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 BY KNIGHT & LEONARD, 
 CHICAGO 
 
 ILLUSTRATED By KNIGHT 61 LEUXARD, POINTERS. 
 
 MYKA MANT.EV A:;D W. DE MEZA Ci^c.-vGO. 
 
- 
 
 * .-< Ja 
 
 BONITO (Bo-w-to). 
 
 CASTLE RIM-K, A rugged point bounding th'_- beach. 
 
 CARPEXTERI'A (Car-pen-te-nr'-a), A lovely valley thirteen miles distant. 
 
 CACITAS (Ka-sO tas), A mountain pass. 
 
 COLD SPRING, A brook coming down through a rugged canon into Montecito 
 
 EL MOXTKCITO (ce'to), A valley adjoining Santa Barbara. 
 
 SANTA CRI z AND SANTA ROSA, Islands lying across the channel. 
 
 SAN LKAXDRO, A sightly knoll in Montecito. 
 
 SAN RAPHAEL (Ra-fa eij. AXD SANTA YNE/, Two ranges of mountains 
 
 SAN Bt'ENA VENTURA, A village thirty miles south. 
 
 THE Rixcox (Rin-kon |, A mountainous promontory 
 
 TECOLOTE I Tek-o-lo-te t, A rancho and 
 canon. 
 
 THE MUSA, A level plateau toward the 
 west. 
 
 THE VEXTURA, A rapid mountain 
 stream. 
 
 THE Oj.u (Oh!), A beautiful valley 
 forty miles inland. 
 
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Winded Jteed |}onito. 
 
 MORNING breaks gloriously over the bay on this the 
 great day of Santa Barbara's Equestrian Review. Dur- 
 ing the night a light rain has fallen, and the little hamlet, like 
 a young bride, has arrayed herself in all her charms. From 
 Carpenteria and El Montecito, from Goleta, Glenn Annie, 
 and Tecolote the happy, care-forgetting people have gathered 
 in their best array. The streets are lined with bright-colored, 
 eager groups, and the wide sombrero and the jingling spur, 
 the dark hair and flashing eyes, the liquid, softly-flowing 
 sounds mingle freely with the blue eyes, yellow locks, and 
 harsher vowels of the North. 
 
 The sun has passed the meridian and turned toward his 
 rest beyond the Mesa. There is peace in the flower-scented 
 air, in the long swell of the sea, in the deep silence which 
 broods over the mountains, and in the white flocks feeding 
 beyond Mission Creek. There is peace in the low murmur 
 of humming birds busy among the roses. The blue haze 
 down the valley is but the breath of content, and the solitary 
 sail crossing the bay seems the white ensign of universal 
 tranquillity. The ancient bells in the tower of the old Mis- 
 sion are pealing forth the gathered rest and quiet of a cen- 
 tury. The eager buds have hastened to throw w r ide their 
 petals, and the gay little lizards, harmless as beautiful, warmed 
 by the generous heat, flash in and out among the rocks. It 
 
2O IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 is a day in which the joy of life should reach high-water 
 mark ; a day in which to love, and hope for love again ; in 
 which to laugh with never thought of sighing a perfect day 
 for Santa Barbara's great review. And lo ! from the open 
 fields above the Arlington moves out a glittering cavalcade, 
 and winds slowly along the avenues. 
 
 It is a gay and shining troop 
 
 That steps so proudly down the way ; 
 
 'Twere worth ten years of eastern life, 
 One glance at their array. 
 
 Silken-coated, clean-limbed, gayly decorated, high-stepping 
 steeds ! Smiling, red-cheeked, bright-eyed children ! Lovely 
 maidens, fair dames, and gallant cavaliers ! Squadron after 
 squadron, marshaled each by its o'.vn captain, with its own 
 silken banner floating overhead, and gay with flowers and 
 decorations of its own shade and choosing roses and rib- 
 bons, ribbons and roses, for bridle and collar, for shoulder 
 and breast-knot and mingling with it all the sound of 
 champing bits and trampling hoofs, of merry laugh and jest. 
 Ah, yes ! it is a goodly company, and wonderfully bright and 
 picturesque, and whether most enjoyed by those onlooking, 
 by horses, or by riders, it were difficult, indeed, to say. How 
 proudly does Wild Diamond bear the day's grand marshal ! 
 and how Wicked Jim's black eyes are snapping! yet his an- 
 cient rider sits him as if his threescore years and ten were 
 but a dream. Conde and Sorrel Dick bear their beautiful 
 burdens with placid self-complacency, while Del and Mack 
 drift dreamily on with the eddying current of life and motion. 
 Pet, the petite, with dainty, dancing step, is coy, as it be- 
 

 
 
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 \ 
 
 - 
 
 ' ^T - / - i 
 
 J A -> ; / 
 
22 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 hooves young maidens all to be; while great black Bonnethon 
 is longing, through every tingling vein, to set a thundering 
 pace across the hills and plain. Ojai brave old Ojai --be- 
 neath his wealth of flowers and smilax, holds his own in step 
 and carriage with the shining lights of this, another genera- 
 tion. And lo ! Long John has just unloosed another reef, 
 and stretches out as if each stride would mark a league. 
 Blue Dick grows restless lest he lose the chance to air his 
 stunning English trot, while Selim Bay Selim, the Arabian 
 proselyte seems meditating o'er his master's system of the- 
 ology. And so they come, a shining train of noble steeds 
 and courtly riders. They pass along until at length the beach 
 is gained, when, wheeling round near Castle Rock, each squad- 
 ron all abreast and beautifully aligned, banners flying, steeds 
 plunging, with the sweep of a rushing, mighty wind the entire 
 cavalcade comes galloping, galloping on. How the pulse 
 quickens and thrills ! The brain and the blood catch fire, and 
 the whole air seems steeped with the sense of power and free- 
 dom, of joy and gladness. 
 
 And yet, through all this harmony of peaceful sea and 
 mountains, of life-quickening sunshine, gay steeds, and ban- 
 ners, of joyous sights and sounds, there runs one note of sad- 
 ness. .Upon the grassy knoll there stands the little maiden ; 
 the lithe and supple greyhounds, with footfalls light as air, are 
 playing round her, but no white Bonito stands beside her. 
 Not yet has he appeared. There are tears in the bright eyes, 
 which the brave little soul smiles and smiles away. Oh ! that 
 there should be such beautiful times and she not in them ! 
 To-day all who are unmounted are undone. To-day the 
 horseman is a king, the foot-man but a lowly serf. Alas ! 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 23 
 
 poor little Marguerita ! All her kingdom, her dogs and dolls 
 and playthings, she cannot barter for a horse ! And so there 
 is sorrow and disappointment in the bend of the head and 
 the drooping curls, tears in the brave, bright eyes, and sad- 
 ness in the dear heart. And close at hand, beneath the 
 shadow of a mighty oak, sits one child of the glowing sun- 
 shine, merry-hearted, heroic, golden-souled, serene and as 
 the little maid looks longingly upon the passing cavalcade, 
 thus looking on life's shining pageant, so bright, so beautiful, 
 so joyous, fast hurrying by, the brave soul, still like the little 
 maiden, smiles and smiles the gathering tears away. 
 
 Meanwhile, unseen, unnoticed, way down the coast, where 
 the blue mountains fade away into the blue sea, one solitary, 
 snow-white cloud appears, and draws on apace. Buena Ven- 
 tura has been passed. The Rincon falls behind. Rapidly it 
 skirts along by sunny Carpenteria, and sails quickly over Mon- 
 tecito, when lo ! a strange, a wondrous thing. This fleecy 
 cloud is not a beautiful cloud at all, but in its stead appear 
 two winged, milk white steeds, their nostrils red and glowing, 
 their white manes floating in the wind like comets streaming 
 down the sky. The one is riderless. Upon the other sits a 
 king's messenger, the dark-eyed Alessandro. Descending 
 swiftly to the grassy knoll, the gay young courtier, dismount- 
 ing, to Marguerita speaks : 
 
 " Senorita, I have ridden long and far, and bring a mes- 
 sage from the king. He would that there should be no tears 
 or sadness in the Land of Sunset. He bes^s the Ladv Mar- 
 
 o * 
 
 guerita put her sorrow by. and accept from him the winged 
 steed Bonito. He is swift and tireless as the eairle. as e 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OK SUNSET. 25 
 
 as the south wind, and as beautiful as day. Will the fair 
 senorita mount and ride with Alessandro?" 
 
 Will Marguerita mount Bonito ? Will Marguerita ride 
 with Alessandro ? Will the sun shine, the winds blow, or the 
 brooks seek the sea ? Scarce can she speak her thanks before 
 one little foot in Alessandro's palm, one little hand upon the 
 pommel, she springs into the saddle, and waits with sparkling 
 eyes and wildly throbbing pulse the word from Alessandro. 
 And like an arrow on the string, or like a hound still leashed, 
 waits white Bonito, with grandly curving neck, sharp-pointed 
 ears alert, eyes flashing, and the rounded flanks heaving and 
 quivering. Then, so the ancient story runs, the word was 
 given, the white steeds bounded in the air, flew down the ave- 
 nues, and past the glittering cavalcade, and so sped rapidly 
 away. 
 
 They rode down the beach 
 
 As the swift swallows fly, 
 With the surf thundering in 
 
 And the winds rushing by. 
 
 They rode over mountains, 
 
 They rode o'er the lea, 
 They rode by the brook side 
 
 And by the blue sea. 
 
 They rode into cloudland, 
 
 Up through the clear sky, 
 Past the dwellings of night 
 
 Where the sleeping stars lie, 
 
26 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 And the white steeds grew misty 
 And shadowy and dim, 
 
 And the dark Alessandro 
 Grew spectral and grim, 
 
 And they vanished from sight 
 At the close of the day, 
 
 But a white cloud went floating 
 Down over the bay. 
 
 And still, so 'tis said, 
 
 Sea and blue sky between, 
 
 Just over the Rincon 
 
 May that white cloud be seen. 
 
 And to that quiet spot beneath the shadowy oak another 
 
 also a king's messenger has come and gone. And as 
 
 yon fleecy clouds float ever over Rincon's rocky point, so 
 
 here there hovers softly and unchangingly a gracious sunlit 
 
 memory. 
 
O-FLov/FR-ETVER 
 

 V 
 
 TIS night where the hills rise out of the lea ; 
 Xot a soul is abroad save Bonney and me ; 
 The wide, silent heavens stretch away overhead, 
 And the blossoming wild flowers cushion mv bed. 
 
 Our camp fire burns low, Bonney slumbers and 
 
 sleeps, 
 
 Whilst yon sentinel owl his lone vigil keeps; 
 But my soul down the valley is keeping love's 
 
 tryst, 
 And the steed and his master fain would follow, 
 
 I wist. 
 
 (), beautiful crest where the wild flowers grow, 
 There's a beautiful soul in the valley 
 below ! 
 
 , / 
 
 i/a.-jit 
 
 ^ m 
 
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 /if 
 
3O IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 No flower ever bloomed on thy bosom so fair ; 
 No spirit so sweet in thy dew-laden air ; 
 
 Never twilight so soft as the light in her eye ; 
 Sounds her voice sweet and low like the breath of a si 
 A beautiful soul with life all aglow ; 
 Oh ! a fair, golden soul in the valley below. 
 
 And there's a clear sunny home by the billowy sea, 
 Y\ here a fond he, .rt is waiting for Bonney and me. 
 Ah ! Bonney, brave Bonney, my glorious gray, 
 At the first flush of dawn we must up and away. 
 
 O, beautiful stars, that sparkle and glow, 
 Look down ere day breaks and these silent shades go. 
 Look clown on that spot where the blue billows roll, 
 And oh, is it well with the golden soul ? 
 
 My spirit is drooping with portents of woe. 
 Does sorrow forebode by the sea below ? 
 Why seems the night heavy and pulseless and still, 
 And why is my startled heart nerveless and chill ? 
 * * * * -:: * # 
 
 Up, Bonney, brave Bonney, my glorious gray ! 
 
 To rescue and save we must off and away. 
 
 'Tis a race with grim Death down the hills to the sea,' 
 
 And the golden soul shall our guerdon be. 
 
 Hark to the clang of the hoof's ringing blow ! 
 Back rush the hills past our path as we go. 
 On, Bonney, on ! Away and away ! 
 Life, whrn Death's riding, brooks no delay. 
 
32 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 On, Bonney, on ! The pale horse is gaining ; 
 
 His hoofs on the rock like storm beats are raining. 
 
 Spare not, oh, spare not the laboring breath, 
 
 For we ride through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. 
 
 O, Father, have mercy ! The pale steed hath passed us. 
 Let not Thine anger rend us and blast us. 
 Shall our cries but rebound from the portals of heaven ? 
 Shall faith and shall hope from their bases be riven ? 
 Shall not truth still be true, and Thy promise unbroken ? 
 Shall the dear voice be stilled that love only hath spoken ? 
 
 The heavens are shut, unheard is our cry ; 
 
 Our woe is unseen by the Infinite Eye ; 
 
 The fountain of mercy has failed at its source, 
 
 And the pale horse speeds on, unchecked, in his course. 
 
 Cease, Bonney, cease ! Life is undone ! 
 The race now is over, and the gaunt steed has won ; 
 The light has gone out in our home by the sea, 
 And darkness and silence shall our welcoming be. 
 
 Nevermore at home-coming shall that loving heart greet us; 
 Nevermore, as of old, shall the golden soul meet us; 
 Nevermore, Bonney, boy, shall that gentle hand feed thee ; 
 Nevermore the sweet voice to the fresh grasses lead thee. 
 
 Alone, dear old comrade, alone, you and I ! 
 Life's sun has gone down, with no stars in the sky. 
 The world of its brightness and joy is bereft, 
 And we've only a beautiful memory left. 
 
.- 
 
 " 
 
 (eeolote. 
 
 -t 
 
Jecolote. 
 
 Tecolot'i's white homestead lies at the foot of a towering amphitheater of green hills. 
 
 r 
 
 'HOU art bride of the hills, 
 
 Tecolote. 
 
 How gently and firmly their giant arms hold thee ! 
 In what blissful content they lovingly fold thee, 
 Fair bride of the hills, 
 Tecolote. 
 
 Thou'rt a dove in its nest, 
 
 Tecolote. 
 
 Of peace and repose is thy little nest builded, 
 With the sunshine of joy are its snowy walls gilded. 
 White dove in its nest, 
 Tecolote. 
 
 Art thou robed in thy best, 
 
 Tecolote ? 
 And daintily cared for thy nest, 
 
 Tecolote ? 
 
 For thy groom, the green hills, is in gorgeous array, 
 And thy mate plumes himself in his raiment so gay. 
 Thou art bride of the hills, 
 
 Tecolote. 
 Thou'rt a dove in its nest, 
 
 Tecolote. 
 

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MEG, blue-eyed, golden-haired, fly-away Meg, with her heart 
 full of love and her thoughts full of fairies and Wonder- 
 land, sat in the white sand of the beach at play, digging won- 
 derful caves and great castles and palaces, and looking off 
 over the sea to far-away Santa Cruz, and she wondered what 
 strange things the shadowy island contained. 
 
 Now Meg was not dressed for play, but wore her lovely 
 Kate Greenaway dress and her black silk stockings and pretty 
 low shoes, which were tied with a silken ribbon. And she 
 had on her very best hat and her new kid gloves with buttons 
 and buttons running way up her arms. 
 
 After a little Meg ceased her play and listened to the 
 waves as they went murmuring by. There seemed to be ever 
 and ever so many dear little child waves that went dancing 
 and rippling and laughing along : 
 
 Lip-pi-ty, lip-pi-ty, ha, ha, ha ! 
 Lip-pi-ty, lip-pi-ty, ha, ha, ha! 
 
 And some pretty rough boy waves that went leaping and 
 tumbling over each other, 
 
 Flippity, floppity, 
 Hi, hi, hi! 
 
 and a few kind, gray-bearded old waves that smiled at Meg 
 as they passed slowly and sedately on their way, 
 
 Lip-lap ! lip-lap ! 
 
64 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 After Meg had listened to them for a while, she looked up 
 the beach, and behold, there was a great fleet of fairies just 
 coming round Castle Rock ! 
 
 Oh, there were thousands and thousands of the tiniest 
 baby fairies wee, pink and white dots of fairies in green, 
 lily-pad boats set round the edges with pearls and cushioned 
 all over with eider-down. Then came myriads of fairy chil- 
 dren in boats of shells with golden masts and satin sails of 
 blue and red and violet and orange. And they were having a 
 splendid time and singing merrily as they sailed over the sil- 
 very sea. 
 
 Now the sea glistened so brightly, the waves rippled so 
 gently, the boats were so beautiful, and the fairies so happy, 
 that poor Meg's heart began to be very sad to think she 
 couldn't go sailing in a lovely boat, too, but must sit on the 
 beach all alone. And she bowed her head down in her hands 
 till the sunny curls hid her face, and she sobbed and sobbed 
 as if her heart would break. But when she looked up, there 
 was the most beauteous, marvelous boat that ever was seen, 
 sailing right up to the beach at her feet. 
 
 Then Meg was so pleased and surprised that her sobs 
 stuck fast in her throat where they were, and the tears just 
 hung on the ends of her eyelashes and never dropped off. 
 This wonderful boat was made of a great tortoise shell, scal- 
 loped and polished and curving away up behind. It was 
 lined throughout with mother-of-pearl, and the velvet cush- 
 ions were purple and azure. It was not like the others, for it 
 had neither mast nor sail. But above it there floated an awn- 
 ing of silvery satin embroidered with gold. Into the middle 
 and four corners of the awning were woven small golden 
 
66 
 
 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 hooks. Up from these hooks ran numberless threads of gos- 
 samer, each shining thread made fast round the neck of a 
 white-winged gull, so that as the beautiful birds with their 
 tireless wings bore up the glistening canopy, they seemed 
 like a radiant cloud hovering over the boat. And perched on 
 the crest of the bow as it rose high up from the water, was 
 an eagle with wide-spreading wings hewn out of a rock of blue 
 sapphire and carved by the marvelous skill of the gnomes in 
 their workshop under the mountains. The eyes were two 
 great diamonds so big and so brilliant they blazed and spark- 
 led and shone in the sunlight. Though larger and fairer than 
 all the rest, this boat did not sail of itself, but was drawn by 
 a hundred shining brown porpoises, harnessed with traces of 
 silk made fast to a silver ring in the eagle's beak, and they 
 flashed and shimmered in the sunlight, as they went leaping 
 and plunging along. 
 
 Now, when this beautiful, glittering, fairy-built boat, with 
 its fluttering flags and its bird-borne canopy, sailed up to the 
 beach with a sweeping curve, no wonder Meg's sobs felt them- 
 selves out of place, and hid down deep 
 in her throat ; no wonder her eyes 
 grew so round and so bright 
 that the poor little tears were 
 scared and jumped off 
 quick from the ends of 
 her lashes, and 
 fell away down 
 to the ground 
 and died. 
 

 
 LAND 
 
 LAVGHING 
 
 WATEfV 
 
 \ 
 
 r 
 
&\\ver WtVVes 
 T\e\\ come 
 
 cV and 
 
Lfansl of [fatiin? Water 3 . 
 
 A S the boat glided up to the landing, a boy, straight as an 
 ** arrow, with a winsome face, and a frank, fearless, laughing 
 eye, stepped ashore. He wore a blue sailor's jacket, with 
 buttons of gold, and with golden anchors on either shoulder 
 and cuff, and had a jaunty white hat and trousers, "with sil- 
 ver buckles on his knee." He ran up the steps, and. taking 
 off his hat, bowed very low to Meg as he said : 
 
 " I'm Captain Bobby Shafto, who went to sea, and this is 
 my ship. Who are you. little girl, and what makes your eye- 
 lids so wet, and your throat stick out so?" 
 
 Then Meg told him who she was, and how she had been 
 crvincr because she couldn't t^o sailing with the fairies. Then 
 
 * O O o 
 
 Captain Bobby, who was a very gallant little fellow, bowed 
 very low again, and sang, in a merry, mischievous way : 
 
 " I'm Bobby Shafto, as you see, 
 With silver buckles on my knee, 
 Will you, Meg, go sail with me, 
 With pretty Bobby Shafto ? " 
 
 When Meg heard Bobby's invitation, her face was a sight 
 to behold. She was really going to go sailing, after all, and 
 in the very loveliest boat on the sea, and with Bobby Shafto, 
 too. Meg knew all about Bobby Shafto, and had wondered 
 a great many times how he looked, and when he would come 
 home from sea, and who it was he was froin^ to marrv. She 
 
 6. 
 
70 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 was very glad, indeed, to see him, and smiled with a light 
 and happy heart as she thanked him for his kind invitation, 
 and told him she would like very much to go sailing with 
 him in his beautiful boat. So he took her by the hand, led 
 her down the steps, helped her into the boat, and gave her a 
 seat on the velvet cushions. Then Captain Bobby blew three 
 blasts through a golden horn, and the shining porpoises, the 
 snow-white gulls, the pearl-lined boat, and the happy children 
 sailed smoothly clown the bay. They passed a great many of 
 the fairy boats, and, as Meg listened to the low murmuring 
 of the waves, the soft, reedlike call of the gulls, and the gen- 
 tle flutter of their wings, she thought she had never had such 
 a good time in all her life. After they had sailed on for a 
 time, they came to a wonderfully beautiful country, a sunlit, 
 peaceful land, a land of rest and loveliness. When Meg 
 asked Bobby what it was, he told her it was El Montecito, 
 the fairy land of Laughing Water. He said the brooks here 
 always rippled and sang over their pebbly beds, and the sea 
 always seemed to be laughing lightly and merrily, and he 
 guessed this was what gave the beautiful country its name. 
 
 " There are some queer stories about Laughing Water," 
 Bobby went on, "but I can't remember only about little 
 babies being found in the flowers that grow here. You see, 
 Meg, the angels are so happy in heaven that they cry some- 
 times in the evening for no other reason under the sun, but 
 just because they haven't got quite so long to live there as 
 they had in the morning. And so the dew which is noth- 
 ing but angels' tears, you know comes down out of the sky 
 at twilight in little, clear, round drops, and hides in the 
 flowers, and in the morning every single dewdrop has turned 
 
72 IX THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 into a baby, and they are all asleep in their flower beds. All 
 the little children along the coast know it." 
 
 " But I never heard anything about it before, Bobby. 
 Please go on," urged Meg. 
 
 "There's a little girl down at San Diego knows ever so 
 many verses that a beautiful fairy lady taught her, and they 
 tell ever so much about it. One verse I remember says : 
 'And the morn never breaks 
 O'er the blossoming hills, 
 But the harebell and morning glory, 
 
 And the velvet cell of the tuberose deep, 
 Cradles a babe in its first sweet sleep 
 More fair than the cherubs of story." 
 "What are cherubs, Bobby?" 
 
 ' Oh, cherubs are nice little girls, only they've got wings. 
 I guess you'll be a cherub sometime, Meg." 
 
 " Don't you know anything more about the babies, 
 Bobby?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, they most always find them in the great calla 
 lilies ; they are so big and velvety, you know. Another 
 verse I heard that little girl singing one time says : 
 
10 
 
\ 
 
 "And in the morning, whenever the ocean is calm 
 and smooth, and the wind is fair, the babies are placed 
 in the fairies' little shell boats, and covered and tucked in 
 with blankets made out of cobwebs and the fiber of lilies, 
 and lined with the purple down of violets and pansies, 
 and then, with a fairy pilot for each, the bright satin sails 
 are set, and they go sailing down the coast toward life 
 and the world." 
 
 Now some of the things which Bobby couldn't re- 
 member were these : That 
 the wide, white belt in the 
 heavens at night, which is 
 called the Milky Way, is 
 really the pasture land that 
 
 
 74 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OK SUNSET. 75 
 
 belongs to the mystic Montecito. It is a fair, fertile meadow, 
 and the reason it looks so white is because it is covered all 
 over with sweet, white clover. So, when in the morning you 
 see in the sky a little white, foamy cloud, you may know that 
 the fairies have been to the meadows, and are carrying home 
 the morning's milk, all rich and sweet and fresh, for the 
 babies, who are just waking up in their home by the gentle 
 ocean. And every day, when the hour comes for the babies' 
 nap, the sun hides himself in a cloud, the great rugged moun- 
 tains cast a cool shadow, the winds rock the flower cradles 
 very gently, a humming-bird hovers over each little bed, and 
 fans very softly, and a wonderful bird-choir up in an organ 
 loft in some very tall trees in the midst of the beautiful coun- 
 try sings a low, simple lullaby, and the babies all fall asleep 
 at once, and everything in Laughing Water is hushed and 
 still. Every morning the merry ground squirrels bring the 
 babies marshmallows, and sweetmeats made from the almond 
 and walnut, and chatter and frisk away, till the happy babies 
 laugh and smile at them. Midway between the mountains 
 and the sea there is a sunny, rounded knoll, called San Lean- 
 dro. This is the beautiful country's central point. Toward 
 it all eyes are turned with love and reverence, for here is 
 the palace of its Queen. 
 
, '. 
 
 -/-> 
 
 ' 
 
 1" 
 
 
 
 &-7C f vi.gV5t.j7 
 
 C ( 
 
 v, '-TJ7 ,, 3 L- 
 
 " 
 
u 
 
 -L-| " <T- : - / 
 
IX THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. "9 
 
 Now it so chanced that as Meg and Bobby slowly sailed 
 past, there was a little fleet of the babies just setting out on 
 their long voyage. On the beach stood the Queen of Laugh- 
 ing Water, the dear, sweet-faced fairy godmother of all the 
 babies, with her eyes full of tears as she bade good-bye to 
 the little voyagers ; and the sound of music came floating 
 over the water, and as Meg listened she found it was the 
 bird-choir singing a song of godspeed and farewell. A hun- 
 dred canary birds trilled the soprano, a hundred turtle-doves 
 cooed out the alto, a hundred meadow larks warbled the 
 tenor, and a hundred great owls sang the deep bass. 
 
 THE FAIRIES' SONG OF FAREWELL TO THE BABIES. 
 
 Sail away, sail away, o'er the blue billow, 
 
 To the beautiful life that is waiting for thee. 
 
 Ah, warm be thy welcome, and downy thy pillow, 
 And peaceful and happy thy life's journey be. 
 
 Sail away, sail away, o'er the still water, 
 
 Little somebody's son, mamma's waiting for thee; 
 
 And sail away home, little somebody's daughter, 
 For papa is longing his baby to see. 
 
 Sail away, sail away, God's little treasure, 
 
 With our loving farewells o'er the wide, waiting sea, 
 
 In all of life's sorrows, its smiles, and its pleasure, 
 
 In the dear castle home we'll be watching o'er thee. 
 
11 
 
A-TER leaving Montecito, the Land of Laughing Water, 
 Captain Bobby Shafto changed his course, and made for 
 the dim and shadowy islands beyond the channel. When they 
 had sailed on for a time, Meg noticed a lot of packages and 
 parcels and small boxes in the bottom of the boat, and asked 
 Bobby what he was going to do with them. 
 
 "Take them to Mother Goose Island," answered Bobby. 
 Meg's eyes opened wider and wider, and her mouth puckered 
 and puckered, till she laughed out a clear, happy laugh. 
 
 "Oh, Captain Bobby," said she, "are we really going 
 where all the Mother Goose people live?" And Bobby said 
 yes, they were. 
 
 "Oh, I'm so glad, so glad !" said Meg, as her eyes grew 
 brighter than the diamond eyes of the eagle. 
 
 Xow it w r as not verv long ere our little vovagers reached 
 
 * o * o 
 
 Mother Goose Island, which most people call the Island of 
 Santa Cruz but that is because they have never been there, 
 and know no better. Meg found it a very curious place in- 
 deed. The mountains were wild and rugged, but the fields 
 were delightfully green, the trees all leafed out, the flowers in 
 blossom, and there was a high hill and a pebbly brook near the 
 landing. Captain Bobby helped Meg ashore, the porpoises 
 were unharnessed and fed, the faithful gulls released from the 
 
 awning, and then the two children, with hand clasped in hand, 
 
 83 
 
84 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 started on foot up a winding road. The first thing Meg no- 
 ticed was a very funny garden, full of "cockle shells and silver 
 bells," and she knew right away that the little woman at the 
 gate was " Mistress Mary." She seemed very much put out 
 this morning, because her " little maids," instead of growing 
 "all in a row," as she thought they ought to, went higgledy- 
 piggledy, every way. And she was just as "contrary" as 
 ever, for she wouldn't answer Bobby when he spoke to her. 
 Next they came to a small, white cottage, "under the hill," 
 and on the porch sat the same "old woman living there still." 
 
 "Good morning, Granny," said Bobby. 
 
 " Is that you, Bobby Shafto, and did you bring my green 
 tea and sassafras root from Santa Barbara ? " piped out the 
 old woman in a high, quivery-quavery voice. Bobby told her 
 it was down at the landing, and would be up very soon, and 
 then they went along and began to go up the hill, and when 
 they were about half-way up they came to two little green 
 graves by the roadside, with the violets and poppies growing 
 all over them. 
 
 " Oh, the poor children," said Meg. " Who were they, 
 Bobby?" Bobby told her 'twas Jack and Jill, and this was 
 where "Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came 
 tumbling after." Then Meg went up close, and read on the 
 small, white gravestones : 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 " Here lies Jack, 
 \Yho died from a whack 
 On the back 
 Of his head. 
 
 Poor little Jill 
 Her pail did spill, 
 And now doth fill 
 This grave." 
 
 When they came to the next house, which was made of 
 brown adobe, there was an awfully thin, weazened-up old man 
 leaning over the gate. He called out to Bobby in a funny, 
 cracked voice : 
 
 "Good morning, Mr. Shafto." And Bobby answered: 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Sprat." 
 
 Then Jack Sprat looked over his shoulder, as if he was 
 afraid of something, and said, quick-like : 
 
 " S-s-sh ! Mr. Shafto, please not to speak quite so loud, 
 somebody might hear you. Have you brought me a nice lean 
 piece of roast beef to-day?" 
 
 Before Bobby could answer, Mrs. Sprat, who was a big, 
 fat woman with a red face, came rushing out of the door, and 
 called out : 
 
 "Jacob Sprat, how dare you! Go into the house this 
 minute, sir ! Don't you know that lean meat is bad for my 
 liver ? And now, Bobby Shafto, if you've got a fine fat roast, 
 let's have it." 
 
 When they had walked on a way further, Meg saw a large, 
 handsome house, with a very wide veranda in front, with a 
 
. 
 
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 ' " v #,^4p^ 
 
 -'-- -*" *" , ''- '* ^ "* .^ ^ >' *" **-' 
 
 --"'" ' ,,- - ^ '' 
 
 - ^- -""~ "f ^~, -*-* ...jj^ ''&?- *"~ _;> . vnfc 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 87 
 
 great passion vine running over it, and grand old oak and 
 pepper trees and lovely beds of roses and geraniums in the 
 yard. On the veranda, in a big, big chair, that looked like a 
 throne, sat a big, big man, with a very long beard and very 
 white hair, with a crown on his head and a pipe in his mouth, 
 and on a platform beside him was a table, and on the table a 
 great silver bowl with wine in it. And behind the great chair 
 stood three men in green and yellow uniforms, fiddling away 
 for dear life. Of course, Meg knew it was old King Cole. 
 He saw them coming, and shouted out in a voice as big as a 
 house : 
 
 " Hullo, Bobby Shafto ! Did you bring my tobacco and 
 the cask of wine, as I told you ?" 
 
 " Yes, your Majesty ; they are down at the landing," re- 
 plied Bobby, bowing very low. 
 
 " And who is the pretty maid with you, Master Bobby ? " 
 
 "This is little Miss Meg, your Majesty, from the country 
 over the sea." 
 
 "Oho, oho," said the King, and, turning to Meg, he said: 
 
 " Have you a king in your country over the sea, 
 With his pipe and his bowl and his fiddlers three, 
 That's big and fat and jolly like me ?" 
 
 and then he laughed till his great double chin waved up and 
 down and his fat sides shook. But Meg bowed very low just 
 as she had seen Bobby do, and said she had never seen any 
 kings in her country. When they had passed on so far that 
 Old King Cole surely couldn't hear, Meg told Bobby she 
 didn't think much of kings, they had such red noses and 
 wobbly chins, and were so fat. Her papa, she said, was a 
 
88 
 
 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 thousand million times nicer than any king that ever lived. 
 Just as she said this they heard a loud, sweet sound like a 
 bell, and it went echoing, echoing all over the island. Meg 
 wondered what it could be, and Bobby told her it was the 
 Dickory, Dickory, Dock clock striking the tidal hour. It 
 struck with a kind of measured, musical chant, and it seemed 
 
 to say, 
 
 " The years come, 
 
 The years go, 
 Summer's sun 
 
 And winter's snow. 
 Heigho, heigho ! 
 I tell you so 
 To let you know 
 The tides below 
 Begin to flow." 
 
 Bobby said that they had been having such a good time he 
 had no idea it was so late; that they must hurry down to the 
 landing right away, or he should not be able to make the other 
 islands before the tide would be against them. 
 Just before they reached the landing they 
 heard a great hue and cry, and saw a 
 crowd of men and boys running along 
 the road. When they came nearer 
 they found that Old Mother Hub- 
 bard's poor dog had stolen Mrs. 
 Jacob Sprat's fat roast of beef, and 
 
 was running away with it. 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 89 
 
 When they finally arrived at the landing there were ever 
 so many of the Mother Goose people waiting to give Bobby 
 their orders. But he wouldn't attend to any of them until 
 he had helped Meg into the boat and seen her seated. As 
 she passed through the crowd, they were all very kind to her, 
 and invited her to come and visit their island again, which 
 Meg told them she would be very glad to do. She overheard 
 the Old Woman who lived in a shoe telling Simple Simon 
 that, really, her family had become so large she had got to 
 build on a lean-to. When Meg was seated in the beautiful 
 boat again. Captain Bobby stepped ashore and was very busy 
 taking down the people's orders in a little memorandum book. 
 But at length he was all through, the hundred seal brown 
 porpoises were made fast to the beautiful boat by their silken 
 traces, the 2"ossamer threads atrain encircled the necks of the 
 
 o o 
 
 faithful gulls, the canopy of silver and gold rose into its 
 place. Captain Bobby stepped into the boat, three blasts 
 were blown on the golden horn, and Meg was off again over 
 the silvery sea. The people all shouted. 
 
 "Good bye, Captain Shafto ! Good bye, pretty Miss 
 Meg!" 
 
 "Good bve, good bve!" called Bobbv and Me<r, and the 
 
 * o * * 
 
 strange island, with its rugged mountains, its rocky shores, 
 its hills and its brooks and its strange, funny people, began 
 very soon to grow smaller and smaller, and faint and dim, 
 and finally faded from sight. 
 
 Then Meg asked Bobbv if she might see his order-book. 
 
 C5 * O 
 
 Bobby said she might, and she read it all. Every order was 
 written neatly and in a business-like way. Here are some of 
 the orders Meg found : 
 
90 IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 
 
 FOR OLD KING COLE. 
 
 i tloz. briar-wood pipes, 
 i bunch fiddler's strings, 
 i bottle anti-fat. 
 
 FOR THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE. 
 
 i piece sole leather, 
 
 i piece calf-skin, 
 
 i piece shoemaker's wax, 
 
 i tloz. bottles Mrs. Winslovv's Soothing Syrup. 
 
 FOR THE Cow THAT JUMPED OVER THE MOON. 
 i set new springs for legs. 
 
 FOR OLD FATHER GRAYBEARD. 
 
 1 set false teeth. 
 
 FOR THE OLD MAN OF TOBAGO, 
 
 2 Ibs. rice, 
 i Ib. sago, 
 
 1 mutton chop. 
 
 FOR LITTLE BO-PEEP. 
 
 2 cloz. artificial tails (for sheep), 
 
 i bottle Spalding's prepared glue. 
 
f 
 
 ERE long their gallant boat bore the children on toward 
 another island, that, some way, seemed lonely and sad, and 
 it made Meg feel sorrowful just to look at it everything was 
 so silent and mournful. Bobby said the folks in Santa Barbara 
 called it Santa Rosa, but other folks called it the Island of 
 By-Gone Days, and sometimes the Isle of the Olden Time. 
 It was a queer, spooky place, he said. The trees were all cov- 
 ered with the drooping silver moss, and the leaves were never 
 green at all, but were autumn leaves the whole year round, and 
 kept falling and coming down kind of soft and ghost-like. And 
 the wind whistled through the caves along the shore, and the 
 surf was always solemn and sad. And there were some funny 
 boxes with strings to them, that people said were harps, and 
 the wind played on them ; but he said he couldn't bear to 
 hear them, because the music seemed just like sobs and tears. 
 And the big gateway at the entrance was all grown over with 
 ivies and forget-me-nots, and there was some writing in the 
 middle, that said : 
 
 "THE PRESENT is A PHANTOM; THE FUTURE UNCERTAIN; ONLY THE 
 
 PAST ,5 SURE." &m*oh J*> 
 
 ' When folks get old," continued Bobby, " they come down 
 here and remember things that happened years and years ago. 
 But I don't see what they want to come for, 'cause they most 
 alwavs crv. And sometimes folks come here that ain't old at 
 

 
 
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 ~' '* 
 
 
 
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IN THE LOVELY LAND OF SUNSET. 95 
 
 all, and they bury things. Once a very tall, beautiful lady, all 
 dressed in black, came, and the folks said she was a queen or 
 something once; and she buried a splendid sword and a sol- 
 dier's cap, and, for all she was such a great lady, she knelt 
 down on the ground and cried, and cried. Oh, I felt awful 
 sorry for her. And another lady came one time and buried 
 what do you think ? A baby's shoe, all stubby and worn. 
 And then there was another lady, too, and she wasn't old a 
 bit, and she was the most beautifulest lady I ever saw. She 
 wasn't dressed in black, though. And when she had found a 
 nice, shady place under a great tree, she looked all around to 
 see if anybody was watching, and then she took out of her 
 dress somebody's picture and a lock of hair, and kissed them 
 and buried them. And a tall, big man came 'way down here 
 once just to bury some old, faded flowers that weren't good 
 for anything ; and when he was coming away, I asked him 
 what made folks come to the island and act so queer? He 
 didn't say a word, but just looked at me for a minute, and 
 then wrote something on a paper, and gave it to me, and told 
 me to keep it till I was a man, and then I would understand 
 it all. Here is the paper now," said Bobby. 
 
 " Oh, Bobby, please read it," said Meg. 
 
 " It's all mixed up so, I can't tell what it means, but I 
 guess he felt pretty bad," said Bobby, and then he read : 
 
bew \9^ 
 
 L f >~r-r 
 
 \ r 4 v / 7 
 
 5o> / CA LLil/Q. 
 
 . ^ 
 
 ;t m t 
 
 I be tsol/ 
 
 ^ ' 
 
13 
 
OX and on, over the silvery sea glides the beautiful boat, and 
 quite as swiftly and steadily glide the hours away. Meg 
 is so absorbed in watching the islands fade in the distance, 
 that she does not notice how near the day is drawing to its 
 close. But of a sudden the islands disappear and the mystic 
 boat sails into the midst of clouds of vermilion and amber. 
 Nothing can be seen but this shadowy circle of blending light, 
 and there comes no sound but the rippling of the water under 
 the boat and the low, whistling cry of the gulls and the soft 
 flutter of their wings. For a long time they sail through these 
 rainbow-hued clouds, but at length pass out into such a burst 
 of sunlight, so radiant, so glorious, that Meg has never seen 
 its equal in all her life. And while she is lost in wonder and 
 amazement, they are rapidly borne on the glistening tide far 
 into the midst of the setting sun. Before them stretches a 
 boundless sea of glimmering, shimmering gold, while down 
 from the hills on either side flow numberless brooks of violet, 
 azure, crimson, orange, and emerald green, over whose banks 
 throng countless hosts of queer little people, busy as busy 
 can be, dipping their tiny arrows into the radiant colors, and 
 then with their fairy bent bows shooting them over the hills, 
 away toward the world, a glittering, glowing, sparkling 
 shower of sunbeams. But soon comes a strange, wild, flut- 
 tering, whirring sound, and Meg clings close to Bobby in 
 fright, while, like a gloomy cloud, the great black birds of 
 
 99 
 

 ^2** Jji ;>.;- 
 - ** 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
IN THE LOVELY LAND OK SUNSET 
 
 101 
 
 night settle thickly down over the molten sea, and all is dark 
 and still. But on through the night sails the wonderful boat. 
 High over the bows the blue sapphire eagle keeps watch and 
 ward, its fiery diamond eyes gleaming fiercely over the water. 
 On and still on they float through the midst of the midnight 
 sun until of a sudden, Meg's blue eyes fly open and lo ! it 
 was all a dream that lovely land of Laughing Water the 
 beautiful boat and the islands so strange and wonderful. 
 The beach which but a little 
 time aero was full of life and 
 
 o 
 
 motion, is now lonely and de- 
 serted, the tide is coming in, 
 the winds are sighing low and 
 mournfully, Castle Rock frowns 
 darkly and gloomily, the sun 
 has set beyond the Mesa, the 
 Golden Soul has passed away, 
 and deep, deep shadows are 
 settling down on Sunset Land.