"When the lid was taken off, and nurse turned us out on the white counterpane, I could hardly recognise my little mistress. Did these sunken cheeks and hollow eyes, these little wasted hands belong to the "Fower," as she had called herself? She was indeed a faded flower, a drooping lily, and her bright, golden curls were all gone, like her rosy, childish bloom. But sickness had not been able to subdue the innocent, loving nature and bright spirit; and though the smile on her pale little mouth made her mother turn away in tears, it was the same happy tone in the weak thread of a voice that whispered: —
"'Fower make tea now! Fower been so sick, but see like some tea! mother make it now!' and the little head, shorn so sadly of its golden glories, fell back weakly on the pillow, and the sudden gleam of light died out of the blue eyes.
"'Yes, dear one, mother will make tea for "Flower," so many cups; and when Lily gets better and grows a strong girl again, mother and she will have feasts every day, and all day long.'
"'Fower like that, but so tired;' breathed the little one, feebly, and so Nurse hastened to catch us all up from the bed, and hurriedly cramming us into the box, she put us on the dressing table.
"Next day "Fower" seemed to brighten up a little, and when we were laid out on the bed, she took us up languidly, and pretended to drink. But she was soon weary, and even our slight weight was too heavy for the frail hand. And so day after day passed by with no great change, finding us each morning laid out on the bed, near the little weary hands, tired of doing nothing; and afternoon saw us gathered away, while the curtains were drawn across the window to keep out the bright glare of the spring sunshine. And day by day the tender mother hoped on, while the more experienced Nurse shook her head, and the skilful doctor was silent, though so very gentle with the anxious mother and the little drooping child.
"At last a day came, one of the early ones in May, when even Lee thought Lily looked clearer and brighter. Papa brought in a bunch of the finest lilies of the valley from Covent Garden Market, and his poor, wan little "Fower" was delighted with them.
"'It will be her birthday in a week,' said her mother, cheerfully; 'Papa must bring her some more then. I hope Lily will be better, and able to sit up then!'
"'Fower have a gand tea party, and pum take, so fine! where's my tea-fings?'
"Nurse brought out the pet playthings, and arranged them on the bed before little "Fower," and Papa went off in quite gay spirits to his business. And Mamma took out a little white frock she had been embroidering for "Fower's" birthday wear, and which had been laid away for a long while out of sight. Nurse seemed to have no very settled purpose in the work way, and stole quietly about, arranging everything in a still dreamy kind of fashion. Meanwhile little "Fower" lay back in the soft bed, supported on downy pillows, and with pale pink lined muslin curtains floating round her. Her blue eyes rested upon us with a bright, far-away look that did not last long, as the fingers of one hand played with us, the other holding the bunch of lilies.
"Presently Nurse came rapidly over. 'The dear child is fainting!' she said, as she held up the little shorn head.
"'Fower thirsty!' murmured the little voice, like a faint sigh, as the blue eyes seemed to lose all their light, and the lilies dropped out of the open fingers.
"'Lily, my Lily!' cried the poor mother, eagerly, 'look up, my darling, you are better dear; let mother give her a little water out of her tiny teacup.'
"The kind-hearted nurse laid down the heavy head, and spent all her heartfelt care now on her poor mistress. Her little "Fower" had gone in an angel's hand, to be planted a living blossom in her heavenly Father's garden, where her deep thirst would be satisfied quite, and the shining robe of the white lilies of heaven was waiting for her.
"The little worn-out, earthly form was laid to rest with the bunch of lilies in the cold hands, and a wreath of fresh-gathered flowers on her head. And poor Nurse, thoughtfully gathered up all the toys that the little one had played with, and put them carefully out of the desolate mother's sight. And in after years I heard that other little blossoms came to fill up that grand nursery, but Nurse never loved them as she did little "Fower," and the mother gave her all the toys, very tearfully.
"'I don't like to hoard them up,' she said, 'for after all I need no memorials to remind me of my Lily, and I like to think of her growing now a sweet, fair flower in her heavenly Father's garden, and yet I could not bear to see all these things played with and thrown about in the nursery. So take them, Nurse, and let them give pleasure to other little ones.'
"And thus Nurse Lee took charge of us, and one evening coming to drink tea in Mrs. Spenser's nursery, she brought us all in our box for Miss Celia, who was then a little girl. But since she grew older, we were stuffed away by chance in this old cupboard. I told you all fairly that mine was a melancholy story," added the Teapot, in an injured sort of voice, "and you see I am right, and now I've done!"
The rest of the Toys did not make much remark, for they were all rather saddened by the story of little "Fower," but the Ball, who could not be very grave for long together, bounced up briskly, and told the Teapot, she was entitled to call on any of the rest of the company for a story in turn.
"I would rather not," replied the Teapot, eagerly; "I am but a foolish body at all such formal doings. Pray let the next in turn favour us."
Then the Ball, rather afraid of a discussion, turned it off with a joke and said: —
"Well, then, in your name I will call upon the Kite for a story, for, as he flies so high, he can't be very nervous, and no doubt he has seen a good deal in high latitudes, that we shall be glad to hear!"
The Kite waved a graceful bow all round, and professed his entire readiness to be at the service of the company.
CHAPTER V.
THE MAKING OF THE KITE BY THE HOME CIRCLE
"I will begin," said he, "by describing my first appearance in my present form. Never did a large ship launch or the building of a great mansion require more care and pains, or entirely engross more workmen than I did in my construction. My architect-in-chief, I must tell you, was George Vernon, Esquire, commonly called "Uncle Gee," and the workmen he employed under his orders were as follows. Foreman, or rather forewoman, Mrs. Tufnell, otherwise called indifferently, mother, mamma, or mummy; and as workpeople, Bob, aged eleven; Tom, aged ten; Mary, alias Polly, aged nine; Jeanie, usually termed "Jean," aged eight; Theodore, popularly christened "Dora," because he was a little given to tearfulness and whines, aged seven; and lastly little Lucy, who still bore the name of "baby", and who numbered five summers.
"Now Uncle Gee had come home for his holidays, for though he was nearly grown up, and seemed a giant in cleverness to all his little nephews and nieces, he was still at Oxford, and working hard at his studies. But he was very fond of all the little folks at Summerfield Rectory, and the days to the long vacation were nearly as eagerly counted by Uncle Gee, even amidst his more serious business, as by the flock of eager little adorers at the quiet home in the west. Everything that was nice and pleasant was deferred until his arrival, and a queer variety of treasures were hoarded up for his inspection long before he came.
"And Uncle Gee amply rewarded his faithful adherents, for when he came, he brought universal sunshine with him, and was as ready to enter into all their pursuits and share all their games as the veriest child amongst them. He was the best teacher of trapbat and rounders Bob and Tom knew for miles round; and yet he was as skilful and neathanded at repairing the damages in Mary's doll house, and the fractures of baby's doll, so that he might have been a carpenter by trade.
"So when at teatime, one summer evening, Mamma said to the children, who were all round the large long table, 'To-morrow Uncle Gee is coming!' they all burst out in one regular shout of delight, for this time he had gone on a visit to a friend first, and his young relations' calculations had been all put out, and they had been waiting day after day in the vain hope of seeing him. The noise and chatter round the tea table that evening were really deafening, and would have been quite annoying to anyone but Mamma, who smiled, and said it was a little taste of preparation for the uproar that always lasted all through Uncle Gee's visit.
"And next day he came, to the great delight of all the young folks, and if he had been nearly as patient as Mamma, and quite as brave as Papa, (who did not even fear mad bulls, said baby!) why he would have been driven deaf, dumb, and blind, by all the voices talking in their loudest keys at once, or else would have expected to be torn in pieces by all the eager hands that clung to him and pulled him about. I think Papa and Mamma, and Uncle Gee too, in spite of all their kindness and affection for the uproarious little mob, were thankful enough when the children's bedtime came, and they were all taken off, loudly declaring that it was not time yet.
"Next morning they were all up like larks, and had finished dressing sooner than usual, but, to their great horror, they looked out and saw the sky covered with leaden clouds, and heard the steady, heavy drops of rain falling on the sky-light over the staircase.
"'What a nuisance,' growled Bob and Tom, 'when we wanted to try the new field, and Uncle Gee promised to have a game of cricket with us!'
"'O dear,' said Mary, in dismay, 'and I wanted to show him the new hammock swing Papa has given us!'
"'We've lost our swing for certain,' said Jeanie, who was a regular romp; 'what a bother!'
"'Rain, rain, go to Spain,' chanted Baby, in her squeaky voice – while Dora joined in chorus.
"'Who's singing that contraband rhyme?' said Papa, coming in; 'I'm too thankful for the rain for the sake of my peas and potatoes!'
"'And the strawberries too,' chimed in Mamma; 'just think, children, how they were shrivelling for want of rain.'
"'But we can't get out,' bawled all the children, 'and now Uncle Gee's come we had such lots of things to show him!'
"'What's the matter now?' said Uncle Gee, coming in. 'All this racket about a little rain! Why, I was just thinking, while I was dressing, what a jolly day it would be to make a Kite!'
"'Make a Kite!' shouted Bob; 'O how stunning; O Uncle Gee, can you show us how to do it?'
"'I think I can, Bob,' replied his Uncle, 'but at any rate we'll try, and with Mamma's help perhaps we can manage it. I dare say she will let us have the school-room to make all our litters in, and I shall want every man jack of you to help!'
"'Am I man jack too, Uncle Gee?' asked Baby, very anxiously.
"'I should think so,' said Uncle Gee, kissing her, 'a very useful one too; you shall help with the fine fringy tail!'
"And when breakfast was over, to work they all went. Papa found some capital slips of light thin wood, and lent his best knife into the bargain. Mamma contributed some beautiful white glazed lining to cover the frame with, and lent her nice glue pot as well. Uncle Gee soon had the long table in the school-room covered with all sorts of things, and had set everybody to work as well. Bob and Tom busily hammered, fixed, planed, and cut, till they hindered Uncle Gee terribly; and when he saw Mary take up the scissors, and begin to measure the calico, he stopped short, and called a truce.
"'Now,' said he, 'if all are going to be at work, and no one master, we shall soon get into a fix, and knock over the whole concern. If we are to get the Kite made to-day, you must all obey orders. Mary, you and Jeanie can find me some strips of coloured paper, can't you, for the tail; and Dora, ask Nelson if she can let us have a long ball of string.'
"And so the work went on merrily. Bob and Tom doing the looking on, and Mary and Jean smoothing and snipping the bits for the tail, and making the tassel for the end. Dora fetched out a box of colours of his own, and suggested painting a face on it.
"'Capital!' cried Uncle Gee; 'and I'll tell you how you can make yourself useful, Dora, and that's by rubbing up a lot of colour on the back of a clean plate, I'll show you how;' and so to work Dora went with a will, and soon had a rare quantity all ready for the skilful hand of the artist.
"Meanwhile, under Uncle Gee's superintendence, and with Mamma's help, Polly and Jean had supplied the long piece of string, provided for the tail with its cross pieces of paper to serve as light weights, and they were now busily snipping some very fine red paper Mamma had routed out from amongst her hoards for them, in order to make a grand tassel to finish the tail with.
"'Does not this remind you of our own old days?' said Mamma to Uncle Gee, as she came in for awhile to help in the interval of her busy morning occupations.
"'Don't you remember what trouble we used to take with our toys and playthings; and how seldom we were able to buy any real toys. I do think children have many more than are good for them,' continued she.
"'Well, they don't value them now, as we did our patched up contrivances, do they?' replied George; 'but look, sister, won't this be a capital Kite? I think I never made a better, e'en in my boyish days! I am sure it ought to fly well!'
"And so saying, he raised up the large, carefully planned framework of slips of wood, with the calico neatly glued on it.
"'I am going to leave it to dry now,' said Uncle Gee; 'I can't paint it while it is wet; and so now, young people, as I have worked in your service all the morning, it is high time you did for mine. I am going to write a letter, and have no more time to spare until after lunch. So you must promise me to leave this table untouched, and go and amuse yourselves until by-and-bye.'
"The children agreed to this very fair bargain, and very sensibly dispersed, and amused themselves until lunch time, which was really their dinner time.
"When they all came down with carefully brushed hair, and shining, clean faces, and took their places round the great table, they were about as merry a party as you would find anywhere, in spite of the drenching rain, which had poured steadily on the whole day.
"'The Kite is getting beautifully dry and tight,' said Uncle George, as he took the place left for him; 'I peeped into the school-room as I came down, and I see it is drying fast and nicely. And what shall we make it? A flying dragon, like the Chinese flags and lanterns?'
"'O yes! Uncle Gee,' cried Dora, with his eyes as round as cricket balls; 'do make it a dragon – a green dragon, with a fiery tail!'
"'Or a likeness – warranted genuine – of old Bogey himself,' laughed Bob.
"'A fairy with wings,' suggested Mary, 'with a star on her forehead, and a girdle round her waist.'
"'Or a ship,' said Jeanie, her dark face glowing; 'a ship with masts and sails painted for her, because you know she does sail through the air, Uncle Gee!'
"'Paint it like a daisy,' said Baby, 'or make buttercups all over it!'
"'Well, we'll see,' said Uncle Gee; 'when dinner is over we'll have a solemn council on the matter, and the most votes shall carry the day.'
"'Can anyone tell me anything particular about a Kite?' enquired Papa; 'I think there ought to be a story somewhere; does anyone know it?'
"'I do,' cried Tom, eagerly; 'Dr. Franklin found out about lightning with a Kite, didn't he?'
"'Yes,' replied Papa, 'you are right Tom; but what did he find out by it, and how? Do you know?'
"'No,' said Tom, frankly; 'I only remember he made a Kite to find out something he wanted to know about lightning, and there was something about a key, but I don't remember, Papa.'
"'I am glad you recollected a little about it,' said Papa, 'and I will tell you what the story was. Franklin, as you know, had long studied the effect of storms, and what is called Electricity. He was busied with setting some plans to work, which would enable him to try some experiments on the subject. But one day, while he was thinking over the matter, it flashed across his mind that a kite, such as he had seen his boys playing with, might help him to solve the puzzle. So he made one, not like yours, but out of a silk handkerchief, and fixed an iron point to the end of his stick, and where his string ended he hung a key. During the next thunderstorm that happened he went out and flew his kite; and by these simple means found out what he had wanted to know. You would hardly understand what the question was, or how it was explained to him in this way, until you are rather older, and are able to understand a little more of all the curious phenomena of electricity. You are all very much frightened and roused when we have a heavy thunderstorm, because it is such a terrible thing, that you see the danger, but some day you will know that the electric telegraph we send messages by is the same power in a smaller, far smaller degree, turned to man's use. It is only God who can send the severe thunderstorm, which while it clears and purifies the air, and thus does a great deal of good, may also do a great deal of harm; and to save some of this was, shortly, the object of Franklin's enquiries. He saw that if his idea was correct, rods of iron might be planted near houses, or suspended from vessels, by which means the lightning would pass harmlessly down into the water or the earth.'
"'And now,' said Uncle Gee, 'we must thank Papa for his lesson, children, and a very good one it is, and go to our work. I think if you were all to ask Papa very nicely, he might perhaps give you a simple explanation about thunder and lightning; and I daresay his school children would not be sorry to hear it too.'
"Papa promised to "think about it," and then off went the happy party into the school-room, where they found the great Kite stretched out like a large white bird or a windmill sail. Very dry, and nice and flat it was, and delighted enough they all were with it.
"'Now,' said Uncle Gee, 'once for all what is it to be? A ship, a dragon, a Chinaman, or what? It is to be put to the vote – what do you say, Bob, you are the eldest?'
"'What you like, Uncle Gee! A dragon would be a jolly thing, but let it be as you like!'
"'I should like a ship,' said Tom; 'a big ship, with sails and an anchor!'
"'We would rather leave it to Uncle Gee,' said the girls and Dora; 'he is sure to make a capital thing of it, and he has an idea of something or other, we think!'
"'I shall make it into a flying fish, if you leave it to me,' said Uncle Gee, laughing, 'so you had better arrange it among yourselves.'
"And so there was a great deal of talking and chattering among them all, and at last they agreed to ask Uncle Gee to make it a bird.
"'We can't settle what kind of bird it is to be,' said Bob; 'I wanted an eagle, but Tom liked an owl better, and Mary said she liked a ringdove, while Jeanie said it must be a peacock. Dora wanted a swan, and Baby bawled out for a robin! So we're not agreed in anything but that it is to be a bird. So you must decide out of all the number, Uncle Gee.'
"'All right,' was Uncle Gee's reply, and to work he went and painted away vigorously to the young ones' great delight, while they all looked on and made remarks as he sketched in the outline. But they begun to press round him so, and make such queer suggestions, that he declared he would not do another stroke till they left him alone. So off they went to the other end of the table, and got the tail in order. It was a tail indeed! made of stripes of all coloured paper tied up, and ending with a tassel of various colours, whose fringes were feathery and full enough for a mandarin's pigtail.
"By the time that the tail was finished to the satisfaction of all, Uncle Gee had completed the Kite, and turning it round to the children, exhibited a bird of such a kind as had never been seen before! It had the head of an owl, with its great staring eyes, the broad wings of an eagle, the neck of the ringdove, the ruddy breast of the robin, the many-eyed tail of the peacock, and the yellow webbed feet of the swan!
"The children gazed at it for a moment in utter surprise, and then burst into shouts of approval.
"'There,' said Uncle Gee, 'I hope I have satisfied you all, and every one in particular. I am sure such a bird as this would make his fortune at the Zoological Gardens!'
"'Oh! what a jolly fellow!' shouted Bob and Tom, clapping their hands, while the girls danced round quite delighted.
"'Now,' said Uncle Gee, 'I think to-morrow will be a fine day after the rain, and we shall be able to make this fine fellow fly.'
"So they tied on my tail, and made me thoroughly ready for the next morning's cruise, and then all went to bed the happiest set of little ones within fifty miles round.
"Many a flight I had with them over field and fallow, meadow and moor; many a dance I led them, and many a tree have I got entangled with, so that at last Bob became quite expert at climbing trees, and all owing to the practice he had in getting me out of scrapes. But time passed on, and when Bob and Tom went to school, Uncle Gee thought it was not safe to trust me to Dora and the girls, so he promised to make them another some day, and he gave me to the Spensers! So here you have an end of my history, which contains, as you see now, no flying adventures at all. If I had time, I could tell you of many curious things I saw in my airy flights, and some about the clouds I went so near. But I must defer that until another day, and meanwhile, in my turn, I ask our charming friend the Doll to oblige us with the account of her experiences in life."