After Daimur had carried all the potatoes into the cave and piled them
up in a heap he took King Cyril on his shoulder and went back for the
biscuits and water, as he was feeling very hungry and thirsty.
"Can you not call the Queen and the Princess," asked Daimur, "so that
they may share some of this food?"
"You are very kind," said King Cyril, "but I am afraid they are both
asleep yet. They were so hungry this morning that they ate more fruit
than usual, but I will go and see," and off he flew, leaving Daimur to
wonder how long it would be before he could get away from this strange
and dreadful island.
In a short time King Cyril flew back, followed by a beautiful grey
dove, the Queen, whom Daimur perceived through his wonderful spectacles
to be a handsome woman dressed in a grey satin gown, and wearing a
small crown of gold set with diamonds and sapphires.
Beside her flew a little white dove, the Princess Maya, and Daimur
could see that she was a golden-haired young girl, all dressed in white
frilly lace.
He asked them to be seated and have some biscuits and water, which
though poor fare was at least wholesome and nourishing.
The Queen wept at the sight of a human being again after such a long
time, and the Princess stared at him as much as good manners would let
her, and thought him extremely handsome (as indeed he was), for she had
seen nothing but doves for the last four years.
King Cyril then told them how Daimur was going to do them a good deal
of good, and had already found a hill of potatoes and a cave where they
could live so that they might have no fear of animals or birds of prey.
Queen Emily was very much overjoyed, and extremely grateful to Daimur
for saving her husband from the hawk, about which he had just told her,
and as soon as they had had sufficient to eat she asked to see the
cave. Daimur picked up the balance of the biscuits and the jug of
water, and they all went to look at it.
The Queen and Princess thought it a lovely place, and volunteered to
stay and gather bits of moss and leaves for Daimur to sleep on at
night, while he and King Cyril continued their search for food.
Accordingly they set out again, Daimur still wearing his cap and
spectacles, the King on his shoulder.
After walking for some time Daimur, who was carrying the old spade, set
it down suddenly.
"There are yams here," he said, "lots and lots of them," as he looked
about at a mass of slender vines which twined about the trees and
climbed towards the light. He set to work with his spade, and in a few
minutes had about a dozen nice big ones lying on the ground.
"We will leave them here for the present," he said to King Cyril,
"while we see whether we can discover anything else."
A short distance farther on Daimur stopped again to examine some more
vines.
"Why these are peanut plants," he said to King Cyril (though he had
never seen peanuts growing in his life before), "we must have some of
these," and he dug up enough to fill all his pockets.
Again they continued their walk, and Daimur now began examining the
trees. Certainly they were very fine ones, some of them reaching away
up into the sky, and taller than the tallest buildings in the Island of
Sunne.
They were all hanging full of the most luscious fruits. Monstrous
oranges, beautiful peaches, cherries as big as plums, and plums bigger
than anything you ever saw, bananas, cocoanuts, dates, figs,
breadfruits, and grape vines bearing heavy clusters of black, red, and
white grapes, grew in abundance, and although Daimur felt very much
tempted to pick some of the lovely things he saw, he did not, as his
spectacles showed plainly that they were all poisoned.
"It seems to me," said Daimur, "that everything which grows above the
ground is poison, but that everything that grows in the ground is good
to eat.
"So you see," he continued, addressing King Cyril, who was fluttering
about him in a great state of excitement, "we need not starve after
all. Now let us go back to the cave, as it is beginning to grow dusk,
and besides I am very thirsty. And good gracious! That reminds me
that we have not found any pure water yet, and we have very little
left."
They hastened back to where they had left the yams, and taking off his
coat Daimur threw them into it and they started off towards the cave.
When they drew near it the Queen and Princess came flying to meet them,
and crying that they had found a great treasure.
"What have you found?" asked Daimur in surprise, hoping it was not
another of the Evil Magician's wicked devices.
"Water," replied the Queen. "It is just outside the cave and bubbles
up from between two rocks. It must be a natural spring as it tastes
quite pure and fresh."
Daimur went with the Princess to look at it, and found it was indeed as
they had said. Between the cave wall and a rock which jutted from the
bank a little spring bubbled up and trickled into a small rocky basin,
which it overflowed and so ran into the sea sand.
Daimur knew by his cap that it was pure, and they were all much
relieved to think they had been so lucky as to find both pure food and
pure water in such a short time.
"Thank goodness," said Daimur, "we are safe for the present at least."
"We found something else, which I am sure will be nice," said the
little Princess.
"What is it?" asked Daimur.
"Come and I will show you," she said. "Mother and I discovered them
while looking for leaves for your bed, but we could not carry them."
A little distance up the sand the Princess led him to where there was a
large nest of turtles' eggs, which Daimur joyfully dug out of the sand
and carried to the cave.
"Now we will have a splendid feast," they said.
They waited until it was quite dark and then dug a hole inside the
opening at the back of the cave, and made a fire. Luckily Daimur had a
little silver box of matches with him. They roasted the potatoes and
yams in the coals, toasted the peanuts, and baked the turtle eggs on a
hot stone, and thoroughly enjoyed their supper.
Then, as they were all very tired, Daimur jammed some branches across
one corner of the cave for the doves to sleep on, and gratefully threw
himself down on the nice soft bed which the Queen and the Princess had
prepared for him, and they all slept soundly until morning.