148 BEYOND THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.

“Oh, no, no!” answered poor little Buttercup in a choking voice.
“T am finding them nicely, thank you ” ; but though he looked to
right and left, and up to the ceiling and down to the floor, he could
not see anything that in the least resembled blacking or brushes
or boots. ‘Oh dear, oh dear!” he said to himself, “what am J
CORdO Es:

At this moment a sharp, very clear little voice was heard speak-
ing up im a corner, a little head was pushed out of a cupboard,
and Buttercup, raising his eyes, saw a tiny and very thin boy look-
ing at him.

“You may as well submit at once,” he said. “I didn’t at first,
and I had an awful time; she’s terrible when you go against her.
See what she has made of me. I used to be a big boy, and look
at me now—did you ever see anyone so tiny? that is because I
have to live in this cupboard. Mr. Penalty put me in here because I
wouldn’t submit to Mrs. Discipline. You had better be careful—you
really had.”

“ But who in the world is Mr. Penalty?” asked Buttercup.

“He is Mrs. Discipline’s father. She'll send you on a visit
to him unless you are very careful, and then you'll really know what's
what.”.

“What is what’s what?” asked Buttercup. “You do frighten
me, little boy!”

“Well, it’s better to warn you, isn’t it? You'll know what’s what
after you have paid a visit to Mrs. Discipline’s ‘father. Now do
begin ; clean the boots, or she’ll come and show you how.”

“ But I can’t see them anywhere,’ said Buttercup. “ There’s not
a boot in the place, nor a brush, nor any blacking. How am I to
discover them ?”

“ Bollow your nose,” said the boy in the cupboard, “ and youll
see plenty of them.”

Buttercup stood still for a moment, wondering how he could
possibly follow his nose. His nose directly faced the small win-
dow of the scullery; he therefore looked on the window-ledge,
and there he saw a pile of boots covered with snow and mud, two