WHEN she reached the top of the stairs, Girlie found herself in a courtyard, surrounded by high railings and some massive iron gates. There was a lodge by the gates, at the door of which stood an old crocodile with a white bandage around his head. He came slowly towards Girlie, carrying some enormous keys in his hand. “Have you had your tea?” he queried anxiously.
“No!” said Girlie, thinking that she should very much like some after all those stairs.
“Very well, then,” said the Crocodile, “we will have some together; step this way.” Girlie followed him into the lodge, the door of which opened directly into a cosy little room. A table stood in the centre, covered with a white table-cloth.
39“Will you have some eggs with your tea?” asked the Crocodile kindly.
“Yes, please,” replied Girlie.
“And some cake and jam?” continued the Crocodile, smilingly.
“I should like some very much indeed, thank you,” said Girlie, who thought him very kind.
“Wait a minute,” said the Crocodile; “I had better put it down so that I don’t forget;” and he took down a slate that was hanging behind the door.
“Let’s see,” he continued, writing it down, as he went on, “thin bread-and-butter, eggs (boiled, I suppose?),” he enquired, looking at her.
Girlie was just going to nod her head, when she suddenly remembered that, if she did so, she might turn into a Mandarin; so she hastily said “Yes, please,” instead.
“Tea, cake, and jam,” continued the Crocodile, putting it all down on his slate.
“Are you sure you won’t have anything else?” he asked.
“Oh no, thank you,” said Girlie, “that will do very nicely.”
“All right,” said the Crocodile; “where are the things?”
“What things?” asked Girlie in a surprised voice.
40“Why, the things for tea, of course,” said the Crocodile.
“But I haven’t any,” said Girlie; “I thought that you asked me to take tea with you,” she continued.
The old Crocodile burst into tears.
“I think it most cru-cru-cruel of you,” he sobbed, “to raise my ho-ho-ho-hopes in this way only to dis-dis-dis-ap-ap-ap-point me. You said you were going to have eggs,” he cried tearfully, referring to the slate, “and ca-ca-cake, and ja-ja-jam;” and the poor old thing was quite overcome with grief.
“Oh, please don’t cry,” said Girlie, who felt quite sorry for him; “I am disappointed, too, you know.”
The Crocodile dried his eye (the other one was covered with the bandage) and began to brighten up a little.
“I know what we’ll do,” he said at length. “Do you ever have tea for breakfast?”
“Yes,” said Girlie, “I don’t care for coffee.”
“Very well, then, let’s have breakfast for tea instead,” suggested the Crocodile.
“But how can we do that if we haven’t the things?” asked Girlie.
“Oh! I have enough for breakfast,” said the Crocodile, going to the cupboard and bringing out a basket of eggs, a loaf of bread, some butter, a large iced cake and a pot of jam.
41“Why, they’re the same things that we were going to have for tea,” thought Girlie.
“Let’s see, one for you, one for me, and one for the pot,” remarked the Crocodile, putting three spoonfuls of tea into the teapot. “You will find some hot water in the next room,” he continued, handing it to Girlie.
Girlie took the teapot and went to the door; she found that it led into a large kitchen paved with red bricks. The room was filled with steam and, at the further end of it, Girlie could just see three large washtubs at which three seals were washing table-cloths. They had coloured handkerchiefs tied over their heads, and were singing when Girlie entered. She could not hear all the words, but just caught the end of the verse:—
“Most beautiful suds that e’er were seen,
Of colours red, and blue, and green,
Tra-la-la, tra-la-la, tra-la-lee.”
It finished on a very high note, which none of the seals could reach, so that it ended in a kind of squeal.
“What do you want?” asked the largest Seal, catching sight of Girlie; “some hot water?”
“Yes, please,” said Girlie.
“Are you going to have tea or breakfast?” asked the Seal anxiously.
42
“THEY WERE SINGING WHEN GIRLIE ENTERED.”
43“Breakfast, I believe,” said Girlie, though she couldn’t at all see why it should be called breakfast any more than tea.
“Ah! I was afraid so,” said the Seal in a disappointed voice, while the other seals sighed heavily. “We haven’t had tea here for weeks and weeks. How many spoonfuls did he put in, dear?” he continued, taking the teapot from her.
“Three,” said Girlie.
“One each,” said the Seal to the others, who nodded their heads, then turning out the tea into a cup, he filled the teapot with boiling water from a kettle on the fire, and handed it back to Girlie.
“Aren’t you going to put the tea back again?” she asked.
“Certainly not,” said the Seal; “that’s for us.”
“How do you know?” said Girlie.
“Because there were three spoonfuls and there are only two of you, so it must be for us; now hurry back to the Crocodile, or he will think you are lost,” said the Seal.
Girlie took the teapot doubtfully, and went back to the other room. She found that the Crocodile had set the table while she had been gone.
“Will you pour out, please?” he said, seating himself, and motioning Girlie to the head of the table. “Did you 44hear how he is to-day?” he continued in an anxious tone when she had taken her place.
“Who?” asked Girlie.
“The tea,” said the Crocodile; “he has been very poorly lately. Ah!” he continued, while Girlie poured out the hot water, “poor little thing! poor little thing! How dreadfully pale and weak he is, to be sure!” and, taking the teacup from her, he gazed down into it anxiously. “Do you think a little milk would do him any good?” he asked at last.
“I don’t think it could possibly do any harm,” said Girlie, who felt very much inclined to laugh.
“Pass the milk-jug, then,” said the Crocodile.
Girlie did so, and the Crocodile poured a little milk into his cup.
“Gracious!” he cried, in an alarmed voice, after he had done so. “It’s worse than ever; he is turning paler than he was before. Pray run into the next room and ask how the seals’ tea is getting on.”
Girlie got up again and went into the kitchen.
The Seals had left their washtubs, and were sitting around the fire on little three-legged stools, eating rather thick bread-and-butter; and the eldest Seal was just pouring out tea.
45“The Crocodile wishes to know how your tea is, if you please,” said Girlie.
“Oh! give him our compliments,” replied the Seal, “and say that he is very well, thanks; getting quite strong, and is learning to draw very nicely. How is his poor tea, do you know, dear?” he added.
“Very weak,” said Girlie (“and likely to be so,” she thought).
“Do you mean to say you haven’t brought us any cake?” said the youngest Seal.
“No,” said Girlie. “I didn’t know you wanted any.”
“Well, go and fetch some then, and bring your teacup back with you,” said the Seal. “You shall have some of our tea, if you like; it will be better for you.”
Girlie thought so, too, and ran back to the other room to ask for some cake for the seals.
She found the Crocodile with his hat and gloves on. At the door stood a perambulator, in which was the weak cup of tea, propped up with pillows, and carefully wrapped in a little woollen shawl.
“I can’t enjoy my breakfast till I have taken the poor little thing out for a breath of fresh air,” said the Crocodile when she came in. “Did you hear how their tea is?” he asked anxiously.
46“Oh, quite strong and beginning to draw very nicely,” said Girlie.
“I’m sure I’m very glad to hear it,” said the Crocodile, wiping his eye and looking ruefully at his own weak tea. “I shall probably not be back for some time,” he continued, “so, perhaps, I had better say good-bye. Pray make yourself at home.” And, after shaking hands with her, the poor old creature went out, looking very mournful, and tenderly wheeling the perambulator with the weak cup of tea in it.
“How absurd!” said Girlie to herself; and, after watching him out of sight, she took her cup and saucer with her, and went back to the seals.
“I say,” said the eldest Seal when she entered the door, “there’s a letter for you in the post.”
“How do you know?” asked Girlie, putting down the cake, and passing her cup over for some tea.
“Because I put it there,” said the Seal.
“Put it where?” asked Girlie.
“In the post,” said the Seal in a tone of surprise.
“What do you mean?” asked Girlie.
“Go and see for yourself,” said the Seal, pointing to the door at the other end of the kitchen.
Girlie walked across and saw that the door-post had 48a number of little slits in it, in one of which was a letter.
 
“TENDERLY WHEELING THE PERAMBULATOR WITH THE WEAK CUP OF TEA IN IT.”
Drawing it out, she found it addressed to herself:
“Miss Girlie,
“c/o The Crocodile,
“The Lodge,
“Why.”
Very curious to know what it was about, she hastily opened the envelope, and was greatly disappointed to find a plain sheet of paper with only the letter “C” written on it.
“Wasn’t it kind of me to send it?” asked the Seal when she walked slowly back.
 
“‘BUT THERE’S NOTHING IN IT,’ SAID GIRLIE.”
“But there’s nothing in it,” said Girlie.
“Isn’t there a letter?” asked the Seal.
“No,” said Girlie; “nothing but a plain sheet of paper with a big ‘C’ on it.”
“Well,” said the Seal, “that’s a letter, isn’t it, stupid? I didn’t say that I had sent you a lot of letters, did I? I thought you would like the letter ‘C’; it’s such a useful one.”
“What is it good for?” asked Girlie, who didn’t see how it could be of much use to her.
49“Why, to suggest things, of course,” said the Seal. “You have only to look at it in order to think of all kinds of lovely things—cakes and carpets, calico and crockery, for instance, to say nothing of chocolate creams and crumpets.
“Of course there are some uncomfortable things, too, such as caterpillars, centipedes, and castor-oil; but, on the whole, it’s a most useful letter.”
“Yes; very different from some,” said the middle-sized Seal, who had not spoken to Girlie before.
50“I had the letter ‘M’ sent to me once,” he continued, “and immediately had the measles, the mumps, and the megrims, and did not get over them till somebody kindly sent me the letter ‘T,’ so that I could have travelling with tranquillity, and Turkish delight. I wish some one would send me ‘G,’” he went on, “so that I could have gooseberries and greengages and grapes. I’m so fond of fruit.”
“Then I should think ‘F’ would be the best letter to have, wouldn’t it?” asked Girlie. “‘F’ stands for fruit, you know.”
“Yes, and frogs and freckles and five-finger exercises, too,” said the Seal. “No, thank you—not for me. One has to be very careful, I can tell you.”
Just then a great bell began to ring, and the seals got up hastily and went back to their washtubs.
“What’s that?” asked Girlie.
“The public meeting is about to commence next door,” said the eldest Seal. “Wouldn’t you like to go?”
“What is it about?” asked Girlie.
“To settle questions,” replied the Seal. “All the questions and answers are decided at these meetings. The Wallypug will attend in state,” he continued.
51“Oh! I should like to see the Wallypug,” said Girlie eagerly. “And I have an important question to ask, too,” she thought, remembering the Goo. “May any one go?” she asked aloud.
 
“THE SEALS ... WENT BACK TO THEIR WASHTUBS.”
“Yes,” said the Seal. “Only you must make haste or you will be too late. You can go through the garden, if you like,” he suggested, opening the door for her, and pointing to a green gate at the end of the path.
Girlie thanked him and, hastily bidding them all good-bye, ran down the pathway and opened the gate.