“And now, sir,” added Miss Peck, “perhaps you will do me the great kindness to tell me your name, for I have no doubt now, that it was entirely owing to your interference, that I was not swallowed alive by one of those horrible giants, which gave me such an alarm just now.”
“My name, madam,” answered the stranger, “is Cockielockie, at your service, but I think, owing to your youth and inexperience, you have probably mistaken these two respectable old yew trees, in one of which the seven ladies of my family are sleeping at this moment, for giants, or perhaps their shadows across the road deceived you, or it might be the old cat returning from her visit to the Jackdaws. At any rate, madam, here are no giants, I assure you, for the truth is that the old woman leads such a dull life that no giant ever comes near the place, and I have not seen so much as the face of Tim Scamp, the little pedlar, for the last six months. It is very sad to live so out of the world, and I must confess that I should like a little more society. The old woman is so particular and old-fashioned; and the cat is so ill-mannered and vulgar, that it is very trying to one’s patience, and I do not find much comfort in my own family, for I am sorry to say that they are always quarrelling. I cannot speak to one without the other’s being jealous, and to tell the truth, (though I am sure you will not repeat it,) I was awoke just now by the screams of my two daughters, Partridge and Speckle, who had had their ears boxed by Mrs. Cockielockie, for saying that they knew I wished she was dead! If I do wish it, they need not have told her so, and now I shall never hear the last of it. If I could but get away for a time, it might blow over, or Mrs. Cockielockie might be gone.”
“Well, my dear sir,” said Miss Peck, interrupting him, “why cannot you come with me to the Queen? It would be an opportunity of introducing yourself to the very highest society, and I should be delighted with the honour of your company. Indeed, I really feel very lonely, travelling all by myself, and am very much in want of protection, which is just what I am sure, sir, you are always ready to afford to a poor weak young creature, like myself, though whenever one complains of helplessness, it seems to make some people, that I could mention, more spiteful and tyrannical than ever!”
“Believe me, dear madam,” said Cockielockie,—who was very much pleased at the idea of paying a visit to the Queen,—“believe me, that never could be my case, I will accompany you instantly with the greatest pleasure, and I trust that, if we should meet with any enemies on the road you will find my spurs quite able to defend you from them. Under these circumstances, madam, I shall set off without giving my usual crow, which, hitherto, I have never failed to perform at this hour. It was my dear mother’s first and last lesson to me. She took the greatest pains to teach it me when young, and I remember how vexed she used to be when I forgot my crows, or cut them so short that no one could understand what I said, or did not repeat them exactly at the right time. She told me that if I went on so I should be good for nothing, and might as well be boiled at once; and the last thing she said to me, before she disappeared, and I fear was boiled herself, was, ‘Cockie, mind your crows.’ To tell the truth, however, now, my dear Miss Peck, I am afraid of waking the ladies in the yew-tree. Mrs. Cockielockie would make such a fuss, and then the old woman might be disturbed, for though she is very deaf, I have heard the cat say that she always hears when you most wish she should not; for there was a small piece of the tail of a red herring which she promised one evening at supper to give to her,—at least so Mrs. Puss told me,—and then she put it away in the cupboard, and went to bed, and forgot it! So the cat being hungry, could not go to sleep, and was just getting into the cupboard, to eat her own bit of fish, when down came the old woman to know what all that scratching and scrambling was about, and the cat was forced to pretend to be catching a mouse, and never got the herring after all, for the old woman locked it up, and took the key away with her. I think, therefore, madam, although it seems to be neglecting one’s duties, that we had better set off as quietly as possible.”
So saying, Cockielockie shook himself gently, brushed his feathers, scraped his claws, and then came down from the little wicket-gate, on which he had all this time been sitting, and asked Miss Peck if she was now ready to go on.
Miss Peck, having quite recovered from her fright, had been impatient to proceed on her journey all the time that Cockielockie was talking, so on they went, talking pleasantly all the way of their different sufferings, and the hard trials they each of them met with from undeserved persecutions at home.
And they went, and they went, and they went down the lane, round the turning, and up the hill to the left, till they saw something white moving slowly on before them which, when they came nearer, seemed to be a duck, but its head hung down so wretchedly, its wings were so drooping, and its whole air so forlorn, that Miss Peck herself doubted, at first, what it could be. But when they came quite close, they saw that they were not mistaken, so Cockielockie, who had always a word for everybody, said in a cheerful manner:
“How do you do, Duckiedaddles? You are up early this dark morning. Where may you be going to, if I may venture to ask the question?”
The duck shook her head sadly, heaved a sigh, and said:
“Oh, Cockielockie, I am a poor wretched creature, who can find no pleasure in life, and have had great misfortunes, and so I am going to consult an old friend, who lives a little way off, about making my will, and then return home, and hang myself in the well rope, behind the carthouse.”