sang the little maidens.
"What for?" asked Felix.
"For cricket-b.a.l.l.s we work away, With which pine-cricket players play."
sang the maidens.
"But cricket-b.a.l.l.s should be hard," said Felix.
"Not in Elfland," answered the Pine Queen, smiling; "it"s a different game altogether; we hit "soft" instead of "hard," and our bats are brushes, and we make no scores."
"It must be a queer game," said Felix.
"_We_ think it a much better game than yours," answered the Queen, "pads are never wanted; and there are no wickets, and no one is ever caught out."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "HE PERCEIVED ... TWO LITTLE GIRLS."]
"How funny!" exclaimed Felix; "I should not care to play at such a game."
The Queen made no answer, and they walked on until they met a girl with a pail of water, who curtseyed respectfully.
"She"s going to wash the cricket-ground," explained the Pine Queen.
"Oh!" said Felix, which was all that he could say, for the fact was everything seemed so very strange to him.
"Scour the ground, mop it, and dry it with care, Sprinkle it over with Eau-de-Cologne.
Roses in flower-pots put round here and there, And the roses must all be full-blown."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "THEY MET A GIRL WITH A PAIL."]
The eyes of Felix grew rounder and rounder, as the Pine Queen gave these directions, and he rubbed them to be quite certain that he was awake.
"_We_ roll and mow the gra.s.s," he half whispered.
"_We_ scour, and mop, and dry, and polish," murmured the Queen.
"_We_ play with bats," Felix went on.
"_We_ play with brushes," continued the Queen; "and here is one of our players in full costume."
Felix glanced round, but he only saw a boy who looked like a street sweeper, with a hand-brush in one hand and a broom in the other. He had on a sailor"s hat, and he touched the brim of it with the broom-handle, as a salutation to the Queen.
"Queer, queerer, queerest!" thought Felix.
"Are you a good brusher?" asked the boy, suddenly; "can you brush the b.a.l.l.s well?"
Felix stared at him.
"Oh!" said the boy; "I thought you would be sure to be a good cricketer."
"So I am," returned Felix; "I am a good batter. I"ve got a prize bat."
The boy burst out laughing, so did some magpies and squirrels. So did the streamlet that was running along so fast. Even the little fishes popped up their heads and laughed--
"Haha! haha! hoho! hoho!"
There was such a noise that Felix had to ask several times before he got an answer.
"What are they laughing at?"
"At you," answered the boy.
"It"s very rude of them," said Felix, taking up a stone to throw at the magpies, which were chattering.
"Don"t, don"t," said the stone. "I don"t want to hurt any one."
Felix, in his surprise, dropped the stone, and it fell to the ground, saying--
"Thank you! thank you!"
"Queer, queerer, queerest!" said Felix to himself. But the Pine Queen knew what he was saying, for she said--
"Wait till you have seen the practice." Felix rubbed his eyes again, for though the sun was shining, there was certainly snow upon the ground, and the two little players, who stood with brush and ball in their hands, were clad in warm coats and gloves and winter boots, which Felix thought must prevent their running well. The girl had a scarlet feather in her felt hat, and the boy a long blue ta.s.sel hanging from his velvet cap. The girl was raising her brush to ward off the ball that the boy was about to throw.
"Isn"t it pretty?" said the Pine Queen--
"Throw, throw, hit, hit!
No danger, not a bit."
But Felix was thinking about "Scour, mop, and dry it," as he looked at the snow-covered patch of land.
"Ah!" continued the Pine Queen, divining his thoughts, "snow is soft, so that if the players fall it does not hurt them. But there is no snow to be seen when the regular game begins."
And the Queen waved a rose that she held in her hand, and in a moment the scene was changed, and Felix saw before him a smooth piece of lawn that looked like shining velvet. The flower-pots with full-blown roses were there, so was the girl with the pail and the player with the long broom, looking quite hot, as if they had been at work for hours.
"A good morning"s work," observed the Queen. "See how neat it is."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "HE ONLY SAW A BOY ... LIKE A STREET-SWEEPER."]
Felix grew more and more perplexed. How could they scour and sweep under the snow? And how did the flower-pots get there, and the players; for the ground was all covered with the pine-wood cricket-players, dressed in the gayest and airiest of costumes. Half had brushes and half had b.a.l.l.s. And the b.a.l.l.s were flying here and there, and if the players. .h.i.t them so that they rose in the air, they burst, and b.u.t.terflies of the loveliest colours issued forth; whilst if the b.a.l.l.s fell to the ground, frogs innumerable hopped out of them, and making their way to the banks of the river, sat there singing in a most delightful manner.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "THE GIRL WAS RAISING HER BRUSH" (_p. 107_).]
Yet, sweet as it was, the music seemed to confuse him as much as the game, which grew every moment more and more intricate; the players, brandishing their brushes, flew round, and the b.a.l.l.s flashed about, and at last all that Felix could see was a ma.s.s of dazzling rainbow colours whirling past him.
All at once he heard a loud hissing, and he saw the large gander waddling up from the river; and beside him was the little girl with the large cap with the blue bow in it, and she held out her hand, saying--
"Good-bye, Felix. Come and see us again."