Adventures of Prince Lazybones, and Other Stories

by Mrs. Molesworth

  CHAPTER IV

  Blow-pipes and retorts, crucibles and jars, porcelain and glass vessels,of all odd sorts and shapes, confronted them on tables and shelves, andseated before small furnaces, with gauze protectors for their faces andmetal ones for their knees, and queer little rubber gloves for theirhands, were the very queerest of all the elves Leo had yet seen. Theywere thinner and much less muscular than the miners and stone-polishers,with eyes too large and legs too small for their bodies, so that theyresembled nothing so much as spiders.

  "See how in the pursuit of the beautiful one can lose all beauty," saidKnops, confidentially.

  "How hot it is here!" said Leo, gasping for breath.

  "Yes, my dear fellow, there's no doubt of that; the heat is tremendous.Now some of your thermometers go no higher than one hundred and thirty,while ours can ascend to three and four hundred; that is, for the commonair of our dwellings. Of course the heat demanded by many of ourexperiments is practically incalculable; for instance--"

  "Oh, get me out of this!" entreated Leo.

  "Here, step into this niche, put your mouth to this opening"--and Knopspointed to one of many silver tubes which projected near them--"nowbreathe. Is not that refreshing?"

  "Yes," said Leo, reviving, as he took a long draught of fresh cool air."How do your people endure such heat?"

  "They are used to it; besides, they can come to these little tubes, asyou have done, whenever they please."

  "Where does this air come from?"

  "It is pure oxygen; we manufacture it, and here is a lump of purecarbon which we also manufacture," and he laid in Leo's hand what lookedlike a drop of dew. It was a diamond of exquisite lustre.

  As Leo looked with surprise and admiration at it, an elf came staggeringup to the niche. After breathing the oxygen he turned to Knops with aheart-rending cry.

  "I have lost it--lost it, Master Knops."

  "Lost what, Paz?"

  "The finest stone I ever made, and I have been years at it."

  "How did that happen?"

  "Burned it too long--look!" and he produced in his spidery hand a smallmass of charcoal.

  "Never mind, Paz; better luck next time," said Knops, kindly.

  "No, I am no longer fit for the profession; such a mistake isinexcusable. I cannot hold up my head among the others. I meant thatdiamond for our King's tiara or the Queen's necklace--bah! Please,Master Professor, put me among the miners, or take me for your valet. Icare not what I do."

  "You are depressed just now; wait awhile."

  "No, I must go. I have broken my crucible and put out my furnace. Iwill not stay to be scorned."

  "Come with me, then, and I will see what I can do for you."

  "He may be useful to us," said Knops to Leo, adding, "we never allowthese diamonds to be put in the quartz beds; they are all reserved forour own particular uses. It takes so long a time to make them that onlyelves of great patience and a certain quiet habit of mind are trained tothe task. Look!"

  He pointed towards what appeared to be a glittering cobweb hanging froma projection on the wall. It was composed of silver wires, on which werestrung numbers of small but most exquisite gems, each of which sparkledand flashed with its imprisoned light.

  "In the same way," he resumed, "all the pearls we use are of our owncultivation, if I may use the term. We secure the oysters and insertsmall objects within the shells, generally a seed-pearl of insignificantsize, leaving it to be worked upon by the living fish; when enough timefor the incrustation has elapsed we find our pearls grown to aremarkable size, of rarest beauty and value. These processes are notunknown to man, but men are so clumsy that they seldom succeed inperfecting them."

  Leo by this time was quite exhausted both by what he had seen and bywhat he had heard, and he begged Knops to allow him to rest.

  "Certainly, certainly, my dear," said Knops. "Pardon me for wearyingyou. I am more scientific than hospitable. Come to our sleepingapartment. I think I shall allow Paz to see you, for, as he is sounhappy, it will divert him to serve you while you remain with us, andperhaps, too, he can suggest something suitable for your food. I oughtto have thought of this before."

  Leo had, with three or four bites, disposed of an apple, and had alreadybegun on a turnip, when Knops, giving Paz a peculiar sign, the spiderylittle fellow reached up and snatched the turnip from Leo's hand.

  "What's the matter now?" asked Leo, too tired to regain it, easily as hecould have done so.

  "I can't see anybody eat such wretched stuff as that; wait till I cookit," said Paz.

  "Well, Paz, I am glad you can help me out of my difficulty," said Knops."I really am puzzled what to do for Prince Leo's hunger. My breakfastis a wren's egg; for dinner, a sardine with a slice of mushroom isenough for four of us; for supper, a pickled mouse tongue. How longcould you live on such fare, Leo?"

  "Not long, I fear."

  "So I supposed. Well, here is the dormitory; by pushing up a dozen ormore beds, you can stretch out awhile. Meanwhile I can attend to someprofessional duties, after I have despatched Paz for your food. What areyou going to do with that turnip, Paz?"

  "An elf who can make diamonds from charcoal can perhaps producebeefsteak from a turnip," said Leo.

  "Ah! don't remind me of my bitter humiliation, kind sir," said Paz, in asad tone. "I will do what I can for you. Do you like soup?"

  "Immensely."

  "And roast quail?"

  "Delicious!"

  "Apple tart?"

  "Nothing better."

  "Adieu, then, for an hour."

  Knops too departed, leaving Leo to look about him, with curious eyes,upon rows of little beds, each with a scarlet blanket, and each havingits pitcher and basin conveniently at hand. But he soon was fast asleep.

  While all this was happening to Leo, at the monastery there was greatconfusion. The servants had gone in a body to Prince Morpheus's bedroomto demand their wages. With tearful eyes and wailing voice he hadprotested that he had no money, that his life was hanging by a thread,and that his brain was on fire. They loudly urged their claims,declaring they would instantly leave the premises unless they were paid.As they could not get a satisfactory reply from their master, who hidhis eyes at the sight of their angry faces, and put his fingers in hisears to keep out their noisy voices, they concluded to go; so, packingtheir boxes and bags, and pressing the mules and oxen into theirservice, they one by one went off to the nearest village.

  One old woman, who had never known any other home, alone remained, andwhen the storm subsided and the house was quiet, Morpheus, beinghungry, crawled down to the kitchen fire to find her boiling porridge.

  "Where is my son?" asked Morpheus.

  The old woman was deaf, and only muttered, "Gone--all gone."

  "Alas! and has my son also deserted his father?" cried Morpheus.

  The old woman nodded, partly with the palsy, and partly because she knewof nothing to say. Morpheus smote his forehead with a tragic gesture,and allowed himself to fall--gently--upon the floor. When he hadremained in an apparent swoon long enough he was revived by some hotporridge being poured down his throat, and his hair and hands sprinkledwith vinegar. Rousing himself as if with great effort, but really withgreat ease, he stood up, and finding the kitchen warmer than his cell,concluded to remain there; but the old woman was too stiff withrheumatism to wait upon him, so he had to ladle out his own portion ofporridge, get his books and candle for himself, and finally bring insome fagots for the fire.

  When he sat down to study he found himself in a more cheerful mood thanhe had been in for many a day, though he could not help wondering whathad become of Leo. As he went on thinking where the boy could be he wasinspired to write what he called a sonnet upon the subject. Here it is:

  "My boy has fled his father's home, No more he treads these halls; In vain my voice invokes his name, In vain my tears, my calls. The night winds sigh, the owlets cry, The moon's pale light appears, The stars are shivering in the sky-- I tremble at my fear
s. Has then the Knight of Shadowy Dread My Leo forced away From his fond parent's loving heart In Death's grim halls astray? I bow reluctant to my fate; 'Tis mine to weep and mine to wait!"

  He counted the lines over carefully; the eighth and tenth seemed short,but it scanned after a fashion. On the whole it suited him, and wasrather better done than many of his verses, so with soothed nerves hesought his pillow.

  The old woman had slumbered all the evening in her chair. Indeed hersnoring had been even and regular enough to act as a measure in markingthe time for the musical cadences of the sonnet.

  Morpheus, having a pretty good appetite, ate some bread and cheese anddrank some ale before retiring.