Boys -- Fiction; Dreams -- Fiction; England -- Fiction; Governesses -- Fiction; Imagination -- Fiction
It was something to remember, the glory of that first journey through
the air. Sixty miles an hour, and scarcely an effort! Skimming the long
ridges of the hills and rushing through the pure air of mountain tops;
threading the star-beams; bathing themselves from head to foot in an
ocean of cool, clean wind; swimming on the waves of viewless
currents--currents warmed only by the magic of the stars, and kissed by
the burning lips of flying meteors.
Far below them the moonlight touched the fields with silver and the
murmur of the world rose faintly to their ears, trembling, as it were,
with the inarticulate dreams of millions. Everywhere about them thrilled
and sang the unspeakable power of the night. The mystery of its great
heart seemed laid bare before them.
It was like a wonder-journey in some Eastern fairy tale. Sometimes they
passed through zones of sweeter air, perfumed with the scents of hay and
wild flowers; at others, the fresh, damp odour of ploughed fields rose
up to them; or, again, they went spinning over leagues of forest where
the tree-tops stretched beneath them like the surface of a wide, green
sea, sleeping in the moonlight. And, when they crossed open water, the
stars shone reflected in their faces; and all the while the wings,
whirring and purring softly through the darkness, made pleasant music in
their ears.
"I'm tired," declared Jimbo presently.
"Then we'll go down and rest," said his breathless companion with
obvious relief.
She showed him how to spread his wings, sloping them towards the ground
at an angle that enabled him to shoot rapidly downwards, at the same
time regulating his speed by the least upward tilt. It was a glorious
motion, without effort or difficulty, though the pace made it hard to
keep the eyes open, and breathing became almost impossible. They dropped
to within ten feet of the ground and then shot forward again.
But, while the boy was watching his companion's movements, and paying
too little attention to his own, there rose suddenly before him out of
the ground a huge, bulky form of something--and crash--he flew headlong
into it.
Fortunately it was only a haystack; but the speed at which he was going
lodged his head several inches under the thatch, whence he projected
horizontally into space, feet, arms, and wings gyrating furiously. The
governess, however, soon released him with much laughter, and they
dropped down into the fallen hay upon the ground with no worse result
than a shaking.
"Oh, what a lark!" he cried, shaking the hay out of his feathers, and
rubbing his head rather ruefully.
"Except that larks are hardly night-birds," she laughed, helping him.
They settled with folded wings in the shadow of the haystack; and the
big moon, peeping over the edge at them, must have surely wondered to
see such a funny couple, in such a place, and at such an hour.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account