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170 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
When Dick came they began to read it. It was avery wonderful
and exciting book, and the scene was laid in the reign of the famous
English queen who is called by some people Bloody Mary. And as
Mr. Hobbs heard of Queen Mary’s deeds and the habit she had of
chopping peoples heads off, putting them to the torture, and burn¬
ing them alive, he became very much excited. He took his pipe out
of his mouth and stared at Dick, and at last he was obliged to mop
the perspiration from his brow with his red pocket handkerchief.
“Why, he aint safe!” he said. ‘He aint safe! If the women
folks can sit up on their thrones an’ give the word for things like
that to be done, who ’s to know what "s happening to him this very
minute? He s no more safe than nothing! Just let a woman like
that get mad, an no one s safe!”
‘ Well,” said Dick, though he looked rather anxious himself; " ye
see this "ere un is nt the one that ss bossin’ things now. 1! know her
name s Victory, an’ this un here in the book, her name s Mary.”
‘So it is,” said Mr. Hobbs, still mopping his forehead; ‘‘so it 1s.
An’ the newspapers are not sayin’ anything about any racks, thumb¬
screws, or stake-burnin’s,— but still it does n’t seem as if t was safe
for him over there with those queer folks. Why, they tell me they
don't keep the Fourth o’ July!”
. He was privately uneasy for several days; and it was not until
he received Fauntleroy’s letter and had read it several times, both
to himself and to Dick, and had also read the letter Dick got about
the same time, that he became composed again.
But they both found great pleasure in their letters. They read
and re-read them, and talked them over and enjoyed every word of
them. And they spent days over the answers they sent, and read
them over almost as often as the letters they had received.
It was rather a labor for Dick to write his. All his knowledge of
reading and writing he had gained during a few months, when he