Short Stories for English Courses by Unknown
page 105 of 493 (21%)
page 105 of 493 (21%)
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"Winkie," said Miss Allardyce, "when you've rested a little, ride
back and tell them to send out something to carry me back in. It hurts fearfully." The child sat still for a little time, and Miss Allardyce closed her eyes; the pain was nearly making her faint. She was roused by Wee Willie Winkie tying up the reins on his pony's neck and setting it free with a vicious cut of his whip that made it whicker. The little animal headed towards the cantonments. "Oh, Winkie! What are you doing?" "Hush!" said Wee Willie Winkie. "Vere's a man coming--one of ve Bad Men. I must stay wiv you. My faver says a man must ALWAYS look after a girl. Jack will go home, and ven vey'll come and look for us. Vat's why I let him go." Not one man, but two or three, had appeared from behind the rocks of the hills, and the heart of Wee Willie Winkie sank within him, for just in this manner were the Goblins wont to steal out and vex Curdie's soul. Thus had they played in Curdie's garden (he had seen the picture), and thus had they frightened the Princess's nurse. He heard them talking to each other, and recognized with joy the bastard Pushto that he had picked up from one of his father's grooms lately dismissed. People who spoke that tongue could not be the Bad Men. They were only natives, after all. They came up to the boulders on which Miss Allardyce's horse had blundered. |
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