The Children of the Castle

ck from the

d-fashioned c

ld house. Such a house as you could hardly find nowadays, however you s

looked out upon a beautiful, quaintly terraced garden, with old trees growing so thick and close together that in summer it was lik

ey built their nests and hatched their eggs; year after year, I suppose, the old ones gradually died off and the young ones took their place, thou

as if it and the people who inhabited it had got so old that they

of the old house, came rattling over the stones with a sudden noisy clatter that sounded quite impertinent, startli

et, grey tippet and grey gloves-all grey together, even to her eyes, all except her rou

the gentleman came out of the house and got into the carriage which had come back for him again, and drove awa

ass handles one would not have known were there, the oldest of the three old servants led little Griselda, so tired and sleepy that her supper had been left almost untasted, to the

the child. "Will it keep alight

rvant shoo

morning," she said. "When you are in bed and asleep, littl

ight I like it. This house all looks so dark to me, and yet t

servan

id; "but you'll get to like it, missie. 'Tis a good

aid Griselda. "Do you

ks love it well, and others beside. Did you ever hear tell of

r eyes sparkling. "Of course I've heard of

ay," answered

back to me as of sights and sounds in a dream. I am too old to see and hear as I once cou

got into bed. "I don't feel as if I belonged to it a bit. And they

e as to the fors and againsts at all, so they settled to put it to the vot

cted they would. But Griselda, being a little girl and not a rook, was so tired that two minutes af

last waking thought. "If it was summer now, or spring, I sho

arly in the morning, long before it was light, he

he man who fell into a trance for a hundred years just as he was saying "it is bitt-" and when he woke up ag

ryland indeed that she had got to, where one only needs to wish, for it to be? She rubbed her eyes, but it was too dark to see; that w

y? She grew sleepy at last, and was just dropping off when-yes, there it was again, as clear and di

ave a tame cuckoo in a cage? I don't think I ever heard of such a thing, but this is such a queer house; everything seem

contentedly enough, for the sweet, fresh notes of the cuckoo's friendly greeting. But before it sounded again through the silent house she was once

smooth as such a brown tangle could be tied down; and, absorbed with these weighty cares, she forgot all about the cuckoo for the time. It was not till she was sitting at

way the journey to her mouth of a spoonful of b

her elder aunt, Miss Grizzel; "

d Miss Tabitha, "a

iselda; "I heard it in the night. It couldn't have

ittle smile. "So like her grandmother,"

n a cage, and it isn't exactly the sort of cu

ss Tabitha, as if to conf

d Griselda, opening he

aking one after the other, only Griselda's voice w

xclaimed; "but it c

" said Mi

replied Griselda

oo was alive, and nothing would have persuaded her it was not. Finish your breakfast,

" said Griselda, going on

ha, "you shall see the

Aunt Tabitha always repeated everything that Aunt Grizzel said. It wouldn't have mattered so much if Aunt Tabitha had said it at once after Miss Grizzel, but as she generally

pointing out all the curiosities, and telling all the histories of the rooms and their contents; and Griselda lik

would have taken such a very long time, you see, to have had all the histories twice over, and possibly, i

seemed the evening before; almost more so indeed, for the view from t

d Miss Grizzel, catching sight of the direct

. "But there is a very rosy scent in the rooms even now

zel looke

urri," she

en brilliant, and faded yellow damask hangings. A feeling of awe had crept over Griselda as they entered this ancient drawing-room. What grand partie

f a temple, or a palace-Griselda was not sure which. Any way, it was very delicious and wonderful. At the door stood, one on each side, two solemn

eads. Forthwith, to Griselda's asto

them do that, Aunt Gr

like it," replied Miss Grizzel mysteriously. "Respect to your elders, my dear, always

t was that Miss Grizzel took such liberti

Grizzel, touching a great china jar on a little stand,

ried her round little nos

"May I smell it wheneve

every little girl, you know, that we could

d Griseld

by which they had entered. She opened it and passed

zzel, consulting her watch; "now, my dear,

like a miniature house, of dark brown carved wood. It was not so very like a house, but it certainly had a roof-a roof with deep projecting eaves; and, looking closer, yes, it was a cl

oors above the clock face, which Griselda had not known were there, sprang open with a burst and out flew a cuckoo, flapped his wings, and uttered his pretty cry, "Cuckoo! cuckoo! cuckoo!" Miss Grizzel counted

odded his head, before he flapped his wings and went in to his house again-he d

"Well, my dear," she added aloud, "it is quite right he should say, 'How do you do?' to you. It is the first time he has seen you, though many a year ag

?" inquired Griseld

, and faithful discharge of

mes?" asked Griselda, who felt as if she could spend all day look

e room I intend you to prepare your tasks. It is nice and quiet, and nothing to

ise, at the foot of a short flight of stairs through another door, half open, she caught sight

wn the steps. "Every room has so many doors, and you come back to where you were jus

dear, very soon," said

my lessons tasks. It makes them sound so dreadfully hard. But, any w