In Camp With A Tin Soldier

by John Kendrick Bangs

  CHAPTER XII.

  IN FORTYFOREFOOT VALLEY.

  "You've frightened him pretty well, Spritey," said Jimmieboy, with alaugh, as the major passed out of sight.

  "Yes," returned the sprite. "But you don't seem a bit afraid."

  "I'm not--though I think I should be if I didn't know who you are,"returned Jimmieboy. "You are really a pretty hideous affair."

  "Well, I need to be if I am to get the best of Fortyforefoot, but, Isay, you mustn't call me Spritey now that I am a giant. It won't do tocall me by any name that would show Fortyforefoot who I really am," saidthe sprite, with a warning shake of his head.

  "But what shall I call you?" asked Jimmieboy.

  "Bludgeonhead is my name now," replied the sprite. "Benjamin B.Bludgeonhead is my full name, but you know me well enough to call meplain Bludgeonhead."

  "All right, plain Bludgeonhead," said Jimmieboy, "I'll do as yousay--and now don't you think we'd better be starting along?"

  "Yes," said Bludgeonhead, reaching down and grabbing hold of Jimmieboywith his huge hand. "We'll start right away, and until we come in sightof Fortyforefoot's house I think perhaps you'll be more comfortable ifyou ride on my shoulder instead of in my coat-pocket."

  "Thank you very much," said Jimmieboy, as Bludgeonhead lifted him upfrom the ground and set him lightly as a feather on his shoulder. "My,what a view!" he added, as he gazed about him. "I think I'd like to beas tall as this all the time, Bludgeonhead. What a great thing it wouldbe on parade days to be as tall as this. Why I can see miles and milesof country from here."

  "Yes, it's pretty fine--but I don't think I'd care to be so tallalways," returned Bludgeonhead, as he stepped over a great broad riverthat lay in his path. "It makes one very uppish to be as high in the airas this; and you'd be all the time looking down on your friends, too,which would be so unpleasant for your friends that they wouldn't haveanything to do with you after a while. Hang on tight now. I'm going tojump over this mountain in front of us."

  Here Bludgeonhead drew back a little and then took a short run, afterwhich he leaped high in the air, and he and Jimmieboy sailed easily overthe great hills before them, and then alighted safe and sound on theother side.

  "That was just elegant!" cried Jimmieboy, clapping his hands with glee."I hope there are lots more hills like that to be jumped over."

  "No, there aren't," said Bludgeonhead, "but if you like it so much I'llgo back and do it again."

  "Let's," said Jimmieboy.

  Bludgeonhead turned back and jumped over the mountain half a dozen timesuntil Jimmieboy was satisfied and then he resumed his journey.

  "This," he said, after trudging along in silence for some time, "this isFortyforefoot Valley, and in a short time we shall come to the giant'scastle; but meanwhile I want you to see what a wonderful place this is.The valley itself will give you a better idea of Fortyforefoot's greatpower as a magician than anything else that I know of. Do you know whatthis place was before he came here?"

  "No," said Jimmieboy. "What was it?"

  "It was a great big hole in the ground," returned Bludgeonhead. "Aregular sand pit. Fortyforefoot liked the situation because it wassurrounded by mountains and nobody ever wanted to come here because sandpits aren't worth visiting. There wasn't a tree or a speck of a greenthing anywhere in sight--nothing but yellow sand glaring in the sun allday and sulking in the moon all night."

  "Why how could that be? It's all covered with beautiful trees andgardens and brooks now," said Jimmieboy, which was quite true, for theFortyforefoot Valley was a perfect paradise to look at, filled witheverything that was beautiful in the way of birds and trees and flowersand water courses. "How could he make the trees and flowers grow in dryhot sand like that?"

  "By his magic power, of course," answered Bludgeonhead. "He filled up agood part of the sand pit with stones that he found about here, and thenhe changed one part of the desert into a pond so that he could get allthe water he wanted. Then he took a square mile of sand and changedevery grain of it into blades of grass. Other portions he transformedinto forests until finally simply by the wonderful power he has tochange one thing into another he got the place into its present shape."

  "But the birds, how did he make them?" asked the little general.

  "He didn't," said Bludgeonhead. "They came of their own accord. They sawwhat a beautiful place this was and they simply moved in."

  Bludgeonhead paused a moment in his walk and set Jimmieboy down on theground again.

  "I think I'll take a rest here before going on. We are very near toFortyforefoot's castle now," he said. "I'll sit down here for a fewmoments and sharpen my sword and get in good shape for a fight if onebecomes necessary. Don't wander away, Jimmieboy. This place is full oftraps for just such fellows as you who come in here. That's the wayFortyforefoot catches them for dinner."

  So Jimmieboy staid close by Bludgeonhead's side and was very muchentertained by all that went on around him. He saw the most wonderfulbirds imaginable, and great bumble-bees buzzed about in the flowersgathering honey by the quart. Once a great jack-rabbit, three times aslarge as he was, came rushing out of the woods toward him, and Jimmieboyon stooping to pick up a stone to throw at Mr. Bunny to frighten himaway, found that all the stones in that enchanted valley were precious.He couldn't help laughing outright when he discovered that the stone hehad thrown at the rabbit was a huge diamond as big as his fist, and thateven had he stopped to choose a less expensive missile he would have hadto confine his choice to pearls, rubies, emeralds, and other gems of therarest sort. And then he noticed that what he thought was a rock uponwhich he and Bludgeonhead were sitting was a massive nugget of pureyellow gold. This lead him on to inspect the trees about him and then hediscovered a most absurd thing. Fortyforefoot's extravagance hadprompted him to make all his pine trees of the most beautifully polishedand richly inlaid mahogany; every one of the weeping willows was made ofsolid oak, ornamented and carved until the eye wearied of its beauty,and as for the birds in the trees, their nests were made not of straywisps of straw and hay stolen from the barns and fields, but of thesoftest silk, rich in color and lined throughout with eiderdown, themere sight of which could hardly help being restful to a tired bird--orboy either, for that matter, Jimmieboy thought.

  "Did he make all this out of sand? All these jewels and magnificentcarvings?" he asked.

  "Yes," said Bludgeonhead. "Simply took up a handful of sand and tossedit up in the air and whatever he commanded it to be it became. But themost wonderful thing in this place is his spring. He made what you mightcall a 'Wish Dipper' out of an old tin cup. Then he dug a hole andfilled it with sand which he commanded to become liquid, and, when thesand heard him say that, it turned to liquid, but the singular thingabout it is that as Fortyforefoot didn't say what kind of liquid itshould be, it became any kind. So now if any one is thirsty and wants aglass of cider all he has to do is to dip the wish dipper into thespring and up comes cider. If he wants lemonade up comes lemonade. If hewants milk up comes milk. It's simply great."

  As Bludgeonhead spoke these words Jimmieboy was startled to hearsomething very much like an approaching footstep far down the road.

  "Did you hear that?" he asked, seizing Bludgeonhead by the hand.

  "Yes, I did," replied Bludgeonhead, in a whisper. "It sounded to me likeFortyforefoot's step, too."

  "I'd better hide, hadn't I?" said Jimmieboy.

  "Yes," said Bludgeonhead. "Come here and be quick about it. Climb insidemy coat and snuggle down out of sight in my pocket. We musn't let himsee you yet awhile."

  Jimmieboy did as he was commanded, and found the pocket a verycomfortable place, only it was a little stuffy.

  "It's pretty hot in here," he whispered.

  "Well, look up on the left hand corner of the outer side of the pocketand you'll find two flaps that are buttoned up," replied Bludgeonhead,softly. "Unbutton them. One will let in all the air you want, and theother will enable you to peep out and see Fortyforefoot without hisseeing you."r />
  In a minute the buttons were found and the flaps opened. Everythinghappened as Bludgeonhead said it would, and in a minute Jimmieboy,peering out through the hole in the cloak, saw Fortyforefootapproaching.

  The owner of the beautiful valley seemed very angry when he caught sightof Bludgeonhead sitting on his property, and hastening up to him, hecried:

  "What business have you here in the Valley of Fortyforefoot?"

  Jimmieboy shrank back into one corner of the pocket, a little overcomewith fear. Fortyforefoot was larger and more terrible than he thought.

  "I am not good at riddles," said Bludgeonhead, calmly. "That is atriddles of that sort. If you had asked me the difference between a duckand a garden rake I should have told you that a duck has no teeth andcan eat, while a rake has plenty of teeth and can't eat. But when youask me what business I have here I am forced to say that I can't say."

  "You are a very bright sort of a giant," sneered Fortyforefoot.

  "Yes," replied Bludgeonhead. "The fact is I can't help being bright. Mymother polishes me every morning with a damp chamois."

  "Do you know to whom you are speaking?" asked Fortyforefoot,threateningly.

  "No; not having been introduced to you, I can't say I know you,"returned Bludgeonhead. "But I think I can guess. You are Anklehigh, theDwarf."

  At this Fortyforefoot turned purple with rage.

  "Anklehigh the Dwarf?" he roared. "I'll right quickly teach thee alesson thou rash fellow."

  Fortyforefoot strode up close to Bludgeonhead, whose size he could nothave guessed because Bludgeonhead had been sitting down all this timeand was pretty well covered over by his cloak.

  BLUDGEONHEAD SHOWS JIMMIEBOY TO FORTYFOREFOOT. PAGE174.]

  [Blank Page]

  "I'll take thee by thine ear and toss thee to the moon," he cried,reaching out his hand to make good his word.

  "Nonsense, Anklehigh," returned Bludgeonhead, calmly. "Don't be foolish.No dwarf can fight with a giant of my size."

  "But I am not the dwarf Anklehigh," shrieked Fortyforefoot. "I amFortyforefoot."

  "And I am Bludgeonhead," returned the other, rising and towering wayabove the owner of the valley.

  "Mercy sakes!" cried Fortyforefoot, falling on his knees in abjectterror. "He'd make six of me! Pardon, O, Bludgeonhead. I did not knowyou when I was so hasty as to offer to throw you to the moon. I thoughtyou were--er--that you were--er----"

  "More easily thrown," suggested Bludgeonhead.

  "Yes--yes--that was it," stammered Fortyforefoot. "And now, to show thatyou have forgiven me, I want you to come to my castle and have dinnerwith me."

  "I'll be very glad to," replied Bludgeonhead. "What are you going tohave for dinner?"

  "Anything you wish," said Fortyforefoot. "I was going to have a veryplain dinner to-night because for to-morrow's dinner I have invited mybrother Fortythreefoot and his wife Fortytwoinch to have a littlespecial dish I have been so fortunate as to secure."

  "Ah?" said Bludgeonhead. "And what is that dish, pray?"

  "Oh, only a sniveling creature I caught in one of my traps thisafternoon. He was a soldier, and he wasn't very brave about beingcaught, but I judge from looking at him that he will make good eating,"said Fortyforefoot. "I couldn't gather from him who he was. He had on amilitary uniform, but he behaved less like a warrior than ever Isupposed a man could. It seems from his story that he was engaged uponsome secret mission, and on his way back to his army, he stumbled overand into one of my game traps where I found him. He begged me to let himgo, but that was out of the question. I haven't had a soldier to eat forfour years, so I took him to the castle, had him locked up in theice-box, and to-morrow we shall eat him."

  "Did he tell you his name?" asked Bludgeonhead, thoughtfully.

  "He tried to but didn't succeed. He told me so many names that I didn'tbelieve he really owned any of them," said Fortyforefoot. "All I couldreally learn about him was that he was as brave as a lion, and that if Iwould spare him he would write me a poem a mile long every day of mylife."

  "Very attractive offer, that," said Bludgeonhead, with a smile.

  "Yes; but I couldn't do it. I wouldn't miss eating him for anything,"replied Fortyforefoot, smacking his lips, hungrily. "I'd give anythinganybody'd ask, too, if I could find another as good."

  "Would you, honestly?" asked Bludgeonhead. "Well, now, I thought youwould, and that is really what I have come here for. I have in my pockethere a real live general that I have captured. Now between you and me, Idon't eat generals. I don't care for them--they fight so. I preferpreserved cherries and pickled peaches and--er--strawberry jam andpowdered sugar and almonds, and other things like that, you know, and itoccurred to me that if I let you have the general you would supply mewith what I needed of the others."

  "You have come to the right place, Bludgeonhead," said Fortyforefoot,eagerly. "I'll give you a million cans of jam, all the pickled peachesand other things you can carry if this general you speak about is a finespecimen."

  "Well, here he is," said Bludgeonhead, hauling Jimmieboy out of hispocket--whispering to Jimmieboy at the same time not to be afraidbecause he wouldn't let anything happen to him, and so of courseJimmieboy felt perfectly safe, though a little excited.

  "Beautiful!" cried Fortyforefoot. "Superb! Got any more?"

  "No," answered Bludgeonhead, putting Jimmieboy back into his pocketagain. "If I ever do find another, though, you shall have him."

  This of course put Fortyforefoot in a tremendously good humor, andbefore an hour had passed he had not only transformed pebbles and twigsand leaves of trees and other small things into the provisions that thetin soldiers needed, but he had also furnished horses and wagons enoughto carry them back to headquarters, and then Fortyforefoot accompaniedby Bludgeonhead entered the castle, where the proprietor demanded thatJimmieboy should be given up to him.

  Bludgeonhead handed him over at once, and ten minutes later Jimmieboyfound himself locked up in the pantry.

  Hardly had he time to think over the strange events of the afternoonwhen he heard a noise in the ice-box over in one corner of the pantry,and on going there to see what was the cause of it he heard a familiarvoice repeating over and over again these mournful lines:

  "From Giant number one I ran-- But O the sequel dire! I truly left a frying-pan And jumped into a fire."

  "Hullo in there," whispered Jimmieboy. "Who are you?"

  "The bravest man of my time," replied the voice in the ice-box. "MajorMortimer Carraway Blueface of the 'Jimmieboy Guards.'"

  "Oh, I am so glad to find you again," cried Jimmieboy, throwing open theice-box door. "I thought it was you the minute I heard your poetry."

  "Ah!" said the major, with a sad smile. "You recognized the beauty ofthe poem?"

  "Not exactly," said Jimmieboy. "But you said you were in the fire when Iknew you were in the ice-box, and so of course----"

  "Of course," said the major, with a frown. "You remembered that when Isay one thing I mean another. Well, I'm glad to see you again, but whydid you desert me so cruelly?"