[CHAPTER XVI] _The Beauty Dance_
Before long they came to another and larger sheet of water, and thisTwinkle decided was the most beautiful lake she had ever seen. Itswaters were mostly deep blue in color, although they had a changeableeffect and constantly shifted from one hue to another. Little wavesrippled all over its surface, and the edges of the waves wereglistening jewels which, as they scattered in spray and fell into thebosom of the lake, glinted and sparkled with a thousand flashinglights. Here were no rushes upon the shore, but instead of them banksof gorgeous flowers grew far down to the water's edge, so that the lastones dipped their petals into the lake itself.
Nestling upon this bank of flowers the Royal Messenger turned to hiscompanions and said:
"Here let us rest for a time, while I call the friendly fishes toentertain you."
He ended his speech with a peculiar warble, and at its sound a score offishes thrust their heads above the surface of the water. Some of themwere gold-fish and some silver-fish, but others had opal tints thatwere very pretty. Their faces were jolly in expression and their eyes,Chubbins thought, must be diamonds, because they sparkled so brightly.
Swimming softly here and there in the lovely waters of the LustrousLake, the fishes sang this song:
"We are the fishes of the lake; Our lives are very deep; We're always active when awake And quiet when asleep.
"We get our fins from Finland, From books we get out tales; Our eyes they come from Eyerland And weighty are our scales.
"We love to flop and twist and turn Whenever 'tis our whim. Yet social etiquette we learn Because we're in the swim.
"Our beds, though damp, are always made; We need no fires to warm us; When we swim out we're not afraid, For autos cannot harm us.
"We're independent little fish And never use umbrellas. We do exactly as we wish And live like jolly fellows."
As the fishes concluded their song they leaped high into the air andthen plunged under the water and disappeared, and it was hard to tellwhich sparkled most brilliantly, their gold and silver bodies or thespray of jewels they scattered about them as they leaped.
"If you should dive into this lake," said Ephel the Messenger, "yourfeathers would be dripping wet when you came out again. It is here weBirds of Paradise bathe each morning, after which we visit the GleamingGlade to perform our Beauty Dance."
"I should like to see that glade," said Twinkle, who was determined tolet nothing escape her that she could possibly see.
"You shall," answered Ephel, promptly. "We will fly there at once."
So he led the way and presently they entered a thicker grove of treesthan any they had before noticed. The trunks were so close togetherthat the birds could only pass between then in single file, but as theyproceeded in this fashion it was not long before they came to acircular space which the child-lark knew at once must be the GleamingGlade.
The floor was of polished gold, and so bright that as they stood uponit they saw their forms reflected as in a mirror. The trees surroundingthem were also of gold, being beautifully engraved with many attractivedesigns and set with rows of brilliant diamonds. The leaves of thetrees, however, were of burnished silver, and bore so high a gloss thateach one served as a looking-glass, reproducing the images of thosestanding in the glade thousands of times, whichever way they chanced toturn.
The gleam of these mirror-like leaves was exceedingly brilliant, butEphel said this radiance was much stronger in the morning, when therosy glow of the atmosphere was not so powerful.
"Then," said he, "the King Bird and all the Nobility of Paradise, whorejoice in the most brilliant plumage, come here from their bath anddance upon the golden floor the Beauty Dance, which keeps their bloodwarm until the feathers have all dried. While they dance they canadmire their reflections in the mirrors, which adds greatly to theirpleasure."
"Don't they have music to dance by?" asked Chubbins.
"Of course," the Messenger replied. "There is a regular orchestra thatplays exquisite music for the dance; but the musicians are the femaleBirds of Paradise, who, because their plumage is a modest brown, arenot allowed to take part in the Beauty Dance."
"I think the brown birds with the soft gray breasts are just as prettyas the gaily clothed ones," said Twinkle. "The male birds are toobright, and tire my eyes."
Ephel did not like this speech, for he was very proud of his owngorgeous coloring; but he was too polite to argue with his guest, so helet the remark pass.
"You have now witnessed the most attractive scenes in our favoredland," he said; "but there are some curious sights in the suburbs thatmight serve to interest you."
"Oh! have you suburbs, too?" she asked.
"Yes, indeed. We do not like to come into too close contact with thecoarse, outer world, so we have placed the flying things that are notbirds midway between our Paradise and the great forest. They serve uswhen we need them, and are under our laws and regulations; but they areso highly favored by being permitted to occupy the outer edge of ourglorious Paradise that they willingly obey their masters. After all,they live happy lives, and their habits, as I have said, may amuse you.
"Who are they?" enquired Chubbins.
"Come with me, and you shall see for yourselves."
They flew away from the grove of the Gleaming Glade and Ephel led themby pleasant routes into a large garden with many pretty flowers in it.Mostly it was filled with hollyhocks--yellow, white, scarlet andpurple.