first it was very nice to feel we were considered as good as the Waxes.
In this company there’s no harm in saying that Waxes do give themselves
airs, and it isn’t nice to feel you are considered common, when you
know you are nothing of the sort, but quite the opposite.”
[Illustration]
“But _all_ Waxes don’t give themselves airs,” said Wooden, speaking for
the first time. “There’s Lady Grace, now. Both of us live with this
dear little girl when we’re over there, and we are real friends, and
there’s never a word awry between us. And it’s the same here.”
“I’m sure,” said Mrs. Ida, a young-looking doll who was dressed more
fashionably than the rest, “that I have always got on as well as
possible with the Waxes. In fact, most of my friends were Wax before
they were all sent to prison.”
“I should think you must feel a bit lonely, then,” said Mrs. Jane.
“I’ve always associated with Woods myself, and prefer their company.”
“The best company in Toyland,” said Mrs. Winifred, “is to be found
amongst the higher classes of Woods. Still, I’m against this sending to
prison of all Waxes, whether they give themselves airs or not.”
“It isn’t so much the shutting up of Waxes that I object to,” said Mrs.
Louisa. “It’s the shutting up of Woods. How did it come about, Wooden,
that instead of marrying the King you were sent to prison?”
Captain Louisa cleared his throat behind his hand. “Manners, my dear,
manners!” he whispered to his wife.
“We don’t want to go into all that,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Perhaps
a slight mistake was made; but it has now been put right, chiefly
owing to representations made to his Majesty by myself.”
“It hasn’t been put right, and we do want to talk about it,” said Mrs.
Mollie. “There are two Wooden dolls still locked up in the House of
Cards, to say nothing of a Wax one. What were they locked up for, and
when are they going to be let out?”
She addressed her question directly to the Lord Chancellor, and there
seemed to be a general opinion amongst the other dolls that it was
right to ask it, and that it wanted an answer.
The Lord Chancellor gave one. He gave it at great length, but there was
not much in it. It seemed that all they had to do was to trust to him,
and everything would come right in the end.
“That doesn’t satisfy _me_,” said Mrs. Mollie, when he had quite
finished. “And it isn’t only Woods either that have been sent to
prison, and are being kept there for nothing at all. What about this
human child? What was _she_ sent to prison for? I’m against sending
human children to prison when they are allowed to come over and visit
us. It’s likely to make bad feeling over there.”
There were murmurs of approval at this, and all the dolls looked
sympathetically at Peggy, who felt rather shy.
“You are quite right, Mrs. Mollie,” said Captain Louisa. “And I may
tell you in strict confidence that the army feels with you about it.
It is the best army to be found anywhere. Leads and Woods alike are
devoted to their duty, and quite ready for a war, if a war is forced on
us. But we don’t want a war with the people over there. We should win,
of course, in the long run, but it would leave bad blood behind it, and
while it was going on our women and children wouldn’t be safe.”
“It’s a prospect I don’t like at all,” said Mrs. Winifred. “I have
received nothing but kindness from Humans, myself, and I believe the
same may be said by most of us here. I say that Peggy ought not to have
been locked up, and I hope she will remember that I said that when she
goes back. Mrs. Winifred, 4 Prospect Place, Dolltown, are my name and
address, and over there I may be found at any time at Top Drawer, Day
Nursery Chest, 43 Hamilton Square, London, S.W.”
All the other dolls hastened to give Peggy their names and addresses,
except Mr. Joyce, who said, “My peace-loving sentiments are well
known, and nobody over there is likely to make any mistake about them.
I agree with the opinion of this assembly to this extent: I believe
that a Wood King is the best kind of King we could have for Toyland,
but I’m not at all sure that King Selim is the right doll in the right
place, or that this reign is likely to be an improvement on the last.
Wax or no Wax, Queen Rosebud would never have made the mistakes in
foreign policy that have already been made in this reign. If we are not
very careful, this young lady, and others who may come over to visit
us, will carry back a report that may bring serious trouble. King Selim
ought to be told that.”
“For my part, I’ve no patience with King Selim,” said Mrs. Mollie. “I
heartily wish Queen Rosebud wasn’t dead.”
“But Queen Rosebud _isn’t_ dead,” said Wooden. “She is locked up in the
House of Cards. Peggy took her tea up to her this very afternoon.”
She spoke in a tone of surprise, as if everybody ought to know that
Queen Rosebud was alive. Peggy had been wondering whether it would be
a good thing to tell the dolls what she had discovered, and now that
Wooden had let it out, she was rather glad. She didn’t much like
keeping such a secret to herself, and, of course, a doll is hardly
capable of keeping any secret, and Wooden had only not spoken before
because she had got used to the idea of Queen Rosebud being alive, and
had not thought much about it since.
“Oh, my dear lady!” said the Lord Chancellor, before anybody could
speak. “You mustn’t say a thing like that, you know. King Selim has
said that Queen Rosebud is dead and of course she must be dead.”
“But she isn’t,” Wooden persisted. “Peggy has seen her.”
“Yes, I did,” said Peggy. “She is in the top story of the House of
Cards. Selim and Rose had her locked up there, and they said that if
she told anybody who she was they would put her in a dark dungeon. They
are both very wicked.”
“Well, that’s beyond everything!” said Mrs. Winifred. “And I should
like to know who Rose is, to go locking up the Queen.”
“If Waxes like to give themselves airs, that’s one thing,” said Mrs.
Ida. “But for a Composition----! That’s what nobody can stand.”
“There are Compositions and Compositions,” said Mrs. Mollie. “But Rose
would be a disgrace to _any_ class. She ought to be locked up herself.”
“And I think you ought to see to it, Lord Norval,” said Mrs. Jane.
“According to Peggy, she has told a deliberate falsehood, and that is
punishable by law, as I’ve always understood.”
They seemed to be in danger of forgetting all about Queen Rosebud in
their disgust for Rose. But this brought them back to the subject.
“I quite agree with you,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It is a most
disgraceful affair altogether. I shall inform his Majesty about it at
once, and request him to see that Rose is properly punished. What I
shall suggest is that she shall take Queen Rosebud’s place in prison.
I fancy that would be rather neat, eh? I shall press the point on his
Majesty.”
“But Selim is just as bad as she is,” exclaimed Peggy. “_He_ ought to
be sent to prison, too. Why do you call him ‘His Majesty’? He isn’t a
King at all.”
“Hush, hush, my dear young lady!” said the Lord Chancellor, much
shocked. “I know you are human, and to be excused on that account, but
if one of _us_ had said that, it would be punishable, you know. Selim
is a King. He wears a crown. We have all seen it.”
“He is only a chess king,” said Peggy. “I meant that he isn’t King of
Toyland. He can’t be, if Queen Rosebud is still alive.”
“That’s one way of looking at it, certainly,” said the Lord Chancellor,
in a puzzled kind of way. “I shall have to think about it very
carefully when I go home. He _says_ he’s King of Toyland. I shall get
at it better when I’ve slept over it.”
“But aren’t you going to do anything now?” asked Peggy. “There’s Queen
Rosebud still locked up in the House of Cards. _I_ think Captain Louisa
ought to take his soldiers at once, and let her out.”
All the dolls had sat with puzzled faces, looking at Peggy and the Lord
Chancellor. They had all been ready to talk a great deal, but when it
came to doing something they seemed quite at a loss.
Captain Louisa started when his name was mentioned. “If it was my duty,
I should do it,” he said. “I should do it very well--nobody better.”
“Well, I think it is your duty,” said Peggy. “Don’t you, Wooden?”
“Well, dear,” said Wooden, “if we all did our duty as well as Captain
Louisa, we might be very proud of ourselves.”
Captain Louisa looked proudly at Peggy. “You see what she thinks of
me,” he said. “And it isn’t only me either. My men would follow me
anywhere.”
Mrs. Winifred rose from her seat. “I’m afraid I must say good-bye, dear
Mrs. Wooden,” she said. “I am so glad you have been let out of prison.
And I’m so glad that Queen Rosebud isn’t dead. Somehow, I could never
feel that she was.”
All the dolls rose one after the other to say good-bye. They all
said they were glad that Queen Rosebud was alive, and some of them
said that she ought not to stay in prison a moment longer. But none
of them seemed interested in how she was to be got out, or in what
should happen afterwards, except that Mrs. Mollie said she hoped Rose
would get her deserts, and Mrs. Ida said that they saw now what came
of Compositions giving themselves airs. However much they seemed to
be different from one another in their way of talking and looking
at things, they all seemed alike in having no idea of acting for
themselves. They were very nice, but Peggy thought that if she had been
the Queen in prison she would hardly have felt so confident as Queen
Rosebud had been of her doll subjects getting her out again.
[Illustration: All the dolls rose to say good-bye]
However, the Lord Chancellor, who stayed behind, did seem to think
that _something_ ought to be done, though he seemed disinclined to
do it himself. “When the people get to know of this,” he said, “I’m
afraid there will be trouble. The question is, how to act so as to save
trouble.”
“_I_ should think the question was how to get poor Queen Rosebud out of
prison as soon as possible,” said Peggy.
“Well, certainly there is that side of it,” he said. “The only thing
is that if she comes out of prison and goes back to the palace, there
will be two of them--a King and a Queen--and that is something that it
is very difficult to know how to deal with, without a great deal of
careful thought. If King Selim could marry Queen Rosebud, now! How does
that strike you as a way of getting over the difficulty?”
“It doesn’t strike me at all,” said Peggy. “Selim has done a very
wicked and horrible thing. Queen Rosebud was ill, and she _might_ have
died, and if she had it would have been all his fault. He has told
heaps of stories about her. She never told him that he was to be King
after her at all. That’s one story. And he told the people she was
dead. That’s another. And he has sent a lot of dolls to prison for
nothing at all. He has done very wrong, and he ought to be punished.”
“That is a very eloquent speech,” said the Lord Chancellor. “Very
eloquent indeed. I wish I could make one like it. But you see the
trouble is that the King can do no wrong; so of course you can’t punish
him.”
“But he _has_ done wrong,” said Peggy. “And he _isn’t_ the King. You
keep on talking about him as if Queen Rosebud wasn’t alive. _She_ is
the Queen. Selim is only a usurper.”
“I’m beginning to see it,” said the Lord Chancellor. “It’s a very
subtle point, but I’m beginning to see it, or at least some of it.”
Whether he would have seen all of it in time cannot be known, for just
at that moment the door was opened by the housemaid doll, and in came
Colonel Jim and Teddy.
[Illustration]
XIV
THE ESCAPE
The moment Teddy came into the room, Peggy felt that the time for
action had come. And she had never felt more pleased with him than when
he addressed himself straight to the Lord Chancellor, and said, “Now,
then, old man, you come along with us to the House of Cards. We’re
going to get the Queen out of prison, and we want you with us.”
“I’m sure I’m very glad that you propose to adopt that course,” said
the Lord Chancellor, speaking quickly and nervously. “It is exactly
what I should have recommended myself. But why do you want me with you?
I should have thought--”
“Never mind what you would have thought,” said Teddy. “We want you with
us because, now the people have found out that old Selim’s a rascal,
and the Queen isn’t dead, they’ve got their dander up. They’ll have
some questions to ask, and you can answer them. Colonel Jim and me will
be too busy.”
This did not seem to suit the Lord Chancellor at all. He began to
protest vigorously that he had had no more to do with the fraud that
Selim had practised than anybody else. But Teddy cut him short. “If you
won’t come of your own accord,” he said, “Colonel Jim has a couple of
troopers outside who will make you. You’d like to come, too, Peggy and
Wooden. We’ve brought gees for everybody. Come along quick. We don’t
want to waste any time.”
He led the way downstairs, and the others followed him, Colonel Jim
bringing up the rear, and keeping an eye on the Lord Chancellor to see
that he did not escape.
Waiting outside the house were several horses. There was Colonel Jim’s
black charger, and those of his two troopers. These were of lead. There
were also some composition horses, and a couple of shaggy ponies, made
of wood and covered with hair, and a beautiful cream-coloured one, with
a bridle and saddle-cloth sewn with gold embroidery. They were all toy
horses and ponies, but they looked splendidly alive, and Peggy was
quite delighted to see that the two shaggy ponies had side-saddles, for
she knew at once that one must be meant for her and one for Wooden. She
loved riding, and thought it would be great fun to ride through the
streets of Dolltown on a toy pony.
Wooden was not used to riding, although Peggy had sometimes put her on
her rocking-horse at home, so she was not altogether without practice.
But Teddy assured her that he had chosen her a very quiet pony, and
she was so nice, in the way that she always did what people wanted
her to, that she made no trouble about it, and got on very well when
she was once helped into the saddle. Peggy felt quite at home on her
pony, and patted its nice shaggy neck. She would have liked to have
a gallop on it, but that would not be possible in the streets of the
town. Colonel Jim and his troopers mounted their chargers, the Lord
Chancellor got on to one of the composition horses, and Teddy leapt
on to another straight from the ground, without using the stirrup. A
royal servant-doll, dressed in scarlet and gold, led the beautiful
cream-coloured pony, which was evidently meant for Queen Rosebud. It
was a good idea to have a sort of little procession on horseback to
take her from her prison to her royal palace again, and no doubt Teddy
had thought of it, for he seemed to be the only one who really did
things, while the other dolls only talked about them.
[Illustration]
What Teddy said about the inhabitants of Dolltown being excited over
what had happened was quite true. The crowd outside the gates of the
terrace was larger than ever, and when Peggy and the dolls appeared
amongst them on horseback there was quite a commotion. They cheered
them all except the Lord Chancellor, and they were so angry with him
that they would probably have pulled him off his horse if he had not
been riding between the two troopers, who protected him. They seemed
to have taken the affair much more seriously than the dolls who had
come to visit Wooden, but then a crowd always is more excited about
things than a few people, because they work each other up. Very likely,
if this crowd of dolls had had to do something of their own accord,
instead of shouting at those who were doing it, they would not have
been very good at it. And if they _had_ pulled the Lord Chancellor off
his horse, it is doubtful if they would have known what to do next.
The poor Lord Chancellor was terribly upset at the way the crowd hissed
and booed at him. Peggy heard him explaining to the troopers who rode
on either side of him that nobody was more surprised than he was, or
more glad either, that Queen Rosebud was alive. But they took no notice
of him, and the crowd went on booing and hissing all the same.
When they arrived at the market-place, there was a square of lead life
guardsmen all round the door of the House of Cards, to keep the crowd
off. The market-place was packed full of dolls, shouting and singing,
and looking up to the top story, where they had heard that the Queen
was imprisoned. Peggy could see the open window at which she had sat;
but she did not appear at it.
What seemed more remarkable still was that there was nobody on the
balcony of the first floor, either. It might have been thought that
Wooden’s aunt, at least, would have been there, watching what was going
on. But there was nobody to be seen.
[Illustration: There was nobody on the balcony of the first floor
either]
They rode into the empty space kept by the soldiers. Teddy whispered
something to Colonel Jim, who got off his charger and went up the
steps and knocked at the door. As he waited for a minute before it
was opened, all the dolls on that side of the market-place were quite
silent.
The door was opened by Mr. Emma. Peggy could not hear what passed
between him and Colonel Jim, but presently Colonel Jim turned sharp
round and came down the steps again. “The Queen’s gone,” he said. “So
are the other prisoners. Selim and Rose came and fetched them half an
hour ago.”
Here was a piece of news! Mr. Emma was summoned, and made to tell
exactly what had happened. The Lord Chancellor asked most of the
questions, for he was out of reach of the crowd and had somewhat
recovered from his fright. Besides, he was used to asking questions,
and liked doing it.
It seemed that Selim had come to the prison in a closed carriage,
accompanied by Rose; and another empty carriage had come with them.
He had seemed to Mr. Emma to be in a very nervous state, but he had
not seen much of him, because he had sat in the carriage all the time,
while Rose had gone in to the House of Cards, and fetched the Queen
down. Mr. Emma had not known it was the Queen until this moment, for
he had kept himself shut up in the House of Cards, with Mrs. Emma and
the baby, and had not tried to find out what the crowd outside was so
excited about.
The Lord Chancellor asked him what the Queen had said when she had come
downstairs.
“She didn’t say nothing, your Honour,” said Mr. Emma. “She looked kind
of proud-like, and held her head high. If she’d had her crown on I
should have knowed it was the Queen by the way she behaved.”
Well, the Queen had got into the carriage where Selim was, and then
Rose had gone upstairs and fetched down Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother
and aunt. Wooden’s aunt had seemed very pleased with herself, according
to Mr. Emma. She had imitated a grand lady mincing down the steps, and
said to him, “Out of the way, Bobby, we’re going to the palace. Haw!
Haw!” This had offended Mr. Emma, for he had left the police force some
time before.
Rose had got into the first carriage, with the Queen and Selim, and the
other three had got into the second carriage. Then they had all driven
away.
That was Mr. Emma’s story, and about all that could be got out of
him. The two carriages had driven off in the direction of the palace,
and Rose must have told Wooden’s aunt that that was where they were
going to. The carriages were not the gilt and glass coaches that were
generally used from the palace, but ordinary landaus. They had not
stood before the House of Cards very long, and nobody had taken much
notice of them. A few dolls had seen the Queen come out and get into
the carriage, but they had not known who she was.
Well, what was to be done now? It seemed plain that Selim had found
out somehow that the people were beginning to find out all about his
wickedness, and had kidnapped the Queen. Why he had also taken off
Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt, was not quite so plain, but
perhaps it was because he thought they knew too much, and he wanted to
get them out of the way.
“What we had better do,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is to go back to
the palace and interview King Selim. I’m all for prompt action in these
matters, and I propose we start at once.”
“Oh, you silly old thing!” said Teddy. “As if he had gone to the
palace! You ought to know better than that, at your age.”
“But Wooden’s aunt said they were going to the palace,” said the Lord
Chancellor. “You wouldn’t accuse her of telling a lie, I suppose!”
“Rose told her so,” said Wooden. “You can’t believe _anything_ that
_she_ says. Aunt would like to think she was going to the palace, and
Rose must have told her that to quiet her.”
It was rather clever of Wooden to think of this, for dolls are apt to
believe everything they are told. But when a doll has once made herself
disbelieved, as Rose had done, there is an end of their trusting her.
“There is a good deal in what you say,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But
if they have not gone to the palace, where _have_ they gone? It might
be as well to go there and see if anybody knows.”
They might perhaps have done this, for, although Selim would not have
been likely to tell anybody where he meant to go, still, they might
have picked up some sort of a clue. But just as they were discussing
it, our old friend Mr. Noah pushed his way through the soldiers who
were guarding the square. He was, of course, a royal servant, and wore
a medal to show it, so they let him through. He brought the important
information that the two carriages had been seen driving fast through
the town on the road to the sea.
Directly Teddy heard this, he gave a whoop, and said, “Let’s after
them, then, as fast as we can go. Come on, all!” He dug his heels into
his horse’s sides, and galloped off. The soldiers parted to let him
through, and the crowd scattered away from him on all sides, as he
galloped through the streets and was lost to sight.
Now this was all very well. Teddy was anxious to catch up the
fugitives, but if he did catch them up he couldn’t very well do
anything all by himself. Besides, he seemed to be about the only one
who had any ideas in his head--or, at least, ideas that were worth
anything--and if he went off all by himself, the others were likely to
make a muddle of things. It was his “flightiness” coming out, but he
had done so well already that he might be forgiven for it.
However, his going off like that was not so bad as it might have been.
If it had been left to the Lord Chancellor to say what was to be done
next, it would have taken a long time to do anything, and then very
likely what would have been done would have been wrong. And Colonel
Jim, though brave as a lion, and handsome, too, was not intellectual.
But Mr. Noah seemed to have a few ideas in his head, and some spirit to
carry them out. Of course he was not exactly a doll, though he lived
in Dolltown, and he had Oriental blood in his veins, or whatever fluid
dolls do have, and this made him rather more clever than might have
been expected from his wooden expression. He was angry, too, at having
had orders given him about his Ark by Selim, and wanted to get at him
and tell him what he thought of him.
Anyhow, as the Lord Chancellor was talking and talking, Mr. Noah cut
him short. “What are you wasting all this time for?” he asked. “What
we’ve got to do is to go after them as quick as we can, and take the
soldiers with us. Give me a horse, and let’s be off.”
There was a horse to spare, and Mr. Noah got on to it. He looked rather
funny in his long yellow robe, and being a sort of sailor he was not
used to horses. But he managed to stick on all right, and as the horse
was fortunately a quiet one, he soon got used to the unusual motion. He
said to the others, “Now, you come after me!” and without waiting any
longer he trotted off.
The others all followed him. Colonel Jim gave some orders to his men,
and they formed themselves into fours and fell behind. It was quite a
gay cavalcade that went trotting through the streets of Dolltown, and
this time the crowd cheered them to the echo, and forgot to hiss and
boo at the Lord Chancellor.
[Illustration]
XV
THE PURSUIT