The marvellous land of Snergs
in accord with the character of two of these ladies, came rather as a
surprise from Miss Watkyns, who loathed display of sentiment. But she
did not weep much. With a stern word to the others to have done with
sloppiness she asked both children whether they were, or were not,
thoroughly ashamed of themselves. It occurred to both Sylvia and Joe
at this point that perhaps they ought to be, and they said they were
ashamed. I believe this to be true, though most of the feeling wore off
in ten minutes.
It is almost unnecessary to say that this was the occasion for a feast,
and it must be noted that Gorbo no longer sat in the suburbs but was
only seven places down from the King. In addition to the Order of
Errant Tinkers (regarded rather enviously by many present) a brazen
nutmeg glittered upon his breast, for King Merse felt that he had
fairly earned it.
BACK TO WATKYNS BAY
It occurs to me here that there is some difficulty in proving a
really useful moral from this tale, although I have almost boastfully
referred to it as coming in due course for the instruction of my
younger readers. For however reprehensible the children were in their
disobedience and irresponsibility it cannot be denied that the general
results of their conduct were beneficial. They were instrumental in
bringing a swift finish to two persons who constituted a serious menace
to the public. They had brought about the establishment of friendly
relations between two countries, and removed doubts that had existed
for centuries. Lastly, they had returned magnificently dressed and
bearing expensive gifts. So perhaps the only definite moral that can
be deduced is, if you by any chance meet an ogre who claims to be
reformed, pretend to believe him until you have got a gun and then blow
his head off at the first opportunity.
On their arrival at Watkyns Bay the other children crowded round Sylvia
and Joe with cries of delight and admiration, for nothing more gorgeous
had been seen even in a picture-book, and there was at this point some
danger of the swollen-headedness which Miss Watkyns had dreaded. But
she soon put it right by ordering them both to change into their plain
but serviceable two-piece garments, and stating that the others should
be kept for very special occasions, such as fancy-dress affairs. This,
by the way, led to the institution of fancy-dress dances and caused a
great deal of extra needlework and ironing.
Sylvia and Joe were very glad to get back to their little cots with the
hop mattresses, and when at last they dropped off to sleep (very late,
for there was a good deal of whispering because the other children
wanted to hear more) lulled by the distant breaking of the sea and the
light rubbing of cinnamon bears against the fence without, they felt
very peaceful and happy and resolved to be really good for a reasonably
long time.
TO FINISH UP
Vanderdecken set to work and made a neat swinging bridge, light but
strong, across the deep river, and King Kul made a visit to the Snergs
and spent two days at Watkyns Bay. He distributed the prizes at the
term end, and made one of those speeches about even little children
having their responsibilities. Invitations had been sent to Joe and
Sylvia and six other children to attend the wedding of Sir Giles and
Lady Ermyntrude, but Miss Watkyns thanked His Majesty deeply and said
she thought it inadvisable for them to go, as tending to unsettle their
minds. She sent a wedding-present of a dainty tortoise-shell toilet and
manicure-set, and the bride wrote to her on a piece of parchment that
she considered it the most charming of all her presents. It was really
good; it had been bought in Bond Street, at an expensive shop. Baldry
overdid it at last at the wedding and got seven days. He had buttered
the steps of the palace hall.
Gorbo is passing the time quite nicely, occasionally doing a job of
work but more often resting. Gubbins, the black cat, sticks close to
him and travels with him everywhere. It has great ability for catching
game, such as birds and young rabbits and the like, and has learned to
retrieve quite well, so Gorbo has his hunting cat like the Egyptian
kings of old. He goes now and then to visit at Banrive and see what new
trouble Baldry has got into, and to pay his respects to the King. He
never fails to say, “Oh, this corn of mine!” and pulls off one boot.
The door in the region of twisted trees and the one on the other side
were built up with masonry. It was agreed that though Gorbo and the
children found enormous supplies of mushrooms in the cavern, there was
a nasty flavour of magic about the place and it was as well to leave
it alone. I never heard what happened in the dark woods after Mother
Meldrum had gone and the bats and other grisly things had it all to
themselves, because no one, I believe, ever went there, which shows
sense.
The knight Sir Percival gave up chivalrous doings on the day that he
had the adventure at the castle. He did not slacken his anxious pace
until he was back at his own little moated grange, and there he hung
his armour and lance over the fireplace in the hall and decided to live
quietly, and if he could not get a wife except by fighting for her,
to go without. He went in for breeding a superior kind of pig and did
rather well at it, taking several prizes.
Vanderdecken and his men make special efforts every now and then to
clean up the old ship for her voyage home; but there is so much to do,
what with weeds and barnacles and the gear having to be rove afresh and
so forth, that they generally get tired of it after a short spell and
say to the effect that it is no good overworking and it would be best
to go for a day or two’s hunting with the Snergs. It is my belief that
they never will go away. And there is no particular reason why they
should; things are very well as they are.
There is little more to tell now. It is possible that Joe and Sylvia
may be sent to England if suitable new parents can be found for
them, this being the usual thing after some years with the Society
(but not of course years in the ordinary way), but I don’t know if
anything definite has been done in the matter. It is my opinion
that Miss Watkyns will not let them go for a long time because they
certainly keep the place lively. She tried to make them have a sense of
responsibility by giving them charge of a new arrival, a little girl
who was very thin and weepy, but the result was she became a riotous
handful and broke a window for fun.
Tiger is doing well, though he had a touch of distemper last August.
But nothing serious.
Lack of space prevents me from going into details of costs, etc., of
the S.R.S.C., which is to be regretted as I am sure they would prove of
absorbing interest to my more serious readers. I will therefore merely
state that the Society is flourishing and on a sound financial basis,
and that Miss Watkyns and the other ladies have an immense amount of
work to do, which keeps them fit, sundry improvements of buildings and
extensions having been put in hand at Watkyns Bay. The children go on
happily year after year, slowly increasing in numbers as fresh cases
arrive, and they splash about in the sea and play their various games
and roam the woods and fleet the time carelessly as they did in the
golden world.
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
THE EDINBURGH PRESS, 9 AND 11 YOUNG STREET, EDINBURGH
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
- Clear typos and wrong punctuation were corrected.
- In the chapter “_Dinner with a Witch_” there is a passage that’s
says “There’s about ten thousand of the real ones to one of the
others.” Based on context, the intention may have been “There’s about
ten thousand of the spurious ones to one of the others.” but the
original has been retained.
- This book has several illustrations, some in the middle of
paragraphs. To improve readability, these have been moved to either
before or after the paragraph they occur.