CHAPTER III.
ON A MOONLIGHT NIGHT.
"O moon! in the night I have seen you sailing, And shining so round and low."
CHILD NATURE.
"And what did you dream, Cheri?" inquired Jeanne the next morning in a confidential and mysterious tone.
Hugh hesitated.
"I don"t know," he said at last. "At least----" he stopped and hesitated again.
The two children were having their "little breakfast," consisting of two great big cups of nice hot milky coffee and two big slices of bread, with the sweet fresh b.u.t.ter for which the country where Jeanne"s home was is famed. They were alone in Jeanne"s room, and Marcelline had drawn a little table close to the fire for them, for this morning it seemed colder than ever; fresh snow had fallen during the night, and out in the garden nothing was to be seen but smoothly-rounded white mounds of varying sizes and heights, and up in the sky the dull blue-grey curtain of snow-cloud made one draw back shivering from the window, feeling as if the sun had gone off in a sulky fit and would _never_ come back again.
But inside, close by the brightly-blazing wood fire, Jeanne and Hugh found themselves "very well," as the little girl called it, very well indeed. And the hot coffee was very nice, much nicer, Hugh thought, than the very weak tea which his grandmother"s maid used to give him for breakfast at home. He stirred it round and round slowly with his spoon, staring into his cup, while he repeated, in answer to little Jeanne"s question about what he had dreamt, "No, I don"t know."
"But you did dream _something_," said Jeanne rather impatiently. "Can"t you tell me about it? I thought you were going to have all sorts of funny things to tell me. You said you would have a party of the peac.o.c.ks and all the pets, and make them tell stories."
"Yes," said Hugh slowly. "But I couldn"t make them--I must wait till they come. I think I did dream some funny things last night, but I can"t remember. There seemed to be a lot of chattering, and once I thought I saw the raven standing at the end of the bed, but that time I wasn"t dreaming. I"m sure I wasn"t; but I was very sleepy, and I couldn"t hear what he said. He seemed to want me to do something or other, and then he nodded his head to where the peac.o.c.ks are, and do you know, Jeanne, I thought they nodded too. Wasn"t that funny? But I daresay it was only the firelight--the fire had burnt low, and then it bobbed up again all of a sudden."
"And what more?" asked Jeanne eagerly. "O Cheri, I think that"s wonderful! Do tell me some more."
"I don"t think I remember any more," said Hugh. "After that I went to sleep, and then it was all a muddle. There were the chickens and Nibble and the tortoise all running about, and Dudu seemed to be talking to me all the time. But it was just a muddle; you know how dreams go sometimes. And when I woke up the fire was quite out and it was all dark. And then I saw the light of Marcelline"s candle through the hinge of the door, and she came to tell me it was time to get up."
"Oh dear," said Jeanne, "I do hope you"ll dream some more to-night."
"I daresay I shan"t dream at all," said Hugh. "Some nights I go to sleep, and it"s morning in one minute. I don"t like that much, because it"s nice to wake up and feel how cosy it is in bed."
"But, Cheri," pursued Jeanne after a few moments" silence, and a few more bites at her bread and b.u.t.ter, "there"s one thing I don"t understand. It"s about Dudu. You said it wasn"t a dream, you were sure.
Do you think he was really there, at the foot of the bed? It might have been the firelight that made you think you saw the peac.o.c.ks nodding, but it couldn"t have been the firelight that made you think you saw Dudu."
"No," said Hugh, "I can"t understand it either. If it was a dream it was a very queer one, for I never felt more awake in my life. I"ll tell you what, Jeanne, the next time I think I see Dudu like that I"ll run and tell you."
"Yes, do," said Jeanne, "though I don"t know that it would be much good.
Dudu"s dreadfully tricky."
She had not told Hugh of the trick the raven had played her, though why she had not done so she could hardly have explained. Perhaps she was a little ashamed of having been so frightened; perhaps she was still a little afraid of Dudu; and most of all, I think, she had a great curiosity to find out more about the mysterious bird, and thought it best to leave Hugh to face his own adventures.
"If Dudu thinks I"ve told Cheri all about his funny ways," she thought, "perhaps he"ll be angry and not do any more queer things."
The snow was still, as I said, thick on the ground, thicker, indeed, than the day before. But the children managed to amuse themselves very well. Marcelline would not hear of their going out, not even as far as the chickens" house, but she fetched Nibble to pay them a visit in the afternoon, and they had great fun with him.
"He looks very happy, doesn"t he, Cheri?" said Jeanne. "I am sure Houpet has been kind to him. What a pity pets can"t speak, isn"t it? they could tell us such nice funny things."
"Yes," said Hugh, "I"ve often thought that, and I often have thought Nibble could speak if he liked."
"_Houpet_ could, I"m quite sure," said Jeanne, "and I believe Dudu and he do speak to each other. You should just see them sometimes. Why, there they are!" she added, going close up to the window near which she had been standing. "Do come here, Cheri, quick, but come very quietly."
Hugh came forward and looked out. There were the four birds, making the quaintest group you could fancy. Houpet with his waving tuft of feathers was perched on the top rung of a short garden ladder, his two little hens as usual close beside him. And down below on the path stood the raven, on one leg of course, his queer black head very much on one side, as he surveyed the little group above him.
"Silly young people," he seemed to be saying to himself; but Houpet was not to be put down so. With a shrill, clear crow he descended from his perch, stepped close up to Dudu, looked him in the face, and then quietly marched off, followed by his two companions. The children watched this little scene with the greatest interest.
"They _do_ look as if they were talking to each other," said Hugh. "I wonder what it"s about."
"Perhaps it"s about the party," said Jeanne; "the party you said you"d give to the peac.o.c.ks on the wall, and all the pets."
"Perhaps," said Hugh. "I am sure there must be beautiful big rooms in that castle with the lots of steps up to it, where the peac.o.c.ks stand.
Don"t you think it would be nice to get inside that castle and see what it"s like?"
"Oh, wouldn"t it!" said Jeanne, clapping her hands. "How I do wish we could! You might tell Dudu to take us, Cheri. Perhaps it"s a fairy palace really, though it only looks like a picture, and if Dudu"s a fairy, he might know about it."
"I"ll ask him if I get a chance," said Hugh. "Good morning, Monsieur Dudu," he went on, bowing politely from the window to the raven, who had c.o.c.ked his head in another direction, and seemed now to be looking up at the two children with the same supercilious stare he had bestowed upon the c.o.c.k and hens. "Good morning, Monsieur Dudu; I hope you won"t catch cold with this snowy weather. It"s best to be very polite to him, you see," added Hugh, turning to Jeanne; "for if he took offence we should get no fun out of him."
"Oh yes," said Jeanne, "it is much best to be very polite to him. Look at him now, Cheri; _doesn"t_ he look as if he knew what we were saying?"
For Dudu was eyeing them unmistakably by this time, his head more on one side than ever, and his lame leg stuck out in the air like a walking-stick.
"That"s _just_ how he stood at the foot of the bed, on the wood part, you know," said Hugh, in a whisper.
"And weren"t you frightened, Cheri?" said Jeanne. "I always think Dudu looks not at all like a good fairy, when he c.o.c.ks his head on one side and sticks his claw out like that. I quite believe then that he"s a wicked enchanter. O Cheri," she went on, catching hold of Hugh, "what _should_ we do if he was to turn us into two little frogs or toads?"
"We should have to live in the water, and eat nasty little worms and flies, I suppose," said Hugh gravely.
"And that sort of thick green stuff that grows at the top of dirty ponds; fancy having that for soup," said Jeanne pathetically. "O Cheri, we must indeed be very polite to Dudu, and take _great_ pains not to offend him; and if he comes to you in the night, you must be sure to call me at once."
But the following night and several nights after that went by, and nothing was heard or seen of Monsieur Dudu. The weather got a little milder; that is to say, the snow gradually melted away, and the children were allowed to go out into the garden and visit their pets. Nibble seemed quite at home in his new quarters, and was now permitted to run about the chicken-house at his own sweet will; and Jeanne greatly commended Houpet for his kindness to the little stranger, which commendation the chicken received in very good part, particularly when it took the shape of all the t.i.t-bits left on the children"s plates.
"See how tame he is," said Jeanne one day when she had persuaded the little c.o.c.k to peck some crumbs out of her hand; "isn"t he a darling, Cheri, with his _dear_ little tuft of feathers on the top of his head?"
"He"s awfully funny-looking," said Hugh, consideringly; "do you really think he"s very pretty, Jeanne?"
"Of course I do," said Jeanne, indignantly; "all my pets are pretty, but Houpet"s the prettiest of all."
"He"s prettier than Grignan, certainly," said Hugh, giving an amiable little push to the tortoise, who happened to be lying at his feet; "but I like Grignan, he"s so comical."
"I think Grignan must know a great deal," said Jeanne, "he"s so solemn."
"So is Dudu," said Hugh. "By the by, Jeanne," he went on, but stopped suddenly.
"What?" said Jeanne.
"It just came into my head while we were talking that I must have dreamt of Dudu again last night; but now I try to remember it, it has all gone out of my head."
"_What_ a pity," said Jeanne; "do try to remember. Was it that he came and stood at the foot of the bed again, like the last time? You promised to call me if he did."