tone.
”Twenty-five,” replied the racc.o.o.n, in the same tone. ”They are invisible to idiots, which is probably the reason why you have never noticed them.”