Ruggedo Reforms
It did not take them long to regain the royal cavern of the Nome King,
where Kaliko ordered served to them the nicest refreshments the place
afforded.
Ruggedo had come trailing along after the rest of the party and while no
one paid any attention to the old King they did not offer any objection
to his presence or command him to leave them. He looked fearfully to
see if the eggs were still guarding the entrance, but they had now
disappeared; so he crept into the cavern after the others and humbly
squatted down in a corner of the room.
There Betsy discovered him. All of the little girl's companions were
now so happy at the success of Shaggy's quest for his brother, and the
laughter and merriment seemed so general, that Betsy's heart softened
toward the friendless old man who had once been their bitter enemy, and
she carried to him some of the food and drink.
Ruggedo's eyes filled with tears at this unexpected kindness. He took the
child's hand in his own and pressed it gratefully.
"Look here, Kaliko," said Betsy, addressing the new King, "what's the use
of being hard on Ruggedo? All his magic power is gone, so he can't do any
more harm, and I'm sure he's sorry he acted so badly to everybody."
"Are you?" asked Kaliko, looking down at his former master.
"I am," said Ruggedo. "The girl speaks truly. I'm sorry and I'm harmless.
I don't want to wander through the wide world, on top of the ground, for
I'm a nome. No nome can ever be happy any place but underground."
"That being the case," said Kaliko, "I will let you stay here as long as
you behave yourself; but, if you try to act badly again, I shall drive
you out, as Tititi-Hoochoo has commanded, and you'll have to wander."
"Never fear. I'll behave," promised Ruggedo. "It is hard work being a
King, and harder still to be a good King. But now that I am a common nome
I am sure I can lead a blameless life."
They were all pleased to hear this and to know that Ruggedo had really
reformed.
"I hope he'll keep his word," whispered Betsy to Shaggy; "but if he gets
bad again we will be far away from the Nome Kingdom and Kaliko will have
to 'tend to the old nome himself."
Polychrome had been a little restless during the last hour or two. The
lovely Daughter of the Rainbow knew that she had now done all in her
power to assist her earth friends, and so she began to long for her sky
home.
"I think," she said, after listening intently, "that it is beginning to
rain. The Rain King is my uncle, you know, and perhaps he has read my
thoughts and is going to help me. Anyway, I must take a look at the sky
and make sure."
So she jumped up and ran through the passage to the outer entrance, and
they all followed after her and grouped themselves on a ledge of the
mountain-side. Sure enough, dark clouds had filled the sky and a slow,
drizzling rain had set in.
"It can't last for long," said Shaggy, looking upward, "and when it stops
we shall lose the sweet little fairy we have learned to love. Alas," he
continued, after a moment, "the clouds are already breaking in the west,
and--see!--isn't that the Rainbow coming?"
Betsy didn't look at the sky; she looked at Polychrome, whose happy,
smiling face surely foretold the coming of her father to take her to the
Cloud Palaces. A moment later a gleam of sunshine flooded the mountain
and a gorgeous Rainbow appeared.
With a cry of gladness Polychrome sprang upon a point of rock and held
out her arms. Straightway the Rainbow descended until its end was at her
very feet, when with a graceful leap she sprang upon it and was at once
clasped in the arms of her radiant sisters, the Daughters of the Rainbow.
But Polychrome released herself to lean over the edge of the glowing arch
and nod, and smile and throw a dozen kisses to her late comrades.
"Good-bye!" she called, and they all shouted "Good-bye!" in return and
waved their hands to their pretty friend.
Slowly the magnificent bow lifted and melted into the sky, until the eyes
of the earnest watchers saw only fleecy clouds flitting across the blue.
"I'm dreadful sorry to see Polychrome go," said Betsy, who felt like
crying; "but I s'pose she'll be a good deal happier with her sisters in
the sky palaces."
"To be sure," returned Shaggy, nodding gravely. "It's her home, you know,
and those poor wanderers who, like ourselves, have no home, can realize
what that means to her."
"Once," said Betsy, "I, too, had a home. Now, I've only--only--dear old
Hank!"
[Illustration]
She twined her arms around her shaggy friend who was not human, and he
said: "Hee-haw!" in a tone that showed he understood her mood. And the
shaggy friend who was human stroked the child's head tenderly and said:
"You're wrong about that, Betsy dear. I will never desert you."
"Nor I!" exclaimed Shaggy's brother, in earnest tones.
The little girl looked up at them gratefully, and her eyes smiled through
their tears.
"All right," she said. "It's raining again, so let's go back into the
cavern."
Rather soberly, for all loved Polychrome and would miss her, they
re├źntered the dominions of the Nome King.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]