L. Frank Baum (11 page)

"Well, my dear Ephel, have you shown the strangers all the sights of
our lovely land?"

"Most of them, your Majesty," replied Ephel.

"What do you think of us now?" asked the King, turning his eyes upon
the lark-children.

"It must be the prettiest place in all the world!" cried Twinkle, with
real enthusiasm.

His Majesty seemed much pleased. "I am very sorry you cannot live here
always," he said.

"I'm not," declared Chubbins. "It's too pretty. I'd get tired of it
soon."

"He means," said Twinkle, hastily, for she feared the blunt remark
would displease the kindly King, "that he isn't really a bird, but a
boy who has been forced to wear a bird's body. And your Majesty is wise
enough to understand that the sort of life you lead in your fairy
paradise would be very different from the life that boys generally
lead."

"Of course," replied the King. "A boy's life must be a dreadful one."

"It suits me, all right," said Chubbins.

The King looked at him attentively.

"Would you really prefer to resume your old shape, and cease to be a
bird?" he asked.

"Yes, if I could," Chubbins replied.

"Then I will tell you how to do it," said the King. "Since you told me
your strange story I have talked with my Royal Necromancer, who knows a
good deal about magic, and especially about that same tuxix who
wickedly transformed you in the forest. And the Royal Necromancer tells
me that if you can find a tingle-berry, and eat it, you will resume
your natural form again. For it is the one antidote in all the world
for the charm the tuxix worked upon you."

"What
is
a tingle-berry?" asked Twinkle, anxiously, for this
information interested her as much as it did Chubbins.

"I do not know," said the King, "for it is a common forest berry, and
never grows in our paradise. But doubtless you will have little trouble
in finding the bush of the tingle-berry when you return to the outside
world."

The children were both eager to go at once and seek the tingle-berry;
but they could not be so impolite as to run away just then, for the
King announced that he had prepared an entertainment in their honor.

So they sat on a branch of the golden bush beside their friend Ephel,
while at a nod from the King a flock of the beautiful Birds of Paradise
flew into the bower and proceeded to execute a most delightful and
bewildering set of aerial evolutions. They flew swiftly in circles,
spirals, triangles, and solid squares, and all the time that they
performed sweet music was played by some unseen band. It almost dazzled
the eyes of the child-larks to watch this brilliant flashing of the
colored wings of the birds, but the evolutions only lasted for a few
minutes, and then the birds flew out again in regular ranks.

Then the little brown lady-birds danced gracefully upon the carpet,
their dainty feet merely touching the tips of the lovely flowers.
Afterward the flowers themselves took part, and sang a delightful
chorus, and when this was finished the King said they would now indulge
in some refreshment.

Instantly a row of bell-shaped blossoms appeared upon the golden bush,
one for each bird present, and all were filled with a delicious ice
that was as cold and refreshing as if it had just been taken from a
freezer. Twinkle and Chubbins asked for spoons, and received them
quickly; but the others all ate the ices with their bills.

The King seemed to enjoy his as much as any one, and Twinkle noticed
that as fast as a blossom was emptied of its contents it disappeared
from the branch.

The child-larks now thanked the beautiful but vain King very earnestly
for all his kindness to them, and especially for telling them about the
tingle-berries; and when all the good-byes had been exchanged Ephel
flew with them back to the tree where they had left the Guardian of the
Entrance and their faithful comrade, Policeman Bluejay.

They were warmly greeted by the bluejay, who asked:

"Did you enjoy the wonderful Paradise?"

"Very much, indeed," cried Twinkle. "But we were sorry you could not be
with us."

"Never mind that," returned the policeman, cheerfully. "I have feasted
my eyes upon all the beauties visible from this tree, and my good
friend the Guardian has talked to me and given me much good advice that
will surely be useful to me in the future. So I have been quite
contented while you were gone."

The children now gave their thanks to Ephel for his care of them and
polite attention, and the Royal Messenger said he was pleased that the
King had permitted him to serve them. They also thanked the green-robed
Guardian of the Entrance, and then, accompanied by Policeman Bluejay,
they quitted the golden tree and began their journey back to the
forest.

It was no trouble at all to return. The wind caught their wings and
blew against them strongly, so that they had but to sail before the
breeze and speed along until they were deep in the forest again. Then
the wind moderated, and presently died away altogether, so that they
were forced to begin flying in order to continue their journey home.

It was now the middle of the afternoon, and the policeman said:

"I hope all has been quiet and orderly during my absence. There are so
many disturbing elements among the forest birds that I always worry
when they are left alone for many hours at a time."

"I'm sure they have behaved themselves," returned Twinkle. "They fear
your power so much that the evil-minded birds do not dare to offend you
by being naughty."

"That is true," said the policeman. "They know very well that I will
not stand any nonsense, and will always insist that the laws be
obeyed."

They were now approaching that part of the forest where they lived, and
as the policeman concluded his speech they were surprised to hear a
great flutter of wings among the trees, and presently a flock of big
black rooks flew toward them.

At the head of the band was a saucy-looking fellow who wore upon his
head a policeman's helmet, and carried under his wing a club.

Policeman Bluejay gave a cry of anger as he saw this, and dashed
forward to meet the rooks.

"What does this mean, you rascal?" he demanded, in a fierce voice.

"Easy there, my fine dandy," replied the rook, with a hoarse laugh.
"Don't get saucy, or I'll give you a rap on the head!"

The rooks behind him shrieked with delight at this impudent speech, and
that made the mock policeman strut more absurdly than ever.

The bluejay was not only astonished at this rebellion but he was
terribly angry as well.

"That is my policeman's helmet and club," he said sternly. "Where did
you get them?"

"At your nest, of course," retorted the other. "We made up our minds
that we have had a miserable bluejay for a policeman long enough; so
the rooks elected me in your place, and I'm going to make you birds
stand around and obey orders, I can tell you! If you do as I command,
you'll get along all right; if you don't, I'll pound you with your own
club until you obey."

Again the rooks screamed in an admiring chorus of delight, and when the
bluejay observed their great numbers, and that they were all as large
as he was, and some even larger and stronger, he decided not to risk an
open fight with them just then, but to take time to think over what had
best be done.

"I will call the other birds to a meeting," he said to the rook, "and
let them decide between us."

"That won't do any good," was the reply. "We rooks have decided the
matter already. We mean to rule the forest, after this, and if any one,
or all of the birds, dare to oppose us, we'll fight until we force them
to serve us. Now, then, what do you intend to do about it?"

"I'll think it over," said Policeman Bluejay.

"Oho! oho! He's afraid! He's a coward!" yelled the rooks; and one of
them added:

"Stand up and fight, if you dare!"

"I'll fight your false policeman, or any one of you at a time," replied
the bluejay.

"No, you won't; you'll fight us all together, or not at all," they
answered.

The bluejay knew it would be foolish to do that, so he turned away and
whispered to the lark-children:

"Follow me, and fly as swiftly as you can."

Like a flash he darted high into the air, with Twinkle and Chubbins
right behind him, and before the rooks could recover from their
surprise the three were far away.

Then the big black birds gave chase, uttering screams of rage; but they
could not fly so swiftly as the bluejay and the larks, and were soon
obliged to abandon the pursuit.

When at last he knew that they had escaped the rooks, Policeman Bluejay
entered the forest again and went among the birds to call them all to a
meeting. They obeyed the summons without delay, and were very indignant
when they heard of the rebellion of the rooks and the insults that had
been heaped upon their regularly elected officer. Judge Bullfinch
arrived with his head bandaged with soft feathers, for he had met the
rook policeman and, when he remonstrated, had been severely pounded by
the wicked bird's club.

"But what can we do?" he asked. "The rooks are a very powerful tribe,
and the magpies and cuckoos and blackbirds are liable to side with
them, if they seem to be stronger than we are."

"We might get all our people together and fall upon them in a great
army, and so defeat them," suggested an oriole.

"The trouble with that plan," decided the judge, "is that we can only
depend upon the smaller birds. The big birds might desert us, and in
that case we would be badly beaten."

"Perhaps it will be better to submit to the rooks," said a little
chickadee, anxiously. "We are neither warriors nor prizefighters, and
if we obey our new rulers they may leave us in peace."

"No, indeed!" cried a linnet. "If we submit to them they will think we
are afraid, and will treat us cruelly. I know the nature of these
rooks, and believe they can only be kept from wickedness by a power
stronger than their own."

"Hear me, good friends," said the bluejay, who had been silent because
he was seriously thinking; "I have a plan for subduing these rebels,
and it is one that I am sure will succeed. But I must make a long
journey to accomplish my purpose. Go now quietly to your nests; but
meet me at the Judgment Tree at daybreak to-morrow morning. Also be
sure to ask every friendly bird of the forest to be present, for we
must insist upon preserving our liberty, or else be forever slaves to
these rooks."

With these words he rose into the air and sped swiftly upon his errand.

The other birds looked after him earnestly.

"I think it will be well for us to follow his advice," said Judge
Bullfinch, after a pause. "The bluejay is an able bird, and has had
much experience. Besides, we have ever found him just and honorable
since the time we made him our policeman, so I feel that we may depend
upon him in this emergency."

"Why, it is all we can do," replied a robin; and this remark was so
true that the birds quietly dispersed and returned to their nests to
await the important meeting the next morning.

Twinkle and Chubbins flew slowly home to their nests in the maple tree,
pausing to ask every bird they met where tingle-berries grew. But none
of them could tell.

"I'm sorry we did not ask Policeman Bluejay," said Chubbins.

"I intended to ask him, but we hadn't time," replied Twinkle. "But he
will be back to-morrow morning."

"I wonder what he's going to do," remarked the boy.

"Don't know, Chub; but it'll be the right thing, whatever it is. You
may be sure of that."

They visited the nest of the baby goldfinches, and found the Widow
Chaffinch still caring for the orphans in her motherly way. The little
ones seemed to be as hungry as ever, but the widow assured the
lark-children that all five had just been fed.

"Did you ever hear of a tingle-berry?" asked Twinkle.

"Yes; it seems to me I have heard of that berry," was the reply. "If I
remember rightly my grandmother once told me of the tingle-berries, and
warned me never to eat one. But I am quite certain the things do not
grow in our forest, for I have never seen one that I can recollect."

"Where do they grow, then?" enquired Chubbins.

"I can't say exactly where; but if they are not in the forest, they
must grow in the open country."

The child-larks now returned to their own nest, and sat snuggled up in
it during the evening, talking over the day's experiences and the
wonderful things they had seen in the fairy-like Paradise of the Birds.
So much sight-seeing had made them tired, so when it grew dark they
fell fast asleep, and did not waken until the sun was peeping over the
edge of the trees.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed the girl, "we shall be late at the meeting
at the Judgment Tree. Let's hurry, Chub."

They ate a hasty breakfast from the contents of their basket, and after
flying to the brook for a drink and a dip in the cool water they
hurried toward the Judgment Tree.

There they found a vast assemblage of birds. They were so numerous,
indeed, that Twinkle was surprised to find that so many of them
inhabited the forest.

But a still greater surprise was in store for her, for immediately she
discovered sitting upon the biggest branch of the tree twenty-two
bluejays, all in a row. They were large, splendidly plumaged birds,
with keen eyes and sharp bills, and at their head was the children's
old friend, the policeman.

"These are my cousins," he said to the child-larks, proudly, "and I
have brought them from another forest, where they live, to assist me. I
am not afraid of the foolish rooks now, and in a moment we shall fly
away to give them battle."