He came slowly towards them, and flung the flax at their feet, saying, "I have had hard work to get this, I can tell you; this is something we have nothing to do with, and I have robbed a garden for it."
"Oh, how could you be so wicked?" exclaimed Laura.
The elf made one of his strange grimaces, and stood on his head a moment.
"So you call that wicked, do you?"
"Yes; robbing is very wicked."
"If I planted ever so much catnip in its place, what do you call that?"
"Oh, that was all fair, I suppose."
"Well, don"t suppose anything more about it, but just go to work, if you want your stick."
At this Kathie began to plait most diligently, and Laura, finding a bit of blue ribbon somewhere about her dress, tied the end of the long braid with it. The elf watched them closely--his little black beady eyes following every movement of Kathie"s dexterous fingers, while Laura held the flax. When it was finished, Laura proposed fastening it in the elf"s cap as the easiest way for him to wear it, and then when he chose he could lay it aside. This suited exactly, and the little furry rabbit"s head was soon adorned with this peculiar ornament. When the elf put it on he gave a shout of glee, but afterwards became very grave--whether the weight oppressed him, or whether he remembered that Chinese sedateness and dignity would be appropriate, cannot be determined; but Laura and Kathie both a.s.sured him he looked very grand.
"And now," said Laura, "please be so good, Mr. Elf, as to give me my staff, for we have a long way to go, and have lost much time."
The elf at this request began his queer capers again, but finding the long queue very much in his way, stopped short, and asked Laura why she could not stay awhile in the woods with him, and said that he would get her more honey, and find her the prettiest red cup-moss and maidenhair ferns she had ever seen. Laura declined very resolutely, saying that the Motherkin and Grim had charged her not to delay.
Then the elf made hideous faces, and blew a shrill whistle through his fingers, whereat a swarm of mosquitoes buzzed around the children most uncomfortably.
"Really, Mr. Elf," said Laura, brandishing her handkerchief wildly about to keep off the stinging insects, "I thought you were more of a gentleman than this. A Chinese mandarin would not vex us in this way.
I have a pretty turquoise ring on my hand, which, if my staff were here, I might give you-- But, oh! oh! how these things do bite! Come, Kathie, let us run," she added; and, seizing Kathie"s hand, she started off.
"Hey! not so fast. Here is your staff. The ring! the ring! where is it?"
called the elf.
"I cannot stay in that swarm of mosquitoes," replied Laura, still running; but the elf was quicker than she, and, leaping before her, threw her staff across her path. "Here is the ring," replied Laura; "and next time you meet any children, I hope you will be kinder to them than you have been to us."
"Oh, you are too stupid to have any fun. Just a little joke like that was nothing at all."
[Ill.u.s.tration: "THEY BATHED THEIR SWOLLEN AND DISFIGURED FACES."]
Laura made no answer, but, seizing her staff, she and Kathie hurried into the woods in search of a brook where they could bathe their swollen and disfigured faces. When they began their walk again, nothing was seen of the elf.
"I do hope we shall now have no more to hinder us, Kathie. See, I have tied my stick to my wrist."
"And we had better keep very quiet the rest of the way; for if we talk, the elves may hear us, and contrive something new to stop us."
"Quite right, Kathie. We"ll play we are hunters in search of game, and not speak a word."
So on they went till again the twilight made it necessary for them to seek a place of repose for the night. An overhanging rock surrounded by low bushes seemed an inviting spot, especially as the staff did not withhold them from it. Kathie, more learned in woodland ways than Laura, broke down branches of hemlock, and made a fragrant and spicy bed; and then, too tired to do more than say their prayers, they both were asleep in a few moments.
It seemed to Laura that she had not been long asleep when something wakened her. What it was she knew not. There was a soft stir in the tree-tops, as if a light breeze were blowing--an occasional chirp from some bird which had been disturbed, perhaps by a dream that its eggs were broken; but otherwise all was still. Kathie was sleeping soundly, and Laura closed her own eyes again, but again was aroused, and this time by a cold something poking in her hand.
CHAPTER X.
The cold little nose of an animal it seemed; for it was followed by the lapping of a warm little tongue, and the cuddling of a m.u.f.fy, furry little body against Laura. Still Kathie slept soundly, and Laura was too frightened to waken her. Every moment she expected to hear a growl, and have an angry bite from a set of savage teeth; but no bite or growl coming, and the cuddling of the little creature seeming to be kindly, she became less fearful, and her heart stopped its hurried beating.
"Kathie!" she whispered--"Kathie!" But Kathie slept, and would not waken.
[Ill.u.s.tration: "KATHIE GAZED AT LAURA, SLEEPING WITH ONE HAND ON THE NECK OF A YOUNG BEAR CUB."]
An owl hooted dismally, and Laura shivered, which only made the little furry creature crowd nearer, as if for protection. She put out her hand and felt of the soft warm fur; again the warm tongue touched her hand, and reminded her of her spaniel Fido. She patted the head, wondering if it were a dog. Fido she knew it could not be, for his head was smaller, and he was every way more slender than this strange creature. As her fears abated, and she became more reconciled to the presence of this new-comer, she became drowsy again, and before long fell as soundly asleep as was Kathie; and when morning came, with its bird-calls and tender flush of dawn, Kathie was the first to waken; and she gazed with astonishment, not unmixed with fear, at Laura, sleeping with one hand resting on the neck of a young bear cub.
Kathie had witnessed such strange and novel things in Laura"s company that she began to think Laura too was a fairy, and had something in common with all the inhabitants of the woods; but so lovely was she in Kathie"s eyes, and so welcome had been her kindness and gentle sympathy, that Kathie was disposed to think all that was good of Laura, and that if she were a fairy, she was a very charming one. When Laura aroused, however, her start of surprise and look of wonder at the little animal beside her, and then her dimly remembered experience of the night coming to her recollection taking off the edge of her fear, showed Kathie that she was quite as much a human child as herself.
The little bear had snuggled himself so close beside Laura that she could not move without disturbing him. As yet he showed no signs of waking; his eyes were tightly shut, and he was almost a ball in shape.
"It"s a real baby bear, Kathie. Where do you suppose he came from?"
"I cannot imagine," answered Kathie. "But," she added, "I think we had better hurry away, for fear its mother may come in search of it."
"Oh, Kathie, no; he is too cunning and pretty. I cannot give him up. See how he nestles up to me, and how affectionate he is."
"But the mother, Laura, would be very cruel to us. I have heard terrible tales of children hugged to death by bears."
"I don"t believe he has a mother," said Laura, eagerly. "I think his mother has probably been killed, and that he has come to us to be taken care of. You need not look so doubtful, Kathie. Perhaps this was his home, this very nook of ours where we have been sleeping, and he has come seeking his mother, poor little cub, and not finding her, has lain down here for warmth and comfort. I mean to keep him and take him home with me. Now, Kathie, be good and help me, and you shall see what a dear pet he will make. I think he is just as cunning and pretty as he can be, and we will train him to do all sorts of funny things."
Still Kathie looked anxious; but the cub wakened and whined, and ate some oat-cake from Laura"s hand, and when they rose to begin their walk he trotted after them, as if afraid they were about leaving him. But Laura was too delighted with the idea of a new pet to think of leaving him, and Kathie and she took turns in carrying the little creature when it appeared to be tired; for, now they were nearing home, Laura"s steps were quicker, and the way seemed far less difficult.
"How glad I shall be to see the dear Motherkin again!" said Laura, as they rested for a while in the cool shadow of a great tree at whose roots babbled a clear brook.
Kathie looked sad and weary and homesick.
"And how glad she will be to see you, Kathie dear!"
"Do you think so, Laura? I am so unused to strange faces, and so afraid, that I almost wish you had left me in the woods."
"Ah, don"t speak that way, Kathie; you might have starved there all alone."
"I am not ungrateful, dear Laura."
"No, I know you are not, Kathie; you only miss little Fritz; but I am going to find your father for you, and then, if you want to, you shall go back to your own home, and my mamma and I will give you a great many nice things, and we will make it pleasant and comfortable for you."
Kathie"s face brightened at these kind words.
"And what can I do for you?" she asked.
"Oh, you shall teach me to spin and knit and plait, and do all sorts of things."
And then they went on again, still followed by the little cub, around whose neck Laura had hung a wreath of wild flowers, from which he munched occasionally, and which she had as frequently to renew.