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Page 24
Then for a little space they both gazed at it carefully; Jack Frost
bending down his tall head to get a nearer view of it, and Lionel
standing upon the tips of his toes to accomplish the same purpose.
"Oh, see, see!" cried the boy, joyously. "It says, 'LIONEL,--HIS RULE
FOR LIFE.' That means I can keep it for always, does n't it? Forever
'n' ever."
"It means," explained Jack Frosty gravely, "that you can keep it,--yes.
But it means you are to measure your life with it. You are always to
use it in everything you do. Then you 'll be _true_, and whatever you
do will be _straight_ and _square_."
"Why, that's what he said himself. He said I must always 'go square.'
That was when he was giving me directions how to reach the beautiful
place he came from. He called it an estate; and he said if I ever got
there I 'd never want to come away. As long as I 'm on the way I guess
I 'll try to find that place. Will you take me?"
"I 'm afraid," replied Jack Frost, with a very kindly seriousness,--"I
'm afraid one must depend on one's self in order to reach that place.
But I 'll tell you what I will do; I 'll stay with you for a bit, and,
perhaps, having company will hearten you, so if you happen to come
across any specially bad places just at first, you won't be
discouraged. And I want to tell you that if you are ever in doubt as
to the way and no one is there to give you advice, just set yourself to
work and use your rule and you 'll come out right. Now don't forget!"
and with these words he vanished.
"Why, I thought he was going to stay with me," murmured Lionel,
despondently. "He was so jolly, and I liked him so much. He said he
wouldn't leave me just yet--"
"Nor have I," rejoined the hearty voice close by his ear. "But I can't
neglect my business, you know; and at this moment I 'm here and 'way
off in Alaska too. Stiff work, is n't it?"
But in spite of this Lionel heard him whistling cheerily beside him.
The boy trudged on, and every once in a while he and his invisible
comrade would converse together in the most friendly manner possible,
and Lionel did indeed feel encouraged by the knowledge of Jack Frost's
companionship. But by and by, after quite a long time, Lionel noticed
that when he addressed his unseen fellow-traveller the voice that came
to him in reply seemed rather far away and distant, and later became
lost to him altogether.
Then he knew that Jack Frost had left him for a season, and he felt
quite lonely and deserted and was about to drop a tear or two of
regret, when all at once, at his very feet, opened a new way which he
had not noticed before. It looked bright and inviting, and wound along
in the most picturesque fashion, instead of lying straight and level
before him, as did the road from which it branched.
He was just about to turn down this fascinating side-path, and was in
the very act of complaining about his loneliness and bemoaning it
aloud, when he happened to notice that the sky looked a little
overcast; the air had grown heavy and still, and a strange, sad hush
brooded over everything; while the bare branches upon the trees
appeared to droop, and the one or two birds that had perched upon them
uttered low, plaintive little sounds that were disheartening to hear.
Lionel was struck with so great an awe that he entirely forgot himself
and his sorrow; and in that one moment the skies seemed to brighten,
the air to lighten, and the trees and birds had grown songful again.
"What does it mean?" he asked himself anxiously; and then, all at once,
he bethought himself of Jack Frost's advice in case he ever was in
doubt as to the course he was to take, and in a twinkling had whipped
out his rule and was down on his knees applying it in good earnest.
Then how glad he was that he had not turned into the inviting by-path,
for his little rule showed how crooked and wrong it was,--whole yards
and yards away from the right; and he knew he must have met with some
mishap, or at the very least have wasted any amount of precious time
trying to retrace his steps and regain the place upon which he now
stood.
He was so relieved to think he had been saved from making such a sad
mistake that he began to whistle merrily, and in an instant the whole
world about him was bright of hue and joyous again, and looking, he
saw, to his amazement, that the bare branches were abud.
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