“And was that the end of Bryan O’Loughlin and the Czar of Russia?”
“No,” answered Micus. “Every Christmas his Royal Highness used to send Bryan Christmas cards from himself and the wife and children, and a box of blessed candles besides, and a bag of birdseed for the linnets, and sweetpea seed for the garden also; and there was no happier man in the whole world than Bryan till the day he died. And that’s the end of my story.”
“I think ’tis time to be going home now,” said the stranger. “The swallows are flying low, and night will be overtaking me before I will be over the mountain.”
“Don’t get wet, whatever you do,” said Micus. “It’s bad for the rheumatics.”
Peace and War
What about the story you promised to tell me last night?” said Micus to his friend Padna.
“Draw your chair closer to the fire, and you’ll hear it,” said Padna, and this is what he told:
“Johnny Moonlight was so called because of his love of nocturnal rambling, and Peep o’ Day won his name because he rose every morning to see the sun rising. Johnny and Peep were neighbors, and it was no unusual thing for Johnny to meet Peep as he wended his way home while Peep wended his way from it. Johnny was the more loquacious of the two, and when Peep, who rose earlier than was his wont, saw him watching the reflection of the moon in the placid waters of Glenmoran Bay, he up and ses:
“What are you doing at all, at all, Johnny?”