L. Frank Baum (14 page)

"Very well," returned the sorcerer, with a desperate look upon his
face; "I'll go and find the enchantment."

"And we'll go with you," remarked the prince, pleasantly.

So the entire party accompanied Kwytoffle into the house, where they
entered a large room that was in a state of much disorder.

"Let me see," said the sorcerer, rubbing his ears, as if trying to
think; "I wonder if I put them in this cupboard. You see," he
explained, "no one has ever before dared me to transform him into a
June-bug or grasshopper, so I have almost forgotten where I keep my
book of enchantments. No, it's not in the cupboard," he continued,
looking there; "but it surely must be in this chest."

It was not in the chest, either, and so the sorcerer continued to look
in all sorts of queer places for his book of enchantments, without
finding it. Whenever he paused in his search Prince Marvel would say,
sternly:

"Go on! Find the book! Hunt it up. We are all anxious to become
grasshoppers." And then Kwytoffle would set to work again, although
big drops of perspiration were now streaming down his face.

Finally he pulled an old book from underneath the pillow of his bed,
and crying, "Here it is!" carried it to the window.

He turned a few leaves of the book and then said:

"How unfortunate! The compound I require to change you into
grasshoppers must be mixed on the first day of September; and as this
is now the eighth day of September I must wait nearly a year before I
can work the enchantment."

"How about the June-bugs?" asked Nerle.

"Oh! Ah! The June-bug mixture can only be made at the dark o' the
moon," said the sorcerer, pretending to read, "and that is three weeks
from now."

"Let me read it," said Prince Marvel, suddenly snatching the book from
Kwytoffle's hands. Then he turned to the title-page and read:

"'Lives of Famous Thieves and Impostors.' Why, this is not a book of
enchantments."

"That is what I suspected," said Terribus.

"No one but a sorcerer can read the enchantments in this book,"
declared Kwytoffle; but he hung his head with a sheepish look, for he
knew his deception had been well understood.

"Is your own history written in this volume?" inquired Marvel.

"No," answered the sorcerer.

"Then it ought to be," said the prince, "for you are no sorcerer at
all, but merely a thief and an impostor!"

The soldiers of Kwytoffle wanted to hang their old master at once, for
he had won their enmity by abusing them in many ways; but Prince Marvel
would not let them do this. However, they tied the false sorcerer to a
post, and the captain gave him a good whipping—one lash for each
letter in the words "grasshopper" and "June-bug." Kwytoffle howled
loudly for mercy, but no one was at all sorry for him.

Wul-Takim tied a rope around the impostor's neck, and when the party
left the castle they journeyed all through the kingdom of Auriel, and
at every town or city they came to the reformed thief would cry out to
the populace:

"Here is the terrible sorcerer Kwytoffle, who threatened to change you
into grasshoppers and june-bugs. But you may see that he is a very
common man, with no powers of sorcery whatever!"

And then the people would laugh and pelt mud at their former tyrant,
and thank Prince Marvel for haying exposed the false and wicked
creature.

And they called the son of their old king back to his lawful throne,
where he ruled wisely and well; and the hoarded wealth of Kwytoffle was
divided among the people again, and soon the country became prosperous
once more.

This adventure was very amusing to the pretty High Ki of Twi. It
afforded them laughter for many days, and none of the party ever saw a
grasshopper or a june-bug afterward without thinking of the terrible
sorcerer Kwytoffle.

They left that disgraced person grooming horses for his board in the
stables of the new king, and proceeded upon their journey.

Without further event they reached the splendid southern Kingdom of
Plenta, which was the most delightfully situated of any dominion in the
Enchanted Island of Yew. It was ruled by a good and generous queen,
who welcomed the strangers to her palace and gave a series of gay
entertainments in their honor.

King Terribus was especially an object of interest, for every one had
heard his name and feared him and his fierce people. But when they
beheld his pleasant countenance and listened to his gentle voice they
began to regard him with much love and respect; and really Terribus was
worthy of their friendship since he had changed from a deformed monster
into an ordinary man, and had forbidden his people ever again to rob
and plunder their weaker neighbors.

But the most popular personages visiting at the court of the Queen of
Plenta were the lovely High Ki of Twi. Although beautiful girls
abounded in this kingdom, none could compare with the royal twins, and
their peculiar condition only served to render them the more
interesting.

Two youths would approach the High Ki at the same time and invite them
to dance, and in united voices they would accept the invitation and go
whirling around the room with exactly the same steps, laughing at the
same instant and enjoying the dance equally. But if one youth asked
his partner a question, both the twins would make answer, and that was
sure to confuse and embarrass the youth. Still, the maids managed very
well to adapt themselves to the ways of people who were singular,
although they sometimes became a little homesick for Twi, where they
were like all the other people.

The bald-headed Ki kept watchful eyes on their youthful rulers, and
served them very cheerfully. But with all their travels and
experiences, the old men could never be convinced it was better to be
singular than double.

Prince Marvel was the real hero of the party, and Nerle received much
attention on account of his master's popularity. He did not seem as
unhappy as usual, and when the prince inquired the reason, his esquire
answered that he believed the excitement of their adventures was fast
curing him of his longing for something he could not have. As for the
pleasure of suffering, he had had some experience of that, too, and it
was not nearly so delightful as he had expected.

Wul-Takim was not a society man, so he stayed around the royal stables
and made friends with the grooms, and traded his big black horse for
two bay ones and a gold neck-chain, and was fairly content with his lot.

And so the party enjoyed several happy weeks at the court of the good
Queen of Plenta, until one day the terrible news arrived that carried
them once more into exciting adventures.

One morning, while they were all standing in the courtyard waiting for
their horses, as they were about to go for a ride, a courier came
galloping swiftly up to the palace and cried:

"Does any one know where Prince Marvel can be found?"

"I am Prince Marvel," replied the young knight, stepping out from among
the others.

"Then have I reached my journey's end!" said the courier, whose horse
was nearly exhausted from long and hard riding. "The Lady Seseley is
in great danger, and sends for you to come and rescue her. The great
Baron Merd, her father, has been killed and his castle destroyed, and
all his people are either captives or have been slain outright."

"And who has done this evil thing?" asked Prince Marvel, looking very
stern and grave.

"The Red Rogue of Dawna," answered the messenger. "He quarreled with
the Baron Merd and sent his savage hordes to tear down his castle and
slay him. I myself barely escaped with my life, and the Lady Seseley
had but time to say, before she was carried off, that if I could find
Prince Marvel he would surely rescue her."

"And so I will!" declared the prince, "if she be still alive."

"Who is this Lady Seseley?" asked Nerle, who had come to his master's
side.

"She is my first friend, to whom I owe my very existence. It is her
image, together with those of her two friends, which is graven on my
shield," answered Prince Marvel, thoughtfully.

"And what will you do?" inquired the esquire.

"I must go to her at once."

When they heard of his mission all the party insisted on accompanying
him. Even the dainty High Ki could not be deterred by any thoughts of
dangers they might encounter; and after some discussion Prince Marvel
allowed them to join him.

So Wul-Takim sharpened his big broadsword, and Nerle carefully prepared
his master's horse, so that before an hour had passed they were
galloping toward the province of the Red Rogue of Dawna.

Prince Marvel knew little concerning this personage, but Nerle had much
to tell of him. The Red Rogue had once been page to a wise scholar and
magician, who lived in a fine old castle in Dawna and ruled over a
large territory. The boy was very small and weak—smaller even than
the average dwarf—and his master did not think it worth while to watch
him. But one evening, while the magician was standing upon the top of
the highest tower of his castle, the boy gave him a push from behind,
and he met death on the sharp rocks below. Then the boy took his
master's book of magic and found a recipe to make one grow. He made
the mixture and swallowed it, and straightway began to grow big and
tall. This greatly delighted him, until he found he was getting much
bigger than the average man and rapidly becoming a giant. So he sought
for a way to arrest the action of the magical draft; but before he
could find it he had grown to enormous proportions, and was bigger than
the biggest giant. There was nothing in the book of magic to make one
grow smaller, so he was obliged to remain as he was—the largest man in
the Enchanted Island.

All this had happened in a single night. The morning after his
master's murder the page announced himself lord of the castle; and,
seeing his enormous size, none dared deny his right to rule. On
account of his bushy hair, which was fiery red in color, and the bushy
red beard that covered his face when he became older, people came to
call him the Red One. And after his evil deeds and quarrelsome temper
had made him infamous throughout the island, people began to call him
the Red Rogue of Dawna.

He had gathered around him a number of savage barbarians, as wicked and
quarrelsome as himself, and so none dared to interfere with him, or
even to meet him, if it were possible to avoid it.

This same Red Rogue it was who had drawn the good Baron Merd into a
quarrel and afterward slain the old knight and his followers, destroyed
his castle, and carried his little daughter Seseley and her girl
friends, Berna and Helda, into captivity, shutting them up in his own
gloomy castle.

The Red Rogue thought he had done a very clever thing, and had no fear
of the consequences until one of his men came running up to the castle
to announce that Prince Marvel and his companions were approaching to
rescue the Lady Seseley.

"How many of them are there?" demanded the Red Rogue.

"There are eight, altogether," answered the man, "but two of them are
girls."

"And they expect to force me to give up my captives?" asked the Red
One, laughing with a noise like the roar of a waterfall. "Why, I shall
make prisoners of every one of them!"

The man looked at his master fearfully, and replied:

"This Prince Marvel is very famous, and all people speak of his bravery
and power. It was he who conquered King Terribus of Spor, and that
mighty ruler is now his friend, and is one of the eight who approach."

The Red Rogue stopped laughing, for the fame of Spor's terrible king
had long ago reached him. And he reflected that any one who could
conquer the army of giants and dwarfs and Gray Men that served Terribus
must surely be one to be regarded seriously. Moreover—and this was a
secret—the Red Rogue had never been able to gain the strength to
correspond with his gigantic size, but had ever remained as weak as
when he was a puny boy. So he was accustomed to rely on his cunning
and on the terror his very presence usually excited to triumph over his
enemies. And he began to be afraid of this prince.

"You say two of the party are girls?" he asked.

"Yes," said the man, "but also among them are King Terribus himself,
and the renowned Wul-Takim, formerly king of thieves, who was conquered
by the prince, although accounted a hard fighter, and is now his
devoted servant. And there are two old men who are just alike and have
a very fierce look about them. They are said to come from the hidden
Kingdom of Twi."

By this time the Red Rogue was thoroughly frightened, but he did not
yet despair of defeating his enemies. He knew better than to attempt
to oppose Prince Marvel by force, but he still hoped to conquer him by
trickery and deceit.

Among the wonderful things that the Red Rogue's former master, the wise
scholar and magician, had made were two large enchanted mirrors, which
were set on each side of the great hallway of the castle. Heavy
curtains were drawn over the surfaces of these mirrors, because they
both possessed a dreadful magical power. For whenever any one looked
into one of them his reflection was instantly caught and imprisoned in
the mirror, and his body at the same time became invisible to all
earthly eyes, only the mirror retaining his form.

While considering a way to prevent the prince from freeing the Lady
Seseley, the Red Rogue happened to think of these mirrors, which had
never yet been used. So he went stealthily into the great hall and
drew aside the covering from one of the mirrors. He did not dare look
into the mirror himself, but hurried away to another room, and then
sent a page up a back stairway to summon the Lady Seseley and her two
maids into his presence.