Fantasy fiction; London (England) -- Juvenile fiction
"Now we pass on to the next picture," called Carry-on-Merry.
"Oh, _don't_ hurry," implored the Griffin. "Don't pass the most
beautiful of all the pictures in such haste."
"_Next_ picture," laughed Carry-on-Merry.
The Griffin, after bestowing a hurt look upon Carry-on-Merry, retired,
and again composed himself for sleep.
His slumber this time was not destined to be of long duration.
A grey sombre figure suddenly strode into the brilliant flower-draped
pavilion; a slouch hat made the figure look very sinister, and a sword
clanked at his side.
The figure strode on and scowled darkly at King Richard sitting
gracefully upon his charger. "Ho! ho!" called the sombre man in a loud
voice. "Ho! ho!" he repeated with a mirthless laugh.
King Richard neither moved not took the faintest notice.
On strode the figure towards King Charles seated upon his charger, and
who was regarding the children with the pleasantest expression possible.
"Ha!" shouted the figure as it strode along. "Ha! I say, Ha!"
King Charles still smiled gravely and took no notice. The striding
figure that shouted "Ha!" might never have uttered a word for all the
notice King Charles took of him.
"Ha!" shouted the figure for the last time.
Then, seeing that nobody took any notice of him, the figure looked
glum, and folding his arms espied the Griffin peacefully asleep, the
white dinner napkin covering his fond, foolish face, waiting to be
awakened, so the Griffin fondly hoped--awakened by a gentle tap as
Beauty. The Griffin's slumber seemed to annoy the sombre man
intensely, for without uttering a syllable he drew his sword and smote
the Griffin hard upon the red flannel paws that were folded with a view
to pictorial effect beside the Griffin's covered face.
There was a shriek of anguish, and the Griffin awoke.
The pain the Griffin suffered from the blow upon his tender paws was as
nothing compared to the blow to the Griffin's feelings when he realised
that his ineffably touching picture of the Sleeping Beauty had been
spoiled for the evening. A great surge of sudden hatred swept over the
Griffin at the swaggering intruder who had dared to strike him, and
simultaneously the Griffin remembered something he had once heard said
by a man in blue wearing a helmet close to where he always stood in
Fleet Street.
The Griffin seized Carry-on-Merry's golden wand for the second time
that evening and approached the sombre man of the top boots and the
slouch hat menacingly. "Move on," shouted the Griffin, giving a
lifelike imitation of the man in blue with a helmet. "Move on, d'ye
hear?"
The sombre figure backed a little way in astonishment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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