Books: The Last of the Huggermuggers
C >>
Christopher Pierce Cranch >> The Last of the Huggermuggers
CHAPTER SEVEN.
HOW HE MADE USE OF HUGGERMUGGER IN TRAVELLING.
While Little Jacket sat pondering over his situation, he heard voices
not far off, as of two persons talking. But they were great voices, as
of trumpets and drums. He looked over the top of the rock against
which he was seated, and saw for the first time the entire forms of
Huggermugger and his wife, looming up like two great light-houses. He
knew it must be they, for he recognized their voices. They were
standing on the other side of a huge stone wall. It was the giant's
garden.
[Illustration: A PEEP AT THE HUGGERMUGGERS.]
"Wife," said Huggermugger, "I think now I've got my long boots on
again, and my toe feels so much better, I shall go through the marsh
yonder and kill a few frogs for your dinner; after that, perhaps I may
go down again to the seashore, and get some more of those delicious
clams I found last night."
"Well husband," says the wife, "you may go if you choose for your
clams, but be sure you get me some frogs, for you know how fond I am
of them."
So Huggermugger took his basket and his big stick, and strode off to
the marsh. "Now," thought the little sailor, "is my time. I must watch
which way he goes and if I can manage not to be seen, and can only
keep up with him--for he goes at a tremendous pace--we shall see!"
So the giant went to the marsh, in the middle of which was a pond,
while Little Jacket followed him as near as he dared to go. Pretty
soon, he saw the huge fellow laying about him with his stick, and
making a great splashing in the water. It was evident he was killing
Mrs. Huggermugger's frogs, a few of which he put in his basket, and
then strode away in another direction. Little Jacket now made the best
use of his little legs that he ever made in his life. If he could only
keep the giant in sight! He was much encouraged by perceiving that
Huggermugger, who, as I said before, was a lazy giant, walked at a
leisurely pace, and occasionally stopped to pick the berries that grew
everywhere in the fields. Little Jacket could see his large figure
towering up some miles ahead. Another fortunate circumstance, too,
was, that the giant was smoking his pipe as he went, and even when
Little Jacket almost lost sight of him, he could guess where he was
from the clouds of smoke floating in the air, like the vapor from a
high-pressure Mississippi steamboat. So the little sailor toiled
along, scrambling over rocks, and through high weeds and grasses and
bushes, till they came to a road. Then Jacky's spirits began to rise,
and he kept along as cautiously, yet as fast as he could, stopping
only when the giant stopped. At last, after miles and miles of
walking, he caught a glimpse of the sea through the huge trees that
skirted the road. How his heart bounded! "I shall at least see my
messmates again," he said, "and if we are destined to remain long in
this island, we will at least help each other, and bear our hard lot
together."
It was not long before he saw the beach, and the huge Huggermugger
groping in the wet sand for his shell-fish. "If I can but reach my
companions without being seen, tell them my strange adventures, and
all hide ourselves till the giant is out of reach, I shall be only too
happy." Very soon he saw the group of beautiful great shells, just as
they were when he left them, except that _his_ shell, of course,
was not there, as it graced Mrs. Huggermugger's domestic fireside.
When he came near enough, he called some of his comrades by name, not
too loud, for fear of being heard by the shell-fish-loving giant. They
knew his voice, and one after another looked out of his shell. They
had already seen the giant, as they were out looking for their lost
companion, and had fled to hide themselves in their shells.
"For heaven's sake," cried the little sailor. "Tom, Charley, all of
you! don't stay here; the giant will come and carry you all off to his
house under the cliffs; his wife has a particular liking for those
beautiful houses of yours. I have just escaped, almost by miracle.
Come, come with me--here--under the rocks--in this cave--quick, before
he sees us!"
So Little Jacket hurried his friends into a hole in the rocks, where
the giant would never think of prying. Huggermugger did not see them.
They were safe. As soon as he had filled his basket, he went off, and
left nothing but his footprints and the smoke of his pipe behind him.
After all, I don't think the giant would have hurt them, had he seen
them. For he would have known the difference between a sailor and a
shell-fish at once, and was no doubt too good-natured to injure them,
if they made it clear to his mind that they were not by any means
fish: but, on the contrary, might disagree dreadfully with his
digestion, should he attempt to swallow them.
CHAPTER EIGHT.
HOW LITTLE JACKET AND HIS FRIENDS LEFT THE GIANT'S ISLAND.
Very soon the sailors found a nice, large, dry cave in the rocks.
There they brought dry sea-weed and made it into beds, and lived on
the fish and fruits, which they had not much difficulty in obtaining.
They even dragged their beautiful shells into the cave, and made
little closets and cupboards of them. Their cups and plates were made
of smaller bivalve shells. Their drink was clear spring-water, which
they discovered near by, mixed with the juice of fruits.
They lived in this way for several weeks, always hoping some good luck
would happen. At last, one day, they saw a ship a few miles from the
shore. They all ran to the top of a rock, and shouted and waved their
hats. Soon, to their indescribable joy, they saw a boat approaching
the shore. They did not wait for it to reach the land, but being all
good swimmers, with one accord plunged into the sea and swam to the
boat. The sailors in the boat proved to be all Americans, and the ship
was the Nancy Johnson, from Portsmouth, N. H., bound to the East
Indies, but being out of water had made for land to obtain a supply.
The poor fellows were glad enough to get on board ship again. As they
sailed off, they fancied they saw in the twilight, the huge forms of
the great Mr. and Mrs. Huggermugger on the rocks, gazing after them
with open eyes and mouths.
They pointed them out to the people of the ship, as Little Jacket
related his wonderful adventures: but the sailors only laughed at
them, and saw nothing but huge rocks and trees; and they whispered
among themselves, that the poor fellows had lived too long on tough
clams and sour berries, and cold water, and that a little jolly life
on board ship would soon cure their disordered imaginations.
CHAPTER NINE.
MR. NABBUM.
Little Jacket and his friends were treated very kindly by the Captain
and crew of the Nancy Johnson, and as a few more sailors were wanted
on board, their services were gladly accepted. They all arrived safely
at Java, where the ship took in a cargo of coffee. Little Jacket often
related his adventures in the giant's island, but the sailors, though
many of them were inclined to believe in marvellous stories, evidently
did not give much credit to Jacky's strange tale, but thought he must
have dreamed it all.
There was, however, one man who came frequently on board the ship
while at Java, who seemed not altogether incredulous. He was a tall,
powerful Yankee, who went by the name of Zebedee Nabbum.
He had been employed as an agent of Barnum, to sail to the Indies and
other countries in search of elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, tigers,
baboons, and any wild animals he might chance to ensnare. He had been
fitted out with a large ship and crew, and all the men and implements
necessary for this exciting and dangerous task, and had been
successful in entrapping two young elephants, a giraffe, a lion,
sixteen monkeys, and a great number of parrots. He was now at Java
superintending the manufacture of a very powerful net of grass-ropes,
an invention of his own, with which he hoped to catch a good many more
wild animals, and return to America, and make his fortune by
exhibiting them for Mr. Barnum.
Now Zebedee Nabbum listened with profound attention to Little Jacket's
story, and pondered and pondered over it.
[Illustration: MR. NABBUM HEARS LITTLE JACKET'S STORY.]
"And after all," he said to himself, "why shouldn't it be true? Don't
we read in Scripter that there war giants once? Then why hadn't there
ought to be some on 'em left--in some of them remote islands whar
nobody never was? Grimminy! If it should be true--if we should find
Jacky's island--if we should see the big critter alive, or his
wife--if we could slip a noose under his legs and throw him down--or
carry along the great net and trap him while he war down on the beach
arter his clams, and manage to tie him and carry him off in my ship!
He'd kick, I know. He'd a kind o' roar and struggle, and maybe swamp
the biggest raft we could make to fetch him. But couldn't we starve
him into submission? Or, if we gave him plenty of clams, couldn't we
keep him quiet? Or couldn't we give the critter _Rum?_--I guess
he don't know nothin' of ardent sperets--and obfusticate his wits--and
get him reglar boozy--couldn't we do any thing we chose to, then? An't
it worth tryin', any how? If we _could_ catch him, and get him to
Ameriky alive, or only his skeleton, my fortune's made, I cal'late. I
kind o' can't think that young fellow's been a gullin' me. He talks as
though he'd seen the awful big critters with his own eyes. So do the
other six fellows--they couldn't all of 'em have been dreamin'."
So Zebedee had a conversation one day with the Captain of the Nancy
Johnson, and found out from him that he had taken the latitude and
longitude of the coast where they took away the shipwrecked sailors.
The Captain also described to Zebedee the appearance of the coast;
and, in short, Zebedee contrived to get all the information about the
place the Captain could give him, without letting it appear that he
had any other motive in asking questions than mere curiosity.
CHAPTER TEN.
ZEBEDEE AND JACKY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER.
Zebedee now communicated to Little Jacket his plans about sailing for
the giant's coast, and entrapping Huggermugger and carrying him to
America. Little Jacket was rather astonished at the bold scheme of the
Yankee, and tried to dissuade him from attempting it. But Zebedee had
got his head so full of the notion now, that he was determined to
carry out his project, if he could. He even tried to persuade Little
Jacket to go with him, and his six companions, and finally succeeded.
The six other sailors, however, swore that nothing would tempt them to
expose themselves again on shore to the danger of being taken by the
giant. Little Jacket agreed to land with Zebedee and share all danger
with him, on condition that Zebedee would give him half the profits
Barnum should allow them from the exhibition of the giant in America.
But Little Jacket made Zebedee promise that he would be guided by his
advice, in their endeavors to ensnare the giant. Indeed, a new idea
had entered Jacky's head as to the best way of getting Huggermugger
into their power, and that was to try persuasion rather than stratagem
or force. I will tell you the reasons he had for so thinking.
1. The Huggermuggers were not Ogres or Cannibals. They lived on fish,
frogs, fruit, vegetables, grains, &c.
2. The Huggermuggers wore clothes, lived in houses, and were
surrounded with various indications of civilization. They were not
savages.
3. The Huggermuggers spoke English, with a strange accent, to be sure.
They seemed sometimes to prefer it to their own language. They must,
then, have been on friendly terms with English or Americans, at some
period of their lives.
4. The Huggermuggers were not wicked and blood-thirsty. How different
from the monsters one reads about in children's books! On the
contrary, though they had little quarrels together now and then, they
did not bite nor scratch, but seemed to live together as peaceably and
lovingly, on the whole, as most married couples. And the only time he
had a full view of their faces, Little Jacket saw in them an
expression which was really good and benevolent.
All these facts came much more forcibly to Jacky's mind, now that the
first terror was over, and calm, sober reason had taken the place of
vague fear.
He, therefore, told Mr. Nabbum, at length, his reasons for proposing,
and even urging, that unless Huggermugger should exhibit a very
different side to his character from that which he had seen, nothing
like force or stratagem should be resorted to.
"For," said Little Jacket, "even if you succeeded, Mr. Nabbum, in
throwing your net over his head, or your noose round his leg, as you
would round an elephant's, you should consider how powerful and
intelligent and, if incensed, how furious an adversary you have to
deal with. None but a man out of his wits would think of carrying him
off to your ship by main force. And as to your idea of making him
drunk, and taking him aboard in that condition, there is no knowing
whether drink would not render him quite furious, and ten times more
unmanageable than ever. No, take my word for it, Mr. Nabbum, that I
know Huggermugger too well to attempt any of your tricks with him. You
cannot catch him as you would an elephant or a hippopotamus. Be guided
by me, and see if my plan don't succeed better than yours."
"Well," answered Zebedee, "I guess, arter all, Jackie, you may be
right. You've seen the big varmint, and feel a kind of o' acquainted
with him, so you see I won't insist on my plan, if you've any better.
Now, what I want to know is, what's your idee of comin' it over the
critter?"
"You leave that to me," said Little Jacket; "if talking and making
friends with him can do any thing, I think I can do it. We may coax
him away; tell him stories about our country, and what fun he'd have
among the people so much smaller than himself, and how they'd all look
up to him as the greatest man they ever had, which will be true, you
know: and that perhaps the Americans will make him General
Huggermugger, or His Excellency President Huggermugger; and you add a
word about our nice oysters, and clam-chowders.
"I think there'd be room for him in your big ship. It's warm weather,
and he could lie on deck, you know; and we could cover him up at night
with matting and old sails; and he'd be so tickled at the idea of
going to sea, and seeing strange countries, and we'd show him such
whales and porpoises, and tell him such good stories, that I think
he'd keep pretty quiet till we reached America. To be sure, it's a
long voyage, and we'd have to lay in an awful sight of provisions, for
he's a great feeder; but we can touch at different ports as we go
along, and replenish our stock.
"One difficulty will be, how to persuade him to leave his wife--for
there wouldn't be room for two of them. We must think the matter over,
and it will be time enough to decide what to do when we get there.
Even if we find it impossible to get him to go with us, we'll get
somebody to write his history, and an account of our adventures, and
make a book that will sell."
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
THEY SAIL FOR HUGGERMUGGER'S ISLAND.
So Little Jacket sailed with Mr. Zebedee Nabbum, in search of the
giant's island. They took along a good crew, several bold
elephant-hunters, an author to write their adventures, an artist to
sketch the Huggermuggers, Little Jacket's six comrades,
grappling-irons, nets, ropes, harpoons, cutlasses, pistols, guns, the
two young elephants, the lion, the giraffe, the monkeys, and the
parrots.
They had some difficulty in finding the island, but by taking repeated
observations, they at last discovered land that they thought must be
it. They came near, and were satisfied that they were not deceived.
There were the huge black cliffs--there were the rocky promontory--the
beach. It was growing dusk, however, and they determined to cast
anchor, and wait till morning before they sent ashore a boat.
Was it fancy or not, that Little Jacket thought he could see in the
gathering darkness, a dim, towering shape, moving along like a pillar
of cloud, now and then stooping to pick up something on the
shore--till it stopped, and seemed looking in the direction of the
ship, and then suddenly darted off towards the cliffs, and disappeared
in the dark woods.
CHAPTER TWELVE.
THE HUGGERMUGGERS IN A NEW LIGHT.
I think the giant must have seen the ship, and ran home at full speed
to tell his wife about it. For in the morning early, as Little Jacket
and Nabbum and several others of the boldest of the crew had just
landed their boat, and were walking on the beach, whom should they see
but Huggermugger and his wife hastening towards them with rapid
strides. Their first impulse was to rush and hide themselves, but the
Huggermuggers came too fast towards them to allow them to do so. There
was nothing else to do but face the danger, if danger there was. What
was their surprise to find that the giant and giantess wore the most
beaming smiles on their broad faces. They stooped down and patted
their heads with their huge hands, and called them, in broken English,
"pretty little dolls and dears, and where did they come from, and how
long it was since they had seen any little men like them--and wouldn't
they go home and see them in their big house under the cliffs?" Mrs.
Huggermugger, especially, was charmed with them, and would have taken
them home in her arms--"she had no children of her own, and they
should live with her and be her little babies." The sailors did not
exactly like the idea of being treated like babies, but they were so
astonished and delighted to find the giants in such good humor, that
they were ready to submit to all the good woman's caresses.
Little Jacket then told them where they came from, and related his
whole story of having been shipwrecked there, and all his other
adventures. As he told them how Huggermugger had carried home the big
shell with him in it, sound asleep; how he had let himself down from
the mantel-piece, and had tried to escape by cutting at the door; and
how, when he heard Huggermugger coming, he had rushed into the boot,
and how he had pricked the giant's toe when he attempted to draw his
boot on, and how the boot and he were taken to the cobbler's--then
Huggermugger and his wife could contain themselves no longer, but
burst into such peals of laughter, that the people in the ship, who
were watching their movements on shore through their spy-glasses, and
expected every moment to see their companions all eaten alive or
carried off to be killed, knew not what to make of it. Huggermugger
and his wife laughed till the tears ran down their faces, and made
such a noise in their merriment, that the sailors wished they were
further off. They, however, were in as great glee as the giant and
giantess, and began to entertain such a good opinion of them, that
they were ready to assent to anything the Huggermuggers proposed. In
fact, except in matter of size, they could see very little difference
between the giants and themselves. All Zebedee Nabbum's warlike and
elephant-trapping schemes melted away entirely, and he even began to
have a sort of conscientious scruple against enticing away the big
fellow who proved to be such a jolly good-humored giant. He was
prepared for resistance. He would have even liked the fun of throwing
a noose over his head, and pulling him down and harpooning him, but
this good-humored, merry laughter, this motherly caressing, was too
much for Zebedee. He was overcome. Even Little Jacket was astonished.
The once dreaded giant was in all respects like them--only O, so much
bigger!
So, after a good deal of friendly talk, Huggermugger invited the whole
boat's crew to go home with him to dinner, and even to spend some days
with him, if they would. Little Jacket liked the proposal, but Zebedee
said they must first send back a message to the ship, to say where
they were going. Huggermugger send his card by the boat, to the rest
of the ship's company--it was a huge piece of pasteboard, as big as a
dining-table--saying, that he and Mrs. H. would be happy, some other
day, to see all who would do him the honor of a visit. He would come
himself and fetch them in his fish-basket, as the road was rough, and
difficult for such little folks to travel.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
HUGGERMUGGER HALL.
The next morning Huggermugger appeared on the beach with his big
basket, and took away about half a dozen of the sailors. Zebedee and
Little Jacket went with them. It was a curious journey, jogging along
in his basket, and hanging at such a height from the ground. Zebedee
could not help thinking what a capital thing it would be in America to
have a few big men like him to lift heavy stones for building, or to
carry the mail bags from city to city, at a railroad speed. But, as to
travelling in his fish-basket, he certainly preferred our
old-fashioned railroad cars.
[Illustration: A NEW MODE OF CONVEYANCE.]
They were all entertained very hospitably at Huggermugger Hall. They
had a good dinner of fish, frogs, fruit, and vegetables, and drank a
kind of beer, made of berries, out of Mrs. Huggermugger's thimble,
much to the amusement of all. Mrs. Huggermugger showed them her
beautiful shell, and made Little Jacket tell how he had crept out of
it, and let himself down by the fishing-line. And Huggermugger made
him act over again the scene of hiding in the boot. At which all
laughed again. The little people declined their hosts' pressing
invitation to stay all night, so Huggermugger took them all back to
their boat. They had enough to tell on board ship about their visit.
The next day, and the day after, others of the crew were entertained
in the same way at Huggermugger Hall, till all had satisfied their
curiosity. The giant and his wife being alone in the island, they felt
that it was pleasant to have their solitude broken by the arrival of
the little men. There were several dwarfs living here and there in the
island, who worked for the giants, of whom Kobboltozo was one; but
there were no other giants. The Huggermuggers were the last of their
race. Their history, however, was a secret they kept to themselves.
Whether they or their ancestors came from Brobdignag, or whether they
were descended from Gog and Magog, or Goliath of Gath, they never
would declare.
Mr. Scrawler, the author, who accompanied the ship, was very curious
to know something of their history and origin. He ascertained that
they learned English of a party of adventurers who once landed on
their shore, many years before, and that the Huggermugger race had
long inhabited the island. But he could learn nothing of their origin.
They looked very serious whenever this subject was mentioned. There
was evidently a mystery about them, which they had particular reasons
never to unfold. On all other subjects they were free and
communicative. On this, they kept the strictest and most guarded
silence.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
KOBBLETOZO ASTONISHES MR. SCRAWLER.
Now it chanced that some of the dwarfs I have spoken of, were not on
the best of terms with the Huggermuggers. Kobboltozo was one of these.
And the only reason why he disliked them, as far as could be
discovered, was that they were giants, and he (though a good deal
larger than an ordinary sized man) was but a dwarf. He could never be
as big as they were. He was like the frog that envied the ox, and his
envy and hatred sometimes swelled him almost to bursting. All the
favors that the Huggermuggers heaped upon him, had no effect in
softening him. He would have been glad at almost any misfortune that
could happen to them.
Now Kobboltozo was at the giant's house one day when Mr. Scrawler was
asking questions of Huggermugger about his origin, and observed his
disappointment at not being furnished with all the information he was
so eager to obtain; for Mr. Scrawler calculated to make a book about
the Huggermuggers and all their ancestors, which would sell. So while
Mr. Scrawler was taking a stroll in the garden, Kobboltozo came up to
him and told him he had something important to communicate to him.
They then retired behind some shrubbery, where Kobboltozo, taking a
seat under the shade of a cabbage, and requesting Mr. Scrawler to do
the same, looked around cautiously, and spoke as follows:--
"I perceive that you all are very eager to know something about the
Huggermugger's origin and history. I think that I am almost the only
one in this island besides them, who can gratify your curiosity in
this matter. But you must solemnly promise to tell no one, least of
all the giants, in what way you came to know what I am going to tell
you, unless it be after you have left the island, for I dread
Huggermugger's vengeance if he knows the story came from me."
"I promise," said Scrawler.
"Know then," said Kobboltozo, "that the ancestors of the
Huggermuggers--the Huggers on the male side, and the Muggers on the
female--were men smaller than me, the poor dwarf. Hundred of years ago
they came to this island, directed hither by an old woman, a sort of
witch, who told them that if they and their children, and their
children's children, ate constantly of a particular kind of
shell-fish, which was found in great abundance here, they would
continue to increase in size, with each successive generation, until
they became proportioned to all other growth on the island--till they
became giants--such giants as the Huggermuggers. But that the last
survivors of the race would meet with some great misfortune, if this
secret should ever he told to more than one person out of the
Huggermugger family. I have reasons for believing that Huggermugger
and his wife are the last of their race; for all their ancestors and
relations are dead, and they have no children, and are likely to have
none. _Now there are two persons who have been told the secret. It
was told to me, and I tell it to you_!"