Chapter Four
The Deserted Island
All through that terrible night Prince Inga remained hidden in histree. In the morning he watched the great fleet of boats depart fortheir own country, carrying his parents and his countrymen with them,as well as everything of value the Island of Pingaree had contained.
Sad, indeed, were the boy's thoughts when the last of the boats hadbecome a mere speck in the distance, but Inga did not dare leave hisperch of safety until all of the craft of the invaders had disappearedbeyond the horizon. Then he came down, very slowly and carefully, forhe was weak from hunger and the long and weary watch, as he had been inthe tree for twenty-four hours without food.
The sun shone upon the beautiful green isle as brilliantly as if noruthless invader had passed and laid it in ruins. The birds stillchirped among the trees and the butterflies darted from flower toflower as happily as when the land was filled with a prosperous andcontented people.
Inga feared that only he was left of all his nation. Perhaps he mightbe obliged to pass his life there alone. He would not starve, for thesea would give him oysters and fish, and the trees fruit; yet the lifethat confronted him was far from enticing.
The boy's first act was to walk over to where the palace had stood andsearch the ruins until he found some scraps of food that had beenoverlooked by the enemy. He sat upon a block of marble and ate of this,and tears filled his eyes as he gazed upon the desolation around him.But Inga tried to bear up bravely, and having satisfied his hunger hewalked over to the well, intending to draw a bucket of drinking water.
Fortunately, this well had been overlooked by the invaders and thebucket was still fastened to the chain that wound around a stout woodenwindlass. Inga took hold of the crank and began letting the bucket downinto the well, when suddenly he was startled by a muffled voice cryingout:
"Be careful, up there!"
The sound and the words seemed to indicate that the voice came from thebottom of the well, so Inga looked down. Nothing could be seen, onaccount of the darkness.
"Who are you?" he shouted.
"It's I--Rinkitink," came the answer, and the depths of the wellechoed: "Tink-i-tink-i-tink!" in a ghostly manner.
"Are you in the well?" asked the boy, greatly surprised.
"Yes, and nearly drowned. I fell in while running from those terriblewarriors, and I've been standing in this damp hole ever since, with myhead just above the water. It's lucky the well was no deeper, for hadmy head been under water, instead of above it--hoo, hoo, hoo, keek,eek!--under instead of over, you know--why, then I wouldn't be talkingto you now! Ha, hoo, hee!" And the well dismally echoed: "Ha, hoo,hee!" which you must imagine was a laugh half merry and half sad.
"I'm awfully sorry," cried the boy, in answer. "I wonder you have theheart to laugh at all. But how am I to get you out?"
"I've been considering that all night," said Rinkitink, "and I believethe best plan will be for you to let down the bucket to me, and I'llhold fast to it while you wind up the chain and so draw me to the top."
"I will try to do that," replied Inga, and he let the bucket down verycarefully until he heard the King call out:
"I've got it! Now pull me up--slowly, my boy, slowly--so I won't rubagainst the rough sides."
Inga began winding up the chain, but King Rinkitink was so fat that hewas very heavy and by the time the boy had managed to pull him halfwayup the well his strength was gone. He clung to the crank as long aspossible, but suddenly it slipped from his grasp and the next minute heheard Rinkitink fall "plump!" into the water again.
"That's too bad!" called Inga, in real distress; "but you were so heavyI couldn't help it."
"Dear me!" gasped the King, from the darkness below, as he splutteredand coughed to get the water out of his mouth. "Why didn't you tell meyou were going to let go?"
"I hadn't time," said Inga, sorrowfully.
"Well, I'm not suffering from thirst," declared the King, "for there'senough water inside me to float all the boats of Regos and Coregos orat least it feels that way. But never mind! So long as I'm not actuallydrowned, what does it matter?"
"What shall we do next?" asked the boy anxiously.
"Call someone to help you," was the reply.
"There is no one on the island but myself," said the boy; "--exceptingyou," he added, as an afterthought.
"I'm not on it--more's the pity!--but in it," responded Rinkitink. "Arethe warriors all gone?"
"Yes," said Inga, "and they have taken my father and mother, and allour people, to be their slaves," he added, trying in vain to repress asob.
"So--so!" said Rinkitink softly; and then he paused a moment, as if inthought. Finally he said: "There are worse things than slavery, but Inever imagined a well could be one of them. Tell me, Inga, could youlet down some food to me? I'm nearly starved, and if you could manageto send me down some food I'd be well fed--hoo, hoo, heek, keek,eek!--well fed. Do you see the joke, Inga?"
"Do not ask me to enjoy a joke just now, Your Majesty," begged Inga ina sad voice; "but if you will be patient I will try to find somethingfor you to eat."
He ran back to the ruins of the palace and began searching for bits offood with which to satisfy the hunger of the King, when to his surprisehe observed the goat, Bilbil, wandering among the marble blocks.
"What!" cried Inga. "Didn't the warriors get you, either?"
"If they had," calmly replied Bilbil, "I shouldn't be here."
"But how did you escape?" asked the boy.
"Easily enough. I kept my mouth shut and stayed away from the rascals,"said the goat. "I knew that the soldiers would not care for a skinnyold beast like me, for to the eye of a stranger I seem good fornothing. Had they known I could talk, and that my head contained morewisdom than a hundred of their own noddles, I might not have escaped soeasily."
"Perhaps you are right," said the boy.
"I suppose they got the old man?" carelessly remarked Bilbil.
"What old man?"
"Rinkitink."
"Oh, no! His Majesty is at the bottom of the well," said Inga, "and Idon't know how to get him out again."
"Then let him stay there," suggested the goat.
"That would be cruel. I am sure, Bilbil, that you are fond of the goodKing, your master, and do not mean what you say. Together, let us findsome way to save poor King Rinkitink. He is a very jolly companion, andhas a heart exceedingly kind and gentle."
"Oh, well; the old boy isn't so bad, taken altogether," admittedBilbil, speaking in a more friendly tone. "But his bad jokes and fatlaughter tire me dreadfully, at times."
Prince Inga now ran back to the well, the goat following more leisurely.
"Here's Bilbil!" shouted the boy to the King. "The enemy didn't gethim, it seems."
"That's lucky for the enemy," said Rinkitink. "But it's lucky for me,too, for perhaps the beast can assist me out of this hole. If you canlet a rope down the well, I am sure that you and Bilbil, pullingtogether, will be able to drag me to the earth's surface."
"Be patient and we will make the attempt," replied Inga encouragingly,and he ran to search the ruins for a rope. Presently he found one thathad been used by the warriors in toppling over the towers, which intheir haste they had neglected to remove, and with some difficulty heuntied the knots and carried the rope to the mouth of the well.
Bilbil had lain down to sleep and the refrain of a merry song came inmuffled tones from the well, proving that Rinkitink was making apatient endeavor to amuse himself.
"I've found a rope!" Inga called down to him; and then the boyproceeded to make a loop in one end of the rope, for the King to puthis arms through, and the other end he placed over the drum of thewindlass. He now aroused Bilbil and fastened the rope firmly around thegoat's shoulders.
"Are you ready?" asked the boy, leaning over the well.
"I am," replied the King.
"And I am not," growled the goat, "for I have not yet had my nap out.Old Rinki will be safe enough in the well until I'
ve slept an hour ortwo longer."
"But it is damp in the well," protested the boy, "and King Rinkitinkmay catch the rheumatism, so that he will have to ride upon your backwherever he goes."
Hearing this, Bilbil jumped up at once.
"Let's get him out," he said earnestly.
"Hold fast!" shouted Inga to the King. Then he seized the rope andhelped Bilbil to pull. They soon found the task more difficult thanthey had supposed. Once or twice the King's weight threatened to dragboth the boy and the goat into the well, to keep Rinkitink company. Butthey pulled sturdily, being aware of this danger, and at last the Kingpopped out of the hole and fell sprawling full length upon the ground.
For a time he lay panting and breathing hard to get his breath back,while Inga and Bilbil were likewise worn out from their long strain atthe rope; so the three rested quietly upon the grass and looked at oneanother in silence.
Finally Bilbil said to the King: "I'm surprised at you. Why were you sofoolish as to fall down that well? Don't you know it's a dangerousthing to do? You might have broken your neck in the fall, or beendrowned in the water."
"Bilbil," replied the King solemnly, "you're a goat. Do you imagine Ifell down the well on purpose?"
"I imagine nothing," retorted Bilbil. "I only know you were there."
"There? Heh-heh-heek-keek-eek! To be sure I was there," laughedRinkitink. "There in a dark hole, where there was no light; there in awatery well, where the wetness soaked me through andthrough--keek-eek-eek-eek!--through and through!"
"How did it happen?" inquired Inga.
"I was running away from the enemy," explained the King, "and I wascarelessly looking over my shoulder at the same time, to see if theywere chasing me. So I did not see the well, but stepped into it andfound myself tumbling down to the bottom. I struck the water veryneatly and began struggling to keep myself from drowning, but presentlyI found that when I stood upon my feet on the bottom of the well, thatmy chin was just above the water. So I stood still and yelled for help;but no one heard me."
"If the warriors had heard you," said Bilbil, "they would have pulledyou out and carried you away to be a slave. Then you would have beenobliged to work for a living, and that would be a new experience."
"Work!" exclaimed Rinkitink. "Me work? Hoo, hoo, heek-keek-eek! Howabsurd! I'm so stout--not to say chubby--not to say fat--that I canhardly walk, and I couldn't earn my salt at hard work. So I'm glad theenemy did not find me, Bilbil. How many others escaped?"
"That I do not know," replied the boy, "for I have not yet had time tovisit the other parts of the island. When you have rested and satisfiedyour royal hunger, it might be well for us to look around and see whatthe thieving warriors of Regos and Coregos have left us."
"An excellent idea," declared Rinkitink. "I am somewhat feeble from mylong confinement in the well, but I can ride upon Bilbil's back and wemay as well start at once."
Hearing this, Bilbil cast a surly glance at his master but saidnothing, since it was really the goat's business to carry KingRinkitink wherever he desired to go.
They first searched the ruins of the palace, and where the kitchen hadonce been they found a small quantity of food that had been half hiddenby a block of marble. This they carefully placed in a sack to preserveit for future use, the little fat King having first eaten as much as hecared for. This consumed some time, for Rinkitink had been exceedinglyhungry and liked to eat in a leisurely manner. When he had finished themeal he straddled Bilbil's back and set out to explore the island,Prince Inga walking by his side.
They found on every hand ruin and desolation. The houses of the peoplehad been pilfered of all valuables and then torn down or burned. Not aboat had been left upon the shore, nor was there a single person, manor woman or child, remaining upon the island, save themselves. The onlyinhabitants of Pingaree now consisted of a fat little King, a boy and agoat.
Even Rinkitink, merry hearted as he was, found it hard to laugh in theface of this mighty disaster. Even the goat, contrary to its usualhabit, refrained from saying anything disagreeable. As for the poor boywhose home was now a wilderness, the tears came often to his eyes as hemarked the ruin of his dearly loved island.
When, at nightfall, they reached the lower end of Pingaree and found itswept as bare as the rest, Inga's grief was almost more than he couldbear. Everything had been swept from him--parents, home and country--inso brief a time that his bewilderment was equal to his sorrow.
Since no house remained standing, in which they might sleep, the threewanderers crept beneath the overhanging branches of a cassa tree andcurled themselves up as comfortably as possible. So tired and exhaustedwere they by the day's anxieties and griefs that their troubles soonfaded into the mists of dreamland. Beast and King and boy slumberedpeacefully together until wakened by the singing of the birds whichgreeted the dawn of a new day.
Rinkitink in Oz Page 4
