1 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: Welcome sleep Tight Stories, Chapter two, A Queen of Hearts. 2 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: I wakened shortly after sunrise. The pale May sunshine was 3 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: showering through the spruces, and a chill inspiring wind was 4 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: tossing the boughs about Felix. Wake up, I whispered, shaking him. 5 00:00:54,480 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: What's the matter? He murmured reluctantly. It's morning. Let's get 6 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: up and go down and out. I can't wait another 7 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: minute to see the place's father has told us of. 8 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 1: We slipped out of bed and dressed without arousing Dan, 9 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 1: who was still slumbering softly, his mouth wide open and 10 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,919 Speaker 1: his bedclothes kicked off on the floor. I had hard 11 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: work to keep Felix from trying to see if he 12 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: could shy a marble into that tempting open mouth. I 13 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,639 Speaker 1: told him it would waken Dan, who would then likely 14 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,559 Speaker 1: insist on getting up and accompanying us, and it would 15 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: be so much nicer to go by ourselves for the 16 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:58,360 Speaker 1: first time. Everything was very still as we crept downstairs. 17 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 1: Out in the kitchen, we heard someone, presumably Uncle Alec, 18 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: lighting the fire, but the heart of house had not 19 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: yet begun to beat for the day. We paused a 20 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: moment in the hall to look at the big grandfather clock. 21 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,640 Speaker 1: It was not going, but it seemed like an old 22 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: familiar acquaintance to us, with the gilt balls on its 23 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: three peaks, the little dial and pointer which would indicate 24 00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: the changes of the moon, and the very dent in 25 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: its wooden door, which father had made when he was 26 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 1: a boy by kicking it in a fit of naughtiness. 27 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: Then we opened the front door and stepped out. Rapture 28 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: swelling in our bosoms. There was a rare breeze from 29 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: the south blowing to meet us. The shadows of the 30 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: spruces were long and clear cut. The exquisite skies of 31 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: early morning blue and wind winnowed were over us. Away 32 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 1: to the west, beyond the brookfield was a long valley 33 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: and a hill, purple with firs and laced with still 34 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: leafless beeches and maples. Behind the house was a grove 35 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: of fir and spruce, a dim, cool place where the 36 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: winds were fond of purring, and where there was always 37 00:03:53,840 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: a resinous wood sea odor. On the further side of 38 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: it was a thick plantation of slender silver birches and 39 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:16,240 Speaker 1: whispling populars, and beyond it was Uncle Roger's house. Right 40 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: before us gert about with its trim spruce hedge was 41 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: the famous King Orchard, the history of which was woven 42 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: into our earliest recollections. We knew all about it from 43 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:39,600 Speaker 1: Father's descriptions, and in fancy we had roamed in it 44 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:46,440 Speaker 1: many a time, and oft it was now nearly sixty 45 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:51,799 Speaker 1: years since it had had its beginning. When Grandfather King 46 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: brought his bride home before the wedding, he had fenced 47 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: off the big south meadow that sloped to the sun. 48 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: It was the finest, most fertile field on the farm, 49 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: and the neighbors told young Abraham King that he would 50 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: raise many a fine crop of wheat in that meadow. 51 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: Abraham King smiled, and, being a man of few words, 52 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: said nothing. But in his mind he had a vision 53 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: of the years to be, And in that vision he 54 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: saw not rippling acres of harvest gold, but great leafy avenues, 55 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:48,919 Speaker 1: of wide spreading trees, laden with fruit to gladden the 56 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 1: eyes of children and grandchildren. Yet unborn. It was a 57 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: vision to develop slowly into fulfillment. Grandfather King was in 58 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:10,119 Speaker 1: no hurry. He did not set his whole orchard out 59 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: at once, for he wished it to grow with his 60 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,719 Speaker 1: life and history, and be bound up with all of 61 00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: good and joy that should come to his household. So 62 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: the morning after he had brought his young wife home, 63 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: they went together to the south Meadow and planted their 64 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: bridle trees. These trees were no longer living, for they 65 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: had been when father was a boy, and every spring 66 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: bedecked themselves in blossom as delicately tinted as Elizabeth King's 67 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: face when she walked through the old South Meadow in 68 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:02,760 Speaker 1: the morn of her life and love. When a son 69 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: was born to Abraham and Elizabeth, a tree was planted 70 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: in the orchard for him. They had fourteen children in all, 71 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: and each child had its birth tree. Every family festival 72 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 1: was commemorated in like fashion, and every beloved visitor who 73 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: spent a night under their roof was expected to plant 74 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: a tree in the orchard. So it came to pass 75 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: that every tree in it was a fair green monument 76 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: to some love or delight of the vanished years. And 77 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: each grandchild had its tree there, also set out by 78 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: grind and father when the tidings of its birth reached him. 79 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,119 Speaker 1: Not always an apple tree, perhaps it was a plum, 80 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: or cherry or pear, but it was always known by 81 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: the name of the person from whom or by whom 82 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:26,720 Speaker 1: it was planted. And Felix and I knew as much 83 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: about Aunt Felicity's pears, and Aunt Julia's cherrie's, and Uncle 84 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: Alex apples, and the reverend mister Scott's plums, as if 85 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: we had been born and bred among them. And now 86 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: we had come to the orchard. It was before us. 87 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,719 Speaker 1: We had only to open that little whitewashed gate in 88 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: the hedge, and we might find ourselves in its storied domain. 89 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: But before we reached the gate, we glanced to our 90 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 1: left along the grassy spruce bordered lane which led over 91 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: to Uncle Rogers. And at the entrance of that lane 92 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: we saw a girl standing with a gray cat at 93 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:33,000 Speaker 1: her feet. She lifted her hand and beckoned blithely to us, 94 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: and the orchard forgotten. We followed her summons, for we 95 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: knew that this must be the story girl, and in 96 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: that gay and graceful gesture was an allurement not to 97 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: be gainsaid or denied. We looked at her as we 98 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:03,199 Speaker 1: drew near, with such interest that we forgot to feel shy. 99 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: No she was not pretty. She was tall for her 100 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: fourteen years, slim and straight around. Her long white face 101 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: rather too long and too white, fell sleek, dark brown 102 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: curls tied above either ear with rosettes of scarlet ribbon. 103 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: Her large, curving mouth was as red as a poppy, 104 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: and she had brilliant almond shaped hazel eyes. But we 105 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:53,319 Speaker 1: did not think her pretty. Then she spoke. She said, 106 00:10:54,200 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: good morning. Never had we heard a voice like hers, Never, 107 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: in all my life since have I heard such a voice. 108 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:18,439 Speaker 1: I cannot describe it. I might say it was clear. 109 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: I might say it was sweet. I might say it 110 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:31,200 Speaker 1: was vibrant and far reaching and bell like. All this 111 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,760 Speaker 1: would be true, but it would give you no real 112 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: idea of the peculiar quality which made the story girl's 113 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:51,040 Speaker 1: voice what it was. If voices had color, hers would 114 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:59,720 Speaker 1: have been like a rainbow. It made words live. Whatever 115 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: she said became a breathing entity, not a mere verbal 116 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: statement or utterance. Felix and I were too young to 117 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: understand or analyze the impression it made upon us, but 118 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: we instantly felt at her greeting that it was a 119 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: good mourning, a surpassingly good mourning, the very best mourning 120 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: that had ever happened in this most excellent of worlds. 121 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:46,360 Speaker 1: You are Felix and Beverly. She went on, shaking our 122 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:51,160 Speaker 1: hands with an air of frank comradeship, which was very 123 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: different from the shy, feminine advances of Felicity and Sicily. 124 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: From that moment we were as good friends as if 125 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: we had known each other for a hundred years. I 126 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: am glad to see you. I was so disappointed I 127 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:15,559 Speaker 1: couldn't go over last night. I got up early this morning, though, 128 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: for I felt sure you would be up early too, 129 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,480 Speaker 1: and that you'd like to have me tell you about things. 130 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: I can tell things so much better than Felicity or Cecily. 131 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: Do you think Felicity is very pretty? She's the prettiest 132 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:40,360 Speaker 1: girl I ever saw, I said, enthusiastically, remembering that Felicity 133 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: had called me handsome. The boys all think so, said 134 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: the story girl. Not. I fancied quite well pleased, and 135 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: I suppose she is. She is a splendid cook, too, 136 00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 1: though she is only twelve. I can't cook. I am 137 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: trying to learn, but I don't make much progress. Aunt 138 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: Olivia says, I haven't enough natural gumption ever to be 139 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: a cook. But I'd love to be able to make 140 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 1: as good cakes and pies as Felicity can make. But 141 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: then Felicity is stupid. It's not ill natured of me 142 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 1: to say that it's just the truth, and you'd soon 143 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: find it out yourselves. I like Felicity very well, but 144 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: she is stupid. Cecily is ever so much cleverer. Cecily's 145 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: a deer, so is Aunt Alec. And Aunt Janet is 146 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: pretty nice too. What is Aunt Olivia like, asked Felix. 147 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:55,880 Speaker 1: Aunt Olivia is very pretty. She is just like a pansy, 148 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:03,320 Speaker 1: all velvety and purply and goldly. Felix and I saw 149 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:09,440 Speaker 1: somewhere inside of our heads a velvet and purple and 150 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: gold pansy woman, just as the story girl spoke. But 151 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: is she nice? I asked. That was the main question 152 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: about grown ups. Their looks mattered little to us. She 153 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: is lovely, but she is twenty nine. You know that's 154 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 1: pretty old. She doesn't bother me much. Aunt Janet says 155 00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,320 Speaker 1: that I'd have no bringing up at all if it 156 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: wasn't for her. Aunt Olivia says children should just be 157 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: let come up, that everything else is settled for them 158 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: long before they are born. I don't understand that, do you. No, 159 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: we did not, but it was our experience that grown 160 00:16:02,040 --> 00:16:05,560 Speaker 1: ups had a habit of saying things hard to understand. 161 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: What is Uncle Roger like? Was our next question. Well, 162 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: I like Uncle Roger, said the story girl. He is 163 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: big and jolly, but he teases people too much. You 164 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: ask him a serious question and you get a ridiculous answer. 165 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: He hardly ever scolds or gets cross, though, and that 166 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: is something he is an old bachelor. Doesn't he ever 167 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: mean to get married? Asked Felix. I don't know. Aunt 168 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: Olivia wishes he would because she's tired keeping house for him, 169 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:55,280 Speaker 1: and she wants to go to Aunt Julia in California, 170 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,160 Speaker 1: but she says he'll never get married because he is 171 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: looking for perfection and when he finds her, she won't 172 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: have him. By this time, we were all sitting down 173 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,439 Speaker 1: on the gnarled roots of the spruces, and the big 174 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:20,440 Speaker 1: gray cat came over and made friends with us. He 175 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: was a lordly animal, with a silver gray coat, beautifully 176 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:32,639 Speaker 1: marked with darker stripes. With such coloring, most cats would 177 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: have had white or silver feet, but he had four 178 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:44,719 Speaker 1: black paws and a black nose. Such points gave him 179 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: an air of distinction and marked him out as quite 180 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: different from the common or garden variety of cats. He 181 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: seemed to be a cat with a tolerably good opinion 182 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:04,440 Speaker 1: of himself, and his response to our advances was slightly 183 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: tinged with condensation. This isn't Topsy, is it? I asked. 184 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: I knew at once that the question was a foolish one. Topsy, 185 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,360 Speaker 1: the cat of which father had talked, had flourished thirty 186 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:27,479 Speaker 1: years before, and all her nine lives could scarcely have 187 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: lasted so long. No, but it is Topsy's great great 188 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: great great grandson, said the story girl gravely. His name 189 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: is Paddy, and he is my own particular cat. We 190 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: have barn cats, but Paddy never associates with them. I 191 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,639 Speaker 1: am very good friends with all cats. They are so 192 00:18:54,840 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: sleek and comfortable and dignified, and it is so easy 193 00:19:01,240 --> 00:19:05,439 Speaker 1: to make them happy. Oh, I'm so glad you boys 194 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:10,880 Speaker 1: have come to live here. Nothing ever happens here except days, 195 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 1: so we have to make our own good times. We 196 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: were short of boys before, only Dan and Peter to 197 00:19:18,960 --> 00:19:27,360 Speaker 1: four girls. Four girls. Oh yes, Sarah ray Felicity mentioned her. 198 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 1: What is she like? Where does she live just down 199 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: the hill. You can't see the house for the spruce bush. 200 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: Sarah is a nice girl. She's only eleven, and her 201 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: mother is dreadfully strict. She never allows Sarah to read 202 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:53,680 Speaker 1: a single story, Just you fancy. Sarah's conscience is always 203 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:58,120 Speaker 1: troubling her for doing things she's sure her mother won't approve, 204 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: but it never prevents her from doing them. It only 205 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 1: spoils her fun. Uncle Roger says that a mother who 206 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: won't let you do anything and a conscience that won't 207 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:18,679 Speaker 1: let you enjoy anything is an awful combination, and he 208 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: doesn't wonder Sarah is pale and thin and nervous. But 209 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: between you and me, I believe the real reason is 210 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,359 Speaker 1: that her mother doesn't care her half enough to eat. 211 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: Not that she's mean, you know, but she thinks it 212 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: isn't healthy for children to eat much, or anything but 213 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: certain things. Isn't it fortunate we weren't born to that 214 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: sort of family. I think it's awfully lucky we were 215 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: all born into the same family, Felix remarked, isn't it? 216 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 1: I've often thought so, And I've often thought what a 217 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: dreadful thing it would have been if grandfather and grandmother 218 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 1: King had never gotten married to each other. I don't 219 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,320 Speaker 1: suppose there would have been a single one of us 220 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,200 Speaker 1: children here at all, or if we were, we would 221 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: be part somebody else, and that would be almost as bad. 222 00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: When I think it all over, I can't feel too 223 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: thankful that grandfather and grandmother King happened to marry each other, 224 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:37,000 Speaker 1: when there were so many other people they might have married. 225 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:44,440 Speaker 1: Felix and I shivered. We felt suddenly that we had 226 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:50,919 Speaker 1: escaped a dreadful danger, the danger of having been born 227 00:21:51,320 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: somebody else. But it took the story Girl to make 228 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:01,040 Speaker 1: us realize just how dreadful it was, and what a 229 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,440 Speaker 1: terrible risk we had run years before we or our 230 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:13,399 Speaker 1: parents either had existed. Who lives over there, I asked, 231 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: pointing to a house across the fields. Oh, that belongs 232 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 1: to the awkward man. His name is Jasper Dale, but 233 00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: everybody calls him the awkward man, and they do say. 234 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:36,000 Speaker 1: He writes poetry. He calls his place Golden Milestone. I 235 00:22:36,080 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: know why, because I have read Longfellow's poems. He never 236 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: goes into society because he is so awkward. The girls 237 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,879 Speaker 1: laugh at him, and he doesn't like it. I know 238 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: a story about him, and I'll tell it to you 239 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 1: some time. And who lives in that other house, asked Felix, 240 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:03,000 Speaker 1: looking over the stirring valley, where a little gray roof 241 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:11,000 Speaker 1: was visible among the trees, Old peg Bowen. She's very queer. 242 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: She lives there with a lot of pet animals in winter, 243 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: and in summer she roams over the country and begs 244 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:26,640 Speaker 1: her meals. They say she is crazy. People have always 245 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: tried to frighten us children into good behavior by telling 246 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: us that peg Bowen would catch us if we didn't 247 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:38,439 Speaker 1: behave I'm not so frightened of her as I once was, 248 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,439 Speaker 1: but I don't think I would like to be caught 249 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:48,679 Speaker 1: by her. Sarah Ray is dreadfully scared of her. Peter 250 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: Craig says she is a witch, and that he bets 251 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,200 Speaker 1: she is at the bottom of it when the butter 252 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,760 Speaker 1: won't come. But I don't believe that, which is our 253 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 1: so so scarce nowadays, there may be some somewhere in 254 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: the world, but it's not likely there are any here 255 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: Right in Prince Edward Island. There used to be very 256 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: plenty long ago. I know some splendid witch stories. I'll 257 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 1: tell you someday. They'll just make your blood freeze in 258 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: your veins. We hadn't a doubt of it. If anybody 259 00:24:28,680 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: could freeze the blood in our veins, this girl with 260 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: the wonderful voice could. But it was a May morning, 261 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: and our young blood was running blithely in our veins. 262 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 1: We suggested a visit to the orchard would be more agreeable. 263 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: All right, I know stories about it too, she said, 264 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: as we walked across the yard, followed by Patty of 265 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:02,120 Speaker 1: the Waving Tale. Oh, aren't you glad it's spring. The 266 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,400 Speaker 1: beauty of winter is that it makes you appreciate spring. 267 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: The latch of the gate clicked under the story girl's hand, 268 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: and the next moment we were in the king Orchard.