Polychrome's Pitiful Plight
The Rain King got too much water in his basin and spilled some over the
brim. That made it rain in a certain part of the country--a real hard
shower, for a time--and sent the Rainbow scampering to the place to show
the gorgeous colors of his glorious bow as soon as the mist of rain had
passed and the sky was clear.
The coming of the Rainbow is always a joyous event to earth folk, yet few
have ever seen it close by. Usually the Rainbow is so far distant that
you can observe its splendid hues but dimly, and that is why we seldom
catch sight of the dancing Daughters of the Rainbow.
In the barren country where the rain had just fallen there appeared to
be no human beings at all; but the Rainbow appeared, just the same, and
dancing gayly upon its arch were the Rainbow's Daughters, led by the
fairylike Polychrome, who is so dainty and beautiful that no girl has
ever quite equalled her in loveliness.
Polychrome was in a merry mood and danced down the arch of the bow to
the ground, daring her sisters to follow her. Laughing and gleeful, they
also touched the ground with their twinkling feet; but all the Daughters
of the Rainbow knew that this was a dangerous pastime, so they quickly
climbed upon their bow again.
All but Polychrome. Though the sweetest and merriest of them all, she
was likewise the most reckless. Moreover, it was an unusual sensation
to pat the cold, damp earth with her rosy toes. Before she realized it
the bow had lifted and disappeared in the billowy blue sky, and here was
Polychrome standing helpless upon a rock, her gauzy draperies floating
about her like brilliant cobwebs and not a soul--fairy or mortal--to help
her regain her lost bow!
"Dear me!" she exclaimed, a frown passing across her pretty face, "I'm
caught again. This is the second time my carelessness has left me on
earth while my sisters returned to our Sky Palaces. The first time I
enjoyed some pleasant adventures, but this is a lonely, forsaken country
and I shall be very unhappy until my Rainbow comes again and I can climb
aboard. Let me think what is best to be done."
She crouched low upon the flat rock, drew her draperies about her and
bowed her head.
It was in this position that Betsy Bobbin spied Polychrome as she came
along the stony path, followed by Hank, the Princess and Shaggy. At once
the girl ran up to the radiant Daughter of the Rainbow and exclaimed:
"Oh, what a lovely, lovely creature!"
Polychrome raised her golden head. There were tears in her blue eyes.
"I'm the most miserable girl in the whole world!" she sobbed.
The others gathered around her.
"Tell us your troubles, pretty one," urged the Princess.
"I--I've lost my bow!" wailed Polychrome.
"Take me, my dear," said Shaggy Man in a sympathetic tone, thinking she
meant "beau" instead of "bow."
"I don't want you!" cried Polychrome, stamping her foot imperiously; "I
want my _Rain_bow."
"Oh; that's different," said Shaggy. "But try to forget it. When I was
young I used to cry for the Rainbow myself, but I couldn't have it. Looks
as if _you_ couldn't have it, either; so please don't cry."
Polychrome looked at him reproachfully.
"I don't like you," she said.
"No?" replied Shaggy, drawing the Love Magnet from his pocket; "not a
little bit?--just a wee speck of a like?"
"Yes, yes!" said Polychrome, clasping her hands in ecstasy as she gazed
at the enchanted talisman; "I love you, Shaggy Man!"
"Of course you do," said he calmly; "but I don't take any credit for
it. It's the Love Magnet's powerful charm. But you seem quite alone and
friendless, little Rainbow. Don't you want to join our party until you
find your father and sisters again?"
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"We don't just know that," said Betsy, taking her hand; "but we're trying
to find Shaggy's long-lost brother, who has been captured by the terrible
Metal Monarch. Won't you come with us, and help us?"
Polychrome looked from one to another of the queer party of travelers and
a bewitching smile suddenly lighted her face.
"A donkey, a mortal maid, a Rose Princess and a Shaggy Man!" she
exclaimed. "Surely you need help, if you intend to face Ruggedo."
"Do you know him, then?" inquired Betsy.
"No, indeed. Ruggedo's caverns are beneath the earth's surface, where no
Rainbow can ever penetrate. But I've heard of the Metal Monarch. He is
also called the Nome King, you know, and he has made trouble for a good
many people--mortals and fairies--in his time," said Polychrome.
"Do you fear him, then?" asked the Princess, anxiously.
"No one can harm a Daughter of the Rainbow," said Polychrome proudly.
"I'm a sky fairy."
"Then," said Betsy, quickly, "you will be able to tell us the way to
Ruggedo's cavern."
"No," returned Polychrome, shaking her head, "that is one thing I cannot
do. But I will gladly go with you and help you search for the place."
This promise delighted all the wanderers and after the Shaggy Man had
found the path again they began moving along it in a more happy mood.
The Rainbow's Daughter danced lightly over the rocky trail, no longer
sad, but with her beautiful features wreathed in smiles. Shaggy came
next, walking steadily and now and then supporting the Rose Princess, who
followed him. Betsy and Hank brought up the rear, and if she tired with
walking the girl got upon Hank's back and let the stout little donkey
carry her for awhile.
At nightfall they came to some trees that grew beside a tiny brook and
here they made camp and rested until morning. Then away they tramped,
finding berries and fruits here and there which satisfied the hunger of
Betsy, Shaggy and Hank, so that they were well content with their lot.
It surprised Betsy to see the Rose Princess partake of their food, for
she considered her a fairy; but when she mentioned this to Polychrome,
the Rainbow's Daughter explained that when Ozga was driven out of her
Rose Kingdom she ceased to be a fairy and would never again be more than
a mere mortal. Polychrome, however, was a fairy wherever she happened to
be, and if she sipped a few dewdrops by moonlight for refreshment no one
ever saw her do it.
As they continued their wandering journey, direction meant very little
to them, for they were hopelessly lost in this strange country. Shaggy
said it would be best to go toward the mountains, as the natural entrance
to Ruggedo's underground cavern was likely to be hidden in some rocky,
deserted place; but mountains seemed all around them except in the one
direction that they had come from, which led to the Rose Kingdom and the
sea. Therefore it mattered little which way they traveled.
By and by they espied a faint trail that looked like a path and after
following this for some time they reached a cross-roads. Here were many
paths, leading in various directions, and there was a signpost so old
that there were now no words upon the sign. At one side was an old well,
with a chain windlass for drawing water, yet there was no house or other
building anywhere in sight.
While the party halted, puzzled which way to proceed, the mule approached
the well and tried to look into it.
"He's thirsty," said Betsy.
"It's a dry well," remarked Shaggy. "Probably there has been no water in
it for many years. But, come; let us decide which way to travel."
No one seemed able to decide that. They sat down in a group and tried to
consider which road might be the best to take. Hank, however, could not
keep away from the well and finally he reared up on his hind legs, got
his head over the edge and uttered a loud "Hee-haw!" Betsy watched her
animal friend curiously.
"I wonder if he sees anything down there?" she said.
At this, Shaggy rose and went over to the well to investigate, and Betsy
went with him. The Princess and Polychrome, who had become fast friends,
linked arms and sauntered down one of the roads, to find an easy path.
"Really," said Shaggy, "there does seem to be something at the bottom of
this old well."
"Can't we pull it up, and see what it is?" asked the girl.
There was no bucket at the end of the windlass chain, but there was a
big hook that at one time was used to hold a bucket. Shaggy let down
this hook, dragged it around on the bottom and then pulled it up. An old
hoopskirt came with it, and Betsy laughed and threw it away. The thing
frightened Hank, who had never seen a hoopskirt before, and he kept a
good distance away from it.
Several other objects the Shaggy Man captured with the hook and drew up,
but none of these was important.
"This well seems to have been the dump for all the old rubbish in the
country," he said, letting down the hook once more. "I guess I've
captured everything now. No--the hook has caught again. Help me, Betsy!
Whatever this thing is, it's heavy."
She ran up and helped him turn the windlass and after much effort a
confused mass of copper came in sight.
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Shaggy. "Here is a surprise, indeed!"
"What is it?" inquired Betsy, clinging to the windlass and panting for
breath.
For answer the Shaggy Man grasped the bundle of copper and dumped it
upon the ground, free of the well. Then he turned it over with his foot,
spread it out, and to Betsy's astonishment the thing proved to be a
copper man.
"Just as I thought," said Shaggy, looking hard at the object. "But unless
there are two copper men in the world this is the most astonishing thing
I ever came across."
At this moment the Rainbow's Daughter and the Rose Princess approached
them, and Polychrome said:
"What have you found, Shaggy One?"
"Either an old friend, or a stranger," he replied.
"Oh, here's a sign on his back!" cried Betsy, who had knelt down to
examine the man. "Dear me; how funny! Listen to this."
Then she read the following words, engraved upon the copper plates of the
man's body:
SMITH & TINKER'S
Patent Double-Action, Extra-Responsive,
Thought-Creating, Perfect-Talking
_MECHANICAL MAN_
Fitted with our Special Clockwork Attachment.
Thinks, Speaks, Acts, and Does Everything but Live.
"Isn't he wonderful!" exclaimed the Princess.
"Yes; but here's more," said Betsy, reading from another engraved plate:
DIRECTIONS FOR USING:
For THINKING:--Wind the Clockwork Man under his left arm,
(marked No. 1).
For SPEAKING:--Wind the Clockwork Man under his right arm,
(marked No. 2).
For WALKING and ACTION:--Wind Clockwork Man in the middle of his
back, (marked No. 3).
N. B.--This Mechanism is guaranteed to work perfectly for a
thousand years.
"If he's guaranteed for a thousand years," said Polychrome, "he ought to
work yet."
"Of course," replied Shaggy. "Let's wind him up."
In order to do this they were obliged to set the copper man upon his
feet, in an upright position, and this was no easy task. He was inclined
to topple over, and had to be propped again and again. The girls assisted
Shaggy, and at last Tik-Tok seemed to be balanced and stood alone upon
his broad feet.
"Yes," said Shaggy, looking at the copper man carefully, "this must be,
indeed, my old friend Tik-Tok, whom I left ticking merrily in the Land of
Oz. But how he came to this lonely place, and got into that old well, is
surely a mystery."
"If we wind him, perhaps he will tell us," suggested Betsy. "Here's the
key, hanging to a hook on his back. What part of him shall I wind up
first?"
"His thoughts, of course," said Polychrome, "for it requires thought to
speak or move intelligently."
So Betsy wound him under his left arm, and at once little flashes of
light began to show in the top of his head, which was proof that he had
begun to think.
"Now, then," said Shaggy, "wind up his phonograph."
"What's that?" she asked.
"Why, his talking-machine. His thoughts may be interesting, but they
don't tell us anything."
So Betsy wound the copper man under his right arm, and then from the
interior of his copper body came in jerky tones the words: "Ma-ny thanks!"
"Hurrah!" cried Shaggy, joyfully, and he slapped Tik-Tok upon the back
in such a hearty manner that the copper man lost his balance and tumbled
to the ground in a heap. But the clockwork that enabled him to speak had
been wound up and he kept saying: "Pick-me-up! Pick-me-up! Pick-me-up!"
until they had again raised him and balanced him upon his feet, when he
added politely: "Ma-ny thanks!"
"He won't be self-supporting until we wind up his action," remarked
Shaggy; so Betsy wound it, as tight as she could--for the key turned
rather hard--and then Tik-Tok lifted his feet, marched around in a circle
and ended by stopping before the group and making them all a low bow.
"How in the world did you happen to be in that well, when I left you safe
in Oz?" inquired Shaggy.
"It is a long sto-ry," replied Tik-Tok, "but I'll tell it in a few words.
Af-ter you had gone in search of your broth-er, Oz-ma saw you wan-der-ing
in strange lands when-ev-er she looked in her mag-ic pic-ture, and she
also saw your broth-er in the Nome King's cav-ern; so she sent me to tell
you where to find your broth-er and told me to help you if I could. The
Sor-cer-ess, Glin-da the Good, trans-port-ed me to this place in the wink
of an eye; but here I met the Nome King himself--old Rug-ge-do, who is
called in these parts the Met-al Mon-arch. Rug-ge-do knew what I had come
for, and he was so an-gry that he threw me down the well. Af-ter my works
ran down I was help-less un-til you came a-long and pulled me out a-gain.
Ma-ny thanks."
"This is, indeed, good news," said Shaggy. "I suspected that my brother
was the prisoner of Ruggedo; but now I know it. Tell us, Tik-Tok, how
shall we get to the Nome King's underground cavern?"
"The best way is to walk," said Tik-Tok. "We might crawl, or jump, or
roll o-ver and o-ver un-til we get there; but the best way is to walk."
"I know; but which road shall we take?"
"My ma-chin-er-y is-n't made to tell that," replied Tik-Tok.
"There is more than one entrance to the underground cavern," said
Polychrome; "but old Ruggedo has cleverly concealed every opening, so
that earth dwellers can not intrude in his domain. If we find our way
underground at all, it will be by chance."
"Then," said Betsy, "let us select any road, haphazard, and see where it
leads us."
"That seems sensible," declared the Princess. "It may require a lot of
time for us to find Ruggedo, but we have more time than anything else."
"If you keep me wound up," said Tik-Tok, "I will last a thou-sand years."
"Then the only question to decide is which way to go," added Shaggy,
looking first at one road and then at another.
But while they stood hesitating, a peculiar sound reached their ears--a
sound like the tramping of many feet.
"What's coming?" cried Betsy; and then she ran to the left-hand road and
glanced along the path. "Why, it's an army!" she exclaimed. "What shall
we do, hide or run?"
"Stand still," commanded Shaggy. "I'm not afraid of an army. If they
prove to be friendly, they can help us; if they are enemies, I'll show
them the Love Magnet."
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