The Admiral's Caravan Part 7

"Goodness gracious, what an awful dose!" said Dorothy, with a shudder.

"_That_ doesn't make any difference so long as he won't take it," said Sir Walter; and here he flew into a tremendous pa.s.sion, and began beating the Camel about the head so furiously with the bottle that Dorothy cried out, "Here--stop that instantly!"

"_He_ doesn't mind it no more than if he was a bolster," put in the Highlander. "Set him up again and let's see him fall down," he added, rubbing his hands together with a relish.

"Indeed, you'll do nothing of the sort," exclaimed Dorothy, with great indignation; and, s.n.a.t.c.hing the Camel from the Admiral's lap, she carried him into the grocer's shop and set him down upon the floor. The Camel looked about for a moment with a very mournful expression on his face, and then climbed into one of the drawers that was standing open, and pulled it to after him as a person might close a door, and Dorothy, after watching this remarkable performance with great wonderment, went out again.

The Caravan had lost no time, and were standing on the bench, putting up a little sign on the front of the shop with "CAMEL FOR SALE" on it, and Dorothy, trying not to laugh, said, "Is this your shop?"

"Yes," replied the Admiral, with an important air. "The grocer's been sold for a cook because he had an ap.r.o.n on, and we've taken the business."

"What are you going to keep?" asked Dorothy, who was vastly amused at this idea.

"Why, we're going to keep the shop," said the Admiral, climbing down from the bench and staring at her in great surprise.

"But you must certainly keep things to sell," said Dorothy.

"How can we keep things if we sell 'em?" inquired Sir Walter.

"Well, you can't sell anything unless you keep it in the shop, you know," persisted Dorothy, feeling that she was somehow or other getting the worst of the argument.

"Bosh!" said the Admiral, obstinately; "you _can't_ keep things you sell--that is," he added, "not unless your customers are crazy"; and with this remark the Caravan went into the shop and shut the door in Dorothy's face, as if she wasn't worth talking to any longer.

Dorothy waited for a moment to see if they were coming out again, and then, as there was a noise inside as if they were piling up the drawers against the door by way of a barricade, she walked slowly away through the toy-shop.

She had had such a variety of adventures in the shop by this time that she was getting quite tired of the place, and she was walking along rather disconsolately, and wishing there was some way of growing to her natural size, and then getting back again to poor old Uncle Porticle and the Blue Admiral Inn, when, as she went around the corner of the little apothecary's shop, she came suddenly upon Bob Scarlet. To her great surprise, he was now just about the size of an ordinary robin; but he had on his red waistcoat, and had quite as important an air as ever, and he was strolling about examining the various toys, and putting down the price of everything in a little red book, as if he were thinking of going into the business himself.

"Now, I wonder how he ever got to be _that_ size," thought Dorothy, as she hid behind a little pile of lead-pencils and watched him over the top of them. "I suppose he's eaten something, or drunk something, to make him grow, the way they do in fairy stories; because the Admiral certainly said he wasn't any bigger than an ant. And, oh! I wish I knew what it was," she added, mournfully, as the tears came into her eyes at the thought of how small she was, "I _wish_ I knew what it was!"

"If I wasn't a little afraid of him," she went on, after she had had a little cry, "I'd ask him. But likely as not he'd peck at me--old peckjabber!" and here she laughed through her tears as she thought of the Caravan in their little sunbonnets. "Or p'r'aps he'd snap me up!

I've often heard of snapping people up when they asked too many questions, but seems to me it never meant anything so awful as that before"; and she was rambling on in this way, laughing and crying by turns, when at this moment Bob Scarlet came suddenly upon a fine bra.s.s bird-cage, and, after staring at it in a stupefied way for an instant, he dropped his little book, with an appearance of great agitation, and hurried away without so much as looking behind him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "HE DROPPED HIS LITTLE BOOK, WITH AN APPEARANCE OF GREAT AGITATION, AND HURRIED AWAY."]

Dorothy ran after him, carefully keeping out of sight in case he should turn around, and as she went by the bird-cage she saw that it was marked "PERFECTLY SECURE" in large letters. "And _that's_ what took the conceit out of you, mister," she said, laughing to herself, and hurried along after the Robin.

As she caught sight of him again he was just scurrying by the grocer's shop, and she could see the faces of the Caravan watching him, over the top of a little half-blind in the window, with an expression of the greatest concern, and the next moment a door at the back of the shop opened and they all rushed out. They had on their sunbonnets and shawls, and Dorothy saw that the Admiral was carrying the Camel under his arm; but before she could say a word to them they had scampered away and were out of sight.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "A DOOR AT THE BACK OF THE SHOP OPENED AND THEY ALL RUSHED OUT."]

By this time the toy-shop itself was all in a commotion. Dolls were climbing down from the shelves and falling over each other; the big marbles had in some way got out of the basket and were rolling about in all directions; and Dorothy could see the old dame at the further end of the shop, running about and frantically striking at one thing after another with her spoon. To make matters worse, quite a little army of tin soldiers suddenly appeared, running confusedly about, with the drawers from the little grocer's shop upside down on their heads, and all calling "Fire!" at the top of their voices. As they couldn't see where anybody was going, or where they were going themselves, it made the situation very desperate indeed.

Dorothy was frightened almost out of her wits, but she ran on in a bewildered sort of a way, dodging the rolling marbles and upsetting the dolls and the soldiers in great numbers, until she fortunately caught sight of the little rat-hole of a door, and, rushing through it, she hurried down the bank, knocking the green rocking-chairs about in every direction, and ran off into the wood as fast as she could go.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TAIL-PIECE TO CHAPTER VIII.]

CHAPTER IX

THE CAMEL'S COMPLAINT

Dorothy ran along until she thought she was quite safe, and then stopped to look back and listen. There was a confused sound of shouts and cries in the distance, but nothing seemed to be coming after her, so, after waiting a moment to get her breath, she walked quietly away through the wood.

"What a scene of turmoil it was!" she said to herself. (You see, she was trying to express herself in a very dignified and composed manner, as if she hadn't been in the least disturbed by what had happened.) "I presume--" she went on, "I presume it was something like a riot, although I really don't see what it was all about. Of course I've never been in a riot, but if it's anything like _that_, I shall never have anything to do with one";--which certainly was a very wise resolution for a little girl to make; but as Dorothy was always making wise resolutions about things that were never going to happen, I really don't think that this particular one was a matter of any consequence.

She was so much pleased with these remarks that she was going on to say a number of very fine things, when she came suddenly upon the Caravan hiding behind a large tree. They were sitting in a little bunch on the gra.s.s, and, as Dorothy appeared, they all put on an appearance of great unconcern, and began staring up at the branches of the tree, as if they hadn't seen her.

"They've certainly been doing something they're ashamed of," she said to herself, "but they can't deceive me with any such behavior as _that_"; and just then the Admiral pretended he had just caught sight of her and said, with a patronizing air, "Ah! How d' ye do? How d' ye do?" as if they hadn't met for quite a while.

"You know perfectly well how I do, and I consider that a very foolish remark," replied Dorothy, speaking in a very dignified manner, and not feeling at all pleased with this reception; and then noticing that Humphrey was nowhere to be seen, she said severely, "Where's your Camel?"

"Camels is no good," said the Admiral, evasively. "Leastwise _he_ wasn't."

"Why not?" said Dorothy. She said this very sternly, for she felt morally certain that the Admiral was trying to conceal something from her.

"Well, you see," said the Admiral, uneasily, "he talked too much. He was always grumbling."

"Grumbling about what?" said Dorothy.

"Oh, about a wariety of things," said the Admiral. "Meals and lodgings and all that, you know. I used to try to stop him. 'Cammy,' I says--"

"'Cammy' is short for camel," explained Sir Walter, and Dorothy laughed and nodded, and the Admiral went on--

"'Cammy,' I says, 'don't scold so much'; but lor! I might as well have talked to a turnpike-gate."

"Better," put in Sir Walter. "_That_ shuts up sometimes, and _he_ never did."

"Oh, jummy!" said the Highlander, with a chuckle, "_that's_ a good one!"

"But what was it all about?" persisted Dorothy.

"_You_ tell her, Ruffles," said the Admiral.

"Well," said Sir Walter, "it was all the same thing, over and over again. He had it all in verses so he wouldn't forget any of it. It went like this:

"Canary-birds feed on sugar and seed, Parrots have crackers to crunch; And, as for the poodles, they tell me the noodles Have chickens and cream for their lunch.

But there's never a question About MY digestion-- ANYTHING does for me!

"Cats, you're aware, can repose in a chair, Chickens can roost upon rails; Puppies are able to sleep in a stable, And oysters can slumber in pails.

But no one supposes A poor Camel dozes-- ANY PLACE does for me!

"Lambs are inclosed where it's never exposed, Coops are constructed for hens; Kittens are treated to houses well heated, And pigs are protected by pens.

But a Camel comes handy Wherever it's sandy-- ANYWHERE does for me!

"People would laugh if you rode a giraffe, Or mounted the back of an ox; It's n.o.body's habit to ride on a rabbit, Or try to bestraddle a fox.

But as for a Camel, he's Ridden by families-- ANY LOAD does for me!