ON TOP.
For awhile the boy was too astonished to move. At first he thought it
was some trick they were trying to play upon him; but when he slipped
the bonds from his neck and limbs without meeting with any opposition,
he concluded that it could be no trick, and accordingly sprang to his
feet.
All of the Gnomes at that end of the Hall were lying prostrate on the
floor, rigid and motionless, as if paralyzed. Harry turned one of them
over, and the little fellow lay staring vacantly upwards with open
eyes, and seemed as lifeless as a china doll.
At the further end of the Hall a number were running back and forth,
and crying and shrieking as though they were mad. Putting his hand to
his ear, Harry could hear them calling out in terror, “The toad! the
toad!”
At the sound of those words Harry hastily glanced about him, and soon
discovered the little hop-toad sitting on the floor close by, blinking
his eyes as if half-blinded by the light. It seems that Harry had left
the trap-door open, and the little animal had hopped up the steps and
out into the Hall just in the nick of time.
The boy danced about the creature, and roared with laughter. “Ha, ha,
ha! what a lark!” he exclaimed. “The Gnomes are just as much afraid
of a toad as the Pin Elves. Hurrah, little hoppy, you’ve saved the
country! Let me show you, old fellow, what a wonderful power you
possess.”
Picking up the animal, he ran to the other end of the Hall, and as soon
as he approached the Gnomes there, they too fell down paralyzed with
fear.
“Good enough!” Harry cried; “we can send them down below now! Let me
call in Wamby and the rest.”
He was on the point of unbolting the secret door, when luckily he
bethought himself.
“Hold on!” he cried; “that won’t do! We don’t want to paralyze the Pin
Elves.”
He considered a moment, and then carried the toad back to the passage,
and placing him on the top step, shut the trap-door. Then, standing
close to the door, he waited until the Gnomes revived and tremblingly
arose to their feet.
“Listen to me!” he called, in commanding tones. “Cattisack and Grumpy,
stand over there by the wardrobe and don’t move. Some of you fellows
gather all of your weapons together, and pile them in the corner
yonder. And you,”—to the King of the Gnomes,—“take off your crown and
royal mantle, and place them on the step beside your sceptre. Now, all
of you go through the antechamber and down to the shore of the lake and
wait there. If you dare disobey my orders, I shall come after you with
the toad!”
When the last Gnome had gone, the boy bolted the door behind them, and
ran across and opened the secret door. “Enter, King Wamby,” he said,
“and take possession of your throne and kingdom.”
But the Pin Elves shrank back with fear and loathing, and some of the
nearest ones fell to the ground, crying, “The toad! the toad!”
“What ails you?” exclaimed Harry. “There’s no toad here; I put him back
in the passage and shut the door.”
“Then you must have touched him, Prince,” said Kitey, “and it is the
odor left upon your hands that prostrates us.”
“What can I do?” Harry asked in perplexity.
“You must go down to the river and bathe your hands,” answered Kitey.
“Nothing but running water will remove the deadly odor of the toad.
Here is my lantern-box,” and he tossed the box at Harry’s feet.
The boy picked up the box in his handkerchief, so as not to infect it
with the odor, and hastened down to the underground river, where he
washed his hands, and then went back to the Reception Hall.
Then he directed some of the elves to go down to the lake and take the
Gnomes across to their own country, and then bring all of the ships
back again.
“Now, Prince,” said Wamby, “I have given orders for a grand royal
banquet to be prepared. Meanwhile, let us go to my private apartments
and rest awhile.”
Harry had not as yet seen that part of the Pin Elf dominions where the
elves lived, and his eyes fairly hung out with astonishment as Wamby
opened a number of doors and gave him glimpses of the luxurious private
rooms of the Lord of the Safety-Pin, the Grand Prime Minister, the
Knights of the Breast-Pin, and others of the nobility.
But, of course, none of them could compare with the richness and
splendor of the royal apartments. In three of these rooms the floor and
walls were of pure gold. The first was the well-known green-and-gold
room, where the King ordinarily held his court and dealt out justice;
here was contained the famous couch cut from a single emerald. Next
came the blue-and-gold room, with its lovely turquoises and pale blue
silk hangings. Then, last, came the purple-and-gold room, where few
were permitted to enter. It was lighted by the great royal amethyst
that once belonged to the King of the Gnomes. On the floor a soft couch
had been formed of many purple rugs for Harry’s repose, and the boy was
very willing to throw himself down upon it, after his arduous labors.
Presently little Kitey entered the apartment, accompanied by Smithkin.
The soldier, with some embarrassment, bowed low to Wamby, and said,
“Your Majesty, I have come to ask pardon for having turned traitor, and
also to restore to Prince Harry these jewels he gave me as a bribe.”
He held out to Harry the three jewels, but the boy exclaimed, “Keep
them, old chap; you have more than earned them by your bravery.”
“You have also earned pardon for your former treachery,” said King
Wamby, with a gracious smile. “Here is the reward I promised for the
recovery of my hat,” handing him a rich jewel and a small gold hat-pin,
“and I hereby restore you to your old position as commander of my
body-guard.”
When Smithkin had retired, Harry turned to Kitey and exclaimed, “I say,
little chap, why on earth didn’t you tell me the Gnomes were afraid of
the toad?”
“Why,” replied Kitey, “I did tell you, long ago, when you first found
me in the Passage.”
“No, you didn’t,” said Harry. “You simply said that elves were afraid
of the animal.”
“But Gnomes are elves,” returned Kitey. “They are bad elves, it is
true; but all elves, good or bad, are afraid of toads. I thought of
course you knew that all the time.”
“I wish I had known it,” said the boy, “for it would have saved us all
that fighting. I could easily have settled the old Gnomes at the very
beginning.”
“What shall we do with Cattisack and Grumpy?” inquired Wamby.
“Make them common Pin Elves,” said Harry; “then they will have no power
and influence to stir up trouble again.”
Just then a messenger announced that the banquet was served, so they
repaired to the Grand Royal Reception Hall.
Harry hardly recognized it as the same room he had recently left. The
golden throne, the marble steps of the dais, and everything else had
been furbished and polished to look like new. Costly rugs of white
mouse-skin nearly covered the floor. The lofty ceiling was newly
festooned with many-colored gems that gave a rare and beautiful light.
In the centre of the Hall were long rows of tables covered with all
kinds of tempting viands in dishes of pure gold. The royal table was
distinguished from the others by being placed upon a low platform, and
also by the exquisite precious stones that adorned every one of the
golden dishes.
At the head of this table, where Harry was asked to seat himself, was a
large pot-pie. The boy examined it curiously, and asked Wamby what it
was.
“It is a blackbird pie,” said Wamby, “especially prepared for you. I
have heard that mortals consider it a dainty dish to set before a king.”
“Good enough!” exclaimed Harry. “‘Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a
pie!’ Very kind of you, old chap, to take so much trouble just for me.”
Without more ado they all fell to and had a royal time, feasting
to their hearts’ content. When the dishes were well cleared of
their contents, Harry made a speech, congratulating them on having
effectually conquered the wicked Gnomes. Then Wamby arose and thanked
the Prince, in the name of the Pin Elves, for his timely assistance.
Then little Kitey made them all roar with laughter by a comical and
witty address on “Our Friend and Enemy, the Toad.”
After the feasting and merriment was over, Harry declared that he must
once more return to the upper earth.
“Why can’t you remain always with us, Prince Harry?” said Wamby.
“Thank you, little chap,” answered Harry, “I’d like to stay, but I
don’t want my folks to worry about me. By the way, I am going to take
that poor little toad out with me.”
“Then you had better go out alone through the Passage of the Toad,”
said Wamby. “We should like to accompany you to the entrance, but of
course we cannot do so if you carry the toad with you.”
“Never mind,” said Harry, “I can bid you good-by here. I suppose after
I am gone you will all resume your regular work of pin-gathering.”
“Oh, yes,” replied Wamby; “and we shall be obliged to work hard, for
many good pins have been ruined and lost in the late war. I notice some
of my men are hardly able to keep their garments together, and I myself
at present haven’t a pin to give one of them. Even a short war like
ours is very expensive.”
The little fellows were very sad at parting from their kind Prince.
Harry had never seen any of the elves cry, but poor little Kitey
looked as if he felt like crying, and even Smithkin winked hard as he
bade him farewell.
[Illustration: Boy looking at toad]
“I’ll leave your hat on the dais, Wamby,” said the boy; and rising from
the table, he walked towards the trap-door.
Before he reached it he heard Kitey’s shrill voice calling him, and the
little fellow ran up to him saying, “Here’s my lantern-box to light
you on the way. You can keep it, Prince, in memory of little Kitey.”
“Thank you, dear old chap,” said Harry, slipping the tiny box into his
pocket.
Mounting the steps of the dais, he turned and waved a final farewell
to them all, and then took off Wamby’s hat and placed it on the
throne, and entered the trap-door. Wrapping the toad in the piece of
table-cloth that was still lying in the passage, he carried the little
creature along with him.
In the chamber under the rock he found his own hat where he had left
it when he came down. Placing it on his head, he mounted the steps and
peeped forth, and finding the coast clear, sprang out into the open
air, and the trap-door of its own accord shut noiselessly behind him.
The first thing he did was to place the door-pin carefully in the
little lantern-box for safe keeping. Then he opened the piece of cloth
and placed the little toad on the ground, and sitting down upon the
rock, watched him as he first blinked stupidly in the bright light.
Master Toad soon, however, gave a tremendous hop, and disappeared in
the bushes.
Harry arose and went home thoughtfully, almost wondering if he had been
asleep and dreamed of all these strange adventures. But as he vividly
recalled everything to mind, and especially as he felt in his pocket
the little lantern-box given him by Kitey, he knew that he had actually
been among the Pin Elves.
THE END.