Chapter IV. Prince Turtle Remembers His Magic
TWINKLE was as nervous as she could be during all the week that followed this strange conversation with Prince Turtle. Every day, as soon as school was out, she would run to the tub to see if the turtle was still safe — for she worried lest it should run away or disappear in some strange manner. And during school hours it was such hard work to keep her mind on her lessons that teacher scolded her more than once.
The fairy imprisoned in the turtle’s form had nothing to say to her during this week, because he would not be allowed to talk again until Saturday; so the most that Twinkle could do to show her interest in the Prince was to give him the choicest food she could get and supply him with plenty of fresh, clean water.
At last the day of her adventure arrived, and as soon as she could get away from the breakfast table Twinkle ran out to the tub. There was her fairy turtle, safe as could be, and as she leaned over the tub he put out his head and called “Good morning!” in his small, shrill voice.
“Good morning,” she replied.
“Are you still willing and ready to assist me?” asked the turtle.
“To be sure,” said Twinkle.
“Then take me in your hand,” said he.
So she picked him out of the tub and placed him upon her hand. And the turtle said:
“Now pay strict attention, and do exactly as I tell you, and all will be well. In the first place, we want to get to the Black Mountains; so you must repeat after me these words: ‘Uller; aller; iller; oller!’“
“Uller; aller; iller; oller!” said Twinkle.
The next minute it seemed as though a gale of wind had struck her. It blew so strongly against her eyes that she could not see; so she covered her face with one arm while with the other hand she held fast to the turtle. Her skirts fluttered so wildly that it seemed as if they would tear themselves from her body, and her sun-bonnet, not being properly fastened, was gone in a minute.
But it didn’t last long, fortunately. After a few moments the wind stopped, and she found she could breathe again. Then she looked around her and drew another long breath, for instead of being in the back yard at home she stood on the side of a beautiful mountain, and spread before her were the loveliest green valleys she had ever beheld.
“Well, we’re here,” said the turtle, in a voice that sounded as if he were well pleased. “I thought I hadn’t forgotten my fairy wisdom.”
“Where are we?” asked the child.
“In the Black Mountains, of course,” was the reply. “We’ve come a good way, but it didn’t take us long to arrive, did it?”
“No, indeed,” she answered, still gazing down the mountain side at the flower-strewn grass-land of the valleys.
“This,” said the turtle, sticking his little head out of the shell as far as it would go, “is the realm of the fairies, where I used to dwell. Those beautiful palaces you see yonder are inhabited by Queen Flutterlight and my people, and that grim castle at your left, standing on the side of the mountain, is where the Corrugated Giant lives.”
“I don’t see anything!” exclaimed Twinkle; “that is, nothing but the valleys and the flowers and grass.”
“True; I had forgotten that these things are invisible to your mortal eyes. But it is necessary that you should see all clearly, if you are going to rescue me from this terrible form and restore me to my natural shape. Now, put me down upon the ground, for I must search for a particular plant whose leaf has a magic virtue.”
So Twinkle put him down, and the little turtle began running around here and there, looking carefully at the different plants that grew amongst the grass on the mountain side. But his legs were so short and his shell-covered body so heavy, that he couldn’t move very fast; so presently he called for her to pick him up again, and hold him close to the ground while she walked among the plants. She did this, and after what seemed a long search the turtle suddenly cried out:
“Stop! Here it is! This is the plant I want.”
“Which — this?” asked the girl, touching a broad green leaf.
“Yes. Pluck the leaf from the stem and rub your eyelids with it.”
She obeyed, and having rubbed her lids well with the leaf, she again opened her eyes and beheld the real Fairyland.
Chapter V. Twinkle Promises to Be Brave
IN the center of the valley was a great cluster of palaces that appeared to be built of crystal and silver and mother-of-pearl, and golden filigree- work. So dainty and beautiful were these fairy dwellings that Twinkle had no doubt for an instant but that she gazed upon fairyland. She could almost see, from the far mountain upon which she stood, the airy, gauze-winged forms of the fairies themselves, floating gently amidst their pretty palaces and moving gracefully along the jeweled streets.
But another sight now attracted her attention — a big, gray, ugly looking castle standing frowning on the mountain side at her left. It overlooked the lovely city of palaces like a dark cloud on the edge of a blue sky, and the girl could not help giving a shudder as she saw it. All around the castle was a high fence of iron spikes.
“That fence is enchanted,” said the turtle, as if he knew she was looking at it; “and no fairy can pass it, because the power to prevent it has been given to the giant. But a mortal has never been forbidden to pass the fence, for no one ever supposed that a mortal would come here or be able to see it. That is the reason I have brought you to this place, and the reason why you alone are able to help me.”
“Gracious!” cried Twinkle; “must I meet the Carbonated Giant?”
“He’s corrugated,” said the turtle.
“I know he’s something dreadful,” she wailed, “because he’s so hard to pronounce.”
“You will surely have to meet him,” declared the turtle; “but do not fear, I will protect you from all harm.”
“Well, a Corralated Giant’s a mighty big person,” said the girl, doubtfully, “and a mud-turtle isn’t much of a fighter. I guess I’ll go home.”
“That is impossible,” declared the turtle. “You are too far from home ever to get back without my help, so you may as well be good and obedient.”
“What must I do?” she asked.
“We will wait until it is nearly noon, when the giant will put his pot on the fire to boil his dinner. We can tell the right time by watching the smoke come out of his chimney. Then you must march straight up to the castle and into the kitchen where the giant is at work, and throw me quickly into the boiling kettle. That is all that you will be required to do.”
“I never could do it!” declared Twinkle.
“Why not?”
“You’d be scalded to death, and then I’d be a murderer!”
“Nonsense!” said the turtle, peevishly. “I know what I’m doing, and if you obey me I’ll not be scalded but an instant; for then I’ll resume my own form. Remember that I’m a fairy, and fairies can’t be killed so easily as you seem to think.”
“Won’t it hurt you?” she inquired.
“Only for a moment; but the reward will be so great that I won’t mind an instant’s pain. Will you do this favor for me?”
“I’ll try,” replied Twinkle, gravely.
“Then I will be very grateful,” said Prince Turtle, “and agree to afterward send you home safe and sound, and as quickly as you came.”
Chapter VI. Twinkle Meets the Corrugated Giants
“AND now, while we are waiting,” continued the fairy turtle, “I want to find a certain flower that has wonderful powers to protect mortals from any injury. Not that I fear I shall be unable to take care of you, but it’s just as well to be on the safe side.”
“Better,” said Twinkle, earnestly. “Where’s the flower?”
“We’ll hunt for it,” replied the turtle.
So holding him in her hand in such a way that he could see all the flowers that grew, the girl began wandering over the mountain side, and everything was so beautiful around her that she would have been quite contente
d and happy had not the gray castle been before her to remind her constantly that she must face the terrible giant who lived within it.
They found the flower at last — a pretty pink blossom that looked like a double daisy, but must have been something else, because a daisy has no magic power that I ever heard of. And when it was found, the turtle told her to pick the flower and pin it fast to the front of her dress; which she did.
By that time the smoke began to roll out of the giant’s chimney in big black clouds; so the fairy turtle said the giant must be getting dinner, and the pot would surely be boiling by the time they got to the castle.
Twinkle couldn’t help being a little afraid to approach the giant’s stronghold, but she tried to be brave, and so stepped along briskly until she came to the fence of iron spikes.
“You must squeeze through between two of the spikes,” said the turtle.
She didn’t think it could possibly be done; but to her surprise it was quite easy, and she managed to squeeze through the fence without even tearing her dress. Then she walked up a great driveway, which was lined with white skulls of many sheep which the giant had eaten, to the front door of the castle, which stood ajar.
“Go in,” said the turtle; so she boldly entered and passed down a high arched hall toward a room in the rear.
“This is the kitchen,” said the turtle, “Enter quickly, go straight to the kettle, and throw me into the boiling water.”
Twinkle entered quickly enough, but then she stopped short with a cry of amazement; for there before her stood the ugly giant, blowing the fire with an immense pair of bellows.
Chapter VII. Prince Mud-Turtle Becomes Prince Melga
THE giant was as big around as ten men, and as tall as two; but, having no bones, he seemed pushed together, so that his skin wrinkled up like the sides of an accordeon, or a photograph camera, even his face being so wrinkled that his nose stuck out between two folds of flesh and his eyes from between two more. In one end of the kitchen was the great fireplace, above which hung an iron kettle with a big iron spoon in it. And at the other end was a table set for dinner.
As the giant was standing between the kettle and Twinkle, she could not do as the turtle had commanded, and throw him into the pot. So she hesitated, wondering how to obey the fairy. Just then the giant happened to turn around and see her.
“By the whiskers of Gammarog — who was one of my ancestors that was killed by Jack the Giant-Killer!” he cried, but in a very mild voice for so big a person. “Whom have we here?”
“I’m Twinkle,” said the girl, drawing a long breath.
“Then, to pay you for your folly in entering my castle, I will make you my slave, and some day, if you’re not good, I’ll feed you to my seventeen-headed dog. I never eat little girls myself. I prefer mutton.”
Twinkle’s heart almost stopped beating when she heard these awful words. All she could do was to stand still and look imploringly at the giant. But she held the fairy mud-turtle clasped tight in her hand, so that the monster couldn’t see it.
“Well, what are you staring at?” shouted the Corrugated Giant, angrily. “Blow up that fire this instant, slave!”
He stood aside for her to pass, and Twinkle ran at once to the fireplace. The pot was now before her, and within easy reach, and it was bubbling hot.
In an instant she reached out her hand and tossed the turtle into the boiling water; and then, with a cry of horror at her own action, she drew back to see what would happen.
The turtle was a fairy, all right; and he had known very well the best way to break the enchantment his enemy had put upon him. For no sooner had Twinkle tossed him into the boiling pot than a great hissing was heard, and a cloud of steam hid for an instant the fireplace. Then, as it cleared away, a handsome young prince stepped forward, fully armed; for the turtle was again a fairy, and the kettle had changed into a strong shield which he bore upon his left arm, and the iron spoon was now a long and glittering sword.
Chapter VIII. Twinkle Receives a Medal
THE giant gave a roar like that of a baby bull when he saw Prince Melga standing before him, and in a twinkling he had caught up a big club that stood near and began whirling it over his head. But before it could descend, the prince ran at him and stuck his sword as far as it would go into the corrugated body of the giant. Again the monster roared and tried to fight; but the sword had hurt him badly, and the prince pushed it into the evil creature again and again, until the end came, and his corrugated enemy rolled over upon the floor quite dead.
Then the fairy turned to Twinkle, and kneeling before her he kissed her hand.
“Thank you very much,” he said, in a sweet voice, “for setting me free. You are a very brave little girl!”
“I’m not so sure about that,” she answered. “I was dreadfully scared!”
Now he took her hand and led her from the castle; and she didn’t have to squeeze through the fence again, because the fairy had only to utter a magic word and the gate flew open. And when they turned to look back, the castle of the Corrugated Giant, with all that it had contained, had vanished from sight, never to be seen again by either mortal or fairy eyes. For that was sure to happen whenever the giant was dead.
The prince led Twinkle into the valley where the fairy palaces stood, and told all his people, when they crowded around to welcome him, how kind the little girl had been to him, and how her courage had enabled him to defeat the giant and to regain his proper form. And all the fairies praised Twinkle with kind words, and the lovely Queen Flutterlight, who seemed altogether too young to be the mother of the handsome prince, gave to the child a golden medal with a tiny mud- turtle engraved upon one side of it.
Then, after a fine feast had been prepared, and the little girl had eaten all she could of the fairy sweetmeats, she told Prince Melga she would like to go home again.
“Very well,” said he. “Don’t forget me, Twinkle, although we probably shall never meet again. I’ll send you home quite as safely as you came; but as your eyes have been rubbed with the magic maita-leaf, you will doubtless always see many strange sights that are hidden from other mortals.”
“I don’t mind,” said Twinkle.
Then she bade good-bye to the fairies, and the prince spoke a magic word. There was another rush of wind, and when it had passed Twinkle found herself once more in the back yard at home.
As she sat upon the grass rubbing her eyes and wondering at the strange adventure that had befallen her, mamma came out upon the back porch and said:
“Your turtle has crawled out of the tub and run away.”
“Yes,” said Twinkle, “I know; and I’m glad of it!”
But she kept her secret to herself.
THE END
TWINKLE’S ENCHANTMENT
Chapter I. Twinkle Enters the Big Gulch
ONE afternoon Twinkle decided to go into the big gulch and pick some blueberries for papa’s supper. She had on her blue gingham dress and her blue sun-bonnet, and there were stout shoes upon her feet. So she took her tin pail and started out.
“Be back in time for supper,” called mamma from the kitchen porch.
“‘Course,” said Twinkle, as she trotted away. “I’m not hungry now, but I’ll be hungry ‘nough when supper-time comes. ‘Course I’ll be back!”
The side of the gulch was but a little way from the house. It was like a big ditch, only the sides were not too steep to crawl down; and in the middle of the gulch were rolling hills and deep gullies, all covered with wild bushes and vines and a few flowering plants — very rare in this part of the country.
Twinkle hadn’t lived very long in this section of Dakota, for her father had just bought the new farm that lay beside the gulch. So the big ditch was a great delight to her, and she loved to wander through it and pick the berries and flowers that never grew on the plains above.
To-day she crept carefully down the path back of the house and soon reached the bottom of the gulch. Then she began to search for the berri
es; but all were gone in the places where she had picked them before; so she found she must go further along.
She sat down to rest for a time, and by and by she happened to look up at the other side and saw a big cluster of bushes hanging full of ripe blueberries — just about half way up the opposite bank.
She had never gone so far before, but if she wanted the berries for papa’s supper she knew she must climb up the slope and get them; so she rose to her feet and began to walk in that direction. It was all new to the little girl, and seemed to her like a beautiful fairyland; but she had no idea that the gulch was enchanted. Soon a beetle crawled across her path, and as she stopped to let it go by, she heard it say:
“Look out for the line of enchantment! You’ll soon cross it, if you don’t watch out.”
“What line of enchantment?” asked Twinkle.
“It’s almost under your nose,” replied the little creature.
“I don’t see anything at all,” she said, after looking closely.
“Of course you don’t,” said the beetle. “It isn’t a mark, you know, that any one can see with their eyes; but it’s a line of enchantment, just the same, and whoever steps over it is sure to see strange things and have strange adventures.”
“I don’t mind that,” said Twinkle.
“Well, I don’t mind if you don’t,” returned the beetle, and by that time he had crept across the path and disappeared underneath a big rock.
Twinkle went on, without being at all afraid. If the beetle spoke truly, and there really was an invisible line that divided the common, real world from an enchanted country, she was very eager to cross it, as any little girl might well be. And then it occurred to her that she must have crossed the enchanted line before she met the beetle, for otherwise she wouldn’t have understood his language, or known what he was talking about. Children don’t talk with beetles in the real world, as Twinkle knew very well, and she was walking along soberly, thinking this over, when suddenly a voice cried out to her:
Complete Works of L. Frank Baum Page 370
