ZIXI DISGUISES HERSELF.
Now, as might be expected, Queen Zixi lost no time in endeavoring to
secure the magic cloak. The people of Ix were not on friendly terms with
the people of Noland; so she could not visit Princess Fluff openly; and
she knew it was useless to try to borrow so priceless a treasure as a
cloak which had been the gift of the fairies. But one way remained to
her—to steal the precious robe.
So she began her preparations by telling her people she would be absent
from Ix for a month, and then she retired to her own room and mixed, by
the rules of witchcraft, a black mess in a silver kettle, and boiled it
until it was as thick as molasses. Of this inky mixture she swallowed
two teaspoonfuls every hour for six hours, muttering an incantation each
time. At the end of the six hours her golden hair had become brown and
her black eyes had become blue; and this was quite sufficient to
disguise the pretty queen so that no one would recognize her. Then she
took off her richly embroidered queenly robes, and hung them up in a
closet, putting on a simple gingham dress, a white apron, and a plain
hat such as common people of her country wore.
[Illustration: “OF THIS INKY MIXTURE SHE SWALLOWED TWO TEASPOONFULS
EVERY HOUR FOR SIX HOURS.”]
When these preparations had been made, Zixi slipped out the back door of
the palace and walked through the city to the forest; and, although she
met many people, no one suspected that she was the queen.
It was rough walking in the forest; but she got through at last, and
reached the bank of the river. Here a fisherman was found, who consented
to ferry her across in his boat; and afterward Zixi climbed the high
mountain and came down the other side into the kingdom of Noland.
She rented a neat little cottage just at the north gateway of the city
of Nole, and by the next morning there was a sign over the doorway which
announced:
MISS TRUST’S
ACADEMY OF WITCHERY
FOR YOUNG LADIES.
Then Zixi had printed on green paper a lot of handbills which read as
follows:
Miss Trust,
A pupil of the celebrated Professor Hatrack of Hooktown-on-the-Creek,
is now located at Woodbine Villa (North Gateway of Nole), and is
prepared to teach the young ladies of this city the _Arts of
Witchcraft_ according to the most modern and approved methods. Terms
moderate. References required.
These handbills she hired a little boy to carry to all the aristocratic
houses in Nole, and to leave one on each door-step. Several were left on
the different door-steps of the palace, and one of these came to the
notice of Princess Fluff.
“How funny!” she exclaimed on reading it. “I’ll go, and take all my
eight maids with me. It will be no end of fun to learn to be a witch.”
Many other people in Nole applied for instruction in “Miss Trust’s
Academy,” but Zixi told them all she had no vacancies. When, however,
Fluff and her maids arrived, she welcomed them with the utmost
cordiality, and consented to give them their first lesson at once.
When she had seated them in her parlor, Zixi said:
“If you wish to be a witch,
You must speak an incantation:
You must with deliberation
Say: ‘The when of why is which!’”
“What does that mean?” asked Fluff.
“No one knows,” answered Zixi; “and therefore it is a fine incantation.
Now, all the class will please repeat after me the following words:
“Erig-a-ma-role, erig-a-ma-ree;
Jig-ger-nut, jog-ger-nit, que-jig-ger-ee.
Sim-mer-kin, sam-mer-kin, sem-mer-ga-roo;
Zil-li-pop, zel-li-pop, lol-li-pop-loo!”
They tried to do this, but their tongues stumbled constantly over the
syllables, and one of the maids began to laugh.
“Stop laughing, please!” cried Zixi, rapping her ruler on the table.
“This is no laughing matter, I assure you, young ladies. The science of
witchcraft is a solemn and serious study, and I cannot teach it you
unless you behave.”
“But what’s it all about?” asked Fluff.
“I’ll explain what it’s about to-morrow,” said Zixi, with dignity. “Now,
here are two important incantations which you must learn by heart before
you come to to-morrow’s lesson. If you can speak them correctly and
rapidly, and above all very distinctly, I will then allow you to perform
a wonderful witchery.”
She handed them each a slip of paper on which were written the
incantations, as follows:
Incantation No. 1.
(To be spoken only in the presence of a black cat.)
This is that, and that is this;
Bliss is blest, and blest is bliss.
Who is that, and what is who;
Shed is shod, and shud is shoe!
Incantation No. 2.
(To be spoken when the clock strikes twelve.)
What is which, and which is what;
Pat is pet, and pit is pat;
Hid is hide, and hod is hid;
Did is deed, and done is did!
“Now, there is one thing more,” continued Zixi; “and this is very
important. You must each wear the handsomest and most splendid cloak you
can secure when you come to me to-morrow morning.”
This request made Princess Fluff thoughtful all the way home, for she at
once remembered her magic cloak, and wondered if the strange Miss Trust
knew she possessed it.
She asked Bud about it that night, and the young king said:
“I’m afraid this witch-woman is some one trying to get hold of your
magic cloak. I would advise you not to wear it when she is around, or,
more than likely, she may steal it.”
[Illustration: “‘NOW, THERE IS ONE THING MORE,’ CONTINUED ZIXI, ‘AND
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.’”]
So Fluff did not wear her magic cloak the next day, but selected in its
place a pretty blue cape edged with gold. When she and her maids reached
the cottage, Zixi cried out angrily:
“That is not your handsomest cloak. Go home at once and get the other
one!”
“I won’t,” said Fluff, shortly.
“You must! You must!” insisted the witch-woman. “I can teach you nothing
unless you wear the other cloak.”
“How did you know I had another cloak?” asked the princess,
suspiciously.
“By witchcraft, perhaps,” said Zixi, mildly. “If you want to be a witch
you must wear it.”
“I don’t want to be a witch,” declared Fluff. “Come, girls, come; let’s
go home at once.”
“Wait—wait!” implored Zixi, eagerly. “If you’ll get the cloak I will
teach you the most wonderful things in the world! I will make you the
most powerful witch that ever lived!”
“I don’t believe you,” replied Fluff; and then she marched back to the
palace with all her maids.
But Zixi knew her plot had failed; so she locked up the cottage and went
back again to Ix, climbing the mountain and crossing the river and
threading the forest with angry thoughts and harsh words.
[Illustration: “‘THAT IS NOT YOUR HANDSOMEST CLOAK. GO HOME AT ONCE AND
GET THE OTHER ONE!’”]
Yet the queen was more determined than ever to secure the magic cloak.
As soon as she had reëntered her palace and by more incantations had
again transformed her hair to yellow and her eyes to black and dressed
herself in her royal robes, she summoned her generals and counselors and
told them to make ready to war upon the kingdom of Noland.