"Isn"t that too bad?" he said.
"It is, indeed," replied the voice. "Those flowers and trees would have stood and lived on forever in their ice coats--ever fresh, ever happy.
The warmth from the invader"s fire gives them one glad mad moment of ecstasy, and then they wither away, and are lost forever. Is that worth while, my boy?"
The voice quivered a little as it uttered these words, and Jimmieboy felt tears rising in his own eyes too. Jack Frost was not so bad a fellow, after all, as he had been made out.
"But he made our hired man"s back ache when he went to dig some holes for the fence posts," said Jimmieboy, who now felt that he should have some excuse for his presence in Frostland, and on a mission of destruction. "Was that right of him?"
"Even if it was his fault, it was right," said the voice. "I don"t believe it was his fault, though. Hired men have a way of having back-ache when there"s lots to do. But supposing Jack did give it to him. That hired man was taking a spade and scarring Mother Earth with its sharp edge. Jack Frost gets all that he has from Mother Earth. She has given him work to do--work that has made him what he is--and it was his duty to protect her."
"Well, I don"t know what to do," said Jimmieboy, beginning to sob. "I came here for revenge, and I don"t think----"
"There is only one thing for you to do, be true to those who trust you,"
said the voice. "Now who trusts you? Your nurse doesn"t--she wouldn"t let you out of her sight. Your papa believes in you, but he never would have intrusted such a mission as this to your hands; nor would your mamma or little Russ. On the other hand, Jack Frost has made you Secretary of State, and you promised to help him in this dreadful trial--_he trusts you_. As the poem says,
"E"en though it"s sure to take and bust you, Be ever true to them that trust you."
"I"ll save them," said Jimmieboy. And then he started off on a run down the road, and ere long stood face to face with the Gas Stove. The latter immediately threw down his hose, turned off the gas, and clasped Jimmieboy to his heart.
"Saved! Saved!" he cried. "I have found you at last. Dear me, how anxious I have been about you!" And then he burst out in song:
"But now, O joy?
My averdupoy Will steadily increase; For, now you"re back, My woes will pack Their clothes in their valise,
"And fly afar, To the uttermost star That shines up in the skies, While you and I Will warble high The gleesomest of cries.
"We"ll sing and sing, And warble and sing, And warble, and sing, and sing, And warble and sing, And sing, sing, sing, And warble and sing, sing, sing,"
"Come off!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the voice. "That"s mighty poor poetry for a Stove that"s as glad as you are."
"Why, Jimmieboy, you pain me," said the Gas Stove, who thought that it was his little friend that had spoken. "I didn"t think you would criticize my song of happiness that way."
"I never said a word," said Jimmieboy. "It was my friend the voice, who helped me when I was in trouble, and----"
"And by whose efforts," interrupted the voice, "our Jimmieboy here is now the Right Honorable Jamesboy. Secretary of State to his Majesty the Emperor of Frostland, Prince of Iceberg, Marquis Thawberry, and Chief Ice-cream Freezer to all the crowned heads of Europe, Asia, Africa, Austrilia and New Jersey. I"d advise you to take off your hat, Mr.
Stove, for you are in the presence of a great man."
"No, no," cried Jimmieboy, as the Gas Stove doffed his iron lid; "don"t take off your hat to me, Stovey. I am all that he says, but I am still Jimmieboy, and your friend."
"But what becomes of your war?" queried the Gas Stove, ruefully. "I can"t fight against you, and you are a part of the government."
"That"s a very sensible conclusion," said the voice. "Only I wouldn"t let King Jack know that, or he wouldn"t ever let Jimmieboy go away from here. What you want to do is to make terms that will be satisfactory to both parties, get Jack Frost to agree to "em, and there you are. If he won"t agree, the Gas Stove will have to go on with the war until he does agree."
"That"s the thing to do, I suppose," said the Stove. "What shall I insist upon, Mr. Secretary?"
"Well, I think Jack ought to quit biting babies, no matter if he does love "em," said Jimmieboy.
"I insist upon it," said the Gas Stove, firmly.
"I think, too," said Jimmieboy, "that he ought not to run off with so many flowers."
"If you do not agree to that, Mr. Secretary," returned the Stove, "I shall turn on my canned devastation again."
"I shall endeavor to secure the King"s consent," replied Jimmieboy.
"And, furthermore, he must keep away from the water-pipes in my papa"s house. He froze "em all up last winter."
"That is my ultimatum," said the Stove.
"Your what?" queried Jimmieboy.
"My last word," explained the Stove.
"It"s long enough to have been a half-dozen of your last words," laughed the voice. "But is that all you"re to agree upon?"
"I don"t know of anything more," said Jimmieboy.
"Nor I," said the Stove.
"You"re a mean couple," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the voice, angrily. "If I had my way, you"d do something for one who has served you when you were in trouble,"
he added, addressing Jimmieboy. "Where would you have been if it hadn"t been for--for--well, for a friend of mine?"
"I don"t know who you mean," said Jimmieboy.
"He wants something for himself," whispered the Gas Stove, "and he is right."
"Oh, you don"t know who I mean, eh?" sneered the voice. And then he added:
"Who saved you from the icy sea.
And brought you through S-A-F-E?
Why, ME!
"Who thought about that jubilee, And filled Jack Frost chock up with glee?
Why, ME!
"Who all your goings did o"ersee, And got this lofty place for thee?
Why, ME!
"That"s who. Now what are you going to do about it?"
"He"s going back to Jack Frost," said the Gas Stove, "and he is going to demand that you shall be made Secretary of State in his place, and he is going to tell Jack that if he ever removes you from that position I shall return and destroy the country."
"You are very moderate in your demands," said the voice. "I think King Jack will be very foolish if he refuses to accede to them, particularly that one having reference to myself. I do not care for the office, of course, but since there seems to be a demand for me, I shall accept."
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE GAS-STOVE IS INTRODUCED TO THE KING.]
So Jimmieboy, followed by the Gas Stove and the voice, returned to the palace, and the demands of the Stove were laid before the monarch.
"I"ll agree to "em all gladly," said he, "save that which forces me to deprive myself of your valuable services. Was he quite firm about that?"