I Saw Three Ships

_ ELIZABETH I

GOUDGE

tV3v.:

SAW THREE SHIPS M: Illustrated

by

MARGOT TOMES :..'i<-

• •»;

I'

GOUDGE

ELIZABETH

SAW THREE SHIPS I

Illustrated

by

MARGOT TOMES

Polly longed to leave the doors to Holly Cot-

tage open on Christmas Eve, for perhaps the

Wise Men would come

to visit.

But her aunts,

Constantia and Dorcas, were firm in their refusal.

"My

dear," said

home you had

a

man

Aunt Dorcas,

"at

in the house."

Dorcas and Constantia had only The Hat in

Long ago

the hall for protection.

younger brother,

away until

to sea

Tom

and the

sisters

young Polly came

But Polly was special Christmas

had

lived alone

to stay.

right.

when

their

Flowerdew, had run

This was to be a

the

Wise Men would

indeed come to Holly Cottage. Elizabeth

Goudge

introduces three unfor-

gettable characters in the seafaring stranger

who wore gold earrings, the mad Frenchman who was followed through the streets by the town's cats, and dear Rags-and-Bones who seemed

to

have lived forever.

Elizabeth

mystery and

Goudge weaves

mood which

and old readers

alike.

a magical tale of

will

charm young

Margot Tomes'

striking

black-and-white illustrations capture the dition

tra-

and color of an old English seaport

town.

An

unusual story of Christmas by a

dis-

tinguished storyteller.

08212 $3.64 This

is

a

COWARDMcCANN GUARANTEED BINDING AVAILABLE

Guaranteed Binding

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2011

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About the Boo\ Polly longed to leave the doors to Holly Cottage open

mas Eve,

for perhaps the

aunts, Constantia

dear," said

Men would come

Wise

and Dorcas, were firm

Aunt Dorcas,

"at

on

to visit.

Christ-

But her

in their refusal.

home you had

a

man

"My

in the house."

Dorcas and Constantia had only The Hat in the hall for protection.

away

Long ago to sea

their

and the

younger brother,

sisters

had

Tom

Flowerdew, had run

lived alone until

young Polly came

to stay.

But Polly was

Wise

right.

This was

be a special Christmas

to

when

the

Men would indeed come to Holly Cottage.

Elizabeth

Goudge

introduces three unforgettable characters in

the seafaring stranger

man who was

which

will

gold earrings, the

mad

followed through the streets by the town's

dear Rags-and-Bones

Elizabeth

who wore

Frenchcats,

who seemed to have lived forever.

Goudge weaves

a magical tale of mystery

charm young and old

readers alike.

and mood

Margot Tomes'

striking black-and-white illustrations capture the tradition color of

and

and

an old English seaport town.

An unusual

story of Christmas by a distinguished storyteller.

I

SAW THREE SHIPS

Coward-McCann New York

ELIZABETH I

GOUDGE

SAW THREE SHIPS Illustrated

by

MARGOT TOMES

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

First

American Edition 1969

Text Copyright Illustrations

©

1969 by Elizabeth Goudge

Copyright

©

1969 by Margot Tomes

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof,

may

not be

reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publishers.

Library of Congress Catalog Card

Number: 75-88867

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 08212

I

SAW THREE SHIPS

One "But we always did

"My

dear," said

it

at

home,"

Aunt Dorcas,

said Polly.

"at

home you had

a

man

in the

house."

"But we've got The Hat in the

"My

dear," said

hall," said Polly.

Aunt Dorcas,

"it is

not such an adequate pro-

tection."

Aunt Constantia

said nothing, but sighed

and touched her eyes

with her dainty handkerchief. This was almost always the end of their arguments. Polly said 9

they did a

man

to the

it

at

home, Aunt Dorcas

in the house,

memory

said they could not

Aunt Constantia touched her

of the

owner

of

The Hat and

do

without

eyes as a tribute

Polly said

But Polly decided that instead of folding up her

it

soft

no more.

mouth

into

a pink rosette of silence, and then going off and doing the thing just the same, this time she

would argue the matter out before

doing it just the same. "In the country," she leave

its

said, "there

is

not a farm that does not

doors unlocked day and night during the season of Christ-

mas. At our farm Papa and

Mamma offered

came. By day the kitchen was

full of

hungry people being

by night the angels went up and down the

"Go along with you "They

hospitality to all fed,

who and

stairs."

!

" said Constantia.

did," said Polly. "I heard them.

Not

their footsteps, for

those were too light, but their feathers brushing the paneling."

"Now

"Sparrows in the roof," said Dorcas.

Your papa's farm was town such

port

as this a great

and

many

dear.

as I

undesirable people are about

keep

telling you, dear child, the

only masculine protection in this house

Hat

my

in a peaceful country district, but in a sea-

at the holiday season;

father's

listen,

is

your poor dear grand-

in the hall."

Constantia applied her handkerchief to the corner of her

had been dead

eye, for her father

left

and her elder

for forty years,

brother and his wife had died in a road accident ten months ago.

This was

their little daughter's first

Christmas without them.

Polly was dry-eyed. She missed her father and mother and the

farm but she was happy

living with her

loved her and she always had her they

knew

it

said. "I

they didn't come.

come

here.

would you

I

it

them, whether

now. "The Wise

was always expecting them

expect

we were

You wouldn't want

to lock

too far inland.

at

Men

home, but

They might

your door on the Wise Men,

.i^"

"Don't talk nonsense, child," said Dorcas impatiently. there are

They

elderly aunts.

own way with

or not. She intended to have

might come," she

two

no wise men.

I

have never met a

man

yet

"And

who was

not

foolish."

Dorcas had reason for her impatience. Her father, the doctor,

though much loved in the town, had been a gambler, and

when he

died there had been so

fine old reveler

and

money

that

little

left

she and Constantia had had to leave their elegant house in Prospect Street,

and come

to

Holly Cottage in Fish Street above the harbor. 11

Their elder brother Roger, Polly's father, had disgraced them by

going

where he had bought

off to the country,

a

ed to indulge a hitherto unsuspected passion for

Tom,

brother that he

also older

had run

of again. Dorcas

farm and proceedpigs.

than themselves, had been so wild a boy

off to sea at

an early age and had never been heard

had loved him and thought of him

ing. Constantia scarcely

Their second

still

remembered him, but both

sisters

with exasperation whenever they remembered either of ers.

with longsighed

their broth-

In the Flowerdew family wisdom had resided only in the

female branch.

"The Wise Men might come,"

me

the sweetshop told

Country when

said Polly.

that Christ

"Why

not.?

Himself came

Susan

to the

at

West

He was a little boy."

"That's only a legend, dear," said Dorcas.

"What's a legend. Aunt.?" asked

Polly.

"A story whose truth cannot be proved," said Dorcas. "You

can't prove

God,"

said Polly.

"Where

did they land,

Aunt

Constantia.?"

"My love "It

!

" ejaculated Constantia in distress,

might have been here,"

our harbor just

when

said Polly. "I expect

the cocks were crowing.

walking up and down the

streets of

He

sailed into

There

He

was,

our town very early in the

morning, and the doors were locked and no one rang the

bells.

Wasn't that odd.?"

Her aunts looked

at her,

Dorcas adjusting her spectacles and

Constantia pushing hers distractedly 12

up on her

forehead.

Even

-A..

after ten

make

of their niece at times.

that she

She

months' experience of her they did not

They

suffered

know what

to

from the sensation

was older than they were.

sat there

looking very demure in the long skirts of a hun-

dred and sixty years ago, but her sloe-black eyes were alight in her thin heart-shaped

brown

face

and a dimple was showing beside her

mouth. Suddenly she grabbed the

cat,

jumped up and ran out

of

the room. Snatching her red cloak off the peg in the hall, she ran

out of the front door into the

age from the cobbled

and the

sea.

little

garden that separated the

street that led

down

cot-

steeply to the harbor

Peering anxiously through the draped curtains, her

aunts saw her sitting on the low wall in the winter sunshine. She

was singing

to the cat,

and the words of her song came through the 13

tiny crack of lor

open window that was

all

Dorcas allowed in the par-

even on the warmest day.

saw three ships come

"I

sailing in,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day I

saw three

ships

come

sailing in.

On Christmas day in the morning." "My

dear," said Constantia to Dorcas in trembling tones,

must shoot the top

bolt tonight.

She

"we

can't reach that."

"My dear," said Dorcas to Constantia, "she'd find a way it. What we must do is take away the key." "And what was in those ships all

to reach

three,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day.? And what was in those ships all three,

On Christmas day in the morning.?" Polly was no longer sitting

on the wall but dancing on the

scrap of lawn, holding the cat aloft

was

light as thistledown

proved child

itself

on her

and singing

feet

and the old

a perfect dancing measure.

and the sparkling sunshine of

the elderly ladies

as she danced.

traditional air

this springlike

Christmas Eve,

became dazzled and confused. Dorcas

bells

and

She

Watching the dancing

the tune, nodding her head and tapping her foot,

became aware of

tiny

hummed

and Constantia

brightness, hosts of capering children

14

and men and

women clapping their hands.

Before they

knew what

they were doing they were both singing too, and Constantia was

clapping her hands.

"The Virgin Mary and

Christ were there,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day The Virgin Mary and

Christ were there,

On Christmas day in the morning." "Constantia,

what do you think you

asked Dorcas severely. 15

are doing with your hands?"

"Your you

foot,

Dorcas," said Constantia in mild reproof.

"And

did

know you were singing?"

"I

was not singing,"

The

said Dorcas.

"Where's that child .f*"

singing had stopped and both the garden and the street

were empty. "Vanished," said Constantia. "I told her she if

was

you remember,"

to help

me

scour the saucepans this morning,

said Dorcas.

"Upon

her return she must be

punished, Christmas Eve or no Christmas Eve. Supperless to bed.

No, Constantia, not you Clean

it,

;

I'll

go

after her.

from the room

the

silver is

on the

table.

my dear."

Lifting her shabby skirts with an

tia sat

The

down

to

air,

Dorcas vanished elegantly

put on her cloak and bonnet. Sighing, Constan-

at the table before the silver

more exciting

duties to herself.

.

.

.

Dorcas always took

Two In her heart Constantia sympathized with Polly's dislike of the scouring, polishing, dusting

and sweeping

that

was

their life at

Holly Cottage, and had been ever since she would remember, for since their father died they

had been too poor

Dorcas was house-proud and had found

to

satisfaction

keep a maid.

and fulfillment

in a lifetime's devotion to her possessions, to the brass pots

pans, the silver, the china, the linen, the furniture

house that held them it,

was

at times

all.

and the

and little

But Constantia, though she never showed

madly impatient. She longed 17

for

something

to

happen. She thought sometimes brother

Tom

should suddenly come

the whole house it

would be

how

from top

to

should see three ships

.

.

it

home and

would be

her

if

upset the habits of

bottom. She thought

now how

lovely

window tomorrow morning

looking from her

if

exciting

she

.

She polished a beautiful

spoon and was aware of sunshine

rattail

held in the bowl. She got up, dragged the table to the window, pulled back the draped curtains, flung the

down again with a street

lit

beating heart

was now revealed

gaze of the sunlit polishing the years

silver.

street.

Anyone who

had kept the curtains

was

also revealed to the

passed by would see her

Dorcas

so closely

sat

though the whole of the sun-

to her gaze, she

What would

able to see the Misses

for

;

window wide and

say,

Dorcas

who

for forty

draped that no one had been

Flowerdew doing

their

own work

because

they were too poor to keep a maid."^ .

.

.

And now

here was Constantia giving the whole

show away,

polishing silver at an open window, her voice raised in song as gaily as that of

any gypsy

woman

sitting at

her caravan door.

"Pray, whither sailed those ships

all three.

On Christmas day, on Christmas day Pray, whither sailed those ships

all three.

On Christmas day in the morning.'^" She was not looking

at the street as she polished a fine old silver

pepper pot, warming to her task

now

18

that the sun

was on her

face

and the fresh

sea

wind was

stirring the silvery fair curls that escaped

from her mobcap. "Since you ask me, ma'am," said a voice. "Bethlehem."

Constantia

a small scream

stifled

and dropped the pepper

and the seafaring character who was leaning

on the low garden

wall, only a

his

pot,

arms comfortably

few yards from

her, raised his

pleasing baritone voice in song for her information.

"O they sailed into Bethlehem,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day

O they sailed into Bethlehem On Christmas day in the morning." The

tune got into his feet and he took his arms from the wall

and began

The

to jig.

jig

might have turned

into a hornpipe

had

not the beauty of a thin swanlike silver milk jug caught his eyes.

"Now

that's a pretty

thing!" he ejaculated, and propped himself

on the wall once more. His dark eyes sparkled. Constantia found her heart was beating fast and, hardly

moved her hand and ing

it.

ring,

As

laid

it

on top of

this

worn

it

did, she

caddy spoon, hid-

on her mother's diamond

morning she had slipped on the fourth

her right hand. She had not it

a valuable

she did so the sun sparkled

which

because

knowing what she

for years, but this

finger of

morning,

was Christmas Eve and because Polly had been looking

in her jewel case

and admiring the pretty things she

so

seldom

used because Dorcas disapproved of jewelry, she had lightheartedly 19

put

had

ness

now and

on. Just

it

"And

character.

murmured

another pretty thing,"

"Diamonds round

He

a pearl."

He wore

farther over the wall.

mad moments.

few

visited her occasionally for a that's

had come, lighthearted-

then, since Polly

the seafaring

hitched himself a

little

gold earrings himself and they

looked well with his sun-baked weather-beaten countenance that

might have been carved out of a were an

his features

attractive face

herself, It

"This

is

and

and something about

a wise

sailor, for

wood,

so

haphazard

so deeply lined his skin. Nevertheless it

made

it

was

Constantia say to

man."

was the earrings and the cut of

he was a

bit of old

his jib that

had made her think

he was not dressed as one.

bottle-green coat with brass buttons

and

He wore

a waistcoat

a smart

embroidered

with crimson carnations. His cocked hat was under his arm and the sun glinted

were

in sight.

on

white wig. Constantia wished

his fine

What was

the

good of

straightened her shoulders, lifted her

it

hanging in the

The Hat hall.?

She

hand from the caddy spoon,

reached for her polishing rag and polished

it.

She was game. Flight

did not occur to her.

"Though you could

call

any town Bethlehem on Christmas

Eve," said the man. Constantia said evenly,

town on Christmas Eve

"You mean is

that all over the

world every

waiting for the bells to ring in the

morning.?"

"Not quite it

all

over the world, ma'am," he said.

says so in the carol.

You

can't rely

21

on

"Though

I

know

carols for strict truthful-

ness. I've

been

all

That's one reason

ma'am,

And

over the world and heard the bells but seldom.

why

that sugar bowl. Is this

come it

back.

Now

that's a pretty thing,

ivy leaves engraved

upon

it.?"

time he leaned so far over the wall that the strong mas-

culine odor of beer

"Vine

I've

and tobacco reached her and made her

leaves," she replied faintly,

and moved the bowl

recoil.

to the other

side of the table.

He saw that he was distressing her and drew back. "Good morning, off

ma'am," he

down

said,

bowed

to her, replaced his hat

and

the street singing as cheerfully as a blackbird.

"And all the bells on earth shall ring,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day And all the bells on earth shall ring,

On Christmas day in the morning."

strolled

Three aware that Aunt Dorcas would be soon in pursuit,

Polly, well

raced

down

Fish Street, Tibby the cat

still

ran along the seawall until she reached the

down now,

to the great rocks

at

low

tide,

under her arm, and

flight of steps that led

on the sands below. They were uncovered

and made

a safe refuge

from Aunt Dorcas,

for

the steps were so slippery with seaweed that only seamen, children,

mad Frenchman ever attempted to go down them. was down them in a trice, and picking her way over the

dogs and the Polly

rocks to her favorite hiding place beside the

23

anemone

pool.

The,

sea

was gold and the

lovely as

any spring

beautiful crimson frilled

flowers.

her cloak, and began to sing

anemones were

as

She cuddled Tibby in her arms, under softly,

rocking Tibby to the tune.

"And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day And all the Angels in Heaven shall sing.

On Christmas day in the morning." "Ver-r-ry unseasonable weather," said a voice. "Mademoiselle Police,

may

I

stroke the small

cat.f*

Holy Mary, Mother

of

God,

pray for us sinners." Polly was not startled by the loud voice breaking in suddenly

upon her

peace, or by the mixture of subjects, for the

was a friend

of hers

and she was used

and disappearances and was not kneeling

to his

his love of cats

in the old

Frenchman

sudden appearances

and of prayer.

When

he

church by the harbor, saying Popish

Latin prayers at the top of his high cracked voice and telling his

Popish beads to the scandal of

all

good Protestants going in and

out to polish the brass or beat the dust out of the hassocks, he was striding

by

all

up and down

the steep streets of the

the cats of the neighborhood,

the fish heads he kept

them but

also for

wrapped

some quality

in

who

little

town followed

adored him not only for

newspaper in

in himself

his pockets for

which appealed

to their

sense of breeding.

Polly opened her cloak

the Frenchman's arms.

him

to

sit

him

Then

beside her. She

able to understand a very wise

why

man

and Tibby leaped from she shifted along to

its

shelter into

make room

was very fond of him and was quite unpeople called

indeed. She

was

him mad. She

considered

sorry for him, too, for she

had heard the aunts discussing him one night and learned had escaped from

for

that he

Paris at the height of something called the

Terror, after he had been told that his wife and small son had been

murdered

in the place of safety

where he had placed them. She 25

only vaguely understood the meaning of these things, but she was sorry^ and,

remembering them, now moved

close to

him, so that

they sat companionably together looking out at the sunlit "I don't think

ought

it's

unseasonable weather," said Polly. "I think

warm on board,

it

have a calm sea

to be like spring at Christmas. It's nice to

for the three ships

sea.

and you want Mary and the

little

boy

to feel

don't you.?"

She wondered what she had

said to

make him

look at her sud-

denly with his eyes nearly starting out of his head. "Marie and the little

boy!" he ejaculated

without seeing with

fiercely.

"Ought

to

I

have come away

my own eyes the truth of what

they told

me?"

Polly thought she'd better change the subject. "I'm hanging

my

stocking," she announced. "I wrote

put the

I

wanted and

paper on the kitchen mantelpiece like Aunt Constan-

me to."

told

tia

bit of

down what

up

He was instantly at her

service.

"And what do you hope

to

have

in your stocking, mademoiselle.'^" he asked courteously.

Polly ticked the items off

ribbon for doll.

A

beads.

get

my

hair.

shell that

At

least I

An

on her

apple,

"A

sea.

A

pincushion.

should like the beads but

I

A red gold. A

sugar mouse.

and three walnuts painted

sounds like the

them because Aunt Dorcas

"Why

fingers.

don't

A

know

string of if I

shall

doesn't approve of jewelry."

does your good aunt not approve of jewelry.^'" asked the

Frenchman with "Vanity of

a touch of indignation.

vanities, all

is

vanity," said Polly through her nose,

26

and with such obvious and wicked mimicry man's turn

"Did

I

to

change the

ever

tell

father's best wig,

small boy. No.

when he clapped

"Go on!" they squeak.?

In a gulls

that

it

was the French-

subject,

you about the nest of mice

I

put in

my

grand-

mademoiselle?" he inquired. "I was not a good

My his

poor grandfather, he was shortsighted, and

wig upon

his

head

—"

"Were

cried Polly eagerly.

they very small mice.?

Did

Did your grandfather yell.?"

moment

or two they were absorbed and happy.

wheeled and laughed

"Ha Ha !

!

" above

them and

The

the

sea

anem-

ones expanded in the sun-warmed water of the rock pool like red roses in an early June.

Four "Of

all

the tiresome children!" said Dorcas to herself. She

had

already been to the sweetshop and the haberdasher's and found no Polly there, and

now

she was picking her

way

delicately along the

seawall.

She gathered her old brown cloak firmly about the

balmy southwest wind were a savage

out from the recesses of her

from the

shelter of a

hollow

her, as

northeaster,

brown beaver bonnet

tree.

28

though

and peered

like

an owl

Nevertheless there was the hint

upon her

of a smile

usually

grim mouth. For though she did not

she was enjoying this expedition in search of the erring

admit

it

Polly.

The

sharp tang of the seaweed lying in shining

sand below her was delightful. shine raised her

The

Turning

spirits.

climbing the

and the plumes

.f"

its

to look at the little

smoke from

of

She began

An

hair ribbon.

it

was with

old red roofs

apple,

beads, of course, for she'd not have child vanity, but to

accord a

little

Where was wall and

up

still

at the gulls

the breeze.

make up

child.''

no sign of and

How

it

) !

Yes, that it

red

A doll. A shell that

was the

lot.

on her conscience

for that she

Not

the

to teach a

had added of her own

netted purse with sixpence in the

air.

and three walnuts painted gold. (What

A pincushion.

like the sea.

higgledy-piggledy

A sugar mouse. A

absurd things children did think they wanted

sounded

steep cobbled

they everything for the child's

count up the items.

to

all

its

town, she

the chimneys azure in the clear

Day tomorrow. Had

Christmas stocking

hill,

on the

sparkle of the sea in the sun-

found she had forgotten how pretty streets

coils

it.

She had reached the end of the harbor her.

at three

She stopped for a moment, looking

golden clouds like ships floating before

had brought back the past

to hear Polly singing

the old carol their

mother had taught them when they were young.

Tom had

best.

sung

had happened a

little as

yet

how

it

to

He had had

him now.? Her

a voice like a blackbird.

spirits,

a sense of time touched her.

fast

it

flew.

which had been high,

How

She had been young and 29

What

slowly

now

it

fell

crawled and

she was old and

/

^'

1

k_^

c

the years between had vanished as though they had never been.

A

hand plucked

at her cloak

and a coarse voice demanded a

copper for a crust of bread. She swung around indignantly, adjusting her spectacles to give old one-eyed, one-legged Rags-and-Bones a piece of her mind. ling the

life

out of her!

member him If

Coming up behind As

her like that, nearly

start-

a child in the nursery she could re-

crying "Rags-and-Bones"

up and down

the

street.

she was getting old he must be unbelievably old. Looking at

him, she found that he was.

He was bald as

an tgg. His round but-

ton of a red nose and his one sharp bright eye looked out from a thicket of struggling white beard

was

just rags

had a voice

and bones. Had he any memories

like a blackbird's

and sung of three

out her shabby old purse and gave

"Make it

and whiskers. For the

him

.f"

Had

ships.?

rest

he

he once

She took

a copper.

two, lady," he suggested blithely.

She made saying, "I've

it

two and

known you

to

her great astonishment heard herself

a long time, Rags-and-Bones."

30

"Make it three, She made

it

"Ay," he

said.

Christmas.

He

then," he said.

three.

"We're

Nor dry

gettin' on.

I

don't

Might be

neither.

my

want

to

go hungry

this

last."

spoke with the utmost cheerfulness. She remembered that

he had always been a cheerful

one blind

eye.

"How

soul, in spite of his

one leg and

his

did you lose your leg and the sight of your

eye, Rags-and-Bones.?" she

that in all the years of her

asked suddenly, and was astonished

life this

question had never occurred to

her before.

"In the wars," said Rags-and-Bones. "I was a there

was worse

off

than

"You learned wisdom

me

an'

I

his wealth,

boy. But

kept smiling."

early," said Dorcas.

"Ay," said old Rags-and-Bones, and closing

on

drummer

his clawlike

hand

he crawled away between two gray old cottages

a lizard escaping between

two gray old

like

stones.

Dorcas turned around and saw Polly running toward her, pink31

cheeked and laughing. She straightened herself in

severity, freeing

her arms from her cloak as though to administer a box on the ears.

"Ha! Ha!" laughed

the gulls overhead. Dorcas bent

down and

held out her arms and Polly ran into them.

V-*^'

I

Five Polly

was not

sent supper less to bed. Dorcas did not forget about

the well-deserved punishment but she

was

feeling curiously re-

laxed, oddly reluctant to pursue the path of duty. "I

hope I'm not

sickening for something," she said to Constantia as they sat before the fire filling Polly's stocking after the child

"Do you "No,"

feel feverish.''"

had gone

upstairs.

asked Constantia anxiously.

said Dorcas, "but

it's

Wednesday and

I

haven't poUshed

the furniture."

"You must be

ill,"

said Constantia.

33

"Have you

a headache.?"

"No,"

said Dorcas. "I never felt better in

my

How much

life.

beer can you buy with three coppers.?"

Constantia bent over and

her

felt

sister's pulse. It

was

perfectly

steady. "I

wonder

if

there's

anything in it," said Dorcas.

"In what, dear.?" asked Constantia tenderly. "In

this idea that

one must leave the door unlocked on Christmas

Eve." "I don't care

firmly. "I

am

if

there's

anything in

or not," said Constantia

it

locking both the back and front doors and taking

both keys to bed with me. What's more

am

I

going

to

bed now,

Dorcas, and so are you."

They plumped up latched every

the parlor cushions

window

firmly and pulled

a finger of moonlight could thrust

the parlor, dining-parlor a thief broke a

in anywhere.

window and climbed

if

self

unable to get farther. They

the back

the curtains so that not

all

They locked

and kitchen doors upon the

that

the hall, brushed

itself

and swept up the hearth,

The Hat and

wound

replaced

in

hall side so

he would find him-

the grandfather clock in it

on

its

peg.

They

bolted

and front doors, locked them, and Constantia put the

keys in her pocket. Then, carrying their lighted candle and Polly's stocking, they slowly climbed the

stairs,

Dorcas leading.

"Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh," said Dorcas. "Their wealth, their prayer, their death.

They little

left their

Three good

gifts."

candle on the landing and tiptoed into Polly's

room. The window was uncurtained and the moonlight 34

streamed in showing her lying in apparent

sleep, rosy

but Constantia thought her eyelashes flickered. the one the aunts

and Tibby the

had already

cat

was asleep

filled,

hung from

in the

moment and

open window.

It

and

to a sea so

pathway upon

it.

The

to

the foot of her bed

full one,

The

aunts

looked lovingly at

then with one accord turned to the

had a view that tonight was unusually

Below them the slanting harbor,

A stocking, pair

crook of her arm.

exchanged the empty stocking for the the child for a

and happy

roofs of the

little

town

fell

lovely.

steeply to the

calm that the moon had made a golden stars

weight of glory in the sky.

It

shone so brightly that they made a

was 35

so quiet that the

murmur

of the

sea

came up

shore.

them almost

to

The pathway

"It's so

warm

high up. Need

"Not

this

as clearly as

though they stood on the

seemed waiting

of gold

tonight," said Constantia.

for something.

"And

this

window

is

so

we shut it.?"

one," said Dorcas.

"Nor

curtain

Then

it.

in the

morn-

ing, Constantia, she will see the ships."

"Come

along to your bed at once, Dorcas," said Constantia, and

led her sister firmly

As soon

from the room. had gone Polly opened her

as they

eyes, sat

up and

looked appreciatively at the bulging stocking. Moving carefully, not to disturb Tibby, she wriggled

To open her stocking before but she could

feel

counted carefully.

The it

shell.

The

it

and

The

see

the if

doll.

beads. felt a

know

fair

her requirements had been met. She

The mouse. The

hair ribbon perhaps, but

about, but

bottom of her bed.

to the

morning would not be playing

took up she could not be sure.

did not

down

The

apple and walnuts.

owing

to the small space

pincushion. Something she

which was not beads. There were no

Even though she had been

pang of disappointment,

sure there

for she

would be no beads she

had wanted them more than

anything right

else.

on top

Well, never mind, the sugar mouse was there, and

too,

and she licked

crept back inside her

had been

silence for

scarlet dressing

or

two

it

the key gone,

bed again and waited.

some while she got out

gown, crept downstairs and

dlesticks that stood

ment

warm

his nose for comfort.

on the

was disconcerting

it

in,

the

two

she

there

on her

silver can-

The Hat. For

to find the front

a

mo-

door locked and

and the back door the same, but Polly was not a

child to be disconcerted for long.

went

When

of bed, put

lit

hall table beneath

Then

drew back

Unlocking the parlor door, she

the entrains, unlatched the

wide. But she did not go back to bed again. 37

window and opened

She curled up in a corner of the sofa and lay there looking out of the

window. So

brilliant

was the

moon

full

that she could see

the holly berries on the tree in the garden, and behind the tree the

little

whitewashed walls of the cottages opposite gleamed

like

snow. Lamplit windows shone orange and gold in the snowy walls

and up above them the

shapes out of the luminous sky.

up and down

and chimneys cut strange

irregular old roofs

the street,

At

first

and people

she heard footsteps passing

calling out greetings,

and she

heard the church clock strike ten times, each note lovely as a falling star.

Then

there were

no more

footsteps

and the bright squares of

gold and orange faded one by one from the moonlit walls.

She did perhaps doze a

and did not

see

little at last,

him come.

for she heard

Lifting heavy

lids,

no footsteps

she saw

him

stand-

ing motionless across the way, leaning against the white wall, very

wrapped

tall,

in a dark cloak but with silver about his head to

her he had come from heaven

.

.

Gabriel

.

.

.

.

tell

and the door had

been locked against him

She was not in the seen

him

before,

least frightened, for

had she not heard

his

though she had never

wings brushing against the

paneling at home.f* But she did hesitate at the window, for she did not

know how to address

"Sir!

"she

He came little

called at

last.

his

was not an angel

How did one address an archangel.'^

"Sir!"

across at once,

lawn and leaned

that he

him.

opened the gate

noiselessly, crossed the

arms on the windowsill. She saw now

man with a brown face, What she had thought was a

at all but a tall

quite old, even older than the aunts.

38

halo was an exceptionally beautiful white wig. If she was disap-

pointed

was only

it

"Are you

a

Wise

for the

moment.

Man."^" she asked.

"That depends what you mean by wise," he

said. "I've

learned

a great deal. Sprite, have you a name.?"

"Polly Flowerdew," she said.

He

leaned a

little

nearer, took her chin

thumb and turned her

name Roger

face

up

to the

moonlight. "Is your father's

he asked.

.f^"

"Yes," said Polly. "He's in heaven. So

you

like to

between finger and

come

in.^"

The

front door

is

and Aunt Constantia have taken the key

is

my mamma. Would

locked, to

and Aunt Dorcas

bed with them, but you

can get through the window."

He was

a thin

man, and nimble, and found

door was open into the hall and through

on the

hall table,

lit

as

though

in

it

that he could.

The

he could see the candles

worship of The Hat.

A delightful

smile of recognition flashed across his face.

"What have you brought

.f*"

"Are you the one who brought

asked Polly, trying not to yawn.

gold.?"

"Yes," he said, and taking out his purse, he opened sleepy eyes

closed

it

might blink

and

laid

would sweeten

it, I

it

at the

on the

gleaming sovereigns

little

it

inside,

home. Oughtn't

of your age to be in bed.?"

"Who will let the others in.?" asked Polly. 40

that her

then

table beside the sofa. "Yes. It

thought, to bring

"What others.?" he asked.

it

a

little lass

"Two more," "If

he as

anyone

said,

else

it

yawning outright.

comes with the right

and picked her up

though

stairs

said Polly,

had been

a

to enter

in his arms. Later

dream

the noiseless

I'll let

in,"

on she remembered

way he

and tucked her into her bed with Tibby.

them

carried her up-

Six

He went wrapped asleep.

back

to the parlor

in his cloak.

He

lay

and stretched himself on the

with

his eyes closed, but

Like Dorcas, he was thinking about time.

young and now he was

old,

lump

He was roused and by the

window.

he was not

He had

been

and the years between had vanished

though they had never been. old sofa had a

sofa,

... It

in exactly the

as

even seemed to him that the

same

place.

by the sound of the church clock striking eleven,

sight of a

man's head and shoulders thrust through the

He sat up and observed pleasantly,

pocket."

42

"Sir, I've a pistol in

my

A ness,

voice with a foreign intonation replied with equal pleasant-

"So have

"Shall

m'sieur."

I fire first

"M'sieur,

me

I,

first to

I

or will you?" asked

Tom.

have no ammunition," said the Frenchman. "Permit

place this

stocking which

I

little

trust

my

token of

affection within the child's

hanging from the mantelpiece."

is

"My niece Polly Flowerdew hung her bed," said

Tom. "Will you

stocking at the foot of her

entrust your gift to

my

"No," 5aid the Frenchman decidedly. "Nor do

dow

until

I

I

care.''"

leave this win-

have assured myself that you are indeed related

ladies of the house,

and not some

"You're a wise man," said

window. "Will you come

thief

Tom,

come

getting

to the

do them harm."

to

up and coming

to the

inside.?"

The Frenchman climbed nimbly

in through the

window while

Tom fetched the candles from the hall and set them on the mantelpiece. Tom took a shabby little case from his pocket, opened it and showed the other the miniature the delicate heart-shaped face

"Police

grown up," he

"My mother when a thief.

I

stole

"M'sieur,

I

it

before

am

inside.

looked at

and smiled.

said.

young," said I

The Frenchman

Tom. "You're

quite right.

I

am

ran away to sea."

satisfied," said the

Frenchman. "May

I

ask you

of your goodness to give this small gift to your niece.? She

hoped

Father Christmas would give her beads."

Tom held out his large brown hand and the candlelight gleamed on

the string of blue turquoises

and 43

tiny pearls,

and the small

silver

cross that

hung from them.

treasure such as

sary

upon

some

was

It

a rosary, a beautiful thing, a

might have used.

princess

the table beside the purse of gold.

cense," he said. "Will

you

stay

and drink

The Frenchman bowed and

Tom

unlocked the door and, creeping

in,

Tom

laid the ro-

"Gold and frankin-

a glass of

wine with

me.'*"

tiptoed to the dining parlor,

found the wineglasses and old

decanter where they had always been, beside the silver biscuit box

on the

chiffonier.

He

parlor, put fresh logs

brought the decanter and glasses back

on the dying embers

the old armchair forward to the there

and poured out

his wine.

warmth.

of the fire

He

44

cities

and pulled

established his guest

Then, sipping

talking easily of countries he had visited,

to the

his

own, he began

he had seen, adven-

tures

By

by land and

sea, until

the

man

beside

had

the time the clock struck midnight he

Tom,

strange, thought

looking at the

him began

fire.

told

Now

it all.

This

man would

The

last

after there

I

am

Men

are

could not have

I

taken the word of another, even the best friend that wife and son were dead. But then

to talk too.

I

had, that

my

slow to accept bad news.

be quick to the point of despair.

note of midnight struck and in the silence that

was the sound

as of a crash

from the region

came

of the

kitchen,

"The

cat has

"The

cat

is

knocked the cream over,"

upstairs with Polly," said

soft-footed to the kitchen.

there

was no one

that the tiny

and through grasping a

there.

a dirty

hunk

Tom. He

The window was

He went

window had been it

said the

Frenchman.

got

up and went

firmly latched and

farther into the larder

shattered by a

and saw

blow from a

stone,

bony old hand had been thrust and was

of bread.

The hand was withdrawn and then

ap-

peared again closing upon a sausage. Tom's hand clasped the

There was no cry of

wrist.

but a glorious

from the other

fear

tumbUng sequence of great oaths

side of the

window

that deUghted

Tom

with their rage and richness. Also there was something familiar

He

about them.

leaned closer and saw in the moonlight a face that

had changed very

in spite of great age

little

with the years.

!

"Rags-and-Bones " he exclaimed with Here's Rags-and-Bones

"But not for long," not go hungry

said

Rags-and-Bones cheerfully.

of dryness, Rags-and-Bones," said

I'll

Come

But you're a wise man.

as a lord.

window and

aboveground

Lord!

"And

I'll

my last Christmas. Nor dry neither."

"No danger drunk

still

joy. "Praise the

!

Tom. "You're

in by the parlor

feed you well. There's apple pie here, Rags-and-

Bones, cold roast beef, pickles and honey. You've got the

loaf.

Re-

f*"

member me. "I

knew

Bones

"No gettin'

gleefully.

He

Tom

you'd come back,

Tom

rid of a

Flowerdew," bad penny."

disappeared and was at the parlor

had time

and put him

to get

back

there.

"Those are Christmas

Tom. "They

before in

Tom spread the feast, and then

eat.

gifts at

are laid there for

window almost

The Frenchman helped him

in the armchair while

with delight they watched him

said Rags-and-

your elbow, Rags-and-Bones," said

my

sisters

and

for Polly.

Gold and

frankincense."

Rags-and-Bones looked

comment. wiped

When

his beard

at

them, nodded his head but made no

he had finished he said

upon a

tattered rag that

46

"Amen"

loudly and

might once have been

his handkerchief.

Then he got up

man had

their

shpped

to go.

hands into

coins for Rags-and-Bones, but

Both

Tom and the French-

their pockets,

when

they looked

were touched by a strange awe, and withdrew

To

offer

moment

him even

silver

seemed an

a strange majesty about the

was

ages in his

their

fingers.

"Nothing," he

In heaven dead

Then he was

men

hands empty.

in the

like a skeleton, but

and the wisdom

of the

He

at the

looked

"Nothing. Yet

are alive again

they

man. Standing there

deep-set eyes.

said.

him

at this

purse and the beads and touched the table beside

bony

at

was

regality in his long lean height

snowy beard and

up

insult, for there

mingled candlelight and moonlight, he looked there

feeUng there for

let

down

them with two the ladies wait.

and poor men become

rich."

gone. In the quiet night they could faintly hear his

wooden leg stumping along down "I don't believe

I'll

see

him

the deserted street.

again," said

Tom.

"When he put his fingers on the table Balthasar left myrrh," the Frenchman. "His death, you understand, to enrich their

47

said

life."

Seven One would have thought the carpet,

empty

in the hearth,

and

glasses

would

that the state of the parlor,

on the mantlepiece and crockery piled up

in itself

have stirred the tidy soul of Dorcas,

that after her interview with the seafaring

the silver with such interest Constantia alert.

man who had

eyed

would have been nervously

Yet neither was disturbed. Peace weighed upon the house

and they were wrapped was

crumbs on

in

deep and dreamless slumber.

And

so

Polly.

She and Tibby did not wake

until the

48

dawn shone through

the

uncurtained

window

hght of dawn, Polly the

and mysterious, but

faint

bumpy

straight into their eyes. It

outlines of her stocking,

it

was only the

was enough

and

to

first

show

in spite of the dis-

appointment of there being no beads she wriggled up out of her blankets and pounced

upon

again with Tibby she held

There were beads thing that

fell

!

it

Tom

it

with

upside

glee.

Back

in her

down and shook

had been up

in the night

it

warm

nest

joyfully.

and the

first

out was the shining string of pearls and turquoises.

It

was sad

sweet to

that only

see.

Tibby was there

to see her rapture, for

it

was

She laughed and sang under her breath and rocked

herself with joy.

cheek, and at

She kissed the beads and held them against her she

last

Then

she

mouse, the red

rib-

hung them around her

politely saluted all the other treasures, the sugar

neck.

bon, the apple and the three golden walnuts, the doll, the

pincushion and the unexpected

shell,

the

purse with sixpence

gift of a netted

inside.

The

and Polly became aware that there was

light strengthened

something unusual about

seemed

in the sky.

this

dawn. All the

colors of the

She shot out of bed and ran

to the

rainbow

window. The

sun had not risen yet above the sea but the brown brink of the dawn sky touched

it

and was mirrored

in

through amber and crocus color

it,

and above

the colors passed

it

to palest green,

and then

to hya-

cinth blue scattered over with rosy clouds, and these colors too were

mirrored in the

sea.

The morning

opened the window the breathing in lips

air

was

star still shone,

crisp

freshness, all the cocks

its

and

were

She leaned out

sailing

brown

sail,

Polly

was dressed

cloak, she sped

then her

to her very

farther, her eyes wide, for three ships

sail like

the

wing

in the twinkling of

down the stairs into

when anything

And

warmth

toward the harbor. One had a red

and one had a

she leaned out,

to crow.

parted and the tingling blood sent a glow of

fingertips.

As

cool.

began

and when Polly

an

sail

and one had a

of a swan. eye,

the parlor.

As

and grabbing her it

was Christmas,

unlikely might occur, she was not at

to see that her friend the wise

mad Frenchman had 50

all

surprised

joined the

first

wise

man and

his feet

were

that both

on Aunt Dorcas'

told

them

that

it

penetrated and she had heels as she ran

down

in.

in the

She shook them

them out the

and the other

in the

on the mantelpiece. She shook them

was Christmas Day

three ships were sailing

one on the sofa with

;

best brocade cushion

best armchair with his feet

and

fast asleep there

hill,

in the street

morning and

that

until at last the

news

and stumbling

at her

with her red cloak streaming out

behind her and the bright beads that hung around her neck catching the morning light as they

swung

to

and

fro.

They came their sails

to the

harbor just as the ships entered

and coming

in gently.

The two men and

letting

down

Polly ran

down

it,

the jetty and stood waiting with beating hearts while the three ships glided over the water before

peace.

them with

all

composure and

all

Fishermen manned them but upon the deck of the third ship

^^"

,

iV^

r-''

\-Mi

><

i.'iSL

^' ^Z"--"

*

':\

.'

^-•

#!!!v^^i:t

r-.^-

"^c^ ^——'

=^

'

J^

i_= ^P

~i~^^ar

-/

-

" '

^-^

--,

T >

|i~ I

"rr—'=-4^Jfr

|,L-—

*-'^r

%

m

\

and

there stood a lady in a blue cloak

head.

They came

a

little

a

it

seemed

bring the whole bright

Then he

a great cry, a cry so loud

to tear the flowery sky into

dawn tumbling

fragments and

about them in confusion.

leaped from the harbor wall to the deck of the third ship,

and Polly jumped his shoulder

town were

land.

see

arms and hid her face against

what happened.

found that the sun had

ringing.

bells in the

into her uncle's

and did not

face again she

and

child with a golden

nearer and they could see the lady's face,

and suddenly the mad Frenchman gave

and wild that

little

They made such a

risen

When

and

all

she lifted her

the bells of the

noise that she thought all the

world must be ringing, pealing and clashing over

The

sailors

were singing

Tom was singing and

so

was

she,

as they

and

so

made

were

the boats

all

all

the souls

on earth

shall sing,

On Christmas day, on Christmas day And all the souls on earth shall sing.

On Christmas day in the morning."

and

the people in the

world.

"And

fast,

sea

.

'•'/>^.-^t'v*-'

^

-'

m^vV'J^ss*'''*'''^^

Eight Meanwhile

in

Holly Cottage Constantia was awake. !

"Dorcas, get up " she cried, shaking her. "I saw three ships

"What's

asked Dorcas

that.?"

"When I pulled Wake up, Dorcas

!

sleepily.

back the curtains

I

saw three

ships in the harbor.

!

"Three

ships.?"

asked Dorcas, sitting up.

"What

a fuss about

nothing. There are often ships in the harbor." She seemed as usual again. It

was Constantia who was

lifted

out of herself.

"Listen to the bells!" she said. "All the bells on earth!"

55

own

"Don't talk nonsense," said Dorcas. "Only our

bells.

They

always ring on Christmas morning."

"Not

like this," said Constantia.

in the house.

have been

Your

I

men

in the parlor. It smells of tobacco is

crumpled

to pieces.

and a purse of gold on the

That roused Dorcas. She was out

not

and sherry wine. There

ing the curlers from their hair

of bed in a flash

when

is

crockery

table."

minutes she and Constantia were dressed. They were

in Fish Street.

is

have been downstairs and during the night there

best brocade cushion

in the hearth

"Get up, Dorcas. Polly

and

just

in five

wrench-

they heard the running feet

"Put on your cloak and bonnet, Constantia," said

Dorcas. She had dressed herself by the window, where she could

keep her eyes on the

ships.

They were only

their beauty, reflected in the great.

Who

crowing

.f*

running.

had come

The

calm water of the harbor, was very

sailing in at

bells clashed

three fishing boats but

out and

dawn when still

the cocks were

the feet in the street were

tt

—

:--^*

"Come

quickly, Constantia," she said. "Bring the key of the

front door

and come quickly."

She spared only a glance

at the state of the parlor as they let

themselves out into the bright sunshine of Fish Street. pealed

"What

is it.''"

lots of

children and they were

cried Constantia of a

"A little child and his mother have "Who are they.?" cried Dorcas. "The mad Frenchman the

bells

more joyously than ever and people were running down the

There were

hill.

The

hem

boy

all

laughing.

who was running

by.

landed," said the boy.

knelt on the deck of the ship and kissed

of her skirt," answered another voice.

57

And a

third voice cried out,

"Tom Flowerdew's come home."

Dorcas and Constantia began

to run.

58

Fish Street had a twist in they saw

them coming up

it,

and

the

The

hill.

beautiful

blue cloak was holding the golden-haired

and he was smiling ing children.

at the sight of the

With them came two

lingly blue

dancing

and

gold.

them

The feet of

little

running

tall

the sea

feet

when

let

us

and the laughfor a

moment

and the sky were spark-

the running children seemed to be

all rejoice

amain

On Christmas day, on Christmas day Then

in her

she looked again

to a tune.

"Then let us

woman

boy by the hand,

men, and

Constantia thought there were three, but there were only two. Behind

around the corner

as they ran

all rejoice

amain

On Christmas day in the morning."

60

About the Author Elizabeth Goudge was born at Wells

in Somerset,

England, where

her father was principal of the Theological College. She

now

in a seventeenth-century cottage in Oxfordshire, England.

lives

About the Artist

Margot Tomes was born

in Yonkers,

New

York. She was gradu-

ated from Pratt Institute.

In addition to her she

is

work

as

an

illustrator of

books for children,

a textile designer.

Miss

Tomes

lives

and works

in

New

York

City.

BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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9999 01031 890 3

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I saw three ships

\

Up ^ e\-^

'70

Boston Public Li^ary

JAMAICA PLAIN BRANCH LIBRARY

The Date Due Card

in the pocket indi-

cates the date on or before

book should be returned

which

this

to the Library.

Please do not remove cards from this pocket.

The Author Elizabeth Goudge was born in Somerset,

at

Wells

England, where her father

was principal of the Theological College.

She

now

lives in a seventeenth-

century cottage in Oxfordshire, England.

6909

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INC.

Publishers

200 Madison Avenue

New York, N.Y.

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ELIZABETH

GOUDGE m^

A BOOK OF COMFORT A BOOK OF PEACE

A CHRISTMAS BOOK A CITY OF

BELLS

THE DEAN'S WATCH

A DIARY OF PRAYER ^T — -T^

LINNETS

AND VALERIANS

THE LITTLE WHITE HORSE

MY GOD AND MY

ALL

THE SCENT OF WATER