The King of Gee-Whiz

by Emerson Hough

  "And pray what is that?" asked the Fairy Queen.

  "Why, we have all of us quite forgotten the poor King, who has lost hisshadow."

  "Indeed, I have not," said the Queen Zulena; "but, as I have told you, Ican only show you where the Wicked Fairy lives who took the shadow. Asthat is something belonging to the country of the Island, I have onlypartial power over it. If I should seize upon this shadow and take it tothe palace, there is no one there whom it would fit; and as to taking itup the Golden Ladder myself, that is quite out of the question. If I didthat I should be called a very forward Queen indeed; so upon the whole Ihardly know what to do about it, except to take you upon a visit to thehome of the Wicked Fairy Gobo."

  "If it be true that the Wicked Fairy has also taken the White Cricket,"said Lulu, "then the King can not telephone you any more."

  "That is true!" said the Fairy Queen; and to their great surprise shebroke out weeping, the first time that any such thing had ever happenedin all her life. "I have not heard from the King for many days," shesaid; "and now I know that he can never telephone me again, becausecertainly the White Cricket which I gave him has been taken away by thisWicked Fairy."

  "But," said Lulu, who also wept at seeing the good Queen in trouble,"why can we not find this Wicked Fairy and ask whether he has thesethings? Perhaps we can get them back again. I could carry the WhiteCricket in my pocket, and Zuzu could carry the shadow, if it were nottoo large, and so we could manage in some way to get back up the GoldenLadder, even if your Majesty could not send us in the BumblebeeExpress."

  "Could you do that, my dears?" said the Fairy Queen, "would you be sogood as to do these kind things for me?"

  "Certainly," said Lulu, "we should be glad to. We do not want to go awayfrom you, for this is the loveliest place we have ever seen in all ourlives, but mamma will be anxious about us before long; and since you,too, would like the poor King to have back his shadow again, perhaps youwould not mind if we go back for a time. We will come again whenever youtelephone and ask us to do so; for you must know that we have thronesnear the King, and he tells us everything he does. We should like you toget us past the Dragon, for we might not be able to get off the Dragon'sleg so easily the next time; and if we did not, there might be all sortsof trouble."

  "But what shall I do without you, my dears?" said the Fairy Queen. "Iwanted you to join my dear little pages, Fofo and Fifi, at my throne;then I should have had four pages--two boys and two girls--and with themost beautiful hair in all the world. I love you so much, my dears, thatI can not bear to have you go away."

  "In my opinion," said Zuzu thoughtfully, "the best way would be for youand the King to make some sort of arrangement about the Dragon and theGolden Ladder. In that case it might be easy to turn the two kingdomsinto one. And what is the use of having two thrones, one here and onethere, if one will do quite as well?"

  As she heard these words the face of the Fairy Queen was wreathed insmiles. "How I love you, my dear boy!" said she. "But, alas!" she addedwith a sigh, "that is impossible, I fear. Although I can give wishes toothers outside my kingdom, when I wish anything for myself outside mykingdom, I have no power."

  "But," cried Lulu gleefully, "here are our two Wishing Wands, given usby the King, and each of them has a wish left unwished. Will not thesetwo wishes be enough? See, we shall wish just as you wish, because youhave been so good to us."

  "Ah! my children," said the Fairy Queen, trembling with eagerness, "becareful what you say. Pray do not wish for anything until I have hadtime to think! Tell me, my dears, when you are back in the country ofthe King whence you came hither, will you then wish the wish which Iwish also?"

  "Truly we will!" they both said in reply.

  "Then I will whisper it to you," said the Fairy Queen; "but you must nottell any one until you have reached the palace of the King, and then youmay wish it out plain and strong; and I pray all the Fairies that obeyme to help that wish to come true, for in that case I myself wouldalways be very happy and contented."

  So then the Fairy Queen Zulena bent over and whispered in their ears thewish that was in her heart.

  "Now then," said Zuzu, "let us go to the mountain of the Wicked Fairyand find the King's shadow."

  "Very good," said the Queen, "that is excellent wisdom, and we shall allstart at once." So once again they stepped into the Fairy coach, and thegood Queen told the coachman to drive beyond the forest to the mountainwhere dwelt Gobo, the Wicked Fairy.

  The driver cracked his whip, the golden harness rattled and tinkled, andthe wheels of the dainty coach began to whir as the steady buzz of thebumblebees in flight began.

  CHAPTER XXX

  THE QUEEN RECOVERS THE SHADOW

  "Ha! Gobo," cried the Fairy Queen as at last they drove up before thedoor of the cave in the mountain where the Wicked Fairy made his home,"we have come to question thee about thy evil deeds. Come hither, andconfront thy Queen!"

  The Twins had not thought that the gentle Queen Zulena could be sostern, or that her eyes could flash as they did when she spoke thesewords.

  "Aye, aye, my Queen," sounded a hoarse voice from within the cave; andpresently in obedience to the order of the Fairy Monarch there steppedinto view from the darkness of the cave the Wicked Fairy Gobo, whoseevil deeds have been recounted in our story. He trembled as he saw thesternness of the Queen, and began to stammer and make denials.

  "Who hath accused thee, Gobo? Yet now we know that well mightest thou beaccused. Tell me, where hast thou hidden the shadow of the King, whichthou hast stolen? Where, too, is the servant of the king, the WhiteCricket, such as was never found save in the royal gardens of ourpalace?"

  The Wicked Fairy fell upon his face on the ground, but even as he did sothe Queen raised her hand. There came very plainly to their ears thechirp! chirp! of something hidden within the cave.

  "I may as well confess," said Gobo; "for that is the voice of theCricket you hear. It is of no service to me, for a more unwillingCricket I have never seen."

  "Bring it to me!" commanded the Queen, and sullenly Gobo did as he wasbidden.

  "Here," said the Queen to Lulu, "is the White Cricket. Pray handle itsoftly, and let no harm befall it. As for you, Gobo, Wicked Fairy thatthou art, lead us at once to the hiding-place of that other thing whichthou hast stolen."

  Sullenly the Wicked Fairy walked ahead of them toward the edge of thewood, and threw open there a little gate. To their great surprise theysaw, standing near the gate, leaning against a tree in a shady place,nothing less than the shadow of the King, just as the Wicked Fairy hadstolen it more than a week before!

  Of course it must be remembered that this was the shadow of the Kingstolen after he had taken the drink from the rubber tree, and when hewas thrice his natural height and much distorted, in his dance high upin the air. It looked more like the shadow of some misshapen giant. Asthe Queen saw this, tears again came to her eyes. "It is not like him!"she said mournfully.

  "'Tis as I tell thee, Queen Zulena," insisted Gobo, "for I took theshadow with my own hands, in the broad daylight, and I know whereof Ispeak. See, if thou wouldst prove it, look at the shape of his leftforefinger, where the King wore the royal jewel of malazite andcorazine, engraven by your Majesty's own Fairies."

  "Ah! it is indeed true," said the Fairy Queen. "But how changed! Mydears," and she whispered again to the Twins, "do not forget your wishand mine."

  "And now, sirrah!" exclaimed the Queen, "Gobo, Bad Fairy that thou art,thou must bow before my power! I know not what punishment may be fit forthee."

  To him the King stated the case _Page 138_]

  The bad Fairy writhed in the dust and begged for mercy, promisinganything that should be asked.

  "First, we must have the shadow of his Majesty," said Zuzu.

  "Willingly," cried Gobo, "willingly! though perhaps it may not fit himnow."

  "Never fear, Gobo," said the Queen Zulena, "we ourselves shall see tothat. So fare ye well, wicked Gobo. One more such act as this, and ourroyal guard
s shall banish thee to our jail, and fill thy cave to theroof with stones. From this time your leave to go abroad is revoked fora thousand years. Here must you remain a prisoner!"

  "I crave a thousand pardons, good Queen," begged Gobo, spreading out hisarms in submission. "But spare me now, and I shall make amends byleading the life a Fairy should live under so wise and good a Queen asthou."

  "Learn better in the time accorded thee, and ask no more," said theQueen sternly in reply.

  "And now, my children," she continued as she turned again toward theTwins, "let us take the King's shadow in the coach, and return to theroyal palace. I am sure that by careful labor I can restore this poor,dear shadow to its original shape."

  As she spoke she was about to step again into the coach, when all atonce she turned toward the Enchanted Banjo, as though she had heard itspeak.

  "What is it, good Banjo?" she asked. "And why do you laugh as though youwould split yourself? Is it anything you want to tell us?"

  "I was just thinking, your Majesty," replied the Enchanted Banjo, "whilewe have all been talking about Wishing Wands and the like, about a funnything of that sort that once happened within my own experience. I madeup a song about it the other night, and if you care to hear it, I willsing it to you."

  "Very well," said the Fairy Queen; and so the Banjo began, in a rich,full voice:

  THE COME-ALL-YE OF PAT McGLORY

  Come all ye fine young gintlemin, I'll tell to ye a story Concernin' one that I knew well; his name was Pat McGlory. One mornin' whin the cow had died that helped him run his dairy He sat him down an' cried an' cried--when up there leapt a Fairy. O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  The Fairy wore a golden crown, wid di'monds in aich wing, An' anny one would know at once he was the Fairy King. He looked one moment at poor Pat--this splendid little Fairy-- Then whispered soft an' sootherin': "Ye'll have a bran' new dairy." He waved his wand a time or two, an' Pat got lean an' slim, An' whin the Fairy started off, why Pat wint after him! O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  He popped into a hole that was near by thim in the ground An' Pat came slidin' after him wid: "King, where are we bound?" The king he answered not a word, but stopped and touched a stone An' there they were in one big hall befoor a golden throne. The king he sat upon the throne, an' thin he said, said he: "Because I like you, Pat, my lad, I'll give you wishes three." O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  Thin Pat he thought about the things he needed most right now, An' said: "I can't make up my mind. I wisht I had a cow." The king he waved his shinin' wand, and said: "Look by yer side." An' there there stood a splindid cow--'twas all of four feet wide. Thin Pat he started out wid her, an' first thing that he knew He found th' cow was far too wide, he couldn't drive her through. O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  "I wish," he said unthinkin' like, "I wisht I had you home." Thin--whist! They lit upon his barn, a-straddle of the comb. An' thin the cow began to jump an' she began to bawl, An' Pat kept skippin' back an' forth for fear that he would fall. "O, cow!" he cried. "Nice cow, dear cow! Sure I don't know yourname, I only wisht you's back within the place from whince you came." O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  At once there was no splindid cow at all for him to see-- An' if you count thim you will find he'd had his wishes three. Come all ye fine young gintlemin, remimber now the story: Whinever you've a chance to wish, don't wish like Pat McGlory. O, ho, ho, ho! Um, ha, ha, ha!

  "Well," said Lulu, "it seems to me that Pat McGlory was not very bright,for he got nothing at all for his wishes."

  "There are more persons like that than would at first be supposed by anyone not in this business," said the Banjo.

  The Twisted Shadow of the King]

  CHAPTER XXXI

  THE MESSENGERS OF THE FAIRY QUEEN

  "My dear friends," said the Fairy Queen after they had arrived once moreat the palace, "I must tell you more about this Wicked Fairy Gobo. Hewas once one of my trusted workmen in the valley where you have seen theMother of Gold. You know how necessary it is for the greatest of careand secrecy to be observed by every person permitted within those walls;for should any unfaithful servant allow that secret to become known, orshould he leave the gate open, or should he do any one of a hundreddangerous things, then all would be lost.

  "Now this is what the Wicked Fairy Gobo did; he became covetous of thegold which he saw all about him, and began, as mortals do, to think thisgold worth more than everything else. In short, he was willing to doanything, if only he might control all this gold. It was he who plannedto open the gates and let in wicked persons who would have robbed me. Myfaithful friend the White Cricket told me of this, and at once Ibanished Gobo from the Valley of Gold, and changed the mountains allabout, and made new gates, and secured new sentinels and guards of thevalley; so that Gobo never again could find the way thither. He has beenmy enemy ever since, although hitherto I have never punished him, beyondconfining him to yonder mountain; whence it was his privilege to emergetwice a year. You see what he has done. Jealous that I should hear fromthe King so often, Gobo has taken the shadow and with it the WhiteCricket, so that I could telephone no longer. Now in order that I mayonce more hear from the King, I shall send him back, in your hands, mydears, the Cricket for his telephone; and I shall send him back also hisshadow, after I have restored it to its proper shape. And I shall sendhim also my hope; and I shall send him the message which I havewhispered in your ears."

  "But see the poor shadow, how badly it is bent," said Lulu. "It does notlook in the least like the King as we know him."

  "I shall hope to be able to straighten out the shadow," said the Queen."It is only the Wicked Fairy who has destroyed its beauty for the time."

  "But," asked Zuzu curiously, "why do you take so great an interest inthe King of the Island of Gee-Whiz? It always seemed to me that he actedvery strangely; for sometimes he was friendly toward the Fairies andsometimes not; and often he wanted more gold."

  "Ah! that is it," said the Queen, sighing, "it was always that gold! Itwas the Wicked Fairy Gobo who put such notions in his head; but let ushope that all will yet be well. I beseech you now to hold tight to yourWishing Wands, and on no account make another wish until you are in thepresence of the King himself.

  "But now it is time that you rested after these journeys through myrealm. You may join Fofo and Fifi for a time in the Fairy gardens, andsay good-by to them; then the best thing you can do is to eat yoursupper of cakes and honey, and sleep soundly in readiness for thejourney up the Golden Ladder. It was my wish, as I have told you, tomake you my pages, and to keep you here in my realm for ever, for youare very good children indeed; but now I love and trust you so muchthat I am going to make you my messengers instead of my pages, and letyou go away again for a little time. In order that you may be happy andcontented, perhaps the Enchanted Banjo will now play for us."

  So saying she handed the Enchanted Banjo to Zuzu, and at once as he andLulu placed their hands upon the Banjo it began to sing for them.

  FAREWELL TO THE FAIRIES

  Farewell, Fairies, gay and good; You who haunt the Christmas Wood, You of that thrice happy band Which lives down in Candy-land, You who idle in the shade By the Lake of Lemonade; Farewell, Fairies; thus we sigh When we come to say good-by.

  You that in the world of dreams Sail in bubble-boats the streams; You that hide beneath the grass Chanting to us as we pass; You that flash among the trees Laughing at the honey-bees-- Tears come sadly to each eye When we come to say good-by.

  Farewell, Fairies, one and all-- Some day we shall come and call To you from the border-land In the speech you understand-- So and so, and thus and thus-- Then you will remember us. But to-day we may but sigh Now that we must say good-by.

  Then the Queen bent over each lit
tle pillow and spoke softly:

  "Before you fall asleep I shall kiss you each good night and good-by;for when you awaken you will be far away."

  As she kissed Zuzu and Lulu, they began to feel very drowsy, but beforethey had time to reason it out to themselves, they were both fastasleep. The last thing they knew was the soft kiss of the Fairy Queen;and the last thing they saw was the room of the fairy palace, verybeautiful, seeming to fade away and become more distant and indistinct.

  CHAPTER XXXII

  THE RETURN TO THE ISLAND

  When they awoke, Zuzu and Lulu rubbed their eyes very hard, and lookedaround them in wonder; as, indeed, well they might. They were now not inthe fairy palace at all, but once more alone, and at the top of theGolden Ladder, whose long lines they could see far, far below them,shining like the beams of the sun at evening or morning. Near by themrose the walls of the rocky pass in which lived Jankow, the Dragon, andnear them was the end of the tail of the Dragon. They could hear itsharsh voice coming to their ears very plainly.

  "Do not be afraid," said Zuzu to Lulu, "for I am sure that the FairyQueen will protect us, even though we do not see her at the moment. Weshall be quite safe, also, because I have the wooden leg of the Dragon;and here I have the shadow of the King, all straight and fine and newagain; and you have the White Cricket in your pocket; so I am sure theywill all be glad to see us back again when we tell them where we havebeen."

  At the same time, although Zuzu spoke boldly, both he and Lulu kept veryclose to the wall as they edged along the narrow opening from the top ofthe Golden Ladder to the front of the gorge where the head of the Dragonlay.