The King of Gee-Whiz

by Emerson Hough

  "But what shall we do to-morrow?" asked the Queen of the Twins as shearose and started out from the Candy Man's place.

  "I should above all things like to see the place where the Fairies findall the gold," said Zuzu.

  "Very well," said the Queen, "we will go to-morrow, and I will show youwhere all the gold comes from; but now let us go back to the palace, andgo to sleep for the night."

  As she spoke, she again touched a little bell, and soon there came alittle Fairy, smiling and bowing before her.

  "Dimi," said the Queen, "please to have the wind changed so that itshall blow back toward the city, instead of in this direction. We mustbe going home now, and I do not wish my oarsmen to become at allweary."

  Dimi bowed and smiled, with his hands spread wide apart, and as theTwins and the Fairy Queen now walked down toward the Fairy-boat, totheir great surprise Lulu and Zuzu saw that the wind was beginning toblow gently and softly in the opposite direction. Soon they were glidingsilently and steadily over the crystal waves of the Fairy sea.

  CHAPTER XXVII

  THE VALLEY OF GOLD

  That night Zuzu and Lulu slept in golden beds with silken curtains, withpillows made of thistle-down, very light and soft. Naturally they sleptvery soundly, so it was morning almost before they knew it. When theyarose they saw standing near by golden basins filled with clear shiningwater, and after they were bathed and dressed they saw standing near alittle Fairy with a dainty breakfast-tray. They ate heartily, andpresently hastened away to see the good Queen Zulena and to remind herof her promise to show them the Valley of Gold.

  "Come then, my dears," said the Queen, "bring with you the EnchantedBanjo and we will take the Bumblebee Express, and travel beyond theforest, toward yonder mountains."

  In a few minutes they heard the tinkle of the golden harness and thestamp of the bumblebees on the pavement, eager to be off. Then, takingtheir seats as before, off they went through the air, flying as straightand fast as the strongest bumblebees can go.

  "Let me tell you one thing, my children," said the Fairy Queen, "and itis this: No matter what you see, you must not tell any person where theValley of Gold is to be found. That is a secret which we Fairies haveguarded for thousands of years, and you must by no means tell of it."

  So both Zuzu and Lulu promised, and ever since they have kept theirword; and what is told here is told only that you may know how wonderfula place it is, and what strange things are to be seen there; but no onecan tell you how to get there unless you may be fortunate enough to finda White Cricket and ask of it the way. And, as White Crickets are veryfew and hard to find, so there are very few children who ever really seeFairy-land, and most children are obliged only to read about it in thestories of those who have really been there.

  "When we telephoned," said Zuzu, "we got the wrong kind of Cricket, andhad it not been that we had the Enchanted Banjo with us, we might havemet all sorts of trouble. We thank you, good Queen, for not punishingus; but we should like to know how the really-truly Fairy Telephonewould be."

  "Good Banjo," said the Fairy Queen, "can you not tell these dear youngpeople how the really-truly Fairy Telephone goes?"

  "With the greatest of pleasure, your Majesty," replied the Banjo, with asmile. And then it sang:

  TO TELEPHONE TO FAIRY-LAND

  If you want to telephone to Fairy-land You must have a snow-white Cricket in your hand. It is easy; don't you see? Just as easy as can be If the way to telephone you understand. When the crickets are all chirping in the night Then you have to go and seek by candle-light, And keep watching as you pass Through the bushes and the grass For a Cricket that is perfectly snow-white.

  "Hello! Hello! Is this the land of Fairies?" "Hello! Hello!" you'll hear the faint reply From one whose cheeks are redder than the cherries; "Hello! Hello!" You'll do it if you try.

  When you find the snow-white Cricket, all you need Is a line that's made of cobweb--yes, indeed! Do not let the Cricket go; Hold it tight and say "Hello!" In the hollow of a flower gone to seed. It's a very simple thing to understand, If you want to telephone to Fairy-land Take a candle; go alone; Find the Fairy Telephone-- But first have a snow-white Cricket in your hand.

  "Hello! Hello! Is this the land of Fairies?" "Hello! Hello!" A voice will come to you From one whose eyes are blacker than blackberries-- "Hello! Hello!" Now talk an hour or two.

  "Well," said Lulu, "that is certainly very nice. Now I shall always knowhow to talk to the Fairies over the really-truly Fairy Telephone; sothat, good Queen, even although we are very far apart, I shall alwayscall up and talk to you, no matter where I am, almost every day of mylife."

  "Thank you, my dear," said the Fairy Queen, "that will be very nice, andI do not want you to forget me. Now we will go and I will try to showyou some more things about our country.

  "Here you will see by the roadside many little houses like smith shops,with tiny white smoke coming out of each. This is where my little dwarfFairies are at work making diamonds, very clean and white, among themost beautiful stones of all, as many think. But beyond these houses arethose where the most skilful of my workmen are making the stones whichwe prize more than diamonds, those whose color is that of your hair, mydears, the royal blue malazite and the precious green corazine, the likeof which can be found nowhere else in all the world. We will ask forsome of these to take with us."

  Then as she spoke there came out from one of the houses a little Fairywith his hands full of these precious blue and green stones.

  "Good morning, your Majesty," said he, "I knew you would like to seesome of our work to-day, for these are among the finest we have everproduced." As he spoke he placed in her hands some shining, tremblingdrops of blue and green.

  "These," said the Fairy Queen, "are made from extracts of the brightblue sky, my dears, and from the essence of the deep green leaves."

  "And did our hair get its color in the same way?" asked Lulu, wondering.

  "That may perhaps be," said the Queen, smiling at her eagerness. "Thereare some who think that we come from the sky and from the trees, andperhaps this is true, for ever since even Fairies can remember, therehave been the trees and the sky just as there have been persons."

  The Bumblebee Express soon was progressing again merrily, and ere longit brought them into a deep depression between two mountain peaks beyondthe forest. The way here was winding and roundabout. They went on andon, around and around, deeper and deeper into the mountains. Now theybegan to hear strange wild sounds, roars and deep hoarse voices whichreminded them of that of the Dragon in the Island of Gee-Whiz.

  "Those are the faithful watch-dogs of the forest," explained the Queen,"lions and tigers and bears, which would certainly eat up any one whocame hither without my permission. They will be harmless so long as I amwith you, and you need have no fear. In a few moments we shall be at thegateway to the Valley of Gold."

  Before long they paused at what seemed to be the end of the way. A steeprocky wall rose directly before them, covered over with growing ivy andwith short thorny plants. On each side of this the mountains rose quiteup to the sky, so that there was no such thing as getting around oneither hand. What was to be done now Zuzu and Lulu could not guess, butthe Queen of the Fairies did not hesitate.

  She sprang from the seat of the coach and walked directly up to thewall, upon which she struck sharply five times with her jeweled parasolhandle. "Abra! Abra! Adabra! Abra! Abracadabra! Open! Open! Open!" shecried aloud; and her voice was clear and strong as well as sweet.

  Now arose a great grumbling noise within the walls of rock. Voices wereheard shouting, and there came the sound of heavy clanking and creakingof very heavy machinery.

  "O, Queen!" cried out a deep voice, as it were from the very bosom ofthe rock; and the Queen called out: "Open! Open! Open! It is the Queen!"And as she did this hoarse voices arose again in unison, and thegroaning of h
eavy weights and chains continued. At last, as they satgazing at the face of the rocky wall, to their great surprise they sawit open in a tiny crack, as though it were slowly splitting across. Asthey looked, this crack widened steadily before their eyes, and they sawthat a heavy rock which had made a part of the wall was slowly rising, alittle at a time. At last it swung quite free, and before them lay apassageway through the rock and the concealing ivy which covered it. Noone in the world would ever have suspected that there was a door in theface of this rock wall. It may be seen that the Fairies guard theirsecret very carefully. Even to this day men frequently pass by the gateinto the valley, not seeing it in the seamless rock, and not suspectingthat they are so near to the great Valley of Gold.

  The Queen now took her seat and motioned to the coachman to drive onthrough the gateway. He did so, and as they went forward they saw agreat golden light flooding out to meet them. They passed between longrows of dark, fierce-looking warriors, armed with swords and spears andshields, all dark-bearded and broad-shouldered. These frowned at thenew-comers, but the Queen raised her hand to restrain them, and theTwins passed on in safety. As they did so they heard, rattling andclashing into place behind them, the vast rock of the gate. And so inthis new golden light they looked about on what no other mortals yethave seen, and what, in spite of much longing, it is doubtful if anyever again will see.

  They were in the front portion of a deep valley or cleft in themountain. On all hands the walls rose sheer and smooth, without a crackor seam, almost up to the blue sky, which seemed miles and miles away.Around the edges of the rocky walls, high above, grew dark forest trees,but these were so far away that they seemed no larger than one'shand. From these trees to the bottom of the valley may have been a mile,or perhaps two miles, if it were possible to get any idea of distancesin Fairy-land. Not in any place on these naked walls was there a notchor step or foothold of any kind. Across the valley may have been twomiles or three, or perhaps ten or twenty, so hard was it to tell of suchthings in this peculiar golden wavering light which filled all theplace. This light, it was easy to be seen, was the only one known in thevalley, for the entire valley lay in the shadow, the light from the skymarking the rocky walls only a little way down from the top.

  "Quick, before the Dragon wakens" _Page 113_]

  "There is but one hour in the day when the sun shines into the magicValley of Gold," said the Queen. "At dawn, it falls through a notch uponthe farther side, which you can not see from here, and the sunlightenters the valley for a short time. A path leads to that notch, it issaid, though I myself have never seen it; but it is fatal to tread thatpath and to look over into the valley when the sun shines in; for thegreat reflection upward from the Mother of Gold--this great vein of goldwhich runs across the valley and from which comes this golden light thatyou see--is so strong that any one who looks upon it is at once smittenblind, and may never see again. So perhaps you may see how difficult itis to find this valley, or even to enjoy it when found; for if you hadall the gold in the world--even this Madre d'Oro, the Mother of all theGold, as the Fairies say--it would do you no good, for at once itspossession would destroy all its enjoyment."

  Zuzu and Lulu wondered and wondered at all these things, and were not alittle frightened, for on all hands they still heard groanings andmurmurings, and strange voices deep within the earth.

  "Keep close to me, my children," said the Queen, "and do not fear. Nowwe shall see the vision of the Mother of Gold in all its splendor."

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  THE MOTHER OF GOLD

  As the Fairy Queen spoke, she descended from the coach and held out ahand each to Lulu and Zuzu. She led them onward through a sort of hedgeof dense trees which lay before them, and beyond which there arose theflickering light, yellow and warm, that had appeared to color all theair of the Secret Valley. At length they stepped out in full view of thegreat source of all this light, and saw before them the most strange andwonderful thing they had ever seen in all their lives.

  From directly at their feet, entirely across the Valley as far as theycould see, there ran a great ledge or dam of pure gold, which yet didnot seem solid, for it seemed to rise and fall and flutter as though itwere almost ready to melt and flow; but it never did so. This great veinof gold was many miles in length, so far as they could tell; and how farback at each end it ran into the foot of the walls of the Valley no onecould tell. Its front or face broke off like a wall, or rather like theside of a dam, perhaps fifty feet or more from top to bottom. Over thisledge or dam, a short distance out toward the wall of the valley, thereflowed a broad river of clear water, white as crystal, which made a deeppool below the ledge of gold; and thrusting up through this sheet offalling water were points of rock which sparkled like diamonds, orgleamed dull and white like pearls; and such was the peculiar quality ofthis great ledge of seemingly living gold, that, as the water fell overit, it partly turned into a sort of vapor; and in this vapor, risingcontinually and floating away up into the sky, were thousands ofbutterflies, all gold and black and green, floating away uponmany-colored bubbles, like soap bubbles, very light and fine. These camestreaming up and up all the time, and danced out toward the top of theValley as far as any one could see. So now Lulu and Zuzu knew where thebutterflies come from in the spring, when they appear fluttering up fromthe south to play among the flowers. They come from the hidden Valleyof Gold; and the gold they have upon their wings they certainly get fromthis great ledge of gold which lies across the Fairy Valley.

  Near to the place where they stood were thousands of other Fairiesworking upon the linings of mother-of-pearl which lined the shells thatlay along the ledge. These also made numbers of the bubbles upon whichthe butterflies were floating. So then the Twins knew where the bubblescome from that we see sometimes; they are made by Fairies. Again inanother place very many Fairies were making all sorts of beautifulflowers--blue, and pink, and crimson, every color in the world, and bothlarge and small. Upon trees near by, and spread out upon the rocks also,were numbers of delicate bracelets and brooches and rings and pins, andall manner of beautiful and rare things in gold and gems. So now theTwins knew whence come the bracelets and rings and ornaments of thatkind, which so few people have ever seen made.

  Over all this scene of beauty there arose sweet music, very peaceful andcalm, as though it came from the bottom places of the earth, of which noone knows more than a very little, unless one has been in Fairy-land.All this was so beautiful and strange that the Twins sat down andhardly knew what to do. They watched the great ledge of the Mother ofGold heave and swell and sink and rise again, and saw the Fairies makingthese beautiful things, and saw flitting across the Valley beautifulbirds with long tails, as long as one's arm, and with crests as long asone's hand, and with feathers which seemed of gold and pearl and greenand blue; and the voices of these birds seemed to them the sweetest theyhad ever heard.

  The Fairy Queen allowed them to sit and look as long as they liked, andbade them take up all the pieces of gold and gems and jewels which theyliked--all the diamonds and other precious stones. "This, my children,"she said, "is where mortals get their gold and precious gems. These comefrom the Fairy Valley. Here it is that we secure all the gold requiredby the King whom you have left behind in the Island, and the gems inwhich the King and his friends delight. But since you have seen thisvision of the Mother of Gold, you must not tell even the King where itis, for in that case some of his friends might make war upon us, and weshould have to summon from under the earth many of these fierce warriorswhose voices you have heard. For all the people who live under the earthfight to the last to conceal this gold from all the rest of the world;and that, as you may readily understand, is the reason why gold andjewels are so hard to get, and why they are by many considered sovaluable.

  "Now when you have seen all you wish and when you feel that you will notneed to come again--for no one but myself ever twice sees the vision ofthe Mother of Gold--we will go back and look at other things for a time;but you need not do thi
s until you feel that you will be very happy andcontented to do so."

  "I am sure we shall be happy and contented," said Lulu, "for now we seethat what we once thought was very rare is indeed very abundant, andthat to hold much of it in one's hand does not seem to make one feelmuch better than before. See, my hands are full of gold, and I want nomore."

  "Then," said the Queen, "since you promise to be happy and contented, wemay go." So saying she beckoned to the coachman, and the BumblebeeExpress swept up once more, the bumblebees stamping and champing attheir bits. And now again the mighty gate of stone swung open, and oncemore it closed behind them; the savage warriors fell into place behindthem; and after they had passed the gate they heard groans and murmursfrom below and behind them; and then once more came the roaring of thetigers and the lions which live without the gates and which aid in theguarding of the treasure. So presently they were flying again along thecrooked road between the mountains, and as they looked back, to theirgreat surprise they could not tell which was the mountain pass out ofwhich they had come; for now there appeared to be several, and they alllooked alike.

  "That is just as well," said Zuzu, "for we have promised to be happy andcontented, and not to wish to go back again to the Valley of Gold."

  CHAPTER XXIX

  THE SECRET WISH OF THE FAIRY QUEEN

  "Good Queen," said Zuzu to the Fairy Monarch Zulena, when the BumblebeeExpress had finally brought them back again to the Fairy city ofAlmalena, "there is something which perhaps you have forgotten, or whichat least you have not mentioned for some time."