Page:The Story of Opal.djvu/179

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ask him what helps I could be, he told me to run away from there—he wanted to talk.

I so did. I got Thomas Chatterton Jupiter Zeus, and we went to the woods. Brave Horatius did come a-following after. And Louis II, le Grand Condé, did ride in the sleeve of my warm red dress. As we did go along, the leaves of salal did make little rustles. They were little askings. They had wants to know what day this was. I made stops along the way to tell them it was the going-away day of Gentile Bellini in 1507 and Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1792 and John Keats in 1821 and the borning day of George Frederick Handel in 1685. I have thinks they and the tall fir trees were glad to know.

Brave Horatius barked a bark and we went on. He looked a look back to see if we was coming. Thomas Chatterton Jupiter Zeus did cuddle up more close in my arms. We saw six birds and I did sing to Brave Horatius the bird song of grandpère of roitelet and ortolan and bruant and ctourneau

and rossignol and tourterelle and

durbec and orfraie

and roussette and loriot
and nonnette and

sarcelle and draine

and épeiche and cygne
and hirondelle and

aigle and ramier

and tarin and rousserolle
and émerillon

and sittelle. Brave Horatius and William Shakespeare do have likes for that song. Sometimes I bo sing it to them four times a day.

We all did go on until we were come near to where were two men of the mill by the far woods.