"With the greatest of pleasure, your Majesty," replied the Banjo, with a smile. And then it sang:

TO TELEPHONE TO FAIRY-LAND

If you want to telephone to Fairy-land You must have a snow-white Cricket in your hand.

It is easy; don't you see?

Just as easy as can be If the way to telephone you understand.

When the crickets are all chirping in the night Then you have to go and seek by candle-light, And keep watching as you pa.s.s Through the bushes and the gra.s.s For a Cricket that is perfectly snow-white.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo! Is this the land of Fairies?"

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" you'll hear the faint reply From one whose cheeks are redder than the cherries; "h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" You'll do it if you try.

When you find the snow-white Cricket, all you need Is a line that's made of cobweb--yes, indeed!

Do not let the Cricket go; Hold it tight and say "h.e.l.lo!"

In the hollow of a flower gone to seed.

It's a very simple thing to understand, If you want to telephone to Fairy-land Take a candle; go alone; Find the Fairy Telephone-- But first have a snow-white Cricket in your hand.

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo! Is this the land of Fairies?"

"h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" A voice will come to you From one whose eyes are blacker than blackberries-- "h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo!" Now talk an hour or two.

"Well," said Lulu, "that is certainly very nice. Now I shall always know how to talk to the Fairies over the really-truly Fairy Telephone; so that, good Queen, even although we are very far apart, I shall always call up and talk to you, no matter where I am, almost every day of my life."

"Thank you, my dear," said the Fairy Queen, "that will be very nice, and I do not want you to forget me. Now we will go and I will try to show you some more things about our country.

"Here you will see by the roadside many little houses like smith shops, with tiny white smoke coming out of each. This is where my little dwarf Fairies are at work making diamonds, very clean and white, among the most beautiful stones of all, as many think. But beyond these houses are those where the most skilful of my workmen are making the stones which we prize more than diamonds, those whose color is that of your hair, my dears, the royal blue malazite and the precious green corazine, the like of which can be found nowhere else in all the world. We will ask for some of these to take with us."

Then as she spoke there came out from one of the houses a little Fairy with his hands full of these precious blue and green stones.

"Good morning, your Majesty," said he, "I knew you would like to see some of our work to-day, for these are among the finest we have ever produced." As he spoke he placed in her hands some shining, trembling drops of blue and green.

"These," said the Fairy Queen, "are made from extracts of the bright blue sky, my dears, and from the essence of the deep green leaves."

"And did our hair get its color in the same way?" asked Lulu, wondering.

"That may perhaps be," said the Queen, smiling at her eagerness. "There are some who think that we come from the sky and from the trees, and perhaps this is true, for ever since even Fairies can remember, there have been the trees and the sky just as there have been persons."

The b.u.mblebee Express soon was progressing again merrily, and ere long it brought them into a deep depression between two mountain peaks beyond the forest. The way here was winding and roundabout. They went on and on, around and around, deeper and deeper into the mountains. Now they began to hear strange wild sounds, roars and deep hoa.r.s.e voices which reminded them of that of the Dragon in the Island of Gee-Whiz.

"Those are the faithful watch-dogs of the forest," explained the Queen, "lions and tigers and bears, which would certainly eat up any one who came hither without my permission. They will be harmless so long as I am with you, and you need have no fear. In a few moments we shall be at the gateway to the Valley of Gold."

Before long they paused at what seemed to be the end of the way. A steep rocky wall rose directly before them, covered over with growing ivy and with short th.o.r.n.y plants. On each side of this the mountains rose quite up to the sky, so that there was no such thing as getting around on either hand. What was to be done now Zuzu and Lulu could not guess, but the Queen of the Fairies did not hesitate.

She sprang from the seat of the coach and walked directly up to the wall, upon which she struck sharply five times with her jeweled parasol handle. "Abra! Abra! Adabra! Abra! Abracadabra! Open! Open! Open!" she cried aloud; and her voice was clear and strong as well as sweet.

Now arose a great grumbling noise within the walls of rock. Voices were heard shouting, and there came the sound of heavy clanking and creaking of very heavy machinery.

"O, Queen!" cried out a deep voice, as it were from the very bosom of the rock; and the Queen called out: "Open! Open! Open! It is the Queen!"

And as she did this hoa.r.s.e voices arose again in unison, and the groaning of heavy weights and chains continued. At last, as they sat gazing at the face of the rocky wall, to their great surprise they saw it open in a tiny crack, as though it were slowly splitting across. As they looked, this crack widened steadily before their eyes, and they saw that a heavy rock which had made a part of the wall was slowly rising, a little at a time. At last it swung quite free, and before them lay a pa.s.sageway through the rock and the concealing ivy which covered it. No one in the world would ever have suspected that there was a door in the face of this rock wall. It may be seen that the Fairies guard their secret very carefully. Even to this day men frequently pa.s.s by the gate into the valley, not seeing it in the seamless rock, and not suspecting that they are so near to the great Valley of Gold.

The Queen now took her seat and motioned to the coachman to drive on through the gateway. He did so, and as they went forward they saw a great golden light flooding out to meet them. They pa.s.sed between long rows of dark, fierce-looking warriors, armed with swords and spears and shields, all dark-bearded and broad-shouldered. These frowned at the new-comers, but the Queen raised her hand to restrain them, and the Twins pa.s.sed on in safety. As they did so they heard, rattling and clashing into place behind them, the vast rock of the gate. And so in this new golden light they looked about on what no other mortals yet have seen, and what, in spite of much longing, it is doubtful if any ever again will see.

They were in the front portion of a deep valley or cleft in the mountain. On all hands the walls rose sheer and smooth, without a crack or seam, almost up to the blue sky, which seemed miles and miles away.

Around the edges of the rocky walls, high above, grew dark forest trees, but these were so far away that they seemed no larger than one's hand. From these trees to the bottom of the valley may have been a mile, or perhaps two miles, if it were possible to get any idea of distances in Fairy-land. Not in any place on these naked walls was there a notch or step or foothold of any kind. Across the valley may have been two miles or three, or perhaps ten or twenty, so hard was it to tell of such things in this peculiar golden wavering light which filled all the place. This light, it was easy to be seen, was the only one known in the valley, for the entire valley lay in the shadow, the light from the sky marking the rocky walls only a little way down from the top.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Quick, before the Dragon wakens" _Page 113_]

"There is but one hour in the day when the sun shines into the magic Valley of Gold," said the Queen. "At dawn, it falls through a notch upon the farther side, which you can not see from here, and the sunlight enters the valley for a short time. A path leads to that notch, it is said, though I myself have never seen it; but it is fatal to tread that path and to look over into the valley when the sun shines in; for the great reflection upward from the Mother of Gold--this great vein of gold which runs across the valley and from which comes this golden light that you see--is so strong that any one who looks upon it is at once smitten blind, and may never see again. So perhaps you may see how difficult it is to find this valley, or even to enjoy it when found; for if you had all the gold in the world--even this Madre d'Oro, the Mother of all the Gold, as the Fairies say--it would do you no good, for at once its possession would destroy all its enjoyment."

Zuzu and Lulu wondered and wondered at all these things, and were not a little frightened, for on all hands they still heard groanings and murmurings, and strange voices deep within the earth.

"Keep close to me, my children," said the Queen, "and do not fear. Now we shall see the vision of the Mother of Gold in all its splendor."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE MOTHER OF GOLD

As the Fairy Queen spoke, she descended from the coach and held out a hand each to Lulu and Zuzu. She led them onward through a sort of hedge of dense trees which lay before them, and beyond which there arose the flickering light, yellow and warm, that had appeared to color all the air of the Secret Valley. At length they stepped out in full view of the great source of all this light, and saw before them the most strange and wonderful thing they had ever seen in all their lives.

From directly at their feet, entirely across the Valley as far as they could see, there ran a great ledge or dam of pure gold, which yet did not seem solid, for it seemed to rise and fall and flutter as though it were almost ready to melt and flow; but it never did so. This great vein of gold was many miles in length, so far as they could tell; and how far back at each end it ran into the foot of the walls of the Valley no one could tell. Its front or face broke off like a wall, or rather like the side of a dam, perhaps fifty feet or more from top to bottom. Over this ledge or dam, a short distance out toward the wall of the valley, there flowed a broad river of clear water, white as crystal, which made a deep pool below the ledge of gold; and thrusting up through this sheet of falling water were points of rock which sparkled like diamonds, or gleamed dull and white like pearls; and such was the peculiar quality of this great ledge of seemingly living gold, that, as the water fell over it, it partly turned into a sort of vapor; and in this vapor, rising continually and floating away up into the sky, were thousands of b.u.t.terflies, all gold and black and green, floating away upon many-colored bubbles, like soap bubbles, very light and fine. These came streaming up and up all the time, and danced out toward the top of the Valley as far as any one could see. So now Lulu and Zuzu knew where the b.u.t.terflies come from in the spring, when they appear fluttering up from the south to play among the flowers. They come from the hidden Valley of Gold; and the gold they have upon their wings they certainly get from this great ledge of gold which lies across the Fairy Valley.

Near to the place where they stood were thousands of other Fairies working upon the linings of mother-of-pearl which lined the sh.e.l.ls that lay along the ledge. These also made numbers of the bubbles upon which the b.u.t.terflies were floating. So then the Twins knew where the bubbles come from that we see sometimes; they are made by Fairies. Again in another place very many Fairies were making all sorts of beautiful flowers--blue, and pink, and crimson, every color in the world, and both large and small. Upon trees near by, and spread out upon the rocks also, were numbers of delicate bracelets and brooches and rings and pins, and all manner of beautiful and rare things in gold and gems. So now the Twins knew whence come the bracelets and rings and ornaments of that kind, which so few people have ever seen made.

Over all this scene of beauty there arose sweet music, very peaceful and calm, as though it came from the bottom places of the earth, of which no one knows more than a very little, unless one has been in Fairy-land.

All this was so beautiful and strange that the Twins sat down and hardly knew what to do. They watched the great ledge of the Mother of Gold heave and swell and sink and rise again, and saw the Fairies making these beautiful things, and saw flitting across the Valley beautiful birds with long tails, as long as one's arm, and with crests as long as one's hand, and with feathers which seemed of gold and pearl and green and blue; and the voices of these birds seemed to them the sweetest they had ever heard.

The Fairy Queen allowed them to sit and look as long as they liked, and bade them take up all the pieces of gold and gems and jewels which they liked--all the diamonds and other precious stones. "This, my children,"

she said, "is where mortals get their gold and precious gems. These come from the Fairy Valley. Here it is that we secure all the gold required by the King whom you have left behind in the Island, and the gems in which the King and his friends delight. But since you have seen this vision of the Mother of Gold, you must not tell even the King where it is, for in that case some of his friends might make war upon us, and we should have to summon from under the earth many of these fierce warriors whose voices you have heard. For all the people who live under the earth fight to the last to conceal this gold from all the rest of the world; and that, as you may readily understand, is the reason why gold and jewels are so hard to get, and why they are by many considered so valuable.

"Now when you have seen all you wish and when you feel that you will not need to come again--for no one but myself ever twice sees the vision of the Mother of Gold--we will go back and look at other things for a time; but you need not do this until you feel that you will be very happy and contented to do so."

"I am sure we shall be happy and contented," said Lulu, "for now we see that what we once thought was very rare is indeed very abundant, and that to hold much of it in one's hand does not seem to make one feel much better than before. See, my hands are full of gold, and I want no more."

"Then," said the Queen, "since you promise to be happy and contented, we may go." So saying she beckoned to the coachman, and the b.u.mblebee Express swept up once more, the b.u.mblebees stamping and champing at their bits. And now again the mighty gate of stone swung open, and once more it closed behind them; the savage warriors fell into place behind them; and after they had pa.s.sed the gate they heard groans and murmurs from below and behind them; and then once more came the roaring of the tigers and the lions which live without the gates and which aid in the guarding of the treasure. So presently they were flying again along the crooked road between the mountains, and as they looked back, to their great surprise they could not tell which was the mountain pa.s.s out of which they had come; for now there appeared to be several, and they all looked alike.

"That is just as well," said Zuzu, "for we have promised to be happy and contented, and not to wish to go back again to the Valley of Gold."

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER XXIX

THE SECRET WISH OF THE FAIRY QUEEN