 CHAPTER IV. THE ICE DRAGON, OR DO AS YOU ARE TOLD. This is the tale of the wonders that befell on the evening of the eleventh of December, when they did what they were told not to do. You may think that you know all the unpleasant things that could possibly happen to you if you are disobedient, but there are some things which even you do not know, and they did not know them either. Their names were George and Jane. There were no fireworks that year on Guy Fawkes Day, because the heir to the throne was not well. He was cutting his first tooth, and that is a very anxious time for any person, even for a royal one. He was really very poorly, so that fireworks would have been in the worst possible taste, even at Land's End or in the Isle of Man, whilst in Forest Hill, which was the home of Jane and George, anything of the kind was quite out of the question. Even the crystal palace, empty-headed as it is, felt that this was no time for Catherine wheels. But when the Prince had cut his tooth, rejoicings were not only admissible but correct, and the 11th of December was proclaimed Firework Day. All the people were most anxious to show their loyalty and to enjoy themselves at the same time. So there were fireworks and torchlight processions, and set pieces at the crystal palace, with blessings on our Prince, and long live our royal darling in different colored fires. And the most private of boarding schools had a half holiday, and even the children of plumbers and authors had tuppence each given them to spend as they liked. George and Jane had six pence each, and they spent the whole amount on a golden rain which would not light for ever so long, and when it did light went out almost at once, so they had to look at the fireworks in the gardens next door, and at the ones at the crystal palace, which were very glorious indeed. All their relations had colds in their heads, so Jane and George were allowed to go out into the garden alone to let off their firework. Jane had put on her fur cape and her thick gloves and her hood with the silver fox fur on it that was made out of mother's old muff, and George had his overcoat with the three capes and his comforter and father's seal skin traveling cap with the pieces that come down over your ears. It was dark in the garden, but the fireworks all about made it seem very gay, and though the children were cold, they were quite sure that they were enjoying themselves. They got up on the fence at the end of the garden to see better, and then they saw very far away where the edge of the dark world is, a shining line of straight, beautiful lights arranged in a row, as if they were the spears carried by a fairy army. Oh, how pretty, said Jane. I wonder what they are. It looks as if the fairies were planting little, shining baby poplar trees and watering them with liquid light. "'Liquid fiddle-stick,' said George. He had been to school, so he knew that these were only the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. And he said so. "'But what is the Rory Boree, what's its name?' asked Jane. "'Who lights it, and what's it there for?' George had to own that he had not learned that. But I know,' said he, that it has something to do with the great bear, and the dipper, and the plow, and Charles's wane. "'And what are they?' asked Jane. "'Oh, they're the surnames of some of the star families. There goes a jolly rocket,' answered George, and Jane felt as if she almost understood about the star families. The fairy spears of light twinkled and gleamed. They were much prettier than the big, blaring, blazing bonfire that was smoking and flaming and spluttering in the next door but one garden, prettier even than the colored fires at the Crystal Palace. "'I wish we could see them nearer,' Jane said. "'I wonder if the star families are nice families, the kind that mother would like us to go to tea with, if we were little stars. They aren't that sort of families at all, silly,' said her brother, kindly trying to explain. "'I only said families, because a kid like you wouldn't have understood if I'd said constantly—' And besides, I've forgotten the end of the word. Anyway, the stars are all up in the sky, so you can't go to tea with them.' "'No,' said Jane. I said if we were little stars.' "'But we aren't,' said George. "'No,' said Jane, with a sigh. "'I know that. I'm not so stupid as you think, George. But the Tory Boreys are somewhere at the edge. Couldn't we go and see them?' "'Considering you're eight, you haven't much sense.' George kicked his boots against the fencing to warm his toes. "'It's half the world away.' "'It looks very near,' said Jane, hunching up her shoulders to keep her neck warm. "'They're close to the North Pole,' said George. "'Look here, I don't care a straw about the Aurora Borealis, but I shouldn't mind discovering the North Pole. It's awfully difficult and dangerous. And then you come home and write a book about it with a lot of pictures, and everybody says how brave you are.' Jane got off the fence. "'Oh, George lets,' she said. "'We shall never have such a chance again, all alone by ourselves, and quite late, too.' "'I'd go right enough if it wasn't for you,' George answered gloomily. "'But, you know, they always say I'll lead you into mischief. And if we went to the North Pole, we should get our boots wet as likely as not. And you remember what they said about not going on the grass.' "'They said the lawn,' said Jane. "'We're not going on the lawn. "'Oh, George, do, do let. It doesn't look so very far. We could be back before they had time to get dreadfully angry.' "'All right,' said George. "'But, mind, I don't want to go.' So off they went. They got over the fence, which was very cold and white and shiny, because it was beginning to freeze. And on the other side of the fence was somebody else's garden, so they got out of that as quickly as they could. And beyond that was a field where there was another big bonfire, with people standing around it who looked quite dark-skinned. "'It's like Indians,' said George, and wanted to stop and look. But Jane pulled him own. And they passed by the bonfire and got through a gap in the hedge into another field, a dark one. And far away, beyond quite a number of other dark fields, the northern lights shone and sparkled and twinkled. Now, during the winter the Arctic regions come much farther south than they are marked on the map. Very few people know this, though you would think they could tell it by the ice in the jugs of a morning. And just when George and Jane were starting for the north pole, the Arctic regions had come down very nearly as far as far as till, so that as the children walked down it grew colder and colder, and presently they saw that the fields were covered with snow, and there were great icicles hanging from all the hedges and gates, and the northern lights still seemed some way off. They were crossing a very rough, snowy field when Jane first noticed the animals. There were white rabbits and white hares, and all sorts and sizes of white birds, and some larger creatures in the shadows of the hedges that Jane was sure were wolves and bears. Polar bears and Arctic wolves, of course, I mean, she said, for she did not want George to think her stupid again. There was a great hedge at the end of this field, all covered with snow and icicles. But the children found a place where there was a hole, and as no bears or wolves seemed to be just in that part of the hedge, they crept through and scrambled out of the frozen ditch on the other side. And then they stood still and held their breath with wonder. For in front of them, running straight and smooth right away to the northern lights, lay a great wide road of pure dark ice, and on each side were tall trees, all sparkling with white frost, and from the boughs of the trees hung strings of stars threaded on fine moonbeams and shining so brightly that it was like a beautiful fairy daylight. Jane said so, but George said it was like the electric lights at the Earl's Court exhibition. The rows of trees went as straight as ruled lines away, away and away, and at the other end of them shone the aurora borealis. There was a signpost of silvery snow, and on it in letters of pure ice, the children read, this way to the North Pole. Then George said, way or no way, I know a slide when I see one, so here goes. And he took a run on the frozen snow, and Jane took a run when she saw him do it, and the next moment they were sliding away, each with feet half a yard apart, along the great slide that leads to the North Pole. This great slide is made for the convenience of the polar bears, who during the winter months get their food from the army and navy stores, and it is the most perfect slide in the world. If you have never come across it, it is because you have never let off fireworks on the 11th of December, and have never been thoroughly naughty and disobedient. But do not be these things in the hope of finding the great slide because you might find something quite different, and then you will be sorry. The great slide is like common slides, in that when once you have started you have to go on to the end, unless you fall down, and then it hurts just as much as the smaller kind on ponds. The great slide runs downhill all the way, so that you keep on going faster and faster and faster. George and Jane went so fast that they had not time to notice the scenery. They only saw the long lines of frosted trees and the starry lamps, and on each side rushing back as they slid on, a very broad white world and a very large black night, and overhead as well as in the trees, the stars were bright like silver lamps, and far ahead shone and trembled and sparkled the line of fairy spears. Jane said that, and George said, I can see the northern lights quite plain. It is very pleasant to slide and slide and slide on clear dark ice, especially if you feel you are really going somewhere, and more especially if that somewhere is the north pole. The children's feet made no noise on the ice, and they went on and on in a beautiful white silence. But suddenly the silence was shattered, and a cry rang out over the snow. Hey, you there, stop! Tumble for your life, cried George, and he fell down at knots, because it is the only way to stop. Jane fell on top of him, and then they crawled on hands and knees to the snow at the edge of the slide. And there was a sportsman, dressed in a peaked cap and a frozen mustache, like the one you see in the pictures about Ice Peter, and he had a gun in his hand. You don't happen to have any bullets about you, said he. No, George said truthfully. I had five of father's revolver cartridges, but they were taken away the day nurse turned out my pockets to see if I had taken the knob of the bathroom door by mistake. Quite so, said the sportsman. These accidents will occur. You don't carry firearms then, I presume. I haven't any firearms, said George, but I have a fire work. It's only a squib one of the boys gave me, if that's any good. And he began to feel among the string and peppermint and buttons and tops and nibs and chalk and foreign postage stamps in his knickerbocker pockets. One could but try, the sportsman replied, and he held out his hand. But Jane pulled at her brother's jacket tail and whispered, ask him what he wants it for. So then the sportsman had to confess that he wanted the firework to kill the white grouse with. And when they came to look, there was the white grouse himself, sitting in the snow, looking quite pale and care-worn, and waiting anxiously for the matter to be decided one way or the other. George put all the things back in his pockets and said, No, I shan't. The reason for shooting him stopped yesterday. I heard father say so. So it wouldn't be fair anyhow. I'm very sorry, but I can't. So there. The sportsman said nothing. Only he shook his fist at Jane. And then he got on the slide and tried to go toward the crystal palace, which was not easy because that way is uphill. So they left him trying and went on. Before they started, the white grouse thanked them in a few pleasant, well-chosen words. And then they took a sideways, slanting run and started off again on the great slide, and so away toward the north pole and the twinkling, beautiful lights. The great slide went on and on, and the lights did not seem to come much nearer, and the white silence wrapped around them as they slid along the wide icy path. Then once again the silence was broken to bits by some uncalling. Hey, you there, stop. Tumble for your life, cried George, and tumbled as before, stopping in the only possible way. And Jane stopped on top of him. And they crawled to the edge and came suddenly on a butterfly collector, who was looking for specimens with a pair of blue glasses and a blue net and a blue book with colored plates. Excuse me, said the collector, but have you such a thing as a needle about you, a very long needle? I have a needle book, replied Jane politely. But there aren't any needles in it now. George took them all to do the things with pieces of cork in the boy's own scientific experimenter and the young mechanic. He did not do the things, but he did for the needles. Curiously enough, said the collector, I too wish to use the needle in connection with cork. I have a hatpin in my hood, said Jane. I fastened the fur with it when it called in the nail on the greenhouse door. It is very long and sharp. Would that do? One could but try, said the collector, and Jane began to feel for the pin. But George pinched her arm and whispered, ask what he wants it for. Then the collector had to own that he wanted the pin to stick through the great Arctic moth, a magnificent specimen, he added, which I am most anxious to preserve. And there, sure enough, in the collector's butterfly net sat the great Arctic moth listening attentively to the conversation. Oh, I couldn't, cried Jane. And while George was explaining to the collector that they would really rather not, Jane opened the blue folds of the butterfly net and asked the moth quietly if it would please step outside for a moment. And it did. When the collector saw that the moth was free, he seemed less angry than grieved. Well, well, said he, here's a whole Arctic expedition thrown away. I shall have to go home and fit out another. And that means a lot of writing to the papers and things. You seem to be a singularly thoughtless little girl. So they went on, leaving him, too, trying to go uphill towards the Crystal Palace. When the great white Arctic moth had returned thanks in a suitable speech, George and Jane took a sideways slanting run and started sliding again between the star lamps along the great slide toward the North Pole. They went faster and faster, and the lights ahead grew brighter and brighter so that they could not keep their eyes open but had to blink and wink as they went. And then suddenly the great slide ended in an immense heap of snow, and George and Jane shot right into it because they could not stop themselves. And the snow was soft so that they went in up to their very ears. When they had picked themselves out and thumped each other on the back to get rid of the snow, they shaded their eyes and looked. And there, right in front of them, was the wonder of wonders, the North Pole, towering high and white and glistening like an ice lighthouse. And it was quite, quite close, so that you had to put your head as far back as it would go and farther before you could see the high top of it. It was made entirely of ice. You will hear grown-up people talk a great deal of nonsense about the North Pole. And when you are grown-up, it is even possible that you may talk nonsense about it yourself. The most unlikely things do happen. But deep down in your heart, you must always remember that the North Pole is made of clear ice, and could not possibly, if you come to think of it, be made of anything else. All around the pole, making a bright ring about it, were hundreds of little fires, and the flames of them did not flicker and twist but went up blue and green and rosy and straight, like the stalks of dream lilies. Jane said so, but George said they were as straight as ramrods. And these flames were the aurora borealis, which the children had seen as far away as Forest Hill. The ground was quite flat, and covered with smooth, hard snow, which shone and sparkled like the top of a birthday cake that has been iced at home. The ones done at the shops do not shine and sparkle because they mix flour with the icing sugar. It is like a dream, said Jane. And George said, it is the North Pole. Just think of the fuss people always make about getting here, and it was no trouble at all, really. I dare say lots of people have gotten here, said Jane, dismally. It's not the getting here, I see that. It's the getting back again. Perhaps no one will ever know that we have been here, and the robins will cover us with leaves and... Nonsense, said George. There aren't any robins, and there aren't any leaves. It's just the North Pole, that's all, and I found it. And now I shall try to climb up and plant the British flag on the top. My handkerchief will do. And if it really is the North Pole, my pocket compass, Uncle James gave me, will spin around and around, and then I shall know. Come on. So Jane came on. And when they got close to the clear, tall, beautiful flames, they saw that there was a great, queer-shaped lump of ice all around the bottom of the pole. Clear, smooth, shining ice that was deep, beautiful, prussian blue, like icebergs in the thick parts, and all sorts of wonderful, glimmery, shimmery, changing colors in the thin parts, like the cut glass chandelier and Grandmama's house in London. It is a very curious shape, said Jane. It's almost like... She moved back a step to get a better view of it. It's almost like a dragon. It's much more like the lamp posts on the Thames embankment, said George, who had noticed a curly thing like a tail that went twisting up the North Pole. Oh, George, cried Jane. It is a dragon. I can see its wings. Whatever shall we do? And sure enough, it was a dragon, a great, shining, winged, scaly, clawy, big-mouthed dragon made of pure ice. It must have gone to sleep curled around the hole where the warm steam used to come up from the middle of the earth. And then when the earth got colder and the column of steam froze and was turned into the North Pole, the dragon must have got frozen in his sleep. Frozen too hard to move. And there he stayed. And though he was very terrible, he was very beautiful, too. Jane said so, but George said, oh, don't bother. I'm thinking how to get onto the pole and try the compass without waking the brute. The dragon certainly was beautiful, with his deep, clear Prussian blueness and his rainbow-colored glitter. And rising from within the cold coil of the frozen dragon, the North Pole shot up like a pillar made of one great diamond. And every now and then it cracked a little from sheer cold. The sound of the cracking was the only thing that broke the great white silence in the midst of which the dragon lay like an enormous jewel. And the straight flames went up all around him like the stalks of tall lilies. And as the children stood there looking at the most wonderful sight their eyes had ever seen, there was a soft padding of feet and a hurry scurry behind them. And from the outside darkness beyond the flame stalks came a crowd of little brown creatures running, jumping, scrambling, tumbling head over heels and on all fours, and some even walking on their heads. They joined hands as they came near the fires and danced around in a ring. It's bears, said Jane. I know it is. I know how I wish we hadn't come and my boots are so wet. The dancing ring broke up suddenly and the next moment hundreds of furry arms clutched at George and Jane. And they found themselves in the middle of a great, soft, heaving crowd of little fat people in brown fur dresses and the white silence was quite gone. Bears indeed cried a shrill voice. You'll wish we were bears before you've done with us. This sounded so dreadful that Jane began to cry. Up to now the children had only seen the most beautiful and wondrous things but now they began to be sorry they had done what they were told not to and the difference between lawn and grass did not seem so great as it had at Forest Hill. Directly Jane began to cry, all the brown people started back. No one cries in the Arctic regions for fear of being struck by the frost so that these people had never seen anyone cry before. Don't cry for real, whispered George, or you'll get chill-blanes in your eyes but pretend to howl, it frightens them. So Jane went on pretending to howl and the real crying stopped. It always does when you begin to pretend. You try it. Then speaking very loud so as to be heard over the howls of Jane, George said, Yeah, who's afraid? We are George and Jane. Who are you? We are the seal-skin dwarfs, said the brown people, twisting their furry bodies in and out of the crowd like the changing glass in kaleidoscopes. We are very precious and expensive for we are made throughout of the very best seal-skin. And what are those fires for? Belled George, for Jane was crying louder and louder. Those, shouted the dwarfs, coming a step nearer, are the fires we make to thaw the dragon. He is frozen now, so he sleeps curled up around the pole. But when we have thawed him with our fires, he will wake up and go and eat everybody in the world, except us. Whatever do you want him to do that for? yelled George. Oh, just for spite, bawled the dwarfs carelessly as if they were saying, just for fun. Jane stopped crying to say, you are heartless. No, we aren't, they said. Our hearts are made of the finest seal-skin, just like little fat seal-skin purses. And they all came a step nearer. They were very fat and round. Their bodies were like seal-skin jackets on a very stout person. Their heads were like seal-skin muffs. Their legs were like seal-skin boas. And their hands and feet were like seal-skin tobacco pouches. And their faces were like seal's faces. And as much as they, too, were covered with seal-skin. Thank you so much for telling us, said George. Good evening. Keep on howling, Jane. But the dwarfs came a step nearer, muttering and whispering. Then the muttering stopped. And there was a silence so deep that Jane was afraid to howl in it. But it was a brown silence. And she had liked the white silence better. Then the chief dwarf came quite close and said, what's that on your head? And George felt it was all up, for he knew it was his father's seal-skin cap. The dwarf did not wait for an answer. It's made of one of us, he screamed. Or else one of the seals are poor relations. Boy, now your fate is sealed. Looking at the wicked seal faces all around them, George and Jane felt that their fate was sealed indeed. The dwarfs seized the children in their furry arms. George kicked, but it is no use kicking seal-skin. And Jane howled, but the dwarfs were getting used to that. They climbed up the dragon's side and dumped the children down on his icy spine with their backs against the North Pole. You have no idea how cold it was. The kind of cold that makes you feel small and prickly inside your clothes, and makes you wish you had 20 times as many clothes to feel small and prickly inside of. The seal-skin dwarfs tied George and Jane to the North Pole. And as they had no ropes, they bound them with snow wreaths, which are very strong when they are made in the proper way. And they heaped up the fires very close and said, now the dragon will get warm, and when he gets warm he will wake. And when he wakes, he will be hungry. And when he is hungry, he will begin to eat. And the first thing he will eat will be you. The little, sharp, mini-colored flames sprang up like the stalks of dream lilies, but no heat came to the children. And they grew colder and colder. We shan't be very nice when the dragon does eat us. That's one comfort, said George. We shall be turned into ice long before that. Suddenly there was a flapping of wings, and the white grouse perched on the dragon's head and said, can I be of any assistance? Now, by this time the children were so cold, so cold, so very, very cold, that they had forgotten everything but that, and they could say nothing else. So the white grouse said, one moment, I am only too grateful for this opportunity of showing my sense of your manly conduct about the firework. In the next moment there was a soft, whispering rustle of wings overhead. And then, fluttering slowly, softly down, came hundreds and thousands of little white fluffy feathers. They fell on George and Jane like snowflakes, and like flakes of fallen snow lying one above another, they grew into a thicker and thicker covering so that presently the children were buried under a heap of white feathers and only their faces peeped out. Oh, you dear, good, kind white grouse, said Jane. But you'll be called yourself, won't you? Now you have given us all your pretty dear feathers. The white grouse laughed, and his laugh was echoed by thousands of kind, soft bird voices. Did you think all those feathers came out of one breast? There are hundreds and hundreds of us here, and every one of us can spare a little tuft of soft breast feathers to help keep two kind little hearts warm. Thus spoke the grouse, who certainly had very pretty manners. So now the children snuggled under the feathers and were warm, and when the seal-skinned dwarfs tried to take the feathers away, the grouse and his friends flew in their faces with flappings and screams and drove the dwarfs back. They are a cowardly folk. The dragon had not moved yet, but then he might at any moment get warm enough to move. And though George and Jane were now warm, they were not comfortable nor easy in their minds. They tried to explain to the grouse, but though he is polite, he is not clever, and he only said, you've got a warm nest, and we'll see that no one takes it from you. What more can you possibly want? Just then came a new, strange, jerky fluttering of wings, far softer than the grouses, and George and Jane cried out together, oh, do mind your wings and the fires. For they saw at once that it was the great white arctic moth. What's the matter, he asked, settling on the dragon's tail. So they told him, seal-skin, are they? Said the moth, just you wait a minute. He flew off very quickly, dodging the flames, and presently he came back and there were so many moths with him that it was as if a live sheet of white wingedness were suddenly drawn between the children and the stars. And then the doom of the bad seal-skin dwarfs fell suddenly on them. For the great sheet of winged whiteness broke up and fell as snow falls, and it fell upon the seal-skin dwarfs, and every snowflake of it was a live, fluttering, hungry moth that buried its greedy nose deep in the seal-skin fur. Grown-up people will tell you that it is not moths, but moths' children who eat fur, but this is only when they are trying to deceive you. When they are not thinking about you, they say, I fear the moths have got at my ermine tibet, or your poor aunt Emma had a lovely sable cloak, but it was eaten by moths. And now there were more moths than ever have been together in this world before, all settling on the seal-skin dwarfs. The dwarfs did not see their danger till it was too late. Then they called for campfire and bitter apple and oil of lavender and yellow soap and borax, and some of the dwarfs even started to get these things. But long before any of them could get to the chemists, all was over. The moths ate and ate and ate till the seal-skin dwarfs, being seal-skin throughout, even to the empty hearts of them, were eaten down to the very life, and they fell one by one on the snow, and so came to their end. And all around the North Pole, the snow was brown with their flat bare pelts. Oh, thank you, thank you, darling Arctic moth, cried Jane. You are good. I do hope you haven't eaten enough to disagree with you afterward. Millions of moth voices answered, with laughter as soft as moth wings. We should be a poor set of fellows if we couldn't overeat ourselves once in a while to oblige a friend. And off they all fluttered, and the white grouse flew off, and the seal-skin dwarfs were all dead, and the fires went out, and George and Jane were left alone in the dark with the dragon. Oh, dear, said Jane, this is the worst of all. We've no friends left to help us, said George. He never thought that the dragon himself might help them, but then that was an idea that would never have occurred to any boy. It grew colder and colder and colder, and even under the grouse feathers, the children shivered. Then when it was so cold that it could not manage to be any colder without breaking the thermometer, it stopped. And then the dragon uncurled himself from around the North Pole and stretched his long icy length over the snow, and said, this is something like, how faint those fires did make me feel? The fact was the seal-skin dwarfs had gone the wrong way to work. The dragon had been frozen so long that now he was nothing but solid ice all through, and the fires only made him feel as if he were going to die. But when the fires were out, he felt quite well and very hungry. He looked around for something to eat, but he never noticed George and Jane because they were frozen to his back. He moved slowly off, and the snow wreaths that bound the children to the pole gave way with a snap. And there was the dragon crawling south with Jane and George on his great, scaly, icy, shining back. Of course the dragon had to go south if he went anywhere, because when you get to the North Pole, there is no other way to go. The dragon rattled and tinkled as he went, exactly like the cut glass chandelier when you touch it, as you are strictly forbidden to do. Of course there are a million ways of going south from the North Pole, so you will own that it was lucky for George and Jane when the dragon took the right way and suddenly got his heavy feet on the great slide. Off he went, full speed between the starry lamps toward Forest Hill and the Crystal Palace. He's going to take us home, said Jane. Oh, he is a good dragon. I am glad. George was rather glad too, though neither of the children felt at all sure of their welcome, especially as their feet were wet and they were bringing a strange dragon home with them. They went very fast because dragons can go uphill as easily as down. You would not understand why, if I told you, because you are only in long division at present. Yet if you want me to tell you so that you can show off to other children, I will. It is because dragons can get their tails into the fourth dimension and hold on there. And when you can do that, everything else is easy. The dragon went very fast, only stopping to eat the collector and the sportsman, who were still struggling to go up the slide, vainly because they had no tails and had never even heard of the fourth dimension. When the dragon got to the end of the slide, he crawled very slowly across the dark field beyond the field where there was a bonfire, next to the next-door garden at Forest Hill. He went slower and slower and in the bonfire field he stopped altogether. And because the Arctic regions had not got down so far as that and because the bonfire was very hot, the dragon began to melt and melt and melt. And before the children knew what he was doing, they found themselves sitting in a large pool of water and their boots were as wet as wet and there was not a bit of dragon left. So they went indoors. Of course some grown-up or other noticed at once that the boots of George and Jane were wet and muddy and that they had both been sitting down in a very damp place, so they were sent to bed immediately. It was long past their time anyhow. Now, if you are of an inquiring mind, not at all a nice thing in a little child who reads fairy tales, you will want to know how it is that since the seal-skinned dwarfs have all been killed and the fires all been let out, the aurora borealis shines on cold nights as brightly as ever. My dear, I do not know. I am not too proud to own that there are some things I know nothing about and this is one of them. But I do know that whoever has lighted those fires again, it is certainly not the seal-skinned dwarfs. They were all eaten by moths and moth-eaten things are of no use, even to light fires. End of chapter four. Chapter five of The Book of Dragons. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recorded by Laurie Ann Walden. The Book of Dragons by Edith Nesbit. Chapter five, The Island of the Nine Whirlpools. The dark arch that led to the witch's cave was hung with a black and yellow fringe of live snakes. As the queen went in, keeping carefully in the middle of the arch, all the snakes lifted their wicked flat heads and stared at her with their wicked yellow eyes. You know, it is not good manners to stare, even at royalty, except, of course, for cats. And the snakes had been so badly brought up that they even put their tongues out at the poor lady. Nasty, thin, sharp tongues they were, too. Now, the queen's husband was, of course, the king. And besides being a king, he was an enchanter and considered to be quite at the top of his profession. So he was very wise. And he knew that when kings and queens want children, the queen always goes to see a witch. So he gave the queen the witch's address and the queen called on her, though she was very frightened and did not like it at all. The witch was sitting by a fire of sticks, stirring something bubbly in a shiny copper cauldron. What do you want, my dear? She said to the queen. Oh, if you please, said the queen. I want a baby, a very nice one. We don't want any expense spared. My husband said, oh, yes, said the witch. I know all about him. And so you want a child. Do you know it will bring you sorrow? It will bring me joy first, said the queen. Great sorrow, said the witch. Greater joy, said the queen. Then the witch said, well, have it your own way. I suppose it's as much as your place is worth to go back without it. The king would be very much annoyed, said the poor queen. Well, well, said the witch. What will you give me for the child? Anything you ask for and all I have, said the queen. Then give me your gold crown. The queen took it off quickly. And your necklace of blue sapphires. The queen unfastened it. And your pearl bracelets. The queen unclasped them. And your ruby clasps. And the queen undid the clasps. Now the lilies from your breast. The queen gathered together the lilies. And the diamonds of your little bright shoe buckles. The queen pulled off her shoes. Then the witch stirred the stuff that was in the cauldron. And one by one she threw in the gold crown and the sapphire necklace and the pearl bracelets and the ruby clasps and the diamonds of the little bright shoe buckles. And last of all she threw in the lilies. The stuff in the cauldron boiled up in foaming flashes of yellow and blue and red and white and silver and sent out a sweet scent. And presently the witch poured it out into a pot and set it to cool in the doorway among the snakes. Then she said to the queen, your child will have hair as golden as your crown, eyes as blue as your sapphires. The red of your rubies will lie on its lips and its skin will be clear and pale as your pearls. Its soul will be white and sweet as your lilies and your diamonds will be no clearer than its wits. Oh, thank you, thank you, said the queen. And when will it come? You will find it when you get home. And won't you have something for yourself? Asked the queen. Any little thing you fancy. Would you like a country or a sack of jewels? Nothing, thank you, said the witch. I could make more diamonds in a day than I should wear in a year. Well, but do let me do some little thing for you, the queen went on. Aren't you tired of being a witch? Wouldn't you like to be a duchess or princess or something like that? There is one thing I should rather like, said the witch, but it's hard to get in my trade. Oh, tell me what, said the queen. I should like someone to love me, said the witch. Then the queen threw her arms around the witch's neck and kissed her half a hundred times. Why, she said, I love you better than my life. You've given me the baby, and the baby shall love you too. Perhaps it will, said the witch. And when the sorrow comes, send for me. Each of your 50 kisses will be a spell to bring me to you. Now drink up your medicine, there's a deer, and run along home. So the queen drank the stuff in the pot, which was quite cool by this time. And she went out under the fringe of snakes and they all behaved like good Sunday school children. Some of them even tried to drop a curtsy to her as she went by, though that is not easy when you are hanging wrong way up by your tail. But the snakes knew the queen was friends with their mistress, so of course they had to do their best to be civil. When the queen got home, sure enough, there was the baby lying in the cradle with the royal arms blazoned on it, crying as naturally as possible. It had pink ribbons to tie up its sleeves, so the queen saw it once, it was a girl. When the king knew this, he tore his black hair with fury. Oh, you silly, silly queen, he said. Why didn't I marry a clever lady? Did you think I went to all the trouble and expense of sending you to a witch to get a girl? You knew well enough it was a boy I wanted, a boy, an heir, a prince, to learn all my magic and my enchantments and to rule the kingdom after me. I'll bet a crown, my crown, he said. You never even thought to tell the witch what kind you wanted, did you now? And the queen hung her head and had to confess that she had only asked for a child. Very well, madam, said the king. Very well, have it your own way and make the most of your daughter while she is a child. The queen did. All the years of her life had never held half so much happiness as now lived in each of the moments when she held her little baby in her arms. And the years went on and the king grew more and more clever at magic and more and more disagreeable at home. And the princess grew more beautiful and more dear every day she lived. The queen and the princess were feeding the goldfish in the courtyard fountains with crumbs of the princess's 18th birthday cake when the king came into the courtyard looking as black as thunder with his black raven hopping after him. He shook his fist at the family as indeed he generally did whenever he met them for he was not a king with pretty home manners. The raven sat down on the edge of the marble basin and tried to peck the goldfish. It was all he could do to show that he was in the same temper as his master. A girl indeed, said the king angrily. I wonder you can dare to look me in the face when you remember how your silliness has spoiled everything. You often to speak to my mother like that, said the princess. She was 18 and it came to her suddenly and all in a moment that she was a grown up so she spoke out. The king could not utter a word for several minutes. He was too angry. But the queen said, my dear child, don't interfere, quite crossly, for she was frightened. And to her husband, she said, my dear, what are you going worrying about it? Our daughter is not a boy, it is true, but she may marry a clever man who could rule your kingdom after you and learn as much magic as ever you care to teach him. Then the king found his tongue. If she does marry, he said slowly, her husband will have to be a very clever man. Oh, yes, very clever indeed. And he will have to know a very great deal more magic than I shall ever care to teach him. The queen knew at once by the king's tone that he was going to be disagreeable. Ah, she said, don't punish the child because she loves her mother. I'm not gonna punish her for that, said he. I'm only going to teach her to respect her father. And without another word, he went off to his laboratory and worked all night, boiling different colored things in crucibles and copying charms in curious twisted letters from old brown books with mold stains on their yellowy pages. The next day, his plan was all arranged. He took the poor princess to the lone tower, which stands on an island in the sea, a thousand miles from everywhere. He gave her a dowry and settled a handsome income on her. He engaged a competent dragon to look after her and also a respectable griffin whose birth and upbringing he knew all about. And he said, here you shall stay, my dear respectful daughter, till the clever man comes to marry you. He'll have to be clever enough to sail a ship through the nine whirlpools that spin around the island and to kill the dragon and the griffin. Till he comes, you'll never get any older or any wiser. No doubt he will soon come. You can employ yourself in embroidering your wedding gown. I wish you joy, my beautiful child. And his carriage, drawn by live thunderbolts, thunder travels very fast. Rose in the air and disappeared and the poor princess was left with the dragon and the griffin on the island of the nine whirlpools. The queen, left at home, cried for a day and a night and then she remembered the witch and called to her and the witch came and the queen told her all. For the sake of the twice twenty-five kisses you gave me, said the witch, I will help you. But it is the last thing I can do and it is not much. Your daughter is under a spell and I can take you to her. But if I do, you will have to be turned to stone and to stay so till the spell is taken off the child. I would be a stone for a thousand years, said the poor queen. If at the end of them I could see my dear again. So the witch took the queen and a carriage drawn by live sunbeams, which travel more quickly than anything else in the world and much quicker than thunder and so away and away to the lone tower on the island of the nine whirlpools. And there was the princess sitting on the floor in the best room of the lone tower, crying as if her heart would break and the dragon and the griffin were sitting primly on each side of her. Oh, mother, mother, mother, she cried and hung around the queen's neck as if she would never let go. Now, said the witch, when they had all cried as much as was good for them, I can do one or two other little things for you. Time shall not make the princess sad. All days will be like one day till her deliverer comes. And you and I, dear queen, will sit in stone at the gate of the tower. In doing this for you, I'll lose all my witch's powers. And when I say the spell that changes you to stone, I shall change with you. And if we ever come out of the stone, I shall be a witch no more, but only a happy old woman. Then the three kissed one another again and again. And the witch said the spell and on each side of the door, there was now a stone lady. One of them had a stone crown on its head and a stone scepter in its hand. But the other held a stone tablet with words on it, which the griffin and the dragon could not read, though they had both had a very good education. And now all days seemed like one day to the princess, and the next day always seemed the day when her mother would come out of the stone and kiss her again. And the years went slowly by. The wicked king died and someone else took his kingdom, and many things were changed in the world. But the island did not change, nor the nine whirlpools, nor the griffin, nor the dragon, nor the two stone ladies. And all the time from the very first, the day of the princess's deliverance was coming, creeping nearer and nearer and nearer. But no one saw it coming except the princess, and she only in dreams. And the years went by in tens and in hundreds, and still the nine whirlpools spun around, roaring in triumph the story of many a good ship that had gone down in their swirl, bearing with it some prince who had tried to win the princess and her dowry. And the great sea knew all the other stories of the princess who had come from very far and had seen the whirlpools and had shaken their wise young heads and said, about ship and gone discreetly home to their nice safe comfortable kingdoms. But no one told the story of the deliverer who was to come. And the years went by. Now after more scores of years, and you would like to add up on your slate, a certain sailor boy sailed on the high seas with his uncle who was a skilled skipper. And the boy could reef a sail and coil a rope and keep the ship's nose steady before the wind. And he was as good a boy as you would find in a month of Sundays and worthy to be a prince. Now there is something which is wiser than all the world and it knows when people are worthy to be princes. And this something came from the farther side of the seventh world and whispered in the boy's ear. And the boy heard, though he did not know he heard. And he looked out over the black sea with the white foam horses galloping over it. And far away he saw a light. And he said to the skipper, his uncle, what light is that? Then the skipper said, all good things defend you Nigel from sailing near that light. It is not mentioned in all charts but it is marked in the old chart I steer by which was my father's father's before me and his father's father's before him. It is the light that shines from the lone tower that stands above the nine whirlpools. And when my father's father was young he heard from the very old man, his great great grandfather that in that tower an enchanted princess fairer than the day waits to be delivered. But there is no deliverance so never steer that way and think no more of the princess for that is only an idle tale. But the whirlpools are quite real. So of course from that day Nigel thought of nothing else. And as he sailed hither and thither upon the high seas he saw from time to time the light that shone out to sea across the wild swirl of the nine whirlpools. And one night when the ship was at anchor and the skipper asleep in his bunk Nigel launched the ship's boat and steered alone over the dark sea towards the light. He dared not go very near till daylight should show him what indeed were the whirlpools he had to dread. But when the dawn came he saw the lone tower standing dark against the pink and primrose of the east and about its base the sullen swirl of black water and he heard the wonderful roar of it. So he hung off and on all that day and for six days besides. And when he had watched seven days he knew something for you are certain to know something if you give for seven days your whole thought to it even though it be only the first declension or the nine times table or the dates of the Norman kings. What he knew was this that for five minutes out of the 1,440 minutes that make up a day the whirlpools slipped into silence while the tide went down and left the yellow sand bare. And every day this happened but every day it was five minutes earlier than it had been the day before. He made sure of this by the ship's chronometer which he had thoughtfully brought with him. So on the eighth day at five minutes before noon Nigel got ready and when the whirlpool suddenly stopped whirling and the tide sank like water in a basin that has a hole in it he stuck to his oars and put his back into his stroke and presently beached the boat on the yellow sand. Then he dragged it into a cave and sat down to wait. By five minutes in one second past noon the whirlpools were black and busy again and Nigel peeped out of his cave. And on the rocky ledge overhanging the sea he saw a princess as beautiful as the day with golden hair and a green gown and he went out to meet her. I've come to save you, he said. How darling and beautiful you are. You are very good and very clever and very dear said the princess smiling and giving him both her hands. He shut a little kiss in each hand before he let them go. So now when the tide is low again I will take you away in my boat, he said. But what about the dragon in the griffin? asked the princess. Dear me, said Nigel. I didn't know about them. I suppose I can kill them. Don't be a silly boy, said the princess pretending to be very grown up for though she had been on the island time only knows how many years she was just 18 and she still liked pretending. You haven't a sword or a shield or anything. Well, don't the beasts ever go to sleep? Why yes, said the princess but only once in 24 hours and then the dragon has turned to stone but the griffin has dreams. The griffin sleeps at tea time every day but the dragon sleeps every day for five minutes and every day it is three minutes later than it was the day before. What time does he sleep today? asked Nigel. At 11, said the princess. Ah, said Nigel. Can you do sums? No, said the princess sadly. I was never good at them. Then I must, said Nigel. I can but it's slow work and it makes me very unhappy. It'll take me days and days. Don't begin yet, said the princess. You'll have plenty of time to be unhappy when I'm not with you. Tell me all about yourself. So he did and then she told him all about herself. I know I've been here a long time, she said but I don't know what time is and I am very busy sowing silk flowers on a golden gown for my wedding day and the griffin does the housework. His wings are so convenient and feathery for sweeping and dusting and the dragon does the cooking. He's hot inside so of course it's no trouble to him. And though I don't know what time is I'm sure it's time for my wedding day because my golden gown only wants one more white daisy on the sleeve and a lily on the bosom of it and then it will be ready. Just then they heard a dry rustling clatter on the rocks above them and a snorting sound. It's the dragon, said the princess hurriedly. Goodbye, be a good boy and get your sum done. And she ran away and left him to his arithmetic. Now the sum was this. If the whirlpools stop and the tide goes down once in every 24 hours and they do it five minutes earlier every 24 hours and if the dragon sleeps every day and he does it three minutes later every day in how many days and at what time in the day will the tide go down three minutes before the dragon falls asleep? It is quite a simple sum as you see. You could do it in a minute because you have been to a good school and have taken pains with your lessons. But it was quite otherwise with poor Nigel. He sat down to work out his sum with a piece of chalk on a smooth stone. He tried it by practice and the unitary method by multiplication and by rule of three and three quarters. He tried it by decimals and by compound interest. He tried it by square root and by cube root. He tried it by addition, simple and otherwise and he tried it by mixed examples in vulgar fractions. But it was all of no use. Then he tried to do the sum by algebra, by simple and by quadratic equations, by trigonometry, by logarithms and by conic sections. But it would not do. He got an answer every time it is true but it was always a different one and he could not feel sure which answer was right. And just as he was feeling how much more important than anything else it is to be able to do your sums, the princess came back. And now it was getting dark. Why, you've been seven hours over that sum, she said and you haven't done it yet. Look here, this is what is written on the tablet of the statue by the lower gate. It has figures in it. Perhaps it is the answer to the sum. She held out to him a big white magnolia leaf and she had scratched on it with the pin of her pearl brooch and it had turned brown where she had scratched it as magnolia leaves will do. Nigel read, after nine days, T224, D227, ANS, PS and the griffin is artificial, R. He clapped his hands softly. Dear princess, he said, I know that's the right answer. It says R, too, you see, but I'll just prove it. So he hastily worked the sum backward in decimals and equations and conic sections and all the rules he could think of. And it came right every time. So now we must wait, he said, and they waited. And every day the princess came to see Nigel and brought him food cooked by the dragon and he lived in his cave and talked to her when she was there and thought about her when she was not and they were both as happy as the longest day in summer. Then at last came the day. Nigel and the princess laid their plans. You're sure he won't hurt you, my only treasure, said Nigel. Quite, said the princess. I only wish I were half as sure that he wouldn't hurt you. My princess, he said tenderly, two great powers are on our side, the power of love and the power of arithmetic. Those two were stronger than anything else in the world. So when the tide began to go down, Nigel and the princess ran out onto the sands and there in full sight of the terrace where the dragon kept watch, Nigel took his princess in his arms and kissed her. The griffin was busy sweeping the stairs of the lone tower, but the dragon saw and he gave a cry of rage and it was like 20 engines all letting off steam at the top of their voices inside Cannon Street Station. And the two lovers stood looking up at the dragon. He was dreadful to look at. His head was white with age and his beard had grown so long that he caught his claws in it as he walked. His wings were white with the salt that had settled on them from the spray of the sea. His tail was long and thick and jointed in white and had little legs to it, any number of them, far too many, so that it looked like a very large fat silkworm. And his claws were as long as lessons and as sharp as bayonets. Goodbye, love, cried Nigel and ran out across the yellow sand toward the sea. He had one end of a cord tied to his arm. The dragon was clambering down the face of the cliff and next moment he was crawling and writhing and sprawling and wriggling across the beach after Nigel, making great holes in the sand with his heavy feet and the very end of his tail where there were no legs made as it dragged a mark in the sand such as you make when you launch a boat. And he breathed fire till the wet sand hissed again and the water of the little rock pools got quite frightened and all went off in steam. Still Nigel held on and the dragon after him. The princess could see nothing for the steam and she stood crying bitterly but still holding on tight with her right hand to the other end of the cord that Nigel had told her to hold. While with her left she held the ship's chronometer and looked at it through her tears as he had bitten her look so as to know when to pull the rope. Own went Nigel over the sand and own went the dragon after him and the tide was low and the sleepy little waves leapt the sand's edge. Now at the lip of the water, Nigel paused and looked back and the dragon made a bound beginning a scream of rage that was like all the engines of all the railways in England but it never uttered the second half of that scream for now it knew suddenly that it was sleepy and turned to hurry back to dry land because sleeping near whirlpools is so unsafe but before it reached the shore sleep caught it and turned it to stone. Nigel seeing this ran shoreward for his life and the tide began to flow in and the time of the whirlpool's sleep was nearly over and he stumbled and he waited and he swam and the princess pulled for dear life at the cord in her hand and pulled him up onto the dry shelf of rock just as the great sea dashed in and made itself once more into the girdle of nine whirlpools all around the island but the dragon was asleep under the whirlpools and when he woke up from being asleep he found he was drowned so there was an end of him. Now there's only the griffin said Nigel and the princess said, yes only and she kissed Nigel and went back to sow the last leaf of the last lily on the bosom of her wedding gown. She thought and thought of what was written on the stone about the griffin being artificial and next day she said to Nigel, you know a griffin is half a lion and half an eagle and the other two halves when they've joined make the Leo griff but I've never seen him yet I have an idea. So they talked it over and arranged everything. When the griffin fell asleep that afternoon at tea time Nigel went softly behind him and trod on his tail and at the same time the princess cried, look out there's a lion behind you and the griffin waking suddenly from his dreams twisted his large neck around to look for the lion saw a lion's flank and fastened its eagle beak in it for the griffin had been artificially made by the king enchanter and the two halves had never really got used to each other so now the eagle half of the griffin who was still rather sleepy believed that it was fighting a lion and the lion part being half asleep thought it was fighting an eagle and the whole griffin in its deep drowsiness hadn't the sense to pull itself together and remember what it was made of. So the griffin rolled over and over one end of it fighting with the other till the eagle end pecked the lion in to death and the lion in tore the eagle in with its claws till it died and so the griffin that was made of a lion and an eagle perished exactly as if it had been made of Kilkenny cats poor griffin said the princess it was very good at the housework I always liked it better than the dragon it wasn't so hot tempered at that moment there was a soft silky rush behind the princess and there was her mother the queen who had slipped out of the stone statue at the moment the griffin was dead and now came hurrying to take her dear daughter in her arms the witch was clambering slowly off her pedestal she was a little stiff from standing still so long when they had all explained everything over and over to each other as many times as was good for them the witch said well but what about the whirlpools and Nigel said he didn't know then the witch said I'm not a witch anymore I'm only a happy old woman but I know some things still those whirlpools were made by the enchanter kings dropping nine drops of his blood into the sea and his blood was so wicked that the sea has been trying ever since to get rid of it and that made the whirlpools now you've only got to go out at low tide so Nigel understood and went out at low tide and found in the sandy hollow left by the first whirlpool a great red ruby that was the first drop of the wicked king's blood the next day Nigel found another and the next day another and so on till the ninth day and then the sea was as smooth as glass the nine rubies were used afterwards in agriculture you had only to throw them out into a field if you wanted it plowed then the whole surface of the land turned itself over in its anxiety to get rid of something so wicked and in the morning the field was found to be plowed as thoroughly as any young man at Oxford so the wicked king did some good after all when the sea was smooth ships came from far and wide bringing people to hear the wonderful story and a beautiful palace was built and the princess was married to Nigel in her gold dress and they all lived happily as long as was good for them the dragon still lies a stone dragon on the sand and at low tide the little children play around him and over him but the pieces that were left of the griffin were buried under the herb bed in the palace garden because it had been so good at housework and it wasn't its fault that it had been made so badly and put to such poor work as guarding a lady from her lover I have no doubt that you will wish to know what the princess lived on during the long years when the dragon did the cooking my dear she lived on her income and that is a thing that a great many people would like to be able to do end of chapter five chapter six of the book of dragons this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recorded by Laurie Ann Walden the book of dragons by Edith Nespot chapter six the dragon tamers there was once an old old castle it was so old that its walls and towers and turrets and gateways and arches had crumbled to ruins and of all its old splendor there were only two little rooms left and it was here that John the blacksmith had set up his forge he was too poor to live in a proper house and no one asked any rent for the rooms in the ruin because all the lords of the castle were dead and gone this many a year so there John blew his bellows and hammered his iron and did all the work which came his way this was not much because most of the trade went to the mayor of the town who was also a blacksmith in quite a large way of business and had his huge forge facing the square of the town and had twelve apprentices all hammering like a nest of woodpeckers and twelve journeymen to order the apprentices about and a patent forge and a self-acting hammer and electric bellows and all things handsome about him so of course the townspeople whenever they wanted a horse shod or a shaft mended went to the mayor John the blacksmith struggled on as best he could with a few odd jobs from travelers and strangers who did not know what a superior forge the mayors was the two rooms were warm and weathertight but not very large so the blacksmith got into the way of keeping his old iron his odds and ends his faggots and his tuppence worth of coal in the great dungeon down under the castle it was a very fine dungeon indeed with a handsome vaulted roof and big iron rings whose staples were built into the wall very strong and convenient for tying captives to and at one end was a broken flight of wide steps leading down no one knew where even the lords of the castle in the good old times had never known where those steps led to but every now and then they would kick a prisoner down the steps in their lighthearted, hopeful way and sure enough the prisoners never came back the blacksmith had never dared to go beyond the seventh step and no more have I so I know no more than he did what was at the bottom of those stairs John the blacksmith had a wife and a little baby when his wife was not doing the housework she used to nurse the baby and cry remembering the happy days when she lived with her father who kept 17 cows and lived quite in the country and when John used to come courting her in the summer evenings as smart as smart with a posy in his buttonhole and now John's hair was getting gray and there was hardly ever enough to eat as for the baby it cried a good deal at odd times but at night when its mother had settled down to sleep it would always begin to cry quite as a matter of course so that she hardly got any rest at all this made her very tired the baby could make up for its bad nights during the day if it liked but the poor mother couldn't so whenever she had nothing to do she used to sit and cry because she was tired out with work and worry one evening the blacksmith was busy with his forge he was making a goat's shoe for the goat of a very rich lady who wished to see how the goat liked being shod and also whether the shoe would come to five pence or seven pence before she ordered the whole set this was the only order John had had that week and as he worked his wife sat and nursed the baby who for a wonder was not crying presently over the noise of the bellows and over the clank of the iron there came another sound the blacksmith and his wife looked at each other I heard nothing said he neither did I said she but the noise grew louder and the two were so anxious not to hear it that he hammered away at the goat's shoe harder than he had ever hammered in his life and she began to sing to the baby a thing she had not had the heart to do for weeks but through the blowing and hammering and singing the noise came louder and louder and the more they tried not to hear it the more they had to it was like the noise of some great creature purring purring purring and the reason they did not want to believe they really heard it was that it came from the great dungeon down below where the old iron was and the firewood and the tuppence worth of coal and the broken steps that went down into the dark and ended no one knew where it can't be anything in the dungeon said the blacksmith wiping his face why I shall have to go down there after more coals in a minute there isn't anything there of course how could there be said his wife and they tried so hard to believe that there could be nothing there that presently they very nearly did believe it then the blacksmith took his shovel in one hand and his riveting hammer in the other and hung the old stable lantern on his little finger and went down to get the coals I am not taking the hammer because I think there is something there said he but it is handy for breaking the large lumps of coal I quite understand said his wife who had brought the coal home in her apron that very afternoon and knew that it was all coal dust so he went down the winding stairs to the dungeon and stood at the bottom of the steps holding the lantern above his head just to see that the dungeon really was empty as usual half of it was empty as usual except for the old iron and odds and ends and the firewood and the coals but the other side was not empty it was quite full and what it was full of was dragon it must have come up those nasty broken steps from goodness knows where said the blacksmith to himself trembling all over as he tried to creep back up the winding stairs but the dragon was too quick for him it put out a great claw and caught him by the leg and as it moved it rattled like a great bunch of keys or like the sheet iron they make thunder out of in pantomimes no you don't said the dragon in a spluttering voice like a damp squib dearie dearie me said poor john trembling more than ever in the claw of the dragon here's a nice end for a respectable blacksmith the dragon seemed very much struck by this remark do you mind saying that again said he quite politely so john said again very distinctly here is a nice end for a respectable blacksmith i didn't know said the dragon fancy now you're the very man i wanted so i understood you to say before said john his teeth chattering oh i don't mean what you mean said the dragon but i should like you to do a job for me one of my wings has got some of the rivets out of it just above the joint could you put that to rights i might sir said john politely for you must always be polite to a possible customer even if he be a dragon a master craftsman you are a master of course can see in a minute what's wrong the dragon went on just come around here and feel my plates will you john timidly went around when the dragon took his claw away and sure enough the dragon's wing was hanging loose and several of the plates near the joint certainly wanted riveting the dragon seemed to be made almost entirely of iron armor a sort of tawny red rust color it was from damp no doubt and under it he seemed to be covered with something furry all the blacksmith welled up in john's heart and he felt more at ease you could certainly do with a riveter too sir said he in fact you want a good mini well get to work then said the dragon you mend my wing and then i'll go out and eat up all the town and if you make a really smart job of it i'll eat you last there i don't want to be eaten last sir said john well then i'll eat you first said the dragon i don't want that sir either said john go on with you you silly man said the dragon you don't know your own silly mind come set to work i don't like the job sir said john and that's the truth i know how easily accidents happen it's all fair and smooth and please rivet me and i'll eat you last and then you get to work and you give a gentleman a bit of a nip or a dig under his rivets and then it's fire and smoke and no apologies will meet the case upon my word of honor as a dragon said the other i know you wouldn't do it on purpose sir said john but any gentleman will give a jump and a sniff if he's nipped and one of your sniffs would be enough for me now if you just let me fasten you up it would be so undignified objected the dragon we always fasten a horse up said john and he's the noble animal it's all very well said the dragon but how do i know you'd untie me again when you'd riveted me give me something in pledge what do you value most my hammer said john a blacksmith is nothing without a hammer but you'd want that for riveting me you must think of something else and at once or i'll eat you first at this moment the baby in the room above began to scream its mother had been so quiet that it thought she had settled down for the night and that it was time to begin whatever's that said the dragon starting so that every plate on his body rattled it's only the baby said john what's that asked the dragon something you value well yes sir rather said the blacksmith then bring it here said the dragon and i'll take care of it till you've done riveting me and you shall tie me up all right sir said john but i ought to warn you babies are poison to dragons so i don't deceive you it's all right to touch but don't you go putting it into your mouth i shouldn't like to see any harm come to a nice looking gentleman like you the dragon purred at this compliment and said all right i'll be careful now go and fetch the thing whatever it is so john ran up the steps as quickly as he could for he knew that if the dragon got impatient before it was fastened it could heave up the roof of the dungeon with one heave of its back and killed them all in the ruins his wife was asleep in spite of the baby's cries and john picked up the baby and took it down and put it between the dragon's front paws you just purr to it sir he said and it'll be as good as gold so the dragon purred and his purring pleased the baby so much that it stopped crying then john rummaged among the heap of old iron and found there some heavy chains and a great collar that had been made in the days when men sang over their work and put their hearts into it so that the things they made were strong enough to bear the weight of a thousand years let alone a dragon john fastened the dragon up with the collar and the chains and when he had padlocked them all owned safely he set to work to find out how many rivets would be needed six eight ten twenty forty said he i haven't half enough rivets in the shop if you'll excuse me sir i'll step around to another forge and get a few dozen i won't be a minute and off he went leaving the baby between the dragon's four paws laughing and crowing with pleasure at the very large purr of it john ran as hard as he could into the town and found the mayor and corporation there's a dragon in my dungeon he said i've chained him up now come and help to get my baby away and he told them all about it but they all happened to have engagements for that evening so they praised john's cleverness and said they were quite content to leave the matter in his hands but what about my baby said john oh well said the mayor if anything should happen you will always be able to remember that your baby perished in a good cause so john went home again and told his wife some of the tale you've given the baby to the dragon she cried oh you unnatural parent hush said john and he'd hold her some more now he said i'm going down after i've been down you can go and if you keep your head the boy will be all right so down went the blacksmith and there was the dragon purring away with all his might to keep the baby quiet hurry up can't you he said i can't keep up this noise all night i'm very sorry sir said the blacksmith but all the shops are shut the job must wait till the morning and don't forget you've promised to take care of that baby you'll find it a little wearing i'm afraid good night sir the dragon had purred till he was quite out of breath so now he stopped and as soon as everything was quiet the baby thought everyone must have settled for the night and that it was time to begin to scream so it began oh dear said the dragon this is awful he patted the baby with his claw but it screamed more than ever and i am so tired too said the dragon i did so hope i should have a good night the baby went on screaming there'll be no peace for me after this said the dragon it's enough to ruin one's nerves hush then didoms then and he tried to quiet the baby as if it had been a young dragon but when he began to sing hush a by dragon the baby screamed more and more and more i can't keep it quiet said the dragon and then suddenly he saw a woman sitting on the steps here i say said he do you know anything about babies i do a little said the mother then i wish you'd take this one and let me get some sleep said the dragon yawning you can bring it back in the morning before the blacksmith comes so the mother picked up the baby and took it upstairs and told her husband and they went to bed happy for they had caught the dragon and saved the baby and next day john went down and explained carefully to the dragon exactly how matters stood and he got an iron gate with a grating to it and set it up at the foot of the steps and the dragon mewed furiously for days and days but when he found it was no good he was quiet so now john went to the mayor and said i've got the dragon and i've saved the town noble preserver cried the mayor we will get up a subscription for you and crown you in public with a laurel wreath so the mayor put his name down for five pounds and the corporation each gave three and other people gave their guineas and half guineas and half crowns and crowns and while the subscription was being made the mayor ordered three poems at his own expense from the town poet to celebrate the occasion the poems were very much more admired especially by the mayor and corporation the first poem dealt with the noble conduct of the mayor in arranging to have the dragon tied up the second described the splendid assistance rendered by the corporation and the third expressed the pride and joy of the poet in being permitted to sing such deeds beside which the actions of st george must appear quite commonplace to all with a feeling heart or a well-balanced brain when the subscription was finished there was a thousand pounds and a committee was formed to settle what should be done with it a third of it went to pay for a banquet to the mayor and corporation another third was spent in buying a gold collar with a dragon on it for the mayor and gold medals with the dragons on them for the corporation and what was left went in committee expenses so there was nothing for the blacksmith except the laurel wreath and the knowledge that it really was he who had saved the town but after this things went a little better with the blacksmith to begin with the baby did not cry so much as it had before then the rich lady who owned the goat was so touched by john's noble action that she ordered a complete set of shoes at two shillings four pence and even made it up to two shillings six pence in grateful recognition of his public spirited conduct then tourists used to come in breaks from quite a long way off and pay tuppence each to go down the steps and peep through the iron grating at the rusty dragon in the dungeon and it was three pence extra for each party if the blacksmith let off colored fire to see it by which is the fire was extremely short was tuppence haypenny clear profit every time and the blacksmith's wife used to provide teas at nine pence ahead and altogether things grew brighter week by week the baby named john after his father and called johnny for short began presently to grow up he was great friends with tina the daughter of the whitesmith who lived nearly opposite she was a dear little girl with yellow pigtails and blue eyes and she was tired of hearing the story of how johnny when he was a baby had been minded by a real dragon the two children used to go together to peep through the iron grating at the dragon and sometimes they would hear him mew piteously and they would light a haypenny's worth of colored fire to look at him by and they grew older and wiser at last one day the mayor and corporation hunting the hair in their gold gowns came screaming back to the town gates with the news that a lame humpy giant as big as a tin church was coming over the marshes toward the town we're lost said the mayor i'd give a thousand pounds to anyone who could keep that giant out of the town i know what he eats by his teeth no one seemed to know what to do but johnny and tina were listening and they looked at each other and ran off as fast as their boots would carry them they ran through the forge and down the dungeon steps and knocked at the iron door who's there said the dragon it's only us said the children and the dragon was so dull from having been alone for 10 years that he said come in dears you won't hurt us or breathe fire at us or anything asked tina and the dragon said not for worlds so they went in and talked to him and told him what the weather was like outside and what there was in the papers and at last johnny said there's a lame giant in the town he wants you does he said the dragon showing his teeth if only i were out of this if we let you lose you might manage to run away before he could catch you yes i might answered the dragon but then again i mightn't why you'd never fight him said tina no said the dragon i'm all for peace i am you let me out and you'll see so the children loosed the dragon from the chains in the collar and he broke down one end of the dungeon and went out only pausing at the forge door to get the blacksmith to rivet his wing he met the lame giant at the gate of the town and the giant banged on the dragon with his club as if he were banging an iron foundry and the dragon behaved like a smelting works all fire and smoke it was a fearful sight and people watched it from a distance falling off their legs with the shock of every bang but always getting up to look again at last the dragon won and the giant sneaked away across the marshes and the dragon who was very tired went home to sleep announcing his intention of eating the town in the morning he went back into his old dungeon because he was a stranger in the town and he did not know of any other respectable lodging then tina and johnny went to the mayor and corporation and said the giant is settled please give us the thousand pound reward but the mayor said no no my boy it is not you who have settled the giant it is the dragon i suppose you have chained him up again when he comes to claim the reward he shall have it he isn't chained up yet said johnny shall i send him to claim the reward but the mayor said he need not trouble and now he offered a thousand pounds to anyone who would get the dragon chained up again i don't trust you said johnny look how you treated my father when he chained up the dragon but the people who were listening at the door interrupted and said that if johnny could fasten up the dragon again they would turn out the mayor and let johnny be mayor in his place for they had been dissatisfied with the mayor for some time and thought they would like a change so johnny said done and off he went hand in hand with tina and they called on all their little friends and said will you help us to save the town and all the children said yes of course we will what fun well then said tina you must all bring your basins of bread and milk to the forge tomorrow at breakfast time and if ever i am mayor said johnny i will give a banquet and you shall be invited and we'll have nothing but sweet things from beginning to end all the children promised and next morning tina and johnny rolled their big washing tub down the winding stair what's that noise asked the dragon it's only a big giant breathing said tina he's gone by now then when all the town children brought their bread and milk tina emptied it into the wash tub and when the tub was full tina knocked at the iron door with the grating in it and said may we come in oh yes said the dragon it's very dull here so they went in and with the help of nine other children they lifted the washing tub in and set it down by the dragon then all the other children went away and tina and johnny sat down and cried what's this asked the dragon and what's the matter this is bread and milk said johnny it's our breakfast all of it well said the dragon i don't see what you want with breakfast i'm going to eat everyone in the town as soon as i've rested a little dear mr dragon said tina i wish you wouldn't eat us how would you like to be eaten yourself not at all the dragon confessed but nobody will eat me i don't know said johnny there's a giant i know i fought with him and licked him yes but there's another come now the one you fought was only this one's little boy this one is half as big again he's seven times as big said tina no nine times said johnny he's bigger than the steeple oh dear said the dragon i never expected this and the mayor has told him where you are tina went on and he is coming to eat you as soon as he has sharpened his big knife the mayor told him you were a wild dragon but he didn't mind he said he only ate wild dragons with bread sauce that's tiresome said the dragon and i suppose this sloppy stuff in the tub is the bread sauce the children said it was of course they added bread sauce is only served with wild dragons tame ones are served with apple sauce and onion stuffing what a pity you're not a tame one he'd never look at you then they said goodbye poor dragon we shall never see you again and now you'll know what it's like to be eaten and they began to cry again well but look here said the dragon couldn't you pretend i was a tame dragon tell the giant that i'm just a poor little timid tame dragon that you kept for a pet he'd never believe it said johnny if you were our tame dragon we should keep you tied up you know we shouldn't like to risk losing such a dear pretty pet then the dragon begged them to fasten him up at once and they did so with the collar and chains that were made years ago in the days when men sang over their work and made it strong enough to bear any strain and then they went away and told the people what they had done and johnny was made mayor and had a glorious feast exactly as he had said he would with nothing in it but sweet things it began with turkish delight and haypenny buns and went on with oranges toffee coconut ice peppermints jam puffs raspberry noyote ice creams and meringues and ended with bull's eyes and gingerbread and acid drops this was all very well for johnny and tina but if you are kind children with feeling hearts you will perhaps feel sorry for the poor deceived diluted dragon chained up in the dull dungeon with nothing to do but think over the shocking untruths that johnny had told him when he thought how he had been tricked the poor captive dragon began to weep and the large tears fell down over his rusty plates and presently he began to feel faint as people sometimes do when they have been crying especially if they had not had anything to eat for 10 years or so and then the poor creature dried his eyes and looked about him and there he saw the tub of bread and milk so he thought if giants like this damp white stuff perhaps i should like it too and he tasted a little and liked it so much that he ate it all up and the next time the tourists came and johnny let off the colored fire the dragon said shyly excuse my troubling you but could you bring me a little more bread and milk so johnny arranged that people should go around with carts every day to collect the children's bread and milk for the dragon the children were fed at the town's expense on whatever they liked and they ate nothing but cake and buns and sweet things and they said the poor dragon was very welcome to their bread and milk now when johnny had been mayor 10 years or so he married tina and on their wedding morning they went to see the dragon he had grown quite tame and his rusty plates had fallen off in places and underneath he was soft and furry to stroke so now they stroked him and he said i don't know how i could ever have liked eating anything but bread and milk i am a tame dragon now aren't i and when they said that yes he was the dragon said i am so tame won't you undo me and some people would have been afraid to trust him but johnny and tina were so happy on their wedding day that they could not believe any harm of anyone in the world so they loosened the chains and the dragon said excuse me a moment there are one or two little things that i should like to fetch and he moved off to those mysterious steps and went down them out of sight into the darkness and as he moved more and more of his rusty plates fell off in a few minutes they heard him clanking up the steps he brought something in his mouth it was a bag of gold it's no good to me he said perhaps you might find it useful so they thanked him very kindly more where that came from said he and fetched more and more and more till they told him to stop so now they were rich and so were their fathers and mothers indeed everyone was rich and there were no more poor people in the town and they all got rich without working which is very wrong but the dragon had never been to school as you have so he knew no better and as the dragon came out of the dungeon following johnny and tina into the bright gold and blue of their wedding day he blinked his eyes as a cat does in the sunshine and he shook himself and the last of his plates dropped off and his wings with them and he was just like a very very extra sized cat and from that day he grew furrier and furrier and he was the beginning of all cats nothing of the dragon remained except the claws which all cats have still as you can easily ascertain and i hope you see now how important it is to feed your cat with bread and milk if you were to let it have nothing to eat but mice and birds it might grow larger and fiercer and scalier and tailier and get wings and turn into the beginning of dragons and then there would be all the bother over again end of chapter six