'
'Well,' continued Bell, impressively, 'I knew I could never find it
again; and I wanted so much you should see it that I took the ball of
twine we always carry, unrolled it, and dropped the thread all the
way along to the brookside, like Phrygia, or Melpomene, or Anemone,
or whatever her name was.'
'Or Artesia, or Polynesia, or Euthanasia,' interrupted Polly. 'I
think the lady you mean is Ariadne.'
'Exactly. Now we'll take papa to see it, and then we'll fit it up as
a retreat. Won't it be charming? We'll call it the Lone Stump.'
'Oh, I like that; it makes me shiver!' cried Polly. 'I'm going to
write an ode to it at once. Ahem! It shall begin--let me see -
'O lonely tree,
What cruel "he"
Did lay thee low?
Tell us the facts;
Did cruel axe
Abuse thee so?'
'Sublime! Second verse,' said Bell slowly, with pauses between the
lines:-
'Or did a gopher,
The wicked loafer,
Gnaw at thy base,
And, doing so,
Contrive to go,
And leave no trace?'
'Oh dear!' sighed Margery; 'if you will do it, wait a minute.
'O toadstools white,
Pray give us light
Upon the question.
Did gopher gnaw,
And live in awe
Of indigestion?'
'Good!' continued Bell:-
'Or did a man
Malicious plan
The good tree's ruin,
And leave it so
Convenient low,
A seat for Bruin?
For travelling grizzlies, you know. We may go there and see a hungry
creature making a stump-speech, while an admiring audience of
grasshoppers and tarantulas seat themselves in a circle on the
toadstools.
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