Fairy Prince and Other StoriesAbbott, Eleanor Hallowell
General
Fairy Prince and Other Stories
Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell
Children -- Fiction; Families -- Fiction; Villages -- Fiction
"U--m--m," said Old Man Smith. He reached way down into his pocket. He
pulled out a box. He opened the box. It was full of pieces of colored
glass! And of china! He juggled them in his hands. They looked gay. Red
they were! And green! And white! And yellow! And blue! He snatched out
all the blue ones and hid 'em quick in his pocket. "She seems sort of
partial to blue," he said.
There was one funny big piece of glass that was awful shiny. When he
held it up to the light it glinted and glowed all sorts of colors. It
made your eyes feel very calm.
Annie Halliway reached out her hand for it. She didn't say a word. She
just stared at it with her hand all reached out.
But Old Man Smith didn't give it to her. He just sat and stared at her
eyes.
Her eyes never moved from the shining bit of glass. They looked awful
funny. Bigger and bigger they got! And rounder and rounder! And stiller
and stiller!
It was like a puppy-dog pointing a little bird in the grass. It made you
feel queer. It made you feel all sort of hollow inside. It made your
legs wobble.
Carol's mouth was wide open.
So was Old Man Smith's.
Old Man Smith reached out suddenly and put the shining bit of glass
right into Annie Halliway's hand. It fell through her fingers. But her
hand stayed just where it was, reaching out into the air.
"Put down your arm!" said Old Man Smith.
Annie Halliway put it down. Her eyes were still staring very wide.
"Look!" said Old Man Smith. "Look!" He dropped several pieces of colored
glass china into her lap.
She chose the handle of a red tea cup and a little chunk of yellow
crockery. She stared and stared at them. But all the time it was as
though her eyes didn't see them. All the time it was as though she was
looking at something very far away. Then all of a sudden she began to
jingle them together in her hand,--the little piece of red china and the
chunk of yellow bowl! And swing her shoulders! And stamp her foot! It
looked like dancing. It sounded like clappers.
"Oh, Ho! _This_ is Spain!" she laughed.
Old Man Smith snatched all the blue pieces of china and glass out of his
pocket again and tossed them into her lap. He looked sort of mad.
"Spain?" he said. "Spain? What in the Old Harry has a handful of glass
and china got to do with Spain?"
"Harry?" said Annie Halliway. "Old--Harry?" Her eyes looked wider and
blinder every minute. It was as though everything in her was wide awake
except the thing she was thinking about. "Har--ry?" she puzzled.
"Harry?" she dropped the red and yellow china from her hand and picked
up a piece of blue glass and offered it to Old Man Smith. "Why, _that_
is Harry!" she said. She reached for the pig-tail that had the blue
Larkspur braided into it. She pointed to the pig-tail that had the blue
fan braided into it. "Why, _that_ is Harry!" she said. She made a little
sob in her throat.
Old Man Smith jingled his hands at her.
"There--There--There, my Pretty!" he said. "Never mind--Never mind!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account