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Page 45
These speculations were interrupted by the clear, joyous note of a
bird, just above Balder's head. It was such a note as might have been
uttered by a paradisical cuckoo with the breath of a brighter world in
his throat. Looking up, he saw a beautiful little fowl perched on the
topmost twig of the birch-tree. It had a slender bill, and on its head
a crest of splendid feathers, which it set up at Balder in a most
coquettish manner. The next moment it flew over the wall, and from the
farther side warbled an invitation to follow.
Although he could not fly, Balder reflected that he could climb, and
that the top of the tree would show him more than he could see now.
The birch looked tolerably climbable and was amply high; as to
toughness, he thought not about it. Beneath what frivolous disguises
does destiny mask her approach! Discretion is a virtue; yet, had
Balder been discreet enough to examine the tree before getting into
it, the ultimate consequences are incalculable!
As it was (and marvelling why he had not thought of doing it before)
he set stoutly to work, and, despite his jack-boots, was soon among
the upper branches. The birch trembled and groaned unheeded. The bird
(an Egyptian bird,--a hoopoe,--descendant of a pair brought by Doctor
Glyphic from the Nile a quarter of a century ago),--the hoopoe was
fluttering and warbling and setting its brilliant cap at the young man
more captivatingly than ever. A glance over the enclosure showed a
beautifully fertile and luxurious expanse, damasked with soft green
grass and studded with flowers and trees. A few hundred yards away
billowed the white tops of an apple-orchard in full bloom. Southward,
half seen through boughs and leaves, rose an anomalous structure of
brick, glass, and stone, which could only be the famous house on whose
design and decoration old Hiero Glyphic had spent years and fortunes.
The tract was like an oasis in a forbidding land. The soil had none
of the sandy and clayey consistency peculiar to New Jersey, but was
deep and rich as an English valley. The sunshine rested more warmly
and mellowly here than elsewhere. The southern breeze acquired a
tropical flavor in loitering across it. The hoopoe had seemed out of
place on the hither side the wall, but now looked as much at home as
though the Hudson had been the Nile indeed.
"My uncle," said Balder to himself, as he swayed among the branches of
his birch-tree, "has really succeeded very well in transporting a
piece of Egypt to America. Were I on the other side of the wall, no
doubt I might appreciate it also!"
The hoopoe responded encouragingly, the tree cracked, and Balder felt
with dismay that it was tottering beneath him. There was no time to
climb down again. With a dismal croak, the faithless birch leaned
slowly through the air. There was nothing to be done but to go with
it; and Balder, even as he descended, was able to imagine how absurd
he must appear. The tree fell, but was intercepted at half its height
by the top of the wall. The upper half of the stem, with its human
fruit still attached to it, bent bow-like towards the earth, the trunk
not being quite separated from the root.
Helwyse had thus far managed to keep his presence of mind, and now,
glancing downwards, he saw the ground not eight feet below. He loosed
his hold, and the next instant stood in the soft grass. The birch had
been his broomstick. Meanwhile the hoopoe, with a triumphant note,
flew off towards the house to tell the news.
XVI.
LEGEND AND CHRONICLE.
Hiero Glyphic's house came not into the world complete at a birth, but
was the result of an irregular growth, progressing through many years.
Originally a single-gabled edifice, its only peculiarity had been that
it was brick instead of wooden. Here, red and unornamented as the
house itself, the future Egyptologist was born. The parallel between
him and his dwelling was maintained more or less closely to the end.
He was the first pledge of affection between his mother and father,
and the last also; for shortly after his advent the latter parent, a
retired undertaker by profession, failed from this world. The widow
was much younger than her husband, and handsome to boot. Nevertheless,
several years passed before she married again. Her second lord was
likewise elderly, but differed from the first in being enormously
wealthy. The issue of this union was a daughter, the Helen of our
story, a pretty, dark-eyed little thing, petted and indulged by all
the family, and reigning undisputed over all.
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