Laddie | Page 4

and then my heart turned right over; for I

never had been in our Big Woods alone, and neither mother nor father
wanted me to go. Passing Gypsies sometimes laid down the fence and
went there to camp. Father thought all the wolves and wildcats were
gone, he hadn't seen any in years, but every once in a while some one
said they had, and he was not quite sure yet. And that wasn't the
beginning of it. Paddy Ryan had come back from the war wrong in his
head. He wore his old army overcoat summer and winter, slept on the
ground, and ate whatever he could find. Once Laddie and Leon,
hunting squirrels to make broth for mother on one of her bad days, saw
him in our Big Woods and he was eating SNAKES. If I found Pat Ryan
eating a snake, it
would frighten me so I would stand still and let him eat me, if he
wanted to, and perhaps he wasn't too crazy to see how plump I was. I
seemed to see swarthy, dark faces, big, sleek cats dropping from limbs,
and Paddy Ryan's matted gray hair, the flying rags of the old blue coat,
and a snake in his hands. Laddie was slipping the letter into my apron
pocket. My knees threatened to let me down.
"Must I lift the leaves and hunt for her, or will she come to me?" I
wavered.
"That's the biggest secret of all," said Laddie. "Since the Princess
entered them, our woods are Enchanted, and there is no telling what
wonderful things may happen any minute. One of them is this:
whenever the Princess comes there, she grows in size until she is as big
as, say our Sally, and she fills all the place with glory, until you are so
blinded you scarcely can see her face."
"What is she like, Laddie?" I questioned, so filled with awe and interest,
that fear was forgotten.
"She is taller than Sally," said Laddie. "Her face is oval, and her cheeks
are bright. Her eyes are big moonlit pools of darkness, and silken curls
fall over her shoulders. One hair is strong enough for a lifeline that will
draw a drowning man ashore, or strangle an unhappy one. But you will
not see her. I'm purposely sending you early, so you can do what you
are told and come back to me before she even reaches the woods."

"What am I to do, Laddie?"
"You must put one hand in your apron pocket and take the letter in it,
and as long as you hold it tight, nothing in the world can hurt you. Go
out our lane to the Big Woods, climb the gate and walk straight back
the wagon road to the water. When you reach that, you must turn to
your right and go toward Hoods' until you come to the pawpaw thicket.
Go around that, look ahead, and you'll see the biggest beech tree you
ever saw. You know a beech, don't you?"
"Of course I do," I said indignantly. "Father taught me beech with the
other trees."
"Well then," said Laddie, "straight before you will be a purple beech,
and under it is the throne of the Princess, the Magic Carpet, and the
walls I made. Among the beech roots there is a stone hidden with moss.
Roll the stone back and there will be a piece of bark. Lift that, lay the
letter in the box you'll find, and scamper to me like flying. I'll be at the
barn with father."
"Is that all?"
"Not quite," said Laddie. "It's possible that the Fairy Queen may have
set the Princess spinning silk for the caterpillars to weave their little
houses with this winter; and if she has, she may have left a letter there
to tell me. If there is one, put it in your pocket, hold it close every step
of the way, and you'll be safe coming home as you were going. But you
mustn't let a soul see it; you must slip it into my pocket when I'm not
looking. If you let any one see, then the Magic will be spoiled, and the
Fairy won't come again."
"No one shall see," I promised.
"I knew you could be trusted," said Laddie, kissing and hugging me
hard. "Now go! If anything gets after you that such a big girl as you
really wouldn't be ashamed to be afraid of, climb on a fence and call.
I'll be listening, and I'll come flying. Now I must hurry. Father will
think it's going to take me the remainder of the day to find the bolts he

wants."
We went down the front walk between the rows of hollyhocks and
tasselled lady-slippers, out the gate, and