Josie, Book 26
Over the course of their summer visits together, their grandparents had taught Josie and Teddy how to play euchre and cribbage. At euchre, Josie paired with her grandmother and Teddy, his grandfather. Grandad was proud of his grandson, who showed precocious “card sense” Once the rules were learned, the games were challenging and a great deal of fun. Gramma and Josie were a good pair at euchre, but at cribbage, it was Grandad’s sharp eyes and keen counting ability that made him a most fierce competitor. Winning against him carried the special cachet of his respect.
Grandad had special tricks that his grandchildren would beg him to perform. One involved two small pieces of paper, less than an inch square, which he stuck with saliva to the pads of his index fingers and danced before his children on the tabletop, chanting:
“Two little dickie birds sitting on a wall,
One named Peter” (the left finger),
“One named Paul” (the right).
“Fly away Peter” (the finger would fly up and away behing Grandad’s head and come back without the piece of paper).
“Fly away Paul” (as would the other).
“Come back Peter” (the finger would retreat behind Grandad’s ear and return with the piece of paper).
“Come back Paul”.
This trick was repeated many times before Grandad disclosed its secret: he would moisten the backs of his ears at the same time as he licked his fingers to attach the paper. When the dickie birds ‘flew away’ he merely transferred the little squares of paper to the back of his large earlobes and he would retrieve them when they ‘flew’ back.
Even after learning the secret of this trick, the children never tired of this exhibition of prestidigitation.
His other trick consisted of rolling and manipulating his spotted red handkerchief into a tube with its corners sticking out of each end as ‘ears’. This was a mouse that Grandad could make climb up his arms, hide in his collar and make disappear by pulling on its ‘ears’.
Gramma’s party piece was the recitation of a poem:
“Once up a time, on the border of a brook
Sat a pretty little froggie who had never read a book;
Never read a book or a silly little rhyme,
Had a sorry ending, once upon a time.”
It told the tale of a vain little froggie who strove to be something it was not by trying to climb “until I reach the top”. Over time, Teddy to an obsessive dislike to this recitation and would run from the room or cringe under the table, hands over his ears whenever it was recited.
If Josie wanted respite from her brother’s presence; all she had to do was intone “Up, ‘Up I go,’ said froggie, ‘I can climb as well as hop.’” and Teddy would disappear. This was Josie’s favourite parlour trick.
