The Last of the Huggermuggers Read online

  "Ugh!" roared out the giant, in a voice like fifty mad bulls; "wife,wife, I say!"

  "What's the matter, dear?" says wife.

  "Here's one of your confounded needles in my boot. I wish to graciousyou'd be more careful how you leave them about!"

  "A needle in your boot?" said the giantess, "how can that be? Ihaven't been near your boots with my needles."

  "Well, you feel there yourself, careless woman, and you'll see."

  Whereupon the giantess took the boot, and put her great hand down intothe toe of it, when Little Jacket gave another thrust with his weapon.

  "O-o-o-o!!" screams the wife. "There's something here, for it ran intomy finger; we must try to get it out. She then put her hand in again,but very cautiously, and Little Jacket gave it another stab, whichmade her cry out more loudly than before. Then Huggermugger put hishand in, and again he roared out as he felt the sharp prick of thethorn.

  "It's no use," says he, flinging down the boot in a passion, almostbreaking Little Jacket's bones, as it fell. "Wife, take that boot tothe cobbler, and tell him to take that sharp thing out, whatever itis, and send it back to me in an hour, for I must go a hunting today."

  So off the obedient wife trotted to the shoemaker's, with the bootunder her arm. Little Jacket was curious to see whether the shoemakerwas a giant too. So when the boot was left in his workshop, hecontrived to peep out a little, and saw, instead of anotherHuggermugger, only a crooked little dwarf, not more than two or threetimes bigger than himself. He went by the name of Kobboltozo.

  "Tell your husband," says he, "that I will look into his bootpresently--I am busy just at this moment--and will bring it myself tohis house."

  Little Jacket was quite relieved to feel that he was safe out of thegiant's house, and that the giantess had gone. "Now," thought he, "Ithink I know what to do."

  After a while, Kobboltozo took up the bout and put his hand down intoit slowly and cautiously. But Little Jacket resolved to keep quietthis time. The dwarf were felt around so carefully, for fear of havinghis finger pricked, and his hand was so small in comparison with thatof the giant's, that Little Jacket had time to dodge around hisfingers and down into the toe of the boot, so that Kobboltozo couldfeel nothing there. He concluded, therefore, that whatever it was thathurt the giant and his wife, whether needle, or pin, or tack, orthorn, it must have dropped out on the way to his shop. So he laid theboot down, and went for his coat and hat. Little Jacket knew that nowwas his only chance of escape--he dreaded being carried back toHuggermugger--so he resolved to make a bold move. No sooner was thedwarf's back turned, as he went to reach down his coat, than LittleJacket rushed out of the boot, made a spring from the table on whichit lay, reached the floor, and made his way as fast as he could to agreat pile of old boots and shoes that lay in a corner of the room,where he was soon hidden safe from any present chance of detection.

  THE SHOEMAKER AT WORK.]

  CHAPTER SIX.

  HOW LITTLE JACKET ESCAPED FROM KOBBLETOZO'S SHOP.

  Great was Huggermugger's astonishment, and his wife's, when they foundthat the shoemaker told them the truth, and that there was nothing inthe boot which could in any way interfere with the entrance of Mr.Huggermugger's toes. For a whole month and a day, it puzzled him toknow what it could have been that pricked him so sharply.

  Leaving the giant and his wife to their wonderment, let us return toLittle Jacket. As soon as he found the dwarf was gone, and that allwas quiet, he came out from under the pile of old shoes, and lookedaround to see how he should get out. The door was shut, and locked onthe outside, for Kobboltozo had no wife to look after the shop whilehe was out. The window was shut too, the only window in the shop. Thiswindow, however, not being fastened on the outside, the little sailorthought he might be able to open it by perseverance. It was very high,so he pushed along a chair towards a table, on which he succeeded inmounting, and from the table, with a stick which he found in the room,he could turn the bolt which fastened the window inside. This, to hisgreat joy, he succeeded in doing, and in pulling open the casement. Hecould now, with ease, step upon the window sill. The thing was now tolet himself down on the other side. By good luck, he discovered alarge piece of leather on the table. This he took the and cut intostrips, and tying them together, fastened one end to a nail inside,and boldly swung himself down in sailor fashion, as he had done at thegiant's, and reached the ground. Then looking around, and seeingnobody near, he ran off as fast as his legs could carry him. But alas!he knew not where he was. If he could but find a road which would leadhim back to the seaside where his companions were, how happy would hehad been! He saw nothing around him but huge rocks and trees, withhere and there an enormous fence or stone wall. Under these fences,and through the openings in the stone walls he crept, but could findno road. He wandered on for some time, clambering over great rocks andwading through long grasses, and began to be very tired and veryhungry; for he had not eaten any thing since the evening before, whenhe feasted on the huge beach plums. He soon found himself in a sort ofblackberry pasture, where the berries were as big as apples; andhaving eaten some of these, he sat down to consider what was to bedone. He felt that he was all alone in a great wilderness, and out ofwhich he feared he never could free himself. Poor Jacky felt lonelyand sad enough, and almost wished he had discovered himself to thedwarf, for whatever could have happened to him, it could not have beenworse than to be left to perish in a wilderness alone.

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  HOW HE MADE USE OF HUGGERMUGGER IN TRAVELLING.

  While Little Jacket sat pondering over his situation, he heard voicesnot far off, as of two persons talking. But they were great voices, asof trumpets and drums. He looked over the top of the rock againstwhich he was seated, and saw for the first time the entire forms ofHuggermugger and his wife, looming up like two great light-houses. Heknew it must be they, for he recognized their voices. They werestanding on the other side of a huge stone wall. It was the giant'sgarden.

  A PEEP AT THE HUGGERMUGGERS.]

  "Wife," said Huggermugger, "I think now I've got my long boots onagain, and my toe feels so much better, I shall go through the marshyonder and kill a few frogs for your dinner; after that, perhaps I maygo down again to the seashore, and get some more of those deliciousclams I found last night."

  "Well husband," says the wife, "you may go if you choose for yourclams, but be sure you get me some frogs, for you know how fond I amof them."

  So Huggermugger took his basket and his big stick, and strode off tothe marsh. "Now," thought the little sailor, "is my time. I must watchwhich way he goes and if I can manage not to be seen, and can onlykeep 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. Prettysoon, he saw the huge fellow laying about him with his stick, andmaking a great splashing in the water. It was evident he was killingMrs. Huggermugger's frogs, a few of which he put in his basket, andthen strode away in another direction. Little Jacket now made the bestuse of his little legs that he ever made in his life. If he could onlykeep the giant in sight! He was much encouraged by perceiving thatHuggermugger, who, as I said before, was a lazy giant, walked at aleisurely pace, and occasionally stopped to pick the berries that greweverywhere in the fields. Little Jacket could see his large figuretowering up some miles ahead. Another fortunate circumstance, too,was, that the giant was smoking his pipe as he went, and even whenLittle Jacket almost lost sight of him, he could guess where he wasfrom the clouds of smoke floating in the air, like the vapor from ahigh-pressure Mississippi steamboat. So the little sailor toiledalong, scrambling over rocks, and through high weeds and grasses andbushes, 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, stoppingonly when the giant stopped. At last, after miles and miles ofwalking, he caught a glimpse of the sea through the huge trees thatskirted the road. How his heart bounded! "I shal
l at least see mymessmates again," he said, "and if we are destined to remain long inthis island, we will at least help each other, and bear our hard lottogether."

  It was not long before he saw the beach, and the huge Huggermuggergroping in the wet sand for his shell-fish. "If I can but reach mycompanions without being seen, tell them my strange adventures, andall hide ourselves till the giant is out of reach, I shall be only toohappy." Very soon he saw the group of beautiful great shells, just asthey 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, nottoo loud, for fear of being heard by the shell-fish-loving giant. Theyknew his voice, and one after another looked out of his shell. Theyhad already seen the giant, as they were out looking for their lostcompanion, and had fled to hide themselves in their shells.

  "For heaven's sake," cried the little sailor. "Tom, Charley, all ofyou! don't stay here; the giant will come and carry you all off to hishouse under the cliffs; his wife has a particular liking for thosebeautiful houses of yours. I have just escaped, almost by miracle.Come, come with me--here--under the rocks--in this cave--quick, beforehe sees us!"

  So Little Jacket hurried his friends into a hole in the rocks, wherethe 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, andleft 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 seenthem. For he would have known the difference between a sailor and ashell-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 meansfish: but, on the contrary, might disagree dreadfully with hisdigestion, 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 onthe fish and fruits, which they had not much difficulty in obtaining.They even dragged their beautiful shells into the cave, and madelittle closets and cupboards of them. Their cups and plates were madeof smaller bivalve shells. Their drink was clear spring-water, whichthey discovered near by, mixed with the juice of fruits.

  They lived in this way for several weeks, always hoping some good luckwould happen. At last, one day, they saw a ship a few miles from theshore. They all ran to the top of a rock, and shouted and waved theirhats. Soon, to their indescribable joy, they saw a boat approachingthe shore. They did not wait for it to reach the land, but being allgood swimmers, with one accord plunged into the sea and swam to theboat. The sailors in the boat proved to be all Americans, and the shipwas the Nancy Johnson, from Portsmouth, N. H., bound to the EastIndies, 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 theysailed off, they fancied they saw in the twilight, the huge forms ofthe great Mr. and Mrs. Huggermugger on the rocks, gazing after themwith open eyes and mouths.

  They pointed them out to the people of the ship, as Little Jacketrelated his wonderful adventures: but the sailors only laughed atthem, and saw nothing but huge rocks and trees; and they whisperedamong themselves, that the poor fellows had lived too long on toughclams and sour berries, and cold water, and that a little jolly lifeon board ship would soon cure their disordered imaginations.

  CHAPTER NINE.

  MR. NABBUM.

  Little Jacket and his friends were treated very kindly by the Captainand crew of the Nancy Johnson, and as a few more sailors were wantedon board, their services were gladly accepted. They all arrived safelyat Java, where the ship took in a cargo of coffee. Little Jacket oftenrelated his adventures in the giant's island, but the sailors, thoughmany of them were inclined to believe in marvellous stories, evidentlydid not give much credit to Jacky's strange tale, but thought he musthave dreamed it all.

  There was, however, one man who came frequently on board the shipwhile 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 andother countries in search of elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, tigers,baboons, and any wild animals he might chance to ensnare. He had beenfitted out with a large ship and crew, and all the men and implementsnecessary for this exciting and dangerous task, and had beensuccessful in entrapping two young elephants, a giraffe, a lion,sixteen monkeys, and a great number of parrots. He was now at Javasuperintending the manufacture of a very powerful net of grass-ropes,an invention of his own, with which he hoped to catch a good many morewild animals, and return to America, and make his fortune byexhibiting them for Mr. Barnum.

  Now Zebedee Nabbum listened with profound attention to Little Jacket'sstory, and pondered and pondered over it.

  MR. NABBUM HEARS LITTLE JACKET'S STORY.]

  "And after all," he said to himself, "why shouldn't it be true? Don'twe read in Scripter that there war giants once? Then why hadn't thereought to be some on 'em left--in some of them remote islands wharnobody never was? Grimminy! If it should be true--if we should findJacky's island--if we should see the big critter alive, or hiswife--if we could slip a noose under his legs and throw him down--orcarry along the great net and trap him while he war down on the beacharter 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 swampthe biggest raft we could make to fetch him. But couldn't we starvehim into submission? Or, if we gave him plenty of clams, couldn't wekeep him quiet? Or couldn't we give the critter _Rum?_--I guesshe don't know nothin' of ardent sperets--and obfusticate his wits--andget him reglar boozy--couldn't we do any thing we chose to, then? An'tit worth tryin', any how? If we _could_ catch him, and get him toAmeriky alive, or only his skeleton, my fortune's made, I cal'late. Ikind o' can't think that young fellow's been a gullin' me. He talks asthough he'd seen the awful big critters with his own eyes. So do theother six fellows--they couldn't all of 'em have been dreamin'."

  So Zebedee had a conversation one day with the Captain of the NancyJohnson, and found out from him that he had taken the latitude andlongitude 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 theplace the Captain could give him, without letting it appear that hehad 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 forthe giant's coast, and entrapping Huggermugger and carrying him toAmerica. Little Jacket was rather astonished at the bold scheme of theYankee, and tried to dissuade him from attempting it. But Zebedee hadgot his head so full of the notion now, that he was determined tocarry out his project, if he could. He even tried to persuade LittleJacket to go with him, and his six companions, and finally succeeded.The six other sailors, however, swore that nothing would tempt them toexpose themselves again on shore to the danger of being taken by thegiant. Little Jacket agreed to land with Zebedee and share all dangerwith him, on condition that Zebedee would give him half the profitsBarnum should allow them from the exhibition of the giant in America.But Little Jacket made Zebedee promise that he would be guided by hisadvice, in their endeavors to ensnare the giant. Indeed, a new ideahad entered Jacky's head as to the best way of getting Huggermuggerinto their power, and that was to try persuasion rather than stratagemor 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 weresurrounded with various indications of civilization. They were notsavages.

  3. The Huggermugg
ers 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 someperiod of their lives.

  4. The Huggermuggers were not wicked and blood-thirsty. How differentfrom the monsters one reads about in children's books! On thecontrary, though they had little quarrels together now and then, theydid not bite nor scratch, but seemed to live together as peaceably andlovingly, on the whole, as most married couples. And the only time hehad a full view of their faces, Little Jacket saw in them anexpression which was really good and benevolent.

  All these facts came much more forcibly to Jacky's mind, now that thefirst terror was over, and calm, sober reason had taken the place ofvague fear.

  He, therefore, told Mr. Nabbum, at length, his reasons for proposing,and even urging, that unless Huggermugger should exhibit a verydifferent side to his character from that which he had seen, nothinglike force or stratagem should be resorted to.

  "For," said Little Jacket, "even if you succeeded, Mr. Nabbum, inthrowing your net over his head, or your noose round his leg, as youwould round an elephant's, you should consider how powerful andintelligent and, if incensed, how furious an adversary you have todeal with. None but a man out of his wits would think of carrying himoff to your ship by main force. And as to your idea of making himdrunk, and taking him aboard in that condition, there is no knowingwhether drink would not render him quite furious, and ten times moreunmanageable than ever. No, take my word for it, Mr. Nabbum, that Iknow Huggermugger too well to attempt any of your tricks with him. Youcannot catch him as you would an elephant or a hippopotamus. Be guidedby me, and see if my plan don't succeed better than yours."