Summary
Summary of Two Little Travellers
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A goodbye leaves two close companions
Under the cedar at Firgrove, Captain Dene holds Darby and Joan close before leaving for war in South Africa. Their mother has died, and now the father who has cared for them must entrust them to his two aunts. The children struggle to understand another separation.
Before leaving, he asks them to sing about travellers guided by a star. The hymn gives him something to remember far away, while his words about being brave, honest and kind give the children a promise to live by.
Key idea 2
Rules cannot replace a father's company
Start free to read
Key idea 3
A squirrel chase becomes a warning
Start free to read
Key idea 4
Darby mistakes a hymn for directions
Start free to read
Key idea 5
The journey attracts a dangerous interest
Start free to read
Key idea 6
Kindness appears inside the frightening caravan
Start free to read
Key idea 7
Bambo gives happiness a different meaning
Start free to read
Key idea 8
Small acts reveal the characters' hearts
Start free to read
Key idea 9
Happiness depends on love made visible
Start free to read
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who love old-fashioned adventure with a big heart, children's stories read aloud, hymns and country gardens, and tales in which small, brave children win over cruel and gentle grown-ups alike.
What this book is
Two Little Travellers is a children's novel by Frances Browne Arthur, set while British soldiers are fighting in South Africa. It follows seven-year-old Darby Dene and his sister Joan, who are left with their two great-aunts in a country house while their father goes to war. The book was written for young readers and for the grown-ups who read to them. It gives you a warm, moral adventure full of hymns, scoldings, hiding places and kind strangers.
When Darby decides to leave home in search of the Happy Land from his nurse's hymn, the story moves from an English lawn to a canal barge, a wild heath and a circus caravan. Along the way the children meet a cruel showman, his wife with a hidden soft spot, a performing bear, and a gentle dwarf who becomes their teacher and protector. You will hear what the children think the Happy Land is, and what they begin to learn about it. The first key point takes us to the cedar tree at Firgrove, where a father says goodbye.
In this summary
- 1A father says goodbye under the cedarFree
- 2Life at Firgrove with two aunts
- 3Squirrels, eggs and Copsley Wood
- 4Punishment, and a plan to find the Happy Land
- 5Missing children and a hat in the water
- 6Aboard the Smiling Jane, with thieves following
- 7Joe and Moll's caravan and its strange company
- 8Bambo's teaching about the true Happy Land
- 9What the story is about and how it is told
Key point 1 of 9
A father says goodbye under the cedar
The story opens on a golden September Sunday under the cedar tree on the lawn at Firgrove. Captain Dene sits on a bench with his two small children pressed close against him. At daybreak next morning he must board a transport ship in Southampton Water and sail for the war in South Africa. Nobody can find the words they want to say.
Darby is nearly seven, with short brown hair and big grey eyes. Joan is five, with golden curls that tumble across her face. Their baptized names are Guy and Doris, but their father began calling them Darby and Joan when they were toddlers, because they were such close companions. Only their grandmother still uses the proper names.
Their mother died about nine months earlier, soon after the birth of baby Eric. Since then Captain Dene has been both father and mother to them. Now he has arranged for them to stay at Firgrove with his two aunts, the Misses Turner, and for Nurse Perry to come with the baby. He expects to be away six months or a year at most.
Joan sobs that they cannot do without him. Darby asks whether their mother does not love them anymore. Their father answers as gently as he can. He tells them she has gone to live with God, and that they will see her again one day if they try to be brave, honest and kind. Joan thinks it over and announces that she will not go to heaven without her doll, Miss Carolina, and her kittens.
Before they go in for tea, he asks them to sing a hymn he can carry in his mind while he is far away. They sing about wise men journeying onward, guided by a star. Early next morning Darby dreams that his father kisses him again and again, then wakes to find it was no dream at all. The house is quiet, the aunts are red-eyed, and as Darby says, now there are only the two of them.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
- Nothing to pay today · Renews every year
- We email you before you pay
- Cancel online in two clicks
Check yourself
Why does Darby decide to seek the Happy Land?
Right. “Darby thinks the Happy Land is a place without punishments.”Not quite. “Darby thinks the Happy Land is a place without punishments.”
Why does Joe want to keep the children?
Right. “He imagines the boy on the tightrope and trapeze and the little girl with golden curls dancing beside a performing bear.”Not quite. “He imagines the boy on the tightrope and trapeze and the little girl with golden curls dancing beside a performing bear.”
What central lesson does Bambo help Darby understand?
Right. “The book is built around one idea, that happiness is made where you are and not found far away.”Not quite. “The book is built around one idea, that happiness is made where you are and not found far away.”
Questions about Two Little Travellers
What is Two Little Travellers about?
It is about Darby and Joan Dene, a young brother and sister left with two aunts while their father goes to war. They run away to find the Happy Land from a hymn and meet a dwarf, a bear and cruel showmen.
Who is Bambo in Two Little Travellers?
Bambo is a dwarf who works in a travelling circus and cooks for its owners. Gentle, patient and deeply religious, he becomes the children's friend and teacher and works out how to take them home.
What is the Happy Land in the book?
It is a place from a hymn the nurse sings, where nobody is naughty or sick. Darby thinks it is a real country. Bambo teaches the children that the true Happy Land is made by love and duty wherever you are.
When is Two Little Travellers set and is it a true story?
It is a made-up story set during the war in South Africa, when soldiers sailed from Southampton. Its characters and places such as Firgrove and Copsley Wood are invented, though the English country life it shows is real.
Is Two Little Travellers easy to read aloud?
Yes, it suits reading aloud. It has short, lively chapters, clear adventure scenes, child dialogue full of charm, and verses and hymns at key moments, so listeners of different ages can follow the story.
