Burning Bank BondsIt may be said with safety that Dragonfel was inclined to have his own way, and carry out his own ideas. He was very rich, and had money to burn. When in the mood of celebrating some great event, such as the Burial of Good Intentions, or the Failure in Eden, instead of climbing on some rock to set off firecrackers, burn Roman candles, or discharge toy cannon, he delighted in burning Bank Bonds, Legal Tenders, or Government Securities of large denominations, until the ashes of them were declared a nuisance by his Board of Health, and with reluctance he would discontinue his celebration.As is usual in all such great operations there were panics at times, through alarms of fire, explosions, or escaping gas, when everybody tried to get out at once and but few could escape.One day it would be the danger of being smothered, the next of being roasted, the third of a cave-in where all would be buried alive, and so from hour to hour fear was in the way.Distress in the mineThere were mine-sprites whom he kept steadily at work, without regard for Union hours, digging the gems out with their fingers.The poor mine-sprites were greatly over-worked, and not the least regard was paid to life or limb. The hours were long asthey struggled at the wheelbarrows or mine-carts, either pushing or pulling, with their unreasonable loads piled high in the air, and with gems that in the market would have brought enough to pay the debt of a Principality slipping off, and rolling in the dust.PullingThe palace of Dragonfel was a sight, and it would have made your eyes blink to see it. It was constructed entirely of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds all stuck together with cement. There were no opals, because Dragonfel thought they were unlucky. If you could have pried off any one of them you would have had enough to keep you in the greatest luxury all your life. The famous Kohinoor was but a grain of sand compared to any of them.Back of the palace, and casting a frowning shadow over it, was a single towering mountain whose top was an extinct volcano. No one could recall the exact date of its last eruption, for Dragonfel stubbornly insisted upon running his business without an almanac. There were those scientifically inclined who leaned to the theory that the volcano had been the cause of all the gems in Dragonfel’s mine.HammeringThough it must have been a very long time since the volcano had celebrated with home-made fireworks, the enchanter had always anticipated a further display, so he had taken the precautionto buy an old-fashioned fire-engine which was installed conveniently at hand in a building over whose doors was the caption:NEPTUNE HOOK AND LADDER CO. NO 1.In the building were plenty of rubber coats, boots, and red helmets. Everything was ready for an emergency.There were some who declared that Dragonfel had some business connection with Beelzebub, but, whether this was true or not, he had the bad taste to get himself up after the authentic portraits of that disreputable person. He was very tall indeed, with almost a scarlet countenance, and he wore a long, flowing cloak that was a perfect match for his complexion. He kept his hair rather long, and brushed it stiffly up, to convey the impression that he had a natural horn.GuardHe boasted a host of followers, all big, hulking black-guards of giant-like stature, with repulsive names such as Boundingbore, Mandrake, Wolfinger, Grouthead, Snoutpimple, and the like, and whenever they did something mean he rewarded them. The consequence was that they were trying to do mean things all the time.They were in charge of the mine, and the way they treated thepoor mine-sprites was awful. It was a good thing for them that the officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children were unable to get around.So on a certain day, following his usual custom, Dragonfel was making an inspection of the mine. He had descended through a secret passage, and walked about the dark chambers lit here and there by gloomy flares of light.BasketGuarded by the enchanter’s cruel followers, the mine-sprites, poor little, emaciated, witch-like creatures in tattered clothes, were digging away with their raw, bruised fingers at the sides of earth and exhuming precious stones. They were not allowed to use picks, for that would have made the work easy.Diamonds, rubies, pearls, amethysts, emeralds, and othergems, every one of them worth a king’s ransom, lay piled about carelessly in heaps. The opals when they were discovered were thrown away. Sprites kept staggering off with heavy loads in wheelbarrows.Dragonfel surveyed the work with great satisfaction, and asked Grouthead who was in general charge:“When were they fed last?”“Three days ago, kind master!”Everyone called him “kind master,” though whether this was in sarcasm or not no one knew.“See that they don’t get anything to eat before the full week is up,” ordered Dragonfel. “And that reminds me of my own dinner. Boundingbore, tell the cook I want turtle soup, spiced venison pastries, apple dumplings, strawberry shortcake, and iced lemonade with plenty of crushed raspberries in it.”The mouths of the poor little mine-sprites watered, and they smacked their lips, but Grouthead snapped his long snake-whip so that it sounded like a pistol-shot, and they frantically continued digging away in the earth with their fingers.Boundingbore flew to do Dragonfel’s bidding, and Snoutpimple observed, rather timidly:“The air down here is very bad, kind master!”“That’s good,” said Dragonfel, with hearty unction. “It might make me ill if I were obliged to remain, so as I have a proper regard for my health I think I will get right out into the open.”Attended by Mandrake, Snoutpimple, Wolfinger, and some of the rest, he went on his way, while Grouthead snapped his whip to incite the frightened, gasping, exhausted mine-sprites to further effort.When he came up out of the shaft Dragonfel gave a deep breath of relief as his nostrils sucked in the bracing air that had a salt tang of the sea in it. Out in the harbor there tossed a galleon on the lazy swell—a craft built low amid-ship, and with both bow and stern curving high into the air.Dragonfel gazed off at it with interest, and remarked:“It may come in handy soon if these Brownies and fairies continue longer. They are getting altogether too good, and must be stopped. But let us go back to the palace to see if anything has happened in our absence.”Nothing else was to be seen on the wide water to draw his attention, except some mermaids who were above the waves, engaged in combing their hair, who, to most people, are very interesting.MermaidsA little bird with very acute hearing listened intently to his words as it lightly balanced on the twig of a gumdrop tree, and then flew straight across the sea to tell a fairy, who told the other fairies. Dragonfel with his big, clumsy, lumbering cohorts strode on to the palace that was guarded by a Demon Usher—a queer, comical-looking chap who with his wings much resembled a human grasshopper, and who half flew, half walked.He had thin little wisps of hair sticking out from each side of his nose, like the scanty whiskers of a cat.The Demon Usher with hops and jumps escorted him to a magnificent throne, and grovelled with smirks before him, while Dragonfel with what he thought to be the quintessence of grace sank upon it, and then arranged himself in what he imagined was a kingly posture.“Well,” he gruffly said, “has anyone been here since I’ve been gone?”“No, kind master!” the Demon Usher hastened to assure him.“No one has been here since the band and you remember them.”“Ah, that band!” repeated Dragonfel, with a shudder. “I can’t get their notes out of my ears yet. But what have we here?”A huge creature resembling an octopus, with great, staring eyes popping from his head, and hundreds of fuzzy tentacles protruding in all directions from his grotesque body, came crawling toward him. Straightway Dragonfel sprang up from the throne, while Wolfinger, Mandrake, Boundingbore, and Snoutpimple, who had assumed respectful positions at his sides, drew back in alarm.But the Demon Usher gave a cackle of a laugh, and gleefullyrubbed his hands together as though he were washing them with invisible soap.“Have no fear, kind master!” said a thin, piping voice from somewhere within the horrid creature’s hulk. “Is not this a pretty disguise?”“The Red Spirit, as I live!” cried Dragonfel, in a tone of admiration not unmixed with relief. “You rascal, why have you chosen this masquerade?”“But is it not a clever one?” persisted the Red Spirit. “See, kind master, I can either compress or expand myself at will.”As he spoke he shrank to practical insignificance, and then almost immediately afterward swelled out until it seemed that he would burst.“Capital!” said Dragonfel encouragingly. “You can be of great assistance to me. I have a mean task for you to do.”“The meaner the better, kind master!”Dragonfel raised his arm, and pointed toward a window that gave a vista of the far-off, smiling sea.“Go, Human Octopus,” he commanded, “and spy upon the Brownies and fairies!” Without another word the hideous object started to crawl off by means of his myriad tentacles, and all who were present watched his convulsive, eccentric movements with malicious satisfaction.Human OctopusCHAPTER VPRINCE FLORIMEL MEETSTHE BROWNIESPrince Florimelgave a great shudder of fright when the gift of his ex-fairy godmother so utterly failed him in that moment of terrible danger. As the savage beasts, screaming for his blood, came toward him, he turned and fled, without relaxing his hold upon the treacherous bow. He made a frantic leap for the trunk of the tree, and grasping one of the low branches pulled himself up with desperate haste as far as he could.The beasts with thunderous roars and sharp teeth showing sprang up at him, and a lion with knife-like claws just grazed the skin of one of his legs, and tore off a portion of his garment.Up a treeFightingFlorimel climbed up further, and still further, for safety, while the animals roaring their defeat continued to hurl themselves at the tree until it shook and shook again.Finally they took to fighting among themselves, with outcries that were terrible, and finished by slinking or limping away discomfited.The eaglets disturbed by all this clamor perched on the edges of their nest as though deliberating upon the hazard of trying for the first time their wings in the dizzy space of blue. High overhead their angry parents soaredscreaming their protests at what seemed to them an unwarrantable intrusion.Still retaining the bow, Florimel climbed out toward the nest, intending to usurp possession of it, and with timid flaps of their untried wings the eaglets essayed flight. Finding they could fly, they soon gained confidence, and joined the parent-birds who led them a mad aerial chase.Soon Florimel was the sole tenant of the nest, and, after he had established himself comfortably in his new quarters, he set about to repair the damage to the bow.He tied the broken cord securely, and drew it taut, pulling it back as far as he could repeatedly, but he did not waste in a trial one of the remaining arrows in his quiver. For, though it had already brought to him one grievous disappointment, he still had faith in his ex-fairy godmother’s gift.Resenting eaglesThe eagles resenting his possession of their home kept flying threateningly at him, but every time they came near he menaced them with the bow and drove them away. Finally they alighted on another limb of the tree, where they all sat in a row viewing him with silent moody protest.Worn by fatigue and excitement Florimel closed his eyes in sleep, with an arm bared to the elbow hanging from the nest. When at last he was awakened by a confused babel of voices from below, dusk had fallen, and a crescent moon hung low in the sky.The eagles young and old in agitated manner once more were circling the darkening sky, and leaning over the nest and looking down Florimel was astounded by what he saw.And no less astounded than he was were a band of little people who had caught a glimpse of that rounded human arm sticking from an eagles’ nest with consequent and complete mystification to all.In a ring and with characteristic postures they stood gabbling among themselves and pointing up—a queer, very queer race, all males, with round fat little pot-bellies, thin, spindling shanks, long, tapering feet, and babyish-looking heads set on their shoulders apparently without connecting necks. And these heads had large ears, wide mouths, and pop eyes—a combination that ordinarily would make the possessor of them ugly, but which in their case contributed general results that made them unusually winning and attractive.As Florimel looked down he could note that there were many of one type—tiny fellows who wore the same kinds of caps and jackets. But there were others too—one of each kind—a Policeman with a club, a Sailor with a spy-glass, an Indian, a Cowboy, and a single representative from every country of importance in the world. England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Portugal, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, and other lands had their delegates whom Florimel could distinguishby means of a strange human picture-book in the museum of the kingdom from which he had flown, and which often he had been permitted to see. And, while he marveled and wondered thereat, his keen eye alighted on another too—a tiny chap with high-topped, bell-crowned hat, black clothes with swallow-tail, a wide expanse of spotless white shirt-bosom, spats, and glistening patent-leather shoes—a pompous, vain, conceited, immaculate-looking little fellow who carried a cane that seemed a part of him, and who wore a round piece of glass over one of his eyes.ConversationIn order to obtain a better view Florimel leaned further over, and so disturbed the architecture of the nest, from which the sticks began to fall, until he felt the whole foundation going. But so suddenly did this occur that he did not have a chance to grasp a saving branch, and in a trice plunged through the bottomless structure down—down—down—He closed his dizzy frightened eyes, struck the waters of the lake, then disappeared from sight.The curious band watching him were quick to realize his predicament. Without loss of time they ran to a shelf of rock that over-hung the lake, and one and all jumped in after him.Ker-splash! ker-splash! resounded on all sides until the water was dotted with bobbing heads.As Florimel came to the surface, blinded and choking, someone quickly grasped him, and, while the rest formed a living chain, he was passed on from one to another, until the last dragged him safely to shore.Soon they were all gathered about in a ring, with Florimel in the centre, and, while the soft wind dried their dripping clothes, they looked at him, and he at them, with wonder and surprise on all their faces.“Avast there, messmates!” said the Sailor to the rest. “What did I tell you? He can see us!”And the cry was taken up all around the ring:“He can see us! He can see us!”“Why shouldn’t I be able to see you?” said Florimel, rather impatiently. “I have eyes.”“Yes,” said one who wore a long black gown, and who had a tasseled mortarboard on his head, “but so have other people. It takes second sight to see the Brownies.”The Brownies! Florimel’s heart gave a sudden bound.“Much am I beholden to you all,” he said, “for having rescued me. If you had not saved me I should have been obliged to save myself.”“Can you swim?” asked the Sailor, while all looked much chagrined.“Like any duck!” was Florimel’s response. “But are youmortal?” questioned the Uncle Sam Brownie. “No mortal eye has ever yet beheld us.”“My ex-fairy godmother at my christening bestowed on me the gift of second sight,” explained Florimel, “so that I have always been able to see things no one else could.”“Ah, that accounts for it,” said the Irish Brownie, while the faces of all the others showed that a great mystery had suddenly been cleared away. “You must have supernatural powers.”“Of that I am not sure,” said Florimel, “but of this much I am, that right gladly would I be one of you, to work and toil while weary households sleep, to delight in harmless pranks and helpful deeds, and never be seen by mortal eye.”They looked at each other, evidently embarrassed by so bold a hint, and the Brownie Dude voiced the thought that was in all minds when he fervently remarked:“I wish King Stanislaus were here!”“But you are not a Brownie!” said the Chinaman to Florimel in a most decided tone. “How could you join the band? You don’t look like a Brownie. What have you ever done?”“Nothing, I fear,” confessed Florimel. “It is not what I have not done, but what I hope to do, that makes me so presumptuous as to beg the honor to be one of you. And, if I were fortunate enough to be taken in by you, I would ever strive to be helpful, faithful, and true, like a Brownie.”These words, delivered with earnest, manly spirit, created their impression.“It may be you have supernatural powers, as the Irishman remarked,” said the Student Brownie doubtfully. “Have you ever tried to put them to a test?” Prince Florimel sighed.What could he do to gain the confidence and esteem of these little people whom already he was beginning to love? How could he make them all his friends?In his doubt and uncertainty his eye strayed to the bow in his hand. A sudden thought came to him. In this extremity it might be of aid.But it had failed him once—would it fail him again?Without a word he took an arrow from the quiver and placed it to the bow. The Brownies watched his every movement with the keenest interest.He gazed about seeking some difficult target at which to aim. With their pop eyes the Brownies gazed where he did.He saw the crescent moon hanging low in the deepening sky, like a hunter’s horn, and pointed the arrow at it.He pulled back the cord with all his strength, and to his great relief it held. The arrow whistled away in its swift flight, and was lost in the violet atmosphere.But almost the next moment a great cry of surprise went up from all the Brownies. The arrow that Florimel had shot was sticking through the moon!MoonCHAPTER VIWTHE HUMAN OCTOPUSSNOOPS AROUNDWatchedby the admiring eyes of Dragonfel and his followers the Human Octopus wriggled and squirmed his way out of the enchanter’s palace. And, whether he flew through the air, or swam through the waters, to Queen Titania’s fairy kingdom, using his tentacles as propellers, is a matter for conjecture. But, at any rate, he got there with all tentacles. Whenever his suspicions were aroused, or there was the slightest doubt, he would hastily secrete himself among shrubbery or weeds, with which his mottled green sides proved a perfect match, so that as a whole he blended in admirably with the vegetation.He did not have a heart, a rather sluggish liver performingfor him instead the necessary functions of the other organ, and, as he approached Queen Titania’s palace with due caution, it thumped with torpid pleasure.On the roofIf there was anything he liked above all others it was sneaking, and the job which Dragonfel had given him presented most attractive possibilities.Noting a gurgling brook in the proximity of the portcullis, he took great pains to soak the round pad-like ends of his tentacles in water so that when they were applied to a flat surface they would adhere through atmospheric pressure sufficiently to bear his weight.In such a manner, when no one was looking, did the wily rascal climb up the high garden-wall and down the other side, wriggling and squirming with ill-concealed chuckles toward the palace.Only the magic dove that Euphrosyne had left, which was preening itself on the edge of a fountain’s basin, saw him, with the result that it was strongly tempted to fly back to the Goddess of Mirth forthwith.WindowChimneyAt the fountain the Human Octopus took the precaution toagain soak his multifarious pads in water, after which with his goggle eyes he cocked his head in a professional survey of the palace. Then he began to ascend one of its towering walls. Higher and higher, and still higher, he went in perfect safety until at last he gained the roof and squatted on the top of a chimney.There he skillfully compressed himself to fit the dimensions of the flue, after which he began to let himself gently down like an elevator-car. A great volume of black, greasy smoke from the kitchen suddenly belched forth and hid him from sight.It was not so long afterward that, all covered with soot, he crawled out ofthe big open fireplace in the throne-room. Before he did so he made sure to satisfy himself that no one was there. But there was no telling when someone might come, and he knew it behooved him to secrete himself and instantly.His goggle eyes oscillated in all directions around the room, and he craftily selected for his hiding-place a great tall clock that stood up close against the wall in a corner by itself.ClockIt was not a grandfather’s clock, for there were no grandfathers in Queen Titania’s kingdom. It was what might more properly be termed a grandmother’s clock.The villain opened the door, and projected himself into the clock’s interior, being obliged in order to accomplish this to make his proportions squarish and oblong. His queer-looking head showed at the top instead of the clock’s face. Then with one of his tentacles glued to the door he pulled it back in its place.“Now we shall see what we shall see,” he snorted. “I must be patient and bide my time.”The big brass pendulum swaying rhythmically to and fro with its measured tick-tock! tick-tock! kept hitting his stomach, and it tickled him so that it was all he could do to keep from laughing.But he knew that he must not do so. If he even snickered he might betray himself. So he put a number of his tentacles over his mouth and tried hard to keep a straight face.Now, though every month was a fair month, a rare month, for the murmur of the little streams was never hushed, and the fruits and flowers always were in bloom, with the skies mostly blue above them, and the winds soft and kind, May to the fairies’ way of thinking was the sweetest of all the happy year, and whenever it came round it was tendered a becoming ceremony.The Eve o’ May was a holiday, though it might truthfully be said that every day was a holiday.But at this particular time when all nature was at its best there were special observances that sprang from the gladness and exultation in all hearts, the very joy of existence, and the happiness that was manifested by every living thing.Queen Titania and her fairies prepared for the innocent revels and dances that were to occur on a velvet sward some distance from the palace grounds, and their hearts were pleasantly thrilled by a notice with some pictures of Brownies that had been mysteriously tacked up in the neighborhood.Marvelous was the flower-texture of the gowns donned for this gala occasion, and in her robes of blush-pink mossrose petals which swept away in a long, fragrant train Titania never looked more beautiful and charming.Little old Dame Drusilda who resembled a human morning-glory,with hat, bodice, and dress all like cornucopias, fumed, fretted, and ordered all the other fairies around.“As I live,” the fussy dame declared, “we’ve forgotten to wind the big clock, and it’s almost run down. Violet and Daffodil, go to the throne-room, and attend to this before we start.”The two good-naturedly ran to do her bidding, and when he saw them coming the Human Octopus had an uneasy qualm.He hastily tried to distort his ugly face into a resemblance of the Roman numerals, and stuck up two tentacles for the hour and minute hands, but the deception was a poor one, and would not work. Violet and Daffodil set about to wind the clock, but, on looking up to note the time, they were confronted by a face twisted in an expression that the Human Octopus very foolishly thought invited confidence, but which instead sent them scurrying and hurrying with gathered-up flower skirts and ear-splitting shrieks from the room.Cupboard“I wonder what they’re scared of,” said the stupid fellow to himself. “Well, it isn’t the first time I’ve given folks a start in life. And now it behooves me to remove myself from here forthwith, if not sooner, for if they come back and catch me the jig is up!”The tick-tock!tick-tock! of the pendulum reminded him that every moment was precious, so he scrambled out of the clock, and wig-wagged his way out of the room.When he came to a fountain he lumberingly clambered up into the basin, and puddled around in the water to get the soot off, and once more as the dove watched him perform his ablutions it found it difficult to refrain from flying back to Euphrosyne.Floral urnThe Human Octopus peered through a lattice, but none of the fairies was in sight. Then he hustled up the garden-wall, and down the other side, finally secreting himself in a big floral urn by the portcullis, where he awaited further developments.No one would have guessed he was there, for he seemed to be a part of the luxuriant green growth, and he even let his tentacles droop gracefully over with the branches and stalks of the palms and ferns to heighten the illusion.Meanwhile Violet and Daffodil were telling a most harrowing story to Queen Titania and the rest of the fairies, but so frightened were they still that it was hardly intelligible. Finallythey were all prevailed upon to accompany the two to the throne-room to see for themselves.Nothing was inside the clock, of course, but the brass works.“It seems to me you both have very vivid imaginations, young ladies,” chided Dame Drusilda. “After this I would let Welsh rabbits alone.”“It’s not there now, but it was there,” persisted Violet stoutly, “and it was the most dreadful looking thing you ever saw.”“It was worse than that,” added Daffodil. “It was the most dreadful looking thing you never saw.”Bell tower“Well, even if there was such a horrid creature, it’s gone,” said Queen Titania comfortingly, “so why should we trouble ourselves about it any longer? It’s time for our revels to begin, and if we don’t hurry up the ice cream will all melt, and remember there’s angel-cake, charlotte russe, and lemonade besides!”The tiny Cupids, whose hearts were going pit-a-pat, for they believed implicitly every word that Violet and Daffodil had said, hastily gathered up Her Majesty’s train.All started from the palace, the portcullis being raised to let them pass, and from his hiding-place in the urn the Human Octopus with his big,gloating, goggle eyes noted every movement that they made. But they had no suspicion that he lurked among the palms and ferns.FenceAfter they had disappeared from sight he flopped down, and keeping his eyes close to the earth followed the wee footprints that they made.His sleuth-like, sneaky search led him straight to where the fairies sported on the green, and as he drew nearer to them he exercised more caution.He compressed himself more closely to the ground, and picking out a luxuriant clump of peculiar rainbow roses whose leaves afforded a most effective screen he crawled to it to wait and bide his time.As he watched the innocent, happy fays garlanded with fragrant, many-hued flowers pose and pirouette he could not deny to them with a certain grace that many enthusiasts would have pronounced most exquisite. But he had never been to dancing school, and he did not trip the light, fantastic tentacle himself.He was greatly interested in all he saw, however, and even more so when at last he noticed Queen Titania, the Cupids, and several of the fairies leave the lithe, flushed, happy group. For Queen Titania had spied the rainbow roses, different from allthe rest, and ran with eager, sparkling eyes to fill her arms with them. Little she dreamed of the danger that lurked in all their perfumed radiance. Swiftly she came, outdistancing the others, and as she bent over in sweet, innocent pillage the mean, contemptible nature of the Human Octopus manifested itself. Forgetful of his diplomatic mission, he wound his tentacles around her until she looked like a mesh-bag. When she began almost instantly to scream he grimly increased the pressure. The fairies and Cupids, horrified beyond measure by what they beheld, and helpless to aid their beloved queen, fled with wild cries.The Human Octopus tightened his cruel grip. Titania’s head fell back, her golden hair streamed over her shoulders, her eyes distended, and she could not get her breath.Slowly but surely the Human Octopus was strangling her!FlightCHAPTER VIIDFLORIMEL IS ADOPTED BYKING STANISLAUSDelightedbeyond measure were all the Brownies with Prince Florimel’s most amazing feat, and their pleasure manifested itself in broad smiles upon smug faces, the nodding of round little heads, the slapping of hands on each other’s backs, and the good-natured poking of fists in each other’s stomachs.They pressed close to Florimel and kept wringing his hand in congratulation. Not even a Brownie could do what he had done.All wanted to examine the bow that had accomplished a result so wonderful. But it was just like the ordinary bow of any archer, and its wood and gut presented no solution of the remarkable happening; it was no story, they saw it themselves.Then, noting that Florimel’s attire was torn in many places, and that here and there his fair flesh showed, they stripped him of his garments, replacing them with skin-tight trousers that with the greatest difficulty they drew over his legs, long, tapering shoes, a jacket with big buttons, and a pinnacle-shaped cap whose top could not sustain itself but fell over on his head.MelonMany nimble hands attended to his valeting, and though Florimel observed that he was garbed as an ordinary Brownie, of which there were a large number, he was rejoiced at the eagerness they now displayed to transform him to a Brownie, and make him one of themselves. Yet he could not help thinking, as he glanced first at them, and then at himself, how different he was from them all.Try as they might they could not bestow on him the pop eyes, big ears, and broad, distended mouth that parted in a smile so evident of inward satisfaction. He was as fair and sightly as one could wish to be, yet he would rather have looked like a Brownie. Only in size did he resemble one.Some such thought must have been in the minds of theBrownies too, for they seemed puzzled as they inspected their new comrade.While they were making their first awkward overtures of friendship the attention of all was suddenly diverted to two ordinary Brownies rolling a watermelon up the steep hill. The melon was perhaps thrice their size, and they puffed and grunted over what to them was a herculean task.Just when their labor promised to be light, with the crest of the hill almost reached, they stopped to take their breath, and in doing so relinquished their hold on the melon.Bumpety-bumpety! it started rolling down the hill. Both ran after it in pursuit, then realizing that they were being distanced stood stock-still with horror on their faces. Bumpety-bumpety! came the big melon, with ever increasing momentum,while the eyes of Florimel and all the rest followed its erratic course down the hill—bumpety-bumpety!—with leaps and bounds—bumpety-bumpety!—first to one side, then to another, bumpety-bumpety!—till it finished with an extra high bound and squashed all to pieces right in their very midst. Little jets of sweet water shot in all directions from its sides as though projected froma syphon, and out from the juicy, luscious, red pulp exposed to view there crawled sheepishly on his hands and knees a little weazened old fellow who wore an ermine cape and gold crown.“Hail, Your Majesty!” shouted all the Brownies, and the little old fellow stood up, rubbed himself, and said, rather ruefully:“No, I’d rather reign!”Then the Brownies, under the leadership of the Dude, yelled, in perfect unison:“’Rah! ’rah! ’rah!Stan-is-laus!Siss-boom-ah!”“Thanks!” graciously acknowledged His Majesty, adding by way of explanation:“I chose this watermelon greenTo shun the treacherous submarine!”Then a puzzled expression came to his face as his eye suddenly observed Florimel.“Why, who’s this fellow?” he demanded. “You’re not trying to make a Brownie of him, are you?”Florimel’s heart sank, for he realized that here was the king himself, whose word was absolute law to all these little people.If he frowned down on any plans they had made in his behalf, all the hopes that had sprung up in his breast would be ruthlessly shattered.The Brownies seemed troubled too, for they would not have brought displeasure to King Stanislaus for all the world.While the new-comer stood looking timidly down, without daring to meet the questioning gaze of that kindly but august monarch, his little companions made bold to extol his virtues real and imaginary till their tongues were all wagging at such a great rate that Florimel could not help but furiously blush.First they pointed to the crescent moon, still pierced by the arrow, averring earnestly that it was Florimel’s accomplishment, and the sudden start King Stanislaus gave when he beheld this marvel showed that he was properly impressed.Then they called his attention to the eagles’ nest high up in the tree, explaining that it was there they first saw the stranger, after which they waited anxiously as did Florimel to hear what His Majesty would say.King Stanislaus looked not displeased, and one and all took heart.“If Moses was found among the frogs, and Romulus among the wolves,” said the monarch, with great deliberation, “then an eagles’ nest is a fitting cradle for a Brownie prince!”This speech caused the Brownies to burst into a sudden wild cheer that made the welkin ring, for they realized that not only had King Stanislaus set approval on what they had done, but he had gone much further.
Burning Bank Bonds
It may be said with safety that Dragonfel was inclined to have his own way, and carry out his own ideas. He was very rich, and had money to burn. When in the mood of celebrating some great event, such as the Burial of Good Intentions, or the Failure in Eden, instead of climbing on some rock to set off firecrackers, burn Roman candles, or discharge toy cannon, he delighted in burning Bank Bonds, Legal Tenders, or Government Securities of large denominations, until the ashes of them were declared a nuisance by his Board of Health, and with reluctance he would discontinue his celebration.
As is usual in all such great operations there were panics at times, through alarms of fire, explosions, or escaping gas, when everybody tried to get out at once and but few could escape.
One day it would be the danger of being smothered, the next of being roasted, the third of a cave-in where all would be buried alive, and so from hour to hour fear was in the way.
Distress in the mine
There were mine-sprites whom he kept steadily at work, without regard for Union hours, digging the gems out with their fingers.
The poor mine-sprites were greatly over-worked, and not the least regard was paid to life or limb. The hours were long asthey struggled at the wheelbarrows or mine-carts, either pushing or pulling, with their unreasonable loads piled high in the air, and with gems that in the market would have brought enough to pay the debt of a Principality slipping off, and rolling in the dust.
Pulling
The palace of Dragonfel was a sight, and it would have made your eyes blink to see it. It was constructed entirely of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds all stuck together with cement. There were no opals, because Dragonfel thought they were unlucky. If you could have pried off any one of them you would have had enough to keep you in the greatest luxury all your life. The famous Kohinoor was but a grain of sand compared to any of them.
Back of the palace, and casting a frowning shadow over it, was a single towering mountain whose top was an extinct volcano. No one could recall the exact date of its last eruption, for Dragonfel stubbornly insisted upon running his business without an almanac. There were those scientifically inclined who leaned to the theory that the volcano had been the cause of all the gems in Dragonfel’s mine.
Hammering
Though it must have been a very long time since the volcano had celebrated with home-made fireworks, the enchanter had always anticipated a further display, so he had taken the precautionto buy an old-fashioned fire-engine which was installed conveniently at hand in a building over whose doors was the caption:NEPTUNE HOOK AND LADDER CO. NO 1.In the building were plenty of rubber coats, boots, and red helmets. Everything was ready for an emergency.
There were some who declared that Dragonfel had some business connection with Beelzebub, but, whether this was true or not, he had the bad taste to get himself up after the authentic portraits of that disreputable person. He was very tall indeed, with almost a scarlet countenance, and he wore a long, flowing cloak that was a perfect match for his complexion. He kept his hair rather long, and brushed it stiffly up, to convey the impression that he had a natural horn.
Guard
He boasted a host of followers, all big, hulking black-guards of giant-like stature, with repulsive names such as Boundingbore, Mandrake, Wolfinger, Grouthead, Snoutpimple, and the like, and whenever they did something mean he rewarded them. The consequence was that they were trying to do mean things all the time.
They were in charge of the mine, and the way they treated thepoor mine-sprites was awful. It was a good thing for them that the officers of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children were unable to get around.
So on a certain day, following his usual custom, Dragonfel was making an inspection of the mine. He had descended through a secret passage, and walked about the dark chambers lit here and there by gloomy flares of light.
Basket
Guarded by the enchanter’s cruel followers, the mine-sprites, poor little, emaciated, witch-like creatures in tattered clothes, were digging away with their raw, bruised fingers at the sides of earth and exhuming precious stones. They were not allowed to use picks, for that would have made the work easy.
Diamonds, rubies, pearls, amethysts, emeralds, and othergems, every one of them worth a king’s ransom, lay piled about carelessly in heaps. The opals when they were discovered were thrown away. Sprites kept staggering off with heavy loads in wheelbarrows.
Dragonfel surveyed the work with great satisfaction, and asked Grouthead who was in general charge:
“When were they fed last?”
“Three days ago, kind master!”
Everyone called him “kind master,” though whether this was in sarcasm or not no one knew.
“See that they don’t get anything to eat before the full week is up,” ordered Dragonfel. “And that reminds me of my own dinner. Boundingbore, tell the cook I want turtle soup, spiced venison pastries, apple dumplings, strawberry shortcake, and iced lemonade with plenty of crushed raspberries in it.”
The mouths of the poor little mine-sprites watered, and they smacked their lips, but Grouthead snapped his long snake-whip so that it sounded like a pistol-shot, and they frantically continued digging away in the earth with their fingers.
Boundingbore flew to do Dragonfel’s bidding, and Snoutpimple observed, rather timidly:
“The air down here is very bad, kind master!”
“That’s good,” said Dragonfel, with hearty unction. “It might make me ill if I were obliged to remain, so as I have a proper regard for my health I think I will get right out into the open.”
Attended by Mandrake, Snoutpimple, Wolfinger, and some of the rest, he went on his way, while Grouthead snapped his whip to incite the frightened, gasping, exhausted mine-sprites to further effort.
When he came up out of the shaft Dragonfel gave a deep breath of relief as his nostrils sucked in the bracing air that had a salt tang of the sea in it. Out in the harbor there tossed a galleon on the lazy swell—a craft built low amid-ship, and with both bow and stern curving high into the air.Dragonfel gazed off at it with interest, and remarked:“It may come in handy soon if these Brownies and fairies continue longer. They are getting altogether too good, and must be stopped. But let us go back to the palace to see if anything has happened in our absence.”Nothing else was to be seen on the wide water to draw his attention, except some mermaids who were above the waves, engaged in combing their hair, who, to most people, are very interesting.
When he came up out of the shaft Dragonfel gave a deep breath of relief as his nostrils sucked in the bracing air that had a salt tang of the sea in it. Out in the harbor there tossed a galleon on the lazy swell—a craft built low amid-ship, and with both bow and stern curving high into the air.
Dragonfel gazed off at it with interest, and remarked:
“It may come in handy soon if these Brownies and fairies continue longer. They are getting altogether too good, and must be stopped. But let us go back to the palace to see if anything has happened in our absence.”
Nothing else was to be seen on the wide water to draw his attention, except some mermaids who were above the waves, engaged in combing their hair, who, to most people, are very interesting.
Mermaids
A little bird with very acute hearing listened intently to his words as it lightly balanced on the twig of a gumdrop tree, and then flew straight across the sea to tell a fairy, who told the other fairies. Dragonfel with his big, clumsy, lumbering cohorts strode on to the palace that was guarded by a Demon Usher—a queer, comical-looking chap who with his wings much resembled a human grasshopper, and who half flew, half walked.
He had thin little wisps of hair sticking out from each side of his nose, like the scanty whiskers of a cat.
The Demon Usher with hops and jumps escorted him to a magnificent throne, and grovelled with smirks before him, while Dragonfel with what he thought to be the quintessence of grace sank upon it, and then arranged himself in what he imagined was a kingly posture.
“Well,” he gruffly said, “has anyone been here since I’ve been gone?”
“No, kind master!” the Demon Usher hastened to assure him.“No one has been here since the band and you remember them.”
“Ah, that band!” repeated Dragonfel, with a shudder. “I can’t get their notes out of my ears yet. But what have we here?”
A huge creature resembling an octopus, with great, staring eyes popping from his head, and hundreds of fuzzy tentacles protruding in all directions from his grotesque body, came crawling toward him. Straightway Dragonfel sprang up from the throne, while Wolfinger, Mandrake, Boundingbore, and Snoutpimple, who had assumed respectful positions at his sides, drew back in alarm.But the Demon Usher gave a cackle of a laugh, and gleefullyrubbed his hands together as though he were washing them with invisible soap.“Have no fear, kind master!” said a thin, piping voice from somewhere within the horrid creature’s hulk. “Is not this a pretty disguise?”“The Red Spirit, as I live!” cried Dragonfel, in a tone of admiration not unmixed with relief. “You rascal, why have you chosen this masquerade?”“But is it not a clever one?” persisted the Red Spirit. “See, kind master, I can either compress or expand myself at will.”As he spoke he shrank to practical insignificance, and then almost immediately afterward swelled out until it seemed that he would burst.“Capital!” said Dragonfel encouragingly. “You can be of great assistance to me. I have a mean task for you to do.”“The meaner the better, kind master!”Dragonfel raised his arm, and pointed toward a window that gave a vista of the far-off, smiling sea.“Go, Human Octopus,” he commanded, “and spy upon the Brownies and fairies!” Without another word the hideous object started to crawl off by means of his myriad tentacles, and all who were present watched his convulsive, eccentric movements with malicious satisfaction.
A huge creature resembling an octopus, with great, staring eyes popping from his head, and hundreds of fuzzy tentacles protruding in all directions from his grotesque body, came crawling toward him. Straightway Dragonfel sprang up from the throne, while Wolfinger, Mandrake, Boundingbore, and Snoutpimple, who had assumed respectful positions at his sides, drew back in alarm.
But the Demon Usher gave a cackle of a laugh, and gleefullyrubbed his hands together as though he were washing them with invisible soap.
“Have no fear, kind master!” said a thin, piping voice from somewhere within the horrid creature’s hulk. “Is not this a pretty disguise?”
“The Red Spirit, as I live!” cried Dragonfel, in a tone of admiration not unmixed with relief. “You rascal, why have you chosen this masquerade?”
“But is it not a clever one?” persisted the Red Spirit. “See, kind master, I can either compress or expand myself at will.”
As he spoke he shrank to practical insignificance, and then almost immediately afterward swelled out until it seemed that he would burst.
“Capital!” said Dragonfel encouragingly. “You can be of great assistance to me. I have a mean task for you to do.”
“The meaner the better, kind master!”
Dragonfel raised his arm, and pointed toward a window that gave a vista of the far-off, smiling sea.
“Go, Human Octopus,” he commanded, “and spy upon the Brownies and fairies!” Without another word the hideous object started to crawl off by means of his myriad tentacles, and all who were present watched his convulsive, eccentric movements with malicious satisfaction.
Human Octopus
PRINCE FLORIMEL MEETSTHE BROWNIESPrince Florimelgave a great shudder of fright when the gift of his ex-fairy godmother so utterly failed him in that moment of terrible danger. As the savage beasts, screaming for his blood, came toward him, he turned and fled, without relaxing his hold upon the treacherous bow. He made a frantic leap for the trunk of the tree, and grasping one of the low branches pulled himself up with desperate haste as far as he could.The beasts with thunderous roars and sharp teeth showing sprang up at him, and a lion with knife-like claws just grazed the skin of one of his legs, and tore off a portion of his garment.Up a treeFightingFlorimel climbed up further, and still further, for safety, while the animals roaring their defeat continued to hurl themselves at the tree until it shook and shook again.
PRINCE FLORIMEL MEETSTHE BROWNIES
Prince Florimelgave a great shudder of fright when the gift of his ex-fairy godmother so utterly failed him in that moment of terrible danger. As the savage beasts, screaming for his blood, came toward him, he turned and fled, without relaxing his hold upon the treacherous bow. He made a frantic leap for the trunk of the tree, and grasping one of the low branches pulled himself up with desperate haste as far as he could.
The beasts with thunderous roars and sharp teeth showing sprang up at him, and a lion with knife-like claws just grazed the skin of one of his legs, and tore off a portion of his garment.
Up a tree
Fighting
Florimel climbed up further, and still further, for safety, while the animals roaring their defeat continued to hurl themselves at the tree until it shook and shook again.
Finally they took to fighting among themselves, with outcries that were terrible, and finished by slinking or limping away discomfited.
The eaglets disturbed by all this clamor perched on the edges of their nest as though deliberating upon the hazard of trying for the first time their wings in the dizzy space of blue. High overhead their angry parents soaredscreaming their protests at what seemed to them an unwarrantable intrusion.
Still retaining the bow, Florimel climbed out toward the nest, intending to usurp possession of it, and with timid flaps of their untried wings the eaglets essayed flight. Finding they could fly, they soon gained confidence, and joined the parent-birds who led them a mad aerial chase.
Soon Florimel was the sole tenant of the nest, and, after he had established himself comfortably in his new quarters, he set about to repair the damage to the bow.
He tied the broken cord securely, and drew it taut, pulling it back as far as he could repeatedly, but he did not waste in a trial one of the remaining arrows in his quiver. For, though it had already brought to him one grievous disappointment, he still had faith in his ex-fairy godmother’s gift.
Resenting eagles
The eagles resenting his possession of their home kept flying threateningly at him, but every time they came near he menaced them with the bow and drove them away. Finally they alighted on another limb of the tree, where they all sat in a row viewing him with silent moody protest.
Worn by fatigue and excitement Florimel closed his eyes in sleep, with an arm bared to the elbow hanging from the nest. When at last he was awakened by a confused babel of voices from below, dusk had fallen, and a crescent moon hung low in the sky.
The eagles young and old in agitated manner once more were circling the darkening sky, and leaning over the nest and looking down Florimel was astounded by what he saw.
And no less astounded than he was were a band of little people who had caught a glimpse of that rounded human arm sticking from an eagles’ nest with consequent and complete mystification to all.
In a ring and with characteristic postures they stood gabbling among themselves and pointing up—a queer, very queer race, all males, with round fat little pot-bellies, thin, spindling shanks, long, tapering feet, and babyish-looking heads set on their shoulders apparently without connecting necks. And these heads had large ears, wide mouths, and pop eyes—a combination that ordinarily would make the possessor of them ugly, but which in their case contributed general results that made them unusually winning and attractive.
As Florimel looked down he could note that there were many of one type—tiny fellows who wore the same kinds of caps and jackets. But there were others too—one of each kind—a Policeman with a club, a Sailor with a spy-glass, an Indian, a Cowboy, and a single representative from every country of importance in the world. England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Russia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Portugal, China, Japan, the United States, Canada, and other lands had their delegates whom Florimel could distinguishby means of a strange human picture-book in the museum of the kingdom from which he had flown, and which often he had been permitted to see. And, while he marveled and wondered thereat, his keen eye alighted on another too—a tiny chap with high-topped, bell-crowned hat, black clothes with swallow-tail, a wide expanse of spotless white shirt-bosom, spats, and glistening patent-leather shoes—a pompous, vain, conceited, immaculate-looking little fellow who carried a cane that seemed a part of him, and who wore a round piece of glass over one of his eyes.
Conversation
In order to obtain a better view Florimel leaned further over, and so disturbed the architecture of the nest, from which the sticks began to fall, until he felt the whole foundation going. But so suddenly did this occur that he did not have a chance to grasp a saving branch, and in a trice plunged through the bottomless structure down—down—down—
He closed his dizzy frightened eyes, struck the waters of the lake, then disappeared from sight.
The curious band watching him were quick to realize his predicament. Without loss of time they ran to a shelf of rock that over-hung the lake, and one and all jumped in after him.
Ker-splash! ker-splash! resounded on all sides until the water was dotted with bobbing heads.
As Florimel came to the surface, blinded and choking, someone quickly grasped him, and, while the rest formed a living chain, he was passed on from one to another, until the last dragged him safely to shore.Soon they were all gathered about in a ring, with Florimel in the centre, and, while the soft wind dried their dripping clothes, they looked at him, and he at them, with wonder and surprise on all their faces.
As Florimel came to the surface, blinded and choking, someone quickly grasped him, and, while the rest formed a living chain, he was passed on from one to another, until the last dragged him safely to shore.
Soon they were all gathered about in a ring, with Florimel in the centre, and, while the soft wind dried their dripping clothes, they looked at him, and he at them, with wonder and surprise on all their faces.
“Avast there, messmates!” said the Sailor to the rest. “What did I tell you? He can see us!”And the cry was taken up all around the ring:“He can see us! He can see us!”“Why shouldn’t I be able to see you?” said Florimel, rather impatiently. “I have eyes.”“Yes,” said one who wore a long black gown, and who had a tasseled mortarboard on his head, “but so have other people. It takes second sight to see the Brownies.”The Brownies! Florimel’s heart gave a sudden bound.“Much am I beholden to you all,” he said, “for having rescued me. If you had not saved me I should have been obliged to save myself.”“Can you swim?” asked the Sailor, while all looked much chagrined.“Like any duck!” was Florimel’s response. “But are youmortal?” questioned the Uncle Sam Brownie. “No mortal eye has ever yet beheld us.”“My ex-fairy godmother at my christening bestowed on me the gift of second sight,” explained Florimel, “so that I have always been able to see things no one else could.”“Ah, that accounts for it,” said the Irish Brownie, while the faces of all the others showed that a great mystery had suddenly been cleared away. “You must have supernatural powers.”“Of that I am not sure,” said Florimel, “but of this much I am, that right gladly would I be one of you, to work and toil while weary households sleep, to delight in harmless pranks and helpful deeds, and never be seen by mortal eye.”They looked at each other, evidently embarrassed by so bold a hint, and the Brownie Dude voiced the thought that was in all minds when he fervently remarked:“I wish King Stanislaus were here!”“But you are not a Brownie!” said the Chinaman to Florimel in a most decided tone. “How could you join the band? You don’t look like a Brownie. What have you ever done?”“Nothing, I fear,” confessed Florimel. “It is not what I have not done, but what I hope to do, that makes me so presumptuous as to beg the honor to be one of you. And, if I were fortunate enough to be taken in by you, I would ever strive to be helpful, faithful, and true, like a Brownie.”These words, delivered with earnest, manly spirit, created their impression.“It may be you have supernatural powers, as the Irishman remarked,” said the Student Brownie doubtfully. “Have you ever tried to put them to a test?” Prince Florimel sighed.What could he do to gain the confidence and esteem of these little people whom already he was beginning to love? How could he make them all his friends?In his doubt and uncertainty his eye strayed to the bow in his hand. A sudden thought came to him. In this extremity it might be of aid.But it had failed him once—would it fail him again?Without a word he took an arrow from the quiver and placed it to the bow. The Brownies watched his every movement with the keenest interest.He gazed about seeking some difficult target at which to aim. With their pop eyes the Brownies gazed where he did.He saw the crescent moon hanging low in the deepening sky, like a hunter’s horn, and pointed the arrow at it.He pulled back the cord with all his strength, and to his great relief it held. The arrow whistled away in its swift flight, and was lost in the violet atmosphere.But almost the next moment a great cry of surprise went up from all the Brownies. The arrow that Florimel had shot was sticking through the moon!
“Avast there, messmates!” said the Sailor to the rest. “What did I tell you? He can see us!”
And the cry was taken up all around the ring:
“He can see us! He can see us!”
“Why shouldn’t I be able to see you?” said Florimel, rather impatiently. “I have eyes.”
“Yes,” said one who wore a long black gown, and who had a tasseled mortarboard on his head, “but so have other people. It takes second sight to see the Brownies.”
The Brownies! Florimel’s heart gave a sudden bound.
“Much am I beholden to you all,” he said, “for having rescued me. If you had not saved me I should have been obliged to save myself.”
“Can you swim?” asked the Sailor, while all looked much chagrined.
“Like any duck!” was Florimel’s response. “But are youmortal?” questioned the Uncle Sam Brownie. “No mortal eye has ever yet beheld us.”
“My ex-fairy godmother at my christening bestowed on me the gift of second sight,” explained Florimel, “so that I have always been able to see things no one else could.”
“Ah, that accounts for it,” said the Irish Brownie, while the faces of all the others showed that a great mystery had suddenly been cleared away. “You must have supernatural powers.”
“Of that I am not sure,” said Florimel, “but of this much I am, that right gladly would I be one of you, to work and toil while weary households sleep, to delight in harmless pranks and helpful deeds, and never be seen by mortal eye.”
They looked at each other, evidently embarrassed by so bold a hint, and the Brownie Dude voiced the thought that was in all minds when he fervently remarked:
“I wish King Stanislaus were here!”
“But you are not a Brownie!” said the Chinaman to Florimel in a most decided tone. “How could you join the band? You don’t look like a Brownie. What have you ever done?”
“Nothing, I fear,” confessed Florimel. “It is not what I have not done, but what I hope to do, that makes me so presumptuous as to beg the honor to be one of you. And, if I were fortunate enough to be taken in by you, I would ever strive to be helpful, faithful, and true, like a Brownie.”
These words, delivered with earnest, manly spirit, created their impression.
“It may be you have supernatural powers, as the Irishman remarked,” said the Student Brownie doubtfully. “Have you ever tried to put them to a test?” Prince Florimel sighed.
What could he do to gain the confidence and esteem of these little people whom already he was beginning to love? How could he make them all his friends?
In his doubt and uncertainty his eye strayed to the bow in his hand. A sudden thought came to him. In this extremity it might be of aid.
But it had failed him once—would it fail him again?
Without a word he took an arrow from the quiver and placed it to the bow. The Brownies watched his every movement with the keenest interest.
He gazed about seeking some difficult target at which to aim. With their pop eyes the Brownies gazed where he did.
He saw the crescent moon hanging low in the deepening sky, like a hunter’s horn, and pointed the arrow at it.
He pulled back the cord with all his strength, and to his great relief it held. The arrow whistled away in its swift flight, and was lost in the violet atmosphere.
But almost the next moment a great cry of surprise went up from all the Brownies. The arrow that Florimel had shot was sticking through the moon!
Moon
W
THE HUMAN OCTOPUSSNOOPS AROUND
Watchedby the admiring eyes of Dragonfel and his followers the Human Octopus wriggled and squirmed his way out of the enchanter’s palace. And, whether he flew through the air, or swam through the waters, to Queen Titania’s fairy kingdom, using his tentacles as propellers, is a matter for conjecture. But, at any rate, he got there with all tentacles. Whenever his suspicions were aroused, or there was the slightest doubt, he would hastily secrete himself among shrubbery or weeds, with which his mottled green sides proved a perfect match, so that as a whole he blended in admirably with the vegetation.
He did not have a heart, a rather sluggish liver performingfor him instead the necessary functions of the other organ, and, as he approached Queen Titania’s palace with due caution, it thumped with torpid pleasure.
On the roof
If there was anything he liked above all others it was sneaking, and the job which Dragonfel had given him presented most attractive possibilities.
Noting a gurgling brook in the proximity of the portcullis, he took great pains to soak the round pad-like ends of his tentacles in water so that when they were applied to a flat surface they would adhere through atmospheric pressure sufficiently to bear his weight.
In such a manner, when no one was looking, did the wily rascal climb up the high garden-wall and down the other side, wriggling and squirming with ill-concealed chuckles toward the palace.
Only the magic dove that Euphrosyne had left, which was preening itself on the edge of a fountain’s basin, saw him, with the result that it was strongly tempted to fly back to the Goddess of Mirth forthwith.
Window
Chimney
At the fountain the Human Octopus took the precaution toagain soak his multifarious pads in water, after which with his goggle eyes he cocked his head in a professional survey of the palace. Then he began to ascend one of its towering walls. Higher and higher, and still higher, he went in perfect safety until at last he gained the roof and squatted on the top of a chimney.
There he skillfully compressed himself to fit the dimensions of the flue, after which he began to let himself gently down like an elevator-car. A great volume of black, greasy smoke from the kitchen suddenly belched forth and hid him from sight.
It was not so long afterward that, all covered with soot, he crawled out ofthe big open fireplace in the throne-room. Before he did so he made sure to satisfy himself that no one was there. But there was no telling when someone might come, and he knew it behooved him to secrete himself and instantly.
His goggle eyes oscillated in all directions around the room, and he craftily selected for his hiding-place a great tall clock that stood up close against the wall in a corner by itself.
Clock
It was not a grandfather’s clock, for there were no grandfathers in Queen Titania’s kingdom. It was what might more properly be termed a grandmother’s clock.
The villain opened the door, and projected himself into the clock’s interior, being obliged in order to accomplish this to make his proportions squarish and oblong. His queer-looking head showed at the top instead of the clock’s face. Then with one of his tentacles glued to the door he pulled it back in its place.
“Now we shall see what we shall see,” he snorted. “I must be patient and bide my time.”
The big brass pendulum swaying rhythmically to and fro with its measured tick-tock! tick-tock! kept hitting his stomach, and it tickled him so that it was all he could do to keep from laughing.
But he knew that he must not do so. If he even snickered he might betray himself. So he put a number of his tentacles over his mouth and tried hard to keep a straight face.
Now, though every month was a fair month, a rare month, for the murmur of the little streams was never hushed, and the fruits and flowers always were in bloom, with the skies mostly blue above them, and the winds soft and kind, May to the fairies’ way of thinking was the sweetest of all the happy year, and whenever it came round it was tendered a becoming ceremony.
The Eve o’ May was a holiday, though it might truthfully be said that every day was a holiday.
But at this particular time when all nature was at its best there were special observances that sprang from the gladness and exultation in all hearts, the very joy of existence, and the happiness that was manifested by every living thing.
Queen Titania and her fairies prepared for the innocent revels and dances that were to occur on a velvet sward some distance from the palace grounds, and their hearts were pleasantly thrilled by a notice with some pictures of Brownies that had been mysteriously tacked up in the neighborhood.
Marvelous was the flower-texture of the gowns donned for this gala occasion, and in her robes of blush-pink mossrose petals which swept away in a long, fragrant train Titania never looked more beautiful and charming.
Little old Dame Drusilda who resembled a human morning-glory,with hat, bodice, and dress all like cornucopias, fumed, fretted, and ordered all the other fairies around.
“As I live,” the fussy dame declared, “we’ve forgotten to wind the big clock, and it’s almost run down. Violet and Daffodil, go to the throne-room, and attend to this before we start.”
The two good-naturedly ran to do her bidding, and when he saw them coming the Human Octopus had an uneasy qualm.
He hastily tried to distort his ugly face into a resemblance of the Roman numerals, and stuck up two tentacles for the hour and minute hands, but the deception was a poor one, and would not work. Violet and Daffodil set about to wind the clock, but, on looking up to note the time, they were confronted by a face twisted in an expression that the Human Octopus very foolishly thought invited confidence, but which instead sent them scurrying and hurrying with gathered-up flower skirts and ear-splitting shrieks from the room.
Cupboard
“I wonder what they’re scared of,” said the stupid fellow to himself. “Well, it isn’t the first time I’ve given folks a start in life. And now it behooves me to remove myself from here forthwith, if not sooner, for if they come back and catch me the jig is up!”
The tick-tock!tick-tock! of the pendulum reminded him that every moment was precious, so he scrambled out of the clock, and wig-wagged his way out of the room.
When he came to a fountain he lumberingly clambered up into the basin, and puddled around in the water to get the soot off, and once more as the dove watched him perform his ablutions it found it difficult to refrain from flying back to Euphrosyne.
Floral urn
The Human Octopus peered through a lattice, but none of the fairies was in sight. Then he hustled up the garden-wall, and down the other side, finally secreting himself in a big floral urn by the portcullis, where he awaited further developments.
No one would have guessed he was there, for he seemed to be a part of the luxuriant green growth, and he even let his tentacles droop gracefully over with the branches and stalks of the palms and ferns to heighten the illusion.
Meanwhile Violet and Daffodil were telling a most harrowing story to Queen Titania and the rest of the fairies, but so frightened were they still that it was hardly intelligible. Finallythey were all prevailed upon to accompany the two to the throne-room to see for themselves.
Nothing was inside the clock, of course, but the brass works.
“It seems to me you both have very vivid imaginations, young ladies,” chided Dame Drusilda. “After this I would let Welsh rabbits alone.”
“It’s not there now, but it was there,” persisted Violet stoutly, “and it was the most dreadful looking thing you ever saw.”
“It was worse than that,” added Daffodil. “It was the most dreadful looking thing you never saw.”
Bell tower
“Well, even if there was such a horrid creature, it’s gone,” said Queen Titania comfortingly, “so why should we trouble ourselves about it any longer? It’s time for our revels to begin, and if we don’t hurry up the ice cream will all melt, and remember there’s angel-cake, charlotte russe, and lemonade besides!”
The tiny Cupids, whose hearts were going pit-a-pat, for they believed implicitly every word that Violet and Daffodil had said, hastily gathered up Her Majesty’s train.
All started from the palace, the portcullis being raised to let them pass, and from his hiding-place in the urn the Human Octopus with his big,gloating, goggle eyes noted every movement that they made. But they had no suspicion that he lurked among the palms and ferns.
Fence
After they had disappeared from sight he flopped down, and keeping his eyes close to the earth followed the wee footprints that they made.
His sleuth-like, sneaky search led him straight to where the fairies sported on the green, and as he drew nearer to them he exercised more caution.
He compressed himself more closely to the ground, and picking out a luxuriant clump of peculiar rainbow roses whose leaves afforded a most effective screen he crawled to it to wait and bide his time.
As he watched the innocent, happy fays garlanded with fragrant, many-hued flowers pose and pirouette he could not deny to them with a certain grace that many enthusiasts would have pronounced most exquisite. But he had never been to dancing school, and he did not trip the light, fantastic tentacle himself.
He was greatly interested in all he saw, however, and even more so when at last he noticed Queen Titania, the Cupids, and several of the fairies leave the lithe, flushed, happy group. For Queen Titania had spied the rainbow roses, different from allthe rest, and ran with eager, sparkling eyes to fill her arms with them. Little she dreamed of the danger that lurked in all their perfumed radiance. Swiftly she came, outdistancing the others, and as she bent over in sweet, innocent pillage the mean, contemptible nature of the Human Octopus manifested itself. Forgetful of his diplomatic mission, he wound his tentacles around her until she looked like a mesh-bag. When she began almost instantly to scream he grimly increased the pressure. The fairies and Cupids, horrified beyond measure by what they beheld, and helpless to aid their beloved queen, fled with wild cries.
The Human Octopus tightened his cruel grip. Titania’s head fell back, her golden hair streamed over her shoulders, her eyes distended, and she could not get her breath.
Slowly but surely the Human Octopus was strangling her!
Flight
D
FLORIMEL IS ADOPTED BYKING STANISLAUS
Delightedbeyond measure were all the Brownies with Prince Florimel’s most amazing feat, and their pleasure manifested itself in broad smiles upon smug faces, the nodding of round little heads, the slapping of hands on each other’s backs, and the good-natured poking of fists in each other’s stomachs.
They pressed close to Florimel and kept wringing his hand in congratulation. Not even a Brownie could do what he had done.
All wanted to examine the bow that had accomplished a result so wonderful. But it was just like the ordinary bow of any archer, and its wood and gut presented no solution of the remarkable happening; it was no story, they saw it themselves.
Then, noting that Florimel’s attire was torn in many places, and that here and there his fair flesh showed, they stripped him of his garments, replacing them with skin-tight trousers that with the greatest difficulty they drew over his legs, long, tapering shoes, a jacket with big buttons, and a pinnacle-shaped cap whose top could not sustain itself but fell over on his head.
Melon
Many nimble hands attended to his valeting, and though Florimel observed that he was garbed as an ordinary Brownie, of which there were a large number, he was rejoiced at the eagerness they now displayed to transform him to a Brownie, and make him one of themselves. Yet he could not help thinking, as he glanced first at them, and then at himself, how different he was from them all.
Try as they might they could not bestow on him the pop eyes, big ears, and broad, distended mouth that parted in a smile so evident of inward satisfaction. He was as fair and sightly as one could wish to be, yet he would rather have looked like a Brownie. Only in size did he resemble one.
Some such thought must have been in the minds of theBrownies too, for they seemed puzzled as they inspected their new comrade.
While they were making their first awkward overtures of friendship the attention of all was suddenly diverted to two ordinary Brownies rolling a watermelon up the steep hill. The melon was perhaps thrice their size, and they puffed and grunted over what to them was a herculean task.Just when their labor promised to be light, with the crest of the hill almost reached, they stopped to take their breath, and in doing so relinquished their hold on the melon.
While they were making their first awkward overtures of friendship the attention of all was suddenly diverted to two ordinary Brownies rolling a watermelon up the steep hill. The melon was perhaps thrice their size, and they puffed and grunted over what to them was a herculean task.
Just when their labor promised to be light, with the crest of the hill almost reached, they stopped to take their breath, and in doing so relinquished their hold on the melon.
Bumpety-bumpety! it started rolling down the hill. Both ran after it in pursuit, then realizing that they were being distanced stood stock-still with horror on their faces. Bumpety-bumpety! came the big melon, with ever increasing momentum,while the eyes of Florimel and all the rest followed its erratic course down the hill—bumpety-bumpety!—with leaps and bounds—bumpety-bumpety!—first to one side, then to another, bumpety-bumpety!—till it finished with an extra high bound and squashed all to pieces right in their very midst. Little jets of sweet water shot in all directions from its sides as though projected froma syphon, and out from the juicy, luscious, red pulp exposed to view there crawled sheepishly on his hands and knees a little weazened old fellow who wore an ermine cape and gold crown.
Bumpety-bumpety! it started rolling down the hill. Both ran after it in pursuit, then realizing that they were being distanced stood stock-still with horror on their faces. Bumpety-bumpety! came the big melon, with ever increasing momentum,while the eyes of Florimel and all the rest followed its erratic course down the hill—bumpety-bumpety!—with leaps and bounds—bumpety-bumpety!—first to one side, then to another, bumpety-bumpety!—till it finished with an extra high bound and squashed all to pieces right in their very midst. Little jets of sweet water shot in all directions from its sides as though projected froma syphon, and out from the juicy, luscious, red pulp exposed to view there crawled sheepishly on his hands and knees a little weazened old fellow who wore an ermine cape and gold crown.
“Hail, Your Majesty!” shouted all the Brownies, and the little old fellow stood up, rubbed himself, and said, rather ruefully:“No, I’d rather reign!”Then the Brownies, under the leadership of the Dude, yelled, in perfect unison:“’Rah! ’rah! ’rah!Stan-is-laus!Siss-boom-ah!”“Thanks!” graciously acknowledged His Majesty, adding by way of explanation:“I chose this watermelon greenTo shun the treacherous submarine!”Then a puzzled expression came to his face as his eye suddenly observed Florimel.“Why, who’s this fellow?” he demanded. “You’re not trying to make a Brownie of him, are you?”Florimel’s heart sank, for he realized that here was the king himself, whose word was absolute law to all these little people.If he frowned down on any plans they had made in his behalf, all the hopes that had sprung up in his breast would be ruthlessly shattered.The Brownies seemed troubled too, for they would not have brought displeasure to King Stanislaus for all the world.While the new-comer stood looking timidly down, without daring to meet the questioning gaze of that kindly but august monarch, his little companions made bold to extol his virtues real and imaginary till their tongues were all wagging at such a great rate that Florimel could not help but furiously blush.First they pointed to the crescent moon, still pierced by the arrow, averring earnestly that it was Florimel’s accomplishment, and the sudden start King Stanislaus gave when he beheld this marvel showed that he was properly impressed.Then they called his attention to the eagles’ nest high up in the tree, explaining that it was there they first saw the stranger, after which they waited anxiously as did Florimel to hear what His Majesty would say.King Stanislaus looked not displeased, and one and all took heart.“If Moses was found among the frogs, and Romulus among the wolves,” said the monarch, with great deliberation, “then an eagles’ nest is a fitting cradle for a Brownie prince!”This speech caused the Brownies to burst into a sudden wild cheer that made the welkin ring, for they realized that not only had King Stanislaus set approval on what they had done, but he had gone much further.
“Hail, Your Majesty!” shouted all the Brownies, and the little old fellow stood up, rubbed himself, and said, rather ruefully:
“No, I’d rather reign!”
Then the Brownies, under the leadership of the Dude, yelled, in perfect unison:
“’Rah! ’rah! ’rah!Stan-is-laus!Siss-boom-ah!”
“’Rah! ’rah! ’rah!Stan-is-laus!Siss-boom-ah!”
“’Rah! ’rah! ’rah!Stan-is-laus!Siss-boom-ah!”
“Thanks!” graciously acknowledged His Majesty, adding by way of explanation:
“I chose this watermelon greenTo shun the treacherous submarine!”
“I chose this watermelon greenTo shun the treacherous submarine!”
“I chose this watermelon greenTo shun the treacherous submarine!”
Then a puzzled expression came to his face as his eye suddenly observed Florimel.
“Why, who’s this fellow?” he demanded. “You’re not trying to make a Brownie of him, are you?”
Florimel’s heart sank, for he realized that here was the king himself, whose word was absolute law to all these little people.
If he frowned down on any plans they had made in his behalf, all the hopes that had sprung up in his breast would be ruthlessly shattered.
The Brownies seemed troubled too, for they would not have brought displeasure to King Stanislaus for all the world.
While the new-comer stood looking timidly down, without daring to meet the questioning gaze of that kindly but august monarch, his little companions made bold to extol his virtues real and imaginary till their tongues were all wagging at such a great rate that Florimel could not help but furiously blush.
First they pointed to the crescent moon, still pierced by the arrow, averring earnestly that it was Florimel’s accomplishment, and the sudden start King Stanislaus gave when he beheld this marvel showed that he was properly impressed.
Then they called his attention to the eagles’ nest high up in the tree, explaining that it was there they first saw the stranger, after which they waited anxiously as did Florimel to hear what His Majesty would say.
King Stanislaus looked not displeased, and one and all took heart.
“If Moses was found among the frogs, and Romulus among the wolves,” said the monarch, with great deliberation, “then an eagles’ nest is a fitting cradle for a Brownie prince!”
This speech caused the Brownies to burst into a sudden wild cheer that made the welkin ring, for they realized that not only had King Stanislaus set approval on what they had done, but he had gone much further.