"Perhaps so," said the mother; "but if they do, it will punish them forbeing so naughty. I always let them fight it out, because they are sosore for a day or two afterward that they have to keep quiet, and then Iget a little rest."
Weenty set up a great howling, just then, and Teenty drew away from hisdefeated brother and looked at him closely. The fur on both of them wasbadly mussed up, and Weenty had a long scratch on his nose, that musthave hurt him, or he wouldn't have howled so. Teenty's left eye wasclosed tight, but if it hurt him he bore the pain in silence.
Mrs. Puff-Pudgy now pushed them both into a little room and shut themup, saying they must stay there until bedtime; and then she led Twinkleand Chubbins into the kitchen and showed them a pool of clear water, ina big clay basin, that had been caught during the last rain and savedfor drinking purposes. The children drank of it, and found it cool andrefreshing.
Then they saw the bedrooms, and learned that the beds of prairie-dogswere nothing more than round hollows made in heaps of clay. Theseanimals always curl themselves up when they sleep, and the round hollowsjust fitted their bodies; so, no doubt, they found them verycomfortable.
There were several bedrooms, for the Puff-Pudgy house was really verylarge. It was also very cool and pleasant, being all underground and nota bit damp.
After they had admired everything in a way that made Mrs. Puff-Pudgyvery proud and happy, their hostess took one of the lighted candles froma bracket and said she would now escort them to the house of theHonorable Mr. Bowko, the Mayor.
Chapter VIIThe Mayor Gives a Luncheon
"DON'T we have to go upstairs and out of doors?" asked Twinkle.
"Oh, no," replied the prairie-dog, "we have halls connecting all thedifferent houses of importance. Just follow me, and you can't get lost."
They might easily have been lost without their guide, the little girlthought, after they had gone through several winding passages. Theyturned this way and that, in quite a bewildering manner, and there wereso many underground tunnels going in every direction that it was awonder Mrs. Puff-Pudgy knew which way to go.
"You ought to have sign-posts," said Chubbins, who had once been in acity.
"Why, as for that, every one in the town knows which way to go,"answered their guide; "and it isn't often we have visitors. Last week agray owl stopped with us for a couple of days, and we had a fine ball inher honor. But you are the first humans that have ever been entertainedin our town, so it's quite an event with us." A few minutes later shesaid: "Here we are, at the Mayor's house," and as they passed under abroad archway she blew out her candle, because the Mayor's house was sobrilliantly lighted.
"Welcome!" said Mr. Bowko, greeting the children with polite bows. "Youare just in time, for luncheon is about ready and my guests are waitingfor you."
He led them at once into a big dining-room that was so magnificentlypainted with colored clays that the walls were as bright as a Junerainbow.
"How pretty!" cried Twinkle, clapping her hands together in delight.
"I'm glad you like it," said the Mayor, much pleased. "Some people, whoare lacking in good taste, think it's a little overdone, but a Mayor'shouse should be gorgeous, I think, so as to be a credit to thecommunity. My grandfather, who designed and painted this house, was avery fine artist. But luncheon is ready, so pray be seated."
They sat down on little clay chairs that were placed at the round table.The Mayor sat on one side of Twinkle and Mrs. Puff-Pudgy on the other,and Chubbins was between the skinny old magician and Mr. Sneezeley.Also, in other chairs sat Dr. Dosem, and Mrs. Chatterby, and Mrs.Fuzcum, and several others. It was a large company, indeed, which showedthat the Mayor considered this a very important occasion.
They were waited upon by several sleek prairie-dog maids in white apronsand white caps, who looked neat and respectable, and were very gracefulin their motions.
Neither Twinkle nor Chubbins was very hungry, but they were curious toknow what kind of food the prairie-dogs ate, so they watched carefullywhen the different dishes were passed around. Only grains and vegetableswere used, for prairie-dogs do not eat meat. There was a milk-weed soupat first; and then yellow corn, boiled and sliced thin. Afterward theyhad a salad of thistle leaves, and some bread made of barley. Thedessert was a dish of the sweet, dark honey made by prairie-bees, andsome cakes flavored with sweet and spicy roots that only prairie-dogsknow how to find.
The children tasted of several dishes, just to show their politeness;but they couldn't eat much. Chubbins spent most of his time watching Mr.Presto Digi, who ate up everything that was near him and seemed to be ashungry after the luncheon as he had been before.
Mrs. Puff-Pudgy talked so much about the social standing and dignity ofthe Puff-Pudgys that she couldn't find time to eat much, although sheasked for the recipe of the milk-weed soup. But most of the otherspresent paid strict attention to the meal and ate with very goodappetites.
Chapter VIIIOn Top of the Earth Again
AFTERWARD they all went into the big drawing-room, where Mrs. Fuzcumsang a song for them in a very shrill voice, and Mr. Sneezeley and Mrs.Chatterby danced a graceful minuet that was much admired by all present.
"We ought to be going home," said Twinkle, after this entertainment wasover. "I'm afraid our folks will worry about us."
"We regret to part with you," replied the Mayor; "but, if you reallythink you ought to go, we will not be so impolite as to urge you tostay."
"You'll find we have excellent manners," added Mrs. Puff-Pudgy.
"I want to get big again," said Chubbins.
"Very well; please step this way," said the Mayor.
So they all followed him through a long passage until they began to goupward, as if climbing a hill. And then a gleam of daylight showed justahead of them, and a few more steps brought them to the hole in themiddle of the mound.
The Mayor and Mrs. Puff-Pudgy jumped up first, and then they helpedTwinkle and Chubbins to scramble out. The strong sunlight made themblink their eyes for a time, but when they were able to look around theyfound one or more heads of prairie-dogs sticking from every mound.
"Now, Mr. Presto Digi," said the Mayor, when all the party were standingon the ground, "please enlarge our friends to their natural sizesagain."
"That is very easy," said the magician, with a sigh. "I really wish, Mr.Mayor, that you would find something for me to do that is difficult."
"I will, some time," promised the Mayor. "Just now, this is all I canrequire of you."
So the magician waved his paw and gurgled, much in the same way he haddone before, and Twinkle and Chubbins began to grow, and swell out untilthey were as large as ever, and the prairie-dogs again seemed very smallbeside them.
"Good-bye," said the little girl, "and thank you all, very much, foryour kindness to us."
"Good-bye!" answered a chorus of small voices, and then all theprairie-dogs popped into their holes and quickly disappeared.
Twinkle and Chubbins found they were sitting on the green bank again, atthe edge of Prairie-Dog Town.
"Do you think we've been asleep, Chub?" asked the girl.
"'Course not," replied Chubbins, with a big yawn. "It's easy 'nough toknow that, Twink, 'cause I'm sleepy now!"
THE END
PRINCE MUD-TURTLE
PRINCE MUD-TURTLE
List of Chapters PAGEI Twinkle Captures the Turtle.....................199II Twinkle Discovers the Turtle can Talk...........207III The Turtle Tells of the Corrugated Giant........214IV Prince Turtle Remembers His Magic...............223V Twinkle Promises to be Brave....................232VI Twinkle Meets the Corrugated Giant..............239VII Prince Mud-Turtle Becomes Prince Melga..........244VIII Twinkle Receives a Medal........................250
Chapter ITwinkle Captures the Turtle
ONE hot summer day Twinkle went down into the meadow to where the brookran tinkling over its stones or rushed and whirled around the curves ofthe banks or floated lazi
ly through the more wide and shallow parts. Itwasn't much of a brook, to tell the facts, for there were many placeswhere an active child could leap across it. But it was the only brookfor miles around, and to Twinkle it was a never-ending source ofdelight. Nothing amused or refreshed the little girl more than to gowading on the pebbly bottom and let the little waves wash around herslim ankles.
There was one place, just below the pasture lot, where it was deeper;and here there were real fishes swimming about, such as "horned aces"and "chubs" and "shiners"; and once in a while you could catch amud-turtle under the edges of the flat stones or in hollows beneath thebanks. The deep part was not very big, being merely a pool, but Twinklenever waded in it, because the water would come quite up to her waist,and then she would be sure to get her skirts wet, which would mean agood scolding from mamma.
To-day she climbed the fence in the lane, just where the rickety woodenbridge crossed the brook, and at once sat down upon the grassy bank andtook off her shoes and stockings. Then, wearing her sun-bonnet to shieldher face from the sun, she stepped softly into the brook and stoodwatching the cool water rush by her legs.
It was very nice and pleasant; but Twinkle never could stand still forvery long, so she began to wade slowly down the stream, keeping in themiddle of the brook, and being able to see through the clear water allthe best places to put her feet.
Pretty soon she had to duck her head to pass under the fence thatseparated the meadow from the pasture lot; but she got through allright, and then kept on down the stream, until she came close to thedeep pool. She couldn't wade through this, as I have explained; so shegot on dry land and crept on her hands and knees up to the edge of thebank, so as not to scare the fishes, if any were swimming in the pool.
By good luck there were several fishes in the pool to-day, and theydidn't seem to notice that Twinkle was looking at them, so quiet had shebeen. One little fellow shone like silver when the sunshine caught hisglossy sides, and the little girl watched him wiggling here and therewith much delight. There was also a big, mud-colored fish that lay along time upon the bottom without moving anything except his fins andthe tip of his tail, and Twinkle also discovered a group of severalsmall fishes not over an inch long, that always swam together in abunch, as if they belonged to one family.
The girl watched these little creatures long and earnestly. The pool wasall of the world these simple fishes would ever know. They were bornhere, and would die here, without ever getting away from the place, oreven knowing there was a much bigger world outside of it.
After a time the child noticed that the water had become a little muddynear the edge of the bank where she lay, and as it slowly grew clearagain she saw a beautiful turtle lying just under her head and againstthe side of the bank. It was a little bigger around than a silverdollar, and instead of its shell being of a dull brown color, like thatof all other mud-turtles she had seen, this one's back was streaked withbrilliant patches of yellow and red.
"I must get that lovely turtle!" thought Twinkle; and as the water wasshallow where it lay she suddenly plunged in her hand, grabbed theturtle, and flung it out of the water on to the bank, where it fell uponits back, wiggling its four fat legs desperately in an attempt to turnover.
Chapter IITwinkle Discovers the Turtle Can Talk
AT this sudden commotion in their water, the fishes darted away anddisappeared in a flash. But Twinkle didn't mind that, for all herinterest was now centered in the struggling turtle.
She knelt upon the grass and bent over to watch it, and just then shethought she heard a small voice say:
"It's no use; I can't do it!" and then the turtle drew its head and legsbetween the shells and remained still.
"Good gracious!" said Twinkle, much astonished. Then, addressing theturtle, she asked:
"Did you say anything, a minute ago?"
There was no reply. The turtle lay as quiet as if it were dead. Twinklethought she must have been mistaken; so she picked up the turtle andheld it in the palm of her hand while she got into the water again andwaded slowly back to where she had left her shoes and stockings.
When she got home she put the mud-turtle in a tub which her papa hadmade by sawing a barrel in two. Then she put a little water into the tuband blocked it up by putting a brick under one side, so that the turtlecould either stay in the water or crawl up the inclined bottom of thetub to where it was dry, whichever he pleased. She did this becausemamma said that turtles sometimes liked to stay in the water andsometimes on land, and Twinkle's turtle could now take his choice. Hecouldn't climb up the steep sides of the tub and so get away, and thelittle girl thoughtfully placed crumbs of bread and fine bits of meat,where the turtle could get them whenever he felt hungry.
After that, Twinkle often sat for hours watching the turtle, which wouldcrawl around the bottom of the tub, and swim in the little pool of waterand eat the food placed before him in an eager and amusing way.
At times she took him in her hand and examined him closely, and then themud-turtle would put out its little head and look at her with its brighteyes as curiously as the girl looked at him.
She had owned her turtle just a week, when she came to the tub oneafternoon and held him in her hand, intending to feed her pet somescraps of meat she had brought with her. But as soon as the turtle putout its head it said to her, in a small but distinct voice:
"Good morning, Twinkle."
She was so surprised that the meat dropped from her hand, and she nearlydropped the turtle, too. But she managed to control her astonishment,and asked, in a voice that trembled a little:
"Can you talk?"
"To be sure," replied the turtle; "but only on every seventh day--whichof course is every Saturday. On other days I cannot talk at all."
"Then I really must have heard you speak when I caught you; didn't I?"
"I believe you did. I was so startled at being captured that I spokebefore I thought, which is a bad habit to get into. But afterward Iresolved not to answer when you questioned me, for I didn't know youthen, and feared it would be unwise to trust you with my secret. Evennow I must ask you not to tell any one that you have a turtle that knowshow to talk."
Chapter IIIThe Turtle Tells of the Corrugated Giant
"WHY, it's wonderful!" said Twinkle, who had listened eagerly to theturtle's speech.
"It would be wonderful, indeed, if I were but a simple turtle," was thereply.
"But aren't you a turtle?"
"Of course, so far as my outward appearance goes, I'm a common littlemud-turtle," it answered; "and I think you will agree with me that itwas rather clever in the Corrugated Giant to transform me into such acreature."
"What's a Corrulated Giant?" asked Twinkle, with breathless interest.
"The Corrugated Giant is a monster that is full of deep wrinkles,because he has no bones inside him to hold his flesh up properly," saidthe turtle. "I hated this giant, who is both wicked and cruel, I assureyou; and this giant hated me in return. So, when one day I tried todestroy him, the monster transformed me into the helpless little beingyou see before you."
"But who were you before you were transformed?" asked the girl.
"A fairy prince named Melga, the seventh son of the fairy QueenFlutterlight, who rules all the fairies in the north part of this land."
"And how long have you been a turtle?"
"Fourteen years," replied the creature, with a deep sigh. "At least, Ithink it is fourteen years; but of course when one is swimming around inbrooks and grubbing in the mud for food, one is apt to lose all track oftime."
"I should think so, indeed," said Twinkle. "But, according to that,you're older than I am."
"Much older," declared the turtle. "I had lived about four hundred yearsbefore the Corrugated Giant turned me into a turtle."
"Was your head gray?" she asked; "and did you have white whiskers?"
"No, indeed!" said the turtle. "Fairies are always young and beautifulin appearance, no matter how many years they have lived. And, as theynever d
ie, they're bound to get pretty old sometimes, as a matter ofcourse."
"Of course!" agreed Twinkle. "Mama has told me about the fairies. Butmust you always be a mud-turtle?"
"That will depend on whether you are willing to help me or not," was theanswer.
"Why, it sounds just like a fairy tale in a book!" cried the littlegirl.
"Yes," replied the turtle, "these things have been happening ever sincethere were fairies, and you might expect some of our adventures wouldget into books. But are you willing to help me? That is the importantthing just now."
"I'll do anything I can," said Twinkle.
"Then," said the turtle, "I may expect to get back to my own form againin a reasonably short time. But you must be brave, and not shrink fromsuch a little thing as danger."
That made Twinkle look solemn.
"Of course I don't want to get hurt," she said. "My mama and papa wouldgo di_struc_ted if anything happened to me."
"Something will happen, _sure,_" declared the turtle; "but nothing thathappens will hurt you in the least if you do exactly as I tell you."
"I won't have to fight that Carbolated Giant, will I?" Twinkle askeddoubtfully.
"He isn't carbolated; he's corrugated. No, you won't have to fight atall. When the proper time comes I'll do the fighting myself. But you mayhave to come with me to the Black Mountains, in order to set me free."
"Is it far?" she asked.
"Yes; but it won't take us long to go there," answered the turtle. "Now,I'll tell you what to do and, if you follow my advice no one will everknow you've been mixed up with fairies and strange adventures."