" I hope I may die," declared Heliogabalus,
laying one hand on the left breast of his main
spring.
"I don t believe it," said Mildred confi
dently.
" Ho, ho ! "
" You are too tall, and too wide, and too
fluffy. I don t mean to hurt your feelings, but
you are fluffy. And I just want you to stop
that ho-hoing. No ; I don t believe it."
"You don t, don t you? Behold!" And
placing both hands on the floor, Heliogabalus
described a circle in the air, and neatly landed
himself in the box.
He was no sooner in than Mildred clapped
down the lid, and seated herself upon it victo*
A CHRISTMAS FANTASY 315
riously. In the suddenness of her movement
she had necessarily neglected to fasten the
catch ; but that was a detail that could be at
tended to later. Meanwhile she was mistress
of the situation and could dictate terms. One
thing was resolved : Jumping Jack was never to
jump again. To-morrow he should be thrown
into the Charles at the foot of Mount Vernon
Street, in order that the tide might carry him
out to sea. What would she not have given if
she could have sealed him up with that talis-
manic Seal of Solomon which held the cruel
marid so securely in his brazen casket ? Of
course it was not in Mildred s blood to resist
the temptation to tease her captive a little.
" Now, Mr. Jack, I guess I Ve got you where
you belong. If you are not an old man this
very minute, you will be when you get out.
You wanted to carry off my Blondella, did
you? The idea! I hope you re quite com
fortable."
"Let me out!" growled Heliogabalus in his
deepest bass.
" I could n t think of it, dear. You are one
of those little boys that should n t be either
seen or heard ; and I don t want you to speak
again, for I m sitting on your head, and your
voice goes right through me. So you will
please remember not to speak unless you are
V
316 A CHRISTMAS FANTASY
spoken to." And Mildred broke into the mer
riest laugh imaginable, recollecting how many
times she herself had been extinguished by the
same instructions.
But Mildred s triumph was premature, for
the little man in the box was as strong as a
giant in a dime museum ; and now that he had
fully recovered his breath, he began pushing in
a most systematic manner with his head and
shoulders, and Mildred, to her great consterna
tion, found herself being slowly lifted up on
the lid of the box, do what she might. In a
minute or two more she must inevitably fall
off, and Jumping Jack would have her ! And
what mercy could she expect at his hands,
after her treatment of him ! She was lost !
Mildred stretched out her arms in despair, gave
a shriek, and opened her eyes, which had been
all the while as tightly shut as a couple of
morning-glories at sundown.
She was sitting on a rug in the middle of the
room. Though the window-panes were still
flushed with the memory of the winter sunset,
the iridescent lights had faded out in the Jap
anese crystal at her feet. She was not any
where near the little imp. There he was over
by the fireplace, staring at nothing in his usual
senseless fashion. Not a piece of crockery had
been broken, not a chair upset, and Blondella,
A CHRISTMAS FANTASY 3*7
the too-fascinating Blondella, had not had a
single tress disarranged.
Mildred drew a long breath of relief. What
had happened ? Had she been dreaming ? She
was unable to answer the question ; but as she
abstractedly shook out the creases in the folds
of her skirt, she remarked to herself that she
did not care, on the whole, to have any of her
things come to life, certainly not Jumping
Jack. Just then the splintering of an icicle on
the window-ledge outside sent a faint white
ness into her cheek, and caused her to throw
a quick, apprehensive glance toward the fire
place. After an instant s hesitation, Mildred,
unconsciously dragging Blondella by the hair,
stole softly from the room, where the spectres
of the twilight were beginning to gather rather
menacingly, and went down-stairs to join the
family and relate her strange adventure.
The analysis of Miss Wentworth s dream
if it were a dream, for later on she declared it
was not, and hurriedly gave Heliogabalus to an
unpleasant small boy who lived next door the
analysis of her dream, I repeat, shows strong
traces of a moral. Indeed, the residuum is
purely of that stringent quality. Heliogabalus
must be accepted as the symbol of an ill-con
sidered desire realized. The earnestness with
3i8 A CHRISTMAS FANTASY
which Miss Wentworth invoked the phantasm
and the misery that came of it are a common
experience. Painfully to attain possession of
what we do not want, and then painfully to
waste our days in attempting to rid ourselves of
it, seems to be a part of our discipline here be
low. I know a great many excellent persons
who are spending the latter moiety of life in
the endeavor to get their particular Jumping
Jack snugly back into its box again.
($te fiiticrsibe press*
CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS
U S A
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
)
192716
III!
1 I M