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Oh, dear! cried Chimborazo. What will happen then?
You will see! said the fairy godmother, with a nod. Something will happen, you may be very sure of that. Good-by. Remember, only forty-five! And away she flew out of the window.
Oh, dear! cried Chimborazo, bursting into tears. I dont want it! I wont have it! Oh, dear ! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, DEAR!!!
Ting! ting! ting-ting-ting-ting ! said the bell-punch; and now there were ten round holes in the strip of pasteboard. Chimborazo was now really frightened. He was silent for some time; and when his mother called him to his lessons he tried very hard not to say the dangerous words. But the habit was so strong that he said them unconsciously. By dinnertime there were twenty-five holes in the cardboard strip; by tea-time there were forty! Poor Chimborazo! he was afraid to open his lips, for whenever he did the words would slip out in spite of him.
Well, Chimbo, said his father after tea, I hear you have had a visit from your fairy godmother. What did she say to you, eh?
Oh, dear! said Chimborazo, she said oh, dear! Ive said it again!
She said, Oh, dear! Ive said it again! repeated his father. What do you mean by that?
Oh, dear! I didnt mean that, cried Chimborazo hastily; and again the inexorable bell rang, and he knew that another hole was punched in the fatal cardboard. He pressed
his lips firmly together, and did not open them again except to say Good-night, until he was safe in his own room. Then he hastily drew the hated bell-punch from his pocket, and counted the holes in the strip of cardboard; there were forty-three! Oh, dear ! cried the boy, forgetting himself again in his alarm, only two more! Oh, dear ! oh, DEAR! Ive done it again! oh Ting! ting! went the bell-punch; and the cardboard was punched to the end. Oh, dear! cried Chimborazo, now beside himself with terror. Oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear! oh, dear !! what will become of me?
A strange whirring noise was heard, then a loud clang; and the next moment the bell-punch, as if it were alive, flew out of his hand, out of the window, and was gone!
Chimborazo stood breathless with terror for a few minutes, momentarily expecting that the roof would fall in on his head, or the floor blow up under his feet, or some appalling catastrophe of some kind follow; but nothing followed. Everything was quiet, and there seemed to be nothing to do but go to bed; and so to bed he went, and slept, only to dream that he was shot through the head with a bell-punch, and died saying, Oh, dear!
The next morning, when Chimborazo came downstairs, his father said, My boy, I am going to drive over to your grandfathers farm this morning; would you like to go with me?
A drive to the farm was one of the greatest pleasures Chimborazo had, so he answered promptly, Oh, dear !
Oh, very well! said his father, looking much surprised. You need not go, my son, if you do not want to. I will take Robert instead.
Poor Chimborazo! He had opened his lips to say, Thank you, papa. I should like to go very much! and, instead of these words, out had popped, in his most doleful tone, the now hated Oh, dear! He sat amazed; but was roused by his mothers calling him to breakfast.
Come, Chimbo, she said. Here are sausages and scrambled eggs: and you are very fond of both of them. Which will you have?
Chimborazo hastened to say, Sausages, please, mamma, that is, he hastened to try to say it; but all his mother heard was, Oh, dear !
His father looked much displeased. Give the boy some bread and water, wife, he said sternly. If he cannot answer properly, he must be taught. I have had enough of this oh, dear! business.
Poor Chimborazo! He saw plainly enough now what his punishment was to be; and the thought of it made him tremble. He tried to ask for some more bread, but only brought out his Oh, dear ! in such a lamentable tone that his father ordered him to leave the room. He went out into the garden, and there he met John the gardener, carrying a basket of rosy apples. Oh! how good they looked!
I am bringing some of the finest apples up to the house, little master, said John. Will you have one to put in your pocket?
Oh, dear ! was all the poor boy could say, though he wanted an apple, oh, so much! And when John heard that he put the apple back in his basket, muttering something about ungrateful monkeys.
Poor Chimborazo! I will not give the whole history of that miserable day, a miserable day it was from beginning to end. He fared no better at dinner than at breakfast; for at the second Oh, dear! his father sent him up to his room, to stay there until he knew how to take what was given him, and be thankful for it. He knew well enough by this time; but he could not tell his father so. He went to his room, and sat looking out of the window, a hungry and miserable boy.
In the afternoon his cousin Will came up to see him. Why, Chimbo! he cried. Why do you sit moping here in the house, when all the boys are out? Come and play marbles with me on the piazza. Ned and Harry are out there waiting for you. Come on!