XXIXPETERKIN BRINGS JOY
I’M not sure what the old villain thought of the scheme of flying to the Valley of the Blind—but he dared not disobey. For Peterkin’s grip was firm upon his shoulders—and Peterkin’s breath was hot against his cheek.
So over the mountains they flew, into the tumble-down, joyless valley of darkness—the valley where the toothless villain had stricken each innocent one with blindness.
There, across the neglected road, at the edge of the wild grown heath, they found the sorrowful family of those who first had told the tale of woe to Peterkin. Their clotheswere more wretched than ever; their house was crumbling to the point of falling apart. And they wept bitterly when they heard Peterkin’s voice again.
“But cheerily ho!” laughed Peterkin. “For I have brought you another stranger—well, not exactly a stranger, either. For, like me, he came to visit you once before. Hebrought you sorrow then—but this time he is sworn to bring you joy. When once you have eyes to see him——”
They rushed about in a close circle, surrounding the spot whence came to them the sound of Peterkin’s voice. “Who is he? What is his name?” they demanded in a stormy chorus.
“He is known as the toothless farmer——”
At that, the hubbub swelled to a tempest of curses and wailing. The old villain had scarcely time to fall to his knees when the avenging blind men, groping in the dark, clutched him, plucked at his clothes, at his hair, at his eyes. Peterkin alone could save him from their vengeance. He screamed aloud, as he tore them from their prey.
“He has come to give you back your eyes! From now on you will see! Aye, see everything—the sunlight and the summer night sky, the fields, the smiles upon your little children’s faces. Oh, do not touch him lest he keep not to his promise!”
Therewith the blind folk fell back, waiting in a hushed and nervous circle. “Aye, we shall not touch him,” they promised.
Then the old villain, trembling and repentant, made a hurried sign in the air—a mystic, magic sign—and the sunlight streamed into the eyes of all the valley folk. Everyonecould see! Yes, could see each other—could see the rags in which they were dressed, the ruins of the houses, the wild heaths, the broken, rutted roads—and planned at once to build anew a happy valley. Their eyes were returned—and so should their laughter. Henceforth, the years of misery and darkness should be forgotten—and theirs should be what, long years before, it had been: The Valley of Bright Eyes!
Thus was the first errand done—and Peterkin smiled tothink of what an easy, happy one it had been. And now they must go on, over the mountain boundaries, from one valley to the other, bringing the same gift of happiness and hope.
“Come,” he whispered to the toothless villain, “you and I are not through yet. Now, don’t look cross and think of rebelling—for you are in my power, and there is no escape for you, unless you will obey my every order as nobly as you have this first one. Besides, think of those brand-new teeth which you shall have as a reward!”
Even this was not enough to persuade the old man to go along peacefully; he sulked and gnashed his red gums and tried all sorts of magic tricks, but all in vain. For Peterkin’s life was a charmed one, now that he had the love of a Princess Royal to guard him!
And, at last, when the old fellow saw that the people of the Valley of Bright Eyes were glancing at him angrily, as if they meant to lose their tempers after all, he took Peterkin upon his shoulders and flew dutifully away with him, over the boundary mountains.
“He jumped upon his shoulders”
“He jumped upon his shoulders”
“He jumped upon his shoulders”