[CHAPTER XIV] _A Real Fairyland_
As they left the royal arbor of white flowers the Messenger turned tothe left and guided his guests through several bright and charmingavenues to a grove of trees that had bright blue bark and yellowleaves. Scattered about among the branches were blossoms of a delicatepink color, shaped like a cup and resembling somewhat the flower of themorning-glory.
"Are you hungry?" asked Ephel.
"Oh, I could eat something, I guess," said Chubbins.
The Messenger flew to one of the trees and alighted upon a branch wherethree of the pink, cup-shaped flowers grew in a row. The childrenfollowed him, and sitting one before each blossom they looked withinthe cups and found them filled with an unknown substance that bothlooked and smelled delicious and appetizing.
"It is royal amal," said their guide, busily pecking at his cup withhis bill. "Help yourselves, little ones. You will find it very niceindeed."
"Well," said Twinkle, "I'd be glad to eat it if I could. But itwouldn't do Chubbins and me a bit of good to stick our noses into thesecups."
Ephel turned to look at them.
"True," he remarked; "it was very careless of me to forget that youhave no bills. How are you accustomed to eat?"
"Why, with spoons, and knives and forks," said the girl.
"You have but to ask for what you need," declared the royal Messenger.
Twinkle hesitated, scarcely knowing what to say. At last she spokeboldly: "I wish Chub and I had spoons."
Hardly had the words left her lips when two tiny golden spoons appearedin the flower-cups. Twinkle seized the spoon before her in one claw anddipped up a portion of the strange food, which resembled charlotterusse in appearance. When she tasted it she found it delicious; so sheeagerly ate all that the blossom contained.
When she looked around for Chubbins she found he was gone. He hademptied his cup and carried the golden spoon to another blossom on ahigher limb, where the girl discovered him eating as fast as he coulddip up the food.
"Let us go to another tree," said Ephel. "There are many excellentthings to eat, and a variety of food is much more agreeable thanfeasting upon one kind."
"All right," called Chubbins, who had succeeded in emptying the secondcup.
As they flew on Twinkle said to the guide:
"I should think the blossoms would all be emptied in a little while."
"Oh, they fill up again in a few moments," replied Ephel. "Should we goback even now, I think we would find them all ready to eat again. Buthere are the conona bushes. Let us taste these favorite morsels."
The bushes on which they now rested had willow-green branches withsilver balls growing thickly upon them. Ephel tapped lightly upon oneof the balls with his bill and at once it opened by means of a hinge inthe center, the two halves of the ball lying flat, like plates. On oneside Twinkle found tiny round pellets of cake, each one just big enoughto make a mouthful for a bird. On the other side was a thick substancethat looked like jelly.
"The proper thing to do," said their guide, "is to roll one of thepellets in the jelly, and then eat it."
He showed Twinkle how to do this, and as she had brought her goldenspoon with her it was easy enough. Ephel opened a ball for Chubbins andthen one for himself, and the children thought this food even nicerthan the first they had eaten.
"Now we will have some fruit," declared the Messenger. He escorted hischarges to an orchard where grew many strange and beautiful treeshanging full of fruits that were all unknown to the lark-children. Theywere of many odd shapes and all superbly colored, some gleaming likesilver and gold and others being cherry-red or vivid blue or royalpurple in shade. A few resembled grapes and peaches and cherries; butthey had flavors not only varied and delicious but altogether differentfrom the fruits that grow outside of the Birds' Paradise.
Another queer thing was, that as fast as the children ate one fruit,another appeared in its place, and they hopped from branch to branchand tree to tree, trying this one and that, until Chubbins exclaimed:
"Really, Twink, I can't eat another mouthful."
"I'm afraid we've both been stuffing ourselves, Chub," the girlreplied. "But these things taste so good it is hard to stop at theright time."
"Would you like to drink?" asked Ephel.
"If you please," Twinkle answered.
"Then follow me," said the guide.
He led them through lovely vistas of wonderful trees, down beautifulwinding avenues that excited their admiration, and past clusters offlowering plants with leaves as big as umbrellas and as bright as apainter's palette. The Paradise seemed to have been laid out accordingto one exquisite, symmetrical plan, and although the avenues or pathsbetween the trees and plants led in every direction, the ground beneaththem was everywhere thickly covered with a carpet of magnificentflowers or richly tinted ferns and grasses. This was because the birdsnever walked upon the ground, but always flew through the air.
Often, as they passed by, the flowers would greet them with sweet songsor choruses and the plants would play delightful music by rubbing orstriking their leaves against one another, so that the children's earswere constantly filled with harmony, while their eyes were feasted onthe bewildering masses of rich color, and each breath they drew wasfragrant with the delicious odors of the blossoms that abounded onevery side.
"Of all the fairylands I've ever heard of or read about," said Twinkle,"this certainly is the best."
"It's just a peach of a fairyland," commented Chubbins, approvingly.
"Here is the nectar tree," presently remarked the royal Messenger, andhe paused to allow them to observe it.
The tree was all of silver--silver trunk and branches and leaves--andfrom the end of each leaf or branch dripped sparkling drops of apink-tinted liquid. These glistened brightly as they fell through theair and lost themselves in a bed of silver moss that covered all theground beneath the tree.
Ephel flew to a branch and held his mouth open so that a drop fromabove fell into it. Twinkle and Chubbins followed his example, andfound the pink liquid very delightful to drink. It seemed to quenchtheir thirst and refresh them at the same time, and when they flew fromthe queer dripping tree they were as light-hearted and gay as any twochildren so highly favored could possibly have felt.
"Haven't you any water in your paradise?" asked the little girl-lark.
"Yes, of course," Ephel answered. "The fountain-lilies supply whatwater we wish to drink, and the Lustrous Lake is large enough for usall to bathe in. Besides these, we have also the Lake of Dry Water, foryou must know that the Lustrous Lake is composed of wet water."
"I thought all water was wet," said Chubbins.
"It may be so in your country," replied the Royal Messenger, "but inour Paradise we have both dry and wet water. Would you like to visitthese lakes?"
"If you please," said Twinkle.