Algernon Blackwood (29 page)

The train arrived, and with it came the box. They brought it up
themselves upon the little hand-cart—
le char
. It might have weighed
a ton and contained priceless jewels, the way they tugged and pushed,
and the care they lavished on it. Mother puffed behind, hoping there
would be something to fit Jimbo this time.

'Shall we rest a moment?' came at intervals on the hill, till at last
Monkey said, 'Sit on the top, Mummy, and we'll pull you too.' And
during the rests they examined the exterior, smelt it, tapped it,
tried to see between the cracks, and ventured endless and confused
conjectures as to its probable contents.

They dragged the hand-cart over the cobbles of the courtyard, and
heaved the box up the long stone staircase. It was planted at length
on the floor beside the bed of Mlle. Lemaire, that she might witness
the scene from her prison windows. Daddy had the greatest difficulty
in keeping order, for tempers grow short when excitement is too long
protracted. The furniture was moved about to make room. Orders flew
about like grape-shot. Everybody got in everybody else's way. But
finally the unwieldy packing-case was in position, and a silence fell
upon the company.

'My gum, we've put it upside down,' said Daddy, red in the face with
his exertions. It was the merest chance that there was no wisp of
straw yet in his beard.

'Then the clothes will all be inside out,' cried Monkey, 'and we shall
have to stand on our heads.'

'You silly,' Jane Anne rebuked her, yet half believing it was true,
while Jimbo, holding hammer and chisel ready, looked unutterable
contempt. 'Can't you be serious for a moment?' said his staring blue
eyes.

The giant chest was laboriously turned over, the two men straining
every muscle in the attempt. Then, after a moment's close inspection
again to make quite sure, Daddy spoke gravely. Goodness, how calm he
was!

'Jimbo, boy, pass me the hammer and the chisel, will you?'

In breathless silence the lid was slowly forced open and the
splintered pieces gingerly removed. Sheets of dirty brown paper and
bundles of odorous sacking came into view.

'Perhaps that's all there is,' suggested Jinny.

'Ugh! What a whiff!' said Monkey.

'Fold them up carefully and put them in a corner,' ordered Mother.
Jane Anne religiously obeyed. Oh dear, how slow she was about it!

Then everybody came up very close, heads bent over, hands began to
stretch and poke. You heard breathing—nothing more.

'Now, wait your turn,' commanded Mother in a dreadful voice, 'and let
your Father try on everything first.' And a roar of laughter made the
room echo while Daddy extracted wonder after wonder that were packed
in endless layers one upon another.

Perhaps what would have struck an observer most of all would have been
the strange seriousness against which the comedy was set. The laughter
was incessant, but it was a weighty matter for all that. The bed-
ridden woman, who was sole audience, understood that; the parents
understood it too. Every article of clothing that could be worn meant
a saving, and the economy of a franc was of real importance. The
struggles of
la famille anglaise
to clothe and feed and educate
themselves were no light affair. The eldest boy, now studying for the
consular service, absorbed a third of their entire income. The
sacrifices involved for his sake affected each one in countless ways.
And for two years now these magic boxes had supplied all his suits and
shirts and boots. The Scotch cousins luckily included a boy of his own
size who had extravagant taste in clothes. A box sometimes held as
many as four excellent suits. Daddy contented himself with one a year
—ordered ready-made from the place they called
Chasbakerinhighholborn.' Mother's clothes were 'wropp in mystery'
ever. No one ever discovered where they came from or how she made
them. She did. It seemed always the same black dress and velvet
blouse.

Gravity and laughter, therefore, mingled in Daddy's face as he drew
out one paper parcel after another, opened it, tried the article on
himself, and handed it next to be tried on similarly by every one in
turn.

And the first extraction from the magic box was a curious looking
thing that no one recognised. Daddy unfolded it and placed it solemnly
on his head. He longed for things for himself, but rarely found them.
He tried on everything, hoping it might 'just do,' but in the end
yielded it with pleasure to the others. He rarely got more than a pair
of gloves or a couple of neckties for himself. The coveted suits just
missed his size.

Grave as a judge he balanced the erection on his head. It made a
towering heap. Every one was puzzled. 'It's a motor cap,' ventured
some one at length in a moment of intuition.

'It's several!' cried Monkey. She snatched the bundle and handed it to
Mother. There were four motor caps, neatly packed together. Mother put
on each in turn. They were in shades of grey. They became her well.

'You look like a duchess,' said Daddy proudly. 'You'd better keep them
all.'

'I think perhaps they'll do,' she said, moving to the glass, 'if no
one else can wear them.' She flushed a little and looked self-
conscious.

'They want long pins,' suggested Jinny. 'They'll keep the rain off
too, like an umbrella.' She laughed and clapped her hands. Mother
pinned one on and left it there for the remainder of the afternoon.
The unpacking of the case continued.

The next discovery was gloves. The lid of the box looked like a
counter in a glove shop. There were gloves of leather and chamois,
gauntlets, driving-gloves, and gloves of suede, yellow, brown, and
grey. All had been used a little, but all were good. 'They'll wash,'
said Jane Anne. They were set aside in a little heap apart. No one
coveted them. It was not worth while. In the forests of Bourcelles
gloves were at a discount, and driving a pleasure yet unknown. Jinny,
however a little later put on a pair of ladies' suede that caught her
fancy, and wore them faithfully to the end of the performance, just to
keep her mother's motor cap in countenance.

The main contents of the box were as yet unbroached, however, and when
next an overcoat appeared, with velvet collar and smart, turned-up
cuffs, Daddy beamed like a boy and was into it before any one could
prevent. He went behind a screen. The coat obviously did not fit him,
but he tugged and pulled and wriggled his shoulders with an air of
'things that won't fit must be made to fit.'

'You'll bust the seams! You'll split the buttons! See what's in the
pockets!' cried several voices, while he shifted to and fro like a man
about to fight.

'It may stretch,' he said hopefully. 'I think I can use it. It's just
what I want.' He glanced up at his wife whose face, however, was
relentless.

'Maybe,' replied the practical mother, 'but it's more Edward's build,
perhaps.' He looked fearfully disappointed, but kept it on. Edward got
the best of every box. He went on with the unpacking, giving the coat
sly twitches from time to time, as he pulled out blouses, skirts,
belts, queer female garments, boots, soft felt hats—the green Homburg
he put on at once, as who should dare to take it from him—black and
brown Trilbys, shooting-caps, gaiters, flannel shirts, pyjamas, and
heaven knows what else besides.

The excitement was prodigious, and the floor looked like a bargain
sale. Everybody talked at once; there was no more pretence of keeping
order Mlle. Lemaire lay propped against her pillows, watching the
scene with feelings between tears and laughter. Each member of the
family tried on everything in turn, but yielded the treasures
instantly at a word from Mother—'That will do for so and so; this
will fit Monkey; Jimbo, you take this,' and so on.

The door into the adjoining bedroom was for ever opening and shutting,
as the children disappeared with armfuls and reappeared five minutes
later, marvellously apparelled. There was no attempt at sorting yet.
Blouses and flannel trousers lay upon the floor with boots and motor
veils. Every one had something, and the pile set aside for Edward grew
apace. Only Jimbo was disconsolate. He was too small for everything;
even the ladies' boots were too narrow and too pointed for his little
feet. From time to time he rummaged with the hammer and chisel (still
held
very
tightly) among the mass of paper at the bottom. But, as
usual, there was nothing but gaudy neckties that he could use. And
these he did not care about. He said no word, but stood there watching
the others and trying to laugh, only keeping the tears back with the
greatest difficulty.

From his position in the background Rogers took it all in. He moved up
and slipped a ten-franc piece into the boy's hand. 'Secretaries don't
wear clothes like this,' he whispered. 'We'll go into town to-morrow
and get the sort of thing you want.'

Jimbo looked up and stared. He stood on tip-toe to kiss him. 'Oh,
thank you so much,' he said, fearful lest the others should see; and
tucked the coin away into a pocket underneath his cotton blouse. A
moment later he came back from the corner where he had hid himself to
examine it. 'But, Cousin Henry,' he whispered, utterly astonished,
'it's gold.' He had thought the coin was a ten-centime piece such as
Daddy sometimes gave him. He could not believe it. He had never seen
gold before. He ran up and told his parents. His sisters were too
excited to be told just then. After that he vanished into the passage
without being noticed, and when he returned five minutes later his
eyes were suspiciously red. But no one heard him say a word about
getting nothing out of the box. He stood aside, with a superior manner
and looked quietly on. 'It's very nice for the girls,' his expression
said. His interest in the box had grown decidedly less. He could buy
an entire shop for himself now.

'Mother, Daddy, everybody,' cried an excited voice, 'will you look at
me a minute, please! It all fits me perfectly,' and Jinny emerged from
the bedroom door. She had been trying on. A rough brown dress of
Harris tweed became her well; she wore a motor veil about her head,
and another was tied round her neck; a white silk blouse, at least one
size too large for her, bulged voluminously from beneath the neat
tweed jacket. She wore her suede gloves still. 'And there's an outside
pocket in the skirt, you see.' She pulled it up and showed a very
pointed pair of brown boots; they were much too long; they looked
ridiculous after her square village boots. 'I can waggle my toes in
them,' she explained, strutting to and fro to be admired. 'I'm a
fashionable monster now!'

But she only held the centre of the stage a minute, for Monkey entered
at her heels, bursting with delight in a long green macintosh thrown
over another tweed skirt that hid her feet and even trailed behind. A
pair of yellow spats were visible sometimes that spread fan-shaped
over her boots and climbed half-way up the fat legs.

'It all fits me exaccurately,' was her opinion. The sisters went arm
in arm about the room, dancing and laughing.

'We're busy blackmailers,' cried Jinny, using her latest acquisition
which she practised on all possible occasions. 'We're in Piccadilly,
going to see the Queen for tea.'

They tripped over Monkey's train and one of the spats came off in the
struggle for recovery. Daddy, in his Homburg hat, looked round and
told them sternly to make less noise. Behind a screen he was getting
surreptitiously into a suit that Mother had put aside for Edward. He
tried on several in this way, hopeful to the last.

'I think this will fit me all right,' he said presently, emerging with
a grave expression on his puckered face. He seemed uncertain about it.
He was solemn as a judge. 'You could alter the buttons here and there,
you know,' and he looked anxiously at his wife. The coat ran up
behind, the waistcoat creased badly owing to the strain, and the
trousers were as tight as those of a cavalry officer. Anywhere, and
any moment, he might burst out into unexpected revelation. 'A little
alteration,' he suggested hopefully, 'and it would be all right—don't
you think?' And then he added 'perhaps.'

He turned and showed himself. Even the roar of laughter that greeted
his appearance did not quite convince him. He looked like a fat,
impoverished bookmaker.

'I think it will fit Edward better,' said Mother again without pity,
for she did not like to see her husband look foolish before the
children. He disappeared behind the screen, but repeated the
performance with two other suits. 'This striped one seems a little
looser,' he said; or, 'If you'd let out the trousers at the bottom, I
think they would do.' But in the end all he got from the box was two
pairs of pink silk pyjamas, the Homburg hat, several pairs of gloves,
spats, and gaiters, and half a dozen neckties that no one else would
wear. He made his heap carefully in the corner of the room, and later,
when the mess was all cleared up and everybody went off with their
respective treasures, he entirely forgot them in his pleasure and
admiration of the others. He left them lying in the corner. Riquette
slept on them that night, and next morning Jimbo brought them over for
him to the carpenter's house. And Edward later magnanimously yielded
up two flannel shirts because he had so many left over from the
previous box. Also a pair of pumps.

'I've not done so badly after all,' was his final matured opinion.
'Poor mother! She got nothing but motor caps.' Jimbo, however, had
made a final discovery of value for himself—of some value, at least.
When the empty case was overturned as a last hope, he rummaged among
the paper with his hammer and chisel, and found four pairs of golf
stockings! The legs fitted him admirably, but the feet were much too
big. There was some discussion as to whether they had belonged to a
very thin-legged boy with big feet or to a girl who had no calves.
Luckily, the former was decided upon, for otherwise they would have
given no pleasure to Jimbo. Even as it was, he adopted them chiefly
because it pleased his parents. Mother cut off the feet and knitted
new ones a little smaller. But there was no mystery about those
stockings. No special joy went with them. He had watched Mother
knitting too often for that; she could make stockings half asleep.