The light always shines just as you see it now, and we sleep whenever we are tired and rise again as soon as we are rested."
"What causes the light?" Princess Clia asked.
"It"s magic, your Highness," said the cook solemnly. "It"s one of the curious things Zog is able to do. But you must remember all this place is a big cave in which the castle stands, so the light is never seen by anyone except those who live here."
"But why does Zog keep his light going all the time?" asked the Queen.
"I suppose it is because he himself never sleeps," replied Tom Atto.
"They say the master hasn"t slept for hundreds of years, not since Anko, the sea serpent, defeated him and drove him into this place."
They asked no more questions and began to eat their dinner in silence. Before long, Cap"n Joe came in to visit his brother and took a seat at the table with the prisoners. He proved a jolly fellow, and when he and Cap"n Bill talked about their boyhood days, the stories were so funny that everybody laughed and for a time forgot their worries.
When dinner was over, however, and Cap"n Joe had gone back to his work of sewing on b.u.t.tons and the servants had carried away the dishes, the prisoners remembered their troubles and the fate that awaited them. "I am much disappointed," said the Queen, "to find there is no night here and that Zog never sleeps. It will make our escape more difficult. Yet we must make the attempt, and as we are tired and a great struggle is before us, it will be best for us to sleep and refresh ourselves."
They agreed to this, for the day had been long and adventurous, so Cap"n Bill kissed Trot and went in to the Peony Room, where he lay down upon his spongy couch and fell fast asleep. The mermaids and Trot followed this example, and I think none of them was much worried, after all, because they quickly sank into peaceful slumber and forgot all the dangers that threatened them.
CHAPTER 17
THE QUEEN"S GOLDEN SWORD
"Goodness me!" exclaimed Trot, raising herself by a flirt of her pink-scaled tail and a wave of her fins, "isn"t it dreadful hot here?"
The mermaids had risen at the same time, and Cap"n Bill came swimming in from the Peony Room in time to hear the little girl"s speech.
"Hot!" echoed the sailor. "Why, I feel like the inside of a steam engine!"
The perspiration was rolling down his round, red face, and he took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped it away, waving his fish tail gently at the same time.
"What we need most in this room," said he, "is a fan."
"What"s the trouble, do you s"pose?" inquired Trot.
"It is another trick of the monster Zog," answered the Queen calmly.
"He has made the water in our rooms boiling hot, and if it could touch us, we would be well cooked by this time. Even as it is, we are all made uncomfortable by breathing the heated air."
"What shall we do, ma"am?" the sailor man asked with a groan. "I expected to get into hot water afore we"ve done with this foolishness, but I don"t like the feel o" bein" parboiled, jes" the same."
The queen was waving her fairy wand and paid no attention to Cap"n Bill"s moans. Already the water felt cooler, and they began to breathe more easily. In a few moments more, the heat had pa.s.sed from the surrounding water altogether, and all danger from this source was over.
"This is better," said Trot gratefully.
"Do you care to sleep again?" asked the Queen.
"No, I"m wide awake now," answered the child.
"I"m afraid if I goes to sleep ag"in, I"ll wake up a pot roast,"
said Cap"n Bill.
"Let us consider ways to escape," suggested Clia. "It seems useless for us to remain here quietly until Zog discovers a way to destroy us."
"But we must not blunder," added Aquareine cautiously. "To fail in our attempt would be to acknowledge Zog"s superior power, so we must think well upon our plan before we begin to carry it out. What do you advise, sir?" she asked, turning to Cap"n Bill.
"My opinion, ma"am, is that the only way for us to escape is to get out o" here," was the sailor"s vague answer. "How to do it is your business, seein" as I ain"t no fairy myself, either in looks or in eddication."
The queen smiled and said to Trot, "What is your opinion, my dear?"
"I think we might swim out the same way we came in," answered the child. "If we could get Sacho to lead us back through the maze, we would follow that long tunnel to the open ocean, and--"
"And there would be the sea devils waitin" for us," added Cap"n Bill with a shake of his bald head. "They"d drive us back inter the tunnel like they did the first time, Trot. It won"t do, mate, it won"t do."
"Have you a suggestion, Clia?" inquired the Queen.
"I have thought of an undertaking," replied the pretty princess, "but it is a bold plan, your Majesty, and you may not care to risk it."
"Let us hear it, anyway," said Aquareine encouragingly.
"It is to destroy Zog himself and put him out of the world forever.
Then we would be free to go home whenever we pleased."
"Can you suggest a way to destroy Zog?" asked Aquareine.
"No, your Majesty," Clia answered. "I must leave the way for you to determine."
"In the old days," said the Queen thoughtfully, "the mighty King Anko could not destroy this monster. He succeeded in defeating Zog and drove him into this great cavern, but even Anko could not destroy him."
"I have heard the sea serpent explain that it was because he could not reach the magician," returned Clia. "If King Anko could have seized Zog in his coils, he would have made an end of the wicked monster quickly. Zog knows this, and that is why he does not venture forth from his retreat. Anko is the enemy he constantly dreads. But with you, my queen, the case is different. You may easily reach Zog, and the only question is whether your power is sufficient to destroy him."
For a while Aquareine remained silent. "I am not sure of my power over him," she said at last, "and for that reason I hesitate to attack him personally. His slaves and his allies, the sea devils, I can easily conquer, so I prefer to find a way to overcome the guards at the entrances rather than to encounter their terrible master. But even the guards have been given strength and power by the magician, as we have already discovered, so I must procure a weapon with which to fight them."
"A weapon, ma"am?" said Cap"n Bill, and then he took a jackknife from his coat pocket and opened the big blade, afterward handing it to the queen. "That ain"t a bad weapon," he announced.
"But it is useless in this case," she replied, smiling at the old sailor"s earnestness. "For my purpose I must have a golden sword."
"Well, there"s plenty of gold around this castle," said Trot, looking around her. "Even in this room there"s enough to make a hundred golden swords."
"But we can"t melt or forge gold under water, mate," the Cap"n said.
"Why not? Don"t you s"pose all these gold roses and things were made under water?" asked the little girl.
"Like enough," remarked the sailor, "but I don"t see how."
Just then the gong at the door sounded, and the boy Sacho came in smiling and cheerful as ever. He said Zog had sent him to inquire after their health and happiness. "You may tell him that his water became a trifle too warm, so we cooled it," replied the Queen. Then they told Sacho how the boiling water had made them uncomfortable while they slept.
Sacho whistled a little tune and seemed thoughtful. "Zog is foolish," said he. "How often have I told him that vengeance is a waste of time. He is worried to know how to destroy you, and that is wasting more time. You are worried for fear he will injure you, and so you also are wasting time. My, my! What a waste of time is going on in this castle!"