High Times Up Town
At High Boy's loud call, two Uplander Guards in purple kilts came
running to open the gates. They were as tall and comical as their King
and bowed deeply as they swung back the golden bars. High Boy was in
such haste to enter he did not lower himself sufficiently, and the
King's head was knocked severely on the top of the arch.
"Look what you're doing!" spluttered his Majesty, returning the salute
of the guards and waving for two small pages to approach.
"Pray announce us to the Queen," he commanded grandly. "Here are the
right brave and puissant Prince of the Ozure Isles and his friend and
companion, the Medicine Man of Oz!"
The pages immediately raised their golden trumpets and blew three
shrill blasts, and while Philador secretly wondered what puissant might
mean, called loudly: "His High and Mighty Majesty, the King! His brave
and Puissant Highness the Prince of the Ozure Isles and the Medicine
Man of Oz!"
"How about me?" whinnied High Boy, shaking his mane and prancing along
so skittishly that Herby threw his arms 'round Philador to keep from
falling off.
"And the High Horse!" shouted the pages joyously, at which the
irrepressible beast rose on his hind legs and bowed to the left and
right. The Uplanders, who had run to doors and windows at the pages'
loud cries, clapped and cheered, first for the King, next for the
visitors and lastly for High Boy himself, till the noise and confusion
was simply tremendous. Whenever High Boy saw one of his friends
leaning from an upper window, he'd stretch up his telescope legs.
"Hello Mary!" he would snort, nudging the little girl or whoever it
chanced to be with his soft nose. "Hello Jim!" Then down he would drop
to greet an old gentleman in a basement doorway, so that his three
riders had an exceedingly up and down time of it.
But even so Philador managed to see a lot of Up Town. The streets of
this strange mountain city were narrow and steep, the houses tall and
towered. There were glimpses of gardens at the back, gardens sweet with
hyacinth and lilac, and in the open spaces between, grew the tallest
grass Philador had ever imagined. A purple haze hung in the air and the
castle, rising majestically from the top of the town, seemed to rest
on an airy embankment of clouds. In almost no time, they were in the
courtyard of the castle itself, the pages tooting away for dear life. A
dozen of the King's retainers rushed out and Philador, gazing upward,
saw a lovely lady in a lavender lace dress leaning over the balcony.
She wore an amethyst crown and he guessed at once that she must be the
Queen.
[Illustration: QUEEN HYACINTH]
"Hi! Hi! Hyacinth!" Lengthening his legs till his body was on a
level with the balcony, High Boy rested his head affectionately on the
Queen's shoulder. "Did you miss me?" he whinnied hoarsely.
"Of course! Of course!" smiled her Highness, nodding pleasantly to
Herby and Phil.
The King, with a great grunt, had immediately flung himself off High
Boy's back, and the little Prince and Medicine Man made haste to follow
him. On closer inspection Philador found Queen Hyacinth even lovelier
than she had seemed from the courtyard. Although her nose and mouth
tipped upward like the King's, she was so gay and pretty that the
little Prince almost wished she were his own Lady mother and did not
mind at all when she kissed him on both cheeks. Herby blushed with
pleasure as the Queen shook his hand and held himself stiffly to keep
his pills from rattling.
[Illustration: JOE KING AND QUEEN HYACINTH]
While two Uplander Footmen drew out high chairs for the visitors and
fetched tall glasses of grape juice, Joe King told Her Majesty the
strange story of their adventures. When Hyacinth heard how Mombi had
long ago stolen Philador's mother, she kissed him again, then hurrying
into the castle ordered the royal cook to prepare a tremendous feast
for the travelers. High Boy, resting his chin on the balcony rail,
had listened with close attention to the whole recital. Now with a
tremulous sigh he began to lower himself into the courtyard.
"Goodbye, old Toz!" he called roguishly to the Medicine Man. "See you
again, Princeling, but now the tall grass is calling me."
"Does he eat tall grass?" asked Philador, looking over the balcony with
great interest as High Boy galloped away.
"Of course! That's what makes him so tall. What did you suppose a high
horse ate?" asked the King merrily.
Leading the visitors into the castle he left them in a sumptuous
dressing room with amethyst mirrors and brushes and gorgeous silk
hangings. Philador was glad enough to wash off the dust and brush his
hair, but Herby spent most of the time rearranging the bottles and
boxes in his medicine chest.
"Better take a couple of these," he advised, as the little Prince
started for the door.
"What are they for?" asked Phil curiously, as Herby swallowed several
of the pills himself.
"For yawns," explained the Medicine Man quickly. "Where there's a feast
there's bound to be talking. Now speeches always make me sleepy, so to
keep from yawning and offending their Majesties, I have taken this
slight precaution."
"Give me a couple of precautions, too," laughed Philador. "I hope they
won't keep us long Herby, for we ought to be halfway to the Emerald
City by now."
As Philador and the Medicine Man stepped through the doorway, they
were met by a tremendous Uplander who introduced himself as High Jinx.
He was Joe King's chief adviser and immediately conducted them to the
dining hall where he seated them between the King and Queen.
Herby had been quite right about the speeches. Almost everyone at the
table made a speech, complimenting the little Prince on his bravery and
wishing him success on his perilous journey. But the Medicine Man's
pills worked so well that neither he nor Philador yawned even once
during the entire procedure. As for the luncheon, it might have been
a birthday party at least, from the number of goodies served. What
with the chicken and waffles, sweet potatoes and hot biscuits, not to
mention the cream cake, custard pie and lavender ices, Philador decided
he could never be hungry again.
Queen Hyacinth had ordered a lunch packed up for the travelers, and
when Herby and Philador both declared they could not eat another bite,
Joe King himself went off to search for his high horse.
"On High Boy you will reach the capital in no time," his Majesty
assured them earnestly, "and when you have saved the Ozure Isles and
saved your royal mother, you must come back and pay us a real visit."
This Philador readily promised to do; also to find out from Ozma what
had become of the Good Witch of the North for, without a ruler, the
Gilliken Country was open to war and invasion by hostile tribes. While
they were waiting for the high horse to appear, Phil and the Medicine
Man expressed a desire to walk about the city. Joe, giving each of them
an umbrella, in case a storm came up, as he put it, hurried off to find
High Boy himself.
Greatly encouraged by the happy change in their fortunes, Philador and
Herby walked briskly along High Street, stopping now and then to gaze
in shop windows or to wave to the friendly children playing in the
doorways. They were careful to keep close to the castle and were about
to turn back, when a great gust of wind came tearing across the town,
flattening them against the side of a house. They had just time to open
their umbrellas when the storm broke with such suddenness and fury that
they could neither see, hear nor call for help. And help they most
certainly needed.
Philador had a confused glimpse of an old Uplander putting down his
umbrella and jumping into it, before the wind seized his own and
whirled him aloft like a kite. Drenched and breathless, he soared over
the city. Fortunately the wind was light and buoyant and the umbrella
strong and sturdy, so that when it did come down Philador landed gently
enough. The storm seemed to be left behind and scrambling to his feet,
the little Prince looked anxiously upward. He was at the very bottom
of Joe King's mountain and the top was still hidden by the black storm
clouds. Though he looked and looked, not one glimpse of the castle nor
city towers could he catch. With a discouraged sigh, he turned about
just in time to see the Medicine Man sail down into the midst of a
huckleberry bush.
"Well!" spluttered Herby, putting down his umbrella and pulling himself
out with great difficulty. "What do you think of this?"
"Not much," confessed Philador ruefully. "We've lost High Boy and we
haven't time to go back and--"
"The Good Witch's thinking cap is gone too," mourned the Medicine Man,
clapping his hand to his head. "We'll have to do our own thinking
hereafter." Herby opened his medicine chest and peered in, and
presently he was crunching away at one of his remedies. When Philador,
who had been looking about, called that he was ready to start, the
Medicine Man came almost cheerfully.
"We still have the jumping rope," he reminded the little boy happily.
"And we still have the lunch basket and we're over the first mountain."
Philador nodded soberly and wondered what Herby had been taking to
make him so cheerful. For his part, he could not help thinking that
their fall had been most unfortunate. Without the thinking cap how were
they to know which direction to take, and without High Boy's long legs
to help them how were they ever to reach the Emerald City in time?
Ahead loomed a still higher mountain. Sighing deeply he trudged along
the rocky little path, his head down and the lunch basket trailing
listlessly from his hand.
"If we'd only stayed in the castle," he mused sorrowfully, "this never
would have happened." Herby did not answer but quietly passed him a
small round box. "Comfort pills. Will cure any trouble that hasn't
happened," announced the label. Absently the little Prince took two and
handed the box back. As he popped the pills into his mouth, there was a
joyful snort and stamp behind them. It was the King's horse, and with
outspread arms Philador ran to meet him.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" whinnied High Boy, lowering himself down
to the little boy's height and looking reproachfully into his eyes.
"I've been looking for you all over the mountain."
"The storm came up and blew us away," explained Philador hastily.
"Did you put your umbrellas down?" asked High Boy, nodding amiably to
the Medicine Man.
"Why should we put them down?" questioned Herby, puckering up his
forehead, "It was raining!"
"Of course it was raining. Wasn't I there too, but you must know that
in our country, the storms come up and the thing to do is to put your
umbrella down and jump in it. Like this," explained High Boy, swinging
his umbrella tail expertly under his telescope legs and standing calmly
in the center of it. "Then when the rain comes, you don't get wet or
blown away. Always put your umbrella down when a storm comes up," he
finished, jumping out of his umbrella and swinging it back into place.
Philador was too surprised to make any remark, but Herby, delighted to
see the King's famous steed, put his foot into the stirrup and pulled
up into the saddle.
"Do you know the way to the Emerald City?" he asked breathlessly.
"Two mountains and a couple of countries to the South," answered High
Boy carelessly. "Up with you Princeling, four legs are better than two,
especially when they are my kind." To this Philador could agree most
heartily, and swinging himself up in front of Herby, he took the reins
hanging loosely round High Boy's neck and begged him to start.
"I always did want to see the capital," confessed High Boy trotting
smartly along the stony mountain path. "I hear that there is a saw
horse at the Emerald City, and I want to see whether he is as handsome
and as useful as I am."
"He couldn't possibly be as nice," sighed Philador, putting both arms
round High Boy's neck. "You're even better than my sea horse."
"Hey! Hey! Well, what do you think of that?" With a snort of surprise
and pleasure, the King's horse set off for the second mountain at such
a pace that the wind whistled by like a hurricane.
"Hold on, boys," he neighed boisterously. "I'm your friend for life!"
"A----very----fast----friend!" stuttered Herby, clutching Philador by
the belt and wincing each time he struck the saddle. And so up the
mountain pounded High Boy, his front legs short, his back legs long and
his umbrella tail switching behind him.