THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ROYAL TWINS
In the meantime, it hardly need be said, the Wicked Fairy had fled far
away with the King's shadow, so that there was not the slightest use in
looking for it about the palace. In the meantime, also, the advice of
the Wicked Fairy to the Twins had been productive of further trouble.
Hardly had the two well arisen from their beds before they began to
whisper together about certain plans.
First, they got possession of the Enchanted Banjo; for it hardly need be
said that they now proposed a journey to the Valley of the Fairies, and
without the Banjo they could not put the Dragon Jankow to sleep. The
Private Secretary, excited over the condition of the King, did not miss
the Banjo, so Lulu and Zuzu had no difficulty in taking it away.
"Pray, where are you going with me?" asked the Enchanted Banjo of the
Twins.
"Where should we be going," replied Zuzu, "if not to the Valley of the
Fairies? Will you not go with us?"
"With all my heart," said the Enchanted Banjo, "for it was in that
Valley that I was born. You may depend upon me; but we shall need to be
very careful indeed."
By this time, as the Twins walked on their way through the forest, they
began to hear the voice of the Dragon--"Arrnghgh! Arrnghgh!"--but they
went on as bravely as they could, and presently were directly before the
Dragon, which again reared and rattled its long body covered with heavy
scales. This was a fearful sight, but Zuzu and Lulu tightly grasped the
Enchanted Banjo, and it began to play:
THE LULLABY OF ENCHANTMENT
Ho, Little Wind, come out of the west
And whisper the song that is laden with rest.
The world is a-weary,
The day has been long
So sing for my dearie
A lullaby-song.
Lullaby, lullaby, soft and low,
For that is the way that the Fairy-horns blow;
And thither and hither and thither and here
The Fairies bring dreams for the sleep of my dear.
Lullaby, lullaby, low.
Ho, Little Wind, you may creep, if you will
Where the willows bend low at the foot of the hill;
The flowers are closing,
They drowse in the dew--
And dozing, and dozing,
They wait now for you.
Lullaby, lullaby, soft and deep;
The stars far away now are climbing the steep,
And out of the silence is wafted a croon
That murmurs in mellowness under the moon.
Sleep-i-ly, sleep-i-ly, sleep.
At the first verse of this song, the Dragon began to beat time with his
good foreleg; then it began to nod a little, and then it yawned very
wide and deep, until one could see very far down into its hollow throat.
"Dear me!" said the Dragon, "I feel very drowsy this morning. I think I
must have a bit of spring fever."
"Play again," whispered Zuzu to the Enchanted Banjo. So the Banjo played
again:
Ho, Little Wind, sing it gently and sweet;
Come, hum through the vines till the echoes repeat
The words you are singing,
And on through the night
Go swinging and swinging
Away to the light.
Lullaby, lullaby, low and low--
That is the way that the Fairy-songs go,
And that is the way that the sleepy-song sighs
Till the magical spell sets its seal on our eyes.
Lullaby, lullaby, low.
By this time, the Dragon was openly nodding at its post of duty. Its
head would fall down, and then it would waken and jerk its head upright
again and frown at them as though they had accused it of being asleep
when nothing of the sort was true. At last, it laid its head down upon a
rock for a pillow and went fast asleep, snoring so loudly that it might
have been heard at least the distance of a mile.
"Quick! Quick!" cried Zuzu, when they saw the great Dragon was indeed
asleep. "Give me the screw-driver from the lunch basket, quick!"
Lulu felt in the basket which she carried and found the screw-driver,
and at once Zuzu sprang to the side of the Dragon and with a few strokes
unscrewed the wooden leg of the Dragon close up to the shoulder.
"Now," cried Zuzu, "hurry, and soon we shall be at the Valley."
So now they stepped close to the side of the sleeping Dragon and edged
past through the long, narrow passageway where the great tail lay curled
up. They jumped close against the wall whenever the Dragon stirred in
his sleep, and for the last few paces of the passage they almost ran.
But the Dragon did not waken and they got through in safety. Then, to
their great surprise, they found themselves directly at the top of a
long, narrow, golden ladder, which fell straight down, down from the
edge of a break in the rocky floor. It extended down farther than they
could see, until finally its two sides seemed to unite in a shining
thread of gold far below.
"This," said Zuzu, "must be the Fairy Ladder. Quick, before the Dragon
wakens!"
[Illustration]