THE DESCENT OF THE ROLY-ROGUES.
King Bud and Princess Fluff were leading very happy and peaceful lives
in their beautiful palace. All wars and dangers seemed at an end, and
there was nothing to disturb their content.
All the gold that was needed the royal purse-bearer was able to supply
from his overflowing purse. The gigantic General Tollydob became famous
throughout the world, and no nation dared attack the army of Noland. The
talking dog of old Tallydab made every one wonder, and people came many
miles to see Ruffles and hear him speak. It was said that all this good
fortune had been brought to Noland by the pretty Princess Fluff, who was
a favorite of the fairies; and the people loved her on this account as
well as for her bright and sunny disposition.
[Illustration: “THE GREAT BALL STRUCK THE FIELD NEAR THEM.”]
King Bud caused his subjects some little anxiety, to be sure; for they
never could tell what he was liable to do next, except that he was sure
to do something unexpected. But much is forgiven a king; and if Bud made
some pompous old nobleman stand on his head, to amuse a mob of people,
he would give him a good dinner afterward and fill his purse with gold
to make up for the indignity. Fluff often reproved her brother for such
pranks, but Bud’s soul was flooded with mischief, and it was hard for
him to resist letting a little of the surplus escape now and then.
After all, the people were fairly content and prosperous, and no one was
at all prepared for the disasters soon to overtake them.
One day, while King Bud was playing at ball with some of his courtiers
on a field outside the city gates, the first warning of trouble reached
him. Bud had batted a ball high into the air, and while looking upward
for it to descend he saw another ball bound from the plain at the top of
the North Mountains, fly into the air, and then sink gradually toward
him. As it approached, it grew bigger and bigger, until it assumed
mammoth proportions; and then, while the courtiers screamed in terror,
the great ball struck the field near them, bounced high into the air,
and came down directly upon the sharp point of one of the palace towers,
where it stuck fast with a yell that sounded almost human.
For some moments Bud and his companions were motionless through surprise
and fear; then they rushed into the city and stood among the crowd of
people which had congregated at the foot of the tower to stare at the
big ball impaled upon its point. Once in a while, two arms, two short
legs, and a head would dart out from the ball and wiggle frantically,
and then the yell would be repeated and the head and limbs withdrawn
swiftly into the ball.
It was all so curious that the people were justified in staring at it in
amazement; for certainly no one had ever seen or heard of a Roly-Rogue
before, or even known such a creature existed.
Finally, as no one else could reach the steeple-top, Aunt Rivette flew
into the air and circled slowly around the ball. When next its head was
thrust out, she called:
“Are you a mud-turtle or a man?”
“I’ll show you which, if I get hold of you,” answered the Roly-Rogue,
fiercely.
“Where did you come from?” asked Aunt Rivette, taking care the wiggling
arms did not grab her.
[Illustration: “‘WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?’ ASKED AUNT RIVETTE.”]
“That is none of your business,” said the RolyRogue. “But I didn’t
intend to come, that you may depend upon.”
“Are you hurt?” she inquired, seeing that the struggles of the creature
made him spin around upon the steeple-point like a windmill.
“No, I’m not hurt at all,” declared the Roly-Rogue; “but I’d like to
know how to get down.”
“What would you do if we helped you to get free?” asked Aunt Rivette.
“I’d fight every one of those idiots who are laughing at me down there!”
said the creature, its eyes flashing wickedly.
“Then you’d best stay where you are,” returned old Rivette, who flew
back to earth again to tell Bud what the Roly-Rogue had said.
“I believe that is the best place for him,” said Bud; “so we’ll let him
stay where he is. He’s not very ornamental, I must say, but he’s very
safe up there on top of the steeple.”
“We might have him gilded,” proposed the old woman, “and then he’d look
better.”
“I’ll think it over,” said the king, and he went away to finish his ball
game.
The people talked and wondered about the queer creature on the steeple,
but no one could say where it came from or what it was; they were
naturally much puzzled.
The next day was bright with sunshine; so, early in the forenoon, Bud
and Fluff had the royal cook fill their baskets with good things to eat,
and set out to picnic on the bank of the river that separated Noland
from the kingdom of Ix. They rode ponies, to reach the river sooner than
by walking; and their only companions were Tallydab, the lord high
steward, and his talking dog, Ruffles.
It was after this picnic party had passed over the mountain, and were
securely hidden from any one in the city of Nole, that the ruler of the
Roly-Rogues and his thousands of followers hurled themselves down from
their land above the clouds and began bounding toward the plain below.
The people first heard a roar that sounded like distant thunder; and
when they looked toward the North Mountains they saw the air black with
tiny bouncing balls that seemed to drop from the drifting clouds which
always had obscured the highest peak.
But, although appearing small when first seen, these balls grew rapidly
larger as they came nearer; and then, with sharp reports like
pistol-shots, they began dropping upon the plain by dozens and hundreds
and then thousands.
As soon as they touched the ground they bounded upward again, like
rubber balls the children throw upon the floor; but each bound was less
violent than the one preceding it, until finally within the streets of
the city and upon all the fields surrounding it lay the thousands of
Roly-Rogues that had fallen from the mountain-peak.
At first they lay still, as if stunned by their swift journey and
collision with the hard earth; but after a few seconds they recovered,
thrust out their heads and limbs, and scrambled upon their flat feet.
Then the savage Roly-Rogues uttered hoarse shouts of joy, for they were
safely arrived at the city they had seen from afar, and the audacious
adventure was a success.