Transcriber's notes
Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently corrected. A list of
other changes made can be found at the end of the book.
Mark-up: _italics_
The King _of_ Gee-Whiz
[Illustration: They flew on and on _Page 128_]
The King _of_ Gee-Whiz
_By_ Emerson Hough
Author of The Mississippi Bubble The Law of the Land, etc.
With Lyrics by
Wilbur D. Nesbit
Author of The Trail to Boyland, etc.
Illustrated by
Oscar E. Cesare
Indianapolis
The Bobbs-Merrill Company Publishers
Copyright 1906 By Emerson Hough
PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOKBINDERS AND PRINTERS BROOKLYN, N. Y.
Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
I The Widow Pickle's Twins and Their Peculiar Hair 1
II The Widow Pickle's Strange Visitor 4
III The Enchanted Banjo 9
IV The Search in the Cupboard 12
V The Gee-Whiz Submarine Express 18
VI The Journey Through the Air 22
VII The Journey Through the Water 27
VIII The Explosion of the Submarine Express 37
IX The Arrival at the Island 41
X The King of Gee-Whiz 44
XI The Royal Hereditary Twins 49
XII The Gold Waffle-Iron 57
XIII The Fairy Telephone 66
XIV Jankow the Dragon 72
XV The Golden Ladder to Fairy-Land 79
XVI The King and the Wicked Fairy 85
XVII The King and the Rubber Tree 92
XVIII The King Loses His Shadow 97
XIX Troubles at the Royal Palace 103
XX The Disappearance of the Royal Twins 109
XXI The Journey to Fairy-Land 114
XXII The Bumblebee Express 120
XXIII To the Valley of the Fairies 127
XXIV The Royal and Official Council 131
XXV The Fairy City of Almalena 141
XXVI The Journey to Candy-Town 149
XXVII The Valley of Gold 163
XXVIII The Mother of Gold 173
XXIX The Secret Wish of the Fairy Queen 179
XXX The Queen Recovers the Shadow 184
XXXI The Messengers of the Fairy Queen 191
XXXII The Return to the Island 196
XXXIII The Happy Ending of the Story 201
The King _of_ Gee-Whiz
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
THE WIDOW PICKLE'S TWINS AND THEIR PECULIAR HAIR
Once, several years ago, there lived in a city far from the sea-shore a
widow by the name of Mrs. Pickle, who had Twins named Zuzu Pickle and
Lulu Pickle. At first glance, these Twins seemed much like ordinary
twins in appearance. Both had blue eyes, pretty curved lips, and rosy
cheeks; and as they were quite alike in size, it may seem that, like
many other twins, they must have been hard to tell apart. Such, however,
was not the case. Indeed, they could not well be confused with each
other, for, aside from the fact that Zuzu was a boy and Lulu a girl,
one had green hair and the other blue. This peculiar color of their hair
made them quite different from most twins, and led to a great many
strange circumstances, some of which are described in this story.
The father of these Twins was Aurelius Pickle, an innocent and good man,
who for many years was known as a very skilful chemist. Like many other
chemists, he wasted a great deal of time in doing things which did not
bring in any money. For instance, he worked many years on a compound
intended to change a person's hair from any color to a rich, dark brown
or to a deep and shining auburn, at will. Aurelius Pickle was a poor
man, and hence did not have the means for his researches that he
desired. He often told his wife that it was fortunate they had Twins
with such long hair, for thus he could make all the experiments for the
Twofold-tint Compound, which was what he intended to call the
hair-coloring fluid on which he was working. Whenever he made a new
kettleful of this, he would try it on the long rich hair of the Twins.
At last he hit upon two new mixtures, one or the other of which he felt
sure would be just the thing. He tried one on the hair of Lulu and the
other on that of Zuzu. To his great surprise, the hair of Zuzu became a
fine pale green, while that of Lulu turned at the same time to a pale
blue, much the color of the ribbons around the neck of a new baby.
The Twins, seeing themselves in the glass, were much pleased with their
appearance, and said they felt sure no one in town had hair like theirs;
which in all likelihood was true. With their father, however, it was
quite otherwise. Indeed, what he thought was never fully known. He was
taken suddenly ill, and sank back upon his couch, where he rapidly
became worse, and could get no further than to ask his children to call
their mother. When she appeared, Aurelius Pickle smiled feebly and
motioned her toward the cupboard where he kept his Chemical Substances.
He could do no more.
This, in brief, is how there came to be such a person as the Widow
Pickle. It is not unusual for widows to have Twins, but seldom could be
found such Twins as these.
[Illustration: Aurelius Pickle]
[Illustration]