{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_62408/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_62408","id":"gutenberg_62408","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62408","summary":null,"tags":["Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile fiction","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction","Fairy tales","Rescues -- Juvenile fiction","Siblings -- Juvenile fiction"],"text":"RUMPTY-DUDGET\u2019S TOWER\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: \u201cRUMPTY-DUDGET, WHOSE ONLY PLEASURE WAS IN DOING\nMISCHIEF, LIVED IN A GRAY TOWER.\u201d]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                         RUMPTY-DUDGET\u2019S TOWER\n\n                             _A FAIRY TALE_\n\n                                   BY\n\n                            JULIAN HAWTHORNE\n\n\n             _WITH FRONTISPIECE IN COLOR AND ILLUSTRATIONS\n                         IN BLACK AND WHITE BY_\n\n                             GEORGE W. HOOD\n\n                     [Illustration: Rumpty-Dudget]\n\n                                NEW YORK\n\n                      FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n\n                                MCMXXIV\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                _Copyright, for illustrations, 1924, by_\n                      FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY\n\n\n\n\n               _Printed in the United States of America_\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n                                                  PAGE\n                 PREFACE                            ix\n\n                                  I\n                 THE PRINCESS AND THE TWO PRINCES    3\n\n                                 II\n                 TOM, THE FAITHFUL GUARDIAN         11\n\n                                III\n                 THE WAYS OF THE WIND               21\n\n                                 IV\n                 RUMPTY-DUDGET\u2019S TRIUMPH            27\n\n                                  V\n                 TOM\u2019S PLAN                         35\n\n                                 VI\n                 THE DIAMOND WATER-DROP             43\n\n                                VII\n                 THE GOLDEN IVY-SEED                51\n\n                               VIII\n                 THE MAGIC FIRE                     61\n\n                                 IX\n                 THE RESCUE OF PRINCE HENRY         67\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n  \u201cRumpty-Dudget, whose only pleasure was in doing\n    mischief, lived in a gray tower\u201d (in color)         _Frontispiece_\n\n                                                                FACING\n                                                                  PAGE\n\n  \u201c\u2018Come with me, Princess Hilda, Prince Frank and\n    Prince Henry\u2019\u201d                                                  14\n\n  \u201cThe two children took hold of it, and off they all\n    went\u201d                                                           36\n\n  \u201cBehold! It was the golden ivy-seed\u201d                              56\n\n  \u201cThe cat put Princess Hilda and Prince Frank on the\n    two largest leaves, and got on the stem himself\u201d                68\n\n  \u201c\u2018Oh,\u2019 said Princess Hilda, \u2018you look like our\n    mamma\u2019\u201d                                                         70\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n\nIN 1877, when I was living in Twickenham, near London, my sister Una\nhappened to be describing a queer character she had met that day: she\nhad a gift for making swift and vivid portraits in words. \u201cHe was a\nlittle Rumpty-Dudget of a man,\u201d she said, concluding her description.\nShe may have meant to say, \u201cRumpelstiltskin,\u201d the name of a dwarf\nimmortalised in the Grimm fairy-tales, with which we had been familiar\nin our childhood. But her variation struck me soundly, and I said to\nmyself, I\u2019ll write a story about him!\n\nBut, in truth, the story, upon that inspiration, wrote itself. I had a\nfine time with it, and my own children, to whom it was read in\nmanuscript, heartily approved it. Then Alexander Strahan, the publisher,\nand the first editor of the famous _Contemporary Review_, saw it and\nproclaimed, with many a Scottish burr, that it was \u201ca varra fine piece\nof worrk, my boy, and does ye credit,\u201d and he carried it off and\npublished it in his new magazine for children. Afterward, the eminent\nfirm of Longmans, Green and Longmans, of Paternoster Row, hard by Saint\nPaul\u2019s, in London, considered it and said, \u201cIf you can collect half a\ndozen others of the same sort, we would be glad to issue them in a\nvolume.\u201d It was easy for me, in the late \u201970\u2019s, to do that, though now\nthat I am in the late seventies myself, I should beg off.\n\nSo a little green-and-gold book was printed. It was called \u201cYellow-Cap,\nand Other Fairy Tales,\u201d and bore the great Longmans\u2019 imprint. And they\nsold, I believe, a great many of them; but the only story in the\ncollection about which readers afterward wrote to me, was\n\u201cRumpty-Dudget\u2019s Tower\u201d; and today, after nearly five and forty years, I\nstill receive occasional kind words on the subject. My mischievous\nlittle dwarf manifested vitality.\n\nOf course, the Longmans volume has long been out of print. But in the\nlatter part of 1878, I came back to America, after a twelve-year stay\nabroad, and found my friend Richard Watson Gilder riding high as editor\nof _The Century_, and subordinate to him a delightful young fellow named\nClark, who was conducting a magazine for young people. They had seen\nRumpty-Dudget and wanted to republish it in the latter periodical. So I\nsold them the American copyright, and thought I was doing well. Could I\nnot write a dozen as good or better tales whenever I had a mind to? Such\nis the self-confidence of an author whose years are but thirty-six!\n\nSoon, letters began to come from children and from their mothers, saying\npleasant things about the story, and asking for more like it. But things\nwhich I thought of more importance occupied me, and I postponed\ncomplying with their requests: besides, my sister Una had gone to\nHeaven, and could no longer inspire me with her word. Letters continued\nto come, however, and presently they were from mothers who had been\nchildren when the story first appeared, and now wanted the old story for\nchildren of their own, and asked me to publish it in book form. I began\nto regret not having kept my American copyright, because when I\nsuggested its return to me by the Century people, they would reply that\nthey intended, when they could get down to it, to reprint the story\nthemselves. So I was fain to wait, and to bid my correspondents to do\nlikewise.\n\nBut editors die in the course of time, and properties change hands, and\nI myself lost track of the matter, though those letters still kept on\narriving from time to time. I wish I had kept them; there must have been\nhundreds. The children who had become mothers were grandmothers now and\nwanted the story for their grandchildren: but nothing could be done.\nPoor Rumpty-Dudget was buried beyond digging-up again\u2014so it seemed.\nWould a tribe of great-grandchildren arise, once more miraculously\nknowing about the story, and demanding its resurrection?\n\nAt all events, about the first of the New Year, I got a letter from\nFrederick A. Stokes Company of New York, in consequence of which\nnegotiations took place, leading up to the publication of the present\nlittle volume. Rumpty-Dudget Redivivus! He bears a bad character in the\ntale, but there must really be something good in him. And now he makes\nhis bow to little persons who were not born into this world until nearly\nhalf a century after he left it. When I look at the list of the year\u2019s\nbooks, it strikes me that he appears in strange and alien company. But\nthat is not my affair: I choose to feel complimented on his account, and\nI hope he will make new friends.\n\n                                                       JULIAN HAWTHORNE.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                         RUMPTY-DUDGET\u2019S TOWER\n\n\n\n\n                                   I\n\n                    THE PRINCESS AND THE TWO PRINCES\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nLONG ago, before the sun caught fire, before the moon froze up, and\nbefore you were born, a Queen had three children, whose names were\nPrincess Hilda, Prince Frank, and Prince Henry. Princess Hilda, who was\nthe eldest, had blue eyes and golden hair; Prince Henry, who was the\nyoungest, had black eyes and black hair; and Prince Frank, who was\nneither the youngest nor the eldest, had hazel eyes and brown hair. They\nwere the best children in the world, and the prettiest, and the\ncleverest of their age; they lived in the most beautiful palace ever\nbuilt, and the garden they played in was the loveliest that ever was\nseen.\n\nThis palace stood on the borders of a great forest, on the other side of\nwhich was Fairy Land. But there was only one window in the palace that\nlooked out upon the forest, and that was the round window of the room in\nwhich Princess Hilda, Prince Frank, and Prince Henry slept. And since\nthis window was never open except at night, after the three children had\nbeen put to bed, they knew very little about how the forest looked, or\nwhat kind of flowers grew there, or what kind of birds sang in the\nbranches of the trees. Sometimes, however, as they lay with their heads\non their little pillows, and their eyes open, waiting for sleep to come\nand fasten down their eyelids, they saw stars, white, blue, and red,\ntwinkling in the sky overhead; and below amongst the tree-trunks, other\nyellow stars, which danced about, and flitted to and fro. These flitting\nstars were called, by grown-up people, will-o\u2019-the-wisps,\njack-o\u2019-lanterns, fire-flies, and such like names; but the children knew\nthem to be the torches carried by the elves, as they ran hither and\nthither about their affairs. They often wished that one of these elves\nwould come through the round window of their chamber, and make them a\nvisit; but if this ever happened, it was not until after the children\nhad fallen asleep, and could know nothing of it.\n\nThe garden was on the opposite side of the palace to the forest, and was\nfull of flowers, and birds, and fountains, in the basins of which\ngold-fishes swam. In the center of the garden, was a broad green lawn\nfor the children to play on; and on the further edge of this lawn was a\nhigh hedge, with only one round opening in the middle of it. But through\nthis opening no one was allowed to pass; for the land on the other side\nbelonged to a dwarf, whose name was Rumpty-Dudget, and whose only\npleasure was in doing mischief. He was an ugly little dwarf, about as\nhigh as your knee, and all gray from head to foot. He had a gray beard\nand wore a broad-brimmed gray hat, and a gray cloak, that was so much\ntoo long for him that it dragged on the ground as he walked; and on his\nback was a small gray hump, that made him look even shorter than he was.\nHe lived in a gray tower, whose battlements could be seen from the\npalace windows. In this tower was a room with a thousand and one corners\nin it. In each of these corners stood a little child, with its face to\nthe wall, and its hands behind its back. They were children that\nRumpty-Dudget had caught trespassing on his grounds, and had carried off\nwith him to his tower. In this way he had filled up one corner after\nanother, until only one corner was left unfilled; and if he could catch\na child to put in that corner, then Rumpty-Dudget would become master of\nthe whole country, and the beautiful palace would disappear, and the\nlovely garden would be changed into a desert, covered over with gray\nstones and brambles. You may be sure, therefore, that Rumpty-Dudget\ntried very hard to get hold of a child to put in the thousand and first\ncorner; but all the mothers were so careful, and all the children so\nobedient, that for a long time that thousand and first corner had\nremained empty.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                   II\n\n                       TOM, THE FAITHFUL GUARDIAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nWHEN Princess Hilda and her two little brothers, Prince Frank and Prince\nHenry, were still very little indeed, the Queen, their mother, was\nobliged to make a long journey to a distant country, and to leave the\nchildren behind her. They were not entirely alone, however; for there\nwas their fairy aunt to keep guard over them at night, and a large cat,\nwith yellow eyes and a thick tail, to see that no harm came to them\nduring the day. The cat was named Tom, and was with them from the time\nthey got up in the morning until they went to bed again; but from the\ntime they went to bed until they got up, the cat disappeared and the\nfairy aunt took his place. The children had never seen their fairy aunt\nexcept in dreams, because she only came after sleep had fastened down\ntheir eyelids for the night. Then she would fly in through the round\nwindow, and sit on the edge of their bed, and whisper in their ears all\nmanner of charming stories about Fairy Land, and the wonderful things\nthat were seen and done there. Then, just before they awoke, she would\nkiss their eyelids and fly out of the round window again; and the cat,\nwith his yellow eyes and his thick tail, would come purring in at the\nwindow.\n\nOne day, the unluckiest day in the whole year, Princess Hilda, Prince\nFrank and Prince Henry were playing together on the broad lawn in the\ncenter of the garden. It was Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s birthday, and the only day\nin which he had power to creep through the round hole in the hedge and\nprowl about the Queen\u2019s grounds. As ill-fortune would have it, moreover,\nthe cat was forced to be away on this day from sunrise to sunset; so\nthat during all that time the three children had no one to take care of\nthem. But they did not know there was any danger, for they had never yet\nheard of Rumpty-Dudget; and they went on playing together very\naffectionately, for up to this time they had never quarreled. The only\nthing that troubled them was that Tom, the cat, was not there to play\nwith them; he had been away ever since sunrise, and they all longed to\nsee his yellow eyes and his thick tail, and to stroke his smooth back,\nand to hear his comfortable purr. However, it was now very near sunset,\nso he must soon be back. The sun, like a great red ball, hung a little\nway above the edge of the world, and was taking a parting look at the\nchildren before bidding them good night.\n\nAll at once, Princess Hilda looked up and saw a strange little dwarf\nstanding close beside her, all gray from head to foot. He had a gray\nbeard, a gray hat, and a long gray cloak that dragged on the ground, and\non his back was a little gray hump that made him seem even shorter than\nhe was, though, after all, he was no taller than your knee. Princess\nHilda was not frightened, for nobody had ever done her any harm; and\nbesides, this strange little gray man, though he was very ugly, smiled\nat her from ear to ear, and seemed to be the most good-natured dwarf in\nthe world. So she called to Prince Frank and Prince Henry, and they\nlooked up too, and were no more frightened than Hilda; and as the dwarf\nkept smiling from ear to ear, the three children smiled back at him.\nMeanwhile, the great red ball of the sun was slowly going down, and now\nhis lower edge was just resting on the edge of the world.\n\nNow, you have heard of Rumpty-Dudget before, and therefore you know that\nthis strange little gray dwarf was none other than he, and that,\nalthough he smiled so good-naturedly from ear to ear, he was really\nwishing to do the children harm, and even to carry one of them off to\nhis tower, to stand in the thousand and first corner. But he had no\npower to do this so long as the children stayed on their side of the\nhedge; he must first tempt them to creep through the round opening, and\nthen he could carry them whither he pleased. So he held out his hand and\nsaid:\n\n\u201cCome with me, Princess Hilda, Prince Frank and Prince Henry. I am very\nfond of little children; and if you will creep through that round\nopening in the hedge, I will show you something you never saw before.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018COME WITH ME, PRINCESS HILDA, PRINCE FRANK AND PRINCE\nHENRY\u2019\u201d]\n\nThe three children thought it would be very pleasant to see something\nthey never saw before; for if that part of the world which they had\nalready seen was so beautiful, it was likely that the part they had not\nseen would be more beautiful still. So they stood up, and Rumpty-Dudget\ntook Prince Frank by one hand, and Prince Henry by the other, and\nPrincess Hilda followed behind, and thus they all set off across the\nlawn toward the round opening in the hedge. But they could not go very\nfast, because Prince Henry was hardly old enough to walk fast yet; and\nmeanwhile, the great red ball of the sun kept going down very slowly,\nand now his lower half was out of sight beneath the edge of the world.\nHowever, at last they came to the round opening, and Rumpty-Dudget took\nhold of Prince Henry to lift him through it.\n\nBut just at that moment the last bit of the sun disappeared beneath the\nedge of the world, and instantly there was a great sound of meowing and\nspitting, and Tom, the cat, came springing across the lawn, his great\nyellow eyes flashing, and his back bristling, and every hair upon his\ntail standing straight out, until it was as big round as your leg. And\nhe flew at Rumpty-Dudget, and jumped upon his hump, and bit and\nscratched him soundly. At that Rumpty-Dudget screamed with pain, and\ndropped little Prince Henry, and vanished through the opening of the\nhedge in the twinkling of an eye.\n\nBut from the other side of the hedge he threw a handful of black mud at\nthe three children; a drop of it fell upon the forehead of Princess\nHilda, and another upon Prince Frank\u2019s nose, and a third upon little\nPrince Henry\u2019s chin; and each drop made a little black spot, which all\nthe washing and scrubbing in the world would not take away. And\nimmediately Princess Hilda, who had till then been the best little girl\nin the world, began to wish to order everybody about, and make them do\nwhat she pleased, whether they liked it or not; and Prince Frank, who\ntill then had been one of the two best little boys in the world, began\nto want all the good and pretty things that belonged to other people, in\naddition to what already belonged to him; and Prince Henry, who till\nthen had been the other of the two best little boys in the world, began\nto wish to do what he was told not to do, and not to do what he was told\nto do. Such was the effect of the three black drops of mud.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                  III\n\n                          THE WAYS OF THE WIND\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nALTHOUGH the Princess Hilda and her two little brothers were no longer\nthe best children in the world, they were pretty good children as the\nworld goes, and got along tolerably well together on the whole. But\nwhenever the wind blew from the north, where Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower\nstood, Princess Hilda ordered her brothers about, and tried to make them\ndo what she pleased, whether they liked it or not; and Prince Frank\nwanted some of the good and pretty things that belonged to his brother\nand sister, in addition to what were already his; and Prince Henry would\nnot do what he was told to do, and would do what he was told not to do.\nAnd then, too, the spot on Princess Hilda\u2019s forehead, and on Prince\nFrank\u2019s nose, and on Prince Henry\u2019s chin, became blacker and blacker,\nand hotter and hotter, until at last the children were ready to cry from\npain and vexation. But as soon as the wind blew from the south, where\nFairy Land was, the spots began to grow dim, and the heat to lessen,\nuntil at last the children hardly felt or noticed them any more. Yet\nthey never disappeared altogether; and neither the cat nor the fairy\naunt could do anything to drive them away. But the cat used to warn\nPrincess Hilda and her two brothers that unless they could make the wind\nblow always from the south, the thousand and first corner in\nRumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower would be filled at last. And when, at night, their\nfairy aunt flew in through the round window and sat on their bedside,\nand whispered stories about Fairy Land into their ears, and they would\nask her in their sleep to take them all three in her arms and carry them\nover the tops of the forest trees to her beautiful home far away on the\nother side, she would shake her head and say:\n\n\u201cAs long as those spots are on your faces, I cannot carry you to my\nhome, for a part of each of you belongs to Rumpty-Dudget, and he will\nhold on to it in spite of all I can do. But when Hilda becomes a horse,\nand Frank a stick of fire-wood, and Henry a violin, then Rumpty-Dudget\nwill lose his power over you, and the spots will vanish, and I will take\nyou all three in my arms, and fly with you over the tops of the trees to\nFairy Land, where we will live happily forever after.\u201d\n\nWhen the three children heard this, they were puzzled to know what to\ndo; for how could a little princess become a horse, or two little\nprinces a stick of fire-wood and a violin? But that their fairy aunt\nwould not tell them.\n\n\u201cIt can only happen when the wind blows always from the south, as the\ncat told you,\u201d said she.\n\n\u201cBut how can we make the wind blow always from the south?\u201d asked they.\n\nAt that, the fairy aunt touched each of them on the heart, and smiled,\nand shook her head; and no other answer would she give; so they were no\nwiser than before.\n\nThus time went steadily on, to-morrow going before to-day, and yesterday\nfollowing behind, until a year was past, and Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s birthday\ncame round once more.\n\n\u201cI must leave you alone to-morrow,\u201d said the cat the day before, \u201cfrom\nsunrise to sunset; but if you are careful to do as I tell you, all will\nbe well. Do not go into the garden; do not touch the black ball that\nlies on the table in the nursery; and do not jump against the north\nwind.\u201d\n\nJust as he finished saying these things, he sprang out of the room and\ndisappeared.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                   IV\n\n                        RUMPTY-DUDGET\u2019S TRIUMPH\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nALL the next morning the children remembered what Tom, the cat, had told\nthem; they played quietly in the palace, and did not touch the black\nball that lay on their nursery table. But when the afternoon came,\nPrincess Hilda began to be tired of staying shut up so long, when out in\nthe garden it was warm and pleasant, and the wind blew from the south.\nAnd Prince Frank began to be tired of his own playthings, and to wish\nthat he might have the pretty, black ball, to toss up in the air and\ncatch again. And Prince Henry began to be tired of doing what he was\ntold, and wished the wind would blow from the north, so that he might\njump against it. At last they could bear it no longer; so Princess Hilda\nstood up and said:\n\n\u201cFrank and Henry, I order you to come out with me into the garden!\u201d And\nout they went; and as they passed through the nursery, Prince Henry\nknocked the black ball off the table, and Prince Frank picked it up and\nput it in his pocket. But by the time they got to the broad lawn in the\ncenter of the garden, the three spots on their faces were blacker than\nink and hotter than pepper; and, strange to say, the wind, which\nhitherto had blown from the south, now changed about and came from the\nnorth, where Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower stood. Nevertheless, the children ran\nabout the grass, tossing the black ball from one to another, and did not\nnotice that every time it fell to the ground, it struck a little nearer\nthe hedge which divided Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s land from the Queen\u2019s garden. At\nlast Prince Frank got the ball, and kept tossing it up in the air, and\ncatching it again all by himself, without letting the others take their\nturns. But they ran after him to get it away, and all three raced to and\nfro, without noticing that at every turn they were nearer and nearer to\nthe high hedge, and to the round opening that led into Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s\nground. After a long chase, Princess Hilda and Prince Henry caught up\nwith Prince Frank, and would have taken the black ball away from him;\nbut he gave it a great toss upward, and it flew clear over the high\nhedge and came down bounce upon the other side. Just then the great red\nball of the sun dropped out of a gray cloud, and rested on the edge of\nthe world. It wanted three minutes to sunset.\n\nThe three children were a good deal frightened when they saw where the\nball had gone, and well they might be; for it was Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s ball,\nand Rumpty-Dudget himself was hiding on the other side of the hedge.\n\n\u201cIt is your fault,\u201d said Princess Hilda to Prince Frank; \u201cyou threw it\nover.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, it\u2019s your fault,\u201d answered Prince Frank; \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have thrown\nit over if you and Henry had not chased me.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will be punished when Tom the cat comes home,\u201d said Princess Hilda,\n\u201cand that will be in one minute, when the sun sets.\u201d For they had spent\none minute in being frightened, and another minute in disputing.\n\nNow, all this time, Prince Henry had been standing directly in front of\nthe round opening in the hedge, looking through it to the other side,\nwhere he thought he could see the black ball lying beside a bush. The\nnorth wind blew so strongly as almost to take his breath away, and the\nspot on his chin burnt him so that he was ready to cry with pain and\nvexation. Still for all that, he longed so much to do what he had been\ntold not to do, that by and by he could stand it no longer; but, just as\nthe last bit of the sun sank out of sight beneath the edge of the world,\nhe jumped through the round opening against the north wind, and ran to\npick up the ball. At the same moment, Tom the cat came springing across\nthe lawn, his yellow eyes flashing, his back bristling, and the hairs\nsticking straight out on his tail until it was as big round as your leg.\nBut this time he came too late. For, as soon as Prince Henry jumped\nthrough the hedge against the north wind and ran to pick up the black\nball, out rushed Rumpty-Dudget from behind the bush, and caught him by\nthe chin, and carried him away to the thousand and first corner in the\ngray tower. As soon as the corner was filled, the north wind rose to a\nhurricane and blew away the beautiful palace and the lovely garden, and\nnothing was left but a desert covered with gray stones and brambles. The\nmischievous Rumpty-Dudget was now master of the whole country.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                   V\n\n                               TOM\u2019S PLAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nMEANWHILE, Princess Hilda and Prince Frank were sitting on a heap of\nrubbish, crying as if their hearts would break, and the cat stood beside\nthem wiping its great yellow eyes with its paw and looking very\nsorrowful.\n\n\u201cCrying will do no good, however,\u201d said the cat at last; \u201cwe must try to\nget poor little Henry back again.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, where is our fairy aunt?\u201d cried Princess Hilda and Prince Frank.\n\u201cShe will tell us how to find him.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou will not see your fairy aunt,\u201d replied Tom, \u201cuntil you have taken\nHenry out of the gray tower, where he is standing in the thousand and\nfirst corner with his face to the wall and his hands behind his back.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how are we to do it,\u201d said Princess Hilda and Prince Frank,\nbeginning to cry again, \u201cwithout our fairy aunt to help us?\u201d\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d replied the cat, \u201cand do what I tell you, and all may\nyet be well. But first take hold of my tail, and follow me out of this\ndesert to the borders of the great forest; there we can lay our plans\nwithout being disturbed.\u201d\n\nWith these words, Tom arose and held his tail straight out like the\nhandle of a saucepan; the two children took hold of it, off they all\nwent, and in less time than it takes to tell it, they were on the\nborders of the great forest, at the foot of an immensely tall pine-tree.\nThe cat made Princess Hilda and Prince Frank sit down on the moss that\ncovered the ground, and sat down in front of them with his tail curled\nround his toes.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE TWO CHILDREN TOOK HOLD OF IT, AND OFF THEY ALL\nWENT\u201d]\n\n\u201cThe first thing to be done,\u201d said he, \u201cis to get the Golden Ivy-seed\nand the Diamond Water-drop. After that, the rest is easy.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut where are the Golden Ivy-seed and the Diamond Water-drop to be\nfound?\u201d asked the two children.\n\n\u201cOne of you will have to go down to the kingdom of the Gnomes, in the\ncenter of the earth, to find out where the Golden Ivy-seed is,\u201d replied\nthe cat \u201cand up to the kingdom of the Air-Spirits, above the clouds, to\nfind out where the Diamond Water-drop is.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how are we to get up to the Air-Spirits, or down to the Gnomes?\u201d\nasked the children, disconsolately.\n\n\u201cI may be able to help you about that,\u201d answered the cat. \u201cBut while one\nof you is gone, the other must stay here and mind the magic fire which I\nshall kindle before we start; for if the fire goes out, Rumpty-Dudget\nwill take the burnt logs and blacken Henry\u2019s face all over with them,\nand then we should never be able to get him back. Do you two children\nrun about and pick up all the dried sticks you can find, and pile them\nup in a heap, while I get the touch-wood ready.\u201d\n\nIn a very few minutes, a large heap of fagots had been gathered\ntogether, as high as the top of Princess Hilda\u2019s head. Meanwhile, the\ncat had drawn a large circle on the ground with the tip of his tail, and\nin the center of the circle was the heap of fagots. It had now become\nquite dark, but the cat\u2019s eyes burned as brightly as if two yellow lamps\nhad been set in his head.\n\n\u201cCome inside the circle, children,\u201d said he, \u201cwhile I light the\ntouch-wood.\u201d\n\nIn they came accordingly, and the cat put the touch-wood on the ground\nand sat down in front of it with his nose resting against it, and stared\nat it with his flaming yellow eyes and by and by it began to smoke and\nsmolder, and at last it caught fire and burned famously.\n\n\u201cThat will do nicely,\u201d said the cat; \u201cnow put some sticks upon it.\u201d So\nthis was done, and the fire was fairly started, and burned blue, red and\nyellow.\n\n\u201cAnd now there is no time to be lost,\u201d said the cat. \u201cPrince Frank, you\nwill stay beside this fire and keep it burning, until I come back with\nPrincess Hilda from the kingdoms of the Gnomes and Air-Spirits.\nRemember, that if you let it go out, all will be lost; nevertheless, you\nmust on no account go outside the circle to gather more fagots, if those\nthat are already here get used up. You may, perhaps, be tempted to do\notherwise; but if you yield to the temptation, all will go wrong; and\nthe only way your brother Henry can be saved will be for you to get into\nthe fire yourself, in place of the fagots.\u201d\n\nThough Prince Frank did not much like the idea of being left alone in\nthe woods all night, still, since it was for his brother\u2019s sake, he\nconsented; but he made up his mind to be very careful not to use up the\nfagots too fast, or to go outside the ring. So Princess Hilda and Tom\nthe cat bade him farewell, and then the cat stretched out his tail as\nstraight as the handle of a saucepan. Princess Hilda took hold of it,\nand away! right up the tall pine-tree they went, and were out of sight\nin the twinkling of an eye.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                   VI\n\n                         THE DIAMOND WATER-DROP\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nAFTER climbing upward for a long time, they came at last to the tip-top\nof the pine-tree, which was on a level with the clouds. The cat waited\nuntil a large cloud sailed along pretty near them, and then, bidding\nPrincess Hilda hold on tight, they made a spring together, and alighted\nvery cleverly on the cloud\u2019s edge. Off sailed the cloud with them on its\nback, and soon brought them to the kingdom of the Air-Spirits.\n\n\u201cNow, Princess Hilda,\u201d said the cat, \u201cyou must go the rest of the way\nalone. Ask the first Spirit you meet to show you the way to the place\nwhere the Queen sits; and when you have found her, ask her where the\nDiamond Water-drop is. But be careful not to sit down, however much you\nmay be tempted to do so; for if you do, your brother Henry never can be\nsaved.\u201d\n\nThough Princess Hilda did not much like the idea of going on alone,\nstill, since it was for her brother\u2019s sake, she consented; only she made\nup her mind on no account to sit down, no matter what happened. So she\nbade the cat farewell, and walked off. Pretty soon, she met an\nAir-Spirit, carrying its nose in the air, as all Air-Spirits do.\n\n\u201cCan you tell me the way to the place where the Queen sits?\u201d asked\nPrincess Hilda.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want of her?\u201d asked the Air-Spirit.\n\n\u201cI want to ask her where the Diamond Water-drop is,\u201d answered Princess\nHilda.\n\n\u201cShe sits on the top of that large star up yonder,\u201d said the Air-Spirit;\n\u201cbut unless you can carry your nose more in the air than you do, I don\u2019t\nbelieve you will get her to tell you anything.\u201d\n\nPrincess Hilda, however, did not feel so much like carrying her nose in\nthe air as she had felt at any time since the black spot came upon her\nforehead; and she set out to climb toward the Queen\u2019s star very\nsorrowfully; and all the Spirits who met her said:\n\n\u201cSee how she hangs her head? She will never come to anything.\u201d\n\nBut at last she arrived at the gates of the star, and walked in; and\nthere was the Queen of the Air-Spirits sitting in the midst of it. As\nsoon as she saw Princess Hilda, she said:\n\n\u201cYou have come a long way, and you look very tired. Come here and sit\ndown beside me.\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, your Majesty,\u201d replied Princess Hilda, though she was really so\ntired that she could hardly stand, \u201cthere is no time to be lost; where\nis the Diamond Water-drop?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a foolish thing to come after,\u201d said the Queen. \u201cHowever, sit\ndown here and let us talk about it. I have been expecting you.\u201d\n\nBut Princess Hilda shook her head.\n\n\u201cListen to me,\u201d said the Queen. \u201cI know that you like to order people\naround, and to make them do what you please, whether they like it or\nnot. Now, if you will sit down here, I will let you be Queen of the\nAir-Spirits instead of me; you shall carry your nose in the air, and\neverybody shall do what you please, whether they like it or not.\u201d\n\nWhen Princess Hilda heard this, she felt for a moment very much tempted\nto do as the Queen asked her. But the next moment she remembered her\npoor little brother Henry, standing in the thousand and first corner of\nRumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower, with his face to the wall and his hands behind\nhis back. So she cried, and said:\n\n\u201cOh, Queen of the Air-Spirits, I am so sorry for my little brother that\nI do not care any longer to carry my nose in the air, or to make people\nmind me, whether they like it or not; I only want the Diamond\nWater-drop, so that Henry may be saved from Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower. Can\nyou tell me where it is?\u201d\n\nThen the Queen smiled upon her, and said:\n\n\u201cIt is on your own cheek!\u201d\n\nPrincess Hilda was so astonished that she could only look at the Queen\nwithout speaking.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d continued the Queen, kindly, \u201cyou might have searched throughout\nall the kingdoms of the earth and air, and yet never have found that\nprecious Drop, had you not loved your little brother Henry more than to\nbe Queen. That tear upon your cheek, which you shed for love of him, is\nthe Diamond Water-drop, Hilda; keep it in this little crystal bottle; be\nprudent and resolute, and sooner or later Henry will be free again.\u201d\n\nAs she spoke, she held out a little crystal bottle, and the tear from\nPrincess Hilda\u2019s cheek fell into it, and the Queen hung it about her\nneck by a coral chain, and kissed her, and bade her farewell. And as\nPrincess Hilda went away, she fancied she had somewhere heard a voice\nlike this Queen\u2019s before; but where or when she could not tell.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                  VII\n\n                          THE GOLDEN IVY-SEED\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nIT was not long before she arrived at the cloud which had brought her to\nthe kingdom of the Air-Spirits, and there she found Tom the cat awaiting\nher. He got up and stretched himself as she approached, and when he saw\nthe little crystal bottle hanging round her neck by its coral chain, he\nsaid:\n\n\u201cSo far, all has gone well; but we have still to find the Golden\nIvy-seed. There is no time to be lost, so catch hold of my tail and let\nus be off.\u201d\n\nWith that, he stretched out his tail as straight as the handle of a\nsaucepan. Princess Hilda took hold if it; they sprang off the cloud and\naway! down they went till it seemed to her as if they never would be\ndone falling. At last, however, they alighted softly on the top of a\nhay-mow, and in another moment were safe on the earth again.\n\nClose beside the hay-mow was a field-mouse\u2019s hole, and the cat began\nscratching at it with his two fore-paws, throwing up the dirt in a great\nheap behind, till in a few minutes a great passage was made through to\nthe center of the earth.\n\n\u201cKeep hold of my tail,\u201d said the cat, and into the passage they went.\n\nIt was quite dark inside, and if it had not been for the cat\u2019s eyes,\nwhich shone like two yellow lamps, they might have missed their way. As\nit was, however, they got along famously, and pretty soon arrived at the\ncenter of the earth, where was the kingdom of the Gnomes.\n\n\u201cNow, Princess Hilda,\u201d said the cat, \u201cyou must go the rest of the way\nalone. Ask the first Gnome you meet to show you the place where the King\nworks; and when you have found him, ask him where the Golden Ivy-seed\nis. But be careful to do everything he bids you, no matter how little\nyou may like it; for, if you do not, your brother Henry never can be\nsaved.\u201d\n\nThough Princess Hilda did not much like the idea of going on alone,\nstill, since it was for her brother\u2019s sake, she consented; only she made\nup her mind to do everything the King bade her, whatever happened.\nPretty soon she met a Gnome, who was running along on all-fours.\n\n\u201cCan you show me the place where the King works?\u201d asked Princess Hilda.\n\n\u201cWhat do you want with him?\u201d asked the Gnome.\n\n\u201cI want to ask him where the Golden Ivy-seed is,\u201d answered Princess\nHilda.\n\n\u201cHe works in that great field over yonder,\u201d said the Gnome; \u201cbut unless\nyou can walk on all-fours better than you do, I don\u2019t believe he will\ntell you anything.\u201d\n\nPrincess Hilda had never walked on all-fours since the black spot came\non her forehead; so she went onward just as she was, and all the Gnomes\nwho met her said:\n\n\u201cSee how upright she walks! She will never come to anything.\u201d\n\nBut at last she arrived at the gate of the field, and walked in; and\nthere was the King on all-fours in the midst of it. As soon as he saw\nPrincess Hilda, he said:\n\n\u201cGet down on all-fours this instant! How dare you come into my kingdom\nwalking upright?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, your Majesty,\u201d said Hilda, though she was a good deal frightened at\nthe way the King spoke, \u201cthere is no time to be lost; where is the\nGolden Ivy-seed?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Golden Ivy-seed is not given to people with stiff necks,\u201d replied\nthe King. \u201cGet down on all-fours at once, or else go about your\nbusiness!\u201d\n\nThen Princess Hilda remembered what the cat had told her, and got down\non all-fours without a word.\n\n\u201cNow listen to me,\u201d said the King. \u201cI shall harness you to that plow in\nthe place of my horse, and you must draw it up and down over this field\nuntil the whole is plowed, while I follow behind with the whip. Come!\nThere is no time to lose.\u201d\n\nWhen Princess Hilda heard this, she felt tempted for a moment to refuse;\nbut the next moment she remembered her poor little brother Henry\nstanding in the thousand and first corner of Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower, with\nhis face to the wall and his hands behind his back; so she said:\n\n\u201cO King of the Gnomes! I am so sorry for my little brother that I will\ndo as you bid me, and all I ask in return is that you will give me the\nGolden Ivy-seed, so that Henry may be saved from Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower.\u201d\n\nThe King said nothing, but harnessed Hilda to the plow, and she drew it\nup and down over the field until the whole was plowed, while he followed\nbehind with the whip. Then he freed her from her trappings, and told her\nto go about her business.\n\n\u201cBut where is the Golden Ivy-seed?\u201d asked she, piteously.\n\n\u201cI have no Golden Ivy-seed,\u201d answered the King; \u201cask yourself where it\nis!\u201d\n\nThen poor Princess Hilda\u2019s heart was broken, and she sank down on the\nground and sobbed out, quite in despair:\n\n\u201cOh, what shall I do to save my little brother!\u201d\n\nBut at that the King smiled upon her and said:\n\n\u201cPut your hand over your heart, Hilda, and see what you find there.\u201d\n\nPrincess Hilda was so surprised that she could say nothing; but she put\nher hand over her heart, and felt something fall into the palm of her\nhand, and when she looked at it, behold! it was the Golden Ivy-seed.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cBEHOLD! IT WAS THE GOLDEN IVY-SEED\u201d]\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the King, kindly; \u201cyou might have searched through all the\nkingdoms of the earth and air, and yet never have found that precious\nseed, had you not loved your brother so much as to let yourself be\ndriven like a horse in the plow for his sake. Keep the Golden Ivy-seed\nin this little pearl box; be humble, gentle and patient, and sooner or\nlater your brother will be free.\u201d\n\nAs he spoke, he fastened a little pearl box to her girdle with a\njewelled clasp, and kissed her, and bade her farewell. And as Princess\nHilda went away, she fancied she had somewhere heard a voice like this\nKing\u2019s before; but where or when she could not tell.\n\nIt was not long before she arrived at the mouth of the passage by which\nshe had descended to the kingdom of the Gnomes, and there she found Tom\nthe cat awaiting her. He got up and stretched himself as she approached,\nand when he saw the pearl box at her girdle, he said:\n\n\u201cSo far, all goes well; but now we must see whether or not Prince Frank\nhas kept the fire going: there is no time to be lost, so catch hold of\nmy tail, and let us be off.\u201d\n\nWith that, he stretched out his tail, as straight as the handle of a\nsaucepan; Princess Hilda took hold of it, and away they went back\nthrough the passage again, and were out at the other end in the\ntwinkling of an eye.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                  VIII\n\n                             THE MAGIC FIRE\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nNOW, after Prince Frank had seen Princess Hilda and the cat disappear up\nthe trunk of the tall pine-tree, he had sat down rather disconsolately\nbeside the fire, which blazed away famously, blue, red, and yellow.\nEvery once in a while he took a fagot from the pile and put it in the\nflame, lest it should go out; but he was very careful not to step\noutside the circle which the cat had drawn with the tip of his tail. So\nthings went on for a very long time, and Prince Frank began to get very\nsleepy, for never before had he sat up so late; but still Princess Hilda\nand the cat did not return, and he knew that if he were to lie down to\ntake a nap, the fire might go out before he waked up again, and then\nRumpty-Dudget would have blackened Henry\u2019s face all over with one of the\nburnt logs, and he never could be saved. He kept on putting fresh fagots\nin the flame, therefore, though it was all he could do to keep his eyes\nopen; and the fire kept on burning red, blue and yellow.\n\nBut after another very long time had gone by, and there were still no\nPrincess Hilda and the cat, Prince Frank, when he went to take a fresh\nfagot from the pile, found that there was only that one fagot left of\nall that he and Hilda had gathered together. At this he was very much\nfrightened, and knew not what to do; for when that fagot was burned up,\nas it soon would be, what was he to do to keep the fire going? There\nwere no more sticks inside the ring, and the cat had told him that if he\nwent outside of it, all would be lost.\n\nIn order to make the fagot last as long as possible, he broke it apart,\nand only put one stick in the flame at a time; but after a while, all\nbut the last stick was gone, and when he had put that in, Prince Frank\nsat down quite in despair, and cried with all his might. Just then,\nhowever, he heard a voice calling him, and looking up, he saw a little\ngray man standing just outside the circle, with a great bundle of fagots\nin his arms. Prince Frank\u2019s eyes were so full of tears that he did not\nsee that the little gray man was Rumpty-Dudget.\n\n\u201cWhat are you crying for, my dear little boy?\u201d asked the gray dwarf,\nsmiling from ear to ear.\n\n\u201cBecause I have used up all my fagots,\u201d answered Prince Frank; \u201cand if\nthe fire goes out, my brother Henry cannot be saved.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat would be too bad, surely,\u201d said the dwarf; \u201cluckily, I have got an\narmful, and when these are gone, I will get you some more.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you\u2014how kind you are!\u201d cried Prince Frank, jumping up in\ngreat joy and going to the edge of the circle. \u201cGive them to me, quick,\nfor there is no time to be lost; the fire is just going out.\u201d\n\n\u201cI can\u2019t bring them in,\u201d replied the dwarf; \u201cI have carried them already\nfrom the other end of the forest, and that is far enough; surely you can\ncome the rest of the way yourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but I must not come outside the circle,\u201d said Prince Frank \u201cfor the\ncat told me that if I did, all would go wrong.\u201d\n\n\u201cPshaw! what does the cat know about it?\u201d asked the dwarf. \u201cAt all\nevents, your fire will not burn one minute longer; and you know what\nwill happen then.\u201d\n\nWhen Prince Frank heard this, he knew not what to do; but anything\nseemed better than to let the fire go out; so he put one foot outside\nthe circle and stretched out his hand for the fagots. But immediately\nthe dwarf gave a loud laugh, and threw the fagots away as far as he\ncould; and rushing into the circle, he began to stamp out with his feet\nthe little of the fire that was left.\n\nThen Prince Frank remembered what the cat had told him; he turned and\nrushed back also into the circle; and as the last bit of flame flickered\nat the end of the stick, he laid himself down upon it like a bit of\nfire-wood. And immediately Rumpty-Dudget gave a loud cry and\ndisappeared; and the fire blazed up famously, yellow, blue and red, with\npoor little Prince Frank in the midst of it!\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                   IX\n\n                       THE RESCUE OF PRINCE HENRY\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nJUST then, and not one moment too soon, there was a noise of hurrying\nand scurrying, and along came Tom the cat through the forest, with\nPrincess Hilda holding on to his tail. As soon as they were within the\ncircle, Tom dug a little hole in the ground with his two fore-paws,\nthrowing up the dirt behind, and then said: \u201cGive me the Golden\nIvy-seed, Princess Hilda; but make haste; for Frank is burning for\nHenry\u2019s sake!\u201d\n\nSo she made haste to give him the Seed; and he planted it quickly in the\nlittle hole, and covered the earth over it, and then said: \u201cGive me the\nDiamond Water-drop; but make haste; for Frank is burning for Henry\u2019s\nsake!\u201d\n\nSo she made haste to give him the Drop; and he poured half of it on the\nfire, and the other half on the place where the Seed was planted. And\nimmediately the fire was put out, and there lay Prince Frank all alive\nand well; but the mark of Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s mud on his nose was burned\naway, and his hair and eyes, which before had been brown and hazel, were\nnow quite black. So up he jumped, and he and Princess Hilda and Tom all\nkissed each other heartily; and then Prince Frank said:\n\n\u201cWhy, Hilda! the black spot that you had on your forehead has gone away,\ntoo.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the cat, \u201cthat happened when the King of the Gnomes kissed\nher. But now make yourselves ready, children for we are going to take a\nride to Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower!\u201d\n\nThe two children were very much surprised when they heard this, and\nlooked about to see what they were to ride on. But behold! the Golden\nIvy-seed, watered with the Diamond Water-drop, was already growing and\nsprouting, and a strong stem with bright golden leaves had pushed itself\nout of the earth, and was creeping along the ground in the direction of\nRumpty-Dudget\u2019s tower. The cat put Princess Hilda and Prince Frank on\nthe two largest leaves, and got on the stem himself, and so away they\nwent merrily, and in a very short time the Ivy had carried them to the\ntower gates.\n\n[Illustration: \u201cTHE CAT PUT PRINCESS HILDA AND PRINCE FRANK ON THE TWO\nLARGEST LEAVES, AND GOT ON THE STEM HIMSELF\u201d]\n\n\u201cNow jump down,\u201d said the cat.\n\nDown they all jumped accordingly; but the Golden Ivy kept on, and\nclimbed over the gate, and crept up the stairs, and along the narrow\npassageway, until, in less time than it takes to write it, the Ivy had\nreached the room, with the thousand and one corners, in the midst of\nwhich Rumpty-Dudget was standing; and all around were the poor little\nchildren whom he had caught, standing with their faces to the wall and\ntheir hands behind their backs. When Rumpty-Dudget saw the Golden\nIvy-seed creeping toward him, he was very much frightened, as well he\nmight be, and he tried to run away; but the Ivy caught him, and twined\naround him, and squeezed him tighter and tighter and tighter, until all\nthe mischief was squeezed out of him; but since Rumpty-Dudget was made\nof mischief, of course when all the mischief was squeezed out of him,\nthere was no Rumpty-Dudget left. He was gone forever.\n\nInstantly, all the children that he had kept in the thousand and one\ncorners were free, and came racing and shouting out of the gray tower,\nwith Prince Henry. And when he saw his brother and sister, and they saw\nhim, they all three hugged and kissed one another as if they were crazy.\nAt last Princess Hilda said: \u201cWhy, Henry, the spot that was on your chin\nhas gone away, too! And your hair and eyes are brown and hazel instead\nof being black.\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said a voice, which Hilda fancied she had heard before; \u201cwhile he\nstood in the corner his chin rubbed against the wall, until the spot was\ngone; so now he no longer wishes to do what he is told not to do, or not\nto do what he is told to do; and when he is spoken to, he answers\nsweetly and obediently, as a violin answers to the bow when it touches\nthe strings.\u201d\n\nThen the children looked around, and there stood a beautiful lady, with\na golden crown on her head, and a loving smile in her eyes. It was their\nfairy aunt, whom they had never seen before except in their dreams.\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Princess Hilda, \u201cyou look like our mamma, who went away to a\ndistant country, and left us behind. And your voice is like the voice of\nthe Queen of the Air-Spirits; and of\u2014\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018OH,\u2019 SAID PRINCESS HILDA, \u2018YOU LOOK LIKE OUR MAMMA\u2019\u201d]\n\n\u201cYes, my darlings,\u201d said the beautiful lady, taking the three children\nin her arms; \u201cI am the Queen, your mother, though, by Rumpty-Dudget\u2019s\nenchantments, I was obliged to leave you, and only be seen by you at\nnight in your dreams. And I was the Queen of the Air-Spirits, Hilda,\nwhose voice you had heard before, and I was the King of the Gnomes,\nthough I seemed so harsh and stern at first. But my love has been with\nyou always, and has followed you everywhere. And now you shall come with\nme to our home in Fairy Land. Are you all ready?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but where is Tom the cat?\u201d cried all the three children together.\n\u201cWe cannot go and be happy in Fairy Land without him!\u201d\n\nThen the Queen laughed, and kissed them, and said: \u201cI am Tom the cat,\ntoo!\u201d\n\nWhen the children heard this, they were perfectly contented; and they\nclung about her neck, and she folded her arms around them, and flew with\nthem over the tops of the forest trees to their beautiful home in Fairy\nLand; and there they are all living happily to this very day. But\nPrincess Hilda\u2019s eyes are blue, and her hair is golden, still.\n\n\n                                THE END\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          Transcriber\u2019s Notes\n\nThe following changes have been made to the text as printed:\n\n   1. Illustrations within chapters have been moved close to the text\n         they illustrate. The page numbers shown in the list of\n         illustrations refer to their placement in the printed text.\n   2. A heading \u201cRumpty-Dudget\u2019s Tower\u201d has been moved from Page 3 to\n         Page 1. The hyphen has also been inserted into this heading.\n   3. On Page 4 the two lines \u201cand fasten down their eyelids, they saw\n         stars,\u201d and \u201cwhite, blue, and red, twinkling in the sky\n         overhead;\u201d were transposed. This has been corrected.\n   4. On Page 36 a superfluous quote mark has been removed from the\n         start of the line \u201cBut where are the Golden Ivy-seed and ...\u201d\n   5. On Page 55 \u201canswered the king\u201d has been changed to \u201canswered the\n         King\u201d, for consistency.\n   6. On Page 61 \u201cpine tree\u201d has been changed to \u201cpine-tree\u201d, for\n         consistency.\n\nThe following anomalies in the printed text are noted, but no change has\nbeen made:\n\n   1. Spelling has been retained as it appears in the original book.\n   2. The word \u201ctoday\u201d appears in the Preface (Page x), while on Page 24\n         it is printed as \u201cto-day\u201d.","title":"Rumpty-Dudget's Tower: A Fairy Tale","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":9312}