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    my love , never mind ; keep yourself quiet ; the rats are all gone , and Nutcracker is safe in the cabinet / Just then Dr . Smallhorse entered the room ; he spoke with the surgeon , felt Mary ' s pulse , and whispered about 'high fever . ' She had to remain some days in bed , to fast and take physic .

    Mary was very pleased that Nutcracker had escaped from the battle safe and well ; and often in her dreams she heard him say to her , in a piteous tone , ' Mary , noble girl , I am infinitely obliged to you ; but you can do more for me yet ! ' Mary endeavoured in vain to guess what this could mean—she could not .

    On account of her wounded arm she was unable to play , and when she wished to read , or to look at a picture-book , her eyes dimmed , and she was obliged to leave off . So time appeared very long , and she waited impatiently for the twilight hour , when her mother came and sat by her bed , to read to her , or to tell her little tales . One day when her mother was just finishing the beautiful history of Prince Fa ^ ardin , the door opened , and Mary saw Godpapa Pivot enter . * I must know how poor little Mary gets on , * said he , as he entered .

    No sooner did Mary see her godpapa , with his snuff-coloured coat , than all the circumstances of the battle with the rats rushed into her memory , and she exclaimed , ' Oh ! godpapa , you are grown very ugly I knew you very well when you sat upon the clock , and called the ratking . Why did not you help Nutcracker ? Naughty godpapa , it is your fault that I am wounded , and that I am ill and obliged to lie in bed .

    Her mother , quite frightened , asked Mary what was become to her ; but her godpapa made a strange grimace and said in a singing tone of voice , The pendulum must swing—the hour must strike , must strike , swing—swing—strike—strike—ding-dang , ding-dong . Little girls and little dolls , be not afraid . The clock has struck , the rats are gonethe owl sings his song—towho—towho—he spreads his wings and comes to you . Tick-tack — tick-tack—ding-dang — ding-dong—the black hour ' s passed—the rats are gone . '

    Mary looked with staring eyes at her godpapa , and she thought him uglier than ever ; but her mother put on a very serious look , and said , ' What are you talking about Mr . Pivot V ' What ! ' said he , ' don ' t you know my pretty song of the clock-maker ; I always sing it to sick folks like Mary . ' So saying , he sat down by the bed-side of the little girl , and continued , * You must not be angry with me because I did not kill the rat-king , or because I did not pluck out his fourteen eyes ; it was not in my power ; but , see what I have brought you , to make up for it . '

    The commissioner put his hand into his snuff-coloured coat-pocket , and drew out of it , softly and slowly , the nutcracker ; his teeth replaced , and his jaw mended . Mary jumped in the bed with joy . 4 You may observe , ' said the commissioner , ' that this nutcracker , whom you like so much , has not a very handsome face , nor a very fine form ; now , if you like , I will relate to you how this ugliness became hereditary in his family . But , perhaps you are already acquainted with the history of the princess Pearloprice , the sorceress Greymouse , and the skilful watchmaker '

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    . The Nutcracker . 17

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1835, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2641/page/17/