THE PASSAGE OF THE TOAD.
A few weeks later Harry went to the Park again. When he came to the
rock he saw a little green twig sticking in the pin-hole.
“Halloa!” he cried. “Has Wamby got into trouble already? I hope he
hasn’t been playing the tyrant himself. Well, at any rate, I must help
him, as I promised to do.”
He had neglected to bring the door-pin with him, so he hastened back to
get it.
“What else can I take?” he said to himself. “I wish I had a weapon of
some kind.”
The nearest approach to a weapon that he could find, however, was
simply a little pop-gun, or pop-pistol rather, belonging to his younger
brother, and a steel paper-cutter shaped like a knife. These he slipped
into his pockets, and then hurried back to the rock in the Park.
The chamber beneath the trap-door was vacant when he descended into
it. Knowing that extreme wariness and caution were necessary, he
examined every part of the chamber carefully before proceeding further,
and was rewarded by the discovery of an elfin hat thrust into a crevice
of the rock about the height of his head from the floor.
“It looks like Wamby’s,” he said, putting the hat on his head. “The
little chap must have placed it here for me.”
He went forward cautiously, without seeing anything amiss until he drew
near to the door where the two guards were stationed, when suddenly he
stopped and uttered an exclamation of dismay; for there, guarding the
door, stood two tall, hideous Gnomes. The reason they had not noticed
him was because just at that moment they were occupied in opening the
door.
Harry stood rooted to the spot in amazement for an instant. But when
the door opened and showed him a large troop of armed Gnomes coming
through it towards him, he regained control of himself quickly enough,
and turned and ran back along the passageway at full speed.
The Gnomes at once caught sight of him and started in hot pursuit.
Harry was fleet-footed, but he soon discovered that Gnomes are terrible
fellows in a race, and that his pursuers were slowly gaining upon him.
At the foot of the hill of glass was the entrance to a side-passage.
Into this the boy dashed, and a short distance further dodged into a
cross-passage, along which he had run but a few paces when he stumbled
and fell across an open trap-door in the floor. Luckily, the opening
was small, or he would surely have plunged down head foremost to
destruction.
His pursuers were out of sight, and scarcely knowing what he was doing,
he sprang through the trap-door, and pushing the door up into place,
crouched upon the steps beneath it. A moment later he could hear the
troop of Gnomes rushing along the passage just above his head.
“Ha, ha!” he chuckled to himself. “Trot along, my boys,—but you’ll have
a hard time finding me!”
When he had recovered his breath, he felt his way down to the bottom of
the stone steps, and began slowly creeping forward.
“I don’t like this,” he muttered. For the place was pitch-dark. “I’m
liable to tumble into some pitfall, or maybe slide head first down one
of those beastly hills of glass.”
There was nothing to do, though, but feel his way along in a very
stealthy, uncanny fashion that made the cold creeps course up and down
his backbone.
“Gracious! this is perfectly awful!” he exclaimed, as his hand touched
a specially cold spot on the rock, that felt like something slimy and
alive. “I thought it was a snail, or something!”
He stopped, and wiped the cold perspiration from his forehead.
“Pshaw!” he continued, “what a big fool I am! Afraid of the dark! I’m a
brave one to rescue Wamby!” and mustering up courage, he went on more
boldly.
Presently a faint light appeared in the distance ahead, causing him
to renew his wariness and slacken his pace. As he softly advanced, he
descried an elf sitting in the passage, with a lantern-box on the floor
beside him. Harry hesitated an instant, but thinking he had nothing to
fear from one Pin Elf, he advanced openly. Upon hearing the footsteps
the elf immediately shut his lantern-box, but as he leaned over to do
so, the light flashed in his face brightly, and showed Harry that it
was his old friend Kitey.
“Halloa, Kitey, old fellow, what are you doing here?” exclaimed Harry.
“Is it you, Prince Harry?” said Kitey, in a tone of delight; and
opening his lantern-box again, he ran forward and embraced Harry’s feet.
“Why, little chap, what’s the trouble?” inquired the boy.
“How did you get down here?” asked the elf in return. “Don’t talk loud,
or we may be overheard.”
In a few words Harry related his escape from the Gnomes.
“So I left that trap-door open in my hurry!” said Kitey, at the
conclusion of the narrative. “It is lucky you found it, instead of
those rascally Gnomes.”
“But what are the Gnomes doing here?” asked Harry; “and why are you
hiding? and what has become of Wamby?”
“Sit down, Prince, and I will tell you all about it,” said Kitey.
“After you left us everything went along nicely for awhile. Cattisack,
the ex-King, was sent down to the Gnomes, and old Grumpy, the Lord of
the Safety-Pin, was imprisoned. But Grumpy, the old sneak, behaved so
nicely that Wamby felt sorry for him, and set him free, and restored
him to his former position. That was the real beginning of the mischief.
“Old Grumpy immediately began secretly forming a party against Wamby,
and was almost ready to begin a rebellion, when Wamby discovered the
plot, and sent Grumpy to the Gnomes. That was the second blunder.
“Soon after that, Wamby took it into his head that the soldiers needed
another commander, and as Smithkin was experienced, and had been
behaving beautifully, he reinstated him in his old position. That was
the third blunder.
“Of course, Prince Harry, you know I am not blaming King Wamby,—at the
time we all thought he was doing just right; but it seems he wasn’t,
for Cattisack and Grumpy at once began plotting with the King of the
Gnomes, and out of revenge offered to deliver to him the Pin Elf
dominions. They both knew all the secret passageways, and how many
soldiers we had, and where the guards were stationed, and so it was
very easy for them to lead the whole army of the Gnomes right to the
Grand Royal Reception Hall.
“It all happened yesterday. Wamby was sitting on his throne holding
a reception, and I was seated on his right. All of a sudden the door
to the left of the throne opened a little, and then closed again. It
was done quickly and quietly, but I was looking in that direction and
saw through the doorway a Gnome’s ugly face. Instantly surmising that
something was wrong, I darted forward and slipped all the bolts in the
door. That made the door impregnable against any assault of the Gnomes,
and we should have been safe, had it not been for that Smithkin. He
must have been in collusion with Cattisack, for no sooner had I secured
the door than Smithkin ran thither, dashed me aside, undid the bolts,
and admitted the Gnoman army.
“Even then we could easily have held our own and driven them back, for,
you know, one Pin Elf is equal to three Gnomes, because we are so quick
and active, and they are so slow and heavy; but some of the Safety-Pin
men rallied around old Grumpy, and at least half of the body-guard
went over to Smithkin, and as the rest of us were entirely unprepared
they soon got the better of us.
“Seeing that all was lost, Wamby whispered to me, ‘Quick, Kitey!
while there is a chance, run up to the rock in Central Park and stick
a little green twig in the pin-hole, as a signal to our good Prince
Harry; and put my hat in the chamber, where he can find it.’
“Fortunately, in the excitement of the conflict, the Gnomes had
neglected to guard any of the doors, and I escaped without being
seen, and placed the green twig in the hole. On my return, however, I
discovered six Gnomes on guard outside the door, so I quietly retreated
and made my way down here, where I have been ever since.”
“Aren’t we in danger of being discovered here?” inquired Harry.
“Oh, no, Prince,” replied Kitey; “no one would dare come here. This is
the terrible Passage of the Toad.”
“Passage of the Toad!” repeated Harry. “What do you mean?”
“Why,” exclaimed Kitey, “this passage was constructed ages ago, as a
secret means of escape, in case our dominions should be invaded. It
leads from the Grand Reception Hall, and branches off into several
small passageways, and we are in one of those smaller, branching
passageways. But just as the whole thing was completed, a toad made its
appearance in the main passage. Of course the entrances were at once
closed, and no one ever after ventured to enter. It was only necessity
that drove me hither.”
“But, Kitey, I don’t understand you. How could a toad get in the
passage? and if he did get in, what difference did it make?”
“I can’t tell you how he got in,” replied Kitey, “but he certainly was
there, and doubtless is there to this day. And you ask, what difference
does it make? Why, don’t you know that elves cannot bear the contact,
or even the near presence, of a toad? It prostrates us completely.
So there was nothing for us to do but shut up the passage, which has
been called by us ever since the Passage of the Toad. Evidently, the
horrible creature is not near this branch passage where we are now, or
I should hardly have been able to come down here.”
“Well, never mind the toad at present,” said Harry. “What do you
suppose has become of Wamby and the rest of the Pin Elves?”
“I think they have been sent down to work in the mines, and the Gnomes
have taken possession of our kingdom,” answered Kitey.
“In other words,” said Harry, “the Gnomes are on top, and the Pin Elves
down below. The wicked elves have ousted the good elves and made slaves
of them.”
“Exactly!” replied Kitey. “That is what I believe has taken place.” He
sighed dolefully, and continued: “Poor Wamby! I wish we could help him.
It is awful to have to work down in Gnome Land. I was there, and know
all about it.”
“That’s so!” exclaimed Harry eagerly; “I suppose you know all about the
ins and outs of the place. Your knowledge may be a great help to us if
we go down to rescue our friends. Meanwhile, I should like to know if
they are really there now, and whether the Gnomes are in possession of
our dominions.”
“You might find out, if you are not afraid of the toad,” said Kitey.
“This little passage will lead you to the main passage, and if you
follow that to the end you will find a flight of steps and a trap-door
at the top of them opening into the Reception Hall. The door opens in
the floor of the dais, just behind the throne. You can take a peep
through it and see what is taking place in the Hall.
“I’ll do it!” cried Harry, springing up. “Just lend me your
lantern-box, so that I can see my way.”
“One word, Prince, before you go,” said Kitey. “Find out where the toad
is, and please keep him away from this place. Above all, do not touch
him! for if you do, I cannot endure your presence.”
“All right, old chap,” returned Harry, “I’ll bear it in mind. Don’t
you be afraid of Mr. Toad! I’ll look after him, and will be back here
soon.”