"Good Queen," said Zuzu to the Fairy Monarch Zulena, when the b.u.mblebee Express had finally brought them back again to the Fairy city of Almalena, "there is something which perhaps you have forgotten, or which at least you have not mentioned for some time."
"And pray what is that?" asked the Fairy Queen.
"Why, we have all of us quite forgotten the poor King, who has lost his shadow."
"Indeed, I have not," said the Queen Zulena; "but, as I have told you, I can only show you where the Wicked Fairy lives who took the shadow. As that is something belonging to the country of the Island, I have only partial power over it. If I should seize upon this shadow and take it to the palace, there is no one there whom it would fit; and as to taking it up the Golden Ladder myself, that is quite out of the question. If I did that I should be called a very forward Queen indeed; so upon the whole I hardly know what to do about it, except to take you upon a visit to the home of the Wicked Fairy Gobo."
"If it be true that the Wicked Fairy has also taken the White Cricket,"
said Lulu, "then the King can not telephone you any more."
"That is true!" said the Fairy Queen; and to their great surprise she broke out weeping, the first time that any such thing had ever happened in all her life. "I have not heard from the King for many days," she said; "and now I know that he can never telephone me again, because certainly the White Cricket which I gave him has been taken away by this Wicked Fairy."
"But," said Lulu, who also wept at seeing the good Queen in trouble, "why can we not find this Wicked Fairy and ask whether he has these things? Perhaps we can get them back again. I could carry the White Cricket in my pocket, and Zuzu could carry the shadow, if it were not too large, and so we could manage in some way to get back up the Golden Ladder, even if your Majesty could not send us in the b.u.mblebee Express."
"Could you do that, my dears?" said the Fairy Queen, "would you be so good as to do these kind things for me?"
"Certainly," said Lulu, "we should be glad to. We do not want to go away from you, for this is the loveliest place we have ever seen in all our lives, but mamma will be anxious about us before long; and since you, too, would like the poor King to have back his shadow again, perhaps you would not mind if we go back for a time. We will come again whenever you telephone and ask us to do so; for you must know that we have thrones near the King, and he tells us everything he does. We should like you to get us past the Dragon, for we might not be able to get off the Dragon"s leg so easily the next time; and if we did not, there might be all sorts of trouble."
"But what shall I do without you, my dears?" said the Fairy Queen. "I wanted you to join my dear little pages, Fofo and Fifi, at my throne; then I should have had four pages--two boys and two girls--and with the most beautiful hair in all the world. I love you so much, my dears, that I can not bear to have you go away."
"In my opinion," said Zuzu thoughtfully, "the best way would be for you and the King to make some sort of arrangement about the Dragon and the Golden Ladder. In that case it might be easy to turn the two kingdoms into one. And what is the use of having two thrones, one here and one there, if one will do quite as well?"
As she heard these words the face of the Fairy Queen was wreathed in smiles. "How I love you, my dear boy!" said she. "But, alas!" she added with a sigh, "that is impossible, I fear. Although I can give wishes to others outside my kingdom, when I wish anything for myself outside my kingdom, I have no power."
"But," cried Lulu gleefully, "here are our two Wishing Wands, given us by the King, and each of them has a wish left unwished. Will not these two wishes be enough? See, we shall wish just as you wish, because you have been so good to us."
"Ah! my children," said the Fairy Queen, trembling with eagerness, "be careful what you say. Pray do not wish for anything until I have had time to think! Tell me, my dears, when you are back in the country of the King whence you came hither, will you then wish the wish which I wish also?"
"Truly we will!" they both said in reply.
"Then I will whisper it to you," said the Fairy Queen; "but you must not tell any one until you have reached the palace of the King, and then you may wish it out plain and strong; and I pray all the Fairies that obey me to help that wish to come true, for in that case I myself would always be very happy and contented."
So then the Fairy Queen Zulena bent over and whispered in their ears the wish that was in her heart.
"Now then," said Zuzu, "let us go to the mountain of the Wicked Fairy and find the King"s shadow."
"Very good," said the Queen, "that is excellent wisdom, and we shall all start at once." So once again they stepped into the Fairy coach, and the good Queen told the coachman to drive beyond the forest to the mountain where dwelt Gobo, the Wicked Fairy.
The driver cracked his whip, the golden harness rattled and tinkled, and the wheels of the dainty coach began to whir as the steady buzz of the b.u.mblebees in flight began.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER x.x.x
THE QUEEN RECOVERS THE SHADOW
"Ha! Gobo," cried the Fairy Queen as at last they drove up before the door of the cave in the mountain where the Wicked Fairy made his home, "we have come to question thee about thy evil deeds. Come hither, and confront thy Queen!"
The Twins had not thought that the gentle Queen Zulena could be so stern, or that her eyes could flash as they did when she spoke these words.
"Aye, aye, my Queen," sounded a hoa.r.s.e voice from within the cave; and presently in obedience to the order of the Fairy Monarch there stepped into view from the darkness of the cave the Wicked Fairy Gobo, whose evil deeds have been recounted in our story. He trembled as he saw the sternness of the Queen, and began to stammer and make denials.
"Who hath accused thee, Gobo? Yet now we know that well mightest thou be accused. Tell me, where hast thou hidden the shadow of the King, which thou hast stolen? Where, too, is the servant of the king, the White Cricket, such as was never found save in the royal gardens of our palace?"
The Wicked Fairy fell upon his face on the ground, but even as he did so the Queen raised her hand. There came very plainly to their ears the chirp! chirp! of something hidden within the cave.
"I may as well confess," said Gobo; "for that is the voice of the Cricket you hear. It is of no service to me, for a more unwilling Cricket I have never seen."
"Bring it to me!" commanded the Queen, and sullenly Gobo did as he was bidden.
"Here," said the Queen to Lulu, "is the White Cricket. Pray handle it softly, and let no harm befall it. As for you, Gobo, Wicked Fairy that thou art, lead us at once to the hiding-place of that other thing which thou hast stolen."
Sullenly the Wicked Fairy walked ahead of them toward the edge of the wood, and threw open there a little gate. To their great surprise they saw, standing near the gate, leaning against a tree in a shady place, nothing less than the shadow of the King, just as the Wicked Fairy had stolen it more than a week before!
Of course it must be remembered that this was the shadow of the King stolen after he had taken the drink from the rubber tree, and when he was thrice his natural height and much distorted, in his dance high up in the air. It looked more like the shadow of some misshapen giant. As the Queen saw this, tears again came to her eyes. "It is not like him!"
she said mournfully.
""Tis as I tell thee, Queen Zulena," insisted Gobo, "for I took the shadow with my own hands, in the broad daylight, and I know whereof I speak. See, if thou wouldst prove it, look at the shape of his left forefinger, where the King wore the royal jewel of malazite and corazine, engraven by your Majesty"s own Fairies."
"Ah! it is indeed true," said the Fairy Queen. "But how changed! My dears," and she whispered again to the Twins, "do not forget your wish and mine."
"And now, sirrah!" exclaimed the Queen, "Gobo, Bad Fairy that thou art, thou must bow before my power! I know not what punishment may be fit for thee."
[Ill.u.s.tration: To him the King stated the case _Page 138_]
The bad Fairy writhed in the dust and begged for mercy, promising anything that should be asked.
"First, we must have the shadow of his Majesty," said Zuzu.
"Willingly," cried Gobo, "willingly! though perhaps it may not fit him now."
"Never fear, Gobo," said the Queen Zulena, "we ourselves shall see to that. So fare ye well, wicked Gobo. One more such act as this, and our royal guards shall banish thee to our jail, and fill thy cave to the roof with stones. From this time your leave to go abroad is revoked for a thousand years. Here must you remain a prisoner!"
"I crave a thousand pardons, good Queen," begged Gobo, spreading out his arms in submission. "But spare me now, and I shall make amends by leading the life a Fairy should live under so wise and good a Queen as thou."
"Learn better in the time accorded thee, and ask no more," said the Queen sternly in reply.
"And now, my children," she continued as she turned again toward the Twins, "let us take the King"s shadow in the coach, and return to the royal palace. I am sure that by careful labor I can restore this poor, dear shadow to its original shape."
As she spoke she was about to step again into the coach, when all at once she turned toward the Enchanted Banjo, as though she had heard it speak.
"What is it, good Banjo?" she asked. "And why do you laugh as though you would split yourself? Is it anything you want to tell us?"