_Chap. 18._
A DASH FOR LIBERTY]
Trot dreamed that she was at home in her own bed; but the night seemedchilly and she wanted to draw the coverlet up to her chin. She wasnot wide awake, but realized that she was cold and was unable to moveher arms to cover herself up. She tried, but could not stir. Then sheroused herself a little more, and tried again. Yes; it was cold--verycold! Really, she _must_ do something to get warm, she thought. Sheopened her eyes, and stared at a great wall of ice in front of her.
She was awake now, and frightened, too. But, she could not move becausethe ice was all around her. She was frozen inside of it, and the airspace around her was not big enough to allow her to turn over.
At once, the little girl realized what had happened. Their wicked enemyZog had, by his magic art, frozen all the water in their room whilethey slept, and now they were all imprisoned and helpless. Trot andCap'n Bill were sure to freeze to death in a short time, for only atiny air space remained between their bodies and the ice, and this airwas like that of a winter day when the thermometer is below zero.
Across the room Trot could see the mermaid queen lying on her couch,for the solid ice was clear as crystal. Aquareine was imprisoned justas Trot was, and although she held her fairy wand in one hand and thegolden sword in the other, she seemed unable to move either of them,and the girl remembered that the queen always waved her magic wand toaccomplish anything. Princess Clia's couch was behind that of Trot,so the child could not see her; and Cap'n Bill was in his own room,probably frozen fast in the ice, as the others were.
The terrible Zog had surely been very clever in this last attempt todestroy them. Trot thought it all over, and decided that, inasmuch asthe queen was unable to wave her fairy wand, she could do nothing torelease herself or her friends.
QUEEN AQUAREINE AND THE MAGIC SWORD]
But in this the girl was mistaken. The fairy mermaid was even now atwork, trying to save them, and in a few minutes Trot was astonished anddelighted to see the queen rise from her couch. She could not go farfrom it, at first, but the ice was melting rapidly all around her;so that gradually Aquareine approached the place where the child lay.Trot could hear the mermaid's voice sounding through the ice, as iffrom afar off; but it grew more distinct until she could make out thatthe queen was saying: "Courage, friends! Do not despair, for soon youwill be free."
Before very long the ice between Trot and the queen had melted awayentirely, and with a cry of joy the little girl flopped her pink tailand swam to the side of her deliverer.
"Are you very cold?" asked Aquareine.
"N--not v--v--very!" replied Trot; but, her teeth chattered and she wasstill shivering.
"The water will be warm in a few minutes," said the Queen. "But now Imust melt the rest of the ice and liberate Clia."
This she did in an astonishingly brief time, and the pretty princess,being herself a fairy, had not been at all affected by the coldsurrounding her.
They now swam to the door of Cap'n Bill's room and found the PeonyChamber a solid block of ice. The queen worked her magic power as hardas she could, and the ice thawed and melted quickly before her fairywand. Yet when they reached the old sailor he was almost frozen stiff,and Trot and Clia had to rub his hands and nose, and ears very brisklyto warm him up, and bring him back to life.
Cap'n Bill was pretty tough, and he came around in time and opened hiseyes and sneezed, and asked if the blizzard was over. So the queenwaved her wand over his head a few times to restore him to his naturalcondition of warmth, and soon the old sailor became quite comfortableand was able to understand all about the strange adventure from whichhe had so marvelously escaped.
"I've made up my mind to one thing, Trot," he said confidentially; "ifever I get out o' this mess I'm in, I won't be an Arctic explorer,whatever else happens. Shivers an' shakes ain't to my likin', an' thisice business ain't what it's sometimes cracked up to be. To be frizonce is enough fer anybody, an' if I was a gal like you I wouldn't evenwear frizzes on my hair."
"You haven't any hair, Cap'n Bill," answered Trot; "so you needn'tworry."
The queen and Clia had been talking together very earnestly. They nowapproached their earth friends, and Aquareine said:
"We have decided not to remain in this castle any longer. Zog's crueldesigns upon our lives and happiness are becoming too dangerous for usto endure. The golden sword now bears a fairy charm, and by its aid Iwill cut a way through our enemies. Are you ready and willing to followme?"
"Of course we are!" cried Trot.
"It don't seem 'zactly right to ask a lady to do the fightin',"remarked Cap'n Bill; "but magic ain't my strong p'int, and it seems tobe yours, ma'am. So swim ahead, and we'll wiggle the same way you do,an' try to wiggle out of our troubles."
"If I chance to fail," said the Queen, "try not to blame me. I will doall in my power to provide for our escape, and I am willing to riskeverything, because I well know that to remain here will mean to perishin the end."
"That's all right," said Trot, with fine courage. "Let's have it overwith."
"Then we will leave here at once," said Aquareine.
She approached the window of the room, and with one blow of her goldensword shattered the thick pane of glass. The opening thus made waslarge enough for them to swim through, if they were careful not toscrape against the broken points of glass. The queen went first,followed by Trot and Cap'n Bill, with Clia last of all.
And now they were in the vast dome in which the castle and gardens ofZog had been built. Around them was a clear stretch of water, and farabove--full half a mile distant--was the opening in the roof guarded bythe prince of the sea devils.
The mermaid queen had determined to attack this monster. If shesucceeded in destroying it with her golden sword the little band offugitives might then swim through the opening into the clear watersof the ocean. Although this prince of the sea devils was said to bebig and wise and mighty, there was but one of him to fight; whereas,if they attempted to escape through any of the passages, they mustencounter scores of such enemies.
"Swim straight for the opening in the dome!" cried Aquareine, and inanswer to the command the four whisked their glittering tails, wavedtheir fins, and shot away through the water at full speed; their courseslanting upward toward the top of the dome.