A PERILOUS TRIP.
In the main passage Harry found the toad, a small and rather thin
creature, not at all dangerous-looking. As Harry held the light close
to it, the little animal blinked its eyes as though half-blind, and
seemed too dispirited to hop away.
“Poor little hoppy!” said the boy; “I bet you’re almost starved to
death here. Never mind! I’ll take you back on top of the earth when I
go.”
The toad was plainly in no condition to travel as far as Kitey, so
Harry let him remain where he was, and went on to the end of the
passage and mounted the steps.
Kitey had directed him where to find the pin-hole in the trap-door
above, and when he had inserted the pin, he shut the lantern-box,
pressed upon the pin three times, and said:
“Pin, pin,
Trusty and stout,
I am within
And want to look out.”
The door opened slightly and he peeped through, and seeing no one
upon the dais, he opened the door wide, and crawling through, peered
cautiously around the edge of the throne.
The Hall was empty, and Harry’s first thought was that perhaps he had
lost the elfin hat from his head, and therefore the Hall only seemed
empty. But the hat was still there when he felt for it, so he quietly
remained waiting for some one to appear. After a time a number of
Gnomes entered, bearing dishes of various kinds of food, which they
deposited upon a table near the throne. Then they all withdrew.
Quick as a flash Harry darted forward, and dumping the food from the
dishes upon the table-cloth, he gathered up the cloth by the corners,
and carried it with its savory contents down through the trap-door to
the passageway, and then ran up the steps again to his hiding-place
behind the throne. Just as he reached his position, two doors opened.
Through one filed the servants who had set the table, and through the
other came the King of the Gnomes with his attendants.
Imagine, if you can, how they all looked when they beheld the empty
table and the empty dishes scattered around on the floor!
The servants were so astonished at the sudden and mysterious
disappearance of the food, that they forgot even to make obeisance to
the King. As for the King, he became black in the face with rage, and
his terrible right eye fairly flashed fire.
“Where are the viands?” he growled through his bushy beard.
The Head Caterer, who had been staring open-mouthed at the table,
tremblingly prostrated himself, and said, “If it please Your Royal
Majesty, the table was duly set anon, but the viands have disappeared,
I know not where.”
“Disappeared!” quoth the King; “how dare you allow the royal victuals
to disappear? Produce more food at once!”
“I cannot, Your Majesty,” whimpered the Caterer; “the cooking-fire has
gone out.”
“Glumdozo!” roared the King in a mighty voice, and every Gnome present
trembled at the sound of the word, which made Harry suppose it was a
terrible Gnoman oath. Thereupon the King grasped his golden pickax by
the handle, and hurled it at the luckless Caterer.
Fortunately for himself the Caterer was peering out of the corner of
his eye, and adroitly dodged the pickax, which bounded along the floor
and smashed a number of the rare and costly dishes.
“Hummelskrash!” roared the King. “Take the knave and his fellows to
work in the mines with the Pin Elves, and tell Wamby to assign them the
hottest and hardest work there.
The poor Caterer and the rest of the Gnomes who had served the dinner
were at once hustled away, and the King, with his courtiers, approached
the dais. Harry waited long enough only to see that Cattisack, Grumpy,
and Smithkin were among the King’s followers, and then he retreated
hurriedly through the trap-door and made his way back to Kitey.
“Are you hungry, old chap?” were the first words he uttered.
“Hungry!” exclaimed Kitey, “I’m nearly starved!”
“Then let us fall to without delay,” said Harry, opening the
table-cloth and seating himself on the floor beside it.
“Did you see the toad?” asked Kitey anxiously.
“Yes. Don’t worry about him, for he’s too starved to hop far. I have
found out the state of affairs. The Gnomes have possession of our
dominions, and our people, all except Cattisack, Grumpy, and Smithkin,
and a few of their adherents, are banished to the Gnomes’ old quarters.”
Then he told Kitey all that had happened during his absence. They both
nearly choked with suppressed laughter during the recital, but at its
conclusion Kitey grew very sober, and said, “I wish we could help Wamby
and the others to escape.”
Harry was thoughtful a moment. “Where do the rest of these branching
passages lead?” said he.
“I have it!” cried Kitey excitedly. “If that horrible toad would keep
out of the way, I could take you to one passage that leads in the right
direction.”
“All right,” said Harry, “I’ll attend to the toad.”
Tearing off a small piece of the table-cloth, he continued, “I’ll tie
him up in this piece, and while I am gone you can wrap up the rest of
the food in the table-cloth for us to take with us.”
[Illustration: Boy on one knee]
Proceeding to where the toad was, Harry made a little bag of the piece
of cloth and gently tied the animal in it.
“I’m sorry to do it, hoppy,” he said; “but if you’ll only be quiet a
little while, I’ll take you out of this hole when I go.”
When he came back, Kitey was awaiting him with the food tied up.
Shouldering the bundle, Harry followed the elf to the main passage, and
thence to one of the other smaller passages branching off. This they
followed for a distance till they came to a long, descending stairway,
at the bottom of which was a door. Opening the door, Kitey held aloft
his light.
“Why, it’s an underground river!” Harry exclaimed in surprise.
And so it was, a gently flowing stream of water, so clear and limpid
that one could see plainly the smooth, rocky bottom. The stream was
about forty feet wide, and the roof of the tunnel through which it
flowed was perhaps fifteen or twenty feet high above the surface of the
water.
“Where does it come from?” asked Harry.
“I don’t know,” Kitey replied. “It must come from above ground
somewhere. But, although I don’t know exactly where the stream comes
from, I can tell you where it goes, and that is straight to the lake
that you crossed when you went to the country of the Gnomes. Can’t we
go this way to see Wamby and help him?”
“Perhaps,” Harry said, glancing about. “Is there a boat here?”
“None that I know of,” said Kitey; “but I am sure, Prince, that you can
devise some way of getting there without a boat.”
Harry pondered for several minutes. “A raft would answer the purpose,
if we only had something to make it of. I say, Kitey, give me that
lantern, and you wait here till I come back.” And he hurried up the
passage.
Not long after, Kitey beheld him returning down the long stairway with
a low, broad table on his back.
“Where did you get it?” exclaimed the elf.
“In the Reception Hall,” the boy replied, as he deposited his burden
on the floor. “The Hall was empty, and it was the only thing I could
find that might do. I broke one of the other tables and brought these
two pieces of board to steer with. What fun it would be to see the
old King when he discovers it! I bet he’ll say something worse than
‘hummyslash!’ or whatever the word is. Now, old man, let me slide
this thing into the water.” And turning the table bottom side up, he
carefully launched it.
“Tight as a drum, and floats like a cork!” he cried delightedly. “Let
me try my weight upon it. All right! it bears beautifully. I’ll put
the food in the bow, and you can sit in the stern, and steer with that
short piece of board; and I’ll sit in the middle and use that longer
board, to keep the craft from turning around or running against the
sides of the tunnel. All aboard! Off we go, then!”
The little lantern-box had been tied to one of the front table-legs
in such a way as to keep the light from shining in their eyes and
yet light up the tunnel ahead of them. The only trouble they had was
to keep their improvised boat from drifting sidewise; but a little
practice enabled them to overcome that tendency, and they were soon
floating easily and gently down the stream.
“Isn’t this jolly!” exclaimed Harry. “We’re running along at a good
pace now, you can tell by looking at the sides of the tunnel.”
“Our speed has been increasing a great deal for the last few moments,”
said Kitey. “You know we moved quite slowly when we started. Listen,
Prince! do you hear anything?”
“I hear nothing unusual,” replied Harry, putting his hand to his ear.
“Listen again!” said Kitey; “it is growing louder every second.”
Harry did so. “Why,” said he, “it seems to me I do hear some kind of a
noise ahead. A kind of a roaring sound. Say, Kitey, old man, it sounds
like a waterfall!”
By this time they were being carried along at a terrific pace, but the
water was smooth and glassy, with only an occasional ripple to indicate
how rapidly it was gliding downward.
The elf sprang to his feet and peered forward. “There are rapids ahead.
I can see the foam and waves. Here they are! Quick, Prince, hold on for
your life!” and he crouched down and grasped the edge of the table.
Harry threw down his piece of board and clutched a table-leg, and so
they hung on for dear life, expecting every moment to be dashed over a
waterfall, or to be spilled out in the boiling and foaming waters. But
their stanch little craft kept right side up in fine shape, although
it behaved very queerly otherwise. Sometimes it bobbed along sideways,
sometimes it dashed forward stern foremost; once it struck an eddy, and
began spinning around till they grew dizzy; once it slid upon the back
of a partially submerged rock, stuck there a moment, and then plunged
forward, splashing them from head to foot.
But no waterfall appeared, and gradually the water grew quieter, and
they were floating tranquilly along out of danger.
“Tell you what it is, Prince,” said Kitey, “that was a narrow escape.
Were you scared?”
“Scared!” replied the boy; “I’d have given anything to have been on top
of the solid ground, especially that time we stuck on the rock, hey,
old man?”
“Yes, sir!” said the elf emphatically. “But we’re all right now,” he
added, as the sides and roof of the tunnel suddenly disappeared from
view, “for here we are on the lake, and there is the light of the
Gnomes’ fires in the distance.”
While he was speaking, the table gradually slackened its pace, and
finally came to a standstill on the calm bosom of the lake.