IN THE HOLLOW TREE
At first it seemed perfectly dark inside the tree, but after the
children had rubbed out of their eyes the soft powdery dust which
their fall had stirred up, they made out the dull glow of a dying
fire, a real one in a real fireplace this time, and no plum-pudding
affair. From the amount of furniture they knocked against in moving
about they knew they must be in somebody's house.
"Oh, dear," whispered Ann, "I hope the owner is not at home!"
Rudolf said nothing, for he was groping about after the poker. He
found it presently and stirred the embers into quite a cheerful blaze.
By this light the children were able to see dimly what the room was
like. It was circular in shape and the walls and ceiling were covered
with rough bark. The floor was of earth, covered with a thick carpet
of dry leaves. There were several chairs and a round table all made of
boughs with the bark left on and the mantel-piece was built of
curiously twisted branches. On it stood a round wooden clock and a
pair of wooden candlesticks. A pair of spectacles lay on the top of a
pile of large fat books upon the table.
"I'd like to know whose house this is," said Rudolf.
"It's Manunderthebed's house," said Peter calmly.
"How do you know?" cried Ann and Rudolf.
"'Cause I _do_ know," said Peter.
"Oh, Peter, you naughty boy, you are so provoking!" exclaimed Ann,
hugging him. "Tell sister what you mean, and what you've been doing
and why you ran away to find those horrid creatures!"
"Aren't horrid," said Peter, wriggling away from her, "and '_tis_
Manunderthebed's house, 'cause he came out by the little door when the
Bad Dreams brought me. He came out of his little door, and he said
'Peter, will you come to my party?'"
"But there isn't any little door now," interrupted Rudolf, "anyway,
_I_ can't find it." He had taken a candle from the mantel-piece, had
lighted it at the fire, and was making a careful search of the walls.
No trace of a door or any opening except the fireplace could be seen.
"It's a magic door," said Peter cheerfully. "Manunderthebed touched
something with his foot and that opened it and then he pushed you and
you pushed me and I bumped into Ann, and here we are."
"He's shut us up on purpose!" cried Ann. "It's just like him."
"He's shut us up to starve us into submission, like they do in books,"
said Rudolf gloomily.
"I'm starved now," began Peter, "and that was the very _nicest_ pie!"
But the other two were much provoked with Peter for having led them
into such a fix, and they would not listen to him any longer. By
Rudolf's orders, Ann lighted the other candle and both searched again
with the greatest care for some trace of the secret door. At last
Ann's sharp eyes spied not a door, but a small opening in the wall far
above their heads, like a little round window not much bigger than a
knothole. Rudolf climbed upon the table, but found he was hardly tall
enough to look through, so he was obliged to hoist Peter upon his
shoulders and let him have first look. When the little boy got his
eye to the window he gave such a shout of surprise that he nearly
knocked Rudolf and himself completely off the table.
"Hush," warned his brother, "you mustn't make a noise! Can you see
what the Bad Dreams are doing?"
"Yes, I can see 'em," whispered Peter.
"They're all sitting round the fire and Manunderthebed is making a
speech."
"What's he saying?" asked Ann anxiously.
"I can't hear, but he's awful cross. Now the Little Black Man has
gone--now he's come back again, and--oh!"
"What is it? What is it?" cried Ann and Rudolf.
"He's got three animals on a chain--a bear, an'--an'--a lion--an' a
great big white wolf!"
"Oh, Peter, darling, you _know_ they're only dream animals!" Ann
hastily reminded him.
"Well, they're most as nice as real ones, they're awful fierce--"
"What's the Little Black Man doing with 'em?" interrupted Rudolf.
"He's letting them loose," said Peter, "and they're smelling round--"
"He's putting them by the tree to guard us--that's what he's doing,"
broke in Rudolf.
"To swallow us up if we ever do escape!" wailed Ann, now thoroughly
frightened. "Oh, Rudolf, whatever shall we do?"
Rudolf hastily lowered Peter to the floor and got down off the table.
"Ann," said he, "there must be another way out. In books there always
are two ways out of secret rooms, and this," he added cheerfully, "is
the bookiest thing that's happened to us yet. Come, let's look again
for it."
He and Ann began the search once more, going over and over the walls
by the light of their candles, but without any success. Peter was
nosing about by himself in a little recess by the fireplace, and soon
the other two heard him give a gleeful chuckle.
"What is it? Have you found the spring of the secret door?" cried
Rudolf, running to him.
"Nope," said Peter. "It's nicer than that, it's a cake. I found it
right here on this little shelf that you went past and never noticed."
"Oh, Peter," Ann scolded, "I think you are the very greediest little
boy I ever knew!"
"That cake belongs to Manunderthebed, and you know it," said Rudolf
sternly. "It's a dream cake, of course, a Bad-dream cake, so you can't
eat it."
Peter clasped the small round cake tightly to his breast.
"It's a nice seed-cake like Cook makes," he said stubbornly, "and I
_must_ eat it."
"The seeds in it are poppy-seeds," explained Rudolf, "and you'll go
to sleep and dream Bad Dreams forever, like the Knight-mare said, so
you _sha'n't_ eat it!" He tried to get the cake away from his naughty
little brother who only grasped it the more tightly. There would have
been a quarrel, and a fierce one, if it had not been for Ann.
"I tell you," said she, "let's try it on the animals!"
This seemed a really bright idea, and Rudolf agreed at once, though
Peter considered it wasteful. Ann had to coax some time, but at last
she persuaded him to part with his cake. Rudolf would not trust Peter
with the distributing, so he piled three fat dictionaries that lay on
the table one on top of another and climbed upon them himself,
managing in this way to bring his eye to the level of the little
window. The plum-pudding fire was burning very low by this time, and
Rudolf could barely make out the forms of some of the Bad Dreams who
were stretched on the ground around it.
Suddenly he gave a great start and nearly tumbled off the
dictionaries, for he found himself staring down into the yellow hungry
eyes of the big white wolf. Peter had described him truly, he was very
fierce, wolfier-looking, Rudolf thought, than any of his kind the boy
had seen in the dens at the park. Now the beast gave a low growl and
opened his great red mouth. Rudolf dropped a generous bit of cake
straight into it. The big jaws closed with a snap, and the white wolf
looked up for more. By this time the other beasts had discovered the
presence of refreshments, and came slinking forward, squatting
themselves one on either side of their companion.
Rudolf could hardly help a squeal of surprise at the sight of the
yellow lion and the big shambling bear. He remembered in time, though,
to smother it, and hastily divided the rest of the cake between the
two animals. When they had licked it up greedily, Rudolf turned his
attention again to the white wolf, and this time he could not suppress
an exclamation of delight.
"Oh, what _is_ it, tell us," cried Ann, while Peter jumped up and down
impatiently, begging to be allowed to see.
"He's going to sleep--the white wolf is," whispered Rudolf. "He's
rocking from side to side--he can hardly stand up--his red tongue is
hanging out of his mouth--he looks too silly for anything--now he's
rolled over on his back--now he's snoring!"
"And the other animals--the lion and the bear?"
"They are lying down, too, they will be asleep in a moment! There,
Peter, didn't I tell you it was a dream cake?"
But even then Peter did not appear grateful. He went back to the shelf
where he had found the cake and stood looking at it wistfully, as if
he hoped he would find another. Rudolf came up behind him and looked
over his shoulder.
"It's no use," said Peter mournfully, "there isn't any more."
"There's this!" cried Rudolf triumphantly, and reaching over Peter he
pressed a little round knob of wood half hidden under the shelf.
Instantly the whole shelf, together with a large piece of the wall,
swung aside, and the children were standing on the threshold of just
such another little door as that by which they had entered, only on
the other side of the tree. For a moment the three children
hesitated, half afraid to believe in their good luck, and then,
taking hold of hands they stepped softly out of their prison. Almost
at their feet lay the great white wolf, the yellow lion, and the
shaggy bear, all snoring in concert. Carefully avoiding them, the
children made for the thick woods ahead, not caring where they went so
long as they could escape from their enemies. The big tree was now
between them and the plum-pudding fire around which the Bad Dreams lay
asleep, so it really seemed as if they had a good chance of getting
away unseen.
"Hurry, hurry," Rudolf whispered, dragging Ann by the hand. "If we can
only get to those thick trees I am sure we shall be safe."
"If they only don't wake up!" she panted.
Just at that exciting moment Peter had to make trouble--as usual. He
stumbled and fell over a twisted root, hurt his knee, and gave a loud
angry squeal. Rudolf clapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him to
his feet, but it was too late--they were discovered. A tall form shot
up out of the grass just behind them, and instantly a loud war-whoop
rang through the woods.
"It's Thunder-snorer--it's the Indian," Rudolf cried. "Run for your
lives!"
[Illustration]
[Illustration]