CHAPTER IV.
Suddenly the passageway came to an end, Laurie does not remember quitehow it happened, but there he was up in the dove-cote, high above thefarmyard, with the pigeons cooing and circling about him.
What a beautiful dove-cote it was, ever so much larger than one wouldhave supposed: indeed it was like a real house.
It did not seem at all strange for the cooing to sound more and morelike words, and presently Laurie found that the pigeons were invitinghim to enter. Inside how beautiful it all was! Velvet carpets lay on thefloor, with the most exquisite patterns traced on them; in each room thepattern was different, yet always changing, for they were made by thetiny feet of the pigeons as they moved about. Soft curtains hung at thedoors. They were wonderful feather curtains; instead of having to pushthem to one side, all that one had to do was to move towards them, andthey folded into wings. Exquisite music sounded in the rooms, that wasthe wind, and it sang of the countries and people it had seen in itstravels. It sang of the waving corn, the ships at sea, the flamesleaping in the fireplace, it crooned a lullaby it had heard a mothersinging to her baby--now the voice of the wind was soft and low, thatwas when it remembered the places it had been in, where there was peaceand happiness; now it was loud and harsh, for it had also been interrible storms, and wild places, ah! they were wonderful stories. Noone was idle in the dove-cote, some pigeons were kept busy writing thenews that the wind brought, others flew here and there, for they werethe messengers, and must carry the news over the farm.
One pigeon had a ring over his ankle: he was very important indeed,quite a personage in the dove-cote.
Some pigeons were kept busy writing the news that thewind brought]
"They are going to dance for you," he said to Laurie, and seven pigeonsstepped into the centre of the room. They began with a faint flutter oftheir wings, turning their heads from side to side, gradually growingswifter in their motion, until their brilliant colors blended andintermingled in a beautiful prismatic effect. It was like a wonderfulrainbow dance, only the colors changed as the pigeons moved about, andthey opened and closed their wings in such a way, that they seemed toripple and flow as water does over the stones.
Their cooing gradually sounded more and more like water gurgling, andLaurie listened and listened, until he found his head nodding--he wasalmost asleep--no, he was not asleep, he opened his eyes wide, there wasthe pigeon still, with the ring about his ankle, but the dancing pigeonswere no longer there; the blue sky shone between trunks of trees, and areal brook sparkled over the stones--somehow or other they were walkingthrough a wood, the same wood on the edge of the fields, that they haddriven past on their way to the farm: how quiet it was and howdeliciously soft the moss underfoot, while a gentle breeze swayed thetrees overhead.
_"Now we will stop at the squirrel house," said thePigeon._]
"Now we will stop at the squirrel's house," said the pigeon, as theystopped at an old tree. "Rap-tap-rap" with his beak on a knot-hole inthe trunk, and a fat squirrel opened the door. What a lot of chattering!he was inviting them to enter. "How delightful," thought Laurie as theystepped inside, "now I shall see what a squirrel's house is reallylike."
And indeed it was very different from what he had supposed an old treeto be like inside; instead, there was a real little staircase, carpetedwith green moss, winding up through the hollow trunk, there werelandings at the different branches, with tiny doors opening off them,and the branches themselves were all little rooms with knot-holes forwindows, across which green leaves were hung for curtains.
The walls were papered with the most beautiful paper in the world; inone room it was all blossoms with the most delicate odor; in another thewalls were hung with green leaves; in another room great red and yellowautumn leaves festooned the walls. "You see this is the inside out orrather the outside in of the tree," explained the squirrel; "this iswhere the blossoms and leaves are kept when not in use."
It was all a little confusing at first to Laurie, for the squirrelsseemed to be in such haste, but they were so friendly, and chattered sopleasantly to him that somehow or other he understood everything theywere saying, though they talked in squirrel language, and so by-and-byhe felt more at home, and sat down while they brought him somerefreshments.
Such delicious morsels, served in the most temptingmanner]
Such delicious morsels, served in the most tempting manner! Puree ofchestnuts, and hickory-nut cake--wonderful cherry cordial, made, thesquirrels explained to Laurie, out of melted sap of the wild cherrytree--exquisite walnuts baked in acorn cups. Oh! I can't tell you halfwhat there was, for Laurie did not know himself, but it was all verydelicious, and the squirrels too seemed to think it an importantoccasion, for there was a great deal of whisking of tails, and thesquirrel waiters sat up very stiffly with their little paws held up infront of them, as though they knew how much was expected of them andmeant to do their share. Every now and then Laurie would see a pair ofbright eyes peeping at him over the stair, then off would scurry a babysquirrel afraid of being caught, "for all the world," thought Laurie,"the way we do at home when we are forbidden to come down when mother isgiving a party, so watch instead from a landing on the stair whennurse's back is turned."
_The squirrel led the way down the winding stair._]
After the refreshments, there was more bowing and waving of bushy tailsand hand shaking or paw shaking, I do not know which--for it was time tobe off; Laurie thanked them very much and said he would like to comeagain, which was very true indeed, and he said in his most "grown upway" that he had had a delightful time, and the squirrels seemed pleasedand nodded again, and the same old squirrel, who must have been thedoor-keeper, for he kept jingling a great bunch of keys in his hands,now led the way down the winding stair again, until they reached whatmust have been the cellar part of the tree, where the squirrels kepttheir stores for the winter. It had grown so dark that their guide nowtook a lantern down from the wall and, fastening a glow worm inside tolight the way, showed Laurie great piles of nuts and acorns stacked inthe corners. After a while they came to a little door and, passingthrough it--the squirrel leading the way, after him the pigeon, andLaurie bringing up the rear--they found themselves in a long passage,smelling of earth and mould. "It surely must be underground," thoughtLaurie, "I wonder if the moles and mice have streets just as we do. Oh,dear! I do hope we don't meet that dreadful turkey-gobbler." Before hehad time to think much about it, they came to another little door, onthe other side of which was a stair that evidently led up into anothertree.
Here the squirrel with the lantern bade them good-bye, and disappeareddown the corridor. The pigeon led the way up the stair, at the top ofwhich was a rough wooden door. "We must leave a message here," said he,tapping on the door, and after waiting some time, Laurie thought heheard a gruff voice say, "To-who-to-who?" "Why doesn't he come and seeinstead of asking?" thought Laurie, but just then the door opened, andan old owl put out his head.
An old owl put out his head]
The owl]