Dreamland | Page 8

when she heard a panting voice say, "That last rush quite took
away my breath!" and found herself being addressed by Mr. Bombus,
who was very red in the face and gasping rather painfully, and whom
she had, for the moment, forgotten.
Betty said: "My, Mr. Bombus, how warm you are! Sit right down on
the grass and cool off before we go any farther, please."
"Oh, dear, no!" objected her companion. "That would be terribly
imprudent, with these cold autumn winds blowing so; and winter just
over there. I 'd catch my death, Child."
"Why, I 'm sure," replied Betty, "I don't know what you mean. It's as
summer as it can be. It's a hot August day, and if you can't sit outdoors
in August, I 'd like to know when you can."
"Allow me to inform you, my dear child, that it isn't August at all; and
if you had half an eye you 'd see it, let alone feel it. Do these leaves
look as if it were August?" and he pointed to a clump of trees whose
foliage shone red and yellow in the sunlight.
Betty started. "Good gracious!" she exclaimed. "How came they to
change so early?"
"It _is n't_ early," explained Mr. Bombus. "It's the last of
October,--even later,--and keeps getting more so every minute."
"But," insisted Betty, "it was August when I first saw you, a few hours
ago, and--"
"Yes, then it was August," assented Mr. Bombus; "but we 've got
beyond that. We 're in By-and-by. Did n't you hear your mother say it
would be October by and by, and it is October. Time is jogging on,
back there in the world; but we beat him, you see, and are safe and
sound--far ahead of him--in By-and-by. Things are being done here that
are always going to be done behind there. It's great fun."

But at these words Betty's face grew very grave, and a sudden thought
struck her that was anything but "great fun." Would she be set to doing
all the things she had promised to do "by and by"?
"I 'm afraid so," said Mr. Bombus, replying to her question though she
had only thought it. "I told you it depended on one's self if one were
going to like By-and-by or not. Evidently you 're not. Oh! going so
soon? You must have been a lazy little girl to be set about settling your
account as quick as this. See you later! Good--"
But again he was not permitted to say "by," for before he could fairly
get the word out, Betty was whisked away, and Mr. Bombus stood
solitary and alone under a bare maple-tree, chuckling to himself in an
amused fashion and, it must be confessed, in a spiteful.
"It 'll be a good lesson for her. She deserves it," he said to himself; and
Betty seemed to hear him, though she was by this time far away.
Poor child! she did not know where she was going nor what would take
place next, and was pretty well frightened at feeling herself powerless
to do anything against the unknown force that was driving her on.
But even while she was wondering she ceased to wonder; and what was
going to happen had happened, and she found herself standing in an
enormous hall that was filled with countless children, of all ages and
nationalities,--and some who were not children at all,--every one of
whom was hurrying to and fro and in and out, while all the time a voice
from somewhere was calling out names and dates in such rapid
succession that Betty was fairly deafened with the sound. There was a
continual stir in the assembly, and people were appearing and
reappearing constantly in the most perplexing manner, so that it made
one quite dizzy to look on. But Betty was not permitted to look long,
for in the midst of the haranguing of the dreadful voice she seemed to
distinguish something that sounded strangely familiar.
"Betty Bleecker," it called, "began her account here when she was five
years old by the World calculation. Therefore she has the undone duties
of seven years--World count--to perform. Let her set about paying off

her debt at once, and stop only when the account is squared;"
whereupon Betty was again whisked off, and had not even time to
guess where, before she found herself in a place that reminded her
strangely of home and yet was not home at all. Then a wearisome
round of tasks began.
She picked up pins, she opened doors, she shut windows, she raised
shades, she closed shutters, she ran errands, she delivered messages,
she practised scales, she studied lessons, she set her doll-house in order
and replaced her toys, she washed her