THE BROWNIES BUILD A RAFT
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When King Stanislaus announced to the Brownies that they were to go at
once to the rescue of Queen Titania he was confronted by a very serious
problem. There was no craft of any kind whatever with which to embark
upon so hazardous a voyage.
"This comes of unpreparedness," growled the Sailor. "I've been trying
to impress on His Majesty for years that we needed some battle-ships,
cruisers, and submarines. Dash my top-lights if we've got even so much
as an old mud-scow!"
Far off faintly outlined in the gathering dusk was a galleon with all
sails spread which the favoring gales were bearing to Dragonfel's
enchanted country.
King Stanislaus realized the utter futility of trying to overtake it
with another sailing-vessel even if they had been the possessors of one.
Dragonfel and his confederates had too much the start of them.
The only recourse left was to follow as quickly as they could by
whatever means were at hand, and, after they reached their destination,
to try to wrest the unfortunate Titania and her companions from the
cruel clutches of their abductors.
King Stanislaus had pledged his word to Florimel that before morning
they would be in hot pursuit.
A raft to the monarch's shrewd, quick-thinking mind seemed to be the
easiest kind of a craft to construct in the short space of time to do it
in order to redeem the royal promise. The wind was right, so that it
would waft them straight to Dragonfel's country, just as it was now
taking the galleon which soon disappeared beyond the horizon.
In crisp, curt tones which showed that he, if anyone, was able to cope
with this most distressing situation His Majesty gave orders for the
immediate building of the raft.
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Then came a hurrying and scurrying of Brownies. Each of the little
fellows was eager to do his share of the gigantic task, and no one
shirked.
Hither and yon, and all about, they flew, a band of willing workers,
and no one got in another's way, so no time was lost. Wisely enough the
king assigned to each what he was best adapted to do, and there was no
grumbling or cavilling at orders, but a strict obedience in all things.
And, wherever such a spirit is manifested, it is surprising what results
can be achieved.
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The axes rang out sharp and clear in forests, and big trees toppled down
to be stripped in a trice of their leafy branches. Sweating, puffing,
grunting Brownies pulled and tugged and strained at the logs into which
they were cut, and pushed and shoved, or rolled them when they could,
toward the sea-shore.
Here, with their little jackets off, were many other Brownies hard at
work, while the sound of big wooden mallets and iron sledges was heard
unceasingly on all sides as in the busiest shipyard, while the logs
were being nailed and spiked together.
Yet the raft was not composed entirely of logs, but of whatever else
besides that came in handy.
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Nimble, fleet-footed foragers at their monarch's instigation roamed the
country over for anything that was in the nature of wood. Some of these
brought back a gate on which was the sign: NO ADMITTANCE.
Others came with shutters on which was tacked the placard: ROOMS TO LET.
And one group triumphantly lugged a dog-house which they thought would
serve as a pilot-house, and to this on an iron chain was attached a dog,
which perforce was dragged along after it upon its back. So great was
their excitement that they forgot all about the dog.
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Other members of the band were busy too in different ways. The Sailor
came running with a long pole on his shoulder, and strung one after
another on the pole were a number of round life-preservers that looked
like huge doughnuts.
Then off he sped again but only to return a few minutes later with a
mariner's compass.
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The Dude stood by, offering advice, and all ready with cane in one and
opera-hat box the other.
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Straining with the terrific weight the Twins together brought a ship's
lead, and in stopping to put it down for needed rest one dropped it on
the foot of his unfortunate brother, who held the injured foot up with
his hand, and danced on the well one in great pain. But when his brother
motioned for him to take up the lead with him again, he did so, and they
labored on their way.
Down on the beach quite a number had found a big anchor half-buried in
the sand. They had dug it out and were slowly bearing it with the utmost
difficulty toward the raft.
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Time and again they stopped for a brief breathing spell, standing
meanwhile the anchor on its bow, until at last it suddenly fell over
and pinioned a luckless sprite beneath its weight. He was extricated
by his fellows, and, while they continued puffing with their burden he
limped with effort after them, rubbing his bruised shank.
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The commissary department was active too, and Brownies came with ample
supplies of provisions for the voyage. They brought sacks of hard-tack
and ship-biscuit, and when they laid them down and sat on them audacious
rats ran helter-skelter out and scampered wildly off in all directions.
Nothing was left undone, and when in the judgment of the Sailor it was
about four bells the raft had taken marvelous shape and was ready to
launch.
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With the combined strength of all the band it was rolled down the
sloping sand upon round logs until it slid gracefully into the water.
Lanterns lit it at the corners, and in the centre on a long stick
floated the Brownie flag.
Then all the Brownies clambered on board, and King Stanislaus gave the
order to cast off the hawsers. The fairies, weeping yet hopeful of the
success of the expedition, watched them from the shore.
But before some Brownies under the instructions of the Sailor could obey
the mandate of the king Mignonette and Jassamine in wild disorder, and
with their hair flying, came running toward them.
"The dove!" cried Mignonette. "You've forgotten Euphrosyne's dove!"
Jassamine at the same time held up a cage in which the dove was perched
on a stick.
"Euphrosyne told Queen Titania she was to send it to her if ever she
was in danger from Dragonfel," Mignonette made haste to explain.
"I don't know whether we've got room to take it," said King Stanislaus
grudgingly. "Besides I think we're able to manage this little business
affair ourselves."
"Remember, sire," reminded the Policeman, "that Noah once sent out a
dove."
"Yes, I know," said His Majesty, "but he's hundreds of years behind the
times."
Still he did not interpose any objections when the Dude reached forth
and grasped the cage, which he set upon the raft.
Then off they floated without further interruption, the Sailor and
others poling them out through shallow waters till they could no longer
touch bottom. There were no cheers to mark the departure, for the hearts
of all were set with a stern purpose.
As they got farther and farther away the fairies still gazed at them,
until someone said:
"Don't watch them out of sight. It's unlucky."
The tide was ebb, and the wind continued steady and true, so that they
made good progress. Some took their little jackets off to catch each
puff of air. The shore-line finally disappeared from sight, and then the
lights twinkling in the windows of Queen Titania's palace.
At last they were so many miles from land that the Twins took frequent
soundings with their lead, and the Sailor, who consulted his compass
very often, growled to the watch:
"Keep a sharp look-out, you lubber!"
And their plans all would have gone well, and they would have reached
Dragonfel's enchanted country as they intended, if something entirely
unexpected had not happened.
About six bells, as the Sailor reckoned, a sudden storm came up.
It was a terrible storm, the worst in the memory of the oldest
inhabitant. The Sailor who was most weather-wise of all could not
understand it. But Dragonfel could have done so had he wished, for the
storm had been manufactured at his request by Vulcan, and it was just as
good a sample of what could be done in a hurry as the Brownies' raft.
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Suddenly the sky grew black, and the stars were blotted out. Then almost
instantly came a mighty rush and roar of wind, and the seas ran
mountain-high.
"Avast, you lubbers!" roared the Sailor. "Take a reef in your shirts and
jackets!"
Lightning lit up almost incessantly gloomy, frowning caverns in the
clouds, and the peals of thunder were deafening. The rain poured down on
them in sheets, but still the wind howled and raged with unabating fury,
and they tossed up and down like a cockleshell.
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In all the turmoil of alarm the frightened Chinaman lost his balance,
and fell overboard, and a huge sea-serpent, with eyes of fire gleaming
like electric lights above distended greedy, waiting jaws, rose up from
out of the water, with its abnormally long body looking like a series of
hoops.
The Uncle Sam Brownie threw out a life-preserver, but the Sailor with
rare presence of mind grasped a boat-hook, and, skillfully hooking the
end of the despairing Chinaman's blouse, yanked him back on the raft
before the monster could swallow him.
No craft however staunch could withstand such a gale, which grew and
grew in violence.
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The raft shivered and shook under its terrific strain, and there came
pistol-like cracks at intervals as the wood splintered or broke apart,
while nails and spikes flew up from the groaning, loosening timbers.
Slowly but surely the raft upon which the Brownies had exercised such
ingenuity and skill was disintegrating, and the great danger of the band
increased with each passing moment. And in the flashes of lightning that
illumined the rumbling skies a huge bird with flapping wings suddenly
swooped down, and, seizing the frightened Dude by his breeches-seat,
bore him, dangling face downward, with his cherished cane still clutched
in his hand, up, up, still up, till he was out of sight.
The others, all aghast, looked up at him until he disappeared, and
wondered if they would ever see him again. And, while they wondered,
with their own misfortune forgotten in this greater calamity that had
come to their beloved companion, there was heard a crack louder than any
that had gone before, and the raft went all at once to pieces.
Struggling in the water, or clinging to broken spars, logs, and pieces
of timber, the Brownies suddenly found themselves gasping and choking as
relentless waves rolled over them, at times submerging them.
This was the end, then, of their unfortunate adventure. There was
nothing to cause even the slightest ray of hope. It looked as though all
the Brownies would be lost.
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