Rinkitink in Oz
Kaliko took a gold whistle from his pocket and blew a shrill note that
echoed through every part of the cave. Instantly nomes began to pour in
through the side arches in great numbers, until the immense space was
packed with them as far as the eye could reach. All were armed with
glittering weapons of polished silver and gold, and Inga was amazed that
any King could command so great an army.
They began marching and countermarching in very orderly array until
another blast of the gold whistle sent them scurrying away as quickly as
they had appeared. And as soon as the great cave was again empty Kaliko
returned with his visitors to his own royal chamber, where he once more
seated himself upon his ivory throne.
"I have shown you," said he to Inga, "a part of my bodyguard. The royal
armies, of which this is only a part, are as numerous as the sands of
the ocean, and live in many thousands of my underground caverns. You
have come here thinking to force me to give up the captives of King Gos
and Queen Cor, and I wanted to convince you that my power is too mighty
for anyone to oppose. I am told that you are a wizard, and depend upon
magic to aid you; but you must know that the nomes are not mortals, and
understand magic pretty well themselves, so if we are obliged to fight
magic with magic the chances are that we are a hundred times more
powerful than you can be. Think this over carefully, my boy, and try to
realize that you are in my power. I do not believe you can force me to
liberate King Kitticut and Queen Garee, and I know that you cannot coax
me to do so, for I have given my promise to King Gos. Therefore, as I
do not wish to hurt you, I ask you to go away peaceably and let me
alone."
"Forgive me if I do not agree with you, King Kaliko," answered the boy.
"However difficult and dangerous my task may be, I cannot leave your
dominions until every effort to release my parents has failed and left
me completely discouraged."
"Very well," said the King, evidently displeased. "I have warned you,
and now if evil overtakes you it is your own fault. I've a headache
to-day, so I cannot entertain you properly, according to your rank; but
Klik will attend you to my guest chambers and to-morrow I will talk with
you again."
This seemed a fair and courteous way to treat one's declared enemies, so
they politely expressed the wish that Kaliko's headache would be better,
and followed their guide, Klik, down a well-lighted passage and through
several archways until they finally reached three nicely furnished
bedchambers which were cut from solid gray rock and well lighted and
aired by some mysterious method known to the nomes.
The first of these rooms was given King Rinkitink, the second was Inga's
and the third was assigned to Bilbil the goat. There was a swinging rock
door between the third and second rooms and another between the second
and first, which also had a door that opened upon the passage.
Rinkitink's room was the largest, so it was here that an excellent
dinner was spread by some of the nome servants, who, in spite of their
crooked shapes, proved to be well trained and competent.
"You are not prisoners, you know," said Klik; "neither are you welcome
guests, having declared your purpose to oppose our mighty King and all
his hosts. But we bear you no ill will, and you are to be well fed and
cared for as long as you remain in our caverns. Eat hearty, sleep tight,
and pleasant dreams to you."
Saying this, he left them alone and at once Rinkitink and Inga began to
counsel together as to the best means to liberate King Kitticut and
Queen Garee. The White Pearl's advice was rather unsatisfactory to the
boy, just now, for all that the Voice said in answer to his questions
was: "Be patient, brave and determined."
Rinkitink suggested that they try to discover in what part of the series
of underground caverns Inga's parents had been confined, as that
knowledge was necessary before they could take any action; so together
they started out, leaving Bilbil asleep in his room, and made their way
unopposed through many corridors and caverns.
In some places were great furnaces, where gold dust was being melted
into bricks. In other rooms workmen were fashioning the gold into
various articles and ornaments. In one cavern immense wheels revolved
which polished precious gems, and they found many caverns used as
storerooms, where treasure of every sort was piled high. Also they came
to the barracks of the army and the great kitchens.
There were nomes everywhere--countless thousands of them--but none paid
the slightest heed to the visitors from the earth's surface. Yet,
although Inga and Rinkitink walked until they were weary, they were
unable to locate the place where the boy's father and mother had been
confined, and when they tried to return to their own rooms they found
that they had hopelessly lost themselves amid the labyrinth of passages.
However, Klik presently came to them, laughing at their discomfiture,
and led them back to their bedchambers.
Before they went to sleep they carefully barred the door from
Rinkitink's room to the corridor, but the doors that connected the three
rooms one with another were left wide open.
In the night Inga was awakened by a soft grating sound that filled him
with anxiety because he could not account for it. It was dark in his
room, the light having disappeared as soon as he got into bed, but he
managed to feel his way to the door that led to Rinkitink's room and
found it tightly closed and immovable. Then he made his way to the
opposite door, leading to Bilbil's room, to discover that also had been
closed and fastened.
The boy had a curious sensation that all of his room--the walls, floor
and ceiling--was slowly whirling as if on a pivot, and it was such an
uncomfortable feeling that he got into bed again, not knowing what else
to do. And as the grating noise had ceased and the room now seemed
stationary, he soon fell asleep again.
When the boy wakened, after many hours, he found the room again light.
So he dressed himself and discovered that a small table, containing a
breakfast that was smoking hot, had suddenly appeared in the center of
his room. He tried the two doors, but finding that he could not open
them he ate some breakfast, thoughtfully wondering who had locked him in
and why he had been made a prisoner. Then he again went to the door
which he thought led to Rinkitink's chamber and to his surprise the
latch lifted easily and the door swung open.
Before him was a rude corridor hewn in the rock and dimly lighted. It
did not look inviting, so Inga closed the door, puzzled to know what had
become of Rinkitink's room and the King, and went to the opposite door.
Opening this, he found a solid wall of rock confronting him, which
effectually prevented his escape in that direction.
The boy now realized that King Kaliko had tricked him, and while
professing to receive him as a guest had plotted to separate him from
his comrades. One way had been left, however, by which he might escape
and he decided to see where it led to.
So, going to the first door, he opened it and ventured slowly into the
dimly lighted corridor. When he had advanced a few steps he heard the
door of his room slam shut behind him. He ran back at once, but the door
of rock fitted so closely into the wall that he found it impossible to
open it again. That did not matter so much, however, for the room was a
prison and the only way of escape seemed ahead of him.
Along the corridor he crept until, turning a corner, he found himself in
a large domed cavern that was empty and deserted. Here also was a dim
light that permitted him to see another corridor at the opposite side;
so he crossed the rocky floor of the cavern and entered a second
corridor. This one twisted and turned in every direction but was not
very long, so soon the boy reached a second cavern, not so large as the
first. This he found vacant also, but it had another corridor leading
out of it, so Inga entered that. It was straight and short and beyond
was a third cavern, which differed little from the others except that it
had a strong iron grating at one side of it.
All three of these caverns had been roughly hewn from the rock and it
seemed they had never been put to use, as had all the other caverns of
the nomes he had visited. Standing in the third cavern, Inga saw what he
thought was still another corridor at its farther side, so he walked
toward it. This opening was dark, and that fact, and the solemn silence
all around him, made him hesitate for a while to enter it. Upon
reflection, however, he realized that unless he explored the place to
the very end he could not hope to escape from it, so he boldly entered
the dark corridor and felt his way cautiously as he moved forward.
Scarcely had he taken two paces when a crash resounded back of him and a
heavy sheet of steel closed the opening into the cavern from which he
had just come. He paused a moment, but it still seemed best to proceed,
and as Inga advanced in the dark, holding his hands outstretched before
him to feel his way, handcuffs fell upon his wrists and locked
themselves with a sharp click, and an instant later he found he was
chained to a stout iron post set firmly in the rock floor.
The chains were long enough to permit him to move a yard or so in any
direction and by feeling the walls he found he was in a small circular
room that had no outlet except the passage by which he had entered, and
that was now closed by the door of steel. This was the end of the series
of caverns and corridors.
It was now that the horror of his situation occurred to the boy with
full force. But he resolved not to submit to his fate without a
struggle, and realizing that he possessed the Blue Pearl, which gave him
marvelous strength, he quickly broke the chains and set himself free of
the handcuffs. Next he twisted the steel door from its hinges, and
creeping along the short passage, found himself in the third cave.
But now the dim light, which had before guided him, had vanished; yet on
peering into the gloom of the cave he saw what appeared to be two round
disks of flame, which cast a subdued glow over the floor and walls. By
this dull glow he made out the form of an enormous man, seated in the
center of the cave, and he saw that the iron grating had been removed,
permitting the man to enter.
The giant was unclothed and its limbs were thickly covered with coarse
red hair. The round disks of flame were its two eyes and when it opened
its mouth to yawn Inga saw that its jaws were wide enough to crush a
dozen men between the great rows of teeth.
Presently the giant looked up and perceived the boy crouching at the
other side of the cavern, so he called out in a hoarse, rude voice:
"Come hither, my pretty one. We will wrestle together, you and I, and if
you succeed in throwing me I will let you pass through my cave."
The boy made no reply to the challenge. He realized he was in dire peril
and regretted that he had lent the Pink Pearl to King Rinkitink. But it
was now too late for vain regrets, although he feared that even his
great strength would avail him little against this hairy monster. For
his arms were not long enough to span a fourth of the giant's huge
body, while the monster's powerful limbs would be likely to crush out
Inga's life before he could gain the mastery.
Therefore the Prince resolved to employ other means to combat this foe,
who had doubtless been placed there to bar his return. Retreating
through the passage he reached the room where he had been chained and
wrenched the iron post from its socket. It was a foot thick and four
feet long, and being of solid iron was so heavy that three ordinary men