Latest / Samson Agonistes / Bobby in Search of a Birthday - Lebbeus Mitchell

Transcript

Bobby in Search of a Birthday - Lebbeus Mitchell · Samson Agonistes

0:00
Speaker 1: Chapter one of Bobby in Search of a Birthday. This
0:04
Speaker 1: is a lirivox recording. All lirivox recordings are in the
0:07
Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit
0:11
Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Trotta Bobby in Search of
0:18
Speaker 1: a Birthday by Levius Michel. Once, when Bobby wasn't left behind,
0:24
Speaker 1: Bobby North went out in the front yard by the
0:26
Speaker 1: iron gate between the two tall stone columns, to watch
0:29
Speaker 1: the horses and wagons and mobiles traveling up and down
0:32
Speaker 1: the invitingly dusty and mysterious road that he was forbidden
0:36
Speaker 1: ever to set foot upon. He knew he could crawl
0:39
Speaker 1: under the gate he was so little, and raise clouds
0:42
Speaker 1: of dust by dragging his feet in the road, as
0:45
Speaker 1: two small boys did who passed by and stopped to
0:48
Speaker 1: gaze and wonder at Bobby and at the big brick
0:50
Speaker 1: cows set back in the yard among some trees. He
0:54
Speaker 1: wondered if the superintendent would really send him to bed
0:57
Speaker 1: without anything to eat if he disobeyed her just this
1:00
Speaker 1: once and slipped under the gate out into the road
1:03
Speaker 1: for as many as forty or a dozen minutes. He
1:06
Speaker 1: is afraid she really might and He was standing with
1:09
Speaker 1: face pressed against the iron bars of the gate when
1:11
Speaker 1: a man drove up back of him with a buggy
1:13
Speaker 1: jammed as fool as it would hold of boys and
1:15
Speaker 1: girls from the home. Bobby North cried the sharp, irritated
1:20
Speaker 1: voice of the Superintendent. How many times must I tell
1:23
Speaker 1: you to keep away from that gate? He turned clear
1:26
Speaker 1: around and saw on the porch to the tall, thin
1:28
Speaker 1: figure of the Superintendent. The man and the buggy jumped
1:31
Speaker 1: out to open the gate. Bobby stepped back from the
1:33
Speaker 1: graveled road, for he knew by experience that it is
1:36
Speaker 1: always safer if you are a small boy to keep
1:38
Speaker 1: out of the way of grown up folks. Then they
1:41
Speaker 1: can't scold you for doing something you mustn't or not
1:45
Speaker 1: doing something you should, even when you had never thought
1:48
Speaker 1: of doing either one. He looked up longingly at the
1:51
Speaker 1: buggy of boys and girls who were going to explore
1:53
Speaker 1: the mysteries of that delightfully dusty road and not come
1:57
Speaker 1: back for maybe forty or a dozen days. Bobbby was
2:00
Speaker 1: used to being left behind, and stepped further away, but
2:02
Speaker 1: without taking his lonely eyes off those more fortunate children.
2:07
Speaker 1: When the man had opened the gate, he stopped and
2:08
Speaker 1: looked at Bobby, and then at the Superintendent on the porch.
2:12
Speaker 1: He came directly towards Bobby as he kept backing away,
2:14
Speaker 1: caught him up in his arms and tossed him into
2:16
Speaker 1: the lap of the lady, who sat on the front seat.
2:19
Speaker 1: You would like a whole week in the country, too,
2:21
Speaker 1: won't you, said the man.
2:23
Speaker 2: Yesum.
2:24
Speaker 1: Bobby was so surprised. That was all he could think
2:26
Speaker 1: of to say. I'm afraid he will be too much
2:29
Speaker 1: trouble for you, called Superintendent.
2:31
Speaker 2: He's so young.
2:34
Speaker 1: Bobby stealed his heart and started to climb down from
2:36
Speaker 1: the lady's lap, but his lower lip twitched in spite
2:38
Speaker 1: of his efforts to keep it steady. Nonsense, exclaimed the man,
2:42
Speaker 1: as he led the horses out into the road, shut
2:45
Speaker 1: the gate, jumped into the seat by the woman, and
2:47
Speaker 1: drove off in a cloud of dust. He didn't seem
2:49
Speaker 1: to be at all afraid of them, much to be feared. Superintendent.
2:53
Speaker 1: Bobby was so glad to be riding away from the
2:55
Speaker 1: home that he thought he almost liked the Superintendent just
2:58
Speaker 1: this once, and looked back and waved goodbye to her.
3:02
Speaker 1: She stood there, stiff and angry, and did not reply.
3:05
Speaker 1: Thus it came about that Bobby North had his first
3:07
Speaker 1: trip away from the home that he could remember. The
3:10
Speaker 1: week at mister and missus Robert Ellers in the country
3:13
Speaker 1: was a glorious time. Days to be remembered by all
3:16
Speaker 1: the red letters on the playing blocks that were sometimes
3:18
Speaker 1: given him on Sunday to keep him quiet. Besides the
3:22
Speaker 1: calves and the little pigs, the clover fields and the
3:25
Speaker 1: daisies in the yard, there was a two months old
3:28
Speaker 1: puppy that mister Eller's little boy told him was a
3:30
Speaker 1: Saint Bernard. It soon became the chief delight of this
3:33
Speaker 1: puppy to chase Bobby about the art and trip him,
3:36
Speaker 1: and then when he fell headlong, to lick his hands
3:38
Speaker 1: and face affectionately with a moist red tongue. The man
3:42
Speaker 1: never once objected to his playing with the awkward and
3:45
Speaker 1: much to be desired puppy All day long. He was
3:48
Speaker 1: an answer to ardent and secret prayer. This man who
3:51
Speaker 1: lets you play with the puppy, And Bobby looked up
3:53
Speaker 1: to him with a great deal of awe. His words
3:56
Speaker 1: carried the weight of authority. He seemed to understand what
3:59
Speaker 1: small boys want to know. The greatest of all treasures.
4:01
Speaker 1: A real live puppy is good for them. Thus the
4:05
Speaker 1: happy days in the country, past light, magic, and of
4:09
Speaker 1: once when Bobby wasn't left behind Chapter two of Bobby
4:18
Speaker 1: in Search of a Birthday by Levius Michel. This liver
4:21
Speaker 1: box recording is in the public domain. The Boy with
4:24
Speaker 1: eight Birthdays. One afternoon, the puppy was not to be
4:28
Speaker 1: found anywhere. Bobby returned to the front yard at mister
4:32
Speaker 1: Eller's after a vain searched for his playmate, and found
4:35
Speaker 1: that that day was a very special occasion. The grown
4:39
Speaker 1: ups and the children too, were celebrating something which seemed
4:42
Speaker 1: to be called a birthdays. It belonged to Richard, the
4:45
Speaker 1: small son of the man who lets you play with
4:47
Speaker 1: the puppy. It was the boy's eighth birthdays, and he
4:50
Speaker 1: was very proud of that fact. There was ice cream
4:54
Speaker 1: enough so that Bobby's dish was heaped full a second
4:57
Speaker 1: time without asking, and before he had quite finished the
5:00
Speaker 1: first helping and cake and two big red and white
5:03
Speaker 1: apples for each child, Bobby was still munching contentedly away
5:06
Speaker 1: at his first apple, the other clutched tightly in his
5:09
Speaker 1: left hand. When Richard's mother led the children into the
5:12
Speaker 1: house to see the presents. There were quite an array
5:15
Speaker 1: of them, enough Bobby decided for all eight birthdays, and
5:19
Speaker 1: he vaguely wondered if all eight of them had come
5:21
Speaker 1: on that one day. There was a baseball and a bat,
5:24
Speaker 1: and a dozen marbles glasses. Richard called them presents at
5:28
Speaker 1: seen from his father, A nice new starchy white blouse
5:32
Speaker 1: with blue trousers, a gift from his mother's. Then there
5:35
Speaker 1: was a pair of high boots with a copper plate
5:37
Speaker 1: on the point of each toe, sent him by his
5:40
Speaker 1: uncle John in the city. Last of all, there was
5:43
Speaker 1: something out at the barn which was to be sold
5:46
Speaker 1: when they grew up, and helped to buy something for
5:48
Speaker 1: Richard some day which his father never had an education.
5:53
Speaker 1: They proved to be six little pigs with curly tails
5:56
Speaker 1: and squeally voices. Bobby wondered if Richard wouldn't grow up
5:59
Speaker 1: before they he was so much bigger, and then what
6:02
Speaker 1: would become of his education. He fell to wondering about
6:06
Speaker 1: this thing called a birthdays. As near as he could
6:09
Speaker 1: make out, it was a very special day in which everybody,
6:12
Speaker 1: at least your father's and your mother's, if you had
6:14
Speaker 1: such possessions unaccountably gave you playthings that you had always wanted,
6:18
Speaker 1: such as classes and baseballs, and yes, little curly tailed
6:22
Speaker 1: pigs that were to help you buy an education. He
6:26
Speaker 1: decided he wanted a birthdays, but he didn't know the
6:29
Speaker 1: least thing about how to go about it. To get one,
6:31
Speaker 1: he determined to ask, and went immediately to Richard, who,
6:35
Speaker 1: having eight birthdays of his own, must be an authority
6:37
Speaker 1: on the matter. Where did you get your birthdays? He asked,
6:41
Speaker 1: and what he thought was a very loud voice, but
6:44
Speaker 1: apparently it wasn't for Richard said, huh, and for a
6:47
Speaker 1: moment stopped trying to straighten the curls out of the
6:49
Speaker 1: tails of the little pigs. Bobby repeated his question and added, wistfully,
6:54
Speaker 1: never had none. You have to, said Richard, ain't not, Bobby, Resolutely,
7:01
Speaker 1: you have too, repeated Richard. Bobby fell silent under that
7:05
Speaker 1: assertation and tried to remember when anybody had ever given
7:08
Speaker 1: him presents. He could recall no such occasion. Then an
7:12
Speaker 1: explanation came to him. Praps, He suggested, timidly, you only
7:17
Speaker 1: have birthdays when you have fathers and mothers and things
7:19
Speaker 1: like that. Everybody has birthdays, said Richard from the lofty
7:24
Speaker 1: peak of his superior ears. Bobby again remained silent, and Richard,
7:29
Speaker 1: to add the final crushing blow, gave further information. Everybody
7:33
Speaker 1: has fathers and mothers. Sometime perhaps I'm not big enough
7:38
Speaker 1: yet to have fathers and mothers and birthdays.
7:40
Speaker 2: How big well I have to.
7:41
Speaker 1: Be, Richard snorted in derision. They have you, he said,
7:48
Speaker 1: and turned his attention to straightening out the curls from
7:50
Speaker 1: his pig's tails. Bobby did not understand, but felt that
7:54
Speaker 1: somehow he was in the wrong, and he went off
7:56
Speaker 1: a ways by himself and took the first comforting bite
7:58
Speaker 1: out of his other apple, carefully choosing the side with
8:01
Speaker 1: the most red in it. After a time, Richard commenced
8:05
Speaker 1: himself that the kink was part of the pig's tail
8:07
Speaker 1: and stopped trying to uncurl it. Then his eye fell
8:10
Speaker 1: on Bobby, and he scowled fiercely. Everybody has birthdays, he said,
8:15
Speaker 1: what's she done with yours?
8:18
Speaker 2: Not done nothing with.
8:19
Speaker 1: It, replied Bobby. Then after a time, never had none.
8:24
Speaker 1: Papa called Richard. To the man who lets you play
8:27
Speaker 1: with the puppy, Bobby says, he hasn't got a birthday.
8:30
Speaker 1: Everybody has birthdays, haven't they, Papa. Mister Aller was talking
8:34
Speaker 1: with his wife and paid no attention. Everybody has birthdays,
8:39
Speaker 1: haven't they, Papa? This time Richard yelled so loud his
8:42
Speaker 1: father couldn't help hearing. Yes, of course, he replied, carelessly. There,
8:48
Speaker 1: I told you so, said Richard. Ain't no, insisted Bobby
8:52
Speaker 1: stubbornly and hunted out another red spot on his apple.
8:56
Speaker 1: Richard seemed to take Bobby's words as a personal affront. Papa,
9:00
Speaker 1: he has too, hasn't he? Papa has what, asked mister
9:04
Speaker 1: Eller impatiently. Bobby has two a birthday, hasn't he? Everybody
9:10
Speaker 1: has a birthday, replied his father.
9:13
Speaker 2: I told you so. I told you so, chanted Richard,
9:16
Speaker 2: skipping around.
9:17
Speaker 1: Bobby North has lost his birthday. Bobby North has lost
9:20
Speaker 1: his birthday and don't know where to find it. Ain't not,
9:24
Speaker 1: repeated Bobby, and his lower lip began to twist up.
9:27
Speaker 1: Wouldn't lose important thing like a birthday's? Mister Eller and
9:32
Speaker 1: his wife approached the children. That capable woman put her
9:34
Speaker 1: hand on Bobby's head. Haven't they ever celebrated your birthday?
9:38
Speaker 2: At the home?
9:39
Speaker 1: She asked. Perhaps they don't know when it is. Mister
9:42
Speaker 1: Eller suggested, in a low voice to his wife. Couldn't
9:46
Speaker 1: lose it, could I? Appeal Bobby to the man who
9:48
Speaker 1: lets you play with the puppy. Some children lose their
9:52
Speaker 1: birthdays before they are big enough to know what it is.
9:54
Speaker 1: Comforted mister Eller. Bobby North has lost his birthday and
9:58
Speaker 1: don't know where to find it, chanted Richard and Devishan
10:03
Speaker 1: ain't not, repeated Bobby dismally, That will do, Richard, said,
10:07
Speaker 1: mister Eller. Severely, Go and play Pump pump pull away
10:10
Speaker 1: with the other children. Yes, Sir, said Richard, and went
10:14
Speaker 1: obediently off, turning back only once to make a face
10:16
Speaker 1: at the boy who had lost his birthday. Never mind, Bobby,
10:20
Speaker 1: said mister Eller. You'll find it some day when I
10:24
Speaker 1: get grown up. Perhaps sooner i'll see the superintendent. We
10:27
Speaker 1: may be able to find it for you. Could I
10:30
Speaker 1: find it if I hunted and hunted all day long
10:33
Speaker 1: like the spoon, queried Bobby eagerly. The man who lets
10:37
Speaker 1: you play with the puppy laughed. Don't worry about your birthday, Bobby.
10:41
Speaker 1: You'll stumble across it some day when you are walking
10:43
Speaker 1: along and not thinking about it. It won't matter if
10:46
Speaker 1: you don't, dear, said missus Eller. Bulks will love you
10:49
Speaker 1: just the same. N M said Bobby, skeptically, replying to
10:54
Speaker 1: her first statement, and retiring under a tree to puzzle
10:57
Speaker 1: over the matter and consume the rest of the apple.
11:00
Speaker 1: The other children were playing their games, and mister and
11:02
Speaker 1: missus Eller soon went into the house. Bobby decided that
11:05
Speaker 1: the lady Richard's mothers didn't know the importance of a birthday,
11:08
Speaker 1: whereas nothing could be more important. Birthdays brought little boys
11:12
Speaker 1: all the things they had always wanted, like glassies and
11:15
Speaker 1: baseball bats and little pigs. He knew he wanted the
11:18
Speaker 1: glassies in the bat, and wasn't quite sure that he
11:21
Speaker 1: might want the pigs to help find education when he
11:24
Speaker 1: grew to be as big as Richard's father, who said
11:26
Speaker 1: he wished that he had one.
11:28
Speaker 2: If he had.
11:29
Speaker 1: Really lost his birthdays himself, he might find it, as
11:32
Speaker 1: he did the spoon which he lost in the yard
11:34
Speaker 1: one day. The superintendent made him hunt and hunt for
11:37
Speaker 1: it until he couldn't see for the water in his eyes,
11:40
Speaker 1: and then suddenly he stepped on it when he wasn't
11:42
Speaker 1: thinking about it. And bent to all twisty like. What
11:45
Speaker 1: if he should step on his birthdays and bend it
11:47
Speaker 1: just as he had a spoon. He must be very
11:49
Speaker 1: careful where he stepped, didn't the man who that's he
11:52
Speaker 1: played with the puppy say he would find his birthdays
11:55
Speaker 1: sometime when he was walking along and not thinking about it.
11:59
Speaker 1: He wanted very much to find his birthdays, and so
12:01
Speaker 1: he must be up and about it. He would start
12:03
Speaker 1: at once. He might find it before night, and would
12:06
Speaker 1: show Richard that he did know where to find his birthdays.
12:09
Speaker 1: He knew that he could walk ever so far, but
12:12
Speaker 1: was not sure that he could keep from thinking about
12:14
Speaker 1: what he was looking for. It was worth trying anyway.
12:17
Speaker 1: If only he might step on his birthdays. He must
12:20
Speaker 1: be careful, though, not to step on it with all
12:22
Speaker 1: his weight and bend it as he did the spoon.
12:25
Speaker 1: It might be harder to straighten out. He rose and
12:28
Speaker 1: started for the road. The other children were too busy
12:30
Speaker 1: with their playing to notice him stepping lightly. With eyes
12:33
Speaker 1: fixed on the ground, Bobby trudged out through the yard
12:36
Speaker 1: into the road. So he started out on his strange quest.
12:41
Speaker 1: And of the Boy with eight Birthdays Chapter three of Bobby.
12:50
Speaker 1: It's Search to a Birthday by Levius Michelle. This liver
12:53
Speaker 1: box recording is at the public debate hunting for the
12:57
Speaker 1: thing you mustn't think about. When he had gone a
13:00
Speaker 1: long way, Bobby crossed the road and crawled on to
13:02
Speaker 1: the fence into the field beyond. He tried so hard
13:05
Speaker 1: not to think about the thing he was searching for
13:08
Speaker 1: that he forgot all about the fact that it had
13:10
Speaker 1: an hour sits dinner, and that the sid's bedtimee could
13:13
Speaker 1: at be so very far off. One can't remember everything
13:17
Speaker 1: when one is trying so hard not to think of
13:19
Speaker 1: one thing. He wasn't thinking of that, only of the
13:23
Speaker 1: presents Richard had received, and that wasn't the same. He
13:27
Speaker 1: tridged onto his short legs, weary, always looking down at
13:30
Speaker 1: the ground and stepping oh so lightly. He was startled
13:34
Speaker 1: in a big ruff voice. Silly moved out right in
13:36
Speaker 1: front of him. Hello, Bob, what are you doing out here?
13:40
Speaker 1: Bobby was so astounded that he blurted out the truth
13:43
Speaker 1: without thinking, hunting for my birthdays? Hunted for your birthday?
13:48
Speaker 2: Huh? Well, now what do you think of that?
13:50
Speaker 1: Steve and the rough bearded man who spoke to him,
13:53
Speaker 1: waked prodigiously at the youth who was helping him bed.
13:56
Speaker 1: They broke in place to the fence. Where'd you lose it,
14:00
Speaker 1: asked the youth. Don't know, confessed Bobby. That's a funny
14:05
Speaker 1: thing to lose, said the rough bearded man. Sure you
14:07
Speaker 1: had what? Don't exactly remember? Replied Bobby that a dreadful
14:12
Speaker 1: thought came to him. He was thinking about his birthdays. Please,
14:17
Speaker 1: I mustn't think about it. The bearded man burst out, laughing,
14:21
Speaker 1: you're a funny codger hut and for something you mustn't
14:24
Speaker 1: think about.
14:25
Speaker 2: What do you think of that, Steve?
14:27
Speaker 1: Steve didn't think very highly of the matter. Bobby was
14:29
Speaker 1: sure for the way he laughed. Does you rather know
14:32
Speaker 1: you're out? Asked Steve, and in turn exchanged another prodigious
14:36
Speaker 1: wake with the man with whiskers. Ain't got no mothers,
14:40
Speaker 1: said Bobby. Oh, said the bearded man in a different voice.
14:44
Speaker 1: You're one of the kids, old bed Eller has out
14:46
Speaker 1: to his place. Yes, a Bobby admitted and began to
14:50
Speaker 1: back away. These met were making fun of him, and
14:52
Speaker 1: he felt uncomfortable, and they had made him think of
14:55
Speaker 1: his birthdays. He had taken over a few backward steps
14:58
Speaker 1: by A big, pleasant voice behind him made him jump
15:02
Speaker 1: quite away from home, aren't you? Said, I'm hunting by?
15:06
Speaker 1: But Bobby remembered just in time and stopped, yes him
15:10
Speaker 1: and turned to look up into a pair of friendly
15:12
Speaker 1: blue eyes and her lips that smiled under a blonde
15:14
Speaker 1: mustache that curled up at the ends. The man put
15:17
Speaker 1: a hand on Bobby's shoulder and drew How closer lost
15:20
Speaker 1: are you? Well, we'll soon fix that. What's your dave? Noam,
15:25
Speaker 1: said Bobby, trying to answer the mad's questions in order. No,
15:29
Speaker 1: m that's a funny dave, exclaimed the man and laughed
15:32
Speaker 1: to his eyes all crinkled up. No, it's not my name,
15:35
Speaker 1: laughed Bobby. Nom I'm not lost. I'm hunting again.
15:40
Speaker 2: He remembered, just in time, it stopped.
15:42
Speaker 1: That's a secret, Isn't it is your dave too, Bobby
15:46
Speaker 1: dorth he replied it smiled up at this man who
15:49
Speaker 1: laughed at him without making fun of him. Where do
15:52
Speaker 1: you live? Way up there, replied Bobby, pointing over the
15:56
Speaker 1: tops of the trees. Oh, there, you've chosen to find home.
16:01
Speaker 1: He's one of the kids at Eller's place. Mister Addie interrupted,
16:04
Speaker 1: the van with whiskers. He's hunted for his birthday, which
16:07
Speaker 1: he was careless enough to lose. Added Steve was not
16:10
Speaker 1: care less, do I, Bobby, and that unsteady lower let
16:14
Speaker 1: began to tremble. Of course you were not careless, said
16:17
Speaker 1: the van with the mustache. Saviny just forgot to tell you.
16:20
Speaker 2: Here, take this. He put his hand in his.
16:22
Speaker 1: Pocket and drew it out full of money. He selected
16:25
Speaker 1: a large, shiny white piece and put it in Bobby's head.
16:28
Speaker 2: Here's a quarter for you.
16:29
Speaker 1: Now it will soon be said down, and you better
16:31
Speaker 1: make tracks for mister Ellers know how to find it.
16:34
Speaker 1: Thank you, said Bobby, clutching the corner, and not forgetting
16:37
Speaker 1: what the soup intendant told him to say whenever anybody
16:39
Speaker 1: gave him anything. That. After a time he remembered the
16:43
Speaker 1: van's question, and he replied to it, yes'm that's it.
16:47
Speaker 1: That house way over there on the other side of
16:49
Speaker 1: the road, said the bed. Keep your eyes on the
16:51
Speaker 1: house and you can't miss it. Yes 'im, said Bobby,
16:55
Speaker 1: and started off here, called the man, wait a minute,
16:58
Speaker 1: here's a quarter for you. He drew out another handful
17:00
Speaker 1: of money and selected another shining white quarter, only it
17:04
Speaker 1: was not so shiny as the other one now skied
17:06
Speaker 1: at off for mister Ellers forgetting to thank the man
17:09
Speaker 1: for the second quarter. Bobby started off, keeping his eyes
17:11
Speaker 1: fixed on the house. When he had gone a long ways,
17:14
Speaker 1: he turned to look back. The man with a pocket
17:16
Speaker 1: full of quarters waved to him, and Bobby, after waving two,
17:19
Speaker 1: set resolutely onwards for the house far off across the road.
17:23
Speaker 1: Now it's hard to remember just what you are going
17:25
Speaker 1: to do when one is a very little boy and
17:27
Speaker 1: has just been given two whole quarters all for his
17:29
Speaker 1: very own, particularly if the disturbing thought will come to
17:33
Speaker 1: you that you can have lots and lots of quarters
17:35
Speaker 1: and other things given to you if you have a birth.
17:38
Speaker 1: The thing you must to think about, that reminded Bobby.
17:42
Speaker 1: He wasn't sure that he hadn't stepped on it while
17:44
Speaker 1: he wasn't thinking, or he would have felt it under
17:46
Speaker 1: his foot as he did the spoon. Perhaps it might
17:49
Speaker 1: be somewhere along this mysterious, inviting white road, all covered
17:53
Speaker 1: with dust to line the trees and bushes that wound
17:55
Speaker 1: away further than anyone could see. It might be just
17:58
Speaker 1: beyond that turn where the meadowlark went sailing happily up
18:01
Speaker 1: into the sky. He would go there and look, dragging
18:05
Speaker 1: his toes in the dust to see if his lost
18:07
Speaker 1: birthdays might be covered up there. Bobby gained the turn
18:10
Speaker 1: in the road, and the next one, and the one
18:12
Speaker 1: beyond that, and still trudged on his short legs, aching
18:15
Speaker 1: and stumbling. He wasn't thinking about the thing he mustn't
18:18
Speaker 1: think about. Why didn't he feel it under his feet?
18:21
Speaker 1: Perhaps because the water wasn't in his eyes so he
18:23
Speaker 1: couldn't see as it had been when he stepped on
18:26
Speaker 1: the spoon. He began to fear he couldn't go much further. Still,
18:29
Speaker 1: he kept on. Then suddenly the sun went entirely to bed.
18:34
Speaker 1: Bobby began to be frightened, for he had never been
18:36
Speaker 1: out alone with the darkness. When it's all dark, little
18:39
Speaker 1: boys can't tell what other things may be about. His
18:42
Speaker 1: lip began to tremble, and now the water did come
18:45
Speaker 1: into his eyes. That interested him. It was so when
18:48
Speaker 1: he stepped on the spoon. It might be that he
18:50
Speaker 1: would find his what he was looking for now, And
18:54
Speaker 1: he stumbled on through the dust and the gathering darkness
18:56
Speaker 1: towards the next turn in the road. As he toiled on,
19:00
Speaker 1: He became conscious of a gentle, purring sound behind him
19:03
Speaker 1: that kept growing louder and louder. He was almost at
19:06
Speaker 1: the turner, and there came a fears honking right behind him.
19:09
Speaker 1: Blinded by the water in his eyes, he could dimly
19:11
Speaker 1: see a great, black, mysterious object almost on him. When
19:14
Speaker 1: he turned, he was too frightened to move. The thing
19:17
Speaker 1: game to a sudden stopped just a few feet from him,
19:19
Speaker 1: and he saw it was only a mobile. A rough
19:22
Speaker 1: young voice cried, don't you know enough to get out
19:25
Speaker 1: of the road when you hear a car coming? New
19:26
Speaker 1: Little James, she might have struck him, cried a sweet,
19:29
Speaker 1: frightened voice from the body of the mobile. We ought
19:32
Speaker 1: not to have tried to make comb without having.
19:34
Speaker 2: The lights on.
19:35
Speaker 1: Don't stand there in the way like a the rough
19:38
Speaker 1: young voice began, but the woman's voice interrupted. The child
19:41
Speaker 1: is crying open the door, James. Before he knew what
19:44
Speaker 1: she was going to do, the lady was kneeling right
19:46
Speaker 1: in the dust of the road by his side. She
19:47
Speaker 1: put her arms around him and drew his head against
19:49
Speaker 1: her rest. It was so soft and warm there, and
19:52
Speaker 1: so safe that Bobby cried all the harder for very relief,
19:55
Speaker 1: and his arms stole around the neck of the lady
19:58
Speaker 1: until his fingers got tangled in herself tear. I do
20:01
Speaker 1: believe the child is lost, said the lady, and gathered
20:04
Speaker 1: Bobby up in her arms and carried him into the
20:06
Speaker 1: mobile like the Lance James, she added, from the depths
20:09
Speaker 1: of the black cushioned seat. James, who wore a pair
20:12
Speaker 1: of big glasses that almost hid his face, turned on
20:15
Speaker 1: the lights, and through his tears, Bobby saw two beams
20:18
Speaker 1: of light spurt out on the road ahead. Tell me
20:21
Speaker 1: your name, won't you, begged of a voice close to
20:24
Speaker 1: Bobby's ear. He struggled to control his sobs enough to answer,
20:28
Speaker 1: I like little voice, added the voice, coaxingly. Boo boo, Bobby,
20:33
Speaker 1: he said, at last, nestling closer in those protecting arms.
20:37
Speaker 2: He's so tired, he's.
20:38
Speaker 1: Falling asleep, said the voice, which was the sweetest Bobby
20:40
Speaker 1: had ever heard. And of hunting for the thing you
20:45
Speaker 1: mustn't think about Chapter four of Bobby inserts favor Day
20:54
Speaker 1: by Levius Michel. This Slebrivox recording is in the public domain.
21:01
Speaker 1: The lady who likes little boys the next thing Bobby
21:06
Speaker 1: knew he woke up to find himself sitting in a great, big,
21:09
Speaker 1: soft red chair in a great big red room with
21:12
Speaker 1: as many as forty or a dozen red shaded lights,
21:15
Speaker 1: with a strange lady geeling in front of him. He
21:18
Speaker 1: looked into her eyes, puzzled at finding she was not
21:21
Speaker 1: the sup intended. You don't remember? Why think that happened?
21:25
Speaker 2: Do you?
21:25
Speaker 1: Laughed the lady, Yes, said Bobby, after he paused, smiling
21:30
Speaker 1: sleepily back at her. You're the lady who likes little boys,
21:35
Speaker 1: you darling, murmured the lady and squeezed Bobby until he
21:38
Speaker 1: could hardly Breathe tell me where you live? There, and
21:42
Speaker 1: he pointed, hesitatingly towards the top of the door.
21:45
Speaker 2: No, no, that way, don't know.
21:48
Speaker 1: The knowledge that he was lost came to him, and
21:50
Speaker 1: that lower let be had to twitch tremulously. Never mind, dear,
21:54
Speaker 1: I'll find your home. What is your father's name? Bobby's
21:58
Speaker 1: big brown eyes opened wine and he's stared at her
22:00
Speaker 1: unlinking for a while. Got none, he answered at last.
22:06
Speaker 1: Then your mother?
22:07
Speaker 2: What is her name?
22:09
Speaker 1: Got none, he repeated, But she must have a name.
22:13
Speaker 1: Tell me what you call her when she sits by
22:14
Speaker 1: your bed at night? And kisses you and tucks you
22:16
Speaker 1: in coaxed the lady. Bobby sat up straight. Do mothers
22:20
Speaker 1: do that? Oh?
22:22
Speaker 2: Yes, don't you know? And the lady kissed Bobby.
22:25
Speaker 1: No'm, said Bobby wistfully. She must be worried frantic because
22:30
Speaker 1: you don't come home. Tell me about her so I
22:32
Speaker 1: can find her and tell her that you are not lost.
22:35
Speaker 1: Got no mother's, said Bobby, after a long pause.
22:40
Speaker 2: Who are you? What's the rest of your name?
22:42
Speaker 1: Bobby North's little imp The lady didn't like that.
22:46
Speaker 2: She almost frowned. You're not that at all?
22:49
Speaker 1: Whoever told you so? Superintendent at the home said so? Oh,
22:55
Speaker 1: said the lady, taking in her breath quickly. Then you're
22:59
Speaker 1: the lady who likes little boys stopped. Then she put
23:01
Speaker 1: her arms round Bobby and squeezed till he squirmed. Yes'm,
23:05
Speaker 1: said Bobby, timidly, trying to breathe. How did you come
23:08
Speaker 1: to be wandering along the road? Bobby looked at her
23:12
Speaker 1: for a long time without moving an eyelash. Please, we'll
23:16
Speaker 1: tell ing me thinking about it, not if you whispered
23:19
Speaker 1: it close to my ear. Bobby took his courage in
23:22
Speaker 1: both hands, placed his lips close to her ear shut,
23:25
Speaker 1: both eyes tight, and whispered all in one breath. What
23:28
Speaker 1: did to five my birthdays? Which I lost before when
23:30
Speaker 1: I was too little to know what it was? Your birthdays?
23:35
Speaker 1: To lady was so surprised that the smile faded for
23:37
Speaker 1: her lips. Have you lost that?
23:41
Speaker 2: Hunted? And hunted all day? Said Bobby.
23:43
Speaker 1: And I didn't think about it, not very much. Why
23:48
Speaker 1: didn't you think about it? Can't you tell me? Bobby
23:51
Speaker 1: opened his eyes wide, cause if you don't think about it,
23:55
Speaker 1: maybe I'll step on it, like the spoon who told
23:59
Speaker 1: you that. The man who lets you play with the puppy?
24:03
Speaker 2: Who is he?
24:04
Speaker 1: Don't you remember his name? No'm, said Bobby, after a
24:07
Speaker 1: long struggle to think. To day is his birthdays? The
24:12
Speaker 1: man who lets you play with the puppy? His little boys,
24:15
Speaker 1: he has eight of them, and presents and glassies and
24:18
Speaker 1: a bat and little pigs to help you buy an education.
24:22
Speaker 1: A delicious drowsiness cut all over Bobby till his eyelids
24:25
Speaker 1: went all thickly and prickly, and he rubbed both fists
24:28
Speaker 1: into them. You're all tired out, said the lady, and
24:31
Speaker 1: hungry too. I'm goin to get you something to eat
24:33
Speaker 1: and put you to bed. Would you like to be
24:35
Speaker 1: my little boy to night? For reply, Bobby flung both
24:39
Speaker 1: arms round her neck and squeezed with all his might
24:41
Speaker 1: until he squeezed his sob right out of her throat.
24:44
Speaker 1: She took him up in her arms and carried him
24:46
Speaker 1: out into a room with a big, shiny red table
24:48
Speaker 1: and two red chairs by it. Then she rang a
24:51
Speaker 1: bough and sent a girl with a little white apron
24:53
Speaker 1: came in. Sarah, bring me a glass of milk, some bread,
24:56
Speaker 1: and butter and jam. Why is that girl, our little white.
25:00
Speaker 2: Apron, asked Bobby.
25:02
Speaker 1: Is she a tendant? No, she's the maid, replied the lady.
25:07
Speaker 1: The girls seemed hardly to have time to leave the
25:09
Speaker 1: room before she was back, bringing on a tray of
25:11
Speaker 1: the bread, the milk, two little cakes of butter, and
25:14
Speaker 1: a dish all ready to run over with red jam.
25:17
Speaker 1: The lady put lots and lots of butter on the
25:19
Speaker 1: bread besides all the jam it could hold without running
25:21
Speaker 1: over the edges, and watched Bobby eat it all up.
25:24
Speaker 1: She didn't tell him to pick up the crumbs, just
25:27
Speaker 1: kept smiling at him and asking him if he could
25:29
Speaker 1: eat another piece. Of course, he could, but as it happened,
25:33
Speaker 1: he couldn't, for he hadn't eaten half of it. When
25:35
Speaker 1: the prickling in his eyelids got so bad, he had
25:37
Speaker 1: to close them. When he opened his eyes again, he
25:40
Speaker 1: was in a little white bed in a little white room,
25:42
Speaker 1: and there it couldn't be. He rubbed a sleep out
25:45
Speaker 1: of his eyes. Yes, it was a little train with
25:48
Speaker 1: an engine and a whole string of cars. He looked around.
25:52
Speaker 1: In one corner of the room stood a baseball bat
25:54
Speaker 1: with a catcher's glove, and there on the little stand
25:57
Speaker 1: by the window was a box full of marbles, glasses,
25:59
Speaker 1: and agates, and many other kinds. He felt queer, and
26:03
Speaker 1: looked down at himself and found he no longer had
26:05
Speaker 1: on his own clothes, but a nice clean nightie. What
26:08
Speaker 1: made you wake, dear? He twisted his head, and there
26:11
Speaker 1: sat the lady who liked little voice, smiling at him.
26:15
Speaker 1: It took him a long time to think of the reason. Please,
26:18
Speaker 1: I forgot. Now I lay me, Will you say it
26:22
Speaker 1: to me? Right here at my knees. Bobby climbed out
26:25
Speaker 1: of the bed note by the lady, laid his head
26:27
Speaker 1: on her knees, and repeated the sleep forgotten prayer. He
26:30
Speaker 1: looked up when he had finished and found that the
26:31
Speaker 1: lady had covered her face with both hands. Perhaps she
26:34
Speaker 1: was saying her now I lay me and Bobby kept
26:37
Speaker 1: still for a long time. Finally he squirmed round for
26:39
Speaker 1: another look at the train of cards. The lady must
26:42
Speaker 1: have known that he was through, for he felt gentle
26:44
Speaker 1: hands on his shoulders.
26:46
Speaker 2: Who taught you that?
26:47
Speaker 1: She asked the tendant with the blue and white dress.
26:51
Speaker 1: It's it's beautiful, said the lady, in a voice that
26:54
Speaker 1: sounded very much like Bobby's. When he had water in
26:56
Speaker 1: his eyes, he looked up and saw there was one
27:00
Speaker 1: in her eyes. Suddenly he felt queer inside and knew
27:03
Speaker 1: something without having to be told. Is the train your
27:06
Speaker 1: little boys? Yes, dear, this was his room, in his bed. Yes,
27:12
Speaker 1: everything in the room was his. Where is your little boy?
27:16
Speaker 1: It was quite a long time before she replied, and
27:19
Speaker 1: then it was so low Bobby scarcely hurt. He's gone away?
27:23
Speaker 1: That seemed a very hard question to answer. Three mints ago,
27:27
Speaker 1: said the lady at last, her fingers at her throat,
27:29
Speaker 1: as though to help the words come out.
27:31
Speaker 2: When's he coming back?
27:33
Speaker 1: The question this time was harder still to answer. He's
27:37
Speaker 1: never coming back, never till I go for him. He
27:42
Speaker 1: was sick a long time until God had pity on
27:44
Speaker 1: him and took him home. Are you going for him tonight?
27:48
Speaker 1: Asked Bobby in that new diffident voice. No, dear, I
27:52
Speaker 1: can't go for a long long time, not till he
27:55
Speaker 1: gets grown up. The lady who likes little boys put
27:58
Speaker 1: a handkerchief to her eyes before she d not till
28:02
Speaker 1: God sends for me. Bobby remained silent till his eyes
28:05
Speaker 1: fell on the box of marbles. Could I play with
28:08
Speaker 1: the marbles till he comes back? Yes, dear, tomorrow, when
28:11
Speaker 1: you've had your sleep out. Then Bobby looked at the
28:14
Speaker 1: little train again and fell to wondering perhaps this boy
28:17
Speaker 1: too had birthdays. He turned to the lady. Did your
28:21
Speaker 1: little boy have birthdays? Yes, dear, day after tomorrow is
28:25
Speaker 1: his birthday? Are you going to celebrate it? Yes?
28:30
Speaker 2: In my heart?
28:31
Speaker 1: It was just a whisper that Bobby's barely heard. How
28:34
Speaker 1: many birthdays did he have?
28:36
Speaker 2: Seven?
28:37
Speaker 1: Bobby considered that the little boy whose fathers was the
28:41
Speaker 1: man who lets you play with the puppy had eight birthdays,
28:43
Speaker 1: and the little boy whose mother's was the lady who
28:46
Speaker 1: likes little boys had seven, but her little boy had
28:49
Speaker 1: gone away. Perhaps he wouldn't mind letting him have just
28:51
Speaker 1: one of his birthdays? Would he let me have just
28:55
Speaker 1: one of his birthdays? The lady remained perfectly dane did
29:00
Speaker 1: not answer. Bobby added wistfully, just try to see what
29:03
Speaker 1: it's like. Perhaps I won't want it anymore. If I
29:06
Speaker 1: did like it, then I could go on hunting for
29:08
Speaker 1: the birthdays I lost. He knew before she spoke that
29:11
Speaker 1: her little boy wouldn't let him have one of his birthdays,
29:14
Speaker 1: not his I couldn't. Don't there, dear, go to sleep
29:18
Speaker 1: now and now. She didn't finish what she was saying,
29:21
Speaker 1: but went quickly out, carrying her handkerchief to her face.
29:24
Speaker 1: Bobby was too tired to be very much disappointed, so
29:26
Speaker 1: tired that he fell asleep almost before the swishing of
29:29
Speaker 1: her dress had ceased to sound in his ears. And
29:34
Speaker 1: of the Lady who likes little boys Chapter five of
29:43
Speaker 1: Bobby in Search of a Birthday by Levey's Michelle. This
29:46
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The man with
29:51
Speaker 1: the pocket full of quarters reappears. The lady who likes
29:55
Speaker 1: little boys went quickly into another room and took down
29:58
Speaker 1: from a closet shelf a little suit of clothes, and
30:01
Speaker 1: gave way to tears, hugging the empty clothes desperately to
30:04
Speaker 1: her heart. After a time, a big man with a
30:07
Speaker 1: brown mustache whose ends curled up, came into the room,
30:10
Speaker 1: looked down pityingly on her, then took her up in
30:13
Speaker 1: his arms like a little tired child, and held her
30:15
Speaker 1: silently while she wept her heart out. You mustn't take
30:19
Speaker 1: his things out, Alice, said the man.
30:21
Speaker 2: Not yet.
30:22
Speaker 1: I can't bear it, Alfred, I want him. I won't
30:25
Speaker 1: try not to think of him. Mister Anning placed his
30:28
Speaker 1: wife gently in a chair and began to tell her
30:30
Speaker 1: about meeting a small boy in the field who was
30:33
Speaker 1: hunting for something he must not think about, for the
30:36
Speaker 1: birthdays he lost before he was big enough to know
30:38
Speaker 1: what it was, said his wife, smiling through her tears.
30:41
Speaker 2: Do you know him? Who is?
30:43
Speaker 1: He asked mister Anning, eagerly for answer. His wife took
30:48
Speaker 1: him by the hand and led him into the little
30:49
Speaker 1: white room where Bobby lay fast asleep. Mister Anning bent
30:53
Speaker 1: quickly over him and exclaimed, why it's the very saint,
30:57
Speaker 1: the little fellow who lost his birthdays and in Edward's room.
31:00
Speaker 1: Now I understand, dear, why it was not that, interrupted
31:04
Speaker 1: his wife and covered her eyes with her hand. He
31:07
Speaker 1: asked for just one of Edward's birthdays so he could
31:09
Speaker 1: find out what it was like. And I couldn't give
31:12
Speaker 1: it to him, Alfred, I couldn't, poor little chap, said
31:17
Speaker 1: her husband. Then he took his wife by the hand
31:20
Speaker 1: and led her out of the little white room. They
31:23
Speaker 1: entered the red room just as Sarah the maid ushered in.
31:25
Speaker 1: Mister Eller. He was very much disturbed and spoke quickly.
31:29
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to trouble you, mister Anning, but one of
31:31
Speaker 1: the children from the home is lost, and wonder if
31:33
Speaker 1: you would take your car an Was he a little
31:36
Speaker 1: boy of five, interrupted missus Anning. The boy who had
31:39
Speaker 1: lost his birthdays, questioned her husband. Yes, replied mister Eller.
31:43
Speaker 1: Have you found him? He is up stairs, fast asleep.
31:48
Speaker 1: You don't know what a relief that is, sighed mister Eller.
31:51
Speaker 1: My wife is nearly distracted at the thought that he
31:53
Speaker 1: may be wondering about in the woods or in the fields.
31:56
Speaker 1: We'll bring him over in the morning, said mister Anning.
31:59
Speaker 1: I think I had better take him with me, said
32:01
Speaker 1: mister Eller. It will call Mary to have him right
32:03
Speaker 1: under her eyes with the other children. I know how
32:07
Speaker 1: she feels, said missus Anning, I will get him ready.
32:11
Speaker 1: After even sleeping for a long, long while, Bobby woke
32:14
Speaker 1: to find himself dressed in his own clothes and in
32:16
Speaker 1: the arms of the lady who likes little boys, she
32:19
Speaker 1: was speaking. He is so tired and sleepy, mister Eller,
32:22
Speaker 1: it is a pity to wake him.
32:23
Speaker 2: I wish you would let me have him until morning.
32:27
Speaker 1: My wife's worried, sick by his disappearance, replied a voice
32:30
Speaker 1: that was familiar to Bobby. He turned his head about
32:32
Speaker 1: to sea. It was the man who lets me play
32:34
Speaker 1: with the puppy. In the doorway stood another man, a
32:37
Speaker 1: big man with a mustache whose ends curled up. He
32:40
Speaker 1: came forward, smiling at Bobby and held out his hand. Why,
32:43
Speaker 1: young man, I didn't expect to see you again so soon.
32:46
Speaker 2: And in my own house too.
32:49
Speaker 1: Bobby didn't know quite what to say, although he was
32:51
Speaker 1: sure the man was not making fun of him, so
32:53
Speaker 1: he said nothing. You haven't forgotten me already, have you,
32:57
Speaker 1: continued the man. No, ums ole, Bobby, you're the man
33:01
Speaker 1: with the pocket full of quarters. Right you are, laughed
33:04
Speaker 1: the man, and to prove it, draw a handful of
33:06
Speaker 1: coins from his pocket, selected a quarter and pressed it
33:09
Speaker 1: into Bobby's palm. The lady kissed Bobby goodbye, while the
33:12
Speaker 1: man looked pleadingly at her. I can't, Alfred, I can't,
33:16
Speaker 1: she said, all choked up, and Bobby wondered what had
33:19
Speaker 1: made her cry. No, of course you can't, Alice, I understand.
33:24
Speaker 1: The man who lets you put with the puppy took
33:26
Speaker 1: Bobby from the lady and carried him out. Bobby looked
33:28
Speaker 1: back and saw the man with a pocket full of
33:30
Speaker 1: qurders put his arm around the lady who likes little boys.
33:34
Speaker 1: Bobby did not see the mobile drive up toward evening
33:36
Speaker 1: of the next day, for he was out in the
33:38
Speaker 1: yard at mister Aller's playing with the Saint Bernard puppy.
33:41
Speaker 1: He was running with all his might, the puppy right
33:43
Speaker 1: at his heels, when suddenly he looked up and saw
33:45
Speaker 1: the lady who likes little boys coming swiftly towards him.
33:48
Speaker 1: He stopped quite still for a time, then ran with
33:51
Speaker 1: all his might right into her arms and tangled his
33:53
Speaker 1: fingers among the soft hair at the back of her neck. Oh, Bobby,
33:57
Speaker 1: I just can't let you go back to the home
34:00
Speaker 1: without your first knowing what a birthdays is. Have you
34:03
Speaker 1: found it?
34:04
Speaker 2: Is it mine?
34:05
Speaker 1: Cried Bobby eagerly. Not yours, Bobby. My little boy is
34:08
Speaker 1: going to lend you one of his. Bobby squirmed in delight.
34:13
Speaker 1: Day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, said the lady. When will that
34:17
Speaker 1: be soon? Dear? I'll tell you when it comes. Bobby
34:22
Speaker 1: remained in thought for a long while. Your little boy
34:25
Speaker 1: won't be mad at you, no, Bobby, he was always
34:28
Speaker 1: very generous, just like his father. Then she said something
34:32
Speaker 1: that Bobby decided was addressed to herself and not to him.
34:35
Speaker 1: I can't be less generous. Bobby squeezed her neck until
34:38
Speaker 1: his arms ached. Then he remembered something she had just said.
34:42
Speaker 1: Did your little boy have fathers too? Yes, he's waiting
34:45
Speaker 1: in the car.
34:46
Speaker 2: Let's go to him, will you, missus. Aller is going
34:48
Speaker 2: to let you spend the night with us.
34:50
Speaker 1: Holding hands, They went out to the yard, while the
34:52
Speaker 1: deserted puppy sat on his haunches and stared forlornly at
34:55
Speaker 1: the little playmate, who did not even look back. When
34:58
Speaker 1: they got to the car. There sat the man the
35:00
Speaker 1: pocket full of quarters. So that was the fathers of
35:03
Speaker 1: the little boy, who was going to lend him a birthday.
35:07
Speaker 1: Well son, said the man, as he solemnly shook hands.
35:10
Speaker 2: We're going to show you what a real birthdays is.
35:14
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, queried Bobby, as he was lifted into the mobile. Sure,
35:18
Speaker 1: think it will be your birthday all day long, from
35:20
Speaker 1: the moment you open your eyes until the Sandman comes.
35:23
Speaker 1: Bobby struggled happily at the sight of the lady in
35:26
Speaker 1: the back seat, while the car sped swiftly on towards
35:28
Speaker 1: the house with the little white room, with the little
35:30
Speaker 1: train and a whole string of little cars. And uh,
35:35
Speaker 1: the man with the pocket full of quarters reappears Chapter
35:43
Speaker 1: six and Bobby in Search of a Birthday by Levius Michel.
35:47
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. The borrowed
35:51
Speaker 1: birthday Is it tomorrow? Now? Asked Bobby eagerly, as he
35:55
Speaker 1: awoke the next morning in the little white room and
35:58
Speaker 1: found the lady who likes little boys bend over him. Yes,
36:01
Speaker 1: this is day after tomorrow, your little boy's birthday. The
36:06
Speaker 1: reply was a long time in coming. It's your birthday
36:10
Speaker 1: this time, dear, for all day it always, for all
36:14
Speaker 1: day long. Bobby felt himself all over, ddited it out swistfully.
36:19
Speaker 1: It does it not feel any different having birthdays? Not yet, Wait, Bobby,
36:25
Speaker 1: until you've had your breath and breakfast, then maybe it
36:27
Speaker 1: will be different. Bobby did by the bath this time
36:31
Speaker 1: at all, only he was in a tremendous hurry to
36:33
Speaker 1: get through it, and when he was seated at the table,
36:35
Speaker 1: he scampered through breakfast very quickly without being scolded once.
36:39
Speaker 1: He did not even notice the girl with a little
36:41
Speaker 1: white apron did not break his things to eat as
36:43
Speaker 1: she had the night before. He was back in the
36:45
Speaker 1: red room with the forty or a dozen red shaded lights.
36:48
Speaker 1: Now I'll put out shaking hands at the van with
36:50
Speaker 1: the pocket full of quarters or the baby give into
36:53
Speaker 1: the room and said it's all ready now, sir, All right,
36:57
Speaker 1: Sarah replied The man and the girl left the room.
37:00
Speaker 1: We're going to start out this birthday right, sad yes, um,
37:04
Speaker 1: said Bobby, watching him with.
37:06
Speaker 2: Eyes that sparkled expectantly.
37:09
Speaker 1: Up at the room where you slept, continued the vand
37:12
Speaker 1: are a lot of things that small boys like I
37:14
Speaker 1: want you to go up there, load and look them over.
37:16
Speaker 1: Then you are to pick out the one thing that
37:18
Speaker 1: you want most of all. Jest what that will be yours? For?
37:21
Speaker 1: Keeps glasses or the bat or the trade, asked Bobby.
37:26
Speaker 1: It's jest one thing for now, interposed the lady there
37:29
Speaker 1: will be. Don't give you away, Alice, pleaded the van.
37:33
Speaker 1: Bobby wondered how she could give away the vand with
37:36
Speaker 1: the pocket full of quarters, but so forgot that, thinking
37:39
Speaker 1: about more important matters or little pigs to buy. Education
37:43
Speaker 1: with curly tails, pursued Bobby. The van burst out into
37:47
Speaker 1: a big laugh that filled the room. I haven't a doubt,
37:50
Speaker 1: but what you have the curly tailed education, all right, Bobby?
37:53
Speaker 1: When the time comes, pigs or no pigs, Yes'm smiled Bobby,
37:58
Speaker 1: not knowing quite what the man meant, come, said the lady.
38:01
Speaker 1: I'll go as far as the door with you, and
38:03
Speaker 1: that was as far as she did go. Her hand
38:06
Speaker 1: slipped gently over Bobby's straight blonde hair and lingered there
38:09
Speaker 1: before she pushed him into the room and closed the.
38:11
Speaker 2: Door between them.
38:13
Speaker 1: Bobby stopped at the head of the little bed, which
38:15
Speaker 1: had already been made out, and looked carefully around the room.
38:18
Speaker 1: There was an enchanting train all ready to get up
38:20
Speaker 1: steam to carry him away into the strange land where
38:23
Speaker 1: red Indians tomahawk little boys, or where pirates stick all
38:26
Speaker 1: day in the white sand, making places tied their yellow golden.
38:30
Speaker 1: And there on the bed was a box of marbles, glasses,
38:33
Speaker 1: and agates and all, and a little blue sailor hat,
38:36
Speaker 1: and a baseball bat, and a.
38:37
Speaker 2: Whole row of quarters.
38:38
Speaker 1: And there Bobby's eyes opened wide, and he made a
38:41
Speaker 1: jump for the thing that was almost hidden in the pocket.
38:43
Speaker 2: Of the sailor's suit.
38:45
Speaker 1: It couldn't be, and yet it was the shiningest white
38:49
Speaker 1: handled pocket knife a boy ever had. He counted the blades.
38:52
Speaker 1: There were three of them, but not one of them
38:54
Speaker 1: could he open. He sat down the floor and tried
38:57
Speaker 1: and tried to open those blades, oblivious to everything else.
39:01
Speaker 1: Before long he became aware of a barely audible scratching sound.
39:04
Speaker 1: It was soon followed by a high pitched whine. Bobby
39:08
Speaker 1: looked eagerly all about his strange excitement thrilled his blood,
39:11
Speaker 1: but he didn't see anything that could make such a noise.
39:15
Speaker 1: At last, he leaned clear over until his head almost
39:17
Speaker 1: touched the floor and looked under the bed. Way down
39:20
Speaker 1: at the foot of it was something in a basket
39:22
Speaker 1: that moved. Bobby watched, fascinated, hardly daring to breathe. The
39:26
Speaker 1: whining came again. Then the dearest little black nose was
39:29
Speaker 1: lifted above the edge of the basket, and two soft
39:31
Speaker 1: brown eyes looked into Bobby's. Bobby shouted and the puppy yelped.
39:35
Speaker 1: At the same instant, Bobby, forgetting that he could walk
39:38
Speaker 1: around the bed, crawled under it. The puppy tried just
39:41
Speaker 1: as hard to come to him and managed to get
39:43
Speaker 1: halfway out of the basket. When Bobby's face came down
39:45
Speaker 1: against his black nose, Poppy and boy mingled affection and gratitude.
39:51
Speaker 2: The puppy's ugly.
39:52
Speaker 1: Face and wide apart bow legs were at that moment
39:54
Speaker 1: the most beautiful things in the world to Bobby. Even
39:57
Speaker 1: birthdays were forgotten, and he hugged and patted that worshiping
40:00
Speaker 1: creature for a long long time before recollection of the
40:04
Speaker 1: Lady who likes little boys caused him to crawl hastily
40:07
Speaker 1: out from under the bed, burst through the door, and
40:09
Speaker 1: tear wildly downstairs to the red room. The puppy cutched
40:12
Speaker 1: to his heart. The man with the pocket full of
40:14
Speaker 1: corners sat at the table in the corner talking to
40:16
Speaker 1: the lady. They both looked up, Well, son, is that
40:20
Speaker 1: what you want most?
40:22
Speaker 2: Yes'm, the smiled Bobby.
40:23
Speaker 1: Is it all mine? Head? Bobby and tail, replied the man.
40:28
Speaker 1: It knew me, exhauted Bobby. The man and the lady
40:31
Speaker 1: exchanged laughs. He's all boy, said the man, made of
40:35
Speaker 1: the right stuff. The lady patted the man's shoulder and
40:38
Speaker 1: looked away. Come here, son, and tell me what you
40:41
Speaker 1: think about birthdays. Bobby marched close up to the man.
40:45
Speaker 1: Wish it was mine. The wistful note in his voice
40:48
Speaker 1: made the lady's hands fly out to him. Oh you
40:51
Speaker 1: like it, do you, asked the man. Well, this birthday
40:54
Speaker 1: has only just started. Yes'm, said Bobby, and hugged the
40:58
Speaker 1: scrumming puppy toat licked his ear. Here's another quarter for you.
41:01
Speaker 1: That's four quarters, Quite a sum for a small boy.
41:04
Speaker 1: Bobby took one hand off the puppy long enough to
41:06
Speaker 1: accept the quarter.
41:08
Speaker 2: Why have you done with the.
41:09
Speaker 1: Others, Bobby asked the lady. He fished him out of
41:12
Speaker 1: the pocket of his blouse. And held all four on
41:14
Speaker 1: the palm of his hand. That makes a dollar, son.
41:17
Speaker 1: That's a whole lot of money for a boy only
41:19
Speaker 1: five years old, that said Bobby, to wondering Is it
41:23
Speaker 1: lots of money for a little boy with seven birthdays?
41:26
Speaker 1: He asked, You can just bet your boots it is.
41:29
Speaker 1: A boy can buy all sorts of things with a dollar.
41:32
Speaker 1: As he spoke, the man pulled a great, round, white
41:34
Speaker 1: piece of money out of his pocket, thereby revealing to
41:37
Speaker 1: Bobby as his pockets contained other things besides quarters, and
41:40
Speaker 1: making him forget that four quarters is an awful lot
41:43
Speaker 1: of money, even for a boy with seven birthdays. No,
41:47
Speaker 1: what this is, asked the man money, replied Bobby. How
41:52
Speaker 1: much money a grown up quarter?
41:56
Speaker 2: Hazarded Bobby at night?
41:58
Speaker 1: It's a dollar, replied then, and it's worth just as
42:01
Speaker 1: much as the four quarters. Would you rather have your
42:03
Speaker 1: money all in one piece. I'll give you the dollar
42:06
Speaker 1: for the four quarters. Bobby hesitated in perplexity, and the
42:10
Speaker 1: lady came to his rescue. Take the big piece, Bobby.
42:13
Speaker 1: It is not so easy to lose, and easier to
42:15
Speaker 1: find if you do lose it. And the borrowed birthday
42:26
Speaker 1: Chapter seven of Bobby in Search of a Birthday by
42:29
Speaker 1: Levius Michelle. This lipri box recording is in the public
42:32
Speaker 1: domain all the perquisites pertaining there too. Bobby obediently exchanged
42:40
Speaker 1: the four quarters for the dollar, despite the frantic effort
42:42
Speaker 1: to the puppy to see what was going on. The
42:45
Speaker 1: dollar was heavy in his hand, and it was very thick.
42:48
Speaker 1: Bobby felt quite wealthy, able to buy all sorts of things,
42:51
Speaker 1: an education, or or perhaps even a birthday. His eyes
42:55
Speaker 1: grew big and round. The man with the pocket full
42:58
Speaker 1: of quarters had just set a moment before that a
43:01
Speaker 1: boy could buy all sorts of things with a dollar,
43:03
Speaker 1: and a dollar is lots of money, even to a
43:05
Speaker 1: boy with seven birthdays. In his excitement, Bobby almost dropped
43:09
Speaker 1: the puppy, retaining his hold on that delight by one leg. Only.
43:13
Speaker 1: His eyes sparkled at the intensity of the desire lighted
43:16
Speaker 1: in them. Is it enough to buy a birthdays? He asked,
43:21
Speaker 1: stammering in his eagerness. The lady gasped at the question,
43:24
Speaker 1: and the man was too staggered to do anything at first.
43:27
Speaker 1: Finally he exploded into that huge laughter which always seemed
43:30
Speaker 1: to Bobby to fill the room. He didn't mind the laughter,
43:33
Speaker 1: for he knew the man was not making fun of him.
43:36
Speaker 1: I don't know, Bobby, said the man, when he had
43:38
Speaker 1: stopped laughing. I've never heard of anybody selling his birthday.
43:42
Speaker 1: You might try and see. Bobby turned at once to
43:45
Speaker 1: the lady who likes little boys. Your little boy ain't
43:48
Speaker 1: not never coming back, He fairly stammered in his excitement.
43:51
Speaker 1: Would he sell me a birthdays? And he held out
43:54
Speaker 1: the round, shining dollar. The lady shrank back from him
43:57
Speaker 1: and went suddenly all white. Bobby knew he had done
44:00
Speaker 1: something wrong, but he couldn't, for the life of him,
44:02
Speaker 1: imagine what it was. The father of the boy with
44:05
Speaker 1: seven birthdays went quickly to his wife. He's got grit
44:09
Speaker 1: and perseverance, said the man. A birthday looks good to him,
44:11
Speaker 1: and he won't give up till he gets one. It
44:13
Speaker 1: would make him happy as a king.
44:14
Speaker 2: Alice.
44:16
Speaker 1: She hid her face on his shoulder. I can't, Alfred,
44:19
Speaker 1: don't ask that Bobby didn't understand what it was she
44:23
Speaker 1: couldn't do, but felt that he had in some way
44:26
Speaker 1: hurt her, and his lower lip began to move unsteadily.
44:29
Speaker 1: It's only day after tomorrow, Alice pleaded the man. It's Edwards,
44:34
Speaker 1: replied the lady. You have no heart, or you couldn't.
44:37
Speaker 1: The man looked at Bobby and then said, in a
44:39
Speaker 1: low voice to his wife, day after tomorrow is never today.
44:44
Speaker 1: Bobby's heart smote him anew, for he saw water running
44:47
Speaker 1: down the lady's face as she lifted her head. It
44:49
Speaker 1: had all been caused by his wanting a birthday. Very well,
44:52
Speaker 1: he would pretend he didn't want a birthdays anymore. Then
44:55
Speaker 1: perhaps the water would go out of the lady's eyes.
44:59
Speaker 1: Don't want a birthday, he announced, with a suspicious dolefulness
45:02
Speaker 1: in his voice. It doesn't not feel good. Look at him, Alice,
45:07
Speaker 1: said the man. Bobby didn't want the lady to see
45:09
Speaker 1: the water in his eyes, so he tried to rub
45:11
Speaker 1: it out, but the tightly clutched dollar got in his way,
45:14
Speaker 1: and the lady must have seen what he was doing,
45:16
Speaker 1: for she simply rushed at Bobby and gathered him, poppy
45:18
Speaker 1: dollar and all into her arms, and kissed him forty
45:21
Speaker 1: yar a dozen times and held his face against her
45:23
Speaker 1: wet cheek. Birthdays can't be bought, Bobby, but you shall
45:26
Speaker 1: have one all of your very own. I'll give you one.
45:31
Speaker 1: Don't not want any, whimpered Bobby. Now if I give
45:35
Speaker 1: you one, asked the lady, wiping the water out of
45:37
Speaker 1: her eyes, we'll give you our little boys. Bobby kept
45:40
Speaker 1: perfectly still, and in that stillness a miracle was performed.
45:43
Speaker 1: That trammeling lip of his, without stopping its trembling, was
45:46
Speaker 1: transformed into a joyful smile. And when the lady saw it,
45:49
Speaker 1: she smiled too. I've been selfish and rebellious, said her
45:54
Speaker 1: sweet little voice, ray at his ear, for she was
45:56
Speaker 1: looking up at the man with the pocket full of
45:58
Speaker 1: quarters When she said it. The man blew his nose
46:01
Speaker 1: and made such a loud noise that it startled Bobby
46:03
Speaker 1: and the lady. They looked into one another's faces and
46:06
Speaker 1: began to smile, like persons sharing a happy secret that
46:08
Speaker 1: no one else knew. I'll draw it up on paper,
46:11
Speaker 1: sends the man. And then if you ever lose it again,
46:13
Speaker 1: whoever finds the paper will know that birthdays belongs to
46:16
Speaker 1: you and will return it. He went to the writing
46:19
Speaker 1: desk in one corner of the room, took paper, pen,
46:21
Speaker 1: and began to write. When all the water had gone
46:23
Speaker 1: out of the eyes of Bobby, and the lady. They
46:25
Speaker 1: went over to watch the man, who was writing away
46:27
Speaker 1: rapidly and smiling to himself. There you are, he said
46:30
Speaker 1: at last, with a concluding flourish, and handed the paper
46:33
Speaker 1: to his wife. She smiled as if it hurt her
46:36
Speaker 1: to read what he had written, and pressed Bobby more
46:38
Speaker 1: closely to her. Now he must sign it, said the man.
46:42
Speaker 1: With another flory. She wrote his name on the paper.
46:44
Speaker 1: His wife's lip trembled just like Bobby's as she signed it.
46:48
Speaker 1: Then the man took Bobby on his lap and guided
46:50
Speaker 1: his hand and making a big cross, and then wrote
46:52
Speaker 1: something himself above and below the mark Bobby had made.
46:56
Speaker 1: Is thatdy birthdays? Asked Bobby, No, replied the lady. Is
47:00
Speaker 1: proof that we have given you a birthday. If anybody
47:02
Speaker 1: ever doesn't believe you have one, just show him that
47:05
Speaker 1: and he'll know that you have. I'll read it to you, sons,
47:08
Speaker 1: the man and proceeded to read, in a big booming voice,
47:11
Speaker 1: done at our house this second day of August nineteen sixteen,
47:15
Speaker 1: We Alfred and Alice Anning, do hereby and herewith give
47:19
Speaker 1: and convey to Bobby North day after tomorrow, which on
47:22
Speaker 1: every second day of August becomes today to be his
47:25
Speaker 1: very own birthday forever. This day after tomorrow is his
47:29
Speaker 1: fifth birthday. The next one will be his sixth. No
47:32
Speaker 1: I could take this birthday from him, because it is
47:34
Speaker 1: ours to give whenever day after tomorrow comes. The afore
47:38
Speaker 1: said Bobby North, is to have his birthday with a
47:40
Speaker 1: celebration and all the perquisites, pretending there too, and witness
47:44
Speaker 1: whereof our signatures are herewith attached signed Alfred Anning Alice Anning,
47:51
Speaker 1: accepted by Bobby North his mark there. I guess that's
47:58
Speaker 1: all shipshape and tight enough so water can't lay through,
48:00
Speaker 1: said the man, and offered the paper to Bobby. He
48:03
Speaker 1: accepted it gravely, as one should in such important manners,
48:06
Speaker 1: then smiled up at the lady. His lips still twitched curiously.
48:09
Speaker 1: He looked thoughtfully at the paper.
48:11
Speaker 2: In his hand.
48:11
Speaker 1: A birthday and perk perk all the perk wisits pertaining
48:15
Speaker 1: there too, said the man, helping him out. What's perk wizits?
48:20
Speaker 1: Bobby asked. Perk wizards, replied the man gravely. Are the
48:24
Speaker 1: things that go with birthdays A celebration, Marbles, cake and
48:27
Speaker 1: ice cream, pocket knives, pigs and pups.
48:30
Speaker 2: Why look at that pup.
48:31
Speaker 1: Bobby looked, and the puppy had the precious bit of
48:33
Speaker 1: paper in his mouth and was trying to swallow it.
48:36
Speaker 1: The man opened the puppy's mouth and rescued Bobby's birthdays.
48:40
Speaker 1: I was only just in time, he confided to Bobby
48:43
Speaker 1: his second later, and that dog would have swallowed it,
48:45
Speaker 1: then where would your birthdays have been? Bobby took time
48:50
Speaker 1: to consider. In due course, he ride to a decision.
48:53
Speaker 1: Long is the puppy's mind? I'd have the birthdays too.
48:56
Speaker 1: He joined in the laughter of his two friends, without
48:58
Speaker 1: quite knowing why the paper in your pocket, Bobby, If
49:01
Speaker 1: the dog eats it, you couldn't prove to anybody that
49:03
Speaker 1: you had a birthday. Now we are going to continue
49:05
Speaker 1: the celebration all day long. That celebration lasted, and Bobby
49:09
Speaker 1: was so happy and excited and had so many good
49:12
Speaker 1: things to eat and so many wonderful things to do
49:14
Speaker 1: that he didn't know where the hours had gone when
49:16
Speaker 1: the man said the day was almost over and that
49:18
Speaker 1: it was time to take him back to mister Eller's
49:23
Speaker 1: end of all the perquisites pertaining there too. Chapter eight
49:33
Speaker 1: of Bobby in Search of her birthday, I Levey as Michelle.
49:36
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Fathers and mothers.
49:42
Speaker 2: And things like that.
49:44
Speaker 1: The lady who likes little boys, took Bobby into the
49:46
Speaker 1: house to get him ready while the man is bringing
49:48
Speaker 1: the mobile out to the gate. The car was waiting
49:51
Speaker 1: long before the lady had Bobby ready. She was very
49:53
Speaker 1: slow about it. First, she had him tight and ran
49:55
Speaker 1: her fingers through his hair. Then she put his hat
49:58
Speaker 1: on and took it off to smooth his hair again.
50:00
Speaker 1: Next she brushed his clothes. Finally, she put the puppy
50:03
Speaker 1: in his arms and gathered up all the presents which
50:04
Speaker 1: Bobby was to take with him. There came a sudden
50:08
Speaker 1: honking from the waiting mobile. The lady hastily kissed Bobby,
50:11
Speaker 1: put on his hat for the last time, and let
50:12
Speaker 1: him out the door. She helped Bobby into the car
50:15
Speaker 1: and very slowly arranged his presence about him in the
50:18
Speaker 1: back seat. Then reluctantly she closed the door. Aren't you
50:22
Speaker 1: coming with us, Alice.
50:23
Speaker 2: Asked the man.
50:24
Speaker 1: The ride will do you good? No, she replied, the
50:27
Speaker 1: day is over for me. Why the sun hasn't not
50:30
Speaker 1: gone to bed quite? Said Bobby, for the edge of
50:33
Speaker 1: the round. Red ball on the west had not yet
50:35
Speaker 1: touched her horizon. All right, son, we're off, said the man,
50:39
Speaker 1: and haulked the horn, and the wheels began to go
50:41
Speaker 1: slowly round. Wait. Alfred called his wife in an unsteady voice.
50:45
Speaker 1: In her hands went out quickly towards Bobby mobile came
50:49
Speaker 1: to the Sadden stop. The lady opened the door and
50:50
Speaker 1: snatched Bobby out into her breast. I can't let you go, Bobby.
50:54
Speaker 1: They won't celebrate your birthday at the home. They wouldn't
50:56
Speaker 1: know how. I'm afraid it won't be much like a
50:59
Speaker 1: birthday there, not after this one, said the man. The
51:03
Speaker 1: lady put Bobby down, and he sees the opportunity to
51:05
Speaker 1: readjust his hold of the puppy and look into his
51:07
Speaker 1: blast pocket to see if the precious bit of paper
51:09
Speaker 1: was still there. May I, Alfred heard the lady who
51:13
Speaker 1: likes little boys saying to the man in the mobile.
51:16
Speaker 1: Alice cried the man, I love you a thousand times
51:18
Speaker 1: better than ever. That seemed a very funny sort of
51:22
Speaker 1: answer to Bobby. There was no sense in it. He
51:24
Speaker 1: looked up and found the lady's arms held up to him.
51:27
Speaker 1: Bobby would you like to stay with us and be
51:29
Speaker 1: my little boy? Then every year when your birthday comes,
51:32
Speaker 1: we would celebrate it together. Bobby's eyes glistened. He looked
51:36
Speaker 1: from her to the man and beck again. They were
51:38
Speaker 1: well smiling at him. Will you be my mother's then, Yes, dear,
51:43
Speaker 1: i'b be your mother then. Forgetting all about the puppy,
51:46
Speaker 1: which fell to the ground with a surprised little yelp,
51:48
Speaker 1: Bobby rushed to the lady, who likes little boys, and
51:50
Speaker 1: threw his arms passionately about her neck as she knelt
51:53
Speaker 1: to receive him. They both squeezed just as hard as
51:56
Speaker 1: they could, and the lady laughed and cried, and then
51:58
Speaker 1: laughed again. Bobby sighes complete happiness. He had found he birthdays,
52:03
Speaker 1: and already that magical thing was bringing him all sorts
52:05
Speaker 1: of presents, puppies and burke wuizits and glassies and mothers
52:09
Speaker 1: and perhaps curly tailed little pigs to buy him in education.
52:13
Speaker 1: He hugged the lady again, Well, son, you seem to
52:17
Speaker 1: like mothers. Bobby looked up as aw the man with
52:19
Speaker 1: the pocket full of corders had climbed down on the
52:21
Speaker 1: mobile and was standing over them. Yes, some replied Bobby,
52:24
Speaker 1: and dwined his fingers in the soft hat at the
52:26
Speaker 1: back of the lady's neck. And fathers too, smiled the lady.
52:31
Speaker 1: Bobby drew back and looked at her with shining eyes.
52:33
Speaker 1: Have I fathers too? Yes, dear, you will love him
52:37
Speaker 1: because he likes little boys too. Bobby thought that over,
52:40
Speaker 1: then looked up with a shy smile at the man,
52:43
Speaker 1: the man who lets you play with the puppy. He asked, No, dear,
52:47
Speaker 1: said his mother's not that man, the man with the
52:49
Speaker 1: pocket full of quarters.
52:50
Speaker 2: Will you shake hands with him?
52:53
Speaker 1: Why? He's the man who lets you play with the
52:55
Speaker 1: puppy too, said Bobby, anticipating the fact. Already he's found
53:00
Speaker 1: me out, laughed the man, Smiling, Bobby held out his
53:03
Speaker 1: hand to his father's end of fathers and mothers and
53:08
Speaker 1: things like that. Recording by Trotza Uruguay, South America. End
53:14
Speaker 1: of Bobby in Search of a Birthday by Levius Michel