CHAPTER XV.ON TOP.
For awhile the boy was too astonished to move. At first he thought it was some trick they were trying to play upon him; but when he slipped the bonds from his neck and limbs without meeting with any opposition, he concluded that it could be no trick, and accordingly sprang to his feet.
All of the Gnomes at that end of the Hall were lying prostrate on the floor, rigid and motionless, as if paralyzed. Harry turned one of them over, and the little fellow lay staring vacantly upwards with open eyes, and seemed as lifeless as a china doll.
At the further end of the Hall a number were running back and forth, and crying and shrieking as though they were mad. Putting his hand to his ear, Harry could hear them calling out in terror, “The toad! the toad!”
At the sound of those words Harry hastily glanced about him, and soon discovered the little hop-toad sitting on the floor close by, blinking his eyes as if half-blinded by the light. It seems that Harry had left the trap-door open, and the little animal had hopped up the steps and out into the Hall just in the nick of time.
The boy danced about the creature, and roared with laughter. “Ha, ha, ha! what a lark!” he exclaimed. “The Gnomes are just as much afraid of a toad as the Pin Elves. Hurrah, little hoppy, you’ve saved the country! Let me show you, old fellow, what a wonderful power you possess.”
Picking up the animal, he ran to the other end of the Hall, and as soon as he approached the Gnomes there, they too fell down paralyzed with fear.
“Good enough!” Harry cried; “we can send them down below now! Let me call in Wamby and the rest.”
He was on the point of unbolting the secret door, when luckily he bethought himself.
“Hold on!” he cried; “that won’t do! We don’t want to paralyze the Pin Elves.”
He considered a moment, and then carried the toad back to the passage, and placing him on the top step, shut the trap-door. Then, standing close to the door, he waited until the Gnomes revived and tremblingly arose to their feet.
“Listen to me!” he called, in commanding tones. “Cattisack and Grumpy, stand over there by the wardrobe and don’t move. Some of you fellows gather all of your weapons together, and pile them in the corner yonder. And you,”—to the King of the Gnomes,—“take off your crown and royal mantle, and place them on the step beside your sceptre. Now, all of you go through the antechamber and down to the shore of the lake and wait there. If you dare disobey my orders, I shall come after you with the toad!”
When the last Gnome had gone, the boy bolted the door behind them, and ran across and opened the secret door. “Enter, King Wamby,” he said, “and take possession of your throne and kingdom.”
But the Pin Elves shrank back with fear and loathing, and some of the nearest ones fell to the ground, crying, “The toad! the toad!”
“What ails you?” exclaimed Harry. “There’s no toad here; I put him back in the passage and shut the door.”
“Then you must have touched him, Prince,” said Kitey, “and it is the odor left upon your hands that prostrates us.”
“What can I do?” Harry asked in perplexity.
“You must go down to the river and bathe your hands,” answered Kitey. “Nothing but running water will remove the deadly odor of the toad. Here is my lantern-box,” and he tossed the box at Harry’s feet.
The boy picked up the box in his handkerchief, so as not to infect it with the odor, and hastened down to the underground river, where he washed his hands, and then went back to the Reception Hall.
Then he directed some of the elves to go down to the lake and take the Gnomes across to their own country, and then bring all of the ships back again.
“Now, Prince,” said Wamby, “I have given orders for a grand royal banquet to be prepared. Meanwhile, let us go to my private apartments and rest awhile.”
Harry had not as yet seen that part of the Pin Elf dominions where the elves lived, and his eyes fairly hung out with astonishment as Wamby opened a number of doors and gave him glimpses of the luxurious private rooms of the Lord of the Safety-Pin, the Grand Prime Minister, the Knights of the Breast-Pin, and others of the nobility.
But, of course, none of them could compare with the richness and splendor of the royal apartments. In three of these rooms the floor and walls were of pure gold. The first was the well-known green-and-gold room, where the King ordinarily held his court and dealt out justice; here was contained the famous couch cut from a single emerald. Next came the blue-and-gold room, with its lovely turquoises and pale blue silk hangings. Then, last, came the purple-and-gold room, where few were permitted to enter. It was lighted by the great royal amethyst that once belonged to the King of the Gnomes. On the floor a soft couch had been formed of many purple rugs for Harry’s repose, and the boy was very willing to throw himself down upon it, after his arduous labors.
Presently little Kitey entered the apartment,accompanied by Smithkin. The soldier, with some embarrassment, bowed low to Wamby, and said, “Your Majesty, I have come to ask pardon for having turned traitor, and also to restore to Prince Harry these jewels he gave me as a bribe.”
He held out to Harry the three jewels, but the boy exclaimed, “Keep them, old chap; you have more than earned them by your bravery.”
“You have also earned pardon for your former treachery,” said King Wamby, with a gracious smile. “Here is the reward I promised for the recovery of my hat,” handing him a rich jewel and a small gold hat-pin, “and I hereby restore you to your old position as commander of my body-guard.”
When Smithkin had retired, Harry turned to Kitey and exclaimed, “I say, little chap, why on earth didn’t you tell me the Gnomes were afraid of the toad?”
“Why,” replied Kitey, “I did tell you, long ago, when you first found me in the Passage.”
“No, you didn’t,” said Harry. “You simply said that elves were afraid of the animal.”
“But Gnomes are elves,” returned Kitey. “They are bad elves, it is true; but all elves,good or bad, are afraid of toads. I thought of course you knew that all the time.”
“I wish I had known it,” said the boy, “for it would have saved us all that fighting. I could easily have settled the old Gnomes at the very beginning.”
“What shall we do with Cattisack and Grumpy?” inquired Wamby.
“Make them common Pin Elves,” said Harry; “then they will have no power and influence to stir up trouble again.”
Just then a messenger announced that the banquet was served, so they repaired to the Grand Royal Reception Hall.
Harry hardly recognized it as the same room he had recently left. The golden throne, the marble steps of the dais, and everything else had been furbished and polished to look like new. Costly rugs of white mouse-skin nearly covered the floor. The lofty ceiling was newly festooned with many-colored gems that gave a rare and beautiful light. In the centre of the Hall were long rows of tables covered with all kinds of tempting viands in dishes of pure gold. The royal table was distinguished from the others by being placed upon a low platform,and also by the exquisite precious stones that adorned every one of the golden dishes.
At the head of this table, where Harry was asked to seat himself, was a large pot-pie. The boy examined it curiously, and asked Wamby what it was.
“It is a blackbird pie,” said Wamby, “especially prepared for you. I have heard that mortals consider it a dainty dish to set before a king.”
“Good enough!” exclaimed Harry. “‘Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie!’ Very kind of you, old chap, to take so much trouble just for me.”
Without more ado they all fell to and had a royal time, feasting to their hearts’ content. When the dishes were well cleared of their contents, Harry made a speech, congratulating them on having effectually conquered the wicked Gnomes. Then Wamby arose and thanked the Prince, in the name of the Pin Elves, for his timely assistance. Then little Kitey made them all roar with laughter by a comical and witty address on “Our Friend and Enemy, the Toad.”
After the feasting and merriment was over,Harry declared that he must once more return to the upper earth.
“Why can’t you remain always with us, Prince Harry?” said Wamby.
“Thank you, little chap,” answered Harry, “I’d like to stay, but I don’t want my folks to worry about me. By the way, I am going to take that poor little toad out with me.”
“Then you had better go out alone through the Passage of the Toad,” said Wamby. “We should like to accompany you to the entrance, but of course we cannot do so if you carry the toad with you.”
“Never mind,” said Harry, “I can bid you good-by here. I suppose after I am gone you will all resume your regular work of pin-gathering.”
“Oh, yes,” replied Wamby; “and we shall be obliged to work hard, for many good pins have been ruined and lost in the late war. I notice some of my men are hardly able to keep their garments together, and I myself at present haven’t a pin to give one of them. Even a short war like ours is very expensive.”
The little fellows were very sad at parting from their kind Prince. Harry had never seenany of the elves cry, but poor little Kitey looked as if he felt like crying, and even Smithkin winked hard as he bade him farewell.
Boy looking at toad
“I’ll leave your hat on the dais, Wamby,” said the boy; and rising from the table, he walked towards the trap-door.
Before he reached it he heard Kitey’s shrill voice calling him, and the little fellow ran up to him saying, “Here’s my lantern-box tolight you on the way. You can keep it, Prince, in memory of little Kitey.”
“Thank you, dear old chap,” said Harry, slipping the tiny box into his pocket.
Mounting the steps of the dais, he turned and waved a final farewell to them all, and then took off Wamby’s hat and placed it on the throne, and entered the trap-door. Wrapping the toad in the piece of table-cloth that was still lying in the passage, he carried the little creature along with him.
In the chamber under the rock he found his own hat where he had left it when he came down. Placing it on his head, he mounted the steps and peeped forth, and finding the coast clear, sprang out into the open air, and the trap-door of its own accord shut noiselessly behind him.
The first thing he did was to place the door-pin carefully in the little lantern-box for safe keeping. Then he opened the piece of cloth and placed the little toad on the ground, and sitting down upon the rock, watched him as he first blinked stupidly in the bright light. Master Toad soon, however, gave a tremendous hop, and disappeared in the bushes.
Harry arose and went home thoughtfully, almost wondering if he had been asleep and dreamed of all these strange adventures. But as he vividly recalled everything to mind, and especially as he felt in his pocket the little lantern-box given him by Kitey, he knew that he had actually been among the Pin Elves.
THE END.