{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26944/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26944","id":"gutenberg_26944","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26944","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Adventure","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Fairy tales","Fantasy literature","Gnomes -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Emmy and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Come with me for a visit\n             To Fairyland, dear Ned.\n            I'll show you many won'drous things,\"\n              The tiny Gnomeman said._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"I've lost a magic golden ring,\"\n              The pretty Bluebird sighed.\n           \"Don't worry,\" laughed the kind old fish,\n              \"I have it safe inside.\"_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"I'll hurry, Mother,\" Jimmy cried,\n              As down the road he ran,\n            When in a jiffy up there jumped\n              A little Rabbitman._\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Come, Mr. Elephant,\" cried Shem,\n              \"Don't fear the dreadful Shark.\n            The Circus Folk are calling us\n              To leave the big Noah's Ark.\"_\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP BUBBLE\n\nby\n\nDAVID CORY\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND\n\n          The Cruise of the Noah's Ark\n          The Magic Soap-Bubble\n          The Iceberg Express\n          The Wind Wagon\n          The Magic Umbrella\n\n          BY\n          DAVID CORY\n          Author of\n          Little Jack Rabbit Series\n          (Trademark Registered)\n\n[Illustration: NED ATE THE MAGIC CAKE\n\n_The Magic Soap Bubble_ _Frontispiece_]\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPY LAND\n\n(Trademark Registered)\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP BUBBLE\n\nBY\n\nDAVID CORY\n\nAUTHOR OF\n\nTHE LITTLE JACK RABBIT BOOKS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED\n\nBY\n\nE.I. JONES AND P.H. WEBB\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP\n          PUBLISHERS  NEW YORK\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nMade in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n          COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                PAGE\n\n          THE MAGIC SOAP PIPE      9\n\n          THE MAGIC CAKE          25\n\n          THE MAGIC NECTAR        39\n\n          THE MAGIC AXE           53\n\n          THE MAGIC SPRING        63\n\n          MAGIC FOOD              73\n\n          MAGIC EARS              85\n\n          THE MAGIC BASKET        95\n\n          THE MAGIC RING         123\n\n          THE MAGIC BALLOON      139\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP PIPE\n\nThe King of the Gnomes prepares the Magic Pipe for making the Magic Soap\nBubble.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP PIPE\n\n\nNED had been reading a very interesting book about fairies and goblins,\nand how these real queer little folk inhabit dense forests and lofty\nmountain caves and lead a wonderful life apart from the homes and cities\nof men.\n\nThe book was very large and heavy, and the afternoon was very warm, and\nthe big armchair in which he was curled up was so comfortable that by\nand by he let the book slip to one side.\n\nHe had just closed his eyes for a moment to rest them, when he was\nstartled by a little squeaky voice at his elbow.\n\nHe opened his eyes with a start and saw a Gnome standing on the\nwindow-sill just in front of him. Yes, there was no mistake about it, it\nwas a Gnome. For had not Ned a moment before seen his picture in the big\nbook he had been reading? Indeed, it almost seemed as if the picture\nitself had stepped out of the page from between the covers, so exactly a\nduplicate did the little man appear.\n\n\"Hello, Ned!\" said the little squeaky voice again. \"I say, hello! You\nought to know me well enough by this time to answer, since you've been\nreading about me for the last hour.\"\n\n\"Hello, yourself!\" replied Ned, laughing in spite of himself, and\nrubbing his eyes again to make sure that it was not a picture from the\nbook.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\"Can't you see a fellow is sleepy after reading so long a time? I\ndidn't think you were coming out of the book to speak to me, you know.\"\n\n\"Neither did I,\" retorted the Gnome, with a funny wink. \"I came from the\nforest to invite you to take a little journey with me through Gnomeland.\nI am the King of the Gnomes, and my subjects have told me how interested\nyou are in reading about us, so I have come to take you for a trip\nthrough our kingdom. I know you will love to see all the wonderful\nthings you have been reading about. Will you come?\"\n\n\"Indeed, I will,\" said Ned.\n\n\"Then follow me,\" replied the Gnome.\n\nNed jumped through the window after the little fellow, who ran swiftly\ndown the walk and across the fields to the forest beyond.\n\nAs they neared the brook that ran through the meadow, the Gnome paused.\nTaking from his pocket a clay pipe, he stooped over and filled it with\nwater.\n\n\"Did you ever blow soap bubbles?\" he asked, taking a piece of soap from\nanother pocket and rubbing it carefully around the inside of the\npipe-bowl.\n\n\"Yes,\" replied Ned, \"lots of times.\"\n\n\"Well, you wait and see what sort of a bubble I'll blow,\" replied the\nGnome.\n\nIt was a bubble! But the strangest part of it all was that Ned found\nhimself inside of it with his companion.\n\n\"How did we get inside, or how did the bubble get around us?\" asked Ned,\nbut before his question was answered away went the bubble up in the air,\nacross the meadow, above the little brook, yes, over the roof of his own\nhouse, higher and higher, until finally it reached the big high mountain\nthat he had so often dimly seen from the window of his bedroom at home.\n\nAfter circling about the highest peak the bubble at length safely\nlanded on a rocky ledge.\n\nBefore Ned could ask how they were ever going to get out the Gnome\nopened a little door through which he led him to the outer air.\n\nThere was a great change in the temperature, or else the inside of the\nbubble was very warm, for Ned began to shiver and shake. \"Who-o-!\" he\ncried; \"it's co-old!\"\n\n\"Of course it is. Look,\" answered the Gnome, and Ned's eyes, following\nthe pointing finger of his little friend, fell upon a strange and\nterrifying figure.\n\nBehind a bank of icicles stood a giant, with an immense helmet upon his\nhead, from which hung long sharp pieces of ice. The top part was covered\nwith snow which slipped off at intervals like a small avalanche to the\nground below. His beard and mustache were festooned with thin slivers\nof ice, and his shoulders bore epaulets of frosted snow. The cuffs of\nhis greatcoat were fringed with snowflakes, and altogether he was a\nstartling and frigid looking individual. In his hands he held a\nmonstrous bellows, from which he forced out a blast of icy air which,\nscattering the snow in whirling clouds, went howling down the rocky\nravines.\n\n\"He's the Wind Man of the Mountain,\" explained the Gnome, turning to\nshivering Ned, whose toes and fingers by this time were quite numb with\nthe cold.\n\n\"Well, I'd like to meet a Hot Air Man,\" said Ned, blowing on his hands\nto keep them from freezing. \"I'd like to feel warm again.\"\n\n\"Well, then follow me!\" cried the Gnome, and turning to a big rock he\ntapped upon it twice with the toe of his little red boot. In a moment a\ndoor opened, showing a pair of rocky steps leading down into the\nmountain.\n\n\"Be careful,\" admonished the Gnome, as he and Ned descended the rough\nflight. \"Don't slip, for you might fall a long way.\"\n\nNed assured him he had no desire to fall, but that his feet were so numb\nhe wasn't at all sure but what he might slip, no matter how hard he\ntried to be careful.\n\nAlthough it was not exactly dark, at the same time the light was not\nsufficient for Ned to make out anything distinctly, and as the stairway\nwas narrow and the walls dim he kept his eyes closely upon the ground.\n\nSoon they came to a level corridor and he perceived a dim light in the\ndistance. \"Where are we going?\" he asked. But at this point an iron door\narrested their progress, and without pausing to answer, the Gnome took\nfrom his pocket a key. Inserting it in the lock, the door slowly swung\nopen, and Ned heard the faint beating of a drum.\n\n\"Sit down,\" said the Gnome, drawing forward a wooden stool, much too\nsmall for Ned, but probably just the right size for a Gnome; \"sit down\nand wait a moment while I go in search of the Gnomeland Band. I want you\nto hear them play, and I hear them practising now.\"\n\nNed glanced curiously around the strange place. It suddenly occurred to\nhim that he was a long, long way from home. Here he was, deep down in\nthe mountain, in a rocky cavern, sitting on a little Gnome stool,\nwaiting for his friend to return. But what if he did not come back?\n\nNed's hair suddenly stood on end at the thought. Going over to the big\niron door, he tried to turn the great knob, but his fingers either were\nnot strong enough or he did not know the secret of the lock. Returning\nto his seat, he made up his mind to wait a while before allowing his\nfears to get the better of him. This is what every brave boy would do\nunder the circumstances, he said to himself, resolving not to be a\ncoward.\n\nPresently he was relieved to hear music, as the Gnome, at the head of\nthe Gnomeland Band, came into view; and the funniest band that Ned had\never seen. Why, each instrument was playing itself and dancing the\nMountain Tango at the same time!\n\nThe big drum went \"Bum, bum, bum, diddle dum,\" and pranced around on a\npair of short, fat legs in red stockings. Two fat little arms beat the\ndrumsticks on the top of his head, or what appeared to be the top of his\nhead, which was in reality a funny face, which winked and blinked as\nthe drumsticks traveled over the queer little features.\n\n\"Toot! toot!\" went the big yellow horn, as his fat little fingers\npressed in the brass stops that made the notes high or low, or soft or\nshrill. Over the floor he skipped, after the round, fat drum.\n\nThe 'cello and the violin came next. The latter ran his bow across his\nstringed waistcoat in perfect time, while the former twanged the strings\nthat covered his happy face in a jolly fashion. The rest of the band\nplayed on themselves beautifully, and the Gnome, with his baton, proved\na most capable leader. In fact, the music was so delightful that Ned\nfinally could restrain himself no longer, and, jumping up, began dancing\naround to the tune of \"For He's a Jolly Good Fellow!\"\n\n          \"Heigh-ho! hey diddle-do!\n             Down in the mountain deep,\n           Fiddle and drum, tiddle-dy-um,\n             Are doing the Leopard Leap!\"\n\nJust then the music stopped, or, rather, the Musical Instruments paused\nto take breath, and Ned sat down again, wondering what next would\nhappen. In a few minutes the round, fat drum commenced to beat \"Left,\nright! left, right!\" and the Gnomeland Band fell into line and marched\nslowly down the long cavern until it was out of sight.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC CAKE\n\nNed and the Gnome landed safely on a big soft bunker of moss.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC CAKE\n\n\nAS the last drum beat died away in the distance, the Gnome turned to Ned\nand said: \"Come, let us hasten, for I am rather hungry, and you no doubt\nare in need of nourishment also.\"\n\nNed obeyed willingly, for he had tasted nothing since breakfast and was\nnow as hungry as a healthy youngster should be.\n\nAt the farther end of the cavern was an inclined plane, very much like\nthe chutes at Coney Island.\n\nCarefully seating Ned at his side the Gnome said: \"Now hold tight, and\nhold your breath and hold your tongue--in fact, hold everything you've\ngot--for we are going to take a swift shoot to the bottom of the\nmountain and you'll find out what the word swift means if you never have\nbefore!\"\n\nAt this they began to move, and in another moment they were traveling as\nfast as a bullet from a gun.\n\nThe wind, whistling by, cut Ned's cheeks like little sharp needles; his\nhair stood out behind like feathers on a speeding arrow.\n\nThey were going so fast it was almost impossible to breathe.\n\nPresently a tiny light appeared in the distance, and he saw that they\nwere now on a level, although still going at a tremendous rate of speed.\n\nIn another moment they shot through the little round hole of light,\nwhich turned out to be the opening at the other end, and he and the\nGnome landed safely on a big soft bunker of moss in the midst of a\nbeautiful forest.\n\nBirds were singing in the treetops and little rabbits were skipping on\nthe soft carpet of the woodland.\n\nPretty flowers sent forth a delicious perfume and a brook close at hand\nrippled over the pebbly bottom of its bed.\n\n\"Wait,\" cried the Gnome, as Ned leaned over to drink the cool water.\n\"Wait; I have for you the most delicious drink if you will restrain your\nimpatience a moment longer.\"\n\nNed obeyed and followed the Gnome along a narrow path until they came to\na small clearing, where the blue sky smiled down upon them.\n\nIn the center of the spot was a monstrous watermelon, standing up on\nend, the thick vine supporting it like a strong round barrel stave.\n\nA large wooden spigot protruded from one side and over it leaned a\nGnome, who had climbed upon the vine in order to reach the handle.\n\nNed's little companion lifted a goblin cup to catch the drops of\ndelicious looking pink juice which began to drip slowly from the spigot\nwhen the Gnome carefully turned the handle.\n\n\"Careful, now,\" commanded the Gnome, as he handed the brimming goblet to\nNed. \"See that you spill not a drop of the precious nectar.\n\n\"Good, is it?\" he inquired, seeing the sparkle in Ned's eyes and hearing\nthe smack on his lips as the last drop disappeared. \"Pretty good, eh?\"\n\n\"Better'n soda water,\" replied Ned; \"lots better.\"\n\nThe little Gnome at the spigot smiled. \"I grew the melon,\" he said with\npride. \"It's the largest so far in Gnomeland. But next year I'm going to\ngrow even a bigger one!\"\n\n\"How do you make them grow so large?\" inquired Ned, hoping he would be\ninvited to have another glass of the juice.\n\n\"Not another drop!\" said Ned's little friend. \"A second goblet and you\nwould be so hungry you could eat stones.\"\n\n\"Come with me,\" said the small Gnome guide. \"We must eat.\"\n\nNed eagerly followed him, and they pressed forward at a rapid walk until\nthey came to a queer little hut, from which issued a most delicious odor\nof sponge cake.\n\nAround the door, or, more properly, what appeared to be one, but which\nwas in fact but a small opening, stood several goblins, evidently\nawaiting orders from someone.\n\nAs Ned drew near he perceived that instead of a hut it was in reality a\nhuge oven, in which something very delicious was being baked.\n\n\"Minions!\" called out Ned's friend, \"is not the goblin cake ready?\"\n\n\"Yes, sire!\" responded several voices, and in another moment the oven\nwas taken apart and removed from the most delicious looking sponge cake\nthat Ned had ever seen. A soft, warm brown color made it most tempting\nto the eyes, and the delicious smell made Ned so anxious to commence\neating that he could with difficulty restrain himself.\n\n\"Help yourself,\" cried his little friend, and without a moment's\nhesitation Ned pulled off a piece of cake and eagerly commenced.\n\n\"Begone!\" commanded the Gnome to the small bakers, who still stood\naround curiously watching their cake disappearing down the mouth of a\nmortal as rapidly as its owner could cram it in; \"begone and leave us to\nenjoy the cake alone!\"\n\nAt this they turned away and descended the steep hill which lay to the\nright and disappeared below.\n\n\"Be careful,\" admonished the Gnome, as Ned showed no signs of finishing,\n\"you may eat too much. Gnome cake, while most delicious, is more filling\nthan that of mortal make!\"\n\nBut Ned paid no heed. Already he had eaten a great hole in the cake and,\nfinding the inside warm and flaky, he squeezed himself in.\n\nIt was much easier to eat the inside, as it was softer, and the crust\nhad already grown quite hard.\n\nHe was so busy eating and, I'm sorry to say, so greedy, that he did not\nnotice that as he ate away the interior of the sponge cake the outside\ngradually grew tighter, and the opening which he had made at the\nbeginning of his feast, and through which he had crowded, became smaller\nand smaller, until finally it closed altogether.\n\nWhen Ned perceived this, and it was some time after, I assure you, he\nwas indeed frightened. He pounded on the walls of his sponge cake prison\nand called loudly to the Gnome, but for some time he heard nothing.\n\nFinally, after frantically running around and around inside the huge\ncake ball, he thought he heard the voice of his small friend. He pressed\nhis ear close to the wall and listened.\n\nSure enough, he could just hear the words, \"Hold on tight to one side,\nand brace your feet,\" and the next moment he perceived that the cake was\nin motion.\n\nSlowly at first, but in a few minutes the great cake ball began to\nrevolve faster and faster.\n\nNed was terrified at first, as it was with great difficulty that he kept\nhis body from playing battledore and shuttlecock. The greater the speed\nof the huge mass, however, the less inclination there was to bounce\nabout, and he soon found himself literally glued, as it were, to one\nside.\n\nWhile thus traveling in this novel way, he began to entertain some fear\nas to what would happen should an obstacle be encountered, and by some\nstrange coincidence no sooner had, the idea come than it was followed by\na terrific crash!\n\nThe crust of the cake ball broke into a thousand pieces, and Ned landed\nsafely some distance from the spot, still clinging to a huge piece of\nsponge cake, which acted like a cushion between him and the ground.\n\nLooking anxiously around, after wiping some stray crumbs from his eyes,\nhe saw his little friend, the Gnome, running frantically down the steep\nincline, which, luckily for Ned, had been the cause of his liberation.\n\nFinding him unhurt, the Gnome sat down on the piece of cake to rest\nhimself and regain his breath before speaking.\n\nWhen he did, however, what he said caused Ned to run quickly over to the\nbrook to look at himself in the water.\n\nTo his dismay, what the Gnome had said was, indeed, too true. Ned was\nnearly as broad as he was high.\n\nThe cake he had eaten had evidently occupied the same space inside of\nhim as it had inside the brown crust.\n\n\"What am I ever going to do?\" said Ned.\n\n\"'Twas a lucky think I kept you from drinking another gobletful of the\nwatermelon juice,\" answered the Gnome. \"Otherwise you might have eaten\nthe whole cake, and then you might have been twice as large as you are\nnow.\"\n\n\"I don't think there is anything to laugh at,\" said Ned, as his small\nfriend burst into a hearty peal of laughter.\n\n\"Of course you don't,\" replied the Gnome, \"you can't see yourself. If\nyou could, though--oh, my!\" and he again burst into peals of laughter.\n\nNed waited a few moments and then asked: \"Well, what are we going to\ndo?\"\n\n\"Don't worry, Ned, dear,\" replied his little friend, touched by his good\nnature and feeling sorry for him, \"don't worry. The watermelon juice\nmade the sponge cake swell. All that is necessary now is to take the\nantidote, and I know where it can be found without any trouble.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC NECTAR\n\nThe Fairies brought a lily filled with the Magic Nectar.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC NECTAR\n\n\nNED and the Gnome continued their journey down the valley, following the\ncrystal stream, in whose waters he had just a short time before seen his\ndistorted figure, until they came to a beautiful waterfall, down whose\nsilvery sheen slid numerous water sprites and water fairies.\n\n\"Over yonder,\" exclaimed the Gnome, \"lives the Fairy of the Lake. She\nbrews a magic liquid from checkerberries, which, I am told, if you but\ndrink a thimbleful, will enable you to regain your natural shape. There\nshe goes now, over the bridge, on some such errand I dare say.\"\n\nNed watched the fairy stepping across the silver network which hung\nabove a miniature Niagara that he could easily have spanned with a\nsingle step. Catching up a handful of berries he followed her, not\nheeding the Gnome's remark \"that she would probably prefer to pick them\nherself,\" and, almost treading on some of the fairies who were blowing\nabout in the long grass like the flowers they represented, threw the\nberries in a heap at the door of her castle.\n\nIt was, indeed, a most beautiful little palace. Made of brilliant\ncrystals, it sparkled in the sun like a rainbow. Inside, it was even\nmore exquisite, for all her little subjects, the flower fairies and the\nwoodland fays, had adorned it with many lovely things.\n\nNed stooped over and peeped in at the doorway. There was a bright light\ninside which came from a little star suspended from the ceiling, the\ncrystal walls on all sides reflecting the light with great brilliancy.\nHere and there were draped beautiful laces, no doubt spun by the spiders\nkept by the fairies for that purpose.\n\n\"Come,\" said the Gnome somewhat impatiently, as Ned's curiosity still\nheld him at the little castle's doorway. \"Come away, or else the Queen\nwill not return. How is she to enter if you block up her entrance?\"\n\nFollowing his advice, Ned withdrew some little distance and stood\nwatching the gay scene around him.\n\nHundreds of insects were flying about and large, gay-winged butterflies\nfluttered over the flowers. On some he noticed tiny figures and others\nwith blades of grass tied around the necks of robins, bluebirds and\ngolden orioles were also flying about in mid-air, while some sailed on\nthe silver backs of fishes or floated in shells upon the water near his\nfeet.\n\n\"Look!\" cried the Gnome suddenly, \"here she comes.\"\n\nA half horsechestnut, with damask roseleaf cushions, mounted on four\nivy-berry wheels and with four shining beetles for horses came driving\nup from the waterfall.\n\nLeaning back in her carriage sat the Queen Fairy, fanning her face with\na fly's wing.\n\nThe beetles came to a stand in front of the palace, and the Queen,\ngathering up her white satin dress, stepped out.\n\nInstantly numerous ladies in waiting, jumped from off their butterfly\nsteeds and escorted her through the palace door.\n\nNed cautiously peeped in again. The room was filled with fairies about\nas large as your thumb, dancing here and there and singing a low, sweet\nsong.\n\nOn perceiving that a mortal was gazing at them they began to dance more\nslowly, and presently ceased altogether. Whereupon the Queen, looking\nabout to ascertain the reason and catching sight of Ned's admiring face,\nexclaimed:\n\n\"No wonder you feel so faint, my little fays, and that you stop your\nmerry dancing. The hot air is pouring in upon us from a fiery furnace\noutside. Look here, my giant friend,\" she added, coming up to Ned, \"if\nyou want to see how we live you mustn't hold your mouth open with\nastonishment. Your breath is very hot to us little people!\"\n\nWith that the mischievous Queen jumped quite unexpectedly on Ned's nose\nand gave it a sharp pinch.\n\n\"Don't cry,\" said the fairy in a cheery voice, the laughs falling from\nher like waterdrops from the cascade just outside; \"I only wanted to\nlet you know what I could do; but I am ready to be as polite as you\nwish.\"\n\n\"May it please your highness,\" interposed the Gnome, who at this point\nsqueezed himself through Ned's legs and entered the door, \"to give my\nmortal friend a drop of your crystal nectar, in order that he may regain\nhis boyish shape again?\"\n\nThe Queen Fairy looked politely inquisitive.\n\n\"You see, your highness,\" the Gnome went on to explain, \"he has eaten\ntoo heartily of gnome cake, and that together with a gobletful of gnome\nwatermelon juice, has caused him much inconvenience, as well as an\nentire change of form.\"\n\nNo sooner had he finished speaking than the Queen called the Waterfall\nFairy, the Brook Fairy and yet another, somewhat smaller, called Violet\nWater.\n\n\"Hasten,\" she said to them when they had assembled before her, \"hasten\nto make a draft of crystal nectar, that this mortal may drink and assume\nonce more his natural shape.\"\n\n\"Move off!\" cried a shrill voice in Ned's ear, and, looking up, he saw a\nSnapdragon, who seemed to be a sort of policeman for the fairies.\n\n\"How can you expect these Ladies-in-Waiting to fulfill their Queen's\ncommands if you stand there blocking the royal exit?\"\n\n\"Tell your friend to sit him down and wait patiently, for it will take\nsome time to brew the magic draft,\" said the Queen to the Gnome, who\nrepeated her words to Ned.\n\nHe was very glad indeed to rest, for, not being accustomed to carry so\nmuch weight on his young legs, he felt very weary and somewhat\ndiscouraged.\n\nHowever, relief was in sight, and, following the suggestion of the good\nfairy, he threw himself down on a mossy bank and waited.\n\nBefore long the three fairies returned, bearing between them a lily\nfilled with a white liquid.\n\nAs they approached the Queen herself came forth from her crystal palace,\nfollowed by many of her subjects.\n\nStepping up to where Ned lay, she said in a soft voice: \"Do not rise,\nfor even now you are much too tall. I myself must pour this magic nectar\nupon your lips.\"\n\nSo saying, she stepped lightly upon a stone close by and, bending\nforward, placed the lily to Ned's mouth.\n\n[Illustration: \"DO NOT RISE,\" SAID THE FAIRY QUEEN.]\n\nThe next moment he felt a strange sensation running through him, and\nlooking down at his hands and feet was delighted to see that they\nwere becoming smaller and smaller.\n\nThough great was his delight, he did not forget his manners, and,\nturning to the little fairy, said: \"How may I ever repay you for your\ngreat kindness? Indeed,\" he added, scarcely able to restrain the tears\nwhich came to his eyes, \"whatever would my dear mother have thought had\nI returned to her in the form of a giant?\"\n\n\"Thank me no more,\" answered the Fairy Queen, \"for gladly will I do any\nfavor for the boy who thinks of his mother first. In the future, should\nyou need my aid, hang this ring about a bluebird's throat and send him\nto me.\"\n\nAnd with these words she placed a slender gold ring upon Ned's little\nfinger.\n\n\"But how shall I catch the bird?\" asked Ned, his curiosity aroused\nbefore he had time to think of thanking her small highness.\n\n\"Whistle thrice upon a blade of grass,\" she answered, \"and the bird will\nfly to thee. Then place the ring about his neck and bid him hasten to\nthe Fairy Queen of the Lake.\"\n\nDuring all this time Ned had been growing smaller and smaller. He had\nalmost forgotten this, when his little friend, the Gnome, exclaimed:\n\"There! You're your own self again!\" At which Ned turned to the Queen,\nand, after thanking her again ran hastily to the brook to assure himself\nthat such was the case.\n\nSo, bidding farewell to his kind friend, the Fairy Queen, and her three\nLadies-in-Waiting, he accompanied the Gnome down the valley.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC AXE\n\nNed meets the King and proposes to cut down the big Oak Tree.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC AXE\n\n\nPRESENTLY the Gnome turned to Ned and said:\n\n\"I must leave you for a time. But with the Fairy Queen's magic ring upon\nyour finger, you will be safe from harm. Self reliance is what all boys\nshould practise. Therefore, travel for a few days alone. At the end of\nthat time I will join you.\" And with these words the Gnome disappeared.\n\nFor a moment Ned felt a wild desire to call him back. But with a shrug\nof his shoulder, he put away the thought and bravely set out in search\nof further adventure.\n\nHe had gone but a short distance when he came to a Magic Axe, chopping\naway all by itself at one of the tallest trees.\n\n\"Good morning, Mistress Axe,\" he said. \"Doesn't it tire you to be\nchopping away all alone there at that old tree?\"\n\n\"Not at all, my son. Put me in your knapsack and I will make you\nfamous.\"\n\nPicking up the axe, Ned placed it in his knapsack and set off once more.\nAfter a while, he came to a place where the road was hollowed out of a\nmass of solid rock, and here, in the distance, he heard a sharp noise\nlike that of iron striking against stone.\n\n\"Some giant must be breaking rocks away up there,\" he said to himself,\nand climbed up the mountain. When he reached the top of the high rock,\nhe found a Magic Pickaxe, all alone by itself, digging away at the hard\nstone as if it were soft clay.\n\nEvery time that wonderful pickaxe struck a blow it went more than a foot\ninto the rock.\n\n\"Good morning, Mistress Pickaxe,\" said Ned. \"Doesn't it tire you to be\ndigging alone here, hollowing away at that old rock?\"\n\n\"Not at all, my little man. Put me in your knapsack and I will make you\nfamous.\"\n\nNed picked up the pickaxe and placing it in his knapsack, again went on.\n\nAfter a while he came to a brook which he followed up the hillside.\n\nThe farther he went the smaller it grew until finally, it ended in a\nlittle nutshell, from which this tiny stream began its journey down the\nmountain.\n\n\"Good morning, Miss Spring,\" said Ned. \"Doesn't it tire you to be\ngushing away all alone by yourself in your little corner?\"\n\n\"Indeed it does, my little man. Put me in your knapsack and I will make\nyou famous.\"\n\nNed picked up the little nutshell and plugging it up with moss, placed\nit carefully in his knapsack with the Magic Axe and the Magic Pickaxe.\n\nAfter some little time he came to a king's palace. Now, although it was\na magnificent palace, everyone living there was perfectly miserable, for\none morning, without the least warning, an immense oak had sprung up,\nwith leaves and branches so thick that they shut out the sun from all\nthe windows, making the castle as dark as night.\n\nOf course in those days there was no gas and electricity, and although\nthe king had commanded that candles be made as high as barber poles,\nthey spluttered and often went out when the wind blew.\n\nAll the woodcutters in the kingdom had tried to cut down this tree, but\nits bark was so tough that it turned the edge of every axe, and for\nevery branch that was lopped off, two instantly grew in its place. At\nlast the king had offered three bags of gold to anyone who would rid him\nof his troublesome oaktree.\n\nNow this was not the only trouble that beset the poor king. For,\nalthough the surrounding country was rich in springs and brooks, the\nroyal gardens were dry as the desert of Sahara. And although the king\nhad also promised three bags of gold to anyone who would dig a well, no\none had yet been able to dig deeper than a foot, as the palace was built\non a rock of solid granite.\n\nEach day the king grew more angry, but of course that did no good. At\nlast calling the poet laureate of his kingdom, he asked him what should\nbe done.\n\nRunning his fingers through his long curly hair, the poet thought a\nwhile. Then summoning the Royal Carpenter, ordered him to make an\nimmense placard, on which, when finished, this wise poet printed:\n\n          \"To him who cuts my oaktree down\n             I'll give three bags of gold\n          But he who fails shall lose his life\n             And lie beneath the mold.\"\n\n\"But what good will that exquisite poem do?\" asked the king,\nsarcastically.\n\n\"It will keep your Royal Highness from being irritated by this endless\nsound of chop, chop, chop,\" replied the poet. \"I verily believe every\nman in your kingdom has had a hack at the tree. Now, he who reads this\nsign, will first make sure his axe is a good one. And my poetic ears\nwill be spared much of this frightful noise which is far worse than a\nsteel rivetter at work on a ninety story building in New York City.\"\nWhich shows that this poet had an eye that could see into the future,\nfor at that time, as far as I know, Columbus hadn't even asked the Queen\nof Spain to pawn her diamond rings!\n\n\"Very well,\" replied the king, \"have the sign nailed on this dreadful\ntree and we will see what happens.\"\n\nAs soon as Ned arrived at the castle he bowed politely to the king, who\nhappened to be standing nearby with all his courtiers.\n\n\"Ha, ha,\" laughed the king, as Ned read the sign. \"Do you, too, wish to\nlose your ears?\" At which all the courtiers laughed heartily, the first\ntime in many months that anybody in that castle had laughed, or even\nsmiled, for that matter.\n\n\"I can but try,\" answered Ned bravely, and opening his knapsack, took\nout his Magic Axe. Standing it up, with the handle leaning against the\nenchanted tree, he stepped back a few feet and shouted: \"Chop, chop,\nchop!\"\n\nAt once the axe began to chop, now right, now left, and up and down, and\nin an incredibly short time that immense tree was cut to bits. It took\nonly a quarter of an hour, and yet there was such a monstrous heap of\nwood that the whole court needed nothing else to burn for a whole year.\n\nBut when Ned asked the king for the three bags of gold, that stingy old\nmonarch said, \"Before I give you the reward, you must perform another\ntask.\"\n\n\"What is it?\" asked Ned.\n\n\"You must dig me a well so that I may have plenty of water,\" answered\nthe king.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SPRING\n\nNed mounted the little Donkey and rode away.\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC SPRING\n\n\n\"I CAN but try, your Majesty,\" said Ned bravely, and again opening his\nknapsack, took out his Magic Pickaxe. Laying it carefully on the ground\nin the proper position, he shouted:\n\n\"Pick, pick, pick!\"\n\nAt once the pick began to burst the granite to splinters, and in less\nthan a quarter of an hour had dug a well more than a hundred feet deep\nin the solid rock.\n\n\"Is the well deep enough, your Majesty?\" asked Ned politely.\n\n\"Certainly,\" answered the king, \"but where is the water to come from?\"\nAnd he winked at his courtiers, who smiled to themselves, for they all\nthought Ned would fail, after all, for as yet there wasn't a drop of\nwater in the well.\n\nBut Ned wasn't discouraged. He quietly opened his knapsack again and\ntook out the nutshell covered with moss, and placed it on a magnificent\nfountain vase which, not having any water, had been filled with a\nbeautiful bouquet of flowers.\n\n\"Gush, gush, gush!\" he shouted, stepping aside to avoid a wetting.\n\nAt once water began to burst out among the flowers, singing with a\ngentle murmur, and falling down in a sparkling cascade, that was so cold\nit made everybody shiver. And in less than a quarter of an hour the well\nwas filled, and a deep trench had to be dug to take away the overflow,\notherwise the whole palace would have been flooded.\n\n\"You have indeed earned the reward,\" said the king. And he ordered a\nlittle donkey saddled and bridled and the six bags of gold hung from his\nback, three on either side. After which Ned was invited to a great\nfeast, and when that was over, he mounted the little donkey and rode\naway, with the three bags of gold hanging from each side of the saddle\nand a little gold ring on his finger, which the king's daughter gave him\nafter washing her pretty face in water for the first time in many\nmonths.\n\nBut before Ned rode away, he put his Magic Axe and his Magic Pickaxe\nback in his knapsack, \"for who can tell,\" he said to himself, \"what need\nI may have of these two useful tools.\"\n\nHis knapsack was now well filled, for the cook in the royal kitchen had\nalso placed in it a loaf of bread, a cheese and a knife in case he\nbecame hungry while on his journey of adventure.\n\nAs Ned traveled on, the forest became darker and darker, for the trees\ngrew so close together that the sun could hardly shine through the thick\nleafy roof. Suddenly he heard a great voice singing:\n\n          \"I am the master of this wood\n             And everyone bows to me,\n          My head is as big as a drygoods box\n             And my legs as long as a tree.\"\n\nThen, all at once, the voice changed to a whistle, which sounded like\nthe siren on a sound steamer when the weather is foggy.\n\n\"It must be a giant singing,\" thought Ned. \"Goodness! but he's a loud\nwhistler. I guess he blows through his fingers!\" and he hid beneath a\nclump of bushes.\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" cried the voice, and a giant came crashing through the forest.\n\nOn seeing Ned, he shouted:\n\n\"Come out of there, and I'll make a mouthful of you.\"\n\n\"Don't be in a hurry,\" replied Ned bravely. \"I'm going to make you my\nservant.\"\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" laughed the giant, \"that is a good joke! I'll pitch you into\nthat raven's nest up there to teach you to make less noise in my\nforest.\"\n\n\"_Your_ forest!\" laughed Ned. \"It's as much mine as yours, and if you\nsay another word, I'll cut it down in a quarter of an hour.\"\n\n\"Ha, ha!\" shouted the giant, \"I should like to see you begin, my brave\nSir Kid!\"\n\nCarefully placing his Magic Axe on the ground, Ned shouted, \"Chop, chop,\nchop!\"\n\nAt once the axe began to chop, now right, now left, and up and down,\ntill the branches tumbled down on the giant's head like hail in autumn.\n\n\"Stop, stop!\" cried the giant. \"Don't destroy my forest. Who the\nmischief are you?\"\n\n\"Sit down and I'll tell you the story of the famous Puss in Boots, who\nonce killed a giant and gave his castle to his Master, the Lord of\nCarabas,\" said Ned.\n\n\"How could a cat kill a giant? You are making sport of me.\"\n\n\"Not at all,\" replied Ned. \"Have you never read the story of Puss in\nBoots?\"\n\n\"No, but I once heard my cousin, the Giant of the Beanstalk, speak of a\ncat who wore boots. But that was long ago when we were both boys.\"\n\n\"Well, I'll tell you then,\" said Ned. \"Puss in Boots' master was the\nyoungest of three sons. When their father died, the two older brothers\nreceived the farm and money, while he was left nothing but a Cat, who\nsaid to him one day, 'Do just what I tell you and I will make you rich.\nGive me a bag and a pair of boots, because the brambles scratch my legs,\nand you shall see what I will do for you.'\n\n\"Well, when the boots were made and he had put them on, he hung the bag\nabout his neck, and set out for a rabbit warren where lived great\nnumbers of rabbits. Opening the bag he stretched himself out as though\nhe were dead, and waited for a hungry rabbit to poke his nose into the\nbag to eat the bran. Pretty soon along came a young rabbit and as soon\nas it had crept in to eat the bran, Puss in Boots pulled the string, and\nthat was the last of the little rabbit.\n\n\"Then, running off to the palace, he gave it to the king, saying it was\na present from his master, my Lord of Carabas, the name he had invented\nfor his young master. Every day he brought some kind of game, until by\nand by the king thought my Lord of Carabas a great man and Puss in Boots\na most wonderful cat, which indeed he was.\"\n\n\"He was indeed,\" said the big giant, moving uneasily on the log on which\nhe was sitting.\n\n\"Well, one day,\" continued Ned, \"Puss in Boots bade his master bathe in\nthe river, and leave the rest to him. Just then the King passed by.\n\n\"'Help, help!' cried Puss. 'Robbers have stolen my master's clothes!'\n\n\"At once the king ordered his guards to the rescue, and fitting out my\nLord of Carabas with a new suit of clothes, invited him to ride in the\ncoach with his beautiful daughter.\n\n\"As they rolled along they came in sight of a castle owned by a bad\ngiant.\"\n\n\n\n\nMAGIC FOOD\n\nThe Giant cannot understand how Ned can eat cheese.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMAGIC FOOD\n\n\n\"PUSS IN BOOTS, who had reached the castle in advance of the royal\nparty, opened the door and said with a low bow to the wicked ogre:\n\n\"'I hear you have the power to change yourself into any animal.'\n\n\"'That is true,' answered the ogre, so pleased that at once he turned\nhimself into a lion.\n\n\"'I doubt if you can become as small as a mouse,' said Puss in Boots.\n\n\"Instantly the ogre changed himself into a mouse, whereupon Puss in\nBoots pounced upon him and ate him up.\n\n\"At that moment up drove the coach. Throwing open the castle door, Puss\nin Boots said with a hospitable bow:\n\n\"'Welcome to the castle of my Lord of Carabas.' And, to make a long\nstory short,\" laughed Ned, \"his master married the King's daughter and\nlived happily ever after.\"\n\n\"Whew!\" gasped the giant. \"He certainly was a wonderful cat,\" and he\nlooked anxiously at the Magic Axe.\n\nPresently Ned began to feel hungry, and opening his knapsack, took out\nhis bread and cheese.\n\n\"What is that white stuff?\" asked the giant, who had never seen cheese\nbefore.\n\n\"That is a stone,\" answered Ned, commencing to eat it with a hungry\nappetite.\n\n\"Do you eat stones?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"Oh yes,\" answered Ned. \"That's my regular food, which explains why I'm\nnot so big as you who eat oxen; but it's also the reason why, little as\nI am, I am ten times as strong as you are. Now take me to your house.\"\n\nThe giant looked at the Magic Axe which had so nearly destroyed his\nforest, and then at Ned eating a stone with apparent relish.\n\n\"I will,\" he said, and humbly led the way to his monstrous cabin.\n\n\"Now listen,\" said Ned to the giant after they were fairly seated, \"one\nof us must be the master, and the other the servant. If I can't do\nwhatever you do, I am to be your slave; if you're not able to do\nwhatever I do, you are to be mine.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the giant. \"I'd be tickled to death to have a little\nservant like you. It's too much work for me to think, and you have\nbrains enough for both. Well, let's start the trial. Here are my two\nbuckets,--go and get the water to make the soup!\"\n\nNed looked at the buckets, the tops of which he couldn't even see, for\nthey were two enormous hogsheads, ten feet high and six broad. It would\nhave been much easier for him to drown himself in them than to move\nthem.\n\n\"Ho, ho!\" shouted the giant. \"Do what I do and get the water.\"\n\n\"What's the good of that?\" replied Ned. \"I'll go get the spring itself\nto put in the pot,\" knowing that he could easily run back to the king's\ncastle for the little magic nutshell.\n\n\"No, no!\" said the giant, \"that won't do. You have already half spoiled\nmy forest with your Magic Axe. I don't want you to take my spring away.\nYou may attend to the fire, and I'll go for the water.\"\n\nSo the giant hung up the kettle, put into it an ox cut into pieces,\nfifty cabbages, and a wagon-load of carrots, skimming the broth with a\nfrying pan, tasting it every now and then until it was done. When\neverything was ready, he turned and said:\n\n\"Now we'll see if you can do what I can. I feel like eating the whole\nox, and you into the bargain. I think I'll serve you for dessert.\"\n\n\"All right,\" answered little Ned. But before sitting down he slipped his\nknapsack under his jacket.\n\nThen the two champions set to work. Perhaps Ned was a trifle nervous,\nknowing only too well that if he failed he must be the giant's servant.\n\nWell, the giant ate and ate, and Ned wasn't idle; only he pitched\neverything, beef, cabbage, carrots, and all, into his knapsack when the\ngiant wasn't looking.\n\n\"Ouf!\" at last grunted the giant, \"I can't do much more. I've got to\nundo the lower button of my waistcoat.\"\n\n\"Eat away, starveling!\" cried Ned, sticking half a cabbage into his\nknapsack.\n\n\"Ouf!\" groaned the giant, \"I must loosen another button. But what sort\nof an ostrich's stomach have you got, Kiddo? I should say you were used\nto eating stones!\"\n\n\"Eat away, lazy-bones!\" said Ned, sticking a huge chunk of beef into his\nknapsack.\n\n\"Ouf!\" sighed the giant for the third time, \"I must open the third\nbutton.\"\n\n\"Bah!\" answered Ned. \"It's the easiest thing to relieve yourself,\" and\ntaking his knife, he slit his jacket and the knapsack under it the whole\nlength of his stomach. \"Now's your turn. Do as I do, _if you can!_\"\n\n\"Excuse me!\" gasped the giant. \"You win. I'd rather be your servant\nthan do that.\"\n\nThen kissing Ned's hand in token of submission, he lifted his little\nmaster on his shoulder, and slinging the six bags of gold over his back,\nstarted off through the forest.\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" said Ned, \"I've forgotten my Magic tools.\" So the giant\npicked them up and thrusting them in his pocket, again set off at a\ntremendous rate.\n\nAfter a while, they came in sight of a great castle where lived a lord\neven more wicked than the cruel Blue Beard. As they drew nearer, they\nheard loud screams like those of some fair lady in distress. The next\nminute the wicked lord dragged a lovely lady by the hair across the\ncourtyard.\n\nWith one stride the giant stepped over the castle wall.\n\n\"Shall I toss him over the moon?\" he asked.\n\n\"No, leave him to me,\" replied Ned. The wicked lord trembled and grew as\npale as a white swan that swam nearby in a beautiful fountain.\n\n\"My giant servant at a sign from me, will pitch you over the moon. But\ninstead, as you have the reputation of being the greatest liar that ever\nlived, we will see who can tell the biggest story, you or I. If you\nlose, you shall give your castle to this fair lady and take yourself\noff, I don't care where, but you must never return.\"\n\nAt once the wicked lord commenced to tell the biggest story he could\nimagine.\n\n\"I have a bull so large that a man can sit on each of his horns, and the\ntwo can't touch each other with a twenty foot pole.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's nothing,\" replied Ned. \"At home on the farm we have a bull\nso large that a servant sitting on one of his horns can't see the\nservant sitting on the other.\"\n\n\"You win,\" laughed the pretty princess, clapping her hands at Ned. Then\nthe wicked lord went to his stable and saddling his best horse, rode\naway. But as he passed through the gate, Ned touched his steed with his\nmagic gold ring. Instantly the horse turned into an immense bird and\nflew away. But where he went no one knows to this day.\n\n\n\n\nMAGIC EARS\n\nThe Man with Ears like a Donkey invited Ned to eat with him.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMAGIC EARS\n\n\n\"DEAR me,\" said the giant suddenly. \"I've forgotten all about my errand.\nYou and your Magic Axe have robbed me of my memory,\" and the big man\nscratched his hand and looked anxiously at Ned.\n\n\"What is it?\"\n\n\"I was to take a chicken to my old mother,\" answered the giant sadly.\n\n\"Go ahead,\" said Ned. \"I can take care of myself. At any rate it is\nabout time my friend the Gnome came back to me.\"\n\n\"You are very kind,\" said the giant. \"Here are your Magic Axe and your\nMagic Pickaxe. I almost forgot them,\" and he set off at a great rate for\nhis mother's house.\n\nNed, too, quickened his pace, for it was growing late, and the shadows\ncreeping from tree to tree. At length he saw a light in the distance. It\nwas a very little light, not much larger than a star, and at first Ned\nthought it might be a giant firefly. However, he kept on and after a\nwhile it turned out to be a little candle in the window of a poor\nwoodcutter's hut. Knocking on the door, it was presently opened by a\nstrange looking man. He had long hairy ears like a donkey and was\ndressed in the skins of wild animals.\n\n\"Welcome,\" he said in a kindly voice, \"I am just preparing my evening\nmeal. Come in and eat.\" Ned followed the donkey-eared man into the\ncottage and sat down at the rude wooden table on which were spread black\nbread and beans.\n\n\"I have but humble fare to offer you,\" said the donkey-eared man, but\nhis smile was a kind one as he helped Ned to the beans with a large\nwooden spoon. \"But as I see you are a traveler, you no doubt have fared\nworse at times,\" and he smiled again in such a friendly way, that Ned\ntook a great liking to him.\n\n\"You are right. I'm a traveler, seeking adventures and many strange\nthings I have seen while visiting Gnomeland.\"\n\n\"I have heard little of the world since my ears were changed into those\nof a donkey,\" sighed the donkey-eared man.\n\n\"Is there no magic charm which will remove them?\" asked Ned, as he\nfinished the last bean on his plate and wiped his mouth carefully with\nthe pocket handkerchief which his kind mother had given him the very\nmorning he had set out for Gnomeland.\n\n\"None whatever,\" answered the man with a sigh. \"There is no charm nor\nmagic herb, but I've heard tell of a Magic Axe that once cut down a\ncharmed oak tree overshadowing a king's palace. But where am I to find\nthat Magic Axe?\"\n\n          \"Oh master dear, pray ask this lad\n             Your donkey ears to sever;\n          For then your own two ears will take\n             Their place as good as ever,\"\n\nsang a little bird from her tree in the forest.\n\nWhen Ned heard that, he jumped up and went behind the door where he had\nhung his knapsack. Taking out the Magic Axe, he laid it on the table\nbefore the donkey-eared man.\n\n\"Cut off my ears!\" shouted the donkey-eared man.\n\n\"I can't do it,\" said Ned, trembling all over.\n\n\"Do as I ask you,\" begged the donkey-eared man, laying his head on the\ntable.\n\nInstead, however, Ned touched the donkey ears with his little magic gold\nring, at the same time whispering, \"Away with you!\"\n\nOff went the long, hairy ears, and the next minute, two grew in their\nplace, just like yours and mine.\n\n          \"Oh, now I'm free from donkey ears,\n          Three cheers and once, again, three cheers!\n          No more the witch's evil snare\n          Shall force me donkey ears to wear!\"\n\nsang the donkey-eared man, dancing about the room.\n\nAll the next day Ned trudged on alone until towards evening, he came to\nthe edge of a pine-forest, where close at hand stood a small hut made of\npine-branches, plastered with mud and thatched with rye-straw. No sooner\nhad he tapped on the door than it was opened by a girl. She looked out\ntimidly, thinking, I suppose, it might be a robber. But when she saw\nNed, she smiled.\n\n\"Come in,\" she said, and Ned saw four small children staring curiously\nat him.\n\nThe room was very smoky, for there was no chimney to the rude hut. A\nhole in the roof let the smoke out, and there were no windows, for the\nfather of these children was a poor peasant who made his living by\ngathering turpentine in the pine forest.\n\nNed sat down, while the girl went on with her work until the black beans\nwere ready for supper, when she put them all in a big wooden bowl, and\ninvited Ned to join her and the four children.\n\nWhile they were eating out of the bowl with a wooden spoon, a tame\njackdaw who had been sitting on an old stool by the fireside, hopped\nover and perched himself close to Ned.\n\nWhen the supper was over, and the children were ready for bed, he\nwhispered, \"This little family is very poor. Their father is away\nselling turpentine, and there is little food in the cupboard. But if you\nwill come with me tonight, I will show you how we can help them.\"\n\nWhen all the children were sound asleep, Ned looked over to the fireside\nwhere the jackdaw sat, his eyes shining brighter and brighter through\nthe darkness, till they made the room so light that Ned could plainly\nsee the five sleeping children huddled together on the straw bed in the\ncorner.\n\nThen the jackdaw nodded, and hopping down from the stool on which he\nsat, walked softly over to the door.\n\nThe moon shone brightly on the bare brown fields silvered with white\nfrost, and in the still, cold air, the forest looked like a black cloud\njust dropped upon the earth.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC BASKET\n\nThe Little Old Woman made a low bow to the Jackdaw.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC BASKET\n\n\nON and on they went, the jackdaw hopping over the rough fields, and now\nand then turning his head and winking his fiery eyes at Ned, until they\nfound themselves at the foot of a high, round hill.\n\nAt one side of the great mound the stream which they had been following\nsuddenly stopped short, making a deep well, over which hung an old oak\ntree, leafless now, but still strewing the ground with dry acorns.\n\nRight at the foot of this tree was an upright gray stone, apparently\npart of a rock deeply sunk in the hillside. Beside this stone the\njackdaw paused, and, turning to nod reassuringly at Ned, picked up a\npebble about the size of an acorn and dropped it into the well, at the\nsame time knocking gently on the flat stone with his bill.\n\nIn a moment the rock opened in the middle, and there stood a little old\nwoman, as withered as a spring apple and as bright as a butterfly,\ndressed in a scarlet bodice covered with spangles and a black petticoat\nworked in square characters with all the colors of the rainbow.\n\nNed thought she was not nearly as attractive as the fairies whom he had\nbut lately left, although she had on more colors than even the Queen\nFairy.\n\nOn seeing the jackdaw she made a low bow, and in a shrill eager voice\ninvited them in. Ned hesitated, but the little old woman snatched his\nhand and pulled him in, asking in a whisper, \"Dost thou fear for thyself\nwhen visiting the King of the Gnomes?\"\n\nThen, opening a low door in the side of the cavern, she beckoned them to\nfollow. In the middle of a still larger vault stood an arm chair\nfashioned from beryl and jasper, with knobs of amethyst and topaz, in\nwhich sat Ned's friend, the Gnome.\n\nHe was dressed in a robe of velvet, green and soft as forest moss, and a\nring of gold lay on his grizzled hair. His little eyes shone keen and\nfiery, and his hands, withered and brown, were now covered with\nglittering jewels.\n\nAbout the cave a hundred little men, smaller than he, were busy in a\nhundred ways. Some stirred kettles of smoking broth; others sliced fresh\nvegetables for crisp salads. Some spread a table, with golden plates\nand crystal goblets; three turned huge pieces of meat on a spit before a\nfire at the end of the cavern, while a dozen more watched the simmering\npots.\n\nThe jackdaw hopped gravely past all this toward the chair of the Gnome\nKing, who stretched out his sceptre, a tall bulrush of gold, and touched\nthe jackdaw, who at once turned into a dwarf.\n\nMaking a low bow to the Gnome King, he turned to Ned and said:\n\n\"I was forced to take the form of a jackdaw for twenty years because I\nonce said that gold was not as yellow as buttercups nor so bright as\nsunshine. This made the Gnomes angry, because their belief is that gold\nis the most beautiful thing in the world. My punishment is now over and\nI need never return to the earth again. But I would do a favor to the\npoor peasant children who were so good to me.\"\n\n\"What favor would you ask for the poor peasant children?\" asked the\nGnome King.\n\n\"I would send them a Magic Basket filled with food,\" answered the dwarf.\n\nNo sooner had he spoken, than the Gnome ordered his subjects to fill a\nMagic Basket with all kinds of good things to eat. There was a golden\nbowl of smoking stew, a crystal goblet of wine, a golden dish of mashed\npotatoes and another of rice pudding.\n\nAnd when the Magic Basket was covered with a damask napkin, it was\nhanded to a dwarf messenger to take to the poor woodcutter's children,\nwhile all the little dwarfs stood around him and sang:\n\n          \"In this basket they will find\n          Food and drink of magic kind.\n            Never will it empty grow\n          And no hunger they shall know.\"\n\n\"Hereafter,\" said the Gnome King, looking kindly at Ned, \"a bluebird\nshall be your companion and will show you many and curious things. I can\nspare no more time, for my people must be governed, and while I have\ngiven you more attention than any other mortal because of your great\nfondness for fairy tales, I must now leave you in the care of this\nbluebird, unless, perchance, you wish to return to earth at once.\"\n\nTo which Ned answered eagerly that he would much rather see more of\nGnomeland before again returning to the everyday routine of grammar\nschool and lessons.\n\n\"Good luck to you, then!\" cried his friend, as he shook Ned warmly by\nthe hand.\n\nThe door opened and Ned once more found himself by the side of the great\nflat stone in the hillside, where rippling waters of the little stream\nflowed into the pool at the foot of the great oak tree, on which sat a\nlovely bluebird.\n\nFollowing the bluebird, Ned turned to one side to avoid climbing the\nhill, and continued his journey for some time, keeping ever in sight the\nbluebird's beautiful form.\n\nIt was almost dark when they were confronted by a dense forest. This was\nnot particularly reassuring to Ned, especially as the bluebird flew back\nand settled herself on his shoulder, evidently not wishing to enter the\nwoods at so late an hour. For in a deep, black forest, with all sorts of\nstrange shadows and ghostly trees, one never knows what may be lurking\nabout, and the same Ned who, with his two stout fists, in broad daylight\nwould have undertaken to keep any living boy or man from doing serious\nmischief, felt his teeth set hard and his heart stand still as he came\ninto the shadow of the great trees.\n\nThe little bird nestled close to his cheek and refused to leave his\nshoulder.\n\nNed, indeed, felt that he must now look out for himself, and though his\nheart beat high, he bravely trudged forward.\n\nIt was very unlike the woods to which he had been accustomed to go with\nhis schoolmates at home, where bright green maples, beeches and birches\nmade a leafy bower overhead. Instead, there were solemn pines and\nhemlocks, and as he entered deeper, great caverns appeared in the rocks\nand narrow gulleys, into which one might easily fall and break one's\nneck.\n\nThrough this dismal place he trudged along, with his knees shaking, but\nwith a brave heart, until he came to a great pine, which evidently had\nbeen struck by lightning, for it stood up white and tall, lifting its\nbare arms to the sky, like some specter giant crying for vengeance.\n\nLuckily he had placed the bluebird in his pocket, fearing that the low\nhanging branches would sweep it from his shoulders. Had he not done so\nbefore arriving at this spot the opportunity would not have presented\nitself again.\n\nRight at the foot of the pine, on a decaying log, sat a little old man,\nwho was altogether the ugliest looking object that Ned had ever seen. He\nwas about half the size of ordinary men, though the whiteness of his\nhair and beard showed plainly that he would never be any taller, and\nthough his body was short and crooked to the last degree, his face was\nlong and pale, but was lighted up by wonderfully brilliant eyes.\n\nThese were fixed on Ned from the moment he came in sight, and, piercing\nthrough the darkness, it is no wonder that they chilled the poor boy's\nblood and failed to quicken his pace. Indeed, it is not quite certain\nthat he would have gone forward at all if the greater part of the forest\nhad not been behind him, though there seemed to be a spell in the\nstrange eyes that drew the boy on in spite of himself.\n\n\"Come along! What are you afraid of?\" cried the dwarf in a little, dry\nvoice, that sounded like the cracking of a dry twig beneath one's foot.\n\nNed hesitated, and, as if seeking the comfort of something alive and\nfriendly, thrust his hand into his pocket alongside of the little\nbluebird.\n\n\"Come on! Come on, little master,\" repeated the dwarf. \"Here I have been\nwaiting more than an hour to tell you some good news, and now that you\nare here you would hinder me because you are such a coward.\"\n\n\"I don't know you,\" said Ned, as an excuse.\n\n\"Well, well, no matter for that. I know you well enough. Would you read\nabout gnomes and then be so cowardly that you would fear to associate\nwith them?\"\n\nAs he finished speaking, he arose, disclosing a doorway in the trunk of\nthe pine tree behind him.\n\nAt that moment, a beautiful dwarf maiden emerged therefrom, and, as if\nhaving heard the conversation, said: \"He is no coward, father. See, he\nwill shake hands with me!\"\n\nNed put out his hand, but drew it back just in time to escape having the\ngold ring which the Fairy Queen had given him, slipped off his finger by\nthe dwarf maiden.\n\n\"Selfish mortal,\" she cried, \"'tis nothing but a little gold band. Give\nit to me. See, I will exchange this beautiful diamond for it,\" and she\nheld out a sparkling stone set in a gold ring.\n\nNed drew back in alarm, more especially as the dwarf himself advanced\nwith a threatening attitude.\n\nContinuing to step back, Ned kept his eyes upon the dwarf, who advanced\nnow with upraised fist. Seeing this, Ned quickly threw off his coat and\npicking up a stout stick, prepared to defend himself.\n\nIt would have gone ill with him, for the dwarf was surprisingly strong\nand agile, had not relief come from an unexpected quarter.\n\n[Illustration: NED THREW OFF HIS COAT.]\n\nThe little bluebird had quietly slipped out of Ned's pocket, and flying\nup to him, received the gold ring about her neck in accordance with the\ncommand of the Fairy Queen, which Ned remembered suddenly and luckily\nin time.\n\nOff flew the bird to the great tall pine and touched it with the magic\nring. In an instant it changed into a giant, who stretched forth one of\nhis great hands, and catching up the dwarf, hurled him headlong down the\nside of the ravine close by.\n\nThe dwarf maiden, with a cry, rushed after him, climbing down the sides\nwith wonderful agility.\n\nThe giant now turned to Ned, saying: \"Little Master, I owe it to you\nthat I am once more my natural self. An evil spirit transformed me into\nyonder tree, but the magic of your ring has restored me once more to my\nnatural shape. I will henceforth serve you while the occasion lasts,\"\nand with these words he knelt before Ned most humbly.\n\nAt the same time the bluebird handed Ned his magic ring, and with this\nfaithful little friend, his gold ring, and the giant for a servant, Ned\nfelt that he had nothing further to fear while traveling in Gnomeland.\n\n\"Thank you, my good friend,\" said Ned, placing his hand upon the bowed\nhead of the giant. \"You are certainly grateful for what I have done for\nyou, which is more than can be said of many mortals. But had I not had\nthe magic ring and the assistance of my little companion, the bluebird,\nyou would still be the tree you were. Let us, therefore, the three of\nus, pledge allegiance to one another and set out upon our journey of\nadventure.\"\n\nAs he finished speaking the giant arose and carefully placing Ned upon\nhis shoulder, started off at a rapid stride.\n\nThe little bluebird flew ahead, and in a short time the three comrades\nemerged from the forest.\n\nIn the distance could be seen the turrets of a stately castle, which\nlooked down from a high point of land upon a beautiful river that wound\nin and out like a silver ribbon through the meadow.\n\n\"Who lives in yonder castle?\" asked Ned, unconsciously adopting the\nstyle of language of Gnomeland.\n\n\"I know not,\" answered the giant, \"but with a few more steps we will be\nable to inquire at the postern gates.\"\n\nIt was indeed a stately castle, and upon reaching the drawbridge Ned was\nsurprised to find that it was not lowered for them to cross over,\nalthough they waited for some time.\n\n\"I think I'll blow upon my policeman's whistle,\" said Ned, hunting\nthrough his pockets. \"I certainly had it when I left home.\"\n\n\"Blow hard,\" advised the giant as Ned brought it forth, \"blow hard, that\nthose within may think us worthy of admittance.\"\n\nUpon which Ned let out a blast that would do justice to any Knight of\nthe Round Table. He was himself surprised at the volume of sound, but\nwas too much interested in what was about to happen to realize that the\ntouch of his magic ring had made it possible for the small nickel-plated\nwhistle to create such a sound.\n\nPresently the drawbridge began slowly to descend, and when the creaking\nchains ceased their noise, our three comrades crossed over to the castle\ngates. These were thrown wide open, and just as the giant placed Ned\nupon his feet in front of the castle doors, they opened, disclosing a\nbeautiful princess on the threshold.\n\n\"Welcome, Ned, to you and your two friends.\"\n\nWhereupon the giant bowed very low, and the little bluebird flew over\nand nestled on her shoulder.\n\nNed was too delighted to speak for a moment, for up to this time his\nexperiences had been most trying, but here at last it seemed that\nfortune smiled upon him.\n\nSo he and the giant followed her into the stately hall, the latter\nfinding it necessary to stoop each time he entered a doorway, for\nalthough the castle was built on magnificent lines it had not occurred\nto the architect that a giant would ever be a guest.\n\nWhen they were all seated, except the giant, who sprawled on the floor,\nas there was no chair large enough to accommodate him, the beautiful\nprincess said:\n\n\"I would ask you to spend the night here, but my wicked stepfather\nreturns tonight, and I fear he will do you some injury.\"\n\n\"I fear nothing,\" answered Ned courageously, standing up to appear more\ndignified, \"and if I can be of any service to you, say but a word, for I\nhave a trusty friend in the giant, and also a clever one in my little\nbluebird, to say nothing of the magic of this ring,\" and he touched the\ngold band about his finger and bowed again to the beautiful princess.\n\n\"My stepfather is very crafty,\" said the princess, looking at Ned\nintently, as if weighing the possibilities of his assistance. \"He once\nchanged a giant into a pine tree!\" At these words, the giant began to\nshake and tremble so that the cut glass chandeliers rattled all over the\ncastle.\n\n\"Remember, I have the magic ring,\" Ned whispered, leaning over to where\nthe giant lay upon the floor; \"nothing can harm us with that in our\npossession.\"\n\n\"What would you have me do?\" asked Ned, turning again to the beautiful\nprincess, for he felt that she was unwilling to ask him the favor,\nfearing it might prove of harm to him.\n\nStill the beautiful princess remained silent until the bluebird began to\nsing a sweet song, perching meanwhile upon her shoulder, as if intending\nthe song for her ears especially.\n\nThen tears fell from her eyes.\n\n\"'Tis the song my brother was wont to sing,\" she said, \"but now\"--and\nhiding her face in her hands, she wept more bitterly than before--\"he\nhas been sent away and hidden by my cruel stepfather I know not where.\"\n\n\"We will find him for you, princess,\" cried Ned. \"Fear not, for I have\nconfidence in my two comrades and in myself. Give us all something to\neat that we may have strength to undertake this adventure.\"\n\nThe princess immediately ordered a great feast to be set before them,\nand when our three comrades had eaten their fill they once more set out\nupon their journey, with the prayers of the beautiful princess for their\nsafety and successful return.\n\nAs they wound their way through the pleasant valley, every so often the\nlittle bluebird would sing her song, loud and sweet, and then would\npause, with folded wing, to listen, as if expecting an answer.\n\nSo they went on for many miles, until, as they approached a cottage by\nthe roadside, Ned thought he heard a familiar air. Indeed, he was sure\nthat something important was about to happen, for the bluebird was\nwhirring around in circles and singing as if her life depended upon the\nway she trilled and warbled.\n\n\"Why, there is a bluebird in that wicker cage!\" exclaimed Ned, pointing\ntoward the cottage porch, from which swung a bird cage.\n\nIt was, indeed, true, and in another moment Ned's bluebird was perched\non the railing close by.\n\nScrambling down from the giant's friendly shoulder, Ned touched the\ncage, and, to his amazement, the little door flew open and out walked a\nhandsome young prince, about his own age.\n\n\"Who are you?\" cried Ned, but before he could reply the giant exclaimed:\n\"He must be the brother of the princess! We have, indeed, completed our\nadventure, or nearly so,\" he added, remembering they had yet to deal\nwith the crafty stepfather.\n\n\"How can I ever repay you?\" cried the little prince, who was at first\nunable to speak from the joy of it all. \"I am free! I am free!\" And he\nalmost cried with delight, flinging his arms about Ned's sturdy form\nand patting the leg of the giant.\n\n\"Come, little bluebird, and let me thank you, too,\" he added, as the\npretty bird circled in the air and alighted on Ned's shoulder. Indeed,\nit was a happy moment for all.\n\n\"And now,\" said Ned, \"let us think of the best way to return to the\ncastle, so that the princess may receive her long-lost brother.\"\n\n\"The easiest way is the best way,\" said the giant. \"Both you boys climb\nup on my back, and in 500 short seconds we'll be back at the castle, or\nI have forgotten my early training on the cinder path.\"\n\nAll of which goes to show that even in Gnomeland there are sports,\nalthough few fairy tales tell us anything about them.\n\nWhen Ned and the prince had seated themselves comfortably on the great\nshoulders of the obliging giant, he set off at a tremendous rate, and\nsoon they were ascending the hill on which stood the castle of the\nbeautiful princess.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC RING\n\nThe Unhappy Little Princess leaned out of the window and sobbed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC RING\n\n\nNED followed the beautiful princess and her brother into the castle,\nwhile the giant, who had to stoop nearly to the floor in order to enter\nthe doorway, brought up the rear.\n\nAs it was late, everyone decided to go to bed. Besides, they were all\nwell tired out after their exciting day.\n\nYou would have laughed to see the giant ascend the stairway to the royal\nbedchambers, for the steps were too small for his feet, and it was with\ngreat difficulty that he managed to get a foothold with the toes of his\nboots.\n\nWhen at last he was safely inside his bedroom, the largest in the\ncastle, it was found that the bedstead was not nearly long enough for\nhim.\n\nSo the princess gave orders that two cot beds be placed ends together,\nand in this way the giant, by allowing his feet to project through the\nopen window, could lie down at full length. His feet nearly reached the\ntree that grew just outside, on which the little bluebird had perched\nfor the night, and it was lucky, indeed, that it was midsummer, for\notherwise our big friend might have caught a severe cold.\n\nAfter bidding the giant goodnight the little bluebird had a few minutes'\ntalk with Ned while he undressed himself.\n\n[Illustration: THE STEPS WERE TOO SMALL FOR THE GIANT.]\n\nShe agreed to act as sentinel during the night, to keep a vigilant\nlookout from the treetop, and in case of approaching danger instantly to\nawaken Ned and the giant.\n\nGradually the great castle grew quiet, until nothing was stirring, \"not\neven a mouse.\"\n\nAt times the night wind rustled the leaves in the tree where the little\nbluebird sentinel sat winking and blinking, and the big yellow moon\nglistened fantastically on the big toe of the giant.\n\nToward midnight a faint sound in the distance, like the beat of horses'\nhoofs, startled the bluebird.\n\nHastily flying toward the castle entrance she gazed out upon the roadway\nthat wound up from the valley below.\n\nAt some distance she made out dimly the figures of a number of horsemen.\n\nReturning swiftly to the castle, she tweaked the giant's big toe. That,\nyou can easily imagine, awoke him with a start.\n\n\"What's the matter?\" he asked in a frightened whisper which, although\nonly a whisper, was enough to make the castle tremble, thereby awakening\nNed and the princess herself.\n\n\"The crafty stepfather of the princess is coming,\" answered the\nbluebird.\n\n\"Then it's all up with me,\" cried the giant, \"for he'll change me again\ninto a pine tree.\"\n\nThe bluebird made no reply, but hastened to find Ned. On entering his\nbedroom through the half open window she found him already dressing.\n\"Take the ring,\" he said, slipping it over her glossy neck, after she\nhad informed him of what she had seen. \"If you can manage to touch him\nwith it, this wicked man will find that he has no power whatever to harm\nus.\"\n\n\"I will make haste,\" replied the little bird, \"for they must by this\ntime have reached the drawbridge.\"\n\nSo saying she flew swiftly away and reached the other side of the moat\njust as the cavalcade set foot upon the bridge.\n\nAwaiting her opportunity to touch the wicked stepfather of the princess\nwith the magic ring, she alighted quietly on the tip of a spear which\none of the horsemen carried.\n\nAs they neared the center of the drawbridge the king, as if suddenly\naware of an unseen power, exclaimed: \"I feel there is danger near!\"\n\nThen the horseman shook his spear defiantly and so startled the little\nbluebird that she nearly lost her footing, and alas! what was much more\nserious, caused her to loosen her hold upon the little magic gold ring,\nwhich slipped from between her bill and fell into the waters of the\nmoat.\n\nLike a falling star, it shivered and glimmered in the rays of the moon\nas it descended, attracting the attention of a speckled trout, who\nopened his mouth and swallowed it as it splashed upon the silvery\nsurface of the water.\n\n\"Your trusty spear has done me good service in times gone by,\" exclaimed\nthe wicked king, not knowing that its owner had unknowingly been the\ncause of saving him at the present moment.\n\nOn came the cavalcade, the wicked attendants of the king inside the\ncastle opening the gates and allowing him and his men to enter the\ncourtyard.\n\nNed looked down from his window and wondered what had become of the\nbluebird. He did not feel afraid, but at the same time he realized that\nhe was not in friendly hands. The giant, on hearing the gates open, had\nquickly drawn in his feet and was struggling to get his shoes on when\nNed appeared at the door.\n\n\"It's all up!\" said the big fellow, with a wry face and a catch in his\ngruff voice. \"I can feel already the pine-needles beginning to stick out\nall over me.\"\n\n\"Oh, that's gooseflesh, you're so scared!\" replied Ned, smiling in spite\nof the gravity of the situation. \"It may not be as bad as you think!\"\n\nJust then a great pounding on the front doors told them that the King\nwas seeking admittance. \"Who has locked the doors?\" he shouted.\n\n\"Wait a minute,\" said the sweet voice of the princess; \"we did not\nexpect you so late,\" and she ran down the stairs and opened the door\nherself.\n\n\"I have two visitors upstairs,\" she said, as the angry monarch stepped\ninside.\n\n\"What!\" he shouted hoarsely, \"bring them to me. How do I know but that\nthey are enemies?\"\n\n\"Indeed they are not,\" she replied, \"as you will see in 500 short\nseconds.\"\n\n\"Ned, come down!\" she called, \"bring your friend with you, for I would\nhave you meet the King!\"\n\nNed turned to the giant, whose big face was twitching with terror.\n\"He'll recognize me as sure as eggs is eggs!\" he groaned.\n\n\"What! is that thunder?\" exclaimed the King below, mistaking the giant's\nmoan for a thunderclap, but before his question was answered Ned and his\nfriend appeared at the head of the stairway.\n\nAfter shaking hands with Ned in quite a friendly way the wicked King\nturned to the giant. \"Ha, ha!\" he cried, \"have I not had the pleasure of\nmeeting you before, my fine friend?\"\n\nThe giant said nothing, for what could he say?\n\n\"Have I not met you before?\" repeated the King, with a fierce gesture.\n\"Methinks you would look better as a pine tree than a hulking giant,\"\nand before the words were fairly out of the King's mouth a stately pine\ntree was standing in the courtyard, through which the wind of the early\nmorning made a moaning noise much like the pitiful groan of the poor,\nlate giant.\n\n\"And you, my little cockatoo,\" continued the wicked King, turning\nquickly to Ned, \"would look better in a cage!\"\n\nAnd in another minute Ned found himself in a wicker cage, suspended from\nthe lowest limb of the pine tree.\n\n\"And now,\" cried the wicked King, \"where is your third guest?\" The\nprincess paused a moment. \"Oh, the little bluebird!\" she exclaimed,\n\"where has it gone?\"\n\n\"No, not the little bluebird, but he that was the bluebird.\"\n\nAt this the poor princess became very pale. She had hidden her brother\nthe evening before when they had gone to bed in a closet in her room,\nhoping to have the opportunity of disguising him and sending him away\nwith Ned and the giant the first thing in the morning. But, now, alas,\nher wicked stepfather undoubtedly suspected something. For else why\nshould he ask for him?\n\nShe was in despair, for she knew not what to say. And where was Ned's\nlittle friend, the bluebird herself, all this time? Had she deserted her\nfriends, the little princess asked herself?\n\n\"Answer my question!\" cried the King, grasping hold of her wrist.\n\nThe princess screamed with terror and her brother, hearing her cry,\nrushed forth from the closet and down the stairs.\n\nWhipping his sword from its scabbard, he made for the cruel tyrant.\n\nAlas, that bravery and valor do not always win! It was useless for him\nto fight against so experienced a swordsman as the King, and in short\ntime the prince was wounded and his sword thrown from his grasp.\n\n\"Little gamecock!\" cried his conqueror, \"you must needs grow larger\nspurs before you tackle an old rooster like me! And since you remind me\nof one, a rooster you shall be,\" and in five short seconds the little\nprince was changed into a young gamecock.\n\n\"Out into the courtyard!\" cried the King; \"a castle is no chicken\nhouse,\" and the little prince found himself unceremoniously thrown under\nthe big pine tree.\n\n\"Have pity!\" cried the little princess. \"Is there no pity for a little\norphan princess?\"\n\n\"Enough,\" answered the King, with a stamp of his foot. \"Go to your\nroom, else you may find yourself also changed into a bird, or a tree,\nor a pretty butterfly.\"\n\nSo the unhappy little princess went up the stairs, crying bitterly, to\nher own chamber. Closing the door, she leaned out of the window and\nsobbed as if her heart would break.\n\nFor a moment she did not notice that the topmost branch of the pine tree\nwas close to her casement. In fact, she would not have noticed it for\nsome time probably, as her face was buried in her hands, had not the\nbranch brushed against her fingers.\n\nAs she withdrew her hands from her face she heard the giant's voice,\nvery much subdued, speaking to her.\n\n\"Ned says not to despair, for he feels sure that his little friend, the\nbluebird, will yet find a way to liberate us all.\"\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC BALLOON\n\nNed leaves the Magic Soap Bubble.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nTHE MAGIC BALLOON\n\n\nGREAT was the grief of the little bluebird as she skimmed over the\nwaters of the moat, realizing how impossible it was for her to regain\nthe lost ring.\n\nShe had not the heart for the moment to return to the castle to inform\nNed of his loss; so she perched herself disconsolately on a bush which\ngrew close to the margin of the moon-lit water, wondering what was best\nto do.\n\nSuddenly the speckled trout rose to the surface, and, seeing how\ndespondent was the pretty bluebird, inquired the cause of her grief.\n\n\"Ah, me!\" she sighed in answer. \"I have lost a magic gold ring, and I\nknow not what to do, nor how to recover it.\"\n\nAt this the speckled trout flapped his silvery tail gleefully, and\nanswered: \"Worry no more, pretty bluebird, for I have it safely tucked\naway inside of me.\"\n\n\"If that be the case, Sir Trout,\" joyously chirped the happy bird, \"swim\nat your greatest speed and deliver the ring to her majesty, the\nWaterfall Fairy, Queen of the Lake. Tell her that Ned, her little mortal\nfriend, is in dire peril and that he needs her aid.\"\n\n\"That will I gladly do,\" answered the speckled trout, and without more\ndelay he darted off down the moat toward the dam at the farther side,\nover which the water ran in a clear stream into the purling brook,\nwhich finally led to the lake, where lived Ned's friend, the Fairy\nQueen. Down the silvery cascade he glided and whirled away through the\nrunning water, frightening the minnows and miller's thumbs lying among\nthe stones in the shallow places, and startling the crawfishes and\nlittle fresh water lobsters hidden under the hollow banks.\n\nFaster and faster he swam, like a courier with important dispatches,\ndown the clear stream running over its pebbly bed, with the luscious\nmeadow sweet and the large blue geranium blooming all about its banks,\nand the wild rose on its bushes.\n\nNor did he pause until with a loud splash he dived over the waterfall\nsafely into the lake and rose to the surface close to the palace of the\nQueen of the Lake.\n\nA big black spider was busily at work mending the suspension bridge\nwhich spanned the water at this narrow point, for the heavy drops of\ndew had broken the slender strands in several places.\n\nHe stopped his work to look at the speckled trout, who at once addressed\nhim.\n\n\"I am the bearer of a most important dispatch for her highness,\" he\nbegan.\n\n\"Well, and I am engaged in the most important duty of repairing her\nhighness' bridge,\" replied the spider.\n\n\"So, I see,\" answered the trout, \"but----\" At this very moment the Queen\nherself, hearing voices at so early an hour outside her window, peeped\nout. Catching sight of her the trout called out boldly:\n\n\"Listen to me, I beg of you, most gracious Queen. I have brought you the\ngold ring from Ned, who sorely needs thy aid!\"\n\n[Illustration: \"HERE IS THE RING,\" SAID THE TROUT.]\n\nAt this the Queen quickly withdrew her head, and in a short time\nemerged from the doorway of her castle.\n\nHastily running to the water's edge, she leaned over, grasping hold of a\nstalk to keep her from falling.\n\n\"Here is the ring,\" said the trout, holding it in his teeth and swimming\nas close to the bank as he was able.\n\nThe Queen reached out and took it safely from him.\n\n\"I will make you king of my fishes, noble Sir Trout,\" she cried, \"for\nwhat you have this day accomplished. Remain here in my lake henceforth,\nand now, to the rescue!\"\n\nIn an incredibly short time she was mounted on her swiftest robin and\nwith her three ladies in waiting flew away toward the castle, where Ned\nand the beautiful princess, her brave brother and the giant were held\nprisoners by the magic of the wicked king.\n\nNow, the little bluebird, as she saw her friend, the trout, swim away,\nsuddenly thought of her former master, the King of the Gnomes, and\ndecided to seek aid from him. So, whirling around in a circle to get her\nbearings, she darted off swiftly through the air toward the cave in the\nforest.\n\nShe made rapid progress until she reached the thick foliage of the\nwoods, and here, in her eagerness, she nearly lost her way.\n\nIndeed, in the uncertain light that struggled through the thick boughs,\nit was not easy to make out certain familiar landmarks which would guide\nher to her destination.\n\nAt length, just at dawn, she found herself at the foot of the hill\nwherein was the cave of the King of the Gnomes.\n\nWorn out with her arduous journey, she fluttered down to the edge of\nthe bubbling fountain and drank of its refreshing waters.\n\nThen, picking up a pebble, she dropped it into the little gravelly\nbasin, hopped painfully over to the great flat stone, and tapped upon it\nthree times with her beak.\n\nNo one replied, but the rock opened in the middle, and there stood the\nKing of the Gnomes himself.\n\nOn seeing the little bluebird, he stretched out a kindly hand for her to\nrest upon, and carried her into the inner room.\n\nIt was his breakfast hour, for gnomes are early risers. Seating himself\nat the table, he ordered that the little bird be served with breakfast\nat once, for well he knew that a hungry bird's first wish must be for\nfood.\n\nThe King had scarce given this order before several nimble little men of\nthe forest placed seeds and grains of wheat and a goblet of golden\nfruit juice before the bluebird.\n\nSoon she was sufficiently revived to address the gnomes, and it took her\nbut a few moments to tell him all.\n\n\"Come, let us hasten,\" he said, as she finished, and, slipping into his\npocket his magic pipe and little pieces of soap, he left the cave and\nwalked rapidly toward a small clearing.\n\nLeaning over a little pool in the hollow of the grassy earth, he filled\nhis pipe, rubbed the soap about the rim, and in a moment more blew a\nlarge soap bubble.\n\nTaking the little bluebird in his hand, he opened a small door and\nentered the magic balloon. Up and up it went, until it was well above\nthe tops of the trees.\n\nThen it took a course toward the east, where the rising sun was gilding\nthe sky with its golden fingers.\n\nFaster and faster it sailed, overtaking in a short time the Fairy Queen\nand her three ladies-in-waiting, mounted on their friendly robins.\n\nIn the distance could be seen the turrets of the castle, gleaming in the\nmorning sun like bayonets thrust up from the earth in monster guns.\n\n\"Now, little bluebird,\" said the Gnome, opening the little door and\nthrusting her out upon his hand, as the big Soap Bubble hovered above\nthe castle, \"fly down and tell Ned that deliverance is near at hand. So\nalso inform the beautiful Princess, who, I see, is still sitting at her\nwindow, but asleep!\"\n\nOff flew the bluebird on her happy errand.\n\n\"Your Majesty,\" cried the Gnome, addressing the Fairy Queen, as she drew\nrein at the doorway of the soap bubble, \"I would suggest that you touch\nwith the Magic Ring only the cage wherein is confined our friend Ned,\ninstructing him, while still in the form of a cockatoo, to fly up to the\ntopmost branch of the pine tree. Also for the Princess' brother, while\nhe is still a gamecock, to do likewise. After I have brought the bubble\nclose to the window ledge, so that the beautiful Princess may step\neasily inside, I will cause it to rise to the treetop, from which\nadvantageous position Ned and the Princess' brother can step within. But\nwhat to do with the Pine Tree Giant,\" said the Gnome, scratching his\nbeard reflectively, \"gets me! However, one thing at a time, as my old\ngrandfather used to say when I was a boy, 'one thing at a time!'\"\n\nAs the bluebird whispered in the ear of the beautiful Princess, the\nMagic Soap Bubble approached the window ledge.\n\nRubbing her eyes, but making no outcry, although she was very much\nstartled, she obeyed the bluebird's command to \"step softly,\" and\nentered the Bubble. It then ascended till it was on a line with the\ntopmost branch, where it swayed in the gentle morning breeze, like a\nbarnyard weather cock, the game rooster on one side and the cockatoo on\nthe other!\n\nThe Fairy Queen touched them with the ring as they hopped into the\nbubble, and they regained immediately their natural shape.\n\nThe Princess threw her arms around her dear brother and hugged Ned, so\ngreat was her delight.\n\nNed ran over to his little friend, the Gnome, and thanked him again and\nagain for his aid, and was about to lean out of the doorway to also\nthank the Fairy Queen when the Gnome restrained him.\n\n\"Not so fast, Ned, my boy! All is not yet over.\"\n\n\"No, indeed,\" answered Ned, \"we must rescue the giant.\"\n\n\"Aye, there's the rub,\" replied the Gnome. \"How are we ever to get him\nin the bubble, either as a tree or as a giant?\"\n\nAt this point the Fairy Queen joined in the conversation, kissing Ned at\nthe same time as he attempted to thank her.\n\n\"Let me first change him into his natural form,\" she said. \"Then he can\nwalk across the courtyard and out upon the drawbridge. From there he can\neasily step off into the bubble, which your majesty can lower to the\nright height above the water of the moat.\"\n\n\"Good!\" said the Gnome. \"Go and do your part and I will attend to the\nbubble.\"\n\nJust as the bubble cleared it the pine tree became once more the\nfriendly giant, who immediately strode across the courtyard.\n\nQuickly lowering the drawbridge he hastened out upon it.\n\nThe creaking of the chains, however, had aroused the wicked King, who\nlooked out of his window to see what was the cause of the noise. In\nanother moment he was rushing toward the gates at the head of the castle\nguard.\n\n\"Quick!\" shouted the Gnome to the giant. \"Get in!\"\n\nBut, alas! The doorway was too small. In vain the giant wiggled and\nsquirmed. In vain Ned and the princess' brother pulled his arms. His\ngreat shoulders could not be forced through the doorway. Finally, with a\ntremendous shove he managed to go half way in, but no further, for at\nthis point his head was against the opposite side of the bubble.\n\nOn came the wicked King and his castle attendants, who, seeing the\npredicament of the giant, fitted arrows to their strong bows, preparing\nto shoot the hapless fellow.\n\n\"Blow the bubble larger!\" shouted Ned. \"Put the pipe in his mouth and\ntell him to blow like thunder.\"\n\nThe Gnome placed the pipestem between the lips of the giant and\ncommanded him to blow for his life, and before an arrow left a bow the\nbubble widened sufficiently to enable the giant to crawl inside.\nSlamming the door shut the Gnome cried out exultingly: \"We are safe!\"\n\nAway sailed the Magic Soap Bubble, with the Fairy Queen and her little\nrobin perched securely on the top, and her three ladies in waiting\nstanding close by on their own little feathered steeds.\n\nBack to the beautiful Waterfall Lake, where the Fairy Queen bade Ned\ngoodby; back to the friendly Gnome's cave in the woods, where he said\nfarewell to Ned; back to Big Man's Land, where lived the Giant with his\nkind old mother; back to the castle where lived the beautiful Princess\nand her brother before the wicked King had kidnapped them, and back at\nlast to Ned's own home, where it left him in the old easy chair by the\nwindow, from which he had started out to visit Gnomeland.\n\nWell, well, little reader, here we are, you and I, at the end of the\nbook. What shall we do, for we have grown to be such good friends while\nyou have been reading this story of mine.\n\nListen, I will tell you another story, it's called \"The Iceberg\nExpress\"--it is one of The Little Journeys to Happyland books. So come\nwith me on the Iceberg Express.\n\n                         Yours for a story,\n                                           DAVID CORY.\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Profusely Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers.=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Printed in large type--easy to read.\n          For children from 6 to 8 years.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA new series of exciting adventures by the author of the LITTLE JACK\nRABBIT books. This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and\nexciting adventures on land and sea and in the air.\n\n\nTHE CRUISE OF THE NOAH'S ARK\n\n          This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day\n          Mr. Noah invites Marjorie to go for a trip in\n          Noah's Ark. She gets aboard just in time and away\n          it floats out into the big wide world.\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SOAP BUBBLE\n\n          The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which\n          he blows a wonderful bubble and taking Ned with\n          him they both have a delightful time in Gnomeland.\n\n\nTHE ICEBERG EXPRESS\n\n          The Mermaid's magic comb changes little Mary\n          Louise into a mermaid. The Polar Bear Porter on\n          the Iceberg Express invites her to take a trip\n          with him and away they go.\n\n\nTHE WIND WAGON\n\n          Little Hero stepped aboard the Wind Wagon and\n          started on a journey to many wonderful places and\n          had a delightful time.\n\n\nTHE MAGIC UMBRELLA\n\n          A little old man gave Jimmy the Magic Umbrella\n          which took him to Happyland, where he had many\n          adventures.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nGROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nLittle Jack Rabbit Books\n\n(Trademark Registered)\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\nAuthor of \"Little Journeys to Happyland\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nA new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of\nthe wood and meadow.\n\nChildren will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the\nclever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr.\nWicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters.\n\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY\n          LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE PUSS-IN-BOOTS, Jr. SERIES\n\nBy DAVID CORY\n\nAuthor of \"The Little Jack Rabbit Stories\" and \"Little Journeys to\nHappyland\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          =Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.\n          Each Volume Complete in Itself.=\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTo know Puss Junior once is to love him forever. That's the way all the\nlittle people feel about this young, adventurous cat, son of a very\nfamous father.\n\n          THE ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n\n          FURTHER ADVENTURES OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR. IN FAIRYLAND\n\n          TRAVELS OF PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR.\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND OLD MOTHER GOOSE\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., IN NEW MOTHER GOOSE LAND\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE GOOD GRAY HORSE\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND TOM THUMB\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND ROBINSON CRUSOE\n\n          PUSS-IN-BOOTS, JR., AND THE MAN IN THE MOON\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS SERIES\n\nBy LILLIAN ELIZABETH ROY\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          Handsomely Bound. Colored Wrappers. Illustrated.\n          For Children 6 to 12 Years\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThis series presents early American history in a manner that impresses\nthe young readers. Because of George and Martha Washington Parke, two\nyoung descendants of the famous General Washington, these stories follow\nexactly the life of the great American, by means of playing they act the\nlife of the Washingtons, both in battles and in society.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS\n\nTheir thrilling battles and expeditions generally end in \"punishment\"\nlessons read by Mrs. Parke from the \"Life of Washington.\" The culprits\nlisten intently, for this reading generally gives them new ideas for\nfurther games of Indian warfare and Colonists' battles.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS RELATIVES\n\nThe Davis children visit the Parke home and join zealously in the games\nof playing General Washington. So zealously, in fact, that little Jim\nalmost loses his scalp.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' TRAVELS\n\nThe children wage a fierce battle upon the roof of a hotel in New York\nCity. Then, visiting the Davis home in Philadelphia, the patriotic\nWashingtons vanquish the Hessians on a battle-field in the empty lot\nback of the Davis property.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS AT SCHOOL\n\nAfter the school-house battle the Washingtons discover a band of gypsies\ncamping near the back road to their homes and incidentally they secure\nthe stolen horse which the gypsies had taken from the \"butter and egg\nfarmer\" of the Parkes.\n\n\nTHE LITTLE WASHINGTONS' HOLIDAYS\n\nThey spend a pleasant summer on two adjoining farms in Vermont. During\nthe voyage they try to capture a \"frigate\" but little Jim is caught and\nabout to be punished by the Captain when his confederates hasten in and\nsave him.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n          GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Give me the bag,\" the Steward said,\n             A frown upon his face.\n           \"I'll lock you in a dungeon deep\n             That you may know your place.\"_\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Help, help! The Polar Bears are left\n              Upon the Iceberg chill.\n            Turn back the Ark; we cannot leave\n              Them on that icy hill!\"_\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _\"Your Highness,\" cried the Polar Bear,\n             \"The fast Iceberg Express\n           Has broken into smithereens;\n             Too bad, I must confess.\"_\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n          _When Little Hero met the Goose\n             He asked her what to do.\n           So, children, read the Wind Wagon\n             And learn how it came true._\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPage 70, opening quotation mark added (\"As they rolled along)\n\nPage 157, \"Ed.\" changed to \"Ned\" (and taking Ned with him)","title":"The Magic Soap Bubble","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":17011}