John of the Woods

John of the Woods

The Project Gutenberg EBook of John of the Woods, by Abbie Farwell
Brown This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: John of the Woods
Author: Abbie Farwell Brown
Release Date: October 31, 2004 [EBook #13905]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN OF
THE WOODS ***

Produced by Al Haines

JOHN-OF-THE-WOODS
BY
ABBIE FARWELL BROWN

ILLUSTRATIONS BY
E. BOYD SMITH

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS CAMBRIDGE

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published October 1909

To J.D. and K.D.
Kindest of neighbors and best of friends
to all the world and its
Animal Kingdom

CONTENTS
I. THE TUMBLERS II. THE FALL III. THE RUNAWAY IV. THE
OX-CART V. THE HUNCHBACK VI. THE SILVER PIECE VIX.
THE WANDERER VIII. THE RESCUE IX. THE ANIMAL
KINGDOM X. THE HERMIT XI. THE PUPIL XII. THE BEAU XIII.
A FOREST RAMBLE XIV. THE WOLF-BROTHER XV. THE
GREEN STRANGER XVI. THE HUNT XVII. THE MESSENGER
XVIII. THE CARRIER PIGEON XIX. THE JOURNEY XX. THE
ARRIVAL XXI. THE PALACE XXII. THE PRINCE'S CHAMBER
XXIII. THE CURE XXIV. THE KING XXV. THE FETE XXVI. THE
TALISMAN CONCLUSION

ILLUSTRATIONS
THE THREE TUMBLERS GIGI RUNS AWAY HAVE YOU GOT
MY BOY? A QUAINT PAIR OF WANDERERS THE CIRCLE OF
ANIMALS WATCHED HIM JOHN TALKED WITH THEM YOU
SHALL NOT KILL MY FRIEND THE BEAR THE KING SENDS
FOR YOU A STRANGE COMPANY JOHN WAS PROTECTED BY
POWERFUL FRIENDS HE STROKED THE SOFT BALL OF FUR I
WISH I COULD DO IT MYSELF JOHN URGED THE CLUMSY
FELLOW TO DANCE TO ME, MY BROTHERS! THE KING AND
PRINCESS CAME TO VISIT HIM

JOHN OF THE WOODS
I

THE TUMBLERS
It was late of a beautiful afternoon in May. In the hedges outside the
village roses were blossoming, yellow and white. Overhead the larks
were singing their happiest songs, because the sky was so blue. But
nearer the village the birds were silent, marveling at the strange noises
which echoed up and down the narrow, crooked streets.
"Tom-tom; tom-tom; tom-tom"; the hollow thud of a little drum
sounded from the market-place. Boys and girls began to run thither,
crying to one another:--
"The Tumblers! The Tumblers have come. Hurry, oh, hurry!"
Three little brothers, Beppo, Giovanni, and Paolo, who had been
poking about the market at their mother's heels, pricked up their ears
and scurried eagerly after the other children.
Jostling one another good-naturedly, the crowd surged up to the
market-place, which stood upon a little hill. In the middle was a stone
fountain, whence the whole village was wont to draw all the water it
needed. In those long-ago days folk were more sparing in the use of
water than they are to-day, especially for washing. Perhaps we should
not be so clean, if we had to bring every bucket of water that we used
from the City Square!
"Tom-tom; tom-tom; tom-tom"; the little drum sounded louder and
louder as the crowd increased. Men and women craned their necks to
see who was beating it. The children squirmed their way through the
crowd.
On the highest step of the fountain stood a man dressed in red and
yellow, with little bells hung from every point of his clothing, which
tinkled with each movement he made. In his left hand he held a small
drum, from which hung streamers of red and green and yellow ribbon.
This drum he beat regularly with the palm of his skinny right hand. He
was a lean, dark man, with evil little red-rimmed eyes and a hump
between his shoulders.
"Ho! Men and women! Lads and lasses!" he cried in a shrill, cracked
voice of strange accent. "Hither, hither quickly, and make ready to give
your pennies. For the tumbling is about to begin,--the most wonderful
tumbling in the whole round world!"
Stretching out his arm, he pointed to the group below him. The crowd
pressed forward and stood on tiptoe to see better. Beppo and Giovanni

and Paolo wriggled through the forest of legs and skirts and came out
into the open space which had been left about the fountain. And then
they saw what the backs of the butcher and baker and
candlestick-maker had hidden from them.
From the back of a forlorn little donkey that was tethered behind the
fountain a roll of carpet had been taken and spread out on the ground.
Beside this stood the three tumblers. One of them was a thin, dark man,
small and