Next morning the little Princess came to the door of the new dwelling
built for Chick and John Dough, and said to them:
"Let us take a walk, and I will show you how beautiful our island is in
those parts where there are no Mifkets to worry us."
So together the three walked along the shore until they drew near to a
high point of rock, the summit of which was reached by a winding path.
When they had climbed up the steep the Princess had to stop to rest,
for she was not strong and seemed to tire easily. And now, while they
sat upon some rocks, a big brown bear came out of a cave and stood
before them.
"Don't be afraid," whispered the Princess. "He won't hurt us. It's Para
Bruin."
The bear was fat and of monstrous size, and its color was a rich brown.
It had no hair at all upon its body, as most bears have, but was smooth
and shiny. He gave a yawn as he looked at the new-comers, and John
shuddered at the rows of long, white teeth that showed so plainly. Also
he noticed the fierce claws upon the bear's toes, and decided that in
spite of the rabbit's and the Princess' assurances he was in dangerous
company. Indeed, although Chick laughed at the bear, the gingerbread
man grew quite nervous as the big beast advanced and sniffed at him
curiously--almost as if it realized John was made of gingerbread and
that gingerbread is good to eat. Then it held out a fat paw, as if
desiring to shake hands; and, not wishing to appear rude, John placed
his own hand in the bear's paw, which seemed even more soft and flabby
than his own. The next moment the animal threw its great arms around
the gingerbread man and hugged him close to its body.
[Illustration]
John gave a cry of fear, although it was hard to tell which was more
soft and yielding--the bear's fat body or the form of the gingerbread
man.
"Stop that!" he shouted, speaking in the bear language. "Let me go,
instantly! What do you mean by such actions?"
The bear, hearing this speech, at once released John, who began to feel
of himself to see if he had been damaged by the hug.
"Why didn't you say you were a friend, and could speak my language?"
asked the bear, in a tone of reproach.
"You knew well enough I was a friend, since I came with the Princess,"
retorted John, angrily. "I suppose you would like to eat me, just
because I am gingerbread!"
"I thought you smelled like gingerbread," remarked the bear. "But don't
worry about my eating you. I don't eat."
"No?" said John, surprised. "Why not?"
"Well, the principal reason is that I'm made of rubber," said the bear.
"Rubber!" exclaimed John.
[Illustration: "STOP THAT!" JOHN SHOUTED]
"Yes, rubber. Not gutta-percha, you understand, nor any cheap
composition; but pure Para rubber of the best quality. I'm
practically indestructible."
"Well, I declare!" said John, who was really astonished. "Are your
teeth rubber, also?"
"To be sure," acknowledged the bear, seeming to be somewhat ashamed of
the fact; "but they appear very terrible to look at, do they not? No
one would suspect they would bend if I tried to bite with them."
"To me they were terrible in appearance," said John, at which the bear
seemed much gratified.
"I don't mind confiding to you, who are a friend and speak my
language," he resumed, "that I am as harmless as I am indestructible.
But I pride myself upon my awful appearance, which should strike terror
into the hearts of all beholders. At one time every creature in this
island feared me, and acknowledged me their king; but those horrid
Mifkets discovered I was rubber, and have defied me ever since."
"How came you to be alive?" asked John. "Was it the Great Elixir?"
"I've never heard of the Great Elixir," replied the bear, "and I've no
idea how I came to be alive. My earliest recollection is that I was
living in much the same way that I am now. Do you remember when you
were not living?"
"No" said John.
This conversation, which she could not at all understand, surprised the
Princess very much. But she was glad to see that the rubber bear and
the gingerbread man had become friends, and so she took Chick's hand
and led the smiling Cherub up to where they stood.
"This is my new friend, whose name is Chick," she said to the bear, for
the girl was accustomed to talking to Para Bruin just as she would to a
person; "and you must be as good and kind to Chick as you have been to
me, my dear Para, or I shall not love you any more."
The bear gave the Princess a generous hug, and then he hugged Chick;
but the words the girl had spoken seemed to puzzle him, for he turned
to John and said:
"Why do you suppose so many different languages were ever invented?
The Mifkets speak one language, and you and I speak another, and the
Princess and Chick speak still another! And it is all very absurd, for
the only language I can understand is my own."
"I can speak with and understand the Princess and the Mifkets as well
as I can speak with you," declared John.
The bear looked at him admiringly.
"If that is so, then tell me what the Princess said to me just now," he
requested.
So John translated the girl's words into the bear language, and when
Para Bruin heard them he laughed with delight.
"Tell the Princess that I'll be as good to her friend Chick as
possible," said he, and John at once translated it so that the Princess
understood.
"That's nice," said she. "I knew Para would be friends with Chick. And
now ask the bear to bounce for us. He does it often, and it is a very
interesting sight."
So John requested the bear to bounce, which he at once agreed to do,
seeming to feel considerable pride in the accomplishment.
From the point upon which they stood, the hill descended in a steep
incline toward the forest, and at the bottom of the hill was a big
flat rock. Curling himself into a ball, the great bear rolled his body
down the hill, speeding faster every moment, until he struck the flat
rock at the bottom. Then he bounded high into the air (in the same way
that a rubber ball does when thrown down upon a hard pavement), and
made a graceful backward curve until he reached the top of the hill
again, where he bounced up and down a few times, and then stood upright
and bowed before the gingerbread man and the gleeful Cherub--who was
rapturously delighted by the performance.
"Great act, isn't it?" asked Para Bruin, grinning with pride. "No
ordinary bear could do that, I assure you. And it proves the purity and
high grade of my rubber."
"It does, indeed!" declared John. "I am greatly pleased to have met so
remarkable and talented a bear."
[Illustration]
"You must visit me often," said the bear, making a dignified bow. "It
is a great treat to hear my own language spoken, for I am the only bear
upon the island. I haven't any visiting cards, but my name is Para
Bruin, and you are always welcome at my cave."
"I am called John Dough," said the gingerbread man. "I cannot claim
to be indestructible, but while I last I shall be proud of your
friendship, and will bring the children to visit you often."
"Try to teach them my language," suggested Para Bruin; "for I love
children and have often wished I might talk with them. As for the
little Princess, all the island people love her dearly--except, of
course, the Mifkets--and we all worry, more or less, over her health.
She's weak and delicate, you know; and her life here is made so unhappy
by the separation from her parents that I'm afraid she won't be with us
very long."
He wiped a tear from his eye with a puffy paw and glanced
affectionately at the girl.
"What's the matter with her?" asked John, anxiously.
"No strength and vitality," answered the bear. "She's failing every
day, and there isn't a drug-store or a doctor on the island. But don't
tell her, whatever you do. Perhaps she doesn't realize it, and the
knowledge would only make her more unhappy."
Then the bear, who seemed remarkably tender-hearted, trotted with
bouncing footsteps into his cave, so that the little Princess for whom
he grieved might not see the tears that stood in his rubber eyes.
After that John and Chick and the Princess started to return to their
dwellings by means of a short cut through the forest, known to the
girl. John was feeling very contented in the companionship of the
two children, and reflected that in spite of the Mifkets his life on
this beautiful island bade fair to be pleasant and agreeable. But his
content was suddenly interrupted by the Cherub, who gave a loud cry and
pointed excitedly into the forest.
[Illustration]
The gingerbread man had cast but one look when he began to tremble
violently. For there before him--only a few paces away--stood his
bitter and relentless enemy, Ali Dubh the Arab!
"At last," said Ali Dubh, smiling most unpleasantly, "I have again
found you."
John was too agitated to reply; but Chick asked, boldly:
"How on earth did you ever get to this island?"
"By means of the witch," the Arab replied. "I purchased from her two
transport powders. One transported me to the Isle of Phreex, and when
you then escaped me the other powder transported me here. But I cannot
allow the gingerbread man to escape me again, because I have no more
powders, nor any way to reach the witch who makes them. So, my dear
John Dough, please accept your fate, and permit me to eat you at once."
"That I cannot do," said John, firmly; "for if I am eaten, that is the
end of me."
"How selfish!" exclaimed the Arab. "Who are you, to be considered
before Ali Dubh, son of a mighty Shiek, and chief of an ancient Tribe
of the Desert? Remember, sir, that when I have eaten you I shall gain
for myself the priceless powers of that Great Elixir contained in
your gingerbread, and will thus become the most powerful and most
intelligent man in the world, besides living forever! Dare you, sir,
allow your selfish motives to interfere with so grand a result?"
[Illustration: ALI DUBH ATTACKS JOHN]
"I dare," replied John.
"But you have nothing to say about it," continued the Arab. "You are
not your own master. You belong to me, for I purchased you from Jules
Grogrande, the baker, who made you, and I am therefore entitled to eat
you whenever I please."
"Nevertheless," answered John, "I will not be eaten if I can help it."
"Ah! but that is unjust!" protested the Arab.
"If to be unjust is to be eaten," said John, "you need not look to me
for justice. I may be wrong in this decision, but it is better to be
wrong than to be nothing."
"Then," remarked Ali Dubh, sadly, "you force me to eat you without your
consent, which it will grieve me to do."
With this he drew his terrible knife and sprang upon John Dough with
great ferocity. But in the recent encounter with Black Ooboo the
gingerbread man had learned how powerful the Elixir made him; so he
did not run this time from the Arab, but avoided the thrust of the
knife and caught the body of Ali Dubh in a strong clasp. Next moment
he had lifted him up and tossed him high into the air, as easily as he
had tossed the Mifket. The Arab alighted in the top branches of a tall
scarlet plant and clung to them in great fear lest he should fall to
the ground and be killed. Indeed, so frightened was he that he uttered
screams of terror with every breath, and forgot all about eating John
Dough in the more important thought of how he might reach safety.
"Let's run!" exclaimed Chick, grasping John's hand. "Don't mind the
Arab. If he falls it's good enough for him!"
[Illustration]
"The Mifkets will rescue him, I'm sure," added the Princess. "See!
there come some of the creatures now, with Black Ooboo at their head."
Hearing this, John hesitated no longer, but fled down another pathway
with the children, and soon left the sound of Ali Dubh's cries far
behind him.