In one corner stood a beautiful little dressing table with a big mirror above it, and through a draped doorway Dot saw a luxurious little bathroom with a tub of white marble.
“It’s a lovely room,” said Dot to the maid; “but why did the Queen call it the musical chamber?”
“Sit down, please,” was Twinkle’s reply. So Dot seated herself in an easy chair, and no sooner had she touched the cushions than the sweetest strains of music fell upon her ears. She listened to it delightedly until the piece was finished, when Twinkle raised her to her feet.
“The music will play as long as you sit there,” she said. “Try the sofa.”
Then Dot sat upon one of the sofas, and heard the strains of a military band, seemingly far away, but sounding sweetly and distinctly, nevertheless.
Twinkle now led her to the bath-room that she might bathe her face and hands, and when the water fell into the basin it played an inspiring waltz tune. The brushes which the maid passed through Dot’s hair were musical, too, and everything she touched seemed to play to her the most ravishing strains of melody.
“Now,” said Twinkle, “lie down upon the bed a moment.”
Dot obeyed, and heard a chorus of sweet, childish voices singing such dreamy, soothing lullabies that her eyes closed in spite of herself, and she was almost asleep when Twinkle aroused her and bade her attend the Queen’s banquet.
“The voices will sing you to sleep when bedtime comes,” said the maid; “but now you must have dinner and learn what fate the Queen of Merryland has in store for you.”
She walked to a door that was half hidden behind a rich drapery, and, pushing it open, showed Dot that it led to the laughing chamber. It was with real pleasure that the girl saw her friend Tot, who had at that moment just risen from his bed.
The boy eagerly showed her all the gay, mirthful faces in his room, and they made Dot laugh out of pure sympathy. Then she brought Tot into her own dainty chamber, where he sat upon a chair and heard an orchestra play a merry schottische. But Twinkle and Scollops were now impatient to hurry them away, so soon they descended the stairway again and were ushered into the royal banquet room.
The Queen had arrived there before them, and her was face was smiling as sweetly as ever. She set Dot upon one side of her at the big table and Tot upon the other side.
This table was spread with delicate glassware and rare vases of fragrant flowers, and the dishes they ate from they perceived were of solid gold.
“How did you like your chamber?” the Queen asked Dot.
“It is delightful,” she answered. “I did not think there could be such a beautiful room in all the world.”
“And were you also pleased?” inquired the Wax Doll, turning toward the boy.
“My room’s fine,” replied Tot; “it made me laugh!”
The dinner was now served, and certainly no more delicious meal was ever eaten by children, unless they chanced to dine with the Queen of Merryland. There were many courses of rich and rare edibles, and each dish Dot and Tot thought could not be surpassed until they tasted the next one.
“Really,” said Dot with an admiring glance at her Majesty, “you must be a fairy.”
“To be sure I am!” laughed the pretty Queen.
“Still, you are not like any fairy I have read about,” continued the child, gravely.
“No, I suppose not,” returned the Wax Doll. “You must know that fairies are as different from one another as other people are, and the reason you have not read about me is because the folk who write fairy tales have never been to Merryland.”
“That is true,” agreed Dot. “Tot and I were the first to discover you.”
“Yes, and you were very wrong to do so,” added the Queen, reprovingly. “But I have used my thinking machine, as I promised, and it has shown me an easy way out of my difficulties.”
“What will you do with us?” asked Dot, looking at the Queen so anxiously that she forgot to drink her nectar.
“I’m going to adopt you,” was the calm reply.
“Adopt us!” exclaimed the girl, wonderingly.
“Yes, that is the only thing to do. You are going to be my adopted daughter, the Princess Dot of Merryland; and your companion must become my adopted son, Prince Tot of Merryland.”
“But must we always live here?” enquired Dot.
“Can’t we go home again?” demanded Tot.
“Those are questions I cannot answer now,” said the Queen. “For the time, at least, you must live with me, and I think you will be delighted with this Valley and all the pretty things I have to show you. Should you ever grow tired of Merryland we will talk about your leaving it. At present you will be wise to think of nothing but your happiness in becoming members of the royal family of this kingdom.”
The boy and girl listened to this silently and thoughtfully, for although the Queen smiled, she spoke with a dignity and authority that made them realize she was very much in earnest. But seeing that her guests looked serious and troubled, the little lady soon rose from the table, saying more cheerfully as she did so, “It is nearly time for my army to drill, so, if it please you, we will sit upon the balcony and eat our ice cream while we watch the soldiers.”
Dot and Tot sprang up at once and followed the Queen to a balcony that ran across the front of the palace. Here they seated themselves and were served with delicate ice-cream hollyhocks upon golden saucers by Twinkle and Scollops.
“Why do you call the maid Twinkle?” Dot asked the Queen.
“Because she steps so quickly and so softly, like the twinkling of a star, and because her eyes are so bright and sparkling,” answered the Wax Doll.
“Why do you call him Scollops?” enquired Tot, pointing his finger at the boy doll.
“Because his hair is all knitted in scollops, and he has scollops around his wrists and at the bottom of his trousers.”
Tot looked, and sure enough the scollops were there.
“You see we always have a reason for the names we bear in this kingdom. It is only in the big outside world that people have names that mean nothing,” said the Queen.
“What is your name?” asked the girl.
“Haven’t you heard it?” enquired the Queen, with a surprised look.
“No; I have only heard you called the Queen,” said Dot; “but, of course, you must have a name of your own.”
“Oh, I certainly have,” answered the little lady. “My name is — — .” Then she stopped suddenly and leaned over the balcony, while she held up one of her pink hands and whispered: “Listen!”
The children now heard the sound of martial music approaching, and in a few minutes there marched around the corner of the palace a band of pewter musicians. They were dressed in brightly painted uniforms and marched proudly and in excellent time, while they played as loudly as possible upon their instruments.
Following the band came a squadron of pewter soldiers on horseback, and the horses reared and pranced, while the officers waved their pewter swords above their heads in an impressive manner. Next came the foot soldiers, company after company, wearing red painted uniforms and blue painted uniforms, as well as uniforms of green and yellow paint.
Not a man in the entire army was more than six inches high, and all were made of pewter — just like the boxes of soldiers you buy at the toy shops; but they marched like real live soldiers, and there were so many of them that it was actually an impressive sight.
As each company passed beneath the balcony where the Queen sat, the men saluted her respectfully and the officers raised their hats, while the doll Queen bowed graciously in return.
“Isn’t that a fine army?” she asked, proudly.
“They’re rather small for soldiers,” replied Dot.
“I could kick ‘em all over with my foot!” said Tot.
“Oh, but that would be wrong,” exclaimed the Queen. “Surely they haven’t done you any harm.”
“No,” said Tot; “but I could fight ‘em all.”
“It’s wrong to fight,” remarked the Queen, reprovingly.
“Then what do you have soldiers for?” questioned Dot.
“Why, to march and drill and look pretty, of course,” answered the Queen. “I thought everyone loved to see soldiers march.”
“I suppose they do,” said the girl.
“No one should wish to hurt such brightly dressed creatures,” continued her Majesty, “nor should a soldier wish to harm anyone else.”
“Yet the wooden Captain at the gate threatened to stick his sword into us,” declared the child.
“That’s different,” replied the Queen. “The wooden soldiers are guardians of the Valley, and it is their duty to threaten and scare folks. But had the Captain really hurt you with his sword, I should have had the quarrelsome fellow chopped into kindling wood. He’s quite dry and would burn nicely.”
They sat for some time watching the pewter soldiers drill, and finally the entire army marched away again. When they had gone, the little village seemed as silent and deserted as it had been before.
XII. — Prince Tot and Princess Dot
Now,” said the Queen, “you must come to my throne room and be adopted.”
So she led the way and they followed her to a beautiful apartment, large and grand, with high ceilings set with precious stones. In the middle of the room stood the Queen’s magnificent throne.
Seating herself among the cushions of the throne, her Majesty touched a bell which brought Scollops running in.
“Send to me all the people of my household, as quickly as possible,” commanded the Queen of Merryland. “I am about to perform an important ceremony, and they must all witness my act.”
Scollops bowed and retired, and the Wax Doll turned to Dot and Tot and remarked, “I’ve never adopted anyone before so I don’t know exactly the form of ceremony I ought to employ; but I shall do the best I can, and that ought to be satisfactory to you.”
“Oh, yes,” said Dot. “I suppose so.”
“Does it hurt?” asked Tot.
“Does what hurt?”
“To be ‘dopted.”
“I hope not,” said the little Queen; “I shall try to be as gentle as possible.”
The members of the household now entered the room and the children found there were a good many of them. All were dolls of some sort; but Dot noticed the Queen was the only wax doll in the Valley, so far as she had seen. Among the household servants the cooks were black dolls, the chambermaids were china dolls, and the others seemed mostly made of wood, although there was one elderly doll that was clearly papier-maché. These knelt down in a circle before the Queen and remained in this humble position during the Ceremony of Adoption.
Her Majesty began by making a speech, in which she told how the strangers had been carried by accident into Merryland.
“It was not their fault,” she said, “but when I consulted my thinking machine I found I must do one of two things — either turn them into dolls by means of my fairy wand, or else adopt them as my children. They seem so much bigger and prettier than dolls that I have decided to adopt them, so I have called all my people in to witness my act.”
The servants of the household loudly applauded this speech, and one of the chambermaids clapped her hands so earnestly that she broke off one of her little fingers.
“Dot Freeland,” now said the Queen, in a solemn voice, “kneel down upon my footstool.”
Dot was a little frightened, for never before had she heard the Queen speak in any voice but a laughing one; but she knelt down obediently, and the Queen placed upon her head a small golden crown with four points, each point being tipped with a flashing gem. Then the Queen said:
Thou art made a Princess now
By this crown upon thy brow;
All must bow to thy command,
Who reside in Merryland;
And my daughter thou shalt be,
Living long and happily.
Rise, my Princess, fair and sweet,
At my right hand take thy seat.
Dot rose at once and sat on the Queen’s right hand, while all the household applauded again; but this time the china chambermaids were more careful of their fingers. The girl longed to take off her pretty crown and look at it, but she felt it might not be dignified to do so; therefore she sat quietly, as a princess should, while Tot in turn knelt upon the Queen’s footstool.
The fairy doll placed upon Tot’s head a crown almost exactly like the one Dot wore, saying to him in her gentle voice:
By this crown I give to thee,
I, the Queen, hereby decree,
Thou shalt be a princeling grand
In our happy Merryland.
Purest joy shall be thy lot,
All thy troubles be forgot;
Rise, Prince Tot, for thou shalt be
Loving son henceforth to me!
Tot shoved the crown to the back of his head, where he usually wore his hat, and seated himself at the Queen’s left hand.
The assembled household now cheered loudly and long, and in the midst of the uproar the wooden Captain entered at the head of the pewter band, and the musicians blew upon their instruments so powerfully that the big throne room was filled with music.
All this was decidedly pleasing to Princess Dot and Prince Tot, who felt very proud of themselves and most grateful to the generous Queen.
Scollops and Twinkle now served lavender-colored ices to those present at the Ceremony of Adoption, and the pewter band finished playing and marched away again. Then the Queen took Dot and Tot to the drawing room of the palace, where the children had leisure to thank her and to admire their pretty crowns. The Wax Doll smiled sweetly upon them, and seemed quite as pleased as her adopted children at the success of the ceremony.
Presently Dot asked, “Does no one live in those pretty houses in the village?”
“Yes, Princess,” answered her Majesty; “they are full of people.”
“But we have seen no one except the dolls who live in this palace,” remarked the child.
“That is true,” returned the Queen, “for I have been so busy since your arrival that I have not had a chance to awaken them.”
“Are they all asleep?” asked Tot.
“Well, not exactly asleep,” answered the Queen; “but they are dolls, like all the rest of us in this Valley, and they only move around and talk when I bring them to life by means of my fairy wand. At one time I kept them alive continually, but it was such a bother to manage them all that I changed my plans, and now I let them lie in their houses until I wish to amuse myself with their pranks. I have only to wave my fairy wand three times and blow my magic whistle to arouse the whole village to activity. But then I always have my hands full trying to make them behave properly.”
“That seems a nice way to rule,” said Dot, thoughtfully. “If every king and queen were able to do the same thing with their people, there could not be so much quarreling nor so many wars.”
“True enough,” laughed the Queen; “but real, live people would not like to be treated that way. Would you like to see my village wake up?”
“Yes, indeed!” exclaimed Dot.
“Then I will order our carriages so we may drive down to the village.”
The Queen called Scollops and sent him for three carriages “For,” she said to Dot and Tot, “there is just enough room in the royal carriage for me, and as there are no bigger ones in the Valley, we must each ride in a separate carriage.”
It was not long before the three carriages, each drawn by horses standing upon wheeled platforms, and driven by rag doll coachmen dressed in the royal livery of pink and blue drew up before the gate of the palace. Dot had hard work to squeeze into the seat of her vehicle, and when she succeeded she had some fears that it would tip over, or the wheels would come off the horses. But Tot, being smaller, fit his carriage nicely, and being younger and a boy, he had no fears of any accidents.
So now the drivers cracked their whips and away they rolled, the Que
en first, Dot next and Tot last of all. When they reached the main street of the village, the three carriages drew up near the sidewalk, all in a row, and the Queen said:
“Now I will awaken the people.”
She waved the fairy wand three times around her head and blew a shrill blast upon the magic whistle.
Instantly a commotion arose all about them. Doors and windows began to open, and from the houses flocked many dolls of all sorts and sizes. There were china, bisque, wooden, papier-maché, rag and rubber dolls, with yellow hair, red and brown and white hair, and complexions ranging from the daintiest pink to the deepest black. Some were finely dressed, some well dressed and some shabbily dressed; but all seemed and light-hearted, and they ran about singing and dancing chatting to each other as happily as if they had not been asleep for so long a time by their Queen.
“I don’t understand how you can make dolls act like real people,” said Dot, as she watched them with wonder.
“No, I suppose not,” replied her Majesty. “But if you were a fairy, as I am, you would know all about it.”
The Queen now left her seat in the carriage and entered a pretty little cottage that stood near by. Dot followed to doorway and, peeping in, saw that this entire cottage was occupied by an enormous music box.
“I’ll make it play,” said the Queen, “for my dolls love to dance to the music.”
Thereupon she touched a spring, and at once strains of delightful melody came from the big music box.
Dot hastened outside again and found the street filled with dolls, who were dancing joyously to the bewitching music. After watching them for a time in silence the Queen said:
“Now they have had enough fun for one day, so I will send them to sleep again.”
She waved her wand once and the music stopped playing. The dolls stopped dancing and began to say good-night to one another. A second time the Queen waved her wand above her head, and then every doll hurried to its own home, and the doors and windows began to close again. But Dot and Tot could hear the dolls laughing and talking in the houses until the Queen waved her wand for the third and last time, when silence fell on the village, and her Majesty turned to the children and said:
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 228
