GRAN’MA TWEAKS OLD JINGLES’ NOSE
Gran’ma, Janey and Mrs. Tiptoe rushed to the Princess and, raising her
between them, they half carried and half dragged her back down the
marble steps.
The Chief of Detectives, the Dancing Master, Johnny and Gran’pa sprang
up the steps to meet the Magician. But the Chief of Detectives and
Johnny caught their feet together and went tumbling to the foot of the
hard stone steps, where they lay dazed.
The Dancing Master, who was very active, sprang up the steps two at a
time and met the Magician on the broad landing and attacked him,
although he scarcely reached to the Magician’s waist.
Old Jingles struck at the Dancing Master with his cane, but the Dancing
Master dodged in under the blow and grappled with the Magician.
The good people of Nite were terror stricken, and stood motionless as
the two struggled together.
Finally the Magician pulled his tiny bellows from his pocket and blew it
toward the Dancing Master’s back, and the Dancing Master fell to the
steps, just as Gran’pa struck the bellows from the Magician’s hand with
his cane.
With a roar of pain and rage the wicked Jingles swung his crooked stick
at Gran’pa’s head. Gran’pa warded off the blow with his own polished
cane and, using it as a sword, he jabbed old Jingles in the stomach.
The Magician swung his large crooked stick again, and Gran’pa again
poked him in the stomach, and then, as the wicked creature backed away,
Gran’pa gave him a smart tap on the head, sending his tall hat spinning
down the steps.
The Princess had recovered and was watching the duel with fascination.
Gran’ma was struggling between Janey and Mrs. Tiptoe.
“Let me go!” she cried. “Let me get to him! I’ll tweak his nose! He
shan’t hurt Gran’pa! Let me go!”
But Janey and Mrs. Tiptoe held her and tried to watch at the same time.
“Why don’t the people help?” Gran’ma cried. “Let me go, I tell you! I’ll
show him, the wicked old thing!”
Gran’pa had just swung his cane at the Magician’s head again hoping to
finish him with one more blow, but the Magician stepped to one side and
struck Gran’pa on the head, sending him to his knees. Gran’pa, however
much the blow hurt, never uttered a groan, and as he struggled dizzily
to his feet he tried to ward off the blows that old Jingles showered
upon him.
Part of the blows Gran’pa received on his left arm, the others slid
harmlessly off his cane.
Gran’pa backed away from the Magician and his face was worried, for the
blow upon his head had made Gran’pa weak in the knees.
But although he dodged and gave ground Gran’pa waited for an opening and
at last, as the Magician missed a swing at Gran’pa’s head, Gran’pa drew
his cane back over his shoulder and brought it down with all his might
upon old Jingles’ crown.
The blow was of such force it would have broken the Magician’s head if
the cane had not split in two, and as it was the wicked man staggered
from the blow.
Gran’pa, with but the handle of his cane in his hand, jumped forward to
strike again, but he missed his footing and went rolling down the stone
steps.
When Gran’pa fell in front of the Magician, the Princess, Janey and Mrs.
Tiptoe started running.
“Run for your lives!” cried the Princess. “He will change all of us into
animals! Run!”
[Illustration: Catching his long nose in her hands she gave it a tweak.
(page 145)]
The Magician staggered after Gran’pa who had rolled clear to the bottom
of the long flight of steps. The Magician in his anger did not see
Johnny or the Chief of Detectives, who still sat in a daze part of the
way down the steps, so as he passed them, Johnny stuck his foot out and
tripped up the Magician.
Down the long flight of steps the Magician fell, his long arms and legs
hitting the steps and his crooked stick flying high in the air as he
turned over and over.
Johnny, though still dazed, got to his feet and started down the steps,
hoping he could get the Magician’s crooked stick.
The Magician rolled to the bottom of the steps and he found Gran’ma
there to meet him; for as soon as the others had started to run, they
had released Gran’ma.
So Gran’ma waited until old Jingles had stopped rolling, then she rushed
at him, and, catching his long nose in her hands, she gave it a tweak.
With one scream of pain, the Magician lay still, and as Johnny raised
the crooked stick to bring it down upon Jingles’ head, Gran’ma stopped
him.
“I said I’d tweak his nose,” Gran’ma cried, “and I’ll tweak it again
just as soon as he awakens!”
Gran’pa sat up and looked around.
“Give me another sack of peanuts,” he said.
The Magician showed signs of awakening, so Gran’ma gave his long nose
another tweak which made him lie still.
The Princess called to the people still standing around the door of the
Castle.
“Call the Guards!” she shouted. “We’ll tie him and keep him chained up
for ever!”
The voice of their Princess seemed to arouse the people from their
numbness and fear and eight Guards came running out from behind the
great doors where they had hidden themselves.
When the Guards came to pick up the Magician to carry him away Gran’ma
pushed them back.
“No you don’t!” she told them. “He stays right here while I tweak his
nose until he never has another speck of magic in him!”
And as the Magician stirred again, Gran’ma gave his long nose another
hard tweek.
“But Gran’ma,” Janey cried, “the Princess must be obeyed! She wants the
wicked creature put in chains and in prison!”
“Now, you let me be!” Gran’ma said. “I’m boss here and here he stays
until I—”
Just as this moment the Dancing Master rushed down the steps and blew a
puff from the magic bellows upon the face of old Jingles. It first
formed a puffy white cloud, then it settled grain by grain. There was a
breathless silence.
Gran’ma did not finish what she was about to say, for as the magic
powder touched the Magician’s face, his long nose disappeared, his
wicked eyes changed and his face took on the appearance of a young man.
And as they all watched in wonder and amazement they saw his long, thin
fingers change into young hands, and the thin form beneath the torn,
dusty clothes alter until a fine young man lay before them.
The Dancing Master blew another puff of the powder upon the prostrate
form and the old torn clothes changed into silk and velvet.
“Dear me!” Gran’ma cried. “Perhaps we have made a mistake! It isn’t old
Jingles!”
And when the Strange Young Man opened his eyes and saw the crowd
standing around him, he ran his hand across his forehead as if trying to
recollect something.
“Where am I?” he asked.
“You are in the City of Nite,” answered the Princess. “Guards, assist
him into the Castle!”
“I believe I can walk,” said the Strange Young Man, “but I cannot
imagine how I got here, for I have never heard of the City of Nite
before.” And with this he stood upon his feet.
“This is indeed strange,” said the Princess. “Let us all go into the
Castle.” And as the people drew aside to let them pass, the Princess,
Mrs. Tiptoe, Gran’ma and Janey went up the steps, followed by the
Strange Young Man, the Tiptoe Brothers, Gran’pa and Johnny.
“My name is David,” the Strange Young Man said, when all had taken
chairs in the Princess’ drawing room and he saw that they looked to him
for an explanation, “and my home is in Dayland, or at least,” he
continued, “it used to be there.”
“Dayland is on the other side of the Moon!” said the Princess. “My
father and mother and I visited there once!”
“If Dayland is on the other side of the Moon,” said David, “this must be
the Land Back of the Moon.”
“It is,” the Princess replied. “If you looked through the Moon you would
see it. It’s the Magical Land of Noom.”
“How strange that I should be here!” and David passed his hand over his
forehead in a puzzled manner. “I faintly remember strange rhymes and
jingles of which I dreamed.”
“You did not dream them,” Gran’ma hastened to explain. “You were old
Jingles the Magician until a few moments ago, then Mr. Tiptoe puffed the
magic powder on you and changed you back to your own self.”
“Dear me,” sighed David. “If this is true tell me how long I have been
in this strange shape, for I speak truly when I tell you that I am
really at a loss to account for the cruel and wicked things which I must
have done while I was not myself.”
“You first came to the City of Nite as a witch and said you were the
Princess,” the Chief of Detectives told him.
“But you will remember,” the Princess said, turning to the Chief of
Detectives, “that I met him first as Old Jingles, when I saw the Queer
Horse who had eaten his head off, and that was over eighty years ago.”
“Dear me,” David sighed. “Then there is no telling how long I have been
old Jingles or the Witch. I’m awfully sorry,” he told the Princess. “I
wouldn’t have harmed you for the world.”
“Isn’t it just like a fairy tale!” Janey cried.
“Perhaps it is,” David smiled, “but it seems like a disagreeable dream
to me and until I get back to my own country, I really cannot explain
how it all came about.”
“What is the last thing you remember?” Johnny asked.
“Let me see! We were having a great ball or something at the Castle and
I had just stepped outside the door to look at the Sun when—when—well,
that is the last thing I can recall, except the queer dreams about
rhymes and jingles.”
“You don’t remember what you did with our Flying Boat, do you?” Johnny
asked.
“No, I can not recall a Flying Boat, at all,” David answered.
[Illustration]
“That was the only way we had of returning to the Earth,” Gran’ma said,
a little sadly, “and I feel that we should return as soon as we can.”
When Gran’pa had told him of the children’s Flying Boat and how he had
made one to follow the children to the Moon, David said, “Perhaps you
could make another and so return to the Earth! Perhaps you could take me
to my home in it, first.”
Gran’pa asked the Princess if he could build another Flying Boat and
although the Princess wished them to stay at the Castle with her always,
she realized that they must be as anxious to return to the Earth as she
had been to return to the City of Nite. So the Princess sent word to the
Royal Carpenter to bring boards and nails to the Castle roof and there
Gran’pa superintended the building of the new Flying Boat.
While this was being built, the Princess took her friends to visit her
father and mother, with whom they spent two happy weeks, seeing the
sights and having dances and dinners given in their honor.
When they returned to the City of Nite, the Flying Boat had been
completed and stood upon the Castle roof all ready to sail. It was a
sturdy, beautifully built machine—quite the nicest one that has ever
been made.
There were tears in the eyes of the Princess and Mrs. Tiptoe as David,
Gran’ma, Gran’pa and the children took their seats in the boat.
“Good-bye! Good-bye!” they cried. “Do not forget that we shall be most
happy to have you visit us again!” And the Princess gave Gran’ma,
Gran’pa, Janey and Johnny each a beautiful ring in which was set a
wonderful Moonstone.
[Illustration]
Then when she had kissed them all good-bye again Gran’pa turned the
little knob marked “Start” and the new Flying Boat rose slowly from the
roof of the Castle and sailed away.
The Princess and the people of Nite watched the Flying Boat until it was
out of sight, and then the Princess and Mrs. Tiptoe and the Tiptoe
Brothers went into the Castle.
“I wished for them to stay,” said the Princess. “Didn’t you love them
all?”
“Indeed I did,” Mrs. Tiptoe answered as she wiped her eyes. “They were
all so kind and unselfish.”
“It is nice to know and love them,” said Mr. Tiptoe, “and while I know
they had many unpleasant experiences in the Magical Land of Noom, I am
so glad they came.”
“Yes,” replied the Princess, “we owe all our present happiness to them
and I hope they will come again to visit us soon.”
“Let’s all write a long letter and send it to them,” the Chief of
Detectives suggested.
“How?” the others inquired.
“Let us write the letter, then address it care of the Earth and puff the
magic powder upon it. They will be sure to receive it!”
“That is an excellent idea!” the Princess cried joyfully. “We will start
it right away.”
So they all set to work on the letter, so as to send it off at once.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]