“I am much obliged to you, madam, for your good advice,” replied Goosiepoosie, with a formal bow, “but Father Gander is certain to be right, and I shall continue to follow the road which he pointed out.”
“Then you are an obstinate goose for your pains,” cried Cockielockie, much provoked, “and may wear your vulgar white coat all your life, for any chance there is of the Queen’s giving you leave to change it.”
Goosiepoosie made a very angry reply, and the quarrel might have continued to this time, but just then old Simon Joggle, the carrier, was coming along the road, and so loud and vehement had been the dispute that they did not hear the wheels of his cart till it was quite close to them. He was driving pretty fast, and they were standing near the middle of the road, so that there was scarcely time to get out of the way. The unfortunate Miss Peck screamed violently, and in her agitation, not thinking where she was going, she ran under one of the cart wheels, and it was no longer any joke about her poor left leg, for the wheel went over it and broke the bone.
Her cries were so terrible, and there was such noise and confusion, and flapping of wings, at the same instant, that old Simon, who could not see in the glimmering light what was the matter, stopped his horse and got out of the cart. Poor Miss Peck, whose screams soon showed him where she was, tried to get away when he came near her, but she only fell down in great pain whenever she attempted to move. If the cramp in her leg, from which she used to suffer so much, especially when she was cross, had disabled her half as much as this sad accident, Cock-a-doodle could never have been so barbarous as to refuse to help her up the henhouse stairs, if fifty Miss Spangles had been near him at the same time. It was in vain that she struggled, and screamed, and scrambled along the ground. She was soon in old Simon’s clutches, who was quickly sitting in his cart again, with the reins in his hand, as if nothing had happened.
But I fear that something very sad had happened; and I am quite sure, whatever might be her fate, that poor Miss Peck was never more seen or heard of, although Cock-a-doodle thought it right to make every inquiry after her, and was very much shocked at the report which was whispered about the yard the next morning, that she had escaped from the henhouse, and gone off on a journey with young Master Wilful the conceited pig.
But what became of Cockielockie, Goosiepoosie, and Duckiedaddles? They had suffered a terrible fright, and almost lost their senses, when old Simon’s cart came so suddenly upon them; Duckiedaddles, being the last to see the danger, in her haste, somehow knocked herself against one of the horse’s legs, and was so stunned by the blow that she lay for some minutes quite insensible. When she recovered she could see nothing of her companions; old Simon’s cart was just moving away, and there was a shrieking sound from the inside, which Duckie thought—but it might have been fancy—must be like the voice of Miss Peck in a very bad spasm. When the cart was quite out of sight, Duckie hobbled along till she came to a little brook that crossed the road, and plunging gladly into it, she swam through an arch under the hedge, and along some meadows, till she came to a pond, where, to her great delight, she found several of her own relations enjoying an early swim. She told them her story, with many tears and complaints, as she had done to Cockielockie and poor Miss Peck, and begged to know whether she might remain with them, and so escape for ever from the tyranny and insolence of Mrs. Topknot and Jem the carter.
They told her that she was welcome to stay if she pleased, but it was right to mention that they were particularly subject to very severe misfortunes, in the frequent losses sustained by their families, as there was a house very near them, in which a large table was kept, and at any moment one of them might be seized, and taken in to stand upon this table, but not one had ever been brought back again. Duckiedaddles, however, thought that they only said this to frighten her, and felt quite sure that she should be much happier here than at home, so she stayed, and led an easy life with her new friends—except a dispute every now and then—for some time, when, one morning, as they were going down to the pond, she and Curlytail were not to be seen amongst them, so they knew directly that they were taken in to stand upon the great table, and would never come out and swim in the pleasant water any more.
Goosiepoosie’s story is soon told. She first flew over the hedge, and nearly frightened a red cow, who was lying in the grass on the other side, into fits; and then, recovering her own senses, set off home as fast as she could go. When she arrived there, she called all her companions around her, and told them that, after travelling a long way, and inquiring everywhere, she found that the Queen’s house was not in any part of this country, and she was afraid that they should never be able to reach it; but, that if they waited quietly, perhaps there might be some opportunity of offering up a petition to her on the subject of their complaint. So the geese consented to wait, and as no opportunity of presenting their petition ever occurred, they have continued to wear their white coats ever since.
Poor Cockielockie had a dismal time of it before he came to the end of his troubles. He, too, had flown over the hedge on the other side, and in his great terror, continued, sometimes flying, and sometimes running, till he came to a copse, where he thought he should be safe; so he lay down in the thick grass, under a tree, scared and tired, and very much out of breath. Hearing nothing of his companions, and not seeing anything to alarm him, he remained there till the morning, dozing a little, and dreaming of the old cat, and Mrs. Cockielockie, and every now and then, starting up in the belief that all Farmer Cloverfield’s waggons and horses were coming down the lane at full gallop, and that he had not time to get out of the way. All that day he wandered unhappily about the copse, picking up a few insects, but meeting with no acquaintance, and not able to find any way out, he felt very lonely and wretched, and when the daylight was nearly gone, he climbed up into a hazel tree, and tried to go to sleep. But there was such a rustling and twittering amongst a family of robins, who lodged just below him, and who were talking over their plans for the winter, and the changes which they meant to make in the spring, that it was long before he could close his eyes. He had barely done so, when a sudden rush from below, and frightful sounds of pain and terror roused him from his short slumber. He flew instantly to the ground, and there, in the twilight, he distinctly saw his former companion, the old cat, standing with two murdered robins at her feet, while she greedily devoured a third.
“Why, Mrs. Puss,” said he, for her mouth was too full to allow her to speak first, “may I ask how you came here, and what you are doing?”