xt7xwd3pwd2w https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7xwd3pwd2w/data/mets.xml Butterworth, Hezekiah, 1839-1905. 1901  books b92-186-30607738 English T.Y. Crowell, : New York : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Little Sky-High, or, The surprising doings of Washee-Washee-Wang  / Hezekiah Butterworth. text Little Sky-High, or, The surprising doings of Washee-Washee-Wang  / Hezekiah Butterworth. 1901 2002 true xt7xwd3pwd2w section xt7xwd3pwd2w 
LITTLE

SKY HIGH



H EZ EKI AH
B UT TB 1WORTH

 










       I"Zine to twelve"
               5erics

LITTLE DICK'S SON.
  Kate Gannett V.elIs
MARCIA AND THE MAJOR,
     J. L. Harbour.
THE CHILDREN OF THE VALLEY.
     Harriet Prescott Spofford.
HOW DEXTER PAID HIS WAY.
      Kae Upson Clark.
THE FLATIRON AND THE RED CLOAK.
          Abby Morton Diaz.
IN THE POVERTY YEAR.
    Marian Douglas.
LITTLE SKY-HIGH.
Hezekiah Butterworth.
THE LITTtLE CAVE-DWELLERS.
       Ella Farman Pratt.


 T2omas P2. Irowell  Co.
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LITTLE SKY-HIGH




   OR THE SUlRPRISIzG DOINGS

   OF 7ASHEE - W[SHEE- WA-NG






                BY

  HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH



AUTHOI (F O  IN THE DAYS OF JEFFERSON,' "THE.. BORDENTOVWN
STORY-rELL IRS,  1 Li-ILE ARTHUR'S HISTORV OF RoME,"
       'TmE SCHOOL IiOutsE C)N THE COLUNIB[A "














           NEW YORK:
   THOMAS Y. CROWELL  CO.
           PUBLISHERS

 



































        COPYRPIGHT, 1MI1

    BY T. Y. CROWELL.  Co.






























Y-YPOGRAPHEY BY C. .J. PETERS  SON.
        BOSTON, U. S. A.

 













                  -NOTE.


  THE story of Sky-High is partly founded
on a true incident of a young Chinese noble-
man's education, and is written to illustrate
the happy relations that might exist between
the children of different countries, if each child
treated all other good children like iw angs."
28 WXORCESTER STREET, BOSTON.
  March 22, 1901.

 This page in the original text is blank.


 

















CONTENTS.



BELOW STAIRS .



BEFORE T1lE AMANDIARIN



II.

..........  . . .  . ........ 1,3



III.



Lrcr's Cur, OF TEA .



                      IN-.

HOW Siv-IIoGii CALLED THE GI) VERNOR

                      V.



Sir- -HrGIi'S WONDEl-TALEl:

                      VI.

TIlE  MANI DANPXRIN l PLATE  .

                     A VII.

SiKY-I11GH'S KITE



.:31 I



31)



                     VIII.

A WAN .
                       5



44



I.



PAC- F.



20



26d

 









6



Lucy's JAl 4,KA STORY . .



                      X.

SKY-HIlm EASTER SUNDAY .



..... . . .     51



                      xi.

SKy-H'1ai;'1 FIREWORKS  .



. . . . . . 55



                     xIi.

A CHINESE SANTA CLAUS .



.... . .  . 62



                     xIII.

A LEGE'JD oF TEA   .



.. . . 68



                     XIV.

MRS. VAN I3TJREN'S CHRISTMrAS TALE .



........... 70



                     XV.

IN THE Hot SE-BOY-S CARE  . .

                     NX NI.

IN THE HIT] LE WANGs LAND  .



76



82



CONTENTS.


    Ix.



PAGE



...........  . . . .. 48


 








      LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



                      I.

               BELOW STAIRS.

  THE children came home from school-
Charles and Lucy.
  ", I have a surprise for you in the kitchen,"
said their mother, iMrs. Van Buren. "o No, take
off your things first, then you may go down and
see. Now don't laugh - a laugh that hurts
any one's feelings is so unkind  tip-toe too
No, Charlie, one at a time; let Lucy go first."
  Lucy tip-toed with eyes full of wonder to the
dark banister-stairs that led down to the quarters
below. Her light feet were as still as a little
mouse's in a cheese closet. Presently she came
back with dancing eyes.
  " Oh, mother I where did you get him  His
eyes are like two almonds, and his braided hair
dangles away dowvn almost to the floor, and there
are black silk tassels on the end of it, and kitty
is playing with them ; and when Norah caught
my eye she lvent over double to laugh, but he
                      7

 


LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



kept right on shelling peas. Charlie, come and
see, le,- me go with Charlie, mother"
  Charlie followed Lucy, tip-toeing to the foot
of the banister, where a platform-stair com-
manded a view of the kitchen.
  It was a very nice kitchen, with gas, hot
water and cold, ranges and gas-stoves, and two
great cupboards with glass doors through which
all sorts of beautiful serving-dishes shone.
Green ivies filled the Avindow-cases, and gera-
niums lined the window-sills. A fine old parrot
fromn the Andes inhabited a large cage with an
open door, hanging   over the main window,
where the wire netting let in the air from the
apple boughs.
  Or! reaching the platform-stair, Charlie was as
astonished as Lucv could wish.
  There sat a little Chinese boy, as it seemed,
although at second glance he looked rather old
for a boy.  He wore blue clothes and was shell-
ing peas. His glossy black " pigtail" reached
down to the floor, and the kitten was trying to
raise the end of it in her pretty white paws.
As Lalcy had said, heavy black silk cords we e
braided in with the hair, with handsome tassels.
  The parrot had come out of her cage, and
was eying the boy and the kitten, plainly
hcuping  for mischief.  Suddenly  she caughlt
Charlie's eye, and with a flap of her wings she
creed out to him.
  "4 Ile's a quare one ! Now, isn't he "
  The bird had heard Irish Nora say this a



8

 


BELOW STAIRS.



number of times during the day and had learned
the words. Charlie could not help laughing out
in response.  With this encouragement Polly
came down towards the door of the cage, and
thrust her green and yellow head out into the
roomn.  - Now, isn't he, sure" cried she, in
Nora's own voice.
  Nora. was sole ruler of this cheerful realm
below stairs; the only other inhabitants of the
kitchen were the parrot and the kitten, and now
this Chinese boy. Nora's special wN-ork-room was
a great pantry wvith a latticed -window.  Near-by
a wide door led out into at little garden of apple,
pear, aiid cherry trees; the grarden had a grape-
arbor too, which ran from the door to a roomy
cabin. Here was every convenience for wash-
ing and ironinog
  Nora was a portly woman, witlh a round face,
laire forelhead, and a little nose which seemied
to be always laughinigii(.  She was a merry soul;
and shte used to tell "1 the children," as Charles
and  Lucy were called, '" Liliptitian. stories,"
tales of the Fairy Schoolmiaster of Irish lore.
  The Chinese )oy cdid not look up to Polly as
she gazed and exclaimned at liiiii, but shelled his
peas.
  Presently, however, the prettv kitten w-il rled
the industrious boy's pictail around in a circle
until it pulled.  Then he cast his almtiondc ev-es
at lier, and addressed her in a tone lilke the
clatter of rolling rocks.
  " Ok-oka-ok-a-a "



9

 



LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



  The kitten flew to the other side of the room,
and NDra appeared from the pantry. When she
saw the two children on the stairs, she put her
hands on her sides and laughed with her nose.
1 We've, a quare one here, now, haven't we"
said she.
  Polly stretched her lovely head out into the
room fromr the cage, and flapped her wings, and
swung toc and fro, and the kitten returned,
whereupon the boy drew up his pigtail and tied
it aroundl his neck like a necktie.
  " See, children," said Nora, pointing, "what
your mother has brought home ! She says we
must all. be good to him, and it's never hard I
would be to any living crater. He came down
from ithe sun, he says. What do you think his
name is  And you could never guess I   It's
Sky-High, which is to say, come-down-fromn-the-
sun. A ad a man in a coach it was that brought
him. Sire, I never came here in a coach, but
on mv two square feet; he came from the con-
sul's office - Misther Bradley's - and a ship it
was that brought him there. Ah, but he's a
qua-e kitchen-boy!
  ", but your mother, all with a heart as warm
as pudding, she's going to educate him  and if
he does well, she's going to promote him up
aloft, to take care of all the foine rooms, and
furniture anrd things, and to wait upon the table,
and tend the door for aught I know. She made
me promise I would be remarkable good to him
- but it don't do no harm for me to say that he's

 


BELOWIT STAIRS.



a quare one I he can't understand it - he speaks
the language of the sun, all like the cracking
of nuts, or the rattling of a loose thunder-storm
over the shingles."
  " Sky-High  " ventured little Lucy mischiev-
ouslv.
  The Chinese boy looked up, with a quick
blink of his eyes.
  "-At your service, madam," said he in very
good English.
  Nora lifted her great arms.
  "And he does speak English   Who knows
but lie understood all I said, and what the
parrot said too. Poll, you go into your cage
'At your service, miiadai  ' And did you hear
it, Lucy  No errand-boy ever spoke in the
loikes o' that before ! I'd think h'd been brought
up among the quality. It maybe -he's a Fairy
Shoemaker, spaking the queen's court-languaoe,
and no errand-boy at all!
  A bell sounded up-stairs, and the two children
ran back.
  " Oh, mother, never was there a boy like
that! " said Charlie.
  "Well," said Mrs. Van Buren, ", you shall tell
your father how you found little Sky-High -it
will be a pretty after-supper story. I want you
to think kindly of hii, for if lie does well lie
is to stay with us a year."
  The children found their father in the dining-
rooln; and as they kissed him they both cried,
"Oh, oh!:



11

 


12          LITTLE SKY-HIGH.

  "XVhat is it nown  asked Mr. Van Buren.
  What has happened to-day 
  ,,Wait until after sup1per," said Mrs. Van
d)uren: ", then thev shall tell vou of a curious
event in the kitchen.  There really is some-
thing to tell,' she added, smiling.


 


BEFORE THE MANDARIN!



                     II.

          BEFORE THE MANDARIN!

  As Mr. Van Buren was a prudent, wise, and
good-natured man, he left all the affairs of
housekeeping to his wife. He had so seldom
been -"below stairs " that he never had even
nade the acquaintance of Polly, the lively bird
of the kitchen. The kitten sometimes came up
to visit him; on wvhich occasions she simply
purred, and sank down to rest on his knee.
  After supper was over, Mr. Van Buren caught
Lucy up.
  "And now what amusing thing is it that my
little girl has to tell me - something new that
Nora has told you of the Fairy Shoemaker"
  "There's really a wonderful thing down in
the kitchen, father," said Lucy; " wonderfuller
than anything in the Fairy Shoemaker tales."
   "And where did it come from  "
   "Down from the sun, father, and Nora says
it came in a coach! '
  Mr. Van Buren turned to his wife.
  ,,It came from the Consul's," she said -
"from Consul Bradley's."
  " Has Consul Bradley been here " he asked,



13

 


LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



thinking some Chinese curio had been shipped
ovcr. Consul B1radley was a Chinese consular
agent, a man of considerable wealth, with a
laige knowledge of the world, and a friend of
the Van Buren family.
   " No," said Mrs. Van Buren, " but his coach-
man has brought me a kitchen-boy."
  "; Well, that is rather wonderful!  Is that
what vou have down-stairs, Lucy "
  " That doesn't half tell it, father," cried
Charlie.  " Hle's a little Chineseman! "
  ";I was in the Consul's office this morning,"
went on Mrs. Van Buren, smiling at her hus-
band's astonishment; " and the Consul said to
me. 'Wouldn't you like to have a neat, trim,
tidy, honest, faithful, tender-hearted, polite boy
to learn general work' I said to the Consul,
' Yes, that is the person that I have been need-
ing for years.' He said, ' Would you have any
prejudice against a little Chinese servant, if he
were tLusty, after the general principles I have
described ' I said to him, 'None whatever.'
He continued: 'A Chinese lad from Manchuria
has been sent to nme by a friend in the hong,
and I am asked to find him a place to learn
Anierie1in home-making ideas in one of the best
families. Your family is that place-shall I
send hi 1i ' So he came in the Consul's coach,
as Lucl- said, and with him an immense trunk
covered with Chinese brush-marks. He seems to
be a little gentleman: and when I asked him his
name lie said, 'The Consul told me to tell you



14

 


BEFORE THE MfANDARIN!



to call me Sky-High' He doesn't speak except
to make replies, but these are in very good
English."
  "May I give my opinion " asked little Lucy.
  "Well, Lucy," said her mother, smiling, " what
is your opinion "
  ", He looks like an emperor's son, or a manda-
rin," said Lucy.
  " And what put such a thought into your
head " asked her mother.
  "; The pictures on my Chinese fans," said
Lucy promptly.
    Well," said Mrs. Van Buren, "if he does
well, you shall treat him exactly as though he
were the son of an emperor or a wang -he
says that kings are called wangs in his land."
   "Then he would be a little wang," said Lucy.
"I will make believe he is a little wang while
he stays."
  So Sky-High became a little wang to Lucy;
and a wonderful little wang he promised to be.
  At Mr. Van Buren's wish, little Sky-High
was. sent for. The Chinese boy asked Charlie,
who went down for him, that he might have
time to change his dress so that he might suit-
ably appear before "1 the mandarin in the parlor."
(A "1 mandarin " in China is a kind of mayor or
magistrate of rank more or less exalted.)
  Charlie came back with the kitchen-boy's
message. " He says that he wants a little time
to change his clothes so that he may suitably
appear before the mandarin in the parlor."



15

 


LITTLE SKY-IHIGH.



  ; The mandarin in the parlor " exclaimed
Mr Vaia Buren, in a burst of laughter. "My
fatijer used to speak of mandarins -he traded
ginseng for silks and teas at Canton in the days
of the hongs - the open market or trading-
places. That was a generation ago. There are
no longer any store-houses for ginseng on the
wharves of Boston. Yet my father made all his
money in this way. ' The mandarin in the
parlor.' Sky-High has a proper respect for
superiors; I like the boy for that."
  By and by the sound of soft feet were heard
at the folding-doors.
  " Come in, Sky-High," sai(l Ars.Van Buren.
  The little kitchen-boy appeared, and all eyes
lighted up in wonder. lie wore a silk tunic
fringed with what looked like gold. His stock-
ings vwere white, and his shoes were spangled
with silver. The bread sleeves of his tunic
were richly embroidered-he seemed to wing
himself in. A beautiful fan was in his hand,
which he very slowly waved to and fro, as if
following some custom. Mrs. Van Buren won-
dered if servants in China came fanning them-
selv-es wxhen summoned by their master. Sky-
High bowed and bowed and bowed again, then
moved with a gliding motion in front of Mr.
Van Buren's chair, still bowing and bowing, and
there he remained in an attentive bent atti-
tude. The kitten leaped up from Mr. Van
Buren's knee, then jumped down, plainly with
an intention to play with the tempting pig-



16

 


BEFORE THE MANDARIN.  



tail - but Lucy sprang and captured the snowy
little creature.
   "' So you are Sky-High  " said Mr. Van
 Buren. " Well, a right neat and smart-looking
 boy you are ! "
   11 The Mandarin of Milton! " said the glitter-
inig little fellow, bending. "; My ancestors have
heard of the mandarins of Boston and Milton,
even in the days of Hoqua."
   "- Hoqua" Mr. Van Buren looked at the
boy with interest, ", You know of Hoqua"
   " Who is Hoqua " asked Mrs. Van Buren.
   1Ir. Van Buren turned to her. " I will tell
you later."
  " Hoqua, madam," said Sky-High, bowing to
his mistress, " was the great merchant mandarin
of Canton in the time of the opening of that
port to all countries."
  How did a Chinese servant know anything of
Hoqua  This was the question that puzzled
Mr. Van Buren. "1 Sky-High, how many people
have you in your country " he asked.
  "It is said four hundred million."
  "We have only seventy millions here, Sky-
High."
  "I have been told," said Sky-High.
  "And who is ruler over all your people"
asked Mr. Van Buren.
  "; The Celestial Emperor, the Son of Heaven,
the Brother of the Sun and Moon, the Dweller
in Rooms of Gold, the Light of Life, the Father
of the Nations."



17

 


LITTLE SKY-HIGHG.



   "1You fill me with wonder, Sky-High. We
have a plain President. Do your people die to
make roow for more millions  "
   "o My people value not to die, 0 Mandarin!"
said the boy.
   "4 SuIh throngs of people - they all have
 souls, think you  "
   A dark flush came upon little Sky-High's
forehead. He opened his narrow black eyes
upon tlis master. "1 Souls  They have souls,
0 Ma,.ndarin ! Souls are all my people have for
long."
  "o Where go their souls when your people
die "
  "o To their ancestors' With them they live
amorg the lotus blooms."
  ",We will excuse you now," said Mr. Van
Bure l to Sky-High.   "You have answered
intelligently, according to your knowledge.
  The kitchen-boy bowed himself out without
turning his back towards any one, describing
many glit ering angles, and waving his fan. He
looked like something vanishing, a bit of fire-
work., going out.
  As he reached the stair, the little white cat
sprang from Lucy's arms, and skipped swiftly
after the curious inmate of the kitchen. The
long, swinging braid was a temptation. The
last glimpse Charles and Lucy had was of an
embroidered sleeve as Sky-Hligh reached back-
ward ad L caught the kitten to his shoulder,
and bound her fast with his queue.



18

 





         BEFORE THE MANDARIN!            19

  Charlie clapped his hands.   He thought
there would be fun in the house.  He knew
he should like Sky-High. As they went up-
stairs he said to Lucy, "The little Chinaman
was a heathen, and father was a missionary."
  Mr. Van Buren heard him, and called him
back. " The little Chinaman was a new book,"
said he, " and your father was reading. See
that you treat the boy well."


 


LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



                    III.

           LUCY'S CUP OF TEA.

  MRt. 'BAN BUREN'S, home was on Milton
Hill.  It overlooked Boston and the harbor.
The upper windows commanded a glorious v Rew
in the morning.  Before it glittered the sea
with its white sails, and behind it rose the Blue
Hills, with their green orchards and woods. The
house leas colonial, with gables and cupola, and
was surrounded by hour-glass elms, arbors, and
evergreen trees. It had been built by Mr. Van
Buren's father in the days of the China trade
and of the primitive mandarin merchant, IHoqua.
  Mr. Van lBuren, a tea-merchant of Boston,
rece.ved his goods through merchant vessels,
and not through his own ships as his father
had done.
  The next morning Mrs. Van Buren went
down early into her kitchen to assign Sky-High
his work.
  Nora, in a loud whisper that the birds in the
apple-boughs might have heard, informed Mrs.
Van Buren that the new Chinese servant wlas
4" no good as a sweeper," and asked what he did
with his pigtail when he slept. " It must take



20

 

LUCY'S CUP OF TEA.



hinm a good part of to-morrer to comb his hair, it
is that longo," she said.  " And wouldn't you
better use hiin up-stairs for an errand-boy alto-
gether now Sure, you wouldn't be after teach-
ing him any cooking at all " Nora was an old
servant and had many privileges of speech.
  MIrs. Van Buren smiled, and arranged that
little Sky-High should wash and iron clothes in
the cab)ini under the blooming trees, at the end
of the arbor.
  i And if you learn well," said she, " I may
let you tend the door, and wait upon the table,
and( keep the rooms in order."
  ;; And then you will be up-stairs," said little
Lucy, "1 where it is ver y pleasant."
    ;nXd now, Sky-Ilio-ii, tell me how it is that
you can speak EaL slisll so well," said MIrs. Van
Buren, as they stood in the cabin, where the
prospect of solitude seetned to please the boy.
A gleam of somnething like mischief appeared on
little Sky-High's Lee.
  ",And, Madame de Mandarin," said he, " I
speak French too. P'arlez-vots FPrana is, Made-
moiselle Lucy" lie added rapidl x-, turning- to
the little American girl.  "Pardomie, Madame
la MAandarin!
  "-Sky-High will not say ' Mandarin' any
more, said 'Mrs. Van Buren. "ThMere are no
mandarins in this country, and when Skv-hliglh
is called into the rooms above he will wear his
plain clothes, not spangled clothes. Now, wYh
taught you English"



21

 


2.



LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



  "My mr-aster, madam."
  "Say mistress, Sky-High."
    lMy master, mistress."
  "Where did you live in Manchuria"
  "In the house of a mandarin."
  "And who was your master"
  "The mandarin, mistress."
  "Do mandarins in China teach their servants
to speak English "
  " Some mandarins do, your grace."
  4" Do not say 'your grace,' Sky-High, but sim-
ply mistress. Ladies have no titles .in America.
Where is the city in which you lived "
  "J In Manchuria, on the coast, on the Crystal
Sea.,'
  The kitten came running into the kitchen,
and at once leaped on to the end of Sky-High's
pigtail.
  The boy gave his pigtail a sudden whisk.
  "Pie-cat" asked he.
  "No, O " said MIrs. Van Buren in horror.
",We have no pie-cats in this country. Was
there an English teacher in your house"
  Little Sky-High was winding his pigtail about
his reek for safety. He saw Lucy giggling, and
a laugh came into his own eyes.
  "P ardonne, mistress. We had an English
trader at the hong -at the trade-house."
  "4Do they send servants to English teachers
in China "
  ", When they are to grow up and deal with
English business, mistress."

 

L UC YS C UP OF TE A.



  "Did you meet English people at the hong"
    Yes, mistress."
  "Who were they"
  "I cannot name them. There were my lords
and the admiral; and the American Consul he
came, and the German Consul he came, and the
American   travelers they came, and Russian
officers they came."
  "o How old are you, Sky-High "
  "s There have passed over me fifteen New-
Year days, mistress."
  11 Well, Sky-High," said his mistress, ";I am
goinlg to give you this cabin under the trees,
where you may do your washings and all your
ironings. No one else shall come here to work.
I have decided to have you begin to-morrow
to bring up the breakfast."
  The next morning Sky-High performed his
first service at the breakfast-table. He brought
up the coffee while Mr. Van Buren was saying
grace.  He paused before the table.
  "1 Sleepy, sleepy! " lie exclaimed softly, " all
sleepy!"
  Mrs. Van Buren put out her hand as a signal
for him to wait. Sky-High did not understand,
and the grace was concluded amid smiles.
  Sky-High wondered much what had made the
family sleepy at that time of the day. They did
not go to sleep at the breakfast-table in China.
  ,,rThe mistress and her people," said he to
Nora, "; shut their eyes and go to sleep at the
breakfast."
  "An' sure, it is quare you are yourself



23

 


LITTLE SKY-HIGH.



They were praying.     Don't you ever say
prayers, Sky-High "
   "My cbuntry has printed prayers," said Sky-
Hig'i wit lofty dignity.
  " You're a hathen people. HTere we call such
as you a ' hathen Chinee,' and there was a Cali-
fornan poet that wrote a whole piece about the
likes of you. Children speak it at school. Here
is the t )ast - carry it up!
  Lucy liked to see the little olive-colored
"wang` moving about. One day at the table
she requested him to 1)ring her a cup of tea.
The little Chinaman well knew that Lucy and
Cha.les were not permitted to have tea. He
inquired whether lie should make it in the
American or the Chinese way.
  " In the way you would for a wang," said
Lucy.
  Sky-IHigh soon re-appeared, his tray bearing a
pretty lit-le covered cup and a silver pitcher.
   " Whe-e is the tea  " asked Lucv.
   "It is in the cup, like a wang's," said Sky-
High
  He poured the hot water on the tea, and fra-
grance filled the room.
  Lucy, with a glance asking her mother's
leave, tasted the tea she bad roguishlv ordered.
   We do not have tea like this," she said; " is
it tea "
  "Like a wang's," said Sky-High, blinking.
  W 'here did you get it  " asked Lucy.
  Out of my tea-canister," said Sky-hligh.
  Little Lucy did not drink the tea, for little



24

 






            LUCY'S CUP OF TEA.            25

Lucy had never drunk a cup of tea; but its fra-
grance lingered about the house through the
day, and set her wondering what else the little
Chinaman's ilumeinse trunk might hold.
  It had been agreed between the Consul and
Mrs. Van Buren that little Sky-High mioht talk
with the family; and like her husband she found
the Chinese boy i a new book." She asked him
many a curious question about the " Flowery
Kingdom," and one day she learned that " we
never send our finest teas out of China." Yes
ii we" said the wvashee-washee-wang, as the
neigh or-boys called him.


 


LITTLE SKY-HIGH,



                     IV.

    1ov0 SKY-HIGH CALLED THE GOVERNOR.

    CHEERFULLY, in his fine blue linens, the
little Chinese house-boy worked in his cabin a
portion of every day. The bluebirds came
close to sing to him and so did the red-breasted
robins. Irish Nora and the parrot became very
civil, and he grew fond of Charlie and Lucy.
  Some of the boys on their way to and from
school nade his only real annoyance. Sometimes
when his smoothing-iron was moving silently
under his loose-sleeved hand, or lie wvas hanging
the snowy clothes on the lines, they would hide
behind a tree or corner, and shy sticks at him
calling. En washee-washee-wang !"' He bore it all
in an Linselfish temper, until olie (lay a big
lump of dirt fell upon one of little Lucy's
daintz muslin frocks as he was ironing it. Then
he said something that sounded like, " cockle-
coclde-cockle," and closed all the doors and
wininlows.
  At this crisis Charles and Lucy came to his
side. They set wide again the doors and win-
dows of the cabin under the green boughs, and
promised him that they would forever be his



26

 


HOW SKY-HIGH CALLED THE GOVERNOR. 21



true friends and protectors. "It is time we
began to treat him like a wang, as mother
wished," said Lucy to Charlie.
   " The American boys throw dirt at me in the
street," admitted little Sky-High, in a reluctant
tone - he did not like to bear witness against
anyone in this sunshiny world.
   ,,I will go out with you," said Charlie,
"when you are sent out to do errands. I will
stand between you and the dirt. The dirt
comes out of their souls."
   "And I will watch around the corners and
speak to themu," said Lucy.
  Sky-high's heart bounded at these pledges of
friendship, and he leaped about in a way that
made the parrot laugh - sometimes he had the
parrot in his cabin, and taught it Chinese words.
" The sun shines for all, the earth blossoms for
all," lie said to the children; "it is only the
heart that needs washee-washee and sinoothee-
smoothee. Everything will be better by and by.
I talk flowery talk, like home, out here among
the birds, butterflies, and bees."
  (Nora said lie "1 jabbered " all day long in the
cabin.)
  Mrs. Van Buren very soon promoted the care-
ful little Chinaman to have all the care of the
beautiful living rooms and the quaint old par-
lors. He brought the flowers and admitted the
visitors. He did his work in admirable taste.
It shed a kind of good influence through the
house, to see the little fellow in his fine linens

 


LITTLE SKY-HIGHT.



flitting around, so careful was he to keep all
things in speckless order.
  The chief drawback was that he still used
"flowery talk"; to him the world was a field
of poetry, and he spoke in figures whenever
he forgot himself.  Mrs. Van Buren was still
Madaim the Mandarin, and he called Lucy the
"' Lotus of the Shining Sea."   He received
many reprimands for the use of these Oriental
forms of speech; but found it hard to harness
his thoughts to track-horses, especially after the
June days began to fill the gardens with orioles
and hurmming-birds and roses.
  "1 Why not let me talk after nature  " little
Sky-High used to beg.
  One day the governor of the State came to
Nisit the Van Burens. Sky-High spoke of him
as the  Mandarin of the Golden Dome." Ile
had several times been in Boston to see Consul
Bradley, and knew the State House.
  If the evening Mrs. Van Buren gave him
his morning orders. " You will call the gover-
nor to-morrow at seven o'clock. You will knock
on his door, and you must use plain language!
You must not say, '0 Mandarin of the Golden
Dome!' We do      not use flowery terms of
address ini this country. Mind, Sky-High, use
plain language."
  The little Chinaman feared that he would be
"flowery " in spite of all his care. So he con-
sulte1 with Irish Nora in the blooming hours of
the morning.



:48

 


11W1 Nt'fY-fli.i1 CALLED THlE GOVERNVoR. 29



   11 What shall I say when I knock on the gov-
ernor's chamber-door " asked he earnestly.
a What shall I say in the plain Ameriean lan-
guage 
    What shall you say  Say, I Get up!
    "Is that all  " asked he doubtfully.
    WVell, if you want to say more, say, I Get
up ! The world is all growing and crowing-
the roosters are crowing their heads off! '"
  Sky-Iligh wvent to the door of the governor s
room and knockecd.
  There came a voice from within.  , Well"
  G1 Get up I  The world is all growing and
crowiiig, - the roosters are crowiing their heads
off."
  The Ad Mandarin of the Golden Dome " did
not wait for a second summons, but got up even
as Sky-High bad bidden him. It was a June
morning, and lie found the world as he had been
warned, ,all growing and crowing."
  "h Have you called the governor  " asked
Mrs. Van Buren, as she met Sky-Higch on the
stairs.
   "Yes, my Lady of the Beautiful Morning."
   I)id you use plain language "
   "Sky- Mih used the American language."
   What did you say"
   r saidl, I Get up ! ' "
   "Oh, Sky-High, now I will have to apologize
for you
  11 We never use plain language to niandarirm
iii China," said Sky-fligh. "d If we did, I whish,

 


30          LITTLE SKY-HIGH.

whish,' and our heads would be off before we
could tarn ! "
  The Mandarin of the Golden Dome came
down from the chamber; and the Lady of the
Beautiful Morning explained to him that her
new boy had not yet mastered the arts of Ameri-
can manners, although he intended to be correct
when addressing his superiors.
  Ad I didn't notice anything whatever incor-
rect," said the governor, who had hugely en-
joyed 'the manner of his summons. "' He awoke
me - what more was needed "


 






JSKY-fI GI'S WONDER- TALE.



                      V.

         SKY-HIGH'S   VON-DER-TALE.

  "M\IY Lady of the Beautiful Morning" be-
lieved in the education of story-telling; and she
did not limit her stories wholly to tales with
" morals," but told those that awakened the
imagination. This she did for Lucy's sake and
Charlie's, believing that all little people should
pass through fairyland once in their lives.
  She used, like Queen Scheherazade of the
Arabian Nights, to gather up stories that pic-
tured places, habits, and manners of the people,
to relate; and this year, when the garden began
to flower, she had many such to tell und(er the
trees. Sky-High was always a listener. I-le
was always permitted to be with the family in
the evening.  He loved wonder-tales.  They
carried him off as on an " enchanted carpet."
  One evening Mrs. Van Buren said, i; I have
a new idea. Sky-Iligh might tell Ifs some sto-
ries. HIe speaks English well when he chooses.
Sky-High, tell us some tale of your own country.
You have wonder-tales in China."
  "' In the stories of my country animals talk,"
said Sky-High.



31

 



1,'LI'1'TLE, TJ Y-_ . I.



   "Telt us sollme of your st(eies in z which ani-
mals talk-," said Lucy, clapping her hands.
   " An.mals always talk, everywhere," said Sky-
High.    ' "In China we interpret wvhat they say."
   The word " interpret " was rather a big one
for lucy.  B'uLt as Sky-Hligh was given to using
unexpected   wor(ls, the little girl was herself
beginri-ng to indtulge ini a larger vocabulary.
  So Sky-iligh  b)egan to relate an old Chinese
household t-ory.
          TI'IE SELIF-RESPEcTIrvs(NG D oN'KEIY.
   There wa; once a P)onkev who had great respcet for
himself, as many peoplde dlo. Such wear 'rood( eloilles.
You mV Y know whtat a man thinks of himself hy the
clothes be wears. We