L. Frank Baum (12 page)

The forest birds were all in a flutter of delight at the prompt arrival
of the powerful bluejays, and when the word of command was given they
all left the tree and flew swiftly to meet the rooks.

First came the ranks of the twenty-two bluejays, with the policeman at
their head. Then followed many magpies and cuckoos, who were too clever
to side with the naughty rooks when they saw the powerful birds the
bluejay had summoned to his assistance. After these flew the smaller
birds, of all descriptions, and they were so many and at the same time
so angry that they were likely to prove stubborn foes in a fight.

This vast army came upon the rooks in an open space in the forest.
Without waiting for any words or explanations from the rebels, the
soldierly bluejays fell upon their enemies instantly, fighting fiercely
with bill and claw, while the other birds fluttered in the rear,
awaiting their time to join in the affray.

Policeman Bluejay singled out the rook which had stolen his helmet and
club, and dashed upon him so furiously that the black rebel was amazed,
and proved an easy victim to the other's superior powers. He threw down
the club and helmet at once; but the bluejay was not satisfied with
that, and attacked the thief again and again, until the air was full of
black feathers torn from the rook's body.

After all, the battle did not last long; for the rooks soon screamed
for mercy, and found themselves badly plucked and torn by the time
their assailants finally decided they had been punished enough.

Like all blustering, evil-disposed people, when they found themselves
conquered they whined and humbled themselves before the victors and
declared they would never again rebel against Policeman Bluejay, the
regularly appointed guardian of the Law of the Forest. And I am told
that after this day the rooks, who are not rightly forest birds, betook
themselves to the nearest villages and farm houses, and contented
themselves with plaguing mankind, who could not revenge themselves as
easily as the birds did.

After the fight Policeman Bluejay thanked his cousins and sent them
home again, and then the birds all surrounded the policeman and cheered
him gratefully for his cleverness and bravery, so that he was the hero
of the hour.

Judge Bullfinch tried to make a fine speech, but the birds were too
excited to listen to his words, and he soon found himself without an
audience.

Of course, Twinkle and Chubbins took no part in the fight, but they had
hovered in the background to watch it, and were therefore as proud of
their friend as any of the forest birds could be.

When the excitement of the morning had subsided and the forest was
quiet again, Policeman Bluejay came to the nest of the child-larks,
wearing his official helmet and club. You may be sure that one of the
first things Twinkle asked him was if he knew where tingle-berries
grew.

"Of course," he replied, promptly. "They grow over at the north edge of
the forest, in the open country. But you must never eat them, my dear
friend, because they are very bad for birds."

"But the Royal Necromancer of the King Bird of Paradise says the
tingle-berries will restore us to our proper forms," explained the
girl.

"Oh; did he say that? Then he probably knows," said the bluejay, "and I
will help you to find the berries. We birds always avoid them, for they
give us severe pains in our stomachs."

"That's bad," observed Chubbins, uneasily.

"Well," said Twinkle, "I'd be willing to have a pain or two, just to be
myself again."

"So would I, if it comes to that," agreed the boy. "But I'd rather have
found a way to be myself without getting the pain."

"There is usually but one thing that will overcome an enchantment,"
remarked the bluejay, seriously; "and if it is a tingle-berry that will
destroy the charm which the old tuxix put upon you, then nothing else
will answer the same purpose. The Royal Necromancer is very wise, and
you may depend upon what he says. But it is late, at this season, for
tingle-berries. They do not grow at all times of the year, and we may
not be able to find any upon the bushes."

"Cannot we go at once and find out?" asked Twinkle, anxiously.

"To be sure. It will grieve me to lose you, my little friends, but I
want to do what will give you the most happiness. Come with me,
please."

They flew away through the forest, and by and by came upon the open
country to the north, leaving all the trees behind them.

"Why, this is the place we entered the forest, that day we got
'chanted!" cried Twinkle.

"So it is," said Chubbins. "I believe we could find our way home from
here, Twink."

"But we can't go home like we are," replied the girl-lark. "What would
our folks say, to find us with birds' bodies?"

"They'd yell and run," declared the boy.

"Then," said she, "we must find the tingle-berries."

The bluejay flew with them to some bushes which he said were the kind
the tingle-berries grew upon, but they were all bare and not a single
berry could be found.

"There must be more not far away," said the policeman, encouragingly.
"Let us look about us."

They found several clumps of the bushes, to be sure; but unfortunately
no berries were now growing upon them, and at each failure the children
grew more and more sad and despondent.

"If we have to wait until the bushes bear again," Twinkle remarked, "it
will be nearly a year, and I'm sure we can't live in the forest all
winter."

"Why not?" asked the policeman.

"The food in our basket would all be gone, and then we would starve to
death," was the reply. "We can't eat bugs and worms, you know."

"I'd rather die!" declared Chubbins, mournfully.

The bluejay became very thoughtful.

"If we could find some of the tingle bushes growing near the shade of
the forest," he said at last, "there might still be some berries
remaining on them. Out here in the bright sunshine the berries soon
wither and drop off and disappear."

"Then let us look near the trees," suggested Twinkle.

They searched for a long time unsuccessfully. It was growing late, and
they were almost in despair, when a sharp cry from Policeman Bluejay
drew the child-larks to his side.

"What is it?" enquired the girl, trembling with nervous excitement.

"Why," said the policeman, "here is a bush at last, and on it are
exactly two ripe tingle-berries!"

They looked earnestly at the bush, and saw that their friend spoke
truly. Upon a high limb was one plump, red berry, looking much like a
cranberry, while lower down grew another but smaller berry, which
appeared to be partially withered.

"Good!" the lark-children cried, joyfully; and the next moment Chubbins
added: "You eat the big berry, Twink."

"Why?" she asked, hesitating.

"It looks as if it had more stomach-ache in it," he replied.

"I'm not afraid of that," said she. "But do you suppose the little
berry will be enough for you? One side of it is withered, you see."

"That won't matter," returned the boy-lark. "The Royal Necromancer said
to eat one berry. He didn't say a little or a big one, you know, or
whether it should be plump or withered."

"That is true," said the girl-lark. "Shall I eat mine now?"

"The sooner the better," Chubbins replied.

"Don't forget me, little friend, when you are a human again," said
Policeman Bluejay, sadly.

"I shall never forget you," Twinkle answered, "nor any part of all your
kindness to us. We shall be friends forever."

That seemed to please the handsome blue bird, and Twinkle was so eager
that she could not wait to say more. She plucked the big, plump berry,
put it in her mouth with her little claw, and ate it as soon as
possible.

In a moment she said: "Ouch! Oo-oo-oo!" But it did not hurt so badly,
after all. Her form quickly changed and grew larger; and while Chubbins
and Policeman Bluejay watched her anxiously she became a girl again,
and the bird's body with its soft gray feathers completely disappeared.

As she felt herself changing she called: "Good-bye!" to the bluejay;
but even then he could hardly understand her words.

"Good-bye!" he answered, and to Twinkle's ears it sounded like
"Chir-r-rip-chee-wee!"

"How did it feel?" asked Chubbins; but she looked at him queerly, as if
his language was strange to her, and seemed to be half frightened.

"Guess I'll have to eat my berry," he said, with a laugh, and proceeded
to pluck and eat it, as Twinkle had done. He yelled once or twice at
the cramp the fruit gave him, but as soon as the pain ceased he began
to grow and change in the same way his little comrade had.

But not entirely. For although he got his human body and legs back
again, all in their natural size, his wings remained as they were, and
it startled him to find that the magic power had passed and he was
still partly a bird.

"What's the matter?" asked Twinkle.

"Is anything wrong?" enquired the bluejay.

The boy understood them both, although they could not now understand
each other. He said to Twinkle:

"I guess the berry wasn't quite big enough." Then he repeated the same
thing in the bird language to Policeman Bluejay, and it sounded to
Twinkle like:

"Pir-r-r-r—eep—cheep—tweet!"

"What in the world can you do?" asked the girl, quite distressed. "It
will be just dreadful if you have to stay like that."

The tears came to Chubbins' eyes. He tried to restrain them, but could
not. He flapped his little wings dolefully and said:

"I wish I was either one thing or the other! I'd rather be a child-lark
again, and nest in a tree, than to go home to the folks in this way."

Policeman Bluejay had seen his dilemma at the first, and his sharp eyes
had been roving over all the bushes that were within the range of his
vision. Suddenly he uttered a chirp of delight and dashed away,
speedily returning with another tingle-berry in his bill.

"It's the very last one there is!" said he to Chubbins.

"But it is all that I want," cried the boy, brightening at once; and
then, regardless of any pain, he ate the berry as greedily as if he was
fond of a stomache-ache.

The second berry had a good effect in one way, for Chubbins' wings
quickly became arms, and he was now as perfectly formed as he had been
before he met with the cruel tuxix. But he gave a groan, every once in
a while, and Twinkle suspected that two berries were twice as powerful
as one, and made a pain that lasted twice as long.

As the boy and girl looked around they were astonished to find their
basket standing on the ground beside them. On a limb of the first tree
of the forest sat silently regarding them a big blue bird that they
knew must be Policeman Bluejay, although somehow or other he had lost
his glossy black helmet and the club he had carried underneath his
wing.

"It's almost dark," said Twinkle, yawning. "Let's go home, Chub."

"All right."

He picked up the basket, and for a few minutes they walked along in
silence.

Then the boy asked:

"Don't your legs feel heavy, Twink?"

"Yes," said she; "do yours?"

"Awful," said he.