{"collection":"folklore-oral-tradition","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_77961/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_77961","id":"gutenberg_77961","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77961","summary":null,"tags":["Characters in literature -- Juvenile fiction","Children -- Juvenile fiction","Children's stories","Fairy tales","Fantasy fiction"],"text":"[Illustration: HUMPTY DUMPTY]\n\n\n\n\n To ALICE\n\n WHO LISTENED TO MY FIRST FAIRY STORIES,\n THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED\n\n[Illustration: THEY ALL THREE STOOD IN A ROW BEFORE HER\n (_Page 34_)]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration:]\n\n THE TRUE STORY\n\n OF\n\n HUMPTY DUMPTY\n\n How he was rescued by Three Mortal Children\n in Make Believe Land\n\n By ANNA ALICE CHAPIN\n\n With Illustrations and Decorations\n BY ETHEL FRANKLIN BETTS\n\n [Illustration]\n\n NEW YORK\n DODD, MEAD & COMPANY\n 1905\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n _Copyright, 1905_\n +By Dodd, Mead & Company+\n\n Published October, 1905\n\n THE UNIVERSITY PRESS \u00b7 CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n +Chapter+ +Page+\n\n I +The Way It All Began+ 1\n\n II +Make-Believing+ 7\n\n III +At the Owls\u2019 Inn+ 19\n\n IV +Mother Goose\u2019s Cottage+ 31\n\n V +Through the Wonderful Wood+ 43\n\n VI +How Bab Rescued the Wooden Cow+ 55\n\n VII +Meg\u2019s Journey to Fairyland+ 67\n\n VIII +The Court of the Fairy Queen+ 81\n\n IX +Under the Sea of Glass+ 93\n\n X +A Fish Tea-Party+ 105\n\n XI +Into the City of the Wicked King+ 117\n\n XII +Princess Star+ 129\n\n XIII \u201c+Harness the Reindeer!+\u201d 137\n\n XIV +Danger!+ 151\n\n XV +By the City Wall+ 163\n\n XVI +Behind the Reindeer+ 175\n\n XVII +Mother Goose Once More+ 187\n\n XVIII +At Last+ 199\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n They all three stood in a row before her [Page 34] _Frontispiece_\n\n The Owl-Innkeeper\u2019s story [Page 23] 38\n\n Bab and the Sand Man [Page 51] 84\n\n \u201cShe was surely the Queen of the Fairy Folk\u201d [Page 89] 120\n\n \u201c\u2018I don\u2019t think I like you,\u2019 said the Sea Kobold; \u2018you may\n go\u2019\u201d [Page 98] 146\n\n They were all three back on the nursery hearth rug [Page 206] 192\n\n\n _Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,\n Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;\n All the King\u2019s horses and all the King\u2019s men\n Couldn\u2019t put Humpty Dumpty together again._\n\n\n\n\nI\n\n_The Way It All Began_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nHumpty Dumpty\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\n_The Way It All Began_\n\n\n\u201cI hate eggs!\u201d said Meg, and smashed hers viciously with a spoon.\n\n\u201cThere, now, Miss Meg,\u201d exclaimed Nurse, reprovingly, \u201cyou\u2019ll never be\nable to eat it prettily out of the shell now!\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t want to eat it prettily,\u201d declared Meg. \u201cI\u2019m going to mix it\nup in a mess!\u201d\n\nBab made a face at hers, and did not even break the shell. Dick, being\na boy and always hungry, ate his, but grumbled all the time.\n\n\u201cWhy do we always have eggs for tea?\u201d demanded Meg. \u201cI hate \u2019em!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou oughtn\u2019t to hate poor Humpty Dumpty!\u201d said Nurse, smiling and\nshaking her finger at her.\n\n\u201cHumpty Dumpty!\u201d scoffed Meg. \u201cSo silly!\u201d\n\n\u201cNursery rot!\u201d cried Dick.\n\n\u201cNurse, what an old goose you are!\u201d said Bab, eating bread and jam as\nfast as she possibly could.\n\nFrom all this you will see just what disagreeable children Dick and\nMeg and Bab were. If they had not been, this story would never have\nbeen written, for they would not have had to be taught better by being\nsummoned to\u2014But that comes later on!\n\nOur three children found fault with everything, particularly their\nfood, and were discontented and quarrelsome most of the time. Poor\nNurse loved them dearly, but found them very trying to take care of,\nand the children only laughed at her mild scoldings, and made fun of\nthe fat finger which she shook at them as she sighed, \u201cMy dears, my\ndears!\u201d\n\nThey were quite pretty children. Meg had yellow hair, Bab black, and\nDick brown; and they looked far too nice to be so horrid. And as a\nmatter of fact, they were really, down in their hearts, much nicer\nthan they seemed. The whole trouble with them was that\u2014and this is\na dreadful thing to say of any child!\u2014they would have nothing to do\nwith Make Believe Land! They did not believe in elves or goblins or\ngiants or brownies, or anything really important and sensible, and they\nthought fairy tales silly!\n\n\u201cTell us a story, Nurse,\u201d said Bab, when they had finished their tea.\nBut Nurse shook her head.\n\n\u201cYou don\u2019t care for my stories,\u201d she said. \u201cI only know the old ones,\nabout the Fairy Queen\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cSilly!\u201d said Meg.\n\n\u201cAnd Santa Claus\u2014\u201d went on Nurse.\n\n\u201cRubbish!\u201d cried Bab.\n\n\u201cAnd Mother Goose\u2014\u201d Nurse continued.\n\n\u201cStuff and nonsense!\u201d exclaimed Dick.\n\nNurse looked really very sad and shocked.\n\n\u201cMy dears, my dears!\u201d she said solemnly. \u201cSome day, if you are not\ncareful, you will be sorely punished for the things you have said about\nthe friends of all the children of the world! Why, it\u2019s downright\nwicked for a child not to love the Fairy Queen and Santa Claus and\nMother Goose!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf there ever was a Fairy Queen,\u201d said Meg, scornfully, \u201cshe was a\ndisagreeable thing,\u2014turning people into spiders and toads and things!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf there ever _had_ been a Santa Claus, he would have been an awful\nbore!\u201d remarked Bab.\n\n\u201cIf there ever _could_ be a Mother Goose,\u201d declared Dick, \u201cshe\u2019d be a\nregular goose, and no mistake!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear! However can you talk so, my lambs?\u201d cried poor\nNurse. She piled some wood on the fire, and cleared away the dishes\nthat were on the nursery table. Then, while the children sat on the\nhearth-rug and chattered, she left the room, shaking her head, and\nmuttering:\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I hope they\u2019ll never be punished for the dreadful things\nthey say. Poor lambs! Just to think of not believing in the Make\nBelieve folk!\u201d\n\nNow, as our three children sat on the rug in front of the nursery fire,\nthey all fell asleep; and a very strange thing happened. Whether the\nevents that followed were real or only dreamed, they never could know\nquite surely. But if it was all a dream,\u2014_if_ it was all a dream, I\nsay,\u2014there is something very odd about it: _for they all dreamed the\nsame thing_!\n\nThe first thing that happened was that a hum and buzz like that of a\ngreat big bumblebee filled the room. Next moment a small, anxious voice\nwas exclaiming:\n\n\u201cAt last I\u2019ve found you! I\u2019ve nearly worried my wings off; I have\nindeed!\u201d\n\nThey all three started up, rubbing their eyes. Just alighting on the\nhearth-rug before them, was a little green sprite, with goggle eyes,\nand gauzy wings like a dragon-fly.\n\n\u201cHeavens!\u201d gasped Meg. \u201cWhat in the world is it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am the Bizzybuzz,\u201d answered the small creature. \u201cAnd I have been\nsent by Mother Goose to summon you all three to Make Believe Land!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nII\n\n_Make-Believing_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\n_Make-Believing_\n\n\nThe children rubbed their eyes. What was a bizzybuzz? And Make Believe\nLand! Mother Goose! Were they dreaming? No, they knew they could not be\ndreaming, for they would never dream such nonsense as this!\n\nMeanwhile the sprite stood on the hearth-rug, his slender wings still\nwhirring faintly, and his goggle eyes quite anxious.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d he exclaimed at last. \u201cYou really are slow about starting,\nyou know! Or\u201d\u2014hopefully\u2014\u201chave you been getting ready,\u2014packing up and\nall that?\u201d\n\nThis was too much for Meg\u2019s practical soul. Besides, she was glad to\nhave a chance to vent her ruffled and bewildered feelings.\n\n\u201cWhat nonsense!\u201d she said sharply. \u201cYou know we haven\u2019t moved! How\ncould we have been packing up?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy,\u201d exclaimed Bizzybuzz, looking greatly surprised, \u201cdo you really\nhave to _do_ things here? In Make Believe Land we have only to\n_imagine_ we are doing them.\u201d\n\n\u201cRot!\u201d blurted Dick, like an explosion.\n\n\u201c\u2018Rot\u2019!\u201d repeated Bizzybuzz, innocently. \u201cWhat is that?\u201d And Dick felt\nrather ashamed of himself.\n\n\u201cBut how do you make believe things?\u201d asked Bab, the curious.\n\nBizzybuzz looked at her in as pitying a way as he could manage,\nconsidering the queerness of his eyes. \u201cDon\u2019t you know how to make\nbelieve?\u201d he asked earnestly. \u201cAnd you a little girl!\u201d\n\nHe almost cried about it.\n\nThe children looked at each other. For the first time they were just a\nwee bit discontented with their sensible views. How did it feel, they\nwondered, to make believe?\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cjust suppose that you want to pack up something\nto carry away with you on your journey. What would you each like to\nhave most?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy new jack-knife,\u201d answered Dick.\n\n\u201cMy pink silk dress,\u201d declared Meg.\n\n\u201cWiggles,\u201d said Bab.\n\n\u201cWhat is Wiggles?\u201d asked Bizzybuzz.\n\n\u201cMy fox-terrier,\u201d she explained enthusiastically. \u201cI wish he were here\nnow for you to see. He\u2019s the dearest\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it wouldn\u2019t do at all!\u201d cried Bizzybuzz, hastily. \u201cFor if you had\nhim here, how would you make believe that you had him?\u201d\n\nThis seemed unanswerable.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d went on Bizzybuzz, in a business-like way, \u201cyou must each\npretend that you are carrying what you most want. You\u201d\u2014to Meg\u2014\u201chave a\npink dress hanging on your arm. Oh, what a pretty pink dress! It has\nribbons and lace and ruffles! It must be very becoming.\u201d\n\nInstinctively Meg crooked her arm and looked at it.\n\n\u201cSuch a lovely dress!\u201d proceeded Bizzybuzz.\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t see it,\u201d said Meg, at last.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed Bizzybuzz. \u201cAre you sure?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Meg, \u201cI\u2019m quite sure. I don\u2019t see it at all. Do you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course I do!\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cNever mind, you\u2019ll see it yourself\nin time.\u201d Then he turned to Dick. \u201cDo you mind letting me see your\njack-knife?\u201d he said. \u201cThanks!\u201d He pretended to take something in\nhis hand. \u201cWhat a fine one! May I open it? One\u2014two\u2014three blades! It\ncertainly is a fine jack-knife. Here, take it back again.\u201d He seemed\nto hand the imaginary knife back to Dick. \u201cDo you see it?\u201d he demanded\nanxiously.\n\n\u201cN-no,\u201d said Dick, doubtfully. \u201cI don\u2019t think I do. But I\u2019m not quite\nsure. I feel as though I might see it if you kept on making believe\nlong enough.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s much better!\u201d exclaimed Bizzybuzz, looking pleased. \u201cAnd now\nfor you,\u201d he went on, turning to Bab. \u201cYou have Wiggles in your\narms; suppose you put him down. Oh, he doesn\u2019t want to get down,\ndoes he? He loves you very much! See if he\u2019ll come to me. Here,\ndoggie,\u2014doggie,\u2014doggie!\u201d\n\nBab stared hard at the spot where her beloved Wiggles was supposed to\nbe. For a moment she did really seem to see his fat white and brown\nbody wriggling ecstatically and trying to wag its stump of a tail.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she cried, \u201cI almost saw him then\u2014almost\u2014yes, yes, _yes!_ I\n_quite_ see him! Oh, Wiggles, dear!\u201d And down she went on her knees.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t be so silly!\u201d said Meg, crossly; and Wiggles disappeared.\n\n\u201c_You_\u2019ll learn very quickly,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, approvingly, \u201cyou,\nlittle girl with the dog. But you\u2019ll all learn in time. And now we must\nbe off.\u201d\n\n\u201cOff!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes; Mother Goose will be growing impatient. Come, hurry up! And don\u2019t\nforget that you are bringing with you the jack-knife, and the pink\ndress, and Wiggles!\u201d\n\n\u201cBringing things we can\u2019t see!\u201d said Meg, scornfully.\n\n\u201cAh! But you _will_ see them,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cI can see them now,\nthough they\u2019re not _my_ make-believes! And the moment that you have\nlearned to believe in all the make-believe things in Make Believe Land,\nand love them as you should, you\u2019ll find that you have with you the\nknife and the dress and the dog! Now come!\u201d\n\nHe spread his wings and flew to the window. Perching on the sill, he\nbeckoned to them.\n\n\u201cBut what does your old Mother Goose want with us?\u201d asked Bab,\nhesitating.\n\n\u201cShe\u2019ll tell you herself,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, and bowed low. \u201cBless her\nMajesty\u2019s heart!\u201d\n\n\u201cHer Majesty!\u201d repeated Meg.\n\n\u201cShe is one of the many rulers of Make Believe Land,\u201d said Bizzybuzz,\nbowing again. \u201cCome, come, come! You really must not delay any longer.\u201d\n\nHe pointed through the open window into the dark outside.\n\n\u201cBut you don\u2019t expect _us_ to fly!\u201d said Dick.\n\n\u201cI have something waiting for you to fly _on_!\u201d said Bizzybuzz,\nmysteriously.\n\n\u201cThat isn\u2019t right,\u201d said Meg. \u201cYou should say \u2018on which to fly.\u2019 My\nteacher told me so.\u201d\n\nBizzybuzz looked at her disapprovingly. \u201cYou really are a disagreeable\nchild, aren\u2019t you?\u201d he remarked. \u201cNever mind. There is your steed _on\nwhich to fly_!\u201d\n\nHe pointed again. The three children could not help hurrying to the\nwindow to see what it was.\n\nOn the ledge outside was sitting a huge owl. His feathers ruffled out\nand then subsided in the night wind, and his great eyes were like\nmoons. He looked tremendously wise.\n\n\u201cO-o-oh!\u201d cried Bab, drawing back, \u201cI\u2019m afraid of owls!\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense! Don\u2019t be so silly!\u201d said Bizzybuzz,\u2014for it was his turn to\nbe scornful. \u201cCome, climb on! Or no\u2014I suppose you _think_ you are too\nbig! Well, shut your eyes!\u201d\n\nThey obeyed, and suddenly felt themselves lifted quickly through the\nair and deposited upon a nest of soft, warm feathers.\n\n\u201cAll right; open your eyes,\u201d said the voice of Bizzybuzz. \u201cWe\u2019re off!\u201d\n\nEverything was quite dark when they opened their eyes, but looking up\nthey could see the stars and a driving shoal of faintly shining clouds.\nBeneath them was a motion as soft and steady as the rocking of a great\ncradle; they were riding on the owl!\n\nAbove them flew Bizzybuzz, and they noticed that he was quite\ntransparent against the least bit of light, and that they could see the\nstars through him very clearly.\n\n\u201cGo to sleep if you like,\u201d he told them, \u201cfor the journey is a long\none.\u201d Then he added something the children did not understand at the\ntime: \u201cI came to your country in less than a second, but it will take a\nlonger time to carry _you_ to Make Believe Land!\u201d\n\nThe children were far too excited to sleep. They leaned over the owl\u2019s\nback to catch glimpses of the world underneath, and more than once they\nnearly fell. It was a thrilling ride! Sometimes they flew low down,\nthrough forests dense and fragrant and black; then up, up, into the\nclouds and starlight; then straight on, over shining water, and cities\nfull of twinkling yellow lights,\u2014on\u2014on\u2014on!\n\nOften they passed other birds, even a bat or two, and strange,\nshimmering insects of monstrous size, and big, soft, stupid, graceful\nmoths with wings of gray or green. The air seemed full of sounds,\u2014the\nwhirr of wings, the call of one flying thing to another, the rustling\nstir of the tree-tops, the low murmur of the wind, the laughing noise\nof running water underneath. Never had their ears been so busy.\n\n\u201cGreeting, brother!\u201d called Bizzybuzz to a big white owl that was\nflapping along beside them. But the owl said never a word.\n\n\u201cHe will not speak,\u201d explained Bizzybuzz, flitting down to whisper,\n\u201cbecause he is known as the wisest of all owls, and he is afraid that\nif he talks people will find out that he isn\u2019t!\u201d\n\n\u201cHas the white owl anyone on his back?\u201d asked Bab.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d said Bizzybuzz, shooting up in the air once more. \u201cHe is still\ntravelling beside us. He, like ourselves, is flying in the Wind Channel\nof Echoes. It is the best at this hour of the night.\u201d\n\nThey stood up to look. The white owl wore a collar of glittering\nsilver, and on his back was sitting a wee old woman dressed all in\nwhite.\n\n\u201cShe is the Witch of Silence,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cShe is very, very\nwise. She lives in a hollow tree, and the white owl sits outside and\nmeditates. She is on her way now to the North Star, where there is a\nvery learned oracle who can teach her some new spells.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow will she get to the North Star?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cShe will ride along the Wind Channel of Echoes until she reaches the\nNorth Star\u2019s Ladder of Light, and then climb up, step by step. It will\ntake her a hundred years.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat in the world do you mean by Wind Channels and Ladders of Light?\u201d\ndemanded Meg, crossly.\n\n\u201cYou have roads on the ground in your country,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201c_We_\nhave roads in the air. Isn\u2019t that quite simple? We have the Wind\nChannel of Echoes and the Tree-Top Pathway and the Road of Clouds for\ntimes of storm; and the Moon-Wake when we want to cross the water and\nare too tired to fly. Sometimes we lose our way and have a dreadful\ntime getting to shelter before daylight! As for the Ladder of Light,\nevery star has a ladder leading straight up to it if only you can\nfind it. The North Star is the hardest of all to reach, for it is so\nvery far and cold, and the people there will receive only witches\nor air-spirits. They are very exclusive! The Witch of Silence will\nbe welcome. She and the oracle will sit opposite each other for two\nhundred and seventy years, and then she will be truly wise, so she will\nclimb down the Ladder of Light and go into her hollow tree again.\u201d\n\nThe white owl with the witch suddenly swerved off toward the right, and\nflapped away into the mists.\n\n\u201cNow I wonder why he did that!\u201d murmured Bizzybuzz, anxiously. \u201cHe must\nhave had a reason. They\u2019ve gone toward the Road of Clouds. That\u2019s it!\u201d\nhe exclaimed; \u201cthere\u2019s a storm coming up! That\u2019s the reason! Hear the\nthunder! Fly, Moon-Eyes, fly!\u201d And he buzzed around their owl\u2019s head\nexcitedly. \u201cFly as you never flew before, and give the signal for \u2018Way\nfor the owl-carriers!\u2019\u201d\n\nThe owl gave a long, weird call, \u201cToo-hoo-hoo-hoo-oo-oo!\u201d that sounded\nalong the Wind Channel of Echoes in a thousand different tones. Other\ncries answered it,\u2014some near, some far; and the thunder growled louder\nand louder.\n\n\u201cEveryone is going toward the Owls\u2019 Inn,\u201d cried Bizzybuzz. \u201cTurn in\nthere, Moon-Eyes; the storm is going to be a sharp one!\u201d\n\nThe owl swept to the left, and dropped suddenly to earth. Bizzybuzz\nhelped the children off, and they found themselves on a rocky ledge in\nthe side of a cliff. Just before them was a dark cave or hole in the\ncliff, in the depths of which were glowing many owl-eyes.\n\n\u201cHurry in!\u201d ordered Bizzybuzz. And they all, including the owl, entered\nthe cave.\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d declared their Goblin friend, \u201cis the hostelry which is known\nto every flying thing of every land, and which has been here since\neight thousand years before the beginning of the world: it is the\nfamous Owls\u2019 Inn.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\n_At the Owls\u2019 Inn_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\n_At the Owls\u2019 Inn_\n\n\nThe storm broke, sounding like a cannon-ball rolling against a thousand\ngiant ninepins. The rain gushed out of the sky like water from a\ntrough, the winds screamed, and the lightning flashed in forks and\nzigzags of green and gold and purple and diamond-white against the big\nbanks of clouds.\n\nThe children would have been frightened at any other time, but now the\nstorm seemed only part of the excitement and queerness of everything.\nIt went with the owls and the wind channels, and the rest of the\nstrange things with which they had come in contact for the first time.\n\nBizzybuzz took a tiny lantern from somewhere in his laced-up doublet,\nand set it on the ground. It seemed to light itself instantly, giving\nout greenish blue rays.\n\n\u201cFire from the marshes,\u201d he explained. \u201cGoblin-fire! Isn\u2019t it pretty?\u201d\n\nThe children looked about them, staring at the occupants of the Owls\u2019\nInn with great curiosity.\n\n\u201cThis is the Owl Innkeeper, known as the Tail-less One,\u201d declared\nBizzybuzz, with a wave of his hand.\n\nThe Owl Innkeeper bowed politely, though very solemnly. He was a large,\nfine owl, but he had no tail-feathers at all.\n\n\u201cHow did he lose them?\u201d asked Bab, in a whisper.\n\n\u201cHe\u2019ll tell you before long,\u201d answered Bizzybuzz. \u201cHe always does.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are all these owls?\u201d asked Meg.\n\n\u201cCarriers,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cThe owls are the chief\ncarriers,\u2014steeds,\u2014conveyances,\u2014what you like,\u2014for the Make Believe\nPeople. Of course some sprites use bats or smaller birds, and the very\nlittle elves have a liking for moths. But most of us Make-Believers\nprefer the owls. They are the biggest and strongest and most steady,\nand then they are very patient, and so wise!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019d like to talk to our owl,\u201d said Bab. \u201cHe looks kind.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, he is,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cand wise. Dear, dear! How very wise he\nis, to be sure!\u201d\n\nThe owls talked little, but looked volumes. They sat around in rows,\nstaring unblinkingly with their great shining eyes. Every minute a new\none would flap heavily into the cave, settle down, and begin to stare\nlike the others.\n\n\u201cDid I ever tell any of you how I lost my tail-feathers?\u201d asked the Owl\nInnkeeper, at last, in a sad deep voice.\n\n\u201c_All_ of us!\u201d said the owls, in a chorus.\n\n\u201cNo, no!\u201d cried Bab, eagerly, \u201cnot all! _We_ haven\u2019t heard it.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen listen,\u201d said the Owl Innkeeper, solemnly. \u201cFor it is my best\nstory, though very painful to me.\u201d\n\nHe settled himself down in the centre of the cave, and blinked three\ntimes, by way of a preface.\n\n\u201cIt is about ghosts,\u201d he began.\n\n\u201cGhosts!\u201d repeated Bab, with a laugh.\n\n\u201cGhosts!\u201d exclaimed Meg, scornfully.\n\n\u201cDid you ever see a ghost?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cDid I ever see a ghost?\u201d said the Owl Innkeeper. \u201cMy eyes and\nfeathers! Yes! Hundreds, thousands of them. That is one of the very\neasiest things we owls do. We can see all sorts of things that you\ncan\u2019t, because we can see in the dark. Cats do the same, and bats. And\nthe dark is always full of ghosts. If _you_ could see in the dark, you\nwould see ghosts too!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u2014because _if_ we could see in the dark, we\u2019d be owls or cats or\nbats ourselves!\u201d laughed Meg.\n\n\u201cThe owls,\u201d explained their feathered friend, solemnly, \u201chave no sense\nof humor, so that is lost on me.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, go on, please!\u201d urged Bab, who was really anxious to hear the\nghost-story.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d proceeded the owl, \u201cI once lived in a yew-tree near an old\nhouse,\u2014oh, a very old house! It was peopled only by ghosts, and a\nhorrid lot they were,\u2014ill natured and even quite savage sometimes.\nAnd they were so strong, through living so many hundreds of years\nundisturbed, that they were really almost quite solid, like real people.\n\n\u201cWell, one day the old place was bought by a young man, who laughed\nwhen they told him that it was haunted. _I_ didn\u2019t laugh. I felt quite\nworried, for I like young people (when they don\u2019t make too much noise\nin the daytime), and I did not know what those horrid ghosts would do\nto that poor lad. So, the night he moved in, _I_ moved in too; that is,\nI sat on the window-sill, where I could see everything that went on\ninside.\n\n\u201cDinner was served by a man-servant, and there were lights and shiny\nthings on the table, and wine, and a smell of cooked food, and queer\nenough it did seem, to be sure! Suddenly, just as the young man was\nhelping himself to the roast, in walked one of the head ghosts,\u2014an old\nfellow in armour he was, with a sinfully ugly face.\n\n\u201c\u2018I always did like beef,\u2019 said he, as bold as brass, \u2018so I\u2019ll take\nsome!\u2019 and he picked the roast off the silver platter the man was\nholding, and began to eat it\u2014right in his fingers!\n\n\u201cThe servant\u2019s eyes bulged out of his head, and I could see his knees\ngiving way. Suddenly down went the silver platter, and out of the house\nhe went, and the other servants after him. I knew _they_ were gone for\ngood! But my young friend at the table looked at his visitor quite\ncalmly.\n\n\u201c\u2018This is very good in you,\u2019 he said. \u2018I was feeling a bit lonely this\nevening, all by myself. What will you have to drink?\u2019\n\n\u201cWell, they ate and drank together amiably enough for a while, but by\nand by the other ghosts began to come in by twos and threes, and I soon\nsaw there was bound to be trouble.\n\n\u201c\u2018Now, young man,\u2019 said the old fellow in armour, when he had about\nthirty of his own kind to back him up. \u2018We want you to get out. We have\nowned this house for three hundred and fifty-three years, two months,\nfour days, five hours, seventeen minutes, and half a second. Now, we\ndon\u2019t propose to have you here, disturbing us. Get out!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018_That_ I will not!\u2019 said the young man, with a good show of spirit.\n\u2018It\u2019s you who will get out, you old wretch\u2014\u2019\n\n\u201cThen the ghosts set upon him, all of them at once, and I was sure they\nwould smother him or tear him limb from limb. So into the room I flew,\ntu-whooing at the top of my lungs. The ghosts all scattered and stood\nstill at the sound, for they all respect an owl. You know an owl\u2019s\nfeather is the only thing that will make a ghost entirely alive again.\n\n\u201cThe young man got up from the floor panting. I settled down on\nthe dinner-table and addressed the room. I won\u2019t repeat to you my\ndiscourse, but it was an admirable one. I have often wished that it\nmight be published. I tried to induce those ghosts to let the boy\nalone; but they were firm and very angry, and after a while they all\nflew at him again\u2014in spite of everything I had said! I flapped my way\ninto the thick of the fight, and tried to beat and peck them off.\nThen, growing quite desperate, I cried, \u2018If you will go away, I will\ngive a feather to the leader.\u2019\n\n\u201cThat stopped them for a bit, and I let the armoured ghost pull out a\ntail-feather. Then others came around me and demanded feathers, and,\none by one, they pulled and pulled until I was quite tail-less!\n\n\u201cThe old leader became human first. And he said, looking longingly at\nthe young man, \u2018Now that we\u2019re all men together, I\u2019d dearly love to\nfinish that upstart!\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018I appeal to your honour as a gentleman and a ghost!\u2019 I cried; though\nI trembled in my remaining feathers, for, to tell the truth, he did not\nlook overburdened either with honour or gentlemanliness. But he shook\nhis head regretfully, and then they all departed together and went to a\ntailor-shop, I suppose, to buy themselves some up-to-date clothes.\n\n\u201c\u2018Well,\u2019 said the young man to me, \u2018I\u2019m sure I\u2019m tremendously obliged\nto you, and I wish I could do something for you in return. But I can\u2019t\ngive you back your tail-feathers, and I don\u2019t suppose it would be any\nuse to even offer you a drink! You\u2019ve really done me a great service.\u2019\n\n\u201c\u2018Don\u2019t mention it, sir!\u2019 replied I, with a flourish. But just then I\ncaught a glimpse of my reflection in the big mirror, and I blushed all\nover my beak and claws. However, I left the room slowly and with as\nmuch dignity as I could, and I heard the young man suppress a giggle as\nI went. I really could not blame him!\n\n\u201cAnd that,\u201d concluded the Owl Innkeeper, sadly and impressively, \u201cis\nthe true story of how I lost my tail-feathers!\u201d\n\n\u201cI think he was horrid to let you give up your tail-feathers just to\nsave him!\u201d exclaimed Bab, indignantly.\n\n\u201cI think myself,\u201d said the owl, \u201cthat he might have\u2014well\u2014protested.\u201d\n\n\u201cHark!\u201d said Meg. They noticed for the first time that the noise of\nwind and rain and thunder had died down.\n\n\u201cThe storm is over,\u201d announced one of the owls at the door. \u201cCome,\nbrothers, it is high time to be off!\u201d\n\nThe cave was filled with the sound of rushing wings, and a minute later\nthe three children found themselves again mounting their feathered\nsteed.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, good-bye!\u201d called the Owl Innkeeper, from the entrance of\nthe cave. \u201cMay you keep all your feathers until you are old, and always\nhave plenty of mice for supper!\u201d\u2014which, after all, was the best sort of\na wish he knew how to make!\n\nThis time they were so tired that they fell asleep at once, with the\nfresh, damp winds blowing over them. And they seemed to have but just\nclosed their eyes when Bizzybuzz waked them. As they stared about them\nsleepily, the air seemed full of a shining silver light.\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d said Bizzybuzz, pointing. \u201cLook your last upon your own country\nfor some time to come, for we have passed over the border, and are now\nin Make Believe Land.\u201d\n\nStretching far, far away\u2014to the very edge of the world, it seemed\u2014lay\na country which in this clear pale light looked dark and dull and ugly.\nThere were mountains there, but in the distance they seemed to be\nnothing but a lot of stupid little bumps.\n\n\u201cThat is your own country,\u2014what some people call the Real World,\u201d said\nBizzybuzz. \u201cNow look beneath you!\u201d\n\nBeneath them were clouds of pink and gold and sky-blue and violet and\npale green. Here and there a tall tower shot up, shining through the\nrainbow colours. In other places there was the gleam of silver water.\n\n\u201cThat is part of Make Believe Land,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cand a very\nimportant part, too: the City of Dreams. Some day you shall go there,\nif you like, and see the Garden of Good Dreams and the Forest of\nNightmares. That city is on the dividing line between the Real World\nand Make Believe Land. See where the coloured clouds begin! First they\nare gray and dull,\u2014that is because they are still on the side of the\nReal World; then they grow bright and lovely, for they are floating, as\nwe are, over the City of Dreams.\u201d\n\nThe owl flew on faster and faster. All sorts of wonderful things\nglimmered past beneath: forests of silver trees with fruit of gold,\nmeadows with jewels for flowers, green woodland places from which the\nsoftest magical music rose forever, dreamy gardens, and marvellous\nrivers; and still on and on they went.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d exclaimed Bizzybuzz, and his voice sounded quite frightened.\n\u201cLook well now, for this is a place which you will hear of very soon\nagain: this is the Sea of Glass!\u201d\n\nThe Sea of Glass was broad and gleaming. There was something very queer\nabout its motionless, shiny surface. It was still a little distance\naway, but just under them was a city built entirely of some bright red\nstuff. It glittered scarlet in the soft light.\n\n\u201cWhat is this place under us?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, in a shuddering whisper, \u201cis the terrible Red\nCity,\u2014the City of the Wicked King!\u201d\n\nThey wanted to ask more about it, but there were too many things at\nwhich to look. I could not even try to describe to you that wonderful\nflight over Make Believe Land. The children never forgot it, and\namong their many strange adventures it really made the greatest\nimpression,\u2014perhaps because it was the first.\n\nAt last they found themselves flying over a wooded country, where there\nwere quaint little houses and funny animals,\u2014and even groups of people,\nall in Kate Greenaway costumes. It seemed homelike and commonplace, and\nreally comforting after all the mists and towers and rivers and seas\nthey had seen, and they asked eagerly, \u201cWhat is this place?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis,\u201d answered their guide, \u201cis Mother Goose\u2019s own country, and you\nare at your journey\u2019s end.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\n_Mother Goose\u2019s Cottage_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\n_Mother Goose\u2019s Cottage_\n\n\nThe owl dropped to the earth like a piece of lead, and the three\nchildren, clambering off, found themselves in a little forest glade in\nfront of a cottage,\u2014a cottage that was small and quaint and pretty,\nwith old-fashioned latticed windows, and a trim gay garden in front.\nBizzybuzz went to the door, and rapped upon it with his queer wee\nhand, crying, \u201cOpen, Mother, open! I have brought you the three mortal\nchildren whom you sent me to get!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have been a long time on your journey,\u201d said a voice within.\n\u201cEnter, all!\u201d and the door opened.\n\nThere stood a very, very old woman, tall but bent, leaning on a stick,\nand dressed as the old picture-books always show Mother Goose. She wore\na flowered gown, and a ruffled cap under a tall, black sugar-loaf hat,\na white kerchief, and mits. Her shoes had big buckles and high heels,\nand she wore a pretty apron with pockets in it. Her hair was very\nwhite, and her face was the sweetest that the children had ever seen,\nbut just now she looked rather stern. At her side stood an enormous,\nsnow-white goose.\n\n\u201cEnter,\u201d she said again; and they all went into the cottage,\u2014except the\nowl, who had gone to sleep outside.\n\nInside everything was so clean and bright that it looked as though it\nmust be a brand-new doll-house. Mother Goose was evidently a very neat,\neven a fussy old lady; for each little thing was in place, and scoured,\nand polished, and rubbed, and scrubbed, and brushed, and cleaned,\nand dusted, and washed, and generally taken care of, until it shone.\nMother Goose\u2019s feather duster hung on the wall, her gleaming kettle was\nboiling busily, and her big china teapot and funny old-fashioned cups\nwere so clean that they caught the light and glittered like something\nmuch finer than mere china. In the smoky little fireplace was a crane,\nwith a pot hanging on it; a pair of quaint old bellows were fastened to\na peg near by. In the little latticed windows were fresh white muslin\ncurtains and some pots of flowers. Overhead a little bird sang gaily in\na cage.\n\n\u201cStand in a row,\u201d commanded Mother Goose. They all obeyed, feeling a\ntiny bit afraid. She sat down with her foot on a footstool, put on her\nspectacles and gazed at them.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d she said, very solemnly and reproachfully, \u201cwhat have you\nto say for yourselves,\u2014three little mortal children who have never\nbelieved in ME?\u201d\n\nFor a moment they were silent, not knowing what to say; then Dick\nexclaimed: \u201cGracious! Are you really real, after all?\u201d\n\n\u201cI am one of the queens of Make Believe Land,\u201d answered Mother Goose,\nlooking at him very steadily out of her bright dark eyes, \u201cand my\nkingdom stretches far, far into the Real World. All the children of\nthe world are my rightful subjects and entitled to my protection. But\nyou\u2014you are outlaws! You have committed the crime of Unbelief and you\nmust suffer! That is why you have been brought to Make Believe Land.\u201d\n\nThe three children were more frightened than ever. What would their\npunishment be? Then Bab looked up into Mother Goose\u2019s face, and saw the\nreally kind look that was shining in her eyes, back of the sternness.\nSuddenly Bab felt that she loved her, and she cried out impulsively,\n\u201cOh, I\u2019m glad you\u2019re real, after all!\u201d\n\nMother Goose smiled the loveliest sort of a smile.\n\n\u201cYou are a dear little girl,\u201d she said, \u201cand you shall play with my\ngoose if you want to!\u201d Then she looked stern again. \u201cJust the same,\u201d\nshe added, \u201cyou as well as the others must learn your lesson and be\npunished. All this time you have not believed in me, nor loved me, nor\nbeen _my_ little girl, so you must be punished as severely as the rest.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do to us?\u201d demanded Meg, defiantly.\n\n\u201cA little while ago,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cyou\u2014little girl with the fair\nhair\u2014said unkind things about the Fairy Queen. You will have to travel\nall by yourself to Fairyland, and serve the Queen faithfully for a year\nor a day, or until you do her so great a service that she sets you free\nof her own accord.\u201d\n\nMeg stamped her foot.\n\n\u201cI won\u2019t go,\u201d she declared. \u201cFairies are silly, and there aren\u2019t any,\nanyway!\u201d\n\nBizzybuzz fell on his face, trembling.\n\n\u201cTreason!\u201d he squeaked. \u201cHeresy! Oh, Lady Queen, dear Mother Goose! Do\nnot kill her for saying such a terrible thing in Make Believe Land!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Mother Goose, gravely, \u201cI will not kill her, but her journey\nmust be just ten times harder for every word of that sort that she has\never said.\u201d\n\nThen she turned to Bab.\n\n\u201cYou called Santa Claus a Bore!\u201d she said. \u201c_Santa Claus!_ Well, little\nlady, you will have to journey to his dwelling-place, and whatever may\nhappen to you, you will not be bored! And there you must stay until he\nsets you free, which he can only do after you have been of some great\nservice to him.\u201d\n\nBab hung her head and looked almost ready to cry.\n\n\u201cAnd you,\u201d said Mother Goose, still more sternly, turning to\nDick,\u2014\u201c_you_ laughed at ME!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, I did!\u201d said little Dick, stoutly. \u201cBut I don\u2019t see why that was\nso very dreadful. I\u2019d never seen you then, you see, and how could I\nknow that you were real? I shouldn\u2019t laugh at you now, of course,\u201d he\nadded politely.\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t you? That is very nice of you!\u201d said Mother Goose; and\nher eyes twinkled. \u201cWell, Master Dick, at least you are honest and\nstraightforward, and I think that some day we may be friends,\u2014even\nthough I _am_ \u2018a regular old goose, and no mistake!\u2019\u201d\n\nDick reddened, but grinned at the same time.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s what I said,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut I\u2019m sure I beg your pardon!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow pay close attention,\u201d said Mother Goose, growing very serious\nindeed. \u201cI am in great trouble, and your task, because you laughed at\nme, is to serve me, and help me out of all my worries. My dear son,\nHumpty Dumpty, has been a prisoner in the city of the Wicked King for\nthree hundred and three years. They have turned him into an egg, and\nthey keep him sitting up on the city wall from one century\u2019s end to\nanother.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do they do that?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s a long, sad story,\u201d answered Mother Goose, with a sigh. \u201cAll you\nneed know now is that he was angry with my poor Humpty Dumpty, and\nturned him into an egg. And my son has to spend all his time balancing\nhimself on that wall, and if he should ever fall he would be broken!\nYou don\u2019t know how afraid I am that some day he will fall and be\nbroken!\u201d And a tear ran down Mother Goose\u2019s nose.\n\n\u201cWorst of all,\u201d she said with a choke, \u201cthe people come out and laugh\nat him!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, that\u2019s a shame,\u201d said Dick, sympathetically. \u201cIt must be pretty\nunpleasant to balance yourself on a wall for three hundred and three\nyears, especially if you are an egg!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou,\u201d continued Mother Goose, \u201cmust rescue him!\u201d\n\n\u201cI! Rescue him!\u201d exclaimed Dick. \u201cBut how?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re a boy,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cand I\u2019ve heard you are supposed to\nbe bright. You ought to be able to think of a way. And anyway, it\u2019s\njust possible\u201d\u2014she paused and looked from one to the other\u2014\u201cit\u2019s just\npossible that your sisters will be able to help you later. They have\ntheir own work to do first, but perhaps when that is done they will\nfind time to help you. In any case, what you must remember is that the\nrescue of Humpty Dumpty is the thing which I wish more than anything\nelse. Now go, all of you, and let me see how well you can obey orders\nand do your duty. Remember, you must not forget what each of you has\nbeen sent for, you must hurry as fast as you can, and you must not stop\non the way. Good-bye, mortal children; I shall be as glad as you when\nyou are all safe back again!\u201d\n\nShe waved her stick, and they all hurried out of the cottage. While\nBizzybuzz woke up the owl, they looked back into the room they had just\nleft. Mother Goose was standing there with her big white goose. As they\nlooked, she smiled,\u2014such a beautiful, sweet, kindly smile! And somehow\nthey knew then that nothing very terrible was going to happen to\nthem in Make Believe Land. Then the cottage door closed, and Bizzybuzz\ntold them to climb on the owl again.\n\n[Illustration: THE OWL-INNKEEPER\u2019S STORY]\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed Bab. \u201cAnd now where to?\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are going to lunch with Moon-Eyes first,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cThen I\nshall lead you to the Wonderful Wood, and see you all three off on your\njourneys.\u201d\n\nAnother second and they were once more speeding through the air. This\ntime the flight was a short one, for they only crossed the little\nglade, and went about a hundred feet down a sort of avenue that the\nforest trees had made, to a huge oak-tree. It was the biggest tree\nthat they had ever seen, and Bizzybuzz explained that the wild things\nthat lived in it\u2014Moon-Eyes among others\u2014were very proud of its size\nand beauty. Into its topmost branches flew the great owl, and alighted\non a small bough just under a big hole in the trunk. And there at the\nentrance of the hole was sitting a very pretty silver-gray owl, much\nsmaller than the carriers. She moved her wings softly up and down, and\nsaid, \u201cHow do you do?\u201d most politely.\n\nBizzybuzz cried, \u201cLet me present you to the Lady Gray-Wing!\u201d and bowed\nlow to their hostess,\u2014for evidently this was Moon-Eyes\u2019 wife.\n\nLady Gray-Wing invited them to enter, and they all went into the hole\nin the oak-tree, and sat down around the lunch that the pretty gray owl\nhad prepared for them.\n\nThey had acorns, and nuts, and blackberries, and queer, good herbs,\nand raw mushrooms, and sorrel, and rain-water served in big, silvery\nplantain leaves. Really everything tasted better than the meals that\nthey had been used to eating at home. These funny woodsy things seemed\nmuch nicer than their regular suppers of eggs and jam and bread and\nmilk, and they ate as much as they dared without being rude or greedy.\nGray-Wing explained rather timidly that she had not given them mice for\nlunch, because she understood that mortals did not care for them much.\n\nThere was only one other guest,\u2014a very merry and frisky red squirrel,\nwho chattered away all the time they were eating, and begged them to\ncome and lunch with him if they should ever be in that neighbourhood\nagain.\n\nAnd then Moon-Eyes carried them away, and took them a long, long\ndistance, over a high rocky hill, and toward another wood, much deeper\nand darker and bigger than the one they had left. There, at the edge of\nthis forest, their owl friend set them down, and bade them good-bye by\nnodding at them solemnly.\n\n\u201cYou are now,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cat the edge of the Wonderful Wood. Each\nof your three ways lies through it.\u201d \u201cAre we all going together?\u201d cried\nMeg, eagerly.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cyou will not even meet.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut there is only one path!\u201d exclaimed Bab.\n\n\u201cIn Make Believe Land one path may lead to a great many places.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut if we all go the same way\u2014\u201d began Dick.\n\n\u201cYou all go by the same path,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cBut it is not only in\nMake Believe Land that many people travel the same path and all travel\nalone.\u201d\n\nA pathway lay before them leading into the Wonderful Wood. The three\nchildren stood for a moment looking down it, and wondering what\nadventures they were to have there; then they waved good-bye to\nBizzybuzz, and ran into the wood.\n\nNo sooner were they on the path, in the shadows of the trees, than a\nstrange thing happened. Each seemed to be quite alone! Where were the\nother two? They called to each other, but not even an echo answered.\nOnly, far behind and dying away, each could hear the anxious voice of\nBizzybuzz:\n\n\u201cRemember! Be very careful! Be patient, and never forget your errands.\nYou must not forget what each of you has been sent for; you must hurry\nas fast as you can; you must\u2014not\u2014stop\u2014by the way\u2014\u201d\n\nThen\u2014silence. And each was left alone in the Wonderful Wood!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nV\n\n_Through the Wonderful Wood_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\n_Through the Wonderful Wood_\n\n\nThe moment Bab stepped inside the outer fringe of trees she seemed\nto be in the densest sort of a forest. As she looked about her,\nbewildered, she could not even see where she had entered it. The trees\nand bushes seemed to have closed in tightly behind her, and vines and\ncreepers covered with queer sweet flowers crossed and recrossed the\npath, and appeared to be growing denser every second. Then, as she\nglanced ahead, she saw that there was no path at all. She was in the\nvery heart of the wildest of woodland tangles. How should she find her\nway out? And who would point out to her the road to Santa Claus\u2019s house?\n\n\u201cI wish Wiggles were here!\u201d sighed Bab. \u201cI\u2019m sure there are bears and\nwolves in this big dark forest, and Wiggles could have frightened them\naway!\u201d\n\nThen she thought of what Bizzybuzz had said in the nursery when he was\ntrying to teach them how to make believe.\n\n\u201cWouldn\u2019t it be funny if Wiggles really _were_ with me all the time?\u201d\nshe thought; and aloud she said, \u201cHere, Wiggles, Wiggles, Wiggles!\u201d\n\nBut there was no response, and, feeling a little disappointed, she\nwalked on through the Wonderful Wood alone.\n\nIt was very still. Not a twig snapped; not a bird sang in the Wonderful\nWood. Everything seemed to be asleep. She pushed forward through the\nthickets, saying to herself: \u201cI must find Santa Claus! I must not\nforget what Mother Goose said! I must not forget my errand!\u201d\n\nIt was hard work, this struggling through the heavy underbrush, and\nonce or twice Bab was obliged to rest. But still she murmured to\nherself: \u201cI must hurry! I must find Santa Claus!\u201d\n\nSuddenly the way became easier and smoother. In a moment she came out\ninto a little green dell which was filled with music. Looking about\nher, she saw two little goblins, like Bizzybuzz himself, playing on\ntiny green instruments that looked like lutes, and singing.\n\nShe could not make out all the words of their song, but the general\nburden seemed to be something like this:\n\n \u201cOur wings, how sure and fleet!\n Our voices, oh, how sweet!\n How kind our hearts and wise!\n How green our goggle-eyes!\n\n \u201cWe are the elves of mirth,\n Most wondrous of the earth!\n Oh, world! pay homage meet\n At Klang\u2019s and Tinkle\u2019s feet!\u201d\n\nWhen they saw Bab, they began to make a series of very low bows, crying\nin sing-song tones, \u201cCome and tell us how charming we are, and we will\nlove you!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut I don\u2019t think you are at all charming!\u201d said Bab, truthfully. \u201cI\nthink you are vain and silly, and very ugly indeed!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut hear us sing!\u201d cried the creatures. \u201cListen to our sweet,\nmelodious, marvellous, exquisite, and never-again-to-be-equalled\nvoices!\u201d\n\nAnd once more they began to sing. This time their song was pretty, and\nsounded like a tinkling brook mixed with a summer breeze:\n\n \u201cSilver streams,\n Silver dreams,\n Little shafts of silver beams;\n Music floats\n From our throats\n In a shower of silver notes,\n Like a fleet of silver boats!\u201d\n\n \u201cWe can sing\n Of everything,\u2014\n Petal, feather, scale and wing;\n Tinkle, Klang,\n While we sang,\n Fairy music round you rang,\n Klang and Tinkle! Tinkle, Klang!\u201d\n\nBab thought the music lovely. She forgot where she was, and begged\nthem to sing another song. Then suddenly her heart bounded hard. She\nremembered her errand!\n\n\u201cThank you, thank you!\u201d she cried. \u201cBut I must go; I am late!\u201d\n\nAnd she turned and ran away as fast as she could, leaving the goblins\nstill singing.\n\nSoon she found herself in a cool, shadowy garden, where a fountain\nplayed softly, reflecting the big, heavy-headed roses that climbed\nup the edge of the marble basin to peep into the water. It was very\nrestful and delicious there, and Bab was hot and tired. She wanted to\nsit down on the grass and rest, but she thought of Mother Goose, and\nprepared to plod on. Then she saw coming toward her a very beautiful\nlady, with a delightful, smiling face, and a little crown on her yellow\nhair. She wore a green dress, and her feet were bare, but Bab knew at\nonce that she was a princess.\n\n\u201cHow do you do?\u201d said the Princess, smiling. \u201cYou are Bab, the little\nmortal girl, aren\u2019t you? Will you rest in my garden for a little while?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I can\u2019t,\u201d said Bab, shyly. \u201cI have to go on. I\u2019m looking for Santa\nClaus.\u201d\n\nThe Princess laughed merrily.\n\n\u201cOh, he lives ever so far away!\u201d she said, with a wave of her hand.\n\u201cYou\u2019d much better stay with me!\u201d\n\n\u201cWho are you, please?\u201d asked Bab.\n\n\u201cThey call me the Idle Princess,\u201d the lady answered. \u201cI have a great\nmany names, but no one has ever discovered my real one.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is it?\u201d asked Bab.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s a secret,\u201d she said, smiling mysteriously.\n\n\u201cShall I ever know it?\u201d\n\n\u201cNever! And you\u2019ll call me different names every day of your life.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall I know you all my life?\u201d cried Bab, \u201ceven in the Real World?\u201d\n\nThe Idle Princess smiled at her gently.\n\n\u201cEven there!\u201d she said. \u201cNow let us sit down on the grass and make\ndaisy chains.\u201d\n\nSo they did; and the fountain played softly, and Bab fancied she could\nhear Klang and Tinkle singing in the wood on the other side of the\ngarden wall:\n\n \u201cSilver streams,\n Silver dreams,\n Little shafts of silver beams!...\u201d\n\nSuddenly Bab sprang to her feet, frightened.\n\n\u201cOh, Princess!\u201d she cried, \u201cit must be late; and I had forgotten my\nerrand!\u201d\n\nShe began to run across the grass as fast as she could; then she\nremembered that she had not thanked her hostess, and stopped. The Idle\nPrincess was at her side.\n\n\u201cMust you really go?\u201d she asked regretfully.\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d sighed Bab. \u201cAnd oh, Princess! could you tell me the way to\nSanta Claus\u2019s house?\u201d\n\nThey had reached the garden wall, and the Princess lifted Bab to the\ntop.\n\n\u201cJust jump down on the other side and go straight ahead,\u201d she told her.\n\u201cI am sorry I cannot go with you to show you the way, but I have to\nspin six dreams before supper. Good-bye! I\u2019ll see you again some day.\nKiss me!\u201d\n\nBab stooped from the top of the wall, and kissed her.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, dear Princess, and thank you!\u201d she cried. But the Idle\nPrincess had gone!\n\nBab hurried on through the Wonderful Wood, determined not to let\nanything else tempt her to stop again. The way seemed clear and open\nnow. The trees grew wider apart, and from somewhere a soft sunset light\nwas stealing through them.\n\nSuddenly Bab heard a great voice yawning, and through the bushes\nstalked a tall, gray man, with a long beard, and big solemn eyes. He\nstared at Bab, and Bab stared at him.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Bab. Somehow his gaze made her feel sleepy.\n\nThe stranger yawned again before replying.\n\n\u201cThe Sand Man,\u201d he said, in a heavy, drowsy voice.\n\nBab found herself yawning in sympathy. Then she started and stared.\n\n\u201cWhy, I didn\u2019t know\u2014\u201d she began.\n\n\u201cWhat?\u201d asked the Sand Man, dreamily.\n\n\u201cThat you\u2014that you\u2014well, that you _were_, you know!\u201d she stammered.\n\nTruly this Make Believe Land was a queer place! She would expect to\nmeet the Man in the Moon next, or the Old Woman who Sweeps the Cobwebs\noff the Sky!\n\n\u201cYou may meet them both, if you like,\u201d said her new acquaintance,\nthough she had not spoken.\n\nBab jumped.\n\n\u201cI didn\u2019t say a word!\u201d she exclaimed.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d returned the Sand Man, \u201cbut you thought.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d she murmured, \u201cI didn\u2019t know\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cThere are many, many, many, many things you do not know,\u201d remarked\nthe Sand Man, so calmly that she could not call him rude, though she\nfelt rather uncomfortable. She resolved to make friends with this queer\ncreature. He was not merry and sweet, like the dear Idle Princess, but\nhe looked as though he knew a great deal, and she felt quite a respect\nfor him.\n\n\u201cI wonder,\u201d she said timidly, \u201cif you would tell me why they call you\nthe Sand Man.\u201d\n\n\u201cSit down,\u201d he said gravely, \u201cand I will tell you. But you must be very\nstill while I talk.\u201d\n\nThey sat down on a soft bank of moss, and the Sand Man began.\n\n\u201cWhere I live,\u201d he said, speaking in a low, slow voice, \u201cthere is a\nwhole world of sand. It doesn\u2019t lie out flat, like the desert, but\nin heaps and hills and waves, like the moors or the ocean. And down\nin the hollows it is soft and dark and cool, but up on the tops of\nthe hillocks it is warm and bright. And when you lie on one of these\nhillocks, and look up at the blue, hot sky, a little lazy wind comes\nstealing along, and shifts the sand ever so slightly, and it begins to\nslide\u2014and slide\u2014and slide very softly, and you slide with it until\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed Bab, sleepily. \u201cI\u2019m afraid I\u2019m going to sleep!\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you do, it is all the better,\u201d said the Sand Man, calmly. \u201cYou will\nunderstand me much more clearly when you are asleep.\u201d And he went on:\n\n\u201cYou slide\u2014and slide\u2014and slide, quite gently, down into the cool, dark,\nsoft hollow, and when you are there the wind blows the sand over you,\nuntil only your face is left outside, and at last you begin to sink,\ndown\u2014down\u2014down into the sand. And the sand closes over you, and lies\nquite coolly and lightly on you everywhere. And you can\u2019t open your\neyes, but you wouldn\u2019t if you could. And you can\u2019t move, but you don\u2019t\nwant to move. And you can\u2019t breathe, but you don\u2019t have to breathe. And\nso you just lie in the heart of World of Sand, and that is\u2014Sleep\u201d...\n\n... Dimly Bab could see the World of Sand, like a great, gray-brown\nsea. The wind, stealing over it, stirred little rivers of sand, that\nslipped from the tops to the hollows. There was shade and shine there,\nand the hollows looked like cool, dark couches sheltered from the\nlight.... Then she found herself lying in the sand, while the wind\nblew it over her. She had forgotten her errand, forgotten Santa Claus,\nforgotten Mother Goose, forgotten her brother and sister, forgotten\neverything. All she thought of was the sand and the wind, and that\nslow, delicious sinking\u2014down\u2014down\u2014down\u2014which was\u2014Sleep....\n\nA sound came to her sharply,\u2014a sound that was very familiar. She could\nnot rouse herself at once, but it came again and again, and finally\nBab started up blinking. Something was pulling excitedly at her dress,\nstopping at intervals to bark wildly. Bab put out her arms with a cry\nof joy.\n\n\u201c_Wiggles!_\u201d she gasped. And the little fox-terrier jumped onto her lap.\n\nFor a full minute they kissed each other, and Bab talked, and Wiggles\nsquealed and barked and wriggled, and they had a splendid time. Then\nonce again Bab remembered.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s dark!\u201d she cried, springing up. \u201cWhere is the Sand Man? Why\u2014Oh,\nWiggles, Wiggles! you saved me! I should have gone to sleep in the\nWorld of Sand, and never waked up any more, if you hadn\u2019t happened\nalong!\u201d\n\nThen she started again. \u201cHappen along!\u201d she said. \u201cNo\u2014I really am\nbeginning to understand things at last. Wiggles has been with me all\nthe time, just as Bizzybuzz said, only I was too stupid to see him\nbefore! Oh, Wiggles, dear, forgive me! And now we must really, truly\nhurry! What shall I say to Mother Goose if she asks me if I have been\nfaithful and obedient! Oh, dear! I\u2019ve stopped by the way so many times,\nI shall never find the way to Santa Claus\u2019s house!\u201d And poor Bab wiped\naway a tear, and started off upon her journey once more, followed by\nWiggles. But before she had gone a dozen steps, she stopped short in\nsurprise. The forest had vanished, and she was at the foot of a steep\nhill. It looked bare and stony, but the top was covered with snow. The\nsky was full of stars, and the wind was cold and fresh. Here and there\nfirs and pine-trees swayed slightly. Evidently she was in some far\nNorthern land. \u201cOh! oh!\u201d she exclaimed delightedly; \u201cthis must be the\ncountry of Santa Claus, after all!\u201d\n\nLosing no more time, she and Wiggles began to climb the long, dark\nhill, toward the snow that glistened in the starlight far away at the\ntop.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\n_How Bab Rescued the Wooden Cow_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\n_How Bab Rescued the Wooden Cow_\n\n\nAfter Bab and Wiggles had reached the top of the hill, and floundered\nthrough a space packed with snow, they found themselves in a clump\nof fir-trees, with the wind whirling about them, and, not far away,\nthe yellow twinkle of a light. Of course Bab intended to go straight\non toward the light, but first she paused to take breath. And as she\npaused, she heard a little voice, quite close to her, exclaim: \u201cOh,\ndear! Oh, dear! What do you suppose it is?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do I suppose _what_ is?\u201d said Bab, with a start, forgetting to be\npolite.\n\nThere was a slight scramble, and a patter of very tiny feet; and then\nWiggles began to bark excitedly, with his ears cocked forward, and his\nbright eyes fixed on the ground.\n\n\u201cWe\u2014we weren\u2019t talking _to_ you,\u201d explained the wee voice, nervously.\n\u201cWe were talking _about_ you when we said \u2018What is it?\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Bab, rather crossly. \u201cWell, you\u2019re very rude, anyway.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo are you,\u201d said the small voice, coolly.\n\nBab felt angry and bewildered.\n\n\u201cI think,\u201d she returned, \u201cthat I might just as well ask what you are!\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly!\u201d said the little voice, more cheerfully. \u201cWe are the\nMischief Brownies,\u2014servants of the dear Wicked King, of the Red City.\nAnd you, I suppose, are an ogre?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, no!\u201d said Bab. \u201cI\u2019m a little girl.\u201d\n\n\u201cNonsense!\u201d said the Mischief Brownie. \u201cWe know better! You\u2019re big!\nYou\u2019re enormous! _We_ know you. You\u2019re an ogre!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, anyway,\u201d said Bab, \u201cI\u2019m in a hurry; so good-night!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere are you going?\u201d asked the voice, anxiously. \u201cYou aren\u2019t a friend\nof Santa Claus, are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cN-no,\u201d said Bab, truthfully, \u201cI never saw him in my life.\u201d\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s all right, then!\u201d cried the Brownie, gaily. \u201cYou can help us in\nthat case!\u201d\n\nA number of little lights appeared in the darkness near the ground.\nThey seemed to be tiny lanterns, and by their light Bab could see the\nbearers of them. They were wee, wee men, not more than a few inches\nhigh, dressed in brown, with green caps. Their faces were all stamped\nwith wide grins, and their eyes were not unlike Bizzybuzz\u2019s and the\nMusical Goblins\u2019.\n\n\u201cWe\u2019ll teach you six new spells or give you a wishing-cap if you\u2019ll\nhelp us,\u201d said the spokesman.\n\nBab\u2019s heart leaped. A wishing-cap! If she had that, she might go at\nonce to the City of the Wicked King, and help Dick rescue Humpty Dumpty\nfor Mother Goose; and then they could all be free!\n\n\u201cWhat do you want me to do?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cListen!\u201d said the Head Brownie. \u201cSanta Claus has a Wooden Cow, of\nwhich he is very fond. It was only a little toy to begin with, but he\nfed it with all the shavings and saw-dust of magic wood that were left\nfrom his work, and it grew nearly as big as his house! Our master, the\nWicked King, has sent us to chop the Wooden Cow up, and bring him back\nas much of the magic wood as we can carry. That magic wood is very\nvaluable, you see, and very hard to get, and he wants to have some\nspells made out of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never heard of anything so dreadful!\u201d Bab exclaimed indignantly.\n\u201cPoor cow!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt won\u2019t hurt it at all,\u201d explained the Mischief Brownie. \u201cThe cow is\nnothing but wood, you know. Now, what we want you to do is to help us\nchop up the cow, for we aren\u2019t big enough to do much by ourselves.\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed, I\u2019ll not help you,\u201d said Bab, decidedly. \u201cI\u2019ll not chop up\nSanta Claus\u2019s cow, and what\u2019s more,\u201d she cried with a sudden thought,\n\u201cI\u2019ll save her from you too!\u201d\n\nShe began to run as fast as she could, Wiggles scampering ahead, and\nthe Brownies after her. She could hear their shrill voices telling her\nto stop, but she ran on. Soon she saw that they were going faster than\nshe, and had turned to the right, dashing away through the starlight.\nThey looked like black specks on the white snow. For they had all left\nthe darkness of the clump of fir-trees by this time, and the queer\nlittle men were plainly visible.\n\nFaster and faster she went; Wiggles rushing along in front of her,\nbarking loudly. Soon she saw the barn glimmering dimly against the\nsky. Bab dashed toward it. The Brownies had disappeared; they must be\nalready inside.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d cried Bab. \u201cI do so hope I shall get there in time to save\nthat poor cow.\u201d\n\nShe had reached the barn, but the big door was shut and fastened. In\ndespair Bab hunted for an opening of some sort, and finally found a\nlow window. She clambered up, very much out of breath, and sat on the\nwindow-sill peering into the darkness of the barn. Everything inside\nwas as black as ink, and smelled of saw-dust instead of hay. Where were\nthe Brownies, and _where_ was the Wooden Cow?\n\nA sudden idea came to her. Leaning down, she whispered, \u201cWiggles,\nWiggles, darling, jump!\u201d\n\nWiggles tried twice in vain. The third time he was in her lap,\ntrembling with excitement. She lifted him down inside the barn,\nslipping down herself at the same time.\n\n\u201cNow, Wiggles,\u201d she said aloud, \u201c_chase \u2019em!_\u201d\n\nShe clapped her hands as she spoke, and Wiggles\u2019s scurrying, scratching\nfeet were heard on the floor in the dark. Bab listened with a beating\nheart. Wiggles snuffed and snapped and scratched and scampered about,\nand finally gave an eager bark. At the same moment the air became\nfilled with shrill little startled cries.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t hurt them, Wiggles!\u201d cried Bab. \u201cJust chase them out!\u201d\n\nShe found the barn door, groping through the dark, and managed to open\nit; and then she watched the whole tribe of Mischief Brownies escaping\nfrantically, and flying over the snow with Wiggles after them.\n\n\u201cCome back, Wiggles,\u201d she called; and the obedient little dog returned\nto her promptly. He felt quite disappointed at having to give up the\nchase so soon.\n\n\u201cNow we\u2019ll have to hunt for the Wooden Cow,\u201d said Bab. \u201cI hope they\nhaven\u2019t done it any harm already.\u201d\n\n\u201cThey took off one horn,\u201d said a thick wheezy voice near by; and Bab\njumped.\n\n\u201cAre _you_ the Wooden Cow?\u201d she asked.\n\n\u201cYes; kindly put out your hand.\u201d\n\nBab obeyed, and touched a curved piece of wood.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s my horn,\u201d said the same voice, \u201cthe one that they didn\u2019t take\noff.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhere is the other one?\u201d asked Bab. \u201cThey didn\u2019t take it with them,\nsurely?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo; I think I see your dog eating it now.\u201d\n\nWiggles was sitting in the doorway, cheerfully gnawing the missing\nhorn. Bab rescued it, much to Wiggles\u2019s annoyance, and then exclaimed\nto its rightful owner, \u201cYou poor thing! Did the Brownies hurt you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no!\u201d said the Cow, calmly. \u201cYou know I\u2019m wooden. Nothing hurts me.\nIt wouldn\u2019t have hurt me if they had cut me in pieces as they intended\nto, and as they would have done if you hadn\u2019t dropped in; but it would\nhave annoyed me. Because then I wouldn\u2019t have existed any more. And\nthat _would_ have been disagreeable!\u201d\n\n\u201cI should think so, indeed!\u201d agreed Bab. \u201cNow let me see how I can get\nthis horn on again! I wish there was a light. Never mind! I\u2019ll hunt\nabout in the dark.\u201d\n\nAs a matter of fact, it did not seem nearly so dark as it had been. Bab\nsaw that this was because the moon was rising. By its light drifting in\nthrough the big open door, she could see the large, motionless figure\nof the Wooden Cow, with its one horn.\n\n\u201cI smell paint somewhere,\u201d said Bab, sniffing, and began to hunt for\nit. Sure enough, not far away, she found a can of black paint.\n\n\u201cSanta Claus used that to touch me up with,\u201d explained the Cow, with a\ncertain mournful pride. \u201cI was a very handsome article when new!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Bab, cheerfully, \u201cnow, _I_\u2019m going to touch you up with\nit!\u201d\n\nFor she felt very sorry for the poor Wooden Cow, and already had\nmade up her mind to do all that she could to help it. She scooped up\nsome saw-dust from the floor, and mixed it with the black paint until\nit made a thick, sticky paste. Then she plastered it on the base of\nthe wooden horn, and then over the place on the Cow\u2019s head from which\nit had been broken off. Then she stuck the horn on, and tied it up\nsecurely with a ribbon from her dress. As she did this, a tiny bit of\nwood\u2014loosened, perhaps, by whatever weapon or implement the Brownies\nhad used to cut off the horn\u2014came off in her hand. Hardly thinking what\nshe was doing, she dropped it into her pocket.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d she cried gaily, jumping down from the window-sill, where,\nbeing quite short, she had had to kneel while she worked,\u2014\u201cThere! I\nreally think that will stay on!\u201d As she spoke, she found the bit of\nwood in her pocket. \u201cI wonder why I kept that?\u201d she thought. \u201cNever\nmind! I shall want to have something to remember the Wooden Cow by.\u201d\n\n\u201cI am indebted to you,\u201d said the Wooden Cow, with dignity.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said Bab, \u201cI shall have to go up to Santa Claus\u2019s house, and\ncall upon him. I\u2019ll leave Wiggles to take care of you in case those bad\nBrownies come back. Wiggles, sit down and keep watch!\u201d\n\nWiggles did as he was told, rather sadly. He hated to be left alone,\nand he did not count the Cow as company. Bab left the barn, and hurried\naway toward the lighted cottage, which she felt very sure was Santa\nClaus\u2019s house.\n\nWhen she reached the house, she knocked several times before anyone\nanswered. At last the door opened, and a kind, merry voice said: \u201cCome\nin, come in! Is that Bab? Why, bless my soul! I\u2019ve been expecting you\nfor a long time!\u201d\n\nIt certainly was Santa Claus! How exactly like his pictures he looked!\nNo, kinder, and dearer, and more lovable in every way. Bab wanted to\nget onto his knee at once, and put her head down on his shoulder, just\nas though he were her own grandfather at home. And as a matter of fact,\nthat is just exactly what she did! For as soon as she had gone inside\nand the door had been shut, Santa Claus sat down in a big chair and\nlifted her onto his lap.\n\n\u201cBless my soul!\u201d he said again, beaming at her. \u201cSo you are the little\ngirl who didn\u2019t believe in me, and thought I\u2019d be a bore if I _were_\nreal? Mother Goose\u2014dear lady!\u2014said that you\u2019d be along before very\nlong.\u201d\n\nBab dropped her head onto his shoulder, and said, \u201cI\u2014I\u2019m very sorry I\nsaid those things about you!\u201d\n\n\u201cBless my soul!\u201d exclaimed Santa Claus. \u201cShe\u2019s crying! That will\n_never_ do!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sleepy!\u201d Bab gave a sob. She was only a little girl, you see,\nafter all; and the way through the Wonderful Wood had been long.\n\u201cAnd\u2014and\u2014\u201d She stopped, trying not to _really_ cry.\n\n\u201cDear me! And _hungry!_\u201d cried Santa Claus. \u201cI should think so!\u201d\n\nAnd somehow, before she knew what had happened, she found herself\neating,\u2014bread and butter, and milk, and little hot cakes, and muffins,\nand preserves, and sugar-plums! _Such_ a good supper!\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d said Bab, suddenly, \u201clet me take some to Wiggles. He\u2019s\nhungry, I know; and he\u2019s in the barn, taking care of the Wooden Cow.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that you say?\u201d questioned Santa Claus, looking surprised.\n\nAnd then Bab told him all about the rescue of the Wooden Cow. And Santa\nClaus was much pleased and interested, and seemed very grateful as\nwell. And he went down to the barn himself, and brought Wiggles back\nwith him, and gave him a wonderful supper, and said he was a splendid\ndog. And Wiggles was simply delighted.\n\nAltogether, everything was going on in the most joyful manner possible,\nwhen Bab suddenly sprang to her feet, distressed and worried.\n\n\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d asked Santa Claus, kindly.\n\n\u201cOh, Santa Claus!\u201d cried poor Bab. \u201cI had forgotten my errand again!\nMother Goose sent me to you to serve you until I had won the right to\ngo back to the Real World!\u201d\n\n\u201cDear, dear!\u201d said Santa Claus, with twinkling eyes. \u201cAnd do you want\nto start to-night?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Bab, reproachfully. \u201cNo,\u2014indeed! But,\u201d anxiously, \u201ctell me\nwhat I am to do, Santa Claus. You see, now I sha\u2019n\u2019t be doing it _only_\nbecause Mother Goose told me I must, but because you have been so kind\nto Wiggles and me!\u201d\n\nThen Santa Claus gazed at her with such wonderful kindness in his smile\nthat she felt almost bewildered.\n\n\u201cLittle Bab,\u201d he said gently, \u201cdon\u2019t you see that you have won your\nfreedom already, if you want it, by what you did for my Wooden Cow?\u201d\n\n\u201cBut\u2014but\u2014\u201d stammered Bab, very much surprised, \u201cI didn\u2019t do it for\n_that_ reason!\u201d\n\n\u201cI know it. And that is just why it sets you free,\u201d said Santa Claus.\n\u201cAnd now go to sleep. To-morrow you may go back to Mother Goose.\u201d\n\nBab felt very sleepy. The firelight was flickering drowsily about the\nroom. She and Wiggles were curled up on a big fur rug that lay beside\nthe hearth. Santa Claus\u2019s face smiled at her in the dancing, fading red\nlight.\n\n\u201cGood-night, Bab,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cGood-night, Santa Cl\u2014\u201d\n\nThen she and Wiggles went fast asleep by the big fire in the house of\nSanta Claus.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\n_Meg\u2019s Journey to Fairyland_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\n_Meg\u2019s Journey to Fairyland_\n\n\nNow we must leave Bab for a little while, and go back to her sister\nMeg, whom we left on the edge of the Wonderful Wood.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all nonsense!\u201d said Meg to herself, as she entered the big\nforest. She turned to speak to Bab, but of course found herself quite\nalone. She rubbed her eyes and looked about her wonderingly. It was all\nnonsense, undoubtedly, but\u2014where were the others? She felt just a wee\nbit frightened. It was rather creepy, really,\u2014this being alone in the\nWonderful Wood.\n\nWell, the only thing to do was to hurry and get out of it, as fast as\nshe possibly could. She wheeled around, but soon saw, as Bab had seen,\nthat the forest had closed in behind her, and that there was nothing to\ndo but go on. So on she went.\n\nShe found the path fairly smooth and easy, and her spirits rose. She\nwalked faster and faster, and even sang to herself as she went. She had\nforgotten all about her errand, all about the Fairy Queen and Mother\nGoose and Humpty Dumpty. She simply danced along the pretty, shady\nwood-path, and hummed little songs, and wondered how long it would be\nbefore she was out of the forest. Meg was younger than Bab, you see,\nand even more thoughtless, and so she had all the more to learn and all\nthe farther to go. And it came about that she had walked twice as far\nas Bab\u2019s whole journey had been, before anything befell her that was at\nall like an adventure. But when it _did_ happen\u2014Well, it was this way:\n\nShe was just beginning to feel a little tired, and a little bored also.\nThere seemed to be no squirrels nor birds to watch, nor any flowers\nto pick, and the path was as straight as a string, and just about as\ninteresting to Meg!\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d she exclaimed at last, \u201cI thought I should see all sorts\nof strange things, and I haven\u2019t seen anything at all yet. I wish\nsomething _would_ happen! I wish I could see something queer and excit\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cHow about me?\u201d demanded a voice at her side. Meg stopped short, and\nshe and the owner of the voice stood and stared at each other.\n\nHe was a small, evil-looking dwarf, dressed in gray, with skin the\ncolour of his clothes, and a huge hump on his back.\n\n\u201cWho are you?\u201d asked Meg.\n\n\u201cGrump,\u201d said the stranger. \u201cGrump, the Gray Dwarf. And of all the\ncreatures in the Wonderful Wood, I am the wickedest!\u201d\n\nHe seemed remarkably proud of the fact.\n\nMeg felt squirmy and uncomfortable. There was no doubt about it: he did\nlook very wicked indeed!\n\n\u201cI am not afraid of you!\u201d she said boastfully, though her voice\nquavered.\n\n\u201cThat\u2019s good!\u201d said Grump, grinning horribly. \u201cFor we are to be\ncomrades for a time!\u201d\n\nMeg felt really frightened now.\n\n\u201cIndeed we are not!\u201d she exclaimed, trying to sound very brave and\ncareless. \u201cYou live in the Wonderful Wood, and I am only passing\nthrough it,\u2014as quickly as possible,\u201d she added with much feeling.\n\n\u201cYes, yes!\u201d said Grump, still grinning. \u201cAs quickly as possible!\u201d\n\nSomething in his look made Meg fear that _that_ might not be so very\nquickly, after all.\n\n\u201cCome,\u201d continued the Gray Dwarf, holding out a gray hand. \u201cCome with\nme!\u201d\n\nAnd, desperately frightened, but feeling in an odd way that she was\nquite weak and helplessly in the power of her new acquaintance, Meg\nfollowed him\u2014where do you think? Into a little black hole in the\nground! As she looked down at it, she did not dream that she could\nget into it, but the Gray Dwarf took her hand, and she found herself\nslipping in with as much ease as Grump himself.\n\nDown they went through an earthy-smelling passage-way that twisted and\nturned through utter darkness. The air was damp and heavy and very cold.\n\n\u201c_Am_ I dreaming, after all?\u201d thought Meg. \u201cI feel like a\nmole,\u2014burrowing into the earth like this!\u201d\n\nIt seemed to her that they went a very great distance, stumbling along\nthrough the moist ground, with the close earthy smell all about, and no\nlight anywhere. At last the passage suddenly widened out, and opened\nonto a round space like an underground cave, lighted by a low, green\nflame that flickered fitfully in one corner.\n\nThe walls were all of earth,\u2014fresh, damp earth; and now and then a\nlittle would slip down, the way it does from a heap of mould when\nyou\u2019ve been digging in the garden. It fell upon the moist earth-floor\nat their feet, but it made no sound. There were no echoes in this\nunderground room where the Gray Dwarf lived. Everything was still,\u2014much\ntoo still to be pleasant, Meg thought. In the earth-walls were\nqueer little fibrous threads here and there, and overhead some big,\npale, thin things hung down, like frozen snakes, or dead, curving\ntree-branches. At first she could not guess what they all were, but\nsuddenly she saw that they were roots! The roots of trees and plants\nand shrubs, and all sorts of growing things! She was indeed far down in\nthe earth, since she could look up and see the roots of the Wonderful\nWood.\n\nShe stood, blinking at the faint green flame, and watched Grump go\nacross to it. By blowing upon it he made it flare up more brightly,\nand the vivid emerald light made Meg\u2019s heart go faster than ever. What\nwas going to happen to her? Was she going to be burned up? Grump,\nhaving freshened his ghostly fire, proceeded to place on it a huge iron\ncaldron,\u2014the kind that you always think of witches bending over. This\nhorrid-looking thing he brought from a shadowy corner. As soon as the\nflames touched it, a thick steam began to rise from the big black pot,\nfilling the air with a queer, spicy smell, and curling clouds of purple\nsmoke. Grump gave a long, low cry, and waved his arms over the pot.\n\n\u201cOh, what is it?\u201d Meg exclaimed, in terror.\n\nGrump grinned and glared at her.\n\n\u201cMagic!\u201d he said. \u201cWatch, and you will see something!\u201d\n\nThe steam came and came, until it hid both Grump and the pot. Then on\nit Meg saw, as though reflected or sketched very dimly, the figure of a\nman with glittering eyes, a crown, and a deep red robe. He was looking\ndown at Grump, who, Meg now saw, was crouching at his feet.\n\n\u201cYou have done my bidding?\u201d said the shadowy crimson man. \u201cYou have\nstopped the messenger sent from Mother Goose to the Fairy Queen?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, O Wicked King!\u201d cried Grump.\n\n\u201cYou have brought her to your Earth-Home?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, O Wicked King!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have let her live so far?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, O Wicked King. What does his most august and nobly evil Majesty\ndesire done with her?\u201d\n\n\u201cDestroy her!\u201d said the Wicked King. \u201cIf she is allowed to go to the\nCourt of the Fairies, she will be taught the spell that frees Humpty\nDumpty, and I shall lose both my prisoner and the spell. Destroy her, I\nsay! Put her into the big pot!\u201d\n\nHe vanished, and instantly the thick steam cleared away. Meg saw Grump\nhuddled down beside the big pot.\n\n\u201cWhat are you going to do with me?\u201d she asked, trembling.\n\n\u201cPut you into the big pot,\u201d said the Gray Dwarf, with a grin of joy.\n\u201cYou heard the Wicked King\u2019s orders.\u201d\n\nMeg gasped, and looked about her for some way of escape. Then she tried\nto think more calmly, and decided that her one chance lay in gaining\ntime. To do this, she began to talk to the Gray Dwarf as quietly as she\ncould.\n\n\u201cI really think,\u201d she said, \u201cthat if you are going to boil me, you\nmight tell me what for.\u201d\n\nGrump considered this for a minute. \u201cWell,\u201d he said at last, \u201cI have no\nobjection to that. You may sit down if you like, and I will explain.\u201d\n\nMeg sat down obediently, though with a quaking heart, and Grump\nsat opposite her, still beside the pot. The green flames flickered\nuncannily about him as he talked.\n\n\u201cIn the first place,\u201d he began, \u201cyou must know that I am in the service\nof the Wicked King, whom you saw appear just now. He lives in the Great\nRed City, beside the Sea of Glass, and he keeps Mother Goose\u2019s son\nHumpty Dumpty a prisoner on his city wall. My master is very great and\nvery cruel, and I obey him in everything. You know, probably, about\nthe capture of Humpty Dumpty?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, not about the capture,\u201d said Meg. \u201cOnly that he _was_ captured.\nHow did it happen?\u201d\n\n\u201cThat is a long story. I will only take time to tell you that I had a\ngood deal to do with it!\u201d And he grinned again. \u201cWell, there is only\none spell which can set him free, and that spell is in the possession\nof one person,\u2014the Queen of the Fairies. It is a very valuable spell,\nand she keeps it carefully hidden. A little while ago, Mother Goose\nheard of the spell, and she and the Fairy Queen have been sending\nmessages to each other ever since. The Queen has promised to give it\nto the old lady\u2019s messenger, and that is the chief reason why you are\nbeing sent to Fairyland,\u2014to bring back the spell. Now that is _one_\nreason why the Wicked King wants to have you killed. Do you see?\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose so,\u201d said poor Meg, though it did seem rather unfair. \u201cIs\nthere any other reason?\u201d\n\n\u201cTwo,\u201d answered Grump, seeming pleased that she saw the matter so\nclearly. \u201cOne is that the Wicked King is planning to steal that spell\naway from the Queen within another day!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut how can he steal a spell?\u201d said Meg, puzzled and interested in\nspite of her own danger. \u201cI thought a spell was a\u2014a\u2014well, some words,\nyou know, or\u2014anyway, I didn\u2019t know that you could really steal it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d the Gray Dwarf assured her. \u201cThis spell is written on a\npiece of sky-coloured paper and kept in a crystal box. Well, the Wicked\nKing is going to have it stolen to-night! Then he can not only keep\nHumpty Dumpty forever, but he will own the spell besides. A really good\nspell, you know, is always useful for a great many purposes.\u201d\n\nMeg listened with open eyes. And as she heard these things she thought\nnot only of her own safety, but of poor Humpty Dumpty, who would never\nbe free, and Mother Goose, who must grieve over her son forever, and\nthe good Fairy Queen, who would be robbed of her treasure by the Wicked\nKing. And then she thought of her errand, and Mother Goose\u2019s trust in\nher; she had forgotten all about what she had been told to do, and she\nfelt ashamed of herself. Perhaps, if she had kept her wits about her\nas she passed through the Wonderful Wood, and thought steadily of what\nshe had been sent for, she would have escaped the clutches of the cruel\nGray Dwarf.\n\nSuddenly she felt that she must get away, if only to warn the Fairy\nQueen and ask Mother Goose\u2019s pardon. Her determination sharpened her\nwits. Once more she tried to gain time. She looked about her to find\nthe way by which she had come. The hole in the earth wall looked\nsmaller than ever, and moreover it was some distance away and on the\nside nearest Grump. There did not seem to be much hope of escape, but\nshe did not feel entirely discouraged.\n\n\u201cYou said there was another reason,\u201d she reminded her jailer. Grump had\nstarted to blow up the fire again, with glances of wicked glee in her\ndirection. As she spoke, he stopped and sat down once more.\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d he said. \u201cWell, the other reason for your death is this:\nIn that caldron is all the magic power I have. It was that which made\nyou obliged to follow me when I stopped you in the Wonderful Wood. It\nwas that which brought me the vision of the Wicked King a few minutes\nago. Without it I should be just an ordinary, commonplace, every-day\ngnome. The contents of the caldron is made of souls,\u2014the souls of all\nsorts of things,\u2014the soul of a flower, the soul of a tiger, the soul\nof a butterfly, a nightingale, a lizard, a sea-gull, a snake, a bat,\na porcupine, a goblin, an ogre, a dove! All kinds and conditions of\nsouls, you see! But the magic essence will be complete only when the\nsoul of a mortal is added to it. _Then_ my master the King and I shall\nbe the lords of all this land! Therefore _you_ must go into the pot!\u201d\n\nMeg\u2019s heart leaped. She had thought of something! It was a tiny chance,\nbut still a chance.\n\n\u201cDid you say,\u201d she asked, looking at the caldron as though in awe,\n\u201cthat all your power comes from that?\u201d\n\nGrump laughed.\n\n\u201cEvery bit!\u201d he returned. \u201cWhy, if that were tipped over\u2014\u201d He stopped\nshort, and looked at her as though he were afraid he might have told\nher too much. Meg\u2019s heart beat faster and faster, but she managed to\nspeak in a sad, frightened tone:\n\n\u201cOh, I hate the thought of having my soul used in a magic essence\u2014Oh,\nmust I really be put into the pot?\u201d\n\nShe had risen to her feet, and was moving slowly toward the pot,\nlooking very much afraid. Grump had risen too, and was blowing the fire\ninto big, green flames.\n\n\u201cYou really must!\u201d he said cheerfully. \u201cIt won\u2019t hurt, so you needn\u2019t\nmind in the least!\u201d\n\nMeg went nearer and nearer. How big and black the pot looked!\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Gray Dwarf, \u201cshall I put you in, or will you jump?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, I\u2019ll jump\u2014if I really do have to get in,\u201d said Meg, seeming to\nshrink.\n\n\u201cWell, are you ready?\u201d asked Grump, impatiently.\n\n\u201cQuite ready!\u201d cried Meg, and sprang forward.\n\nBut, instead of jumping into the pot, she threw herself against it with\nall her weight. It swayed, toppled, and then went over with an awful\nhiss of steam and a wild leap of wicked, green fire. Meg heard the Gray\nDwarf scream with fury and cry: \u201cMy power is gone! My magic is gone!\nWhat shall I do?\u201d\n\nHe was just in front of her, and tried to stop her with a snarl of\nrage. But she was bigger than he was, and stronger now, and she pushed\nhim away, and plunged past him into the dark passage-way once more.\n\nOn\u2014on\u2014up\u2014up she struggled, leaving the green light and Grump\u2019s cries\nfarther and farther behind her. She breathed the damp, earthy air with\njoy in spite of its heavy closeness. On\u2014on\u2014up\u2014up!... Suddenly she was\nin the outer air again, blinking and gasping and covered with clinging\nearth.\n\nAt first she was so glad to be safe that she noticed nothing\nremarkable; but after a moment she cried out with surprise. The\nWonderful Wood had entirely disappeared, and she was standing in a\ngreat meadow filled with rainbow flowers more lovely than any mortal\never saw before!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\n_The Court of the Fairy Queen_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\n_The Court of the Fairy Queen_\n\n\nAt first Meg thought she was alone, but soon she saw a lady standing\nnear, picking pale yellow blossoms. She wore a green gown, and her feet\nwere bare. On her bright hair was a little crown that seemed made of\nwee gold stars, and her face was very grave and sweet. Meg went up to\nher timidly.\n\n\u201cPlease,\u201d she said with a catch in her voice, \u201cwill you tell me the way\nto Fairyland? I\u2014I\u2019m in a great hurry.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat do you want to do in Fairyland?\u201d said the lady, kindly. \u201cAre you\nin trouble?\u201d\n\n\u201cN-n-o\u2014that is, a little. I want to tell the Fairy Queen something she\nought to know. And I want to let Mother Goose know how sorry I am that\nI was disobedient and naughty, and of course if I could I should like\nto help Dick save Humpty Dumpty.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou look sad,\u201d said the lady, and put her arm about Meg.\n\n\u201cI want Bab and Dick,\u2014that\u2019s all,\u201d said Meg, simply. \u201cAnd\u2014and\u2014of course\nI\u2019m sorry, and\u2014and _worried_ about things, you know.\u201d\n\nThe lady smiled quite merrily. Then she lifted Meg in her arms and\nkissed her softly.\n\n\u201cDear little girl!\u201d she said. \u201cSweet Meg! you have had a harder journey\nthan Bab, but you are at the end of it.\u201d\n\n\u201cWho\u2014who are you, please?\u201d whispered Meg, wondering that she knew their\nnames.\n\n\u201cYou may call me the Lady of Dreams-Come-True,\u201d said the green-gowned\nstranger. \u201cBut that is not my name. Now run along quickly to the Court\nof the Fairies.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but I am so dusty and dirty!\u201d exclaimed Meg. \u201cI can\u2019t go to Court\nthis way!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have your pink silk dress with you,\u201d said the Lady of\nDreams-Come-True, laughing.\n\nMeg looked down in surprise. Over her left arm hung her once-treasured\npink gown! Somehow, among these wonderful flowers and beside this\nbeautiful lady, it did not look nearly so pretty as it once had. She\nlet it slip to the ground.\n\n\u201cI must have been very silly,\u201d she said half to herself, \u201cto want to\nbring _that_ to Make Believe Land!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: BAB AND THE SAND MAN]\n\nThe lady laughed again, in a pleased way.\n\n\u201cThen you must go to Court as you are,\u201d she said; \u201cbut _I_ think that\nyou look very nice!\u201d\n\nMeg looked down again, and saw that her white dress was now as fresh\nand clean as though it had just been washed.\n\n\u201cWhy\u2014why\u2014\u201d she stammered, \u201chow wonderful! It might almost be Fairyland\nalready!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt _is_ Fairyland already,\u201d said her new friend. \u201cLook!\u201d\n\nOver the flowers Meg could see a thousand faint and shining wings. The\nair shimmered and glinted with them; the flowers swayed softly beneath\ntheir fanning. The daintiest, loveliest faces and forms showed dimly\nbetween every glistening, misty pair of these wonderful wings.\n\nMeg gazed, bewildered.\n\n\u201cOh, how beautiful!\u201d she cried softly.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, Meg,\u201d was all the lady would say. She seemed to be growing\ntransparent and misty herself.\n\n\u201cGood-bye!\u201d cried Meg. \u201cOh! shall I see you again?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes! yes!\u201d she answered, smiling, and seemed to become a little\nless distinct. \u201cSome day\u2014some day\u2014\u201d murmured Dreams-Come-True; and\nstraightway vanished into the soft rainbow-tinted air.\n\nAs Meg walked on through the Flower Meadow, the delicate wings and\nfaces grew more and more distinct, and seemed to crowd ever closer\nand closer about her. Everywhere they floated, like faintly coloured\nmist-wreaths, like the ghosts of big, beautiful butterflies, like\nflowers made alive. Everywhere the light glowed, brilliant and yet\nsoft, like a huge, liquid opal. Sometimes it seemed to Meg to be shot\nwith the palest pink, sometimes the purest blue, sometimes the most\nexquisite green, the clearest yellow, the faintest lavender. And what\nwith the flowers, and the wings, and the magical colours in the air,\nMeg felt as though she were moving through the heart of a great rainbow.\n\nAbout her feet and against her dress swayed and bumped the big bright\nflowers. Some of them were so tall that they touched her shoulders\nwith their sweet, nodding heads; sometimes they were so tiny that she\nalmost stepped on them, though, of course, she tried not to. The sky\nwas filled with rainbow-coloured clouds; a delicious perfume hung\neverywhere. In the distance rose slender turrets\u2014gold and rose-coloured\nand snow-white\u2014from the mist of flowers and wings.\n\nAnd as Meg listened, she could hear any number of voices singing, in\nthe sweetest chorus imaginable, a little, soft song about roses and\nclouds and dew and star-beams.\n\nThere was no doubt about it,\u2014no doubt at all: as the Lady of\nDreams-Come-True had said, she really was in Fairyland at last. These\nairy beings floating and fluttering, singing and crowding on every\nhand, were certainly the Fairies,\u2014the dainty folk whose Queen she was\nseeking.\n\nMeg resolved not to loiter any longer in that delicious field, but to\nhurry across it as fast as she could and to find the Queen. But when\nshe tried to move more quickly, she found that the soft transparent\nforms were holding her back. She struggled for a minute or two in\nvain. She felt hands as light as rain-drops on her wrists, and at last\nshe heard a high, sweet laugh. Then the clearest of bell-like voices\nsaid:\n\n\u201cWell, Mortal, what are you doing here? And why do you struggle so hard\nagainst the Fairy Folk?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, please!\u201d panted Meg. \u201cTake me to the Fairy Queen!\u201d\n\nAgain came the light, soft laugh.\n\n\u201cNot so fast, Mortal! That is easy to ask. Do you think our Queen is so\neasy to see? You must state your business.\u201d\n\n\u201cI _must_ see the Queen!\u201d cried Meg. \u201cIt\u2014it\u2019s very important!\nIt\u2019s\u201d\u2014speaking with a sort of rush\u2014\u201cit\u2019s about the Wicked King, and the\nspell in the crystal box!\u201d\n\nInstantly an angry chorus filled the air, and Meg found herself held\nmore tightly than before.\n\n\u201cHow dare she?\u201d cried the Fairies. \u201cHow dare she speak of the Wicked\nKing and the spell _here_? She must know either the Wicked King or\nGrump!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d Meg tried to explain, speaking eagerly. \u201cAnd Grump told me\u2014\u201d\n\nBut at this point the chorus rose to the shrillest rage.\n\n\u201cGrump! Grump! She knows him! She admits it! Away with her! She shall\nnot live another hour! No\u2014no\u2014turn her into a rat or an oyster! She is a\nfriend of our dear Lady\u2019s enemy, the Gray Dwarf!\u201d\n\n\u201cIndeed I\u2019m _not_ a friend of Grump\u2019s!\u201d exclaimed Meg, indignantly.\n\u201cYou just ask _him_ if I am!\u201d\n\nBut they would not listen to her, and she felt herself being hurried\naway, faster and faster and faster with every second, until she was\nsure she should die if they did not let her stop to take breath.\n\n\u201cPlease\u2014please\u2014\u201d she panted, as they pulled her along, \u201cI can explain\nif you will just wait one moment!\u201d But they were far too busy abusing\nher, to hear a word she said.\n\n\u201cOh, dear, dear, dear!\u201d sighed poor Meg to herself. \u201cGrump _must_ be a\nnasty person, if just mentioning his name has this effect!\u201d\n\nAs she was dragged along through the Flower Meadow, she kept repeating\nover and over: \u201cI _must_ see the Queen! I _must_ tell her! I _must_\nwarn her!\u201d And suddenly\u2014she never knew how, but she suspected Mother\nGoose or Dreams-Come-True of having something to do with it\u2014she really\ndid break from the grasp of her captors and dash on across the field\nalone.\n\nShe could hear the sweet, excited voices of the Fairies, and could feel\ntheir wings fan the back of her neck as they followed her. But at that\nmoment she caught sight of a low, flowery hedge, with a gateway made of\ntwo tall trees wreathed with blossoming vines, and through that gate\nshe dashed, just as the Fairies behind her cried:\n\n\u201cShe has gone into the Palace Garden! She has gone into the Queen\u2019s\npresence! How dare she!\u201d\n\nMeg was in the loveliest place she had ever seen, but she was too\nfrightened to think of its magical beauty just then. By the time the\nFairy Folk came crowding into the Garden after her, she had espied\na lady sitting on a throne, with giant roses all about, and Fairy\nCourt-ladies standing in rows with folded wings.\n\n\u201cOh, are you the Queen?\u201d she asked eagerly, running forward.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the beautiful lady. And all the Fairies stopped and stood\nmotionless as she spoke. She had great shining wings that moved up\nand down, trembling like flower-petals, and her face gleamed with a\nwonderfully sunny smile; and sometimes she swayed a little, like a very\ntall lily in a high wind. And no one could say what colour her eyes\nwere, nor what sort of features she had. But one knew at once that she\nwas surely the Queen of the Fairy Folk.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d she said again. \u201cI am the Queen. What is it that you wish of me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, your Majesty!\u201d cried the Fairies who had followed Meg; and they\nall bent low, and spread out their wings as she spoke\u2014just the way a\nbird sometimes does, close to the ground, when it begins to rain,\u2014\u201cOh,\nyour Majesty! Do not listen to her! She is a friend of the Gray Dwarf\nand the Wicked King!\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that true?\u201d asked the Queen, bending over Meg, and flashing her\neyes at her until she felt as though she were looking deep into two\nhuge stars.\n\n\u201cNo!\u201d cried Meg, boldly. \u201cIt isn\u2019t!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d exclaimed the Fairies, angrily. \u201cHow truly wicked she is! And\n_how_ she lies! She _told_ us she was a friend of theirs!\u201d\n\n\u201cI said I _knew_ Grump,\u201d said Meg, ready to cry. \u201cI _never_ said he was\nmy friend. He\u2019s dreadful, and tried to kill me; and as for the Wicked\nKing, I only saw him in some magic pot-steam!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is all this about?\u201d asked the Queen, frowning slightly. \u201cCome,\nlittle girl, tell your story; we will listen.\u201d\n\nSo Meg told her story from the time she met the Gray Dwarf. The Queen\nwas much interested, and she thanked her for warning her about the\nWicked King\u2019s wish to steal her valuable spell. And the Fairies who had\nwanted to turn Meg into a rat or an oyster looked very much ashamed of\nthemselves, and hung down their wings in a very humble manner.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said the Queen, \u201chow did it happen that you, a little mortal\ngirl, were travelling through the Wonderful Wood alone, so very, very\nfar from your own country?\u201d\n\nThen Meg remembered her real errand, and explained at greater length,\ntelling all about Mother Goose\u2019s directions, and everything from the\nvery beginning. At last it was all told, and the Queen sat for a space\nin silence, as though considering what she had heard.\n\nAt last she sent two of the Fairies for the crystal box containing the\nspell. When they returned, bearing it between them, she opened the\nlittle casket, and took out of it a roll of paper as blue as the sky,\ncovered with writing that glowed like orange fire.\n\n\u201cListen,\u201d said the Fairy Queen, and then read aloud:\n\n \u201c\u2018Closed door, closed shell,\n Locked box, sealed well,\n Shot bolt, shut gate\n Yield up your contents straight.\n All things that fastened are,\n Shake off the spell or bar;\n All strange disguises flee,\n Everything held,\u2014go free!\n Closed door, closed shell,\n Yield to the opening spell!\u2019\n\nNow, do you understand that?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I think so\u2014partly,\u201d said Meg, doubtfully. \u201cBut what am I to do with\nit, please?\u201d\n\n\u201cTake it to your brother,\u201d said the Queen. \u201cWith it he can free Humpty\nDumpty, and fulfil Mother Goose\u2019s command. He has only to read it to\nHumpty Dumpty, at the same time striking the great egg-shell with\nsomething hard and sharp, and the young prince will be free, and in his\nown shape once more.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, splendid!\u201d cried Meg joyfully, clapping her hands, and dancing\nfirst on one foot and then on the other.\n\n\u201cThe next difficulty,\u201d continued the Queen, \u201cwill be for your brother\nto escape. Humpty Dumpty can escape from the wall well enough, but your\nbrother cannot be freed by the spell, for he will be neither bound nor\nlocked up; in neither shell, prison, nor box; behind no gate, no door,\nand no bars. Yet he will be on the top of the city wall, which is near\nthe ground on the inside, but far, far from it on the outside. For this\nhe has only to whisper \u2018Help me!\u2019 into one of the red flowers on the\nvine that grows on the outer side of the wall. Then he can clamber down\nby the help of these tiny climbing creepers. They are Fairy Flowers,\nand like to give aid. They cannot grow inside the city of the Wicked\nKing, but they come as near as possible, and are always hoping that\nsome day they may be able to help someone. Now, little Mortal, take my\nspell and hurry back with it!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but\u2014your Majesty!\u201d stammered Meg. \u201cI\u2014I was told to serve you for a\nyear and a day, or until I had done you some great service!\u201d\n\nThe Queen laughed until it sounded like a hundred little gold bells.\n\n\u201cDear child, you have served me,\u201d she said. \u201cHave you already forgotten\nthe warning you gave me?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d exclaimed Meg, and was dumb. She had never thought of that!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\n_Under the Sea of Glass_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\n_Under the Sea of Glass_\n\n\nOf course, when Dick found himself alone in the Wonderful Wood, he was\nas surprised as his two sisters had been, and just a wee bit frightened\ntoo; though, being a boy, he would not admit it, even to himself!\n\nHe trotted down the wood-path\u2014which twisted and turned like a long\nsnake\u2014with his hands in his trousers pockets, and a very determined\nheart. He was extremely proud of having been chosen by Mother Goose\nfor the task of rescuing her son, Humpty Dumpty, and thought that it\nshowed how really sensible she was, after all. For of course, those\nthings\u2014rescuing prisoners, and all that\u2014were always done by _men!_\n\nHe thought it a pity that neither she nor Bizzybuzz had given him any\nclearer directions about getting to the city of the Wicked King, but he\nhoped to meet plenty of people from whom he could ask the way. So he\nhurried on quite cheerfully, earnest and excited, into the depths of\nthe Wonderful Wood. And very soon the wood grew lighter and thinner,\nand finally came to an end altogether, and lo and behold! there he was,\non the shore of the Sea of Glass!\n\nYou see, Dick\u2019s journey through the Wonderful Wood had been short, for\nall his adventures were to follow.\n\nThe Sea of Glass looked like a big green mirror, polished and clear and\nsmooth. It did not look like water, nor ice, nor like anything except\njust what it was. Through the glass surface Dick could see faintly\nmoving shadows and ripples. Evidently there was water underneath. As a\nmatter of fact, it had once been a real, regular sea; only the Wicked\nKing had put a glass lid over it, and screwed it on for all eternity.\n\nDick stared at the Sea of Glass for a minute very nervously and\ndoubtfully; then, thinking of Humpty Dumpty, he stepped manfully out\nupon it. It was very slippery, but for a little while he got along\nfairly well by holding his hands out to balance himself and keeping his\nlegs very far apart.\n\nThen suddenly he stumbled a little and swayed, and as he did so,\nsomething slipped from his pocket, and fell with a sharp \u201ccling!\u201d on\nthe glass. It was his jack-knife! He remembered that he had wanted to\nbring it with him, and that Bizzybuzz had promised it to him, and here\nit was! He stooped and picked it up, and then stopped a moment to open\nit and examine all its blades and corkscrews, and to be quite sure that\nit really was his own long-lost jack-knife.\n\nNow, the one thing you must _not_ do on the Sea of Glass is to stand\nstill. Dick felt his feet slip from under him, and put out his hands\nwildly. He lost his balance, fell, and the sharp blade of the open\nknife splintered down through the glass, with a sound like the smashing\nof three dozen fine wine-glasses.... The next moment, Dick, still\nholding the fatal knife, was falling down, down, down, through cold\ngreen water. Strange to say, he did not feel at all like drowning; but\nit was very cold and dark and unpleasant, and he heartily wished that\nhe had never had a jack-knife.\n\nDown\u2014down\u2014down he went, and passed a shoal of big fishes who made\ndreadful faces at him as he whizzed by. Suddenly, before he had\nentirely grasped what had happened to him, he found himself on solid\nground again, at the bottom of the sea, rather jarred but otherwise\nunhurt, and was staring at the oddest sort of creature that he had ever\nseen.\n\nThis Creature was sitting just in front of him, in a sort of cave,\nlined with sea-shells and pink and white coral. On every side was\ngrowing sea-grass of scarlet and purple and green, and there were\nalso sea-flowers and waving weeds of all kinds and colours. Quivering\njelly-fish of pink and orange floated through the dim water, and\nstar-fish lay about upon the pale, deep-sea sand. Sword-fish,\nporpoises, and other ocean things peered in upon the scene, with their\nqueer, fixed goggle eyes. The light seemed to be filtered through a\ndeep green shade.\n\nThe Creature himself was shaped like a man, but he was covered\ncompletely with silver-green scales, and had hair like long, lank\nsea-weed. His eyes were as cold and pale and glassy as those of the\nfishes, and his expression, slight as it was, was entirely disagreeable.\n\n\u201cThis is most annoying,\u201d he remarked, surveying Dick. \u201cWhat are you?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you mean \u2018Who are you?\u2019\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Creature. \u201c_What!_\u201d\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d said Dick. \u201cI am a little boy.\u201d\n\n\u201cI never heard of it,\u201d said the Creature. \u201cI don\u2019t think I like you.\nYou may go!\u201d\n\n\u201cCertainly!\u201d replied Dick, meekly. \u201cDo\u2014do you mind telling me how?\u201d\n\n\u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d said the Creature. After that, conversation stopped for\na while, and they merely stared at each other in silence. At last the\nScaled One spoke again, this time very crossly:\n\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t you go?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019d be _very_ glad to!\u201d said poor Dick. \u201cBut you see, I don\u2019t know how\nto go. Would it be too much trouble for you to tell me how to get to\nthe City of the Wicked King?\u201d\n\n\u201c_What!_\u201d roared the Creature, so suddenly and violently that Dick\njumped. \u201c_I_ tell anyone anything about the Wicked King? Don\u2019t you know\nthat he is the deadliest enemy that I have?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, no!\u201d answered Dick, a little disturbed by this outburst. \u201cWon\u2019t\nyou tell me about it, please?\u201d\n\nHis new acquaintance looked fiercely at him for a moment, and then\nbecame suddenly plunged in utter melancholy.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d he sighed, while a tear oozed out of his eye and made a bubble in\nthe green water, \u201c\u2019tis a sad tale! Listen, and hear the sorrowful story\nof the Sea Kobold!\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that you?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cWho else?\u201d said the Scaly Creature. Then in mournful tones he began:\n\n\u201cI am the Sea Kobold. I own this sea, and everything in it. Once I\nowned the surface of the sea too, but that was long ago. I owned\nthe pretty green waves with silver crests, that break in the bright\ndaytime, and the big black ones that come at night in the dark of the\nmoon. And I owned too the little pink ones that you see at sunset, when\nthe West is burning up all the horrid things that have happened during\nthe day.\n\n\u201cI took a fatherly interest in the little boats that floated there,\nand in the pretty, long-haired mermaids who swam up into the moonlight\nto sing love-songs to the sailors. The fishes that leaped and circled\nand shone in the purple light of dusk were all my friends, and the big\nand small winds knew me for their master. And I had a little son,\u2014a\nbeautiful, scaly son, born in the sea, and fated to inherit my power\nand my great sea-kingdom. But all that was very, very long ago!\u201d\n\nHe wept.\n\n\u201cThat was surely very nice,\u201d said Dick, to encourage him.\n\n\u201cNice! It was\u2014\u201d The Sea Kobold sought for a word.\n\n\u201cBully?\u201d suggested Dick.\n\n\u201cI never heard the adjective,\u201d said the Sea Kobold, primly. \u201cBut I will\naccept it for the moment. It was bully!\u2014What was I saying? Ah, yes! It\nis a _very_ sad story. The Wicked King lives, as you must know, on the\nfurther shore of this sea. He has a very pretty daughter, with whom\nPrince Humpty Dumpty used to be in love.\u201d\n\n\u201cHumpty Dumpty!\u201d exclaimed Dick, now all ears.\n\n\u201cYes.\u2014Don\u2019t interrupt, please! It distracts my mind.\u2014Well, the Wicked\nKing wanted her to marry someone else,\u2014a gentleman named Grump, I\nbelieve,\u2014and forbade her to even see Humpty Dumpty. But of course the\nlovers would not obey him. He was so cruel and unkind always that his\ndaughter did not think it wrong to do as he had told her not to; and,\nfor my part, I did not, either.\n\n\u201cHumpty Dumpty came every night and sang love-songs to her, and one\nnight he came in a beautiful little boat, made out of a big shell, with\na sail spun entirely out of rose-leaves of different colours. And down\nby the shore he sang the very prettiest song that he had ever sung\u2014or\nthat any one else had ever sung, for that matter\u2014and that I know, for I\nwas listening. A _very_ pretty song it was, to be sure!\n\n\u201cWe were great friends, he and I, and I held his boat between two quiet\nwaves when he went on shore to meet the Princess. And down she came\nfrom the City Wall Gate, holding up her skirts daintily and looking as\nsweet as possible. And they got into the sea-shell boat, and I puffed\na breeze to fill the rose-leaf sail, and off they sailed.\n\n\u201cBut just then who should appear upon the shore but the Wicked King\nhimself, and Grump with him! Grump\u2014who was half a wizard and a _very_\ndisagreeable person, besides being very much in love with the little\nPrincess\u2014jumped into the sea and swam after the boat. The Wicked King\nstood on the shore and raved and threatened and swore.\n\n\u201cI tried my best to drown Grump, but he wouldn\u2019t sink any more than a\npiece of cork, and in spite of all my efforts he overtook the boat and\npulled it slowly back to the shore. Grump made some magic passes over\nthe prow of the little sea-shell skiff, and\u2014oh, \u2019tis too sad!\u2014when\nthe boat reached the shore, there was nothing in it but the Princess,\ncrying like a baby, and beside her a big egg.\n\n\u201cThey put poor Humpty Dumpty, in his new shape, on the City Wall, and\nshut the pretty little Princess up in a high tower. And then they took\nmy little boy Mudge, and made him a prisoner too, just to punish me\nfor having helped the young Prince. And last of all\u201d\u2014the Sea Kobold\nchoked\u2014\u201cthey put a glass lid over my sea, and screwed it down tight.\nAnd now I can never, never go up to the surface any more. And there are\nno more waves, and no more boats, and no more mermaids singing in the\nmoonlight to the sailors, and\u2014no\u2014more\u2014\u201d The Sea Kobold dissolved into\ntears.\n\n\u201cOh, cheer up!\u201d said Dick, absent-mindedly. He was too much interested\nin the Sea Kobold\u2019s story to pay much attention to his grief. \u201cDo you\nhappen to know just where the Princess is now?\u201d he asked.\n\nThe Sea Kobold shook his head.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he answered. \u201cI know that she is in the highest tower in the Red\nCity.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe _highest tower_; that\u2019s something to know, anyway,\u201d said Dick,\nthoughtfully. He was glad to know that in the Red City he would have\none person ready to help him if it were possible.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d he added, \u201cwould you\u2014_would_ you be so kind, please, as to\ntell me how to get to the Red City?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure _I_ don\u2019t know any way,\u201d said the Sea Kobold, mournfully.\n\u201cSince that glass cover was screwed on\u2014By the bye, how did you get\nhere?\u201d he asked suddenly.\n\n\u201cI fell, and my knife broke a hole in the glass,\u201d explained Dick. He\nshowed the offending blade, and then shut and dropped it into his\npocket.\n\n\u201cWell, go back through it, then,\u201d said the Sea Kobold. \u201cWhile we are on\nthe subject, I may tell you that I am glad you have made a hole. I can\ngo up now and then to look out, though, of course, I shall never dare\nto stay very long, for fear the Wicked King or Grump might see me and\nplan some fresh trouble for me. Now good-bye; I can\u2019t be bothered with\nyou any more.\u201d\n\nAnd he closed his fishy eyes and appeared to sleep.\n\nSince there seemed nothing more to be gained by staying where he was,\nDick turned his back on the Sea Kobold and his cave, and walked off\namong the rocks and the big ocean-trees that were scattered along the\nbottom of the sea.\n\nHe felt rather discouraged and lonely, for he could not imagine how\nhe should ever get up again to the hole he had made in the glass. It\noccurred to him that he might climb one of the queer, tall, lanky\nsea-trees; but when he stopped to look, he could see that the top did\nnot nearly reach to the surface. What was going to happen to him next?\nhe wondered.\n\nHe soon found out.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nX\n\n_A Fish Tea-Party_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\n_A Fish Tea-Party_\n\n\nAs Dick walked along on the dim brown-gray sand on the bottom of the\nsea, he began to notice, as his eyes grew more and more accustomed\nto the faint greenish light, the many marvels which were all around\nhim. Never, in after years, could he quite recall all the strange and\nbeautiful things that he saw during that submarine stroll, but what\nhe did remember made him long many times to visit the sea-floor once\nagain, and look at the wonderful sights which were to be seen there.\n\nBesides the masses of many-coloured sea-weed, and the odd, bright-hued\nsea-flowers that grew there, there were whole forests of coral,\nsnow-white, pale yellow, and deep scarlet. There were narrow rock-paths\nwhere gold glittered in the crevices, and great lumps of brown\nand yellow agate gleamed dimly through the water. There were heaps\nof pearls,\u2014as though some mysterious sea-miser had been collecting\nand hoarding them; and garnets that made the water all around look\nas though it were dyed crimson. The sea-moss of purple and red and\ndull green hung waveringly from the rocks, and lay in patches on the\nsand-floor, like strange, gaudy rugs.\n\nThe sea-trees moved slowly with the faint motion of the deep-sea\ncurrents, and in the distance looked like dark-green shadows, stirring\nacross a sheet of glass. Everywhere were shells\u2014large and small, pink,\nwhite, black, and gray, lying at his feet, lodged in niches in the\nhigh, black rocks, floating, caught in tangles of dull sea-weed. And\neverywhere, too, were fishes, some of them quite ordinary-looking\ncreatures, but others different from any that Dick had ever seen even\nin picture-books.\n\nSuddenly the rock-walled path which he had been following came to\nan end, and he found himself in a huge, green-washed clearing, with\ndistant walls and a clean-swept, sandy floor. This place was filled\nwith all sorts of strange sea-creatures,\u2014principally fish, although\nthere were several queer things that did not look as though they\nbelonged in the natural history books.\n\nIn the very centre of the big crowded circle sat an old woman, in a\ndark green cloak and hood, which floated away from her skinny face and\nfigure whenever she waved her arm\u2014which she did very often. For she\nseemed to be the mistress of ceremonies down here, and all the other\ncreatures listened with respect to what she said. When she saw Dick,\nshe beckoned to him, and he went up to her feeling even more frightened\nthan when he had faced Mother Goose or the Sea Kobold.\n\n\u201cI am the Old Witch of the Sea,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd my husband is the Old\nMan of the Sea. Have you ever read \u2018Sinbad the Sailor\u2019?\u201d\n\nDick shook his head.\n\n\u201cIn that case,\u201d said the Witch, thoughtfully, \u201cI am not sure whether or\nnot you would better stay to tea.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, is this a party?\u201d asked Dick eagerly, looking around him with new\ninterest.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said the Witch, proudly. \u201cI give a tea-party every week for\nthe fish. The Sea Kobold, the real ruler of this sea, has become so\nbad-tempered, since they screwed him in here, that he won\u2019t do a\nsingle thing for the amusement of his poor unfortunate subjects; so,\nof course, I feel it my duty to do what I can to cheer them up. Do you\nknow him, by the way?\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Sea Kobold?\u201d said Dick, a little bewildered. \u201cYes, I\u2014I\u2014have met\nhim. He didn\u2019t seem to like me very much, though.\u201d\n\n\u201cDear, dear!\u201d said the Witch. \u201cThen I\u2019ll warrant that he never even\noffered you a cup of tea!\u201d\n\n\u201cNo, indeed!\u201d answered Dick.\n\n\u201cDear, dear!\u201d exclaimed the Witch again. \u201cThen you must certainly come\nto my tea-party, even if you have never heard of my husband, the Old\nMan of the Sea.\u201d\n\nShe motioned Dick to sit down on the sand, between two horrid-looking\nfishes, and began to bustle about hospitably, among a number of\nqueer-shaped shells which, Dick gathered, took the place of cups at\nfish tea-parties.\n\n\u201cWith or without salt?\u201d asked the Witch.\n\nDick started.\n\n\u201cI\u2014I beg your pardon,\u201d he stammered. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d\n\n\u201cI _said_, \u2018with or without salt\u2019!\u201d snapped the Witch, holding a pink\nand orange shell in her hand.\n\n\u201cWithout, I think,\u2014thank you,\u201d answered Dick, as politely as he could.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re making a great mistake,\u201d the Witch told him seriously. \u201cNever\ntake tea in the sea without salt!\u201d\n\nDick said he would take salt, after all, and the Witch brought him\nthe pink and orange shell, filled with a pale liquid which tasted as\nthough it were made of sea-weed. As a matter of fact, it _was_ made of\nsea-weed.\n\n\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t it spill out?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cWhy doesn\u2019t _what_ spill out?\u201d said the Witch.\n\n\u201cThe\u2014the tea,\u201d said Dick, wondering more and more how you could drink\nliquid when you were sitting under the water.\n\n\u201cBecause there isn\u2019t anywhere to spill it!\u201d said the Witch. \u201cStupid!\u201d\n\nDick drank his salt tea, and found that it tasted better after you had\nbecome a little used to it. The fish seemed to enjoy it immensely.\n\nAs they all sipped their tea, Dick had a chance to look at his\nfellow-guests more closely. They were a queer collection.\n\nOn one side of him sat a big skate-fish, which looked so ridiculous\nthat Dick was afraid to stare at him long lest he should laugh out\nloud. He looked just like a big pie-plate, with an eye set in each\nside, and the funniest little wisp of a tail that you ever saw. On the\nother was a shark, with a gray back, white waistcoat effect, a square\nhead, and two enormous sets of saw-like teeth. Next came a mackerel,\nall brown and dappled; then a bluefish, almost black in colour; then\na silver salmon; then a huge-mouthed shad; then a haddock, a cod, and\na porpoise which seemed to have some trouble in overcoming its desire\nto keep jumping all the time; then a butter-fish,\u2014flat like a small\npancake; then a short, stumpy porgie; then a bull-head, thick and\ndull-looking, with two little delicate horns on his ugly forehead; then\na sea-trout, with the prettiest suit of orange-spotted brown and deep\npink; then a swordfish, waving his sword-snout about in what looked\nlike a very dangerous manner; then a bass, and a sunfish with fins set\nabove and below, like enormous sun-rays.\n\nOn the farther side of the great circle there were a number of even\nmore extraordinary fish. There was an octopus, or devil-fish,\u2014the\nkind that try to pull sailors out of their boats and crush them to\ndeath with their long, strong, innumerable arms; a tarpon, huge and\nbeautiful; a cuttle-fish, floating in a sort of inky halo; and, far in\nthe background, a monster whale. He had an appetite in keeping with his\nsize, and the Old Witch of the Sea had to take him fifty shells of tea\nbefore he was even sufficiently satisfied to blow his thanks in a great\nspurt of foaming water.\n\nDick also noticed a number of green lobsters and crabs of all sizes,\nand scattered about on the ground were masses of oysters, clams,\nmussels, and scollops,\u2014their small round shells making the prettiest\nsort of a pattern in blue, gray, and black. Then, too, there were\ncountless eels, wriggling their long grayish-green snaky bodies through\nthe water on all sides.\n\nBut after a while all the sea-weed tea was drunk, and even the whale\nswam lumberingly away, and all the smaller fishes wriggled their thanks\nto the Witch and departed likewise, and Dick was left quite alone with\nhis hostess.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said the Old Witch of the Sea, \u201cwhat can I do for you,\nlittle mortal boy?\u201d\n\nDick explained his trouble, and asked her if she could not possibly\nhelp him to reach the surface of the water and continue his journey to\nthe City of the Wicked King.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the Witch, shaking her head thoughtfully. \u201cI am wise and\nold,\u2014oh, very, very old, indeed! But I cannot help you in this. But I\ncan take you to someone who _can_ help you; only you must come with me\nobediently, and do everything that I tell you to, and not stop to talk\nwith the sea-folk on your way.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, indeed, indeed I will do just what you tell me to!\u201d cried Dick,\nearnestly. \u201cMay we not start at once, please? And\u2014and\u2014\u201d he added\nhesitatingly, \u201cI am very much obliged for the tea.\u201d\n\nThe Old Witch of the Sea bowed with dignity, and said, \u201cYou are\nentirely welcome, I am sure,\u201d in a very grand way. Then, as they\nbegan to walk on across the sand, she proceeded to talk further about\nherself,\u2014her great age and her even greater wisdom.\n\n\u201cYou see,\u201d said the Witch, \u201c_I_ am one of the oldest inhabitants of\nthe ocean. _I_ it was who gave Hans Andersen\u2019s poor Little Mermaid\nher pretty feet, that hurt her so terribly until she was turned into\nsea-foam. _I_ told Mr. Andersen about the matter myself, by the bye.\nAnd _I_ fitted out Sinbad\u2019s Cave. And _I_ sent word to the three Rhine\nmaidens to come here and live after they had gotten back their gold.\nI explained that though Alberich and the gods and all those other\nhorrid interfering creatures were very properly dead and gone, they\nnever could tell what might happen in that Rhine neighbourhood,\u2014horrid,\nscandalous place, I call it,\u2014so they came here to live. Would you like\nto call on them? They live just around the corner.\u201d\n\nAnd without waiting for Dick to answer, she whisked him around a big\nblack rock, and into the presence of three very pretty young women,\nwho were swimming about and singing a soft, rippling song. In a cleft\non the rock glowed something bright and yellow. Dick did not know then\nthat it was the famous Rhine gold.\n\n\u201cI want to present to you\u2014\u201d began the Witch; but the three young women\nonly cried, \u201cWe are busy guarding our gold,\u2014don\u2019t interrupt us!\u201d And\nthey began to sing and swim faster than ever.\n\n\u201cMannerless creatures!\u201d grumbled the Witch, as they went on their way\nonce more. \u201cAlmost as bad as that Lorelei girl. She lives farther down\nthe rock-street, so we won\u2019t call on her. She\u2019s just as ungrateful as\nthe rest, though I got _her_ here too.\u201d\n\nAt that moment a crowd of children came romping by. They were\nqueer-looking little things, half of their bodies made up of scales and\nfins and fish-tails, and the other half of rosy pink and white flesh\nand blood. With them came a number of strange fishy animals that barked.\n\n\u201cWhat are they?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cMer-children with their pets, the sea-dogs,\u201d responded the Witch.\n\n\u201cCome and play with us,\u201d cried the Mer-children when they saw Dick.\n\u201cCome and play with the starfish, and have a ride on one of our\nsea-horses.\u201d\n\nBut the Witch would not let him join them, even for a moment.\n\n\u201cThe Mer-people are dangerous folk,\u201d she told him. \u201cThese children are\nnot like the Water Babies of whom you may have heard. If you played\nwith _these_ too long, you would lose your own human soul, and become a\nMake Believe person, like the rest of us.\u201d\n\nThey went on in silence for a minute or two.\n\n\u201cOh, how pretty!\u201d cried Dick, suddenly.\n\nHe pointed to a group of lovely maidens and handsome young men (all\nwith bodies that ended in shining fish-tails) who were swimming\ngracefully through the water, while two sad-faced men, with wreaths of\npale blue flowers in their hair, played a soft, slow melody upon harps.\n\n\u201cThe Mermen and Mermaids are having a ball,\u201d said the Witch. \u201cAnd they\nhave induced two of the Necker-folk to play for them. The Necker are\nthe saddest race of elves in the water, for they are always longing for\nsouls to be given them. Even while they play for the gay Mer-people to\ndance, they are thinking of the souls they have not yet won.\u201d\n\nThey passed all sorts of queer beasts as they journeyed on. There were\nnot only sea-horses and sea-dogs, but sea-serpents that seemed to have\nbeen painted all the colours of the rainbow, and shiny, emerald-green\nsea-dragons, and one terrible great thing, which seemed to be half\nasleep, and about which the Witch said that a gentleman called Tennyson\nhad once written a poem. She said that the name of the Thing was the\nKraken.\n\nSo on and on they went, until Dick\u2019s mind had become a sort of vague\njumble of queer fishy sights, and it seemed as though he had lived\nforever at the bottom of the sea.\n\nAnd suddenly he discovered that he was alone! The Old Witch of the Sea\nhad left him, and he was all by himself in the awful dark green depths\nof the ocean that lay under the Sea of Glass!\n\nWhat had become of his guide? Had she left him on purpose, or had she\nbeen called away, in some queer fairy way which he did not understand?\nOr was it possible that she had indeed brought him to the place where\nhe was to be given the help he had asked?\n\nHe looked about him on every side, and even up into the green water\nover his head, but he could not see even a fish! He was utterly alone,\nthis time! Now, at last, everything was quite hopeless.\n\n\u201cDear, dear, dear!\u201d cried a sweet, half-mocking voice beside him. \u201cWhat\nis the matter? Why do you look so sad, little mortal boy?\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\n_Into the City of the Wicked King_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\n_Into the City of the Wicked King_\n\n\nDick turned, and saw a very pretty lady, in a green gown that floated\nabout her in the water, and bare feet that lightly pressed the sand.\n\n\u201cI want to get to the Red City,\u201d he explained simply.\n\n\u201cWell, come along!\u201d said the pretty lady, with a musical little laugh.\nAnd she picked him up in her arms and held him close. \u201cNow shut your\neyes!\u201d\n\nHe did as she told him to; and she kissed him lightly. Her lips felt\nwarm, even through the cold water. \u201cNow open your eyes!\u201d she commanded.\n\nDick stared about him. He was no longer at the bottom of the sea, but\non solid dry land again, just in front of a big iron gate, with a gray\nstone wall stretching on either side, and the tops of a number of\ncrimson houses and turrets showing beyond the wall.\n\nThe pretty lady put Dick down, and laughed again.\n\n\u201cHere you are!\u201d she said, \u201cat the very gate of the Red City.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut\u2014but\u2014\u201d gasped Dick. \u201cWhat became of the Old Witch of the Sea?\u201d\n\nThe lady laughed even more merrily than before.\n\n\u201cI am the Old Witch of the Sea,\u201d she said. \u201cOh, I am ever so many\npersons! It is my pet game, playing at being all sorts of different\npeople! Good-bye, little mortal boy. I have an idea that we shall\nbe very good friends one of these days, and I\u2019m glad that we met!\nGood-bye,\u2014and don\u2019t forget that you have been kissed by the Fairy of\nFancy.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs that your name?\u201d asked Dick, looking at her gravely.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s one of my names. Your sister Bab calls me the Idle Princess, and\nif you asked Meg, she would say that I was the Lady Dreams-Come-True.\nYou\u2019ll know me by a hundred other names by and by!... Good luck, and\ngood-bye!\u201d And she danced away from him laughing, her golden hair\ntossing in the wind. In a moment she had disappeared.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d thought Dick, \u201cto get into that Red City!\u201d\n\nWhile he was thinking this problem over, he heard a voice cry:\n\u201cGood-fortune, Dick! I\u2019m off to see how Bab and Meg are getting on. You\nhave done well to get here so soon! Good luck! Good luck!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201cSHE WAS SURELY THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRY FOLK\u201d]\n\nIt was Bizzybuzz! Before Dick could even answer him, he was off,\na mere glimmering green speck in the distant light. Dick felt more\ncheerful after seeing him, but he wished that he might have stopped\nlong enough to advise him as to the best way of entering the city.\n\nFor lack of fuller directions, he started to follow the wall for a\ntime, to see if there might not be an opening. And as he walked, he\nsuddenly heard a voice just over his head, whispering in saddest\naccents, \u201cOh, shall I never be free?\u201d Dick looked up, startled. There,\nat the top of the wall, was Humpty Dumpty himself, at last!\n\nAs we have heard before, Humpty Dumpty was an Egg,\u2014a huge white, smooth\negg. The only thing about him that was different from other eggs was\nthat he had features; that is, he had features of a sort, and also\nlimbs, though very queer ones. On the pallid white surface of the\negg-shell was sketched a large mournful face which looked as though it\nhad been drawn in lead-pencil; and two little thin arms and two little\nthin legs stood out from the shell like spider-limbs. He was sighing\nand moaning in a very pathetic way, and Dick felt extremely sorry for\nhim.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! Oh, dear!\u201d groaned poor Humpty Dumpty, addressing the air\nand the sky. \u201cWill no one ever come to rescue me?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed!\u201d cried Dick, eagerly. \u201cI have come to rescue you!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d exclaimed Humpty Dumpty, \u201ca Rescuer at last? Let me look! Oh,\nlet me look!\u201d\n\nHe gazed down at Dick, and then his expression became even sadder than\nbefore.\n\n\u201cWhat could _you_ do?\u201d he asked in deep depression. \u201cYou\u2014a little\nmortal boy!\u201d\n\n\u201cI know I\u2019m little,\u201d said Dick, feeling rather hurt. \u201cBut your mother\nthinks that I can help you get away, anyway!\u201d\n\n\u201cDid my mother send you?\u201d questioned Humpty Dumpty, in surprise.\n\n\u201cYes, indeed!\u201d said Dick. \u201cAnd, oh, dear Prince Humpty Dumpty, won\u2019t\nyou please let me try to help you?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, you\u2019re welcome to _try_!\u201d said Prince Humpty Dumpty, gloomily.\n\u201cThere\u2019s not the slightest objection to your doing _that!_ Only I feel\nit my duty to warn you that you won\u2019t like it in this place. It isn\u2019t\nat all a pleasant city to live in, and the King is a most annoying\nperson!\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Dick, \u201cI don\u2019t expect to have much fun, you know; not what\nyou\u2019d _really_ call fun, that is! But I want to get into that city most\nawfully. Can you think of a way? The wall is pretty high to climb.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it is very easy to get _in_!\u201d declared the Egg, with dark meaning.\n\u201c_Your_ trouble will be in getting out!\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2014I suppose so,\u201d said Dick, and for a moment felt just a wee bit\nqueer. Suppose that the Wicked King or this charming person called\nGrump should take it into his head to turn him into an egg,\u2014or\nsomething even worse? But that cowardly thought only lasted for\na moment, for Dick was a brave little boy, and aloud he cried\ncheerfully, \u201cWell, tell me how to get _in_, anyway!\u201d\n\n\u201cClimb up the flowering vine,\u201d said Humpty Dumpty; \u201crepeat in each\nblossom, as you pass, the words, \u2018Help me! Help me!\u2019 That\u2019s all.\u201d\n\nDick noticed that the outside of the wall was covered with pretty\nclimbing flowers of a bright red colour. It looked like a morning-glory\nvine, only the blooms were scarlet. He put his foot into the tangle\nof green at the bottom, and cried boldly, \u201cHelp me! Help me!\u201d into\nthe first red cup that he saw. In a moment more he was climbing up\nas easily and merrily as though the delicate tendrils were a strong\nladder. Once at the top he thanked the flowers politely, and shook\nHumpty Dumpty\u2019s thin spidery hand.\n\n\u201cWhy can\u2019t you get down that same way?\u201d he inquired.\n\n\u201cLooking like this?\u201d said the unfortunate Egg. \u201cGo home to my mother\nin an egg-shell? Never! Besides, I\u2019ll never go until I can take\nthe Princess with me. And besides all _that_, you just try to move\nme\u2014that\u2019s all!\u201d\n\nDick tried his best, and soon found that the great Egg was quite\nstationary.\n\n\u201cWithout the help of some sort of a spell I can\u2019t move nor be moved,\u201d\nsaid Humpty Dumpty, with sad calm. \u201cYou see why _I_ haven\u2019t escaped,\ndon\u2019t you?\u201d\n\nDick felt more determined than ever to find the Princess and join\nforces with her. Surely, since she was in love with Humpty Dumpty, she\nmust be able to suggest some way of setting him free.\n\nHe jumped down into the Red City, and, waving a farewell to Humpty\nDumpty, he ran away in search of the Princess.\n\n\u201cThe tallest tower in the city,\u201d he repeated to himself, remembering\nthe Sea Kobold. \u201cThat ought to be easy to find.\u201d\n\nHe looked about him anxiously. The Red City of the Wicked King was a\nplace of many and narrow streets, that turned, every other moment, in\nthe queerest, crookedest ways imaginable, and sometimes brought up in\nshort dark alleys that frightened Dick. He wandered about for some\ntime between the silent dark-red buildings,\u2014everything was crimson in\nthis horrid city,\u2014and for a long time he did not meet a living soul.\nHe wondered what had become of the people who must live in these funny\nred houses. They surely couldn\u2019t all be dead, or sick, or asleep, or\nin prison, or away visiting in the country. There must be some few who\nwere shopping, or paying calls, or attending to their business, or\nlooking out of their front doors, or taking a walk. Yet there seemed to\nbe no one at all.\n\nThere was something really rather horrid and frightening in these\nlittle silent red streets, with so many corners and turnings and so\nmany blind alleys (they are little short streets only open at one end)\nand shut-up-looking houses. Dick found himself hurrying faster than\nbefore, and looking around every now and then, as though something\nunpleasant and big were behind him.\n\nWhere did the Wicked King live? he wondered; and where, oh, where was\nthe highest tower in the city?\n\nAt last, as he was hastening along, he happened to peer into a window\nthat was nearly on a level with his own head. Of course it is always\nrude to look into people\u2019s windows, and Dick knew it; but things were\nso very dreadful, and he was so anxious to find some human being, that\nhe thought that this once he might do it.\n\nAnd there, gazing out of the window, was a little boy of about his own\nage.\n\nDick stopped at once, and said \u201cHollo!\u201d and the other little boy said\nthe same; and then the two little boys stood and stared at each other.\n\n\u201cMy name\u2019s Dick,\u201d said one.\n\n\u201cMine\u2019s Mudge,\u201d said the other.\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d cried Dick. \u201cNot the Sea Kobold\u2019s son?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, indeed!\u201d sighed the little boy. \u201cAnd I\u2019m kept a prisoner here in\nthe Red City, because my father made the Wicked King angry. I am very\ntired of being a prisoner; I want to go back and live in the sea. They\ntook all my lovely scales away, too; and I do so want them back!\u201d\n\nDick was very sorry for poor Mudge, but he was glad they had met, and\nhe asked him to tell him the way to the highest tower in the city.\n\n\u201cYou go on to the right, always to the right,\u201d said Mudge, \u201cuntil you\ncome to the Palace; and then you walk around the Palace three times,\nmoving to the left; and then you stop under a tree with green flowers\non it; and then you look up, and you will see the Princess in her\ntower.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d said Dick. \u201cI\u2019ll never remember all that! Could you not\ncome with me and show me? Oh, I forgot; you\u2019re a prisoner!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh,\u201d said Mudge, \u201cI\u2019m not a prisoner in that way. I can get out of\nthis house whenever I want to. It is the city that I can\u2019t leave. I\u2019ll\ncome with you if you like. I often go to see the Princess and tell her\nhow Humpty Dumpty is looking.\u201d\n\nHe climbed out of the window as he spoke.\n\n\u201cBut doesn\u2019t he always look pretty much the same?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d said Mudge, as they set out. \u201cBut, even so, she likes to\nhear about him. I just say, \u2018He\u2019s as well as usual, your Highness!\u2019 and\nthat satisfies her.\u201d\n\n\u201cIs she a nice Princess?\u201d asked Dick.\n\n\u201cOh, yes; she\u2019s rather small, and pretty, and kind; and her father\u2019s\nhorrid to her. She wears lovely things, and sits and cries in the tower\nall day.\u201d\n\nDick felt ready to cry himself, when he thought of the poor, pretty,\nsmall, kind Princess who was in so much trouble. Perhaps he could\nrescue _her_ as well as Humpty Dumpty! He became quite excited at the\nthought. And Mudge\u2014_he_ must be rescued, of course! It was really\nwonderful, the number of people in the Red City who needed a champion\nlike himself!\n\n\u201cWhy are there no people about?\u201d he asked Mudge.\n\n\u201cBecause,\u201d Mudge answered, \u201ceveryone is too much afraid of the Wicked\nKing. When he is in a bad temper, he has people\u2019s heads chopped\noff without a moment\u2019s notice, and the citizens think it wiser and\nhealthier to keep indoors as much as possible.\u201d\n\nIn time they reached the Palace,\u2014a huge, splendid building which seemed\nto be made chiefly of rubies,\u2014and, after walking around it three times,\nalways to the left, they looked up at last through the branches of the\ngreen-blossomed tree.\n\nAnd there, sure enough, was the highest tower in the city,\u2014a tall, tall\ntower, with one little window about half-way up.\n\n\u201cHere is where the Princess lives,\u201d explained Mudge. And then he called\nsoftly, \u201cPrincess Star! Princess Star!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\n_Princess Star_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\n_Princess Star_\n\n\nDick could not imagine how the Princess could hear, \u2019way up in the air\nso high; but in a minute a pretty, frowning face appeared, leaning out\nover the window-sill. A sweet, rather cross, little voice\u2014you could\nhear every word quite clearly\u2014said, \u201cYou bad Mudge! why did you not\ncome sooner?\u201d\n\nThen she caught sight of Dick, and gave a little scream. \u201cWho\u2019s that\nwith you?\u201d\n\n\u201cSomeone sent by Mother Goose to help Prince Humpty Dumpty,\u201d said Mudge.\n\n\u201cMother Goose, my future mother-in-law!\u201d exclaimed the Princess, and\nsighed. \u201cI should like to see him closer,\u201d she added, and was silent\nfor a moment, as though thinking. But in that moment something happened.\n\nA sound of voices and tramping feet echoed around a corner of the\nPalace, and the Princess suddenly pulled in her head, while Mudge\nas promptly took to his heels. So Dick was left alone, for he was\ntoo bewildered to run at first; and by the time that he had made\nup his mind to try to escape, he was entirely surrounded by some\nfierce-looking men-at-arms, all dressed in bright red.\n\n\u201cWhat are you doing here?\u201d demanded the leader, ferociously.\n\n\u201cStealing flowers from our tree?\u201d suggested one of the others.\n\nDick did not know what to say. He hated to lie, but there was the\nPrincess to be thought of, and Humpty Dumpty, and Mother Goose, and\nMeg, and Bab, and dozens of other considerations. So he decided not to\ntell _quite_ all the truth.\n\n\u201cI\u2014they are very pretty,\u201d he admitted, hanging his head and feeling\nvery much ashamed; for his many faults had never included lying before.\n\n\u201cIt is against the law, and you must go to prison,\u201d declared the\nsoldier. \u201cProbably the Wicked King, our master, will have you beheaded\nwithout delay; and, for my part, I think that even that will be better\nthan you deserve!\u201d\n\nDick felt so sad and angry at the thought of failure\u2014to say nothing of\nthe danger that he was in\u2014that he could have cried; only, being a boy,\nof course he didn\u2019t!\n\nBut he wished _hard_ for some idea to come to him that would show him\na way out of his trouble. And suddenly a big Dragon-Fly whizzed up to\nhim, apparently on its way to the green flowers on the tree overhead.\n\nWith a sudden impulse Dick whispered \u201cHelp me, dear, good, kind\nDragon-Fly!\u201d as he had to the flowers.\n\nThe Dragon-Fly wheeled in its whirring flight, and flew close to his\nlips.\n\n\u201cTell Bizzybuzz, the Goblin,\u201d murmured Dick; and the insect darted\nswiftly away. Dick could not tell whether or no it had heard him or\nwould repeat his message, but he felt a trifle happier.\n\n\u201cCome on, Thief!\u201d said the man-at-arms, pulling Dick along by the arm.\n\nAt this point the Princess stuck her head out of the turret window once\nmore.\n\n\u201cWhat have you there?\u201d she asked very sweetly.\n\nThe men answered her most respectfully; for though she was a prisoner\nin a turret of her father\u2019s castle, they all looked up to her with\nsomething approaching adoration,\u2014something which, with all their fear,\nthey never gave her cruel father.\n\n\u201cThis is a thief, your Highness,\u201d said the head man in red, bowing very\nlow. \u201cHe was about to steal some of the flowers from the beautiful\ntree that grows under your Highness\u2019s window!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy, the horrid little wretch!\u201d exclaimed the Princess, pretending to\nbe extremely angry. \u201cJust you bring him up to me! I should like to look\nat any little boy who could be so terribly wicked!\u201d\n\n\u201cWe must take him to prison at once, your Highness,\u201d protested the man.\nBut she persisted.\n\n\u201cI want to see him!\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d like to box his wicked ears myself!\nThat lovely tree! Why, looking at it and counting its blooms every\nmorning is one of the few pleasures I have!\u201d And she pretended to sob\nbitterly. \u201cBring him up!\u201d she cried again. \u201cBring him up, I say!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, well!\u201d said the man-at-arms, with a shrug of his shoulders. \u201cOf\ncourse, if your august Highness insists\u2014\u201d And Dick was taken into\nthe Palace by a side door, and marched up ever so many stairs to the\nPrincess\u2019s room.\n\nThere they found, keeping guard, several men, who let them pass,\nlooking quite amazed. And so they came at last into the Princess Star\u2019s\ntower-prison.\n\nThe Princess Star was really a very pretty little princess, though she\ndid not look particularly cheerful nor even remarkably good-tempered;\nand her room itself was a marvel of gorgeous disorder. Flowers and\njewels and splendid stuffs were flung about as though the Princess\nhad been venting her temper upon them. There was a parrot on a perch,\na yellow cat on a cushion, a big green lizard on the end of a gold\nchain, a little silver cage of queer birds, and a big crystal basin\nfull of beautiful fishes of all sorts swimming about in rose-coloured\nwater.\n\nIn the centre of everything sat the Princess on a little gold stool\nwith three legs (for all the world like a milking-stool!), dressed in\nsome very magnificent robes and gems and with her crown somewhat awry.\n\nWhen she saw Dick, she pretended to fly into a rage and to try to box\nhis ears; but finally she very cleverly pretended to calm down, and\ndeclared that he wasn\u2019t a bad-looking little boy\u2014for a thief! And then\nshe said that she needed a page to look after her pets, and announced\nthat she would keep him. The head man-at-arms objected, of course,\nsaying that he must take the thief to prison to await the pleasure of\nthe Wicked King. But at that the Princess flew into another rage,\u2014real,\nthis time,\u2014and threw things at him\u2014beginning with a jewelled hour-glass\nand ending with a mandolin\u2014until he was very glad to leave the royal\nyoung lady\u2019s apartments on any terms.\n\nSo they all backed away as fast as they possibly could, and shut the\ndoor very tight behind them. And Dick was left alone with pretty,\nbad-tempered, disorderly Princess Star.\n\n\u201cThere!\u201d she exclaimed, flinging herself into a sort of throne-like\nchair that was made of silver and inlaid with gold. \u201cNow we can talk\nsense at last! Tell me at once who you are and why you are here!\u201d\n\nSo Dick told her obediently, and she listened with the deepest\nattention.\n\n\u201cYou\u2019re a dear little boy,\u201d she said at last, \u201cand you may sit on my\nlap if you want to.\u201d\n\nDick did not want to, for he thought it babyish; but he hated to seem\nrude. So he accepted her invitation, and found that a Princess\u2019s lap\nwas very much like other people\u2019s; it reminded him a little too much of\nhis mother\u2019s, and made him homesick. So he got down just as soon as he\ncould politely.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cwhat are we to do next? I wish we knew\nwhere the spell can be found that can move my poor Humpty Dumpty from\nhis dreadful place on the top of the city wall.\u201d\n\n\u201cSo do I\u2014\u201d Dick was beginning, when there was a sudden sound outside,\nthe door flew open, and they saw\u2014\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\n\u201c_Harness the Reindeer!_\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\n\u201c_Harness the Reindeer!_\u201d\n\n\nBut to know what they saw, we must first go back to Santa Claus\u2019s\nhouse, where we left Bab sleeping in front of the big fire. She was\ndreaming of the Sand Man and the owls and the Wooden Cow and the Idle\nPrincess all at once, when she was awakened by hearing her name called.\nShe sat up and rubbed her eyes, and Wiggles barked.\n\nSanta Claus was standing near them talking to a new-comer, and who\nshould that new-comer be but Bizzybuzz!\n\n\u201cMother Goose thought it was about time for me to look you up,\u201d he\nexplained, after Bab had greeted him enthusiastically. \u201cSanta Claus\ntells me that you have been doing very well.\u2014Aha!\u201d he added, seeming\npleased. \u201cSo you have the dog at last? What did I tell you? But let me\nhear more about this rescue of the Wooden Cow. What did you say the\nBrownies wanted to do with the pieces?\u201d\n\n\u201cThey wanted\u2014\u201d began Bab; but Santa Claus interrupted her.\n\n\u201cMy dear child,\u201d he said, \u201cthough they were indeed sent by the Wicked\nKing as they told you, they were sent chiefly for the purpose of trying\nto stop _you_ in your journey and preventing you from reaching _me!_\nThey tried their best to get you to help them chop up my cow; and if\nyou had, you would have been in the power of the Wicked King forever\nand ever! The reason that they wanted a horn of the magic cow was that\nwith one of them or even a piece of one you can turn people into wood\nat a moment\u2019s notice! And the Wicked King and Grump are always on the\nlookout for spells,\u2014particularly those which can be put to a bad use in\nbad hands.\u201d\n\nBab was much shocked by all this; but Bizzybuzz nodded his head, and\nsaid: \u201cOf course; that\u2019s simple enough. Everyone knows _their_ methods.\nIt\u2019s lucky for you, Bab, that you did not listen to their coaxing!\u201d\n\nBab thought so, too, and she felt more ashamed than ever when she\nremembered that she had even hesitated for a moment.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Santa Claus, \u201cnow that the little girl has done her duty\nso well and served me so usefully, how is she to get home?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you want to go directly back to Mother Goose?\u201d asked Bizzybuzz,\nturning to her. She hesitated.\n\n\u201cI\u2014I\u2019d like to help Dick first,\u201d she answered. \u201cHe has the hardest task\nof us all; and then, you see, I should most awfully love to help set\npoor Mother Goose\u2019s son free!\u201d\n\n\u201cGood!\u201d cried Santa Claus, heartily. \u201cWell thought of! You shall go to\nyour brother this very night, and\u201d\u2014he paused and smiled slyly\u2014\u201cI know\nhow you will go!\u201d\n\n\u201cHow?\u201d asked Bab.\n\n\u201cNever you mind!\u201d chuckled the old gentleman, mysteriously. \u201cYou\u2019ll\nlike it, I promise you!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what help can she be to her brother?\u201d asked Bizzybuzz. \u201cNothing\nbut the very strongest magic could be of any use to him in the Red\nCity.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Santa Claus, \u201cwhy shouldn\u2019t she have a bit of magic about\nher, just in case she needed it? And as a matter of fact,\u201d he added,\n\u201cit\u2019s odd, you know, that she didn\u2019t collect any magic coming through\nthe Wonderful Wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cPerhaps she did,\u201d suggested Bizzybuzz. \u201cDid you drink from any spring,\nBab?\u201d\n\n\u201cOr pick a flower or a leaf?\u201d asked Santa Claus.\n\nShe shook her head.\n\n\u201cI sat down on a bank,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd\u2014and yes! I picked daisies in the\nIdle Princess\u2019s garden.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut you didn\u2019t keep them?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, no! I didn\u2019t keep anything. Oh, wait! Yes! I have some sand!\u201d And\nshe laughed.\n\n\u201cSand!\u201d repeated Santa Claus.\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d declared Bab, putting her hand in her pocket and drawing it out.\n\u201cLook! Sand from the Sand Man\u2019s country,\u2014the World of Sand!\u201d\n\n\u201cJust the thing!\u201d cried Santa Claus and Bizzybuzz together.\n\n\u201cTake care of that sand, Bab,\u201d said the former. \u201cWith even a grain of\nthat you could send anyone fast asleep if you just threw the grain at\nhim.\u201d\n\n\u201cLovely!\u201d Bab clapped her hands after carefully returning the sand to\nher pocket. \u201cPerhaps\u2014who knows?\u2014I can send the Wicked King to sleep for\na hundred years.\u201d\n\n\u201cOr Grump,\u201d said Santa Claus. \u201cIt really _would_ be nice if Grump could\nbe sent to sleep for a hundred years!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, do you know,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, thoughtfully, \u201c_I_ think that sleep\nwould be far too good for Grump.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet\u2019s hurry!\u201d begged Bab, who was anxious to be on the road that led\nto the Red City.\n\n\u201cSlowly, slowly!\u201d said Santa Claus. \u201cFirst, my dear, would you not like\nto see my house?\u201d\n\n\u201cYe-es,\u201d said Bab, doubtfully. \u201cOnly\u2014please excuse me, dear Santa\nClaus, but\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cMy workshop,\u201d went on Santa Claus, \u201cmy Fairy Kitchen, my toy henyard,\nmy reindeer\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, have you any _real_ reindeer?\u201d asked Bab, forgetting Dick for\na moment. \u201cI\u2019ve heard of them, you know, but I never knew that you\n_really truly_ had them. What are they like?\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat! Did you never read the stories of my friend Hans Christian\nAndersen?\u201d asked Santa Claus.\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said Bab, shamefacedly. \u201cWe had them for a Christmas present one\nyear, but we never read them. We\u2014we thought make-believe things were\nsilly _then_!\u201d\n\n\u201cAh! very sad indeed!\u201d declared Santa Claus, shaking his head. \u201cBut, my\ndear child, reindeer are not make-believe things; though, to be sure,\n_mine_ are not _quite_ like ordinary animals. I\u2019m surprised, by the\nbye, that you did not see them when you were in the barn.\u201d\n\n\u201cWere they there?\u201d cried Bab, excitedly. \u201cNo, I did not see them. It\nwas very dark, and you see I was _so_ much interested in the Wooden\nCow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019ll take you down to the barn again,\u201d said Santa Claus, \u201cand show\nthem to you.\u201d\n\nBab felt as though she could not bear to delay another moment, kind as\nSanta Claus had been to her, and delightful as it was in his little\nhouse. But she stifled her impatience, and said \u201cThank you\u201d as politely\nas she knew how.\n\nBut just at that moment there was a slight sound at the window,\u2014the\nlightest tap-tapping, such as you hear when a June-bug bumps and buzzes\nagainst the pane in mid-summer.\n\nSanta Claus opened the window, and in flew a big green Dragon-Fly.\n\n\u201cIs Bizzybuzz here?\u201d he asked in a high humming voice.\n\n\u201cHere I am,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cHow are you, Green-Wings?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it\u2019s you!\u201d said the Dragon-Fly. Evidently they were old friends.\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ve hunted you through the Wind Channels, and the Storm Road of\nClouds, and the Tree-Top Pathway, and every other route I could think\nof. I happened to meet Klang and Tinkle just now on their way to the\nFairy Court. They told me they had seen you come in this direction.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, hurry up!\u201d said Bizzybuzz, impatiently. \u201cWhat do you want me\nfor?\u201d\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a mortal boy in the Red City who asked my help.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat!\u201d cried the three listeners, all together.\n\n\u201cA small boy, as boys go,\u201d pursued Green-Wings, \u201cHe told me to bring\nyou word concerning him.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, well,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, \u201cgo on!\u201d\n\n\u201cHe\u2019s been caught by the men-at-arms of the Wicked King,\u201d said the\nDragon-Fly. \u201cThings looked rather badly for him when I left.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d exclaimed Bab, and began to cry. \u201cPoor, poor Dicky!\u201d\n\n\u201cI must not lose a minute!\u201d cried Bizzybuzz. \u201cI\u2019ll go to him at once;\nand\u2014wait! Perhaps Meg has done her task by this time. If so, she has\nthe spell Dick needs. I\u2019ll stop at the Fairy Court on my way. Thanks,\nGreen-Wings, thanks! Good-bye, good-bye!\u201d And he darted, still buzzing\nbusily, out of the window.\n\n\u201cOh, Bizzybuzz! Dear Bizzybuzz!\u201d called Bab. \u201cPlease take me with you!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou\u2014can\u2014follow\u2014me\u2014if\u2014you\u2014like\u2014\u201d His voice floated back to her. \u201cSanta\nClaus will show you the way\u2014\u201d And he was quite gone forthwith.\n\nThe Dragon-Fly polished off his wings in front of the fire, much to the\nexcitement of Wiggles. Then he flew away, his gauzy person flashing\nthrough the open window like that of a sprite.\n\n\u201cOh, how can I follow Bizzybuzz?\u201d sobbed Bab. \u201cAnd I did so want to\nhelp Dicky! That dreadful king will surely behead him!\u201d\n\n\u201cNow listen to me!\u201d said Santa Claus. \u201cI have a plan which I think\nyou\u2019ll like. Why should not you go straight to the Red City yourself\nand help your brother in your own way, without paying any further\nattention to Bizzybuzz? He\u2019s only a Goblin Messenger, after all. You\nhave the Sleep-Sand, and I am going to give you the means of making an\nescape at any time! What do you say?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, it would be lovely!\u201d cried Bab. \u201cMay I start at once, please?\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course. Come with me, and I will show you the way you are to go.\u201d\n\nThey hurried out, followed by Wiggles; and Santa Claus led the way to\nthe barn.\n\nIn all her excitement Bab could not help stopping to speak to her\nfriend the Wooden Cow, and the beast seemed pleased to see her.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m so glad I have something to remember her by!\u201d said Bab, showing\nSanta Claus the scrap of wood which she still carried in her pocket.\n\nSanta Claus started, and then laughed.\n\n\u201cDo you remember what I told you about her horns?\u201d he said. \u201cWell,\nnever mind! Of course you don\u2019t! But that bit of wood is a very\npowerful weapon, Miss Bab! And don\u2019t you throw it at anyone unless you\nare in the greatest possible danger! Don\u2019t forget!\u201d\n\nAnd Bab did not forget.\n\n\u201cGood-bye, Wooden Cow!\u201d she said, and turned away. \u201cOh, Santa Claus!\nSanta Claus! what is the way I am to go?\u201d\n\n\u201cThis way!\u201d said Santa Claus.\n\nHe rolled back another door inside the barn. By the light of the\nlantern he carried, Bab could see some beautiful animals standing in\nstalls such as horses have. But these were not horses. They had great,\nspreading antlers, delicate hoofs, and noble heads; and they looked at\nSanta Claus, and stamped as though in the highest excitement.\n\n\u201cThey are anxious to be off!\u201d he said, looking at them proudly. \u201cThere,\nmy beauties! Only a moment more! Ah! they miss the Christmas season,\npoor beasts!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut\u2014what\u2014why\u2014\u201d stammered Bab, bewildered.\n\n\u201cCome, come!\u201d said Santa Claus. \u201cHelp me!\u201d\n\n[Illustration: \u201c\u2018I DON\u2019T THINK I LIKE YOU,\u2019 SAID THE SEA KOBOLD, \u2018YOU\nMAY GO\u2019\u201d]\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said Bab, \u201cto do what?\u201d\n\nSanta Claus looked at her and laughed aloud.\n\n\u201cTo harness the reindeer!\u201d he cried.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAt the Court of the Fairies Meg was standing before the Queen, saying\ngood-bye.\n\n\u201cHow am I to send the spell back to you after we have freed Humpty\nDumpty?\u201d she said.\n\n\u201cBizzybuzz will bring it. He is an old friend of mine, and always\nwelcome at court.\u201d\n\nSuddenly two musical voices were heard singing.\n\n\u201cHush, Klang and Tinkle!\u201d said the Queen. \u201cI wish to bid the little\nmortal girl good-bye in peace!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d said the two Goblins, \u201cwe want to tell her that we met her\nsister a short time ago, and that she seemed in excellent health and\nadmired our music greatly.\u201d\n\n\u201cHow nice!\u201d cried Meg. \u201cI\u2019m so glad you met Bab!\u201d\n\nBut the Queen interrupted.\n\n\u201cYou must not talk to these two idle-headed Goblins,\u201d she said\nseverely. \u201cThink of poor Humpty Dumpty, and hurry! If Klang and Tinkle\n_did_ meet your sister, I am certain that they delayed her all they\ncould!\u201d\n\nThe two hung their heads, but suddenly raised them again.\n\n\u201c_But_,\u201d they explained, \u201cwe want to make up for all that by suggesting\nthat it is not safe for the mortal girl to travel back alone with the\nspell through the Wonderful Wood.\u201d\n\n\u201cI suppose that you both want to go with her?\u201d said the Queen.\n\n\u201cSurely, your Majesty!\u201d said the two, cheerfully.\n\n\u201cSo that you may have some one to admire you and listen to your\nsinging!\u201d said the Queen, scornfully. \u201cNo, indeed, you shall not go\nwith her; but I agree with you about the dangers of her going alone.\nLet me think\u2014\u201d\n\nJust at that moment a soft, whirring noise was heard overhead.\n\n\u201cWhat is that?\u201d exclaimed the Fairy Queen.\n\nMeg clapped her hands joyfully.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s Bizzybuzz!\u201d she cried. \u201cPerhaps he has brought some news!\u201d\n\nBizzybuzz alighted in front of the Queen, and bowed low.\n\n\u201cYour Majesty\u2019s humble servant!\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cWhat news, what news, Bizzybuzz?\u201d cried Meg. \u201cI must know first of all\nif you have any news!\u201d\n\nWith an excited flutter of his gauzy wings he answered: \u201cNews indeed!\nBab has finished her task!\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd I mine!\u201d said Meg, proudly.\n\n\u201cReally? Now, that is better still!\u201d said good little Bizzybuzz, with\nthe greatest possible satisfaction. \u201cWell, then, we are all ready to go\nto Dick\u2019s assistance; and he needs us! I have Moon-Eyes waiting in the\nwood for you, and Bab will follow to the Red City, under the directions\nof Santa Claus, who has taken a great fancy to her!\u201d\n\nMeg said good-bye to the Fairy Queen in a flutter of excitement, and,\nclasping her precious blue scroll very tightly, she hurried away after\nBizzybuzz; and the Fairies called, \u201cGood-fortune!\u201d after them as they\nwent.\n\nIn the woods they found Moon-Eyes waiting with owl-like patience. As\nMeg mounted, with a caress for the wise and silent bird, she felt a\nthrill of excitement, a joy in adventure which she had never felt\nbefore.\n\n\u201cNow, then,\u201d cried Bizzybuzz, \u201cto rescue Dick and Humpty Dumpty from\nthe clutches of the Wicked King!\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\n_Danger!_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\n_Danger!_\n\n\nWhen the door of the Princess\u2019s room opened, and both she and Dick\nturned toward it, what do you suppose they saw?\n\nThey saw a little girl in a brown dress with black spots on it,\u2014a\nlittle girl who had dark eyes and hair, and was followed by a small,\nexcited fox-terrier. For they saw none other than Bab herself!\n\nShe ran into the room, and hugged her brother, crying, \u201cOh, Dicky,\nDicky, dear! How glad I am to see you again!\u201d\n\nWiggles jumped about and yelped with joy, and altogether you might\nhave supposed that they had all been separated for years, instead of\nonly\u2014But dear me, I forgot! We don\u2019t know how long it had been, after\nall! For, of course, in Make Believe Land they count very differently\nfrom the way we do.\n\nNaturally, both Dick and Bab forgot all about the Princess, until she\nsaid quite crossly, \u201cWell, I do think you might introduce her to me!\u201d\n\nDick jumped.\n\n\u201cOh, dear! I forgot!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cPrincess, this is my sister Bab.\u201d\n\n\u201cBab!\u201d repeated the Princess. \u201cWhat a funny name!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s really Barbara,\u201d explained Bab. \u201cBut I think that\u2019s really worse,\nisn\u2019t it? And, anyway, Bab\u2019s shorter.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, yes, certainly. And it\u2019s a _very_ nice name,\u201d said the Princess,\npolitely. \u201cA _very_ nice name, I\u2019m sure! Well, little Bab, or Barbara,\nor whatever your name is, what are _you_ doing here?\u201d\n\n\u201cIf you please, Princess,\u201d said Bab, timidly. \u201cI am here to help Dicky\nsave Humpty Dumpty.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd himself!\u201d added the Princess, mischievously. \u201cYou know he needs\nsaving too, just now.\u201d\n\n\u201c_And_ the Princess,\u201d put in Dick.\n\n\u201cAnd poor dear Mudge,\u201d finished the Princess.\n\n\u201cDear me!\u201d exclaimed Bab. \u201cHave you _all_ got to be rescued?\u201d\n\n\u201cEvery single one!\u201d declared the Princess. \u201cYour brother\u2014what did he\nsay his name was?\u2014Duck?\u2014oh, no\u2014Dick!\u2014Dick and I were just talking the\nmatter over when you came in. We aren\u2019t very certain how to go about\nit.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but _I_ am!\u201d said Bab, confidently.\n\n\u201cIndeed!\u201d exclaimed the Princess, in surprise.\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d said Bab, importantly. \u201cHow do you suppose I got in here?\u201d\n\n\u201cI haven\u2019t the slightest idea,\u201d answered the Princess, sincerely. \u201cIt\u2019s\n_almost_ as hard to get in here as to get out,\u2014not quite, though!\u201d she\nadded, thoughtfully.\n\n\u201cWell, first,\u201d said Bab, \u201cI\u2019ll tell you about my journey to Santa\nClaus. That will explain a little.\u201d And she told them all about her\ntrip through the Wonderful Wood, and about the Sand Man, and the\nBrownies, and the Wooden Cow, and the arrival of the Dragon-Fly.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d cried Dick, at this point, \u201cI\u2014I only sent the message a minute\nago!\u201d\n\nThen he paused a minute, bewildered. _Was_ it only a minute ago, after\nall? He did not seem to be able to count the time.\n\n\u201cMy dear children,\u201d said the Princess, \u201cyou must never try to count\ntime in Make Believe Land. Time either does not exist here, or else\nthere is so much of it that you simply can\u2019t measure it. I don\u2019t know\nwhich it is, but anyway it is silly to try to guess how long anything\ntakes here.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Bab, who didn\u2019t care anything about time herself, \u201cI got\ninto Santa Claus\u2019s sleigh, and the reindeer brought me safely to the\nRed City. I left them in the wood, and came here as fast as I could go.\nA little boy showed me the way.\u201d\n\n\u201cMudge!\u201d said Dick. \u201cBut how did you get into the tower?\u201d\n\nBab chuckled.\n\n\u201cI threw some sand at the men who tried to stop me,\u201d she said, \u201cand\nthey\u2014every\u2014single\u2014one\u2014went\u2014fast\u2014asleep!\u201d\n\nThe Princess opened her eyes and mouth in amazement.\n\n\u201cThe guards outside this room, too?\u201d she asked with a gasp.\n\nBab nodded triumphantly. \u201cI had just enough Sleep-Sand left for them!\u201d\nshe said.\n\n\u201cOh!\u201d cried the Princess, with another little gasp. \u201cThen I\u2019m free!\u201d\n\nAnd she jumped up, and ran to the door, stumbling over her flowing,\ngold-embroidered robes as she ran, and over-turning a box of jewels in\nher haste. She opened the door, and there, sure enough, were all the\nguards sound asleep on the floor outside.\n\n\u201cOh, oh, oh!\u201d cried the Princess, and hugged Bab in her excitement.\n\u201cYou blessed little thing! You darling! You\u2014you\u2019ve set me free!\u201d\n\nAnd then she hugged Dick too, and then all three of them laughed and\ntalked all at once, and Wiggles rushed around them in a circle and\nhowled his sympathy.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Princess, picking up her skirts, \u201clet\u2019s run!\u201d\n\nAnd they all scurried away out of the Palace as fast as mice. They\npassed the men-at-arms that Bab had met below, who were all as sound\nasleep as possible, just where they had happened to be when Bab threw\nthe sand at them,\u2014all, that is, except one man. He was only half\nasleep, and was yawning and stretching and trying hard to wake up.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m afraid he did not get a whole grain!\u201d said Bab, looking at him\nanxiously. \u201cWell, never mind. I guess he won\u2019t wake _quite_ up until we\nare safe away, anyway. Come, come! Hurry up!\u201d\n\nAnd they ran on again. But the drowsy man-at-arms did wake quite up\njust at that very moment. And, yawning and shivering with sleep, he\nstumbled into the throne-room of the Palace, calling out, \u201cThief!\nThief! A thief has stolen away the Princess! Help! Help!\u201d\n\nNow the Palace of the Wicked King was simply full of people of all\nsorts. There were plenty of men-at-arms, and retainers, and cooks, and\ngentlemen-in-waiting, and courtiers, and scullions, and pages, and\nmaids, and court-ladies, and when the sleepy soldier cried \u201cThief!\u201d and\n\u201cHelp!\u201d they all came running out of their rooms all over the Palace\nand hurried down stairs. And there was the wildest excitement possible\nin the throne-room of the Wicked King.\n\nAnd then the door of the royal apartments opened, and the Wicked King\nhimself appeared. And he said, in a deep angry voice, \u201cWhy is there so\nmuch noise?\u201d\n\nAnd everyone trembled and bowed low before him. For of course they were\nall dreadfully afraid of him!\n\nFor a minute or two no one dared to speak, and the King stood there in\nhis crimson robes, with his gold crown on his wicked head, and glared\nat everybody.\n\n\u201c_Well?_\u201d he thundered suddenly. And the sleepy soldier ventured to\nspeak at last.\n\n\u201cLord\u2014Master\u2014\u201d he quavered, \u201ctwo strangers have carried off the\nPrincess!\u201d\n\n\u201c_What!_\u201d roared the Wicked King. \u201cAnd what were you doing, all of you,\nwhile they were carrying her off?\u201d\n\n\u201cYour Majesty,\u201d said the poor man-at-arms, \u201cwe\u2014we were asleep!\u201d\n\nAnd then he took to his heels and ran away as hard and fast and far as\nhe could.\n\nThe Wicked King was so disturbed by the fact of Star\u2019s disappearance\nthat he did not take the time and trouble to have the man caught and\nbeheaded, as he certainly would have done at any other time.\n\n\u201cWhere is Grump?\u201d he demanded, looking quite pale with rage and fear.\n\n\u201cHe has not yet appeared,\u201d said one of the courtiers. \u201cHe has not been\nhere to-day at all, O most augustly Wicked King!\u201d\n\n\u201cStrange!\u201d muttered the Wicked King. \u201cSurely nothing can have gone\nwrong? He was to have brought me the spell from the Fairy Queen before\nthis. It should certainly be in the city by now.\u201d\n\nAnd as a matter of fact, it was in the city then, but it had not been\nbrought by Grump! For, as we know, Grump had been robbed of all his\nwicked power by Meg in his underground cave, and instead of being able\nto fly on a cloud to his master with his woes he had to travel slowly\nand painfully through the wood, and over the Sea of Glass like any\nother every-day sort of person.\n\nAt this moment who should come swarming in but the Mischief\nBrownies,\u2014the very same bad little sprites whom Bab had outwitted in\nSanta Claus\u2019s barn. They hurried into the Wicked King\u2019s Palace, and\nwailed out their story,\u2014how they had stopped the mortal girl, as had\nbeen commanded, and how she had followed them and chased them out of\nthe barn with a frightful, roaring monster, just as they had cut off\none of the Wooden Cow\u2019s magic horns.\n\nThe Wicked King listened to all that they had to say, in a white rage.\nWere all his plans to go wrong? The situation was infuriating! His\nservants outwitted by a simple, ordinary, stupid, little mortal girl;\nhis daughter stolen! With an awful growl of anger he waved his hand.\n\n\u201cFollow the thieves!\u201d he cried. \u201cMen-at-arms! Courtiers! Servants!\nGentlemen-in-waiting! Catch them at once! Half my kingdom for the\nman who brings me the heads of the scoundrels and returns to me my\ndaughter!\u201d\n\nBefore a single breath could be drawn, a whole army of his subjects had\nrushed away after the escaping three. And then who do you suppose came\nstumbling into the throne-room, making a great outcry and waving his\narms wildly? None other than Grump!\n\n\u201cMaster!\u2014Your Majesty!\u201d he panted. \u201cShe tipped over the pot of magic,\nand she escaped! She has gone to Fairyland! What shall we do? What\nshall we do?\u201d\n\nThe Wicked King was at the end of his patience.\n\n\u201c_I_ have not lost all of _my_ magic yet,\u201d he thundered. \u201cYou are a\npretty sort of a servant! You\u2019re an idiot! A useless, slow, dull idiot!\nYou\u2019re a _snail!_\u201d\n\nThen an idea struck him.\n\n\u201c_Be_ a snail!\u201d he commanded.\n\nAnd Grump shrivelled up and turned into a snail, and crawled away into\na crack in the Palace wall. And that was the end of _him!_\n\nThen a messenger came flying to the Wicked King, and cried: \u201cOh,\nMaster! They have run the thieves into a corner under the city wall,\nand soon they will be caught and beheaded!\u201d\n\n\u201cI should like the pleasure of doing it myself!\u201d said the Wicked King,\ngrimly. \u201cHave them left alive until I get there!\u201d\n\nAnd he stalked out of the Palace, and followed the messenger through\nthe streets of the Red City.\n\nFinally he came upon a great crowd of his subjects, and beyond\nthem, standing against the wall, were Bab and Dick and the Princess,\nfrightened almost to death!\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d said the Wicked King, with a cruel smile. \u201cNow I have you, you\nimpudent creatures! You upstarts from the Real World! Now I will cut\noff your heads with my own hands!\u201d\n\nAnd he drew his sword.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\n_By the City Wall_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\n_By the City Wall_\n\n\nThe three escaping friends did not know what to do. Bab had used up all\nher sand, and there seemed no way left to overcome their enemies.\n\nMeanwhile the crowd in front of them were snarling threats and mocking\nwords.\n\n\u201cI will be the one to kill them!\u201d cried one.\n\n\u201cNo,\u2014I!\u201d exclaimed another.\n\n\u201cI\u2014I\u2014I!\u201d shouted everybody at once.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d said someone, sharply. \u201cThe King himself is coming!\u201d\n\nAnd everyone became silent. They were all deeply disappointed, for they\nknew that now the Wicked King would insist on killing the children\nhimself, and none of them would stand a chance of getting that promised\nhalf of his kingdom.\n\nSuddenly an idea came to Bab.\n\n\u201cDick,\u201d she whispered, \u201cwe must try to get the Wicked King to put us in\nprison or something like that!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Dick, gloomily. \u201cI think that it would be much nicer to be\nkilled at once and get it over!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, but, Dick!\u201d Bab breathed eagerly into his ear. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember\nthe tiny piece of wood that I told you about? The piece of magic wood\nfrom the Wooden Cow\u2019s horn? Well, I have it still! and Santa Claus said\nthat it was a very powerful weapon to have. And if we can only see the\nWicked King alone I\u2019ll throw it at him, and I\u2019m sure from what Santa\nClaus said that it will do something awful to him!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy not throw it at him now?\u201d suggested Dick. \u201cJust to see what it\n_will_ do!\u201d\n\n\u201cBecause\u2014don\u2019t you see?\u2014then we\u2019d have all these other dreadful people\nto fight, and we\u2019ve nothing at all left after this splinter of wood\ngoes! No, we must try to see the Wicked King all by himself!\u201d\n\n\u201cI see!\u201d exclaimed Dick. And at that moment the Wicked King strode up\nto them, with his long, bright, sharp sword drawn, and a fiendish smile\non his wicked old face.\n\n\u201cHow nice of you,\u201d said the Wicked King, \u201cto stand against a wall! It\nis ever so much easier to kill a person when he stands against a wall!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, your Majesty!\u201d cried Dick. \u201cDon\u2019t kill us until you have heard our\nstory!\u201d\n\nHe was talking at random, of course, to gain time, but he succeeded in\nmaking the Wicked King stop short for a moment to listen.\n\n\u201cOh, well,\u201d said the Wicked King. \u201cI would not mind hearing your story,\nas a matter of fact,\u2014if it happens to be an interesting one.\u201d\n\nFor this was the one weakness of the Wicked King: he loved\nstories,\u2014almost as much, indeed, as did a certain great ruler in the\nEast, of whom you will read one of these days in one of the most\nsplendid wonder-books ever written by any man.\n\n\u201c_Is_ it an interesting one?\u201d he demanded.\n\n\u201cOh, yes!\u201d said Dick, seeing his advantage. \u201cIt\u2019s a splendid story!\u201d\n\n\u201cOf course you understand,\u201d said the King, \u201cthat you will both be\nbeheaded just as soon as you are finished? I should not like to\nencourage any false hopes.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, we quite understand!\u201d said Dick, looking hard at the drawn sword\nin the King\u2019s hand. In his own mind he decided firmly that in any case\nhe would not finish the story for a very long time!\n\n\u201cI should really like to hear,\u201d the Wicked King went on, \u201chow you stole\nmy daughter and sent my soldiers to sleep, and how you chased my\nBrownies away from their work, and did all the other extraordinary and\nimpertinent things which you have done. You are dangerous creatures,\nbut you are unusual; and I think you are worth keeping alive for an\nhour or so,\u2014as long as I have an army to watch you while you talk!\u201d\n\nThen he sat down on a large rock and folded his arms.\n\n\u201cBegin!\u201d he commanded.\n\nDick was at his wits\u2019 end. Of course he had expected that the Wicked\nKing would have them sent to prison; instead he was expected to tell\nhis tale surrounded by hundreds of people. How in the world was Bab to\nmake use of her magic splint of wood under such conditions as these?\n\nThe Princess, who had been silent all this time, came very unexpectedly\nto the rescue.\n\n\u201cRevered parent,\u201d she said,\u2014for that was what the Wicked King liked her\nto call him,\u2014\u201cI beg you to first take me back to my tower, from which\nthese creatures have dragged me against my will!\u201d\n\nThe Wicked King looked at her sharply. He was not at all sure that she\nhad been dragged away! However, she looked as innocent as possible, and\nhe called two men-at-arms to him.\n\n\u201cEscort the Princess back to her tower!\u201d he commanded. \u201cNow, Creatures,\ntell your story!\u201d\n\nBut just then, when everything seemed most hopeless, a big bird was\nseen flying toward them, quite high up in the air; and the next moment\nBizzybuzz\u2019s head appeared over the wall, and he whispered excitedly:\n\u201cMeg is coming with the spell! Hold out a minute longer!\u201d\n\nAll this time Humpty Dumpty had not said a word. In fact, he could not\nsee even what was going on, because his back was turned to the others.\nBut at the word \u201cspell\u201d he suddenly lifted up his voice, and shouted\nwildly: \u201cThe spell! The spell! Now I shall be free! Oh, Princess Star,\nPrincess Star! Do you hear? I shall be free!\u201d\n\n\u201cI hear, I hear, dear Humpty!\u201d cried Princess Star. \u201cAnd I shall be\nfree too; for I am sure that a really good spell can rescue us both!\u201d\n\n\u201cUndutiful daughter!\u201d shouted the Wicked King, waving his sword. \u201cHow\ndare you talk like that with an\u2014an egg?\u201d He spoke with contempt as well\nas rage.\n\n\u201cHe\u2014is\u2014not\u2014an\u2014egg!\u201d sobbed the Princess, hiding her face in her\nsatin sleeve and spoiling the embroidery with her tears. \u201cHe\u2019s\nmy\u2014own\u2014poor\u2014angel\u2014Humpty Dumpty! And I\u2019ll talk to\u2014him\u2014just exactly\u2014as\nmuch\u2014as\u2014much\u2014as\u2014I ch-choose!\u201d\n\nThe big bird had been drawing nearer and nearer all this time, and\nnow swooped down to the top of the wall. It alighted close to Humpty\nDumpty. Dick and Bab could see that it was Moon-Eyes, the Owl, and that\nhe bore upon his back their sister Meg!\n\nAs they watched, she waved a bright blue paper, and cried: \u201cDick! Bab!\nI\u2019m here! Are you both quite safe?\u201d\n\nWith his sword upraised, the Wicked King rushed forward upon the two\nchildren. Wiggles barked and snapped at his legs, all the men-at-arms\nshouted, and the Princess screamed loudly.\n\n\u201cNow!\u201d cried one of the men. \u201cWatch their heads drop off!\u201d\n\nBut at that moment Bab threw the scrap of wood that she had straight in\nthe Wicked King\u2019s face! And he stopped stock-still, his hand still up\nin the air. The sword dropped to the earth. Everyone cried out, \u201cWhat\nhas happened?\u201d\n\nThe Wicked King\u2019s face got queerer and queerer, stiffer and stiffer;\nhis eyes stared, his wicked smile was frozen on his lips.... The Wicked\nKing was turned to wood!\n\n\u201cRun, run!\u201d cried Dick, seeing that now they had but one chance.\n\u201cFollow Meg with the spell!\u201d he shouted, and he and Bab and the\nPrincess ran like the wind along the city wall.\n\nJust then Mudge came flying down the city street.\n\n\u201cOh, please,\u201d he called at the top of his lungs, \u201cdon\u2019t forget that you\nare going to save me too!\u201d\n\nMeg, riding furiously upon Moon-Eyes, had reached the gate. The\nmen-at-arms and courtiers and gentlemen-in-waiting, and all the other\ncitizens of the Red City, had started in pursuit, and were gaining on\nthem every moment.\n\n\u201cCome with us, Mudge!\u201d shouted Dick; and Mudge brought up the rear of\nthe flying procession.\n\nBehind them on the wall Humpty Dumpty was shrieking, \u201cYou aren\u2019t all\ngoing off without rescuing me, after all!\u201d\n\n\u201cThe gate!\u201d cried Bizzybuzz to Dick. \u201cMeg\u2019s spell will open it!\u201d\n\nAs they all rushed toward the big iron gate, Meg hastily unrolled the\nscroll of sky-blue paper, and read out at the top of her voice, and\nso fast that no one could understand a word, the lines of the Fairy\nQueen\u2019s spell. And when she came to the words\n\n \u201cShot bolt, shut gate,\n Yield up your contents straight,\u201d\n\nthere was a queer, clicking, clattering, creaking sound.\n\nThe great gate of the Red City swung slowly open!\n\nThe fugitives dashed out, and closed it behind them with a crash, and\nstood there on the safe side, panting and gasping, as their pursuers\ncame shouting up to the gate on the inside. It must have been a very\nstrong gate, for nearly all the inhabitants of the Red City threw\nthemselves against it and shook it, but it would not give a hair\u2019s\nbreadth. They all howled with fury, but the children were safe.\n\nThen suddenly they all turned and dashed back the way they had come.\n\n\u201cLook out for Humpty Dumpty!\u201d shouted Dick \u201cThey\u2019ll try to do something\nto harm him if we don\u2019t take care!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, my poor angel!\u201d wailed the Princess. \u201cWhat shall we do!\u201d\n\n\u201cPile onto Moon-Eyes!\u201d cried Dick to Bab and Mudge.\n\nThe three children sprang onto the owl, and the Princess and Wiggles\nhurried along the ground. Bizzybuzz darted ahead, his wings humming\nlike little electric fans.\n\n\u201cHere is the spell!\u201d cried Meg, giving Dick the blue paper. \u201cYou only\nhave to read it over him, and you must strike him with something hard\nand sharp at the same time!\u201d\n\nDick seized the paper, and pulled his jack-knife out of his pocket.\nThen he stood up on Moon-Eyes\u2019 back, so that he could be ready to jump\nthe moment they were anywhere near the wall and Humpty Dumpty.\n\nWhen they reached the poor Egg, he was almost cracked with terror. His\nagonized expression had made big creases in the egg-shell, and he was\nsqueaking, \u201cHelp! help! help!\u201d in a high faint voice.\n\nThe men were just climbing up the wall on the inside, so really there\nwas some excuse for his fear.\n\n\u201cQuick!\u201d cried Bab and Meg, speaking both at once.\n\nAnd Dick took a flying leap from the back of the owl to the top of the\ncity wall.\n\n\u201cDon\u2019t forget to break the shell!\u201d cried Meg. He held up his knife,\nto show her that he was prepared. The head of one of the men-at-arms\nappeared over the edge of the wall. His hand was outstretched.\n\nDick jabbed the huge egg-shell with his jack-knife, and began to read\nthe spell so rapidly that it was a wonder that it could work at all!\n\nBut it did! The egg toppled, cracked, and fell crashing to the earth.\n\n\u201cHurry down yourself!\u201d cried Bab, in terror. \u201cThat man will kill you!\u201d\n\nThe man-at-arms had drawn a dagger and was trying to reach Dick.\n\n\u201cOh, I don\u2019t think he will kill me!\u201d laughed Dick, and slipped over\nthe edge of the wall into the mass of delicate vine-tendrils where the\nFairy Flowers were blowing.\n\n\u201cHelp me!\u201d he cried, and came down so quickly that there could be no\nquestion about its being magic! He reached the earth just in time to\nsee a slender young man in doublet and hose rise from the heap of\negg-shells, and rush with outstretched hands to meet the Princess!\n\nIt was Prince Humpty Dumpty, free at last!\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\n_Behind the Reindeer_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\n_Behind the Reindeer_\n\n\nBy this time Bab and Meg had sprung to the earth, and they all joined\nin a cheer of joy.\n\n\u201cGood-bye to you!\u201d cried Mudge. \u201cI\u2019m going back to my father, the Sea\nKobold. He has been expecting me for hundreds of years, and he will get\nme some new scales. Thank you very much for helping me to get away.\nGood-bye! Good-bye!\u201d And he was off.\n\nThe Sea of Glass was close at hand, and Dick imagined that he could\nsee the Sea Kobold\u2019s anxious head sticking up through the hole in the\nglass, and watching what was happening on shore.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s no time to be lost even now,\u201d declared Bizzybuzz. \u201cHurry, all\nof you!\u201d\n\nSeveral of the men-at-arms had reached the top of the wall, and the\nchildren could hear one of them calling for the big key that opened\nthe gate, and horses on which to hunt down the escaping ones.\n\n\u201cHurry!\u201d said Bizzybuzz, even more anxiously. And they all ran as fast\nas they could in the direction of the wood.\n\nBizzybuzz flew on ahead, calling to them to hurry; next came Humpty\nDumpty and the Princess,\u2014she holding up her long train and not caring\nat all that her crown was on the side of her pretty head,\u2014and then Bab,\nand Meg, and Dick, and Wiggles!\n\nThere, at the edge of the wood, was Santa Claus\u2019s sleigh, with his\nsplendid reindeer, waiting impatiently to be off.\n\nAs they all climbed into the big sleigh, Dick looked back at the Red\nCity.\n\n\u201cThe gate is open!\u201d he exclaimed. \u201cAnd they have gotten horses too!\nThey are going to try to catch us!\u201d\n\n\u201cNever mind!\u201d laughed Bizzybuzz, overhead, as the reindeer plunged\nforward eagerly, and the sleigh rocked with the mad motion,\u2014\u201cNever\nmind! They\u2019ll have a pretty time\u2014horses or no horses\u2014trying to catch up\nwith Santa Claus\u2019s fastest team!\u201d\n\nAnd then began the craziest, wildest, swiftest drive that anyone ever\nsaw or dreamed of. The horses of the people of the Red City were the\nfastest in the world, but they were not so fast as the reindeer, and\nthey never quite overtook them. But sometimes they seemed to be drawing\nvery close, and then the Princess would scream, and Wiggles would bark,\nand the reindeer would toss their antlers and go just a little bit\nfaster. And the racing horses behind, their heads strained forward and\ntheir hoofs hardly seeming to touch the ground, would drop back a foot\nor two. Their riders waved their arms and shouted, and once in a while\nthe occupants of the sleigh could hear threats as to what would happen\nto them all when they were caught.\n\nOn they went,\u2014on, and on, and on! And neither the horses nor the\nreindeer seemed to be even tired. The reindeer, indeed, seemed to enjoy\nthe race, and their small hoofs actually danced over the earth.\n\nSuddenly they passed a barefooted girl in a green dress, who laughed\nand waved to them.\n\n\u201cThe Idle Princess!\u201d cried Bab.\n\n\u201cDreams-Come-True!\u201d exclaimed Meg.\n\n\u201cMy Fairy of Fancy!\u201d shouted Dick.\n\n\u201cHush!\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cYou don\u2019t know who she is,\u2014you foolish little\npersons! But whoever she is, she is going to help us now, or I am very\nmuch mistaken.\u201d\n\nThey all stood up in the sleigh to look, and saw a very wonderful\nand pretty sight. The girl in the green gown was fastening chains of\nflowers across the wood-path,\u2014back and forth, back and forth, so that\nthe whole way was simply barred and blocked with roses, and lilies, and\ndaisies, and bluebells, and hyacinths, and sweet peas, and every other\ndelicious blossom that you can think of.\n\nNow along came the people of the Red City, and the girl in the green\ndress slipped away into the forest; but she probably peeked a little\nfrom behind some tree, and saw what happened afterward. The horses\nplunged at full speed into the maze of flowers that she had prepared\nfor them, and however they might leap and push and struggle and\ntrample, they could not get through the flower-chains. You see, making\nchains of flowers happened to be the green-gowned girl\u2019s pet hobby, and\nno one in the world could ever break the chains she made.\n\nBut just two riders did manage to force their horses through, and\nDick, looking back,\u2014of course that check had given them a splendid\nadvantage,\u2014saw two steeds galloping wildly after them.\n\n\u201cShe has kept back all but two!\u201d he said. \u201cDear Fairy of Fancy!\u201d\n\n\u201cBut what are we to do with these?\u201d asked Star, who was always worrying.\n\n\u201cNever fear,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, cheerfully. \u201cThese children have too many\nfriends in the Make Believe Land for there to be any danger. Someone\nelse will happen along before long, and see that those two Red City\npersons have more trouble!\u201d\n\nNow the three children had not realised before that they had made many\nfriends in Make Believe Land, and the thought surprised and pleased\nthem more than they would have believed possible. There was a little\nwarm glow around each of their hearts, and they looked up at little\nBizzybuzz gratefully.\n\n\u201cThank you for telling us that, Bizzybuzz,\u201d said Bab, shyly.\n\n\u201cTelling you!\u201d laughed Bizzybuzz. \u201cYou will not need to be told it\npretty soon!\u201d\n\nOnce more the Red City horses seemed to be gaining upon them. Suddenly\ntwo huge owls flew out of the depths of the forest and began to flap\naround the heads of the galloping horses.\n\n\u201cWho are they?\u201d cried Meg, excitedly.\n\n\u201cTwo of your friends,\u201d returned the Goblin.\n\n\u201cIs one Moon-Eyes?\u201d asked Dick.\n\nBizzybuzz nodded. \u201cAnd the other,\u201d he said, \u201cis the Tail-less One, the\nOwl Innkeeper!\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, how nice of them both!\u201d cried Bab. \u201cThey won\u2019t hurt the horses,\nwill they?\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, dear, no!\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cBut they may succeed in driving at\nleast one of them back.\u201d\n\nAnd indeed that is just what they did. One of the horses shied, and\nreared, and finally wheeled straight about. The man fell off, and,\nthough he was not at all hurt, was so angry that he almost had a fit.\nHe stood in the centre of the path and shook his fist at the trees on\neach side of him, as though he suspected them of having had something\nto do with it.\n\nThe horse, with the owls after it, was running home to the Red City as\nfast as it could possibly go.\n\nThe second rider had not stopped to see whether his comrade had been\nkilled or not, and was riding after the sleigh faster than ever.\n\n\u201cI wonder what will happen to _him_,\u201d said Meg.\n\n\u201cAh, little Miss Meg!\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cYou are beginning to trust your\nfriends!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Meg, with a sigh. \u201cBut really I didn\u2019t think I should ever\ntrust anyone again, after the horrid time I had with Grump!\u201d\n\n\u201cHollo!\u201d exclaimed Bizzybuzz. \u201cThere\u2019s Green-Wings, the Dragon-Fly!\u201d\n\nThe big insect came humming into the sleigh, and perched on the\ndash-board.\n\n\u201cHow are you all?\u201d he asked.\n\n\u201cAll right. Have you any news worth hearing?\u201d said Bizzybuzz.\n\n\u201cWell, I\u2019ve just come from the Palace of the Wicked King. You know I\nlike to lunch upon the green flowers that grow on that big tree under\nthe Princess\u2019s window. I was sitting happily on one of the lower\nbranches, when a snail came crawling along the limb toward me.\u201d\n\nHe paused impressively.\n\n\u201cWell, what of that?\u201d said Bizzybuzz, impatiently. \u201cThere are many\nsnails.\u201d\n\n\u201cNot many like this one. The snail seemed lonely, and though I hate all\nsnails, I could not refuse to talk to it when it sat itself down beside\nme. It talked a great deal of nonsense at first,\u2014all about its departed\nglory, and how it hated the Wicked King, and stuff of that sort. But\nfinally it told me who it was, or rather, who it had been before it\nbecame a snail. It was Grump!\u201d\n\nOf course, this does not surprise _you_, for you have known it all\nalong, but it surprised the children tremendously.\n\n\u201cPoor Grump!\u201d sighed Meg. \u201cHe tried to boil me down, and use my soul in\na magic essence, but I really think that I am sorry to think that he\nhas got to be a snail for the rest of his life.\u201d\n\n\u201cLook!\u201d cried Bizzybuzz.\n\nOut between the trees on their left stalked a strange animal,\u2014strange,\nat least, to all of them except Bab and the reindeer.\n\n\u201cOh, stop the sleigh!\u201d cried Bab. \u201cIt\u2019s my dear Wooden Cow!\u201d\n\n\u201cYou can\u2019t stop the sleigh,\u201d said Dick. \u201cLook at that man on horseback\nwho is still following us.\u201d\n\n\u201cI think that she is right,\u201d said Bizzybuzz. \u201cIt is safe to stop the\nsleigh, for this beast has evidently been sent by Santa Claus to help\nus.\u201d\n\nThe reindeer seemed to think so too, for they stopped short and even\nwheeled around. The Wooden Cow approached them with short, stiff steps.\n\n\u201cI have the honour,\u201d she remarked, \u201cto offer you my services. I have\ncome all the way from the far north to help you.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, there\u2019s no time to lose,\u201d said Bizzybuzz, looking at the\nquickly nearing figures of the man and the horse. \u201cIf you can do\nanything, please do it soon.\u201d\n\nThe Wooden Cow turned away, and walked, with its own wooden dignity,\nto meet the rider from the Red City. When it was quite close to him,\nit stopped, and stood motionless in the middle of the path, and stared\nstraight ahead of it at the galloping horseman.\n\nAnd a queer thing happened.\n\nThe horse stopped short. The man on its back became utterly still.\nThere was a sort of a pause, and then the same dreadful change began to\ncome over both horse and man which they had seen come over the Wicked\nKing. They both turned to wood, and the expressions on the two wooden\nfaces\u2014that of the man and the animal alike\u2014were so wicked and cruel and\nhorrid that one could not feel at all sorry that they had been turned\nto wood.\n\nThe Wooden Cow returned with slow and solemn steps to the sleigh. Her\nhorn was still tied on with Bab\u2019s ribbon, and the top of her head was\nsmeared in places with the sticky black paint and saw-dust.\n\n\u201cI hope that is satisfactory?\u201d she said.\n\nThey all thanked her, and Bab leaned out of the sleigh to hug her hard.\n\n\u201cYou dear old thing!\u201d she said. \u201cHow sweet of you to turn up just now\nto help us!\u201d\n\n\u201cSanta Claus sent you, I suppose?\u201d said Bizzybuzz.\n\nThe Wooden Cow looked hurt.\n\n\u201cNo one sent me,\u201d she declared. \u201cI heard of the trouble you were in,\nand I came to see what I could do. I can usually turn people into wood\nwhen I don\u2019t like them, and I was grateful to the little girl who put\non my horn and chased the Mischief Brownies away. Now that my duty is\ndone, I will go back to Santa Claus\u2019s barn.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, thank you, thank you, dear Wooden Cow,\u201d cried Bab. \u201cGive my love\nto Santa Claus when you get home!\u201d\n\nThe Cow disappeared among the trees, and the reindeer started forward\nagain.\n\nFinally Bizzybuzz pointed ahead to where a little clearing was shining\nin a soft, sunset light. In it was a small, pretty cottage, from the\nchimney of which a thin trail of blue smoke floated up into the sky. In\nfront of it was a gay little garden, and when Humpty Dumpty saw it, he\nalmost wept.\n\n\u201cAt last!\u201d said Bizzybuzz, smiling.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\n_Mother Goose Once More_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\n_Mother Goose Once More_\n\n\nAnd so Bab, Meg, and Dick came back to Mother Goose\u2019s cottage at last,\nand brought with them Prince Humpty Dumpty and the Princess Star.\n\nIt seemed to our three children, when they saw the cottage, that a\nvery, very long time had passed since they left it to start upon their\nvarious adventures.\n\nIt all seemed very natural and homelike, somehow, coming back to the\nquaint little house, with its bright garden, and its latticed windows,\nand the door with its funny string-latch. In spite of their excitement,\nand all their narrow escapes, and everything that they all had been\nthrough, a feeling of peace came over them, and they felt happy enough\nto cry when the cottage door opened, and Mother Goose herself smiled at\nthem from the threshold.\n\nOf course there was the greatest sort of rejoicing when she and Humpty\nDumpty met after all the centuries of their separation, and after\nthey had kissed and hugged and cried over each other, she welcomed\nthe Princess, and kissed her too very kindly. And finally she turned,\nwith her very sweetest, gentlest look, to the three children who were\nstanding together, silently looking on.\n\n\u201cThank you, dear children,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have served me very well,\nvery bravely and very truly, and I am grateful.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, Mother Goose,\u201d broke out Bab, conscientiously, \u201cI\u2019m afraid if you\nknew\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cI _do_ know,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cAt this moment I am reading your\neyes, and I can see every single thing that has happened to you all\nwhile you have been away,\u2014not only what you have done, but what you\nhave thought.\u201d\n\nShe looked keenly at them and smiled. And they all hung their heads and\nblushed a little, for they were remembering the many times that they\nhad been weak or forgetful or cowardly.\n\n\u201cBut,\u201d she went on, \u201cknowing everything, dears, I still thank you, and\npraise you, for you have done very well,\u2014much, much better than you\nknow. And that,\u201d she added, \u201cis something for you to remember; we are\nalways a little bit better than we think, and so when we are naughty,\nthe best thing for us to do is to say to ourselves, \u2018Dear me, I am not\ngiving myself a chance! I am really good; why am I trying so hard to be\nbad?\u2019\u201d\n\nAnd the children never forgot what she said. You will do well to\nremember it too.\n\n\u201cAnd now,\u201d went on Mother Goose, with a delightfully mysterious smile,\n\u201cI have planned a little surprise for you.\u201d\n\n\u201cA surprise!\u201d they all three repeated, wondering.\n\n\u201cYes. I am sure that you do not want to go home without seeing again\nsome of the friends that you have made here; and besides, I should like\nyou to know some of my own particular friends,\u2014whom you should have met\nlong before, by the bye.\u201d\n\n\u201cBut, Mother Goose, who are they?\u201d asked Bab.\n\n\u201cAnd how are we to meet them?\u201d queried Meg.\n\n\u201cAnd where must we go?\u201d sighed Dick, who was quite content to stay\nwhere he was for the present, after all his adventures.\n\nMother Goose smiled again. She quite beamed upon them through her\ngold-rimmed spectacles.\n\n\u201cThey are all coming here,\u201d she declared. \u201cI\u2019m giving a party for you,\nand every one in this part of the world is coming to it.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, what fun!\u201d they exclaimed, clapping their hands. \u201cHow dear of you,\nMother Goose!\u201d\n\n\u201cWho will be here?\u201d asked inquisitive Bab.\n\n\u201cWell,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cI confess I am disappointed not to have\nthe Piper family,\u2014Jack and Jill, and Contrary Mary, and the rest. Some\nof my best songs have been written about them, and I am devoted to\nthem all. But they are away just now, on a visit to a very remote part\nof the country,\u2014Toyland, in fact,\u2014and I have not been able to send\nfor them in time to get them back. Then, the Man in the Moon and his\npretty wife have sent regrets; they have some party on the Milky Way\nwhich they simply have to go to, so she says. And Hop O\u2019 My Thumb is\nhalf a world away, and is having one of his seven-league boots mended,\nso he is uncertain about getting here in time; but he has promised\nto make a great effort to come at any cost. But even without these\nespecially good friends of mine, there will be quite enough to make\nthings merry. And I do love a party, even at my age!\u201d\n\nAt the same moment Bizzybuzz called from the door that the owls were\ncoming. Mother Goose went forward to meet them, and the children were\nsoon greeting all their old friends,\u2014Moon-Eyes and his wife, the Lady\nGray-Wing, and the Owl Innkeeper, and several other owls whom they\nrecognised as having been at the Owls\u2019 Inn on the night of the storm;\nalso the big white owl who had carried the little Witch of Silence to\nthe foot of the Ladder of Light that led to the North Star.\n\nBab asked him when he expected the Witch home; but he merely blinked at\nher without answering, and she remembered that he never spoke.\n\nMoon-Eyes and the Owl Innkeeper gave an exciting account of how they\nhad chased the horse of the Red City man back to the city gates.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s too bad to frighten the poor horse,\u201d said Meg, \u201cbut I suppose\nthat it had to be done.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: THEY WERE ALL THREE BACK ON THE NURSERY HEARTH RUG]\n\n\u201cOh, the Red City horses are as bad as the Red City men,\u201d said the\nOwl Innkeeper,\u2014\u201cwhich is saying a great deal more than I like to say\nabout man or beast.\u201d\n\n\u201cAnd anyway,\u201d added Moon-Eyes, \u201cwe didn\u2019t hurt the horse, of course. We\njust talked to him, and persuaded him that he would rather go home than\nchase you!\u201d\n\n\u201cYes!\u201d laughed Dick. \u201cI certainly should think he would rather go home\nwith you after him as you were!\u201d\n\nLady Gray-Wing had brought with her the Red Squirrel whom they had met\nat luncheon in her nest. He seemed delighted to see them, and begged\nthem to postpone their departure from Make Believe Land, so that he\ncould give them a real woodland party. He said that he had some friends\namong the Frog family, who were truly charming, and he would be _so_\nglad to introduce them.\n\nNext came Klang and Tinkle, the two Musical Goblins, and Green-Wings,\nthe Dragon-Fly. And there were several Fairies from the magical Flower\nMeadow at the edge of Fairyland. The Sand Man, too, was there, and the\nWooden Cow, who explained that all her plans had been changed by the\ninvitation which had come to her from Mother Goose, and that she had\nput off her return to Santa Claus\u2019s country simply to come to the party.\n\nMost unexpected of all was the arrival of the Sea Kobold and Mudge,\nboth dripping sea-water, but smiling amiably upon everyone. Mudge had\na new set of scales, of which he seemed very proud, and the Sea Kobold\nhad discovered that with the overthrow of the Wicked King his glass lid\nhad melted away; so the ocean was as good as ever, and there was no\nlonger any Sea of Glass.\n\nSoon after this the strangers began to arrive, and such queer,\ndelightful people as they all were! The children felt terribly ashamed\nof themselves not to know more about their histories, for they were\nevidently famous people, all of them, and it did seem dreadful to think\nthat they might know all about them if only they had been willing to\nread a few fairy-books now and then!\n\nThere was one little old woman, with cloudy gray robes and a huge\nbroomstick. When they asked, timidly, who she was, she answered with\nhaughtiness: \u201cI am the Old Woman who Sweeps the Cobwebs from the Sky!\nEveryone in the world knows me!\u201d\n\nThen there were two lovely ladies, with marvellous hair, who came\ntogether. One explained that she was the Fair One with Golden Locks;\nthe other said that she was Rapunzel, on whose yellow hair a fairy\nPrince had climbed up to her tower window to rescue her. The Three\nLittle Bears trotted in together, and Puss in Boots followed soon\nafter; and the four joked together about bowls of porridge, until the\nthree mortal children wished they knew what they meant. Wiggles made\nfriends with them at once!\n\nSnow White and Rose Red strolled in with Jack the Giant-Killer, and\nthe other Jack who explained that he was famous for house-building. A\ndrowsy-looking lady, leaning upon the arm of a very splendid Prince,\nannounced herself as the Sleeping Beauty, and another charming person\ndeclared that her name was Cinderella, but that she was now happily\nmarried, and did not sit by the fire and weep any more!\n\n\u201cNo, I\u2019m the one who does that!\u201d cried a voice just behind her. And a\nvery pretty girl made her appearance. They all laughed, and began to\nsing:\n\n \u201cCross Patch, draw the latch!\n Sit by the fire and spin!\u201d\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s all Mother\u2019s fault,\u201d declared Cross Patch, going to Mother Goose\nand kissing her lovingly. \u201cNo one would ever have dreamed of calling me\nCross Patch if she hadn\u2019t made up that silly song just to punish me for\na fit of temper!\u201d\n\nCross Patch turned out to be Mother Goose\u2019s own daughter, and a very\nmerry, sweet little person she was. Mother Goose herself laughed as she\ngreeted her little girl.\n\n\u201cNever mind!\u201d she said. \u201cHer temper is ever so much better since!\u201d\n\nStill a third Jack made his appearance just then, carrying a piece of a\nbean-stalk, and he was soon followed by a lovely lady and a Prince who\nannounced that they were Beauty and the Beast.\n\n\u201cHe doesn\u2019t look a bit like a beast,\u201d cried Meg, watching them. Cross\nPatch laughed.\n\n\u201cHe was only a beast until Beauty kissed him,\u201d she said. \u201cI really must\nadmit that he was pretty bad up to that time!\u201d\n\nA little girl who wore her hair straight back from her forehead,\ncarried a looking-glass, and was followed by a pack of live cards, came\nnext.\n\n\u201cAlice!\u201d exclaimed Mother Goose. \u201cI am glad to see you! I was afraid\nyou wouldn\u2019t come, since you don\u2019t belong to my kingdom properly. I\nhave always wished that you were one of my very own girls!\u201d\n\n\u201cHello!\u201d cried a voice outside. \u201cI\u2019m here, Mother Goose, but I had to\nhop all the way on one leg! That shoemaker would not send me back my\nleft boot in time!\u201d\n\nIn came Hop O\u2019 My Thumb himself,\u2014a very tiny person, but wearing one\nhuge boot. They all laughed at him, but he was evidently very popular,\nand the children made up their minds to read all about him just as soon\nas they could possibly get home.\n\nMore and more Make Believe persons came, until it seemed beyond all\nthings wonderful that they were all able to get into Mother Goose\u2019s\ntiny cottage. But of course in Make Believe Land all things were\npossible, and as a matter of fact, in recognising that, our three\nchildren had learned their last and greatest lesson.\n\nWhen all the guests had arrived, they had a country dance on the grass\noutside. The sun was setting, and the light was lovelier than any\nevening glow that poet or artist ever saw in the real world. The forest\nshadows mingled with the gold and crimson glory streaming in from the\nwonderful distant West, and the flowers in Mother Goose\u2019s garden seemed\nto glow like little rainbow lamps, to light the feet of the dancers.\n\nAnd such a funny dance as it was! Klang and Tinkle got out their queer\nlittle lutes, and some sad-eyed Necker appeared, and a host of sprites\nand elves of all kinds took their places as the musicians of the\noccasion. And when the dance began, there was the oddest assortment in\nthe way of partners that you could imagine.\n\nBab danced with her old friend the Sand Man, Meg with Mudge,\u2014dear\nlittle scaly Mudge!\u2014and Dick with Cross Patch. Humpty Dumpty danced\nwith Princess Star, of course, and Mother Goose with the Sea Kobold.\nBizzybuzz had the Old Woman who Sweeps the Cobwebs from the Sky for\na partner, Puss in Boots had the Sleeping Beauty, and the other\nBeauty danced with Hop O\u2019 My Thumb. The Three Little Bears paired\noff respectively with Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Lady\nGray-Wing. Moon-Eyes and the Owl Innkeeper were allotted to Snow White\nand Rose Red. One of the three Jacks\u2014the one who was accustomed to\ngiant-killing\u2014danced with the Wooden Cow, and the other two were very\nwell content with Rapunzel and the Fair One with Golden Locks. The\nso-called \u201cBeast\u201d flirted gaily with the fairy with whom he danced, and\nthe Dragon-Fly hummed cheerfully as he followed the measures of the\ndance with another merry elf. The Red Squirrel also danced with a fairy.\n\nAt last, as the sunset radiance faded, and the stars peered out far\nabove, the music waned and died, and the guests, one by one and two by\ntwo, began to slip away, with a word of thanks to Mother Goose, and a\nkindly farewell to the three mortal children.\n\nThose who were their own particular friends expressed a hope that they\nwould all meet again some day; the others merely said that they were\nglad that they had met.\n\nOff among the dim woodland spaces drifted the Make Believe folk, and\nMother Goose and the children returned to the little cottage, lighted\nwarmly yet softly by the flickering blaze from the fireplace.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\n_At Last_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII\n\n_At Last_\n\n\nAnd then Mother Goose called them to the table, where supper was\nalready waiting, and they began to eat. The children were very hungry,\nand it seemed to them that they had never had such good things to eat\nin all their lives. But afterward when they tried to remember what they\nhad had, they found that was a misty blank.\n\nThen after supper they sat around the fire, and Mother Goose got out\nher spinning-wheel and sang to them all the dear, wonderful, foolish\nsongs that every child knows\u2014or ought to know.\n\nAnd she made a song about the rescue of Humpty Dumpty. You have all\nheard it, but don\u2019t you wish you could have heard it when it was first\nmade up, as Bab and Meg and Dick did, by the cheerful little fire in\nMother Goose\u2019s cottage?\n\nThis is the way it went, and she spun as she sang:\n\n \u201cHumpty Dumpty sat on a wall;\n Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!\n Not all the King\u2019s horses, nor all the King\u2019s men\n Could ever put Humpty Dumpty together again!\n\n\u2014I\u2019m glad to say,\u201d she added, smiling.\n\n\u201cMother Goose,\u201d said Dick, rather shyly, \u201cdo\u2014do you think that we could\nbe pardoned now for\u2014for not believing in\u2014in\u2014Make Believe things?\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019m sure of it,\u201d answered Mother Goose. \u201cYou are no longer stupid\nlittle unbelieving children, with dull eyes and deaf ears,\u2014you have\nlearned to believe in the most wonderful things in any world\u2014which are\nthe Make Believe things,\u2014and you will be thankful all your lives. And\ndo you know whom you have to thank for all this?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou,\u201d said Dick.\n\n\u201cSanta Claus!\u201d suggested Bab.\n\n\u201cThe Fairy Queen?\u201d questioned Meg.\n\nMother Goose shook her head.\n\n\u201cIn Make Believe Land,\u201d she said, \u201cthere are many kingdoms, and we\nare all rulers in our own way. But over us all is placed a great and\nwonderful Queen. She is the real ruler of Make Believe Land.\u201d\n\n\u201cOh, who is she?\u201d cried all three children. \u201cCan\u2019t we see her before we\ngo?\u201d\n\n\u201cYou have all seen her,\u201d replied Mother Goose. \u201cGuess, if you can, who\nshe is!\u201d\n\nThey thought hard for a moment.\n\n\u201cThe Idle Princess!\u201d exclaimed Bab.\n\n\u201cDreams-Come-True!\u201d cried Meg.\n\n\u201cThe Fairy of Fancy!\u201d guessed Dick.\n\nMother Goose smiled approvingly at them.\n\n\u201cWell guessed!\u201d she said. \u201cFor you are every one of you right!\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy\u2014what\u2014how\u2014\u201d gasped the three. \u201cIs she\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cYou must have guessed that she was the lady who appeared to all of\nyou,\u201d said Mother Goose. \u201cYou all saw her when you were in Santa\nClaus\u2019s sleigh.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe had forgotten!\u201d they declared. \u201cWe were so excited! Oh, Mother\nGoose, was _she_ the\u2014\u201d\n\n\u201cShe takes a great many shapes, this great Queen of ours,\u201d said Mother\nGoose. \u201cIndeed, she says that no one knows, nor ever will know, her\nreal name. Sometimes she wears a ragged dress, and often she forgets\nher crown and leaves it at home; but whether she is an Idle Princess,\nor a Lady of Dreams-Come-True, or a Fairy of Fancy,\u2014she is always our\nbeloved lady,\u2014whom I hope you will know and love, too, all your lives\nlong,\u2014the dear, immortal, young, ancient girl-queen of Make Believe\nLand.\u201d\n\n\u201cShall we see her again?\u201d they asked in low voices.\n\n\u201cThat,\u201d said Mother Goose, with a little smile, \u201cdepends upon\nyourselves. To those who love her she is always ready to come. But from\nthose who forget her, or slight her, or try to live without her, she\nis careful to keep away. When you want her, she will be with you. Your\neyes have been opened by your stay here, so that you will always be\nable to recognise her. Many people in the Real World meet her face to\nface, but do not know who she is. But in all times of great happiness\nor trouble, in all summer nights or snowstorms, and in all your dreams\nand hopes, and later in whatever romance life may have thrown your\nlots,\u2014you will see her in her green gown smiling at you from under her\nlittle crown of stars.\u201d\n\n\u201cMother,\u201d interrupted Bizzybuzz, respectfully, \u201care the mortal children\nto go home, now that their work is done?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes,\u201d said Mother Goose, and looked just a wee bit sad,\u2014\u201cyes, yes! Of\ncourse they must go home! Come, my children, come and kiss me good-bye!\u201d\n\nShe drew them all three into her arms, and kissed them, one by one.\nThen Humpty Dumpty and the Princess said good-bye, and Star cried a\nlittle.\n\n\u201cOh, dear!\u201d sighed Bab. \u201cShall we never come back to Make Believe Land\nany more?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy dears,\u201d said Mother Goose, \u201cI am going to tell you something which\nyou may not understand for a great many years. But it is true all the\nsame. The Real World, as it is called, is nothing at all but a very\nsmall corner of Make Believe Land!\u201d\n\nThen she drew them once more into her arms, and held them close, and\nthey felt themselves growing sleepier and sleepier, and the warm\ncomfort of her arms seemed to wrap them round closely and happily. They\nfelt as though they were in their mother\u2019s arms at home, and they knew\nsuddenly that they had become nothing but little, little babies, and\nthat their heads were nodding against Mother Goose\u2019s breast.\n\nAnd as they lay so in her arms, she began to rock them softly to and\nfro, and croon the queerest, quaintest little lullaby to them. They\ndid not know in the least what it was all about, but it was drowsy\nand motherly, and made them think of night-lights, and bath-tubs, and\ncoverlids pulled up close and warm on winter nights. And then they knew\nthat, whatever it was, it was what they always seemed to hear when\ntheir mother used to creep into their room during a thunder-storm,\n\u201cjust to see that they were all right and not frightened!\u201d\n\nHeld so in Mother Goose\u2019s arms, they all dreamed\u2014for they were almost\nasleep, you know\u2014that they saw a nightgowned figure, stealing close and\ncloser, lowering the light, and softly mending the fire; and a dear\ndream voice whispered: \u201cHush, darling, hush! It\u2019s only Mamma. Go to\nsleep.\u201d And then came a kiss as light as a breath. Their minds seemed\nconfused; was it their own mother or Mother Goose? They never knew,\nfor the next moment, and before they had time to decide, they were all\nthree fast asleep.\n\n * * * * *\n\nWhen they opened their eyes,\u2014it seemed but one dreamy minute\nlater,\u2014they were all three back on the nursery hearth-rug. The fire was\nalmost out, and Nurse was just coming in.\n\n\u201cBedtime, dearies,\u201d she said. \u201cHave you been asleep already?\u201d\n\nThe children looked at each other.\n\nWas it only fancy, or did they hear the faint whirr of Bizzybuzz\u2019s\nwings as he flew away?\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTranscribers Notes\n\n\nSpelling isn\u2019t always consistent. For some words several variants\ncan be encountered e.g. \u201csword-fish\u201d and \u201cswordfish\u201d. Principally no\ncorrections have been made. However, there are some rather obvious\nprinting errors that have been corrected. These are listed below.\n\nCorrections:\n\n Frontispiece: \u201cPage 26\u201d changed to \u201cPage 34\u201d to correspond with the\n list of illustrations\n Page 53 \u201cfox terrier\u201d changed to \u201cfox-terrier\u201d\n Page 66 Single quote changed to double quote\n Page 69 Period inserted between \u201cforest\u201d and \u201cShe\u201d\n Page 76 \u201cshapened\u201d changed to \u201csharpened\u201d\n Page 142 \u201creally\u201d changed to \u201creal\u201d\n Pages 148 and 149 \u201cMoon Eyes\u201d changed to \u201cMoon-Eyes\u201d\n Page 169 \u201cMoon-eyes\u201d changed to \u201cMoon-Eyes\u201d\n\nThe text contains formatting. The following conventions are used:\n _word_ means that \u201cword\u201d is in italics;\n +word+ means that \u201cword\u201d is in small caps.","title":"The true story of Humpty Dumpty : $b how he was rescued by three mortal children in Make Believe Land","tradition":"folklore-oral-tradition","translated_text":null,"word_count":35689}