登陆注册
15318100000016

第16章 MOON MAGIC(3)

"Yes, just like a thumb-nail; and so they go on working and working at it until it gets as big and round and bright as it is to-night."Thus we walked together through a fairy world, the Imp and I, while above the murmur of the waters, above the sighing of the trees, came the soft, tremulous melody of the violins.

"I do wish I had lived when there were knights like Ivanhoe," burst out the Imp suddenly; "it must have been fine to knock a man off his horse with your lance.""Always supposing he didn't knock you off first, Imp." "Oh! I should have been the sort of knight that nobody could knock off, you know.An' I'd have wandered about on my faithful charger, fighting all sorts of caddish barons, and caitiffs, an' slaying giants; an' I'd have rescued lovely ladies from castles grim - though I wouldn't have put myarm round them, of course!""Perish the thought, my Imp!""Uncle Dick!" he said, insinuatingly, "I do wish you'd be the Black Knight, an' let me be Ivanhoe.""But there are no caitiffs and things left for us to fight, Imp, and no lovely ladies to rescue from castles grim, alas!"Now we had been walking on, drawn almost imperceptibly by the magic thread of the melody, which had led us, by devious paths, to a low stone wall, beyond which we could see the gleam of lighted windows and the twinkle of fairy-lamps among the trees. And over there, amid the music and laughter, was Lisbeth in all the glory of her beauty, happy, of course, and light-hearted; and here, beneath the moon, was I.

"We could pretend this was a castle grim, you know, Uncle Dick, full of dungeons an' turrets, an' that we were going to rescue Auntie Lisbeth.""Imp," I said, "that's really a great idea.""I wish I'd brought my trusty sword," he sighed, searching about for something to supply its place; "I left it under my pillow, you know."Very soon, however, he had procured two sticks, somewhat thin and wobbly, yet which, by the magic of imagination, became transformed into formidable, two-edged swords, with one of which he armed me, the other he flourished above his head.

"Forward, gallant knights!" he cried; "the breach! the breach! On! on! St. George, for Merrie England!" With the words he clambered upon the wall and disappeared upon the other side.

For a moment I hesitated, and then, inspired by the music and the thought of Lisbeth, I followed suit. It was all very mad, of course, but who cared for sanity on such a night - certainly not I.

"Careful now, Imp!" I cautioned; "if any one should see us they'll take us for thieves, or lunatics, beyond a doubt."We found ourselves in an enclosed garden with a walk which led between rows of fruit trees. Following this, it brought us out upon a broad stretch of lawn, with here and there a great tree, and beyond, the gleaming windows of the house. Filled with the spirit of adventure, we approached, keeping in the shadow as much as possible, until we could see figures that strolled to and fro upon the terrace or promenaded the walks below.

The excitement of dodging our way among so many people was intense; time and again we were only saved from detection by more than one wandering couple, owing to the fact that all their attention was centred in themselves. For instance, we were skirmishing round a clump of laurels, to gain the shadow of the terrace, when we almost ran into the arms of a pair; but they didn't see us for the very good reason that she was staring at the moon, and he at her.

"So sweet of you, Archibald!" she was saying.

"What did she call him 'bald for, Uncle Dick?" inquired the Imp in a loud stage-whisper, as I dragged him down behind the laurels. 'He's not a bit bald, you know! An' I say, Uncle Dick, did you see his arm, it was round - ""Yes - yes!" I nodded.

"Just like Peter's, you know." "Yes - yes, I saw.""I wonder why she called him - "

"Hush!" I broke in, "his name is Archibald, I suppose." "Well, I hope when I grow up nobody will ever call me - ""Hush!" I said again, "not a word - there's your Auntie Lisbeth! She was, indeed, standing upon the terrace, within a yard of our hiding-place, and beside her was Mr. Selwyn.

"Uncle Dick," whispered the irrepressible Imp, "do you think if we watch long enough that Mr. Selwyn will put his arm round - ""Shut up!" I whispered savagely. Lisbeth was clad in a long, trailing gown of dove-coloured silk - one of those close-fitting garments that make the uninitiated, such as myself, wonder how they are ever got on. Also, she wore a shawl, which I was sorry for, because I have always been an admirer of beautiful things, and Lisbeth's neck and shoulders are glorious. Mr. Selwyn stood beside her with a plate of ice cream in his hand, which he handed to her, and they sat down. As I watched her and noticed her weary, bored air, and how wistfully she gazed up at the silver disc of the moon, I experienced a feeling of decided satisfaction.

"Yes," said Lisbeth, toying absently with the ice cream, "he painted Dorothy's face with stripes of red and green enamel, and goodness only knows how we can ever get it all off!"Mr. Selwyn was duly shocked and murmured something about 'the efficacy of turpentine' in such an emergency.

"Of course, I had to punish him," continued Lisbeth, "so I sent him to bed immediately after tea, and never went to say good-night, or tuck him up as I usually do, and it has been worrying me all the evening."Mr. Selwyn was sure that he was all right, and positively certain that at this moment he was wrapped in balmy slumber. Despite my warning grasp, the Imp chuckled, but we were saved by the band striking up. Mr. Selwyn rose, giving his arm to Lisbeth, and they re-entered the ball-room. One by one the other couples followed suit until the long terrace wasdeserted.Now, upon Lisbeth's deserted chair, showing wonderfully pink in the soft glow of the Chinese lanterns, was the ice cream.

同类推荐
  • 郡楼夜宴留客

    郡楼夜宴留客

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 正一威仪经

    正一威仪经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 华严经决疑论

    华严经决疑论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 金有陀罗尼经

    金有陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 筍谱

    筍谱

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 都市之英雄冢

    都市之英雄冢

    都说温柔乡是英雄冢,龙飞原来不信,真英雄岂会被娘们所拖累?女人是衣服,兄弟如手足,出来混的时候,龙飞就告诉自己,义气最重要。可是一个真正的英雄真的能够抗拒感情的袭击吗?就算他真的能在万花丛中过,可是又能否可以保证片叶不沾身呢?滴水石穿绕指柔。龙飞能否在美色中依旧坚持自我,背负着血与火,独狼般前行?
  • 君霸天上

    君霸天上

    阴阳互补,天地相对。有天下就必然有天上。君皓轩前世没有称霸天上,重生后看君皓轩如何从天下冲入天上,称霸三重天……
  • 僵尸夜行

    僵尸夜行

    僵尸,集天地怨气秽气而生,不老、不死、不灭,被天地人三界摒弃在众生六道之外,浪荡无依、流离失所,在人世间以怨为力、以血为食,用众生鲜血宣泄无尽的孤寂。吸血鬼为何变得如此丑陋?狐狸精为何会变成男人?女神为何对张子轩如此在意?......张子轩本是一个人见人爱花见花开来着的高中生,至少是他这样认为的,无意间成为了一个僵尸。从此张子轩的人生彻底的改变了。各种怀有不同目的的人,在张子轩的身边悉数登场,张子轩是化身为魔,还是保持那颗本心,完全在他一念之间。
  • 花公主驾到:寻找我的另一半

    花公主驾到:寻找我的另一半

    一颗美丽的花种为何会变成一个女婴?为什么原本幸福美满的生活就这样被打破?面对突如其来的悲剧,她又会如何选择?意外出现的神秘少年,到底有何目的?一不小心,她跌入了爱情的漩涡,原本以为就这样甜蜜的度过一生,想不到一个阴谋在悄悄发芽,让她措手不及。一次一次伤害着他,一次一次让自己心痛,我们真的不能在一起了吗?
  • 至尊九霄

    至尊九霄

    南兽大陆,万妖争首西风大陆,女子掌控,大陆之主北冥大陆,武学林立,乾坤百转神秘圣域,一殿二宫三世家,统领万物无冕之皇噬天,他日若遂凌云志,吾必踏破万山河作为噬天后人,从东荒而起,位于人族最低,手持九霄雷塔,我却叫嚣:我要这天因我而颤,我要这地随我而斗。我要横扫八荒十地,主宰这万世千秋。。我要自己做到左手掌控世间万妖,右手主宰人族千秋。我欲凌霄,凌云九霄。。。看我如何一步步走向巅峰,至尊九霄,伴你而行心碎首本小说,还望各位书友多多支持,求收藏,求推荐。
  • 飘零雁

    飘零雁

    人生,若只如初见。点点光芒悬挂在黑夜,有人说那里住着每个人心中的孤岛,也有人说凝重的天空其实不过是一片将人困住的围城,使繁星彼此仰望,不能靠近,渐渐变得视而不见,却又无法相互逃离。而两个人的世界,就像飞蛾与焰火,越过了天际,只为了靠近你,沉迷在火光的气氛中,又被热浪所包围,放肆了幻觉,陷入海天交际的尽头……或许飞蛾注定牺牲,愿望才显得更为耀眼。奋不顾身的爱情除了让人心动,也让人心痛,只是总要在生命的青春燃烧殆尽之后,空中破碎的痕迹才会让命运深刻地铭记。爱情,究竟是什么?一千个人心中有一千个哈姆雷特。百转千回,在经历友谊、挚爱、欲望、背叛后,一切回归原点。发现我们要的,其实很简单……
  • 隐身术

    隐身术

    无论是谁,总有一天会有某个人闯进你的世界,来到你的身边,到时候,不管对方怎样,请记住,且行且珍惜。
  • 翻墙逃逃逃:萌物小王妃

    翻墙逃逃逃:萌物小王妃

    身为炮灰王妃桃花泛滥。太子见她一次扑一次,吓得她边跑边喊:“太子爷,我是有夫之妇,求放过!”某皇子更是简单粗暴,逼婚无果,竟一亲二摸三推倒,将她办实。事后她风中凌乱了:“你特么不是阉人吗?!”【小剧场】“皇上不好了,韩姑娘嫌后宫沉闷无趣,拟定了一套圈养男宠计划!”宫女匆匆来报。升官的皇帝扶额长叹,索性将自己妆扮成小白脸,打包送至某女的寝宫……【1V1,男女主身心干净】
  • 巫女嫁到:祭司大人我错了

    巫女嫁到:祭司大人我错了

    妖界衰微,妖王好容易从异界找来巫女,本以为就这样振兴妖界,不料她失去了记忆不说,更不愿按照规矩嫁给大祭司,哎,只有大祭司自己明里暗里自己“取悦”媳妇咯!只是,巫女看上去好像是很怕大祭司啊……反观大祭司,好友春衫挡道为了看好戏,还有个身份不明的三白和他搅和,更有个死了都阴魂不散的灰骨,不好,大祭司好像脸一天比一天拉得长了……闹别扭,族内斗,还有毁灭世界,这里倒是一天也不曾安静过。哎,这两人之间可如何是好,这妖界可又怎么办哟!
  • 重生大巫在都市

    重生大巫在都市

    大学毕业,曹小金的生活跌落谷底,一场自杀引来致命阴谋。在梦寐以求的新生活面前,他被人一枪爆头!难道,死不瞑目?——————幸得古巫搭救,令他借尸还魂,杀破狼格局独聚一身。苦逼屌丝,绝地逆袭!!!终得,傲视天下!(QQ群228229707,欢迎各路英豪带我装掰带我飞~)