Rinkitink in Oz
islands at a time. When we conquered Regos, our foes all came to
Coregos, and now that we have conquered Coregos, the Queen has fled to
Regos. And each time they removed the bridge of boats, so that we could
not follow them."
"What has become of our own boat, in which we came from Pingaree?" asked
Bilbil.
"We left it on the shore of Regos," replied the Prince, "but I wonder
if we could not get it again."
"Why don't you ask the White Pearl?" suggested Rinkitink.
"That is a good idea," returned the boy, and at once he drew the White
Pearl from its silken bag and held it to his ear. Then he asked: "How
may I regain our boat?"
The Voice of the Pearl replied: "Go to the south end of the Island of
Coregos, and clap your hands three times and the boat will come to you."
"Very good!" cried Inga, and then he turned to his companions and said:
"We shall be able to get our boat whenever we please; but what then
shall we do?"
"Take me home in it!" pleaded Zella.
"Come with me to my City of Gilgad," said the King, "where you will be
very welcome to remain forever."
"No," answered Inga, "I must rescue my father and mother, as well as my
people. Already I have the women and children of Pingaree, but the men
are with my father in the mines of Regos, and my dear mother has been
taken away by Queen Cor. Not until all are rescued will I consent to
leave these islands."
"Quite right!" exclaimed Bilbil.
"On second thought," said Rinkitink, "I agree with you. If you are
careful to sleep in your shoes, and never take them off again, I believe
you will be able to perform the task you have undertaken."
They counseled together for a long time as to their mode of action and
it was finally considered best to make the attempt to liberate King
Kitticut first of all, and with him the men from Pingaree. This would
give them an army to assist them and afterward they could march to Regos
and compel Queen Cor to give up the Queen of Pingaree. Zella told them
that they could go in their boat along the shore of Regos to a point
opposite the mines, thus avoiding any conflict with the warriors of King
Gos.
This being considered the best course to pursue, they resolved to start
on the following morning, as night was even now approaching. The
servants being all busy in caring for the women and children, Zella
undertook to get a dinner for Inga and Rinkitink and herself and soon
prepared a fine meal in the palace kitchen, for she was a good little
cook and had often helped her mother. The dinner was served in a small
room overlooking the gardens and Rinkitink thought the best part of it
was the sweet honey, which he spread upon the biscuits that Zella had
made. As for Bilbil, he wandered through the palace grounds and found
some grass that made him a good dinner.
During the evening Inga talked with the women and cheered them,
promising soon to reunite them with their husbands who were working in
the mines and to send them back to their own island of Pingaree.
Next morning the boy rose bright and early and found that Zella had
already prepared a nice breakfast. And after the meal they went to the
most southern point of the island, which was not very far away,
Rinkitink riding upon Bilbil's back and Inga and Zella following behind
them, hand in hand.
When they reached the water's edge the boy advanced and clapped his
hands together three times, as the White Pearl had told him to do. And
in a few moments they saw in the distance the black boat with the silver
lining, coming swiftly toward them from the sea. Presently it grounded
on the beach and they all got into it.
Zella was delighted with the boat, which was the most beautiful she had
ever seen, and the marvel of its coming to them through the water
without anyone to row it, made her a little afraid of the fairy craft.
But Inga picked up the oars and began to row and at once the boat shot
swiftly in the direction of Regos. They rounded the point of that island
where the city was built and noticed that the shore was lined with
warriors who had discovered their boat but seemed undecided whether to
pursue it or not. This was probably because they had received no
commands what to do, or perhaps they had learned to fear the magic
powers of these adventurers from Pingaree and were unwilling to attack
them unless their King ordered them to.
The coast on the western side of the Island of Regos was very uneven and
Zella, who knew fairly well the location of the mines from the inland
forest path, was puzzled to decide which mountain they now viewed from
the sea was the one where the entrance to the underground caverns was
located. First she thought it was this peak, and then she guessed it was
that; so considerable time was lost through her uncertainty.
They finally decided to land and explore the country, to see where they
were, so Inga ran the boat into a little rocky cove where they all
disembarked. For an hour they searched for the path without finding any
trace of it and now Zella believed they had gone too far to the north
and must return to another mountain that was nearer to the city.
Once again they entered the boat and followed the winding coast south
until they thought they had reached the right place. By this time,
however, it was growing dark, for the entire day had been spent in the
search for the entrance to the mines, and Zella warned them that it
would be safer to spend the night in the boat than on the land, where
wild beasts were sure to disturb them. None of them realized at this
time how fatal this day of search had been to their plans and perhaps if
Inga had realized what was going on he would have landed and fought all
the wild beasts in the forest rather than quietly remain in the boat
until morning.
However, knowing nothing of the cunning plans of Queen Cor and King Gos,
they anchored their boat in a little bay and cheerfully ate their
dinner, finding plenty of food and drink in the boat's lockers. In the
evening the stars came out in the sky and tipped the waves around their
boat with silver. All around them was delightfully still save for the
occasional snarl of a beast on the neighboring shore.
They talked together quietly of their adventures and their future plans
and Zella told them her simple history and how hard her poor father was
obliged to work, burning charcoal to sell for enough money to support
his wife and child. Nikobob might be the humblest man in all Regos, but
Zella declared he was a good man, and honest, and it was not his fault
that his country was ruled by so wicked a King.
Then Rinkitink, to amuse them, offered to sing a song, and although
Bilbil protested in his gruff way, claiming that his master's voice was
cracked and disagreeable, the little King was encouraged by the others
to sing his song, which he did.
"A red-headed man named Ned was dead;
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
In battle he had lost his head;
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
'Alas, poor Ned,' to him I said,
'How did you lose your head so red?'
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
"Said Ned: 'I for my country bled,'
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
'Instead of dying safe in bed;'
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
'If I had only fled, instead,
I then had been a head ahead.'
Sing fiddle-cum-faddle-cum-fi-do!
"I said to Ned----"
"Do stop, Your Majesty!" pleaded Bilbil. "You're making my head ache."
"But the song isn't finished," replied Rinkitink, "and as for your head
aching, think of poor Ned, who hadn't any head at all!"
"I can think of nothing but your dismal singing," retorted Bilbil. "Why
didn't you choose a cheerful subject, instead of telling how a man who
was dead lost his red head? Really, Rinkitink, I'm surprised at you."
"I know a splendid song about a live man," said the King.
"Then don't sing it," begged Bilbil.
Zella was both astonished and grieved by the disrespectful words of the
goat, for she had quite enjoyed Rinkitink's singing and had been taught
a proper respect for Kings and those high in authority. But as it was
now getting late they decided to go to sleep, that they might rise early
the following morning, so they all reclined upon the bottom of the big
boat and covered themselves with blankets which they found stored
underneath the seats for just such occasions. They were not long in
falling asleep and did not waken until daybreak.
After a hurried breakfast, for Inga was eager to liberate his father,
the boy rowed the boat ashore and they all landed and began searching
for the path. Zella found it within the next half hour and declared they
must be very close to the entrance to the mines; so they followed the
path toward the north, Inga going first, and then Zella following him,
while Rinkitink brought up the rear riding upon Bilbil's back.
Before long they saw a great wall of rock towering before them, in which
was a low arched entrance, and on either side of this entrance stood a
guard, armed with a sword and a spear. The guards of the mines were not
so fierce as the warriors of King Gos, their duty being to make the
slaves work at their tasks and guard them from escaping; but they were
as cruel as their cruel master wished them to be, and as cowardly as
they were cruel.
Inga walked up to the two men at the entrance and said:
"Does this opening lead to the mines of King Gos?"
"It does," replied one of the guards, "but no one is allowed to pass out
who once goes in."
"Nevertheless," said the boy, "we intend to go in and we shall come out
whenever it pleases us to do so. I am the Prince of Pingaree, and I
have come to liberate my people, whom King Gos has enslaved."
Now when the two guards heard this speech they looked at one another and
laughed, and one of them said: "The King was right, for he said the boy
was likely to come here and that he would try to set his people free.
Also the King commanded that we must keep the little Prince in the
mines, and set him to work, together with his companions."
"Then let us obey the King," replied the other man.
Inga was surprised at hearing this, and asked:
"When did King Gos give you this order?"
"His Majesty was here in person last night," replied the man, "and went
away again but an hour ago. He suspected you were coming here and told
us to capture you if we could."
This report made the boy very anxious, not for himself but for his
father, for he feared the King was up to some mischief. So he hastened
to enter the mines and the guards did nothing to oppose him or his
companions, their orders being to allow him to go in but not to come
out.
The little group of adventurers passed through a long rocky corridor and
reached a low, wide cavern where they found a dozen guards and a
hundred slaves, the latter being hard at work with picks and shovels
digging for gold, while the guards stood over them with long whips.
Inga found many of the men from Pingaree among these slaves, but King
Kitticut was not in this cavern; so they passed through it and entered
another corridor that led to a second cavern. Here also hundreds of men
were working, but the boy did not find his father amongst them, and so
went on to a third cavern.
The corridors all slanted downward, so that the farther they went the
lower into the earth they descended, and now they found the air hot and
close and difficult to breathe. Flaming torches were stuck into the
walls to give light to the workers, and these added to the oppressive
heat.
The third and lowest cavern was the last in the mines, and here were
many scores of slaves and many guards to keep them at work. So far, none
of the guards had paid any attention to Inga's party, but allowed them