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THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
AST'IR. LENOX ANF1
T1LW*. KULNDAT1UM8


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THE
ADVENTURES OF
PETERKIN





TUE NSW YOHK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
AST'IK. LFNtX ANP
T1UIW< FUl.mVTlU.Xi8
S I



Inside his Pumperkin house


THE
ADVENTURES of
PETERKIN
BY

AUTHOR OF "TOM TIT TALES," "THE GREEN TULIP,"
"FUN IN THE FOREST," ETC.

a
SAM'L GABRIEL SONS & COMPANY
NEW YORK


VAT. :TV YO'iK
pi i;; re ii;;;;aiiy
Ar"i:.
Copyright, 1916, by
SAM'L GABRIEL SONS & COMPANY
NEW YORK
By Kind Permission of The Evening Sun, New York


6 CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGI
XIII. The Toothless Enemy 59
XIV. Peterkin's Rescue 64
XV. The Water of Bounceability .... 69
XVI. The Vale of the Blind 74
XVII. Peterkin Promises 79
XVIII. The Valley of Silence .83
XIX. Ears Too Sharp 87
XX. The Valley of Dancing Legs .... 92
XXI. The Valley of Up-in-the-Air .... 97
XXII. Peterkin in a Muddle 101
XXIII. The Lost Pumperkin 104
XXIV. Out of Hiding 108
XXV. A Precious Prisoner 112
XXVI. The Villain's Story 116
XXVII. In the City 121
XXVIII. How Peterkin Tricked Them All . . .125
XXIX. Peterkin Brings Joy 130
XXX. Valley to Valley 135
XXXI. The Patient Princess 139
XXXII. The Villain Satisfied 143
XXXIII. The Glorious Ending . .., . ,., . . 148





So
Robert Stuart
Harquia
O

NE day old—
And all your life ahead of you!
How I wish that plodding I
Could be there instead of you!
Tops and toys and picture books;
Sliding ponds and summer brooks;
Birds among the tree-tops green;
Flowers thrusting to be seen—
And about you, like a charm
To protect you, Mother's arm. . . .
Just one day-
And thousands more to come to you!
How the chirrupy old crickets
Of the hearth will hum to youl
All the things that brightest gleam
In a mother's brightest dream:
Sunshine that is free from rain,
Laughter that is free from pain;
Faith and glory, love and hope
Lie along your life's long slope. . . -
One day old—
While within your cradle, you
Smile to think of all the things
Life will freely ladle you!





TTERE is the
A JL story of Peter-
kin Pumperkin,
Lived in a patch, and
afraid of a bumper-
kin.
The wind came along
with a jig and a
jumperkin—
When Peterkin
stopped, he was all
in a lumperkin.





14 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
For, when the growly wind took to blowing over the
pumpkin patch and set the fat yellow balls of pumpkins
swaying from this side to that on their slender vines, poor
Peterkin would be jounced clear out of bed and sent spin-
ning round and round the circled pumpkin wall.
"Ugh, ouch!" he would groan. "My poor head's all
bumps and bruises. Ugh, ugh! Why in the name of every-
thing foolish did I ever come to live in a pumpkin? Why
didn't I stay in a sensible house, and live like other folks
live? Oh, ouch!" And then, as the wind gave one last roar
and his jouncing little home gave one last, extra large somer-
sault on its vine, Peterkin would usually find himself
thwacked back into bed again, with his feet on the pillow and
his head buried deep in the mattress.
The wind, of course, thought it the greatest fun in the
world. The wind was only a jolly playmate, after all—
even if he was a bit too rough about it. And the wind could
never understand what made Peterkin so angry in the
matter.
"Whee! I love to play free and frolic! I love to send the
little leaves whirling and the dust mounds swirling, and the
heavy laden pine-boughs tossing with sighs. I love to chase
the thin gray wisps of mist and the spattering rain-drops as
they fall, and to rattle the frosted window panes. Whee!


PETERKIN PUMPERKIN 15
I'm sure Fm more than gentle with Peterkin Pumperkin.
I always take care not to snap his anchor stem! I always
leave him fast upon his vine. Whee, whiz!"
But then there came a night when myriad snowflakes were
falling over the patch. It was more than the mischievous
wind could stand. He must get in among those flakes! He
must make them jig and dart and dive in crooked merri-
ment!
He rushed down upon them, charging with a trumpet's
roar. And in his wild path he rolled the clumsy pumpkins to
this side and that, until their rumble fairly shook the earth.
Poor Peterkin was dozing at his tiny stove, just then—for
it was very chilly and shivery inside his Pumperkin house.
Whee! whistled the wind. Whee! it shrieked, right over his
head.
Then, suddenly, the terrible thing happened! The thing
that Peterkin had feared so many years! SNAP! went the
stem of Peterkin's Pumperkin—off the vine, out of the patch
—free, anchorless, guideless! And away and away rolled
the pumpkin house—down the bumpy field, across the ditch,
through the brook, to the top of a steep hill. Then away and
away, down, down, down, went Peterkin and his Pumper-
kin—over and over in swift, dizzy tumbles. Head up, feet
down, head down, feet up—down, down, down! Then up


16 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
another hill. Up, up, to its top, with poor Peterkin turning
an unwilling somersault at every yard!
But, oh, at the top of this hill is a precipice—and beyond
it, miles below, is the sea. Ah, what will happen now to Pe-
terkin? His pumpkin house reaches the edge of the preci-
pice, seems to linger for a short moment, then shoots far
out and down, down into the sea! It sinks beneath the waves,
then slowly bobs up again, sinks again, comes up again and
floats peacefully away with the tide.
And now, with this strange happening, begin the marvel-
lous adventures of Peterkin in his Pumperkin! Let's hope
that in the next of them the wind, that merry playfellow, will
try to be more gentle.


II
PETERKIN AFLOAT
WHEN last we heard of
Peterkin—do you re-
member?—he was afloat on
the waves in his pumpkin
house. And sailing swiftly
out to sea!
Peterkin, as soon as he had
gained his breath, climbed
out of the tangle of bed-clothes
and furniture which his sud-
den fall had thrown over and
all about him. Then he pinched himself in every limb, and
was glad to find everything whole and sound.
"Whew!" he gasped. "That was an escape! To think of
landing in the sea I"
He pulled his little ladder out from under a tumble of pots

17


18 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
and pans and bric-a-brac and blankets, and set it up against
the wall. Then up he clambered, step by step, until he had
poked his head through the hole, in the Pumperkin's top,
which served for a door and a window and ceiling, all at the
same time. It gave him just a glimpse of the open air and the
wide stretch of sea on every hand. Waves—blue, choppy,
hopping waves, as far as Peterkin could see . . . nothing
but waves!
Well, there was nothing for it but to go back into his house
and sit by the stove and begin to cry. Not that crying could
help matters any—but Peterkin was sad at all these sudden
happenings, and somehow his tears did make him feel a little
better.
"Boohoo!" wept he. "It's all the fault of the wicked wind!
One moment I was safe and dozing at home in my old pump-
kin patch; the next, here I am bobbing and lost on the face
of the ocean. The only thing I have to be thankful for is
that there's still a warm fire in my stove. Boohoo!"
And oh, the saddest part of it all is that he wept so hard,
and so many of his tears spilled down into the stove that—
what did he do but put the fire out! And soon enough his
pumpkin house grew cold and cheerless and wet with the
briny waves which came dashing in through the door-win-
dow-ceiling.


PETERKIN AFLOAT
It was a dreary party now. Peterkin felt his yellow ball
of a boat leap and fall with every wave. Everything rattled
and jingled to the see-saw motion. He grew dizzy. He
could scarcely steady himself to climb up the ladder a second
time. He could hardly see the white froth at the crests of
the waves and the deep green of their troughs. He made out
a ship passing by, miles and miles away. He screamed and
waved his coat and whistled between two fingers—did every-
thing he could think of to make the sailors see and save him.
But the ship sailed on and away, until the white specks of its
sails had faded from view.


20 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
Night came on, gray and then blue, and the waves never
tired of their ceaseless jigging. Peterkin crouched on the
floor of his Pumperkin and thought of the fate which
awaited him, and worried himself into a troubled sleep.
Many times during the long, dark hours he woke up with
a start, and, through the hole in the house-top, caught a
glimpse of the stars and a smack of the salt spray. The last
time he awoke, the stars had been swallowed up in the gray-
ing sky by a streak of glowing red, and Peterkin knew it
was the dawn.
Later, when the sunshine came straggling into his shell on
the drops of glistening spray, he climbed his ladder for an
early morning peek. White mists were rolling back across
the waves, and ... oh! what was that?
Not a hundred yards away, a thin fountain, shimmering
like silver, rose up out of the green of the sea and curved
down again upon it. Again it came—and again! Up, up—
fifty feet into the air, a gleaming fountain! And then, as it
came nearer and nearer, Peterkin caught the glimpse of a
black fin . . . and a huge jaw!
Ughl What could it be?


Ill
PETERKIN AND THE WHALE

A
WHALE! Yes,it
was a big, black,
hungry whale! And it
was drawing closer and
closer to Peterkin's pump-
*■' kin boat every time he
blinked.
Peterkin could see its forked tail now and its great, darkly
gleaming sides. Once it disappeared completely under the
foam, and when it rose again, it was so near that Peterkin
saw its ugly little eyes and a white row of jagged teeth.
Whenever it flashed its tail and fins, there was a great churn-
ing of water, and the Pumperkin would roll and rock so
fiercely that it almost dumped its poor owner into the ocean.
The whale, I'm sure, did not know what to make of it. The
SI


22 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
whale was used to boats, of course—but boats with sails and
pointed prows and sailors in the rigging. While here was
something round and fat, and such a golden yellow! No
bow it had, nor stern, nor sails, nor flags, nor rudder. "Is it
really and truly a boat?" thought the whale. Well, this
would have to be looked into very closely!
So the big whale came puffing and fountaining up to the
little Pumperkin.
"Oh, oh," it sighed, "what a pretty thing to frisk with!
Just like a play-toy! Here's where I have my day's fun!"
And with that it dived deep under the pumpkin boat and
came up on the other side. "Haw, haw," it chuckled—as
only a whale can chuckle—"what bully good sport! Just
to look at that little man who is peeking out over the side of
this yellow ball! Just to see how surprised he looks to find
me over here, where he didn't expect me to be! Haw, haw!"
And the whale gave another frolicsome wiggle to his tail—
nearly upsetting the Pumperkin again.
As for Peterkin, he was chattering with fear. He did not
know what was coming next! Perhaps the whale was about
to swallow him for breakfast. Yes, yes, it was surely up to
some mischief, was this black whale. For it had disappeared
again. Oh, what now?
True, the playful whale had taken another dive under the


PETERKIN AND THE WHALE 23
bottom of the pumpkin. But it didn't bother to come up on
the other side. It just stayed there under water, directly be-
neath the Pumperkin.

"Haw, I wonder what would happen if I should squirt
my fountain into the air?" thought the whale—and being a
whale, it had to take a long while to think it over. In the


24 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
dreadful pause, Peterkin trembled so hard that his stove and
his bed and all the furniture took to rattling, too.
Then, suddenly, the Pumperkin, Peterkin and all, shot
fifty feet high into the air! Up, up, like a bubble at the top
of a mighty geyser, it rose with the stream of the whale's foun-
tain. For the wink of an eye, it seemed to hang there—then
down it came again—down with a spatter and splash into the
trough of the sea!
Peterkin could stand it no longer. He screamed aloud—
with such a scream as the whale had never heard. It was a
scream to make every fish in the sea shudder along its fins.
"Oh, dear me I" sighed the whale, "I have made an enemy.
I've been hurting somebody's feelings, I fear. I should have
been very glad to make a breakfast of that little man and his
yellow bubble, if only he hadn't minded and had acted cheer-
fully about it. But now, since he's so cross and cranky, I
shall punish him by going away and never looking at him
again. So there!"
Which was just what the big whale did. And it never
could understand why the little man clapped his hands and
laughed with delight when he saw it dwindle away into the
waves of the distance.


26 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
Suddenly, the Pumperkin gave a lurch and a fling up-
ward. Then again and again! Oh, what was it now? An-
other whale? Peterkin rushed up his ladder, and . . . oh,
it was land!
Yes, directly ahead of him, the waves were combing into
a high, frothy surf thundering down upon a stretch of yel-
low sands. Behind that, he could see tall trees spreading
their broad palm leaves in tufts of brightest green; and a
low hill of glistening rock, where purple flowers clung and
orange-leaved vines were twining.
"Land!" cried Peterkin in rapture. "Land at last!"
Sure enough, the pumpkin boat gave a last leap in the
swirl of the surf and came down on something firm and
grating. It was safe on the sands of the shore.
In a jiffy Peterkin had hauled up his ladder and let it
down on the other side. Then down he climbed, waded
swiftly through the foamy edge of spume and dashed up on
the beach. Before he did another thing, he danced a jig—
which was Peterkin's way of showing how happy and thank-
ful he was. So you may be sure it was a very merry jig he
danced!
Then he went wisely back and pushed and pulled at his
Pumperkin until it was high and dry upon the shore. Next
he lifted his cold stove out and set it in a dark little cave of


PETERKIN'S APPETITE 27
the rocks, where the rain might never find it in stormy
weather.
"But a lot of good my stove will be to me if I cannot find
something to cook on it!" thought hungry Peterkin.

So he searched the length of yellow sand. But he found
nothing there excepting a few empty shells, pink and gray,
like the glow of a pearl. He searched the mosses under the
palm trees—but only a few nuts had fallen from the tufts
overhead, and these were so hard and so bitter that the taste


28 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
of them puckered up his face with sour twists. He climbed
the hill of glistening stone until he could see from its sum-
mit the tops of thousands and thousands more of just such
trees—like so many green and waving feather dusters—a
whole forestful, swaying to the horizon's boundary.
And there at last, on the tip top of the rocks, he seized
upon a handful of the purple flowers and another of the or-
ange-leaved vine.
"If nothing else," he planned, "I shall make a dainty salad
of flower and leaf and eat it from a plate of pearly sea-shell."
But alas! he was still to learn the evil of plucking strange
things for salads!


PETERKIN'S COOKING
y

H
IS arms full of leaves
and flowers, Peter-
kin hurried back to the lit-
tle black cave, where his
stove was in hiding.
"This cave shall be my
kitchen," he told himself.
Under its shadow I shall
cook my meals and brew
my broths, and boil and
broil and bake. . . .
Only, I quite forgot,
— I have nothing to
cook. Nothing but
flowers and leaves."
He thought for a long while, and finally he decided that,
instead of having just a cold and fragrant salad, he should
heat them all up into a smoking stew. He should have a
meal to warm the cockles of his heart.
But, when he had gathered the stalks of withered palm
29


VI
AN HOUR OF STORM

P
ETERKIN woke up
with a start. Some-
thing was roaring in his
ears. A rushing shower
of sand stung his cheeks.
The wind was shrieking
behind him, across the low hill and in among the palm trees.
At his feet, the waves of the surf were hammering down
upon the beach in great, black, frothing mountains, until
the earth itself seemed trembling. The air was cold and
swept across his face in fresh, tossing gusts.
He jumped to his feet and ran. He was afraid of some-
thing—he did not know what. He ran, stumbling, to the
crest of the hill. He could look out, now, across the sea
of gray waves on one side and the sea of green tree-tops on
3*





>;v,' YoKK.
; L115li.Ai.tY


AN HOUR OF STORM 33
the other. Above him the sky was a mass of heavy, dark-
ening clouds, a field of clashing, rumbling shadows. Every
little while it would cleave apart, and down to the sea would
spin the forks of blinding lightning in jagged craziness.
Then all heaven and earth would mutter and roar and take
to trembling.
Palm leaves, torn from the trees, went
flying off, high overhead, in somersault-
ing circles. Eddies of golden sand
swirled the length of the shore. The
wind, heavy with salt spray,
wailed louder and louder.
Then it grew darker than
midnight. Peterkin could
see nothing now. He knelt
among the snapping, creak-
ing vines and buried his face against the beaten-down
flowers.
The rain began. A few warm, pattering drops at first—
then a sudden heavy downpour, streaming and cold. The
vines were floating with drooping leaves upon a lake of rain,
and the little flowers disappeared completely. The beach
below was guttered with brown water.
Gradually then the rain began to lessen. The clouds


34 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
turned a lighter gray, until they broke apart in a long, un-
even rift and showed a gap of blue. The sunshine came
through this gap in a softly beaming shaft. High against
the dark hung a curving rainbow, like an arch of jewels.
The rainbow faded, the sunshine grew stronger and more
golden, the last wisps of cloud sank away in the blue of the
sky. The sea was calm now and blue. Nothing seemed
to be moving upon it excepting the tiny darts of gleaming
sunbeams. All was peace again. . . .
Only—something—far out. at sea—Oh! what was it?
Something round and yellow! A tiny yellow spot, sailing
out, out toward the horizon!
Peterkin looked down at the shore, his heart jumping into
his throat. Yes, alas! His Pumperkin was gone! His
pumpkin-house had been swept away by the storm—swept
out to sea!
Yes, his house, his boat, his darling Pumperkin was sail-
ing away from him—was lost and gone! Ah, what would
his fate be now?


VII
PETERKIN ESCAPES
PETERKIN was hungrier than
ever. He had lost his faithful
pumpkin, too! Oh, what could he do?
He pondered a long while. He
could try to cook some more flow-
ers and vines on his stove. But,
no ... he remembered what had
happened the last time he tried.
And, it seemed, there wasn't any-
thing else to eat on all the shore.
He must escape, then.
jTlV* — He must flee this lonely
"beach. He must wander
away to somewhere ... he
didn't know where—just somewhere else.

35


36 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
Z h
But how? For he had no Pumperkin now. His yellow
house of a boat had been swept off on the waves, out be-
yond the horizon. At last, as he stood in deep thought, a
merry idea came popping into his head. Indeed, it was
an idea so full of mad adven-
ture that, when it came to him,
he had to burst out laughing
and clapped his hands in glee.
For he remembered what a
comical thing had happened
at the stove an hour before.
So he hastened to kindle a
roaring fire in the black iron
throat of its oven. Then he
ran this way and that on the
=: - beach until, half sunk
in the sands, he found
a huge, pearly sea-
shell. He tore it out and carried it back and set it on the
stove. To make sure, he added a sprinkling of vines and
flowers and silver sea froth. Then he climbed up on the
top of his stove and sat himself down in the cup of the shell.
Ouch! it was hot!
Just as before, there was a little curl of lavender smoke,


VIII
PETERKIN IN THE VALLEY
A:
N old farmer came hob-
bling out of his house,
along the little path that ran to
the edge of the haystack. His
mouth was wide open, and
his eyes well-nigh popped
from his head at the sight of
so strange a fellow in his
haystack.
"Heigh!" cried the farmer, "what are you doing in my
stack, eh? And what's that silly, pearly thing you have at
your side? What are you doing in this peaceful valley, eh?"
"I'm flying," replied Peterkin, climbing down to the
ground. "I've flown from there to here, from the earth

39


40 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
to the stars, from the moon to the sun . . . and here I am,
hungry as hungry can be. So come along, old farmerman,
and feed me full of all the best things of your cupboard."
"Not I!" cried the toothless old farmer. "Not until you
tell me your whole story."

So they sat themselves down in the shade of a blossoming
tree, and Peterkin told the tale of his adventures; of how he
had lived in the pumpkin patch, and the wind had swept
him away, in his pumpkin house, far upon the sea; and of


PETERKIN IN THE VALLEY 41
the storms and the frisky whale, and the desert shore, and
the loss of Pumperkin, and of how he made his final escape
in the cup of the flying shell . . . and here he was!
The old farmer listened, with growing wonder. He
could only shake his head and lick his toothless gums with
his long tongue and say, "Tut, tut, what a queer affair!
Tut, tut, tut!"
Then he scratched himself very long and hard, and broke
into a red-faced chuckling. It was plain to see he had just
had a new, sly thought!
"I've never seen a shell," said he, "because I've never
seen the sea. The sea is so far away from here ... it
doesn't touch our little valley at all. The thunder of its
waves never comes to our ears, and the sting of its Spray
never flicks us. Perhaps that's why we're called the peace-
ful valley. We never mind anything excepting our own
business, nor care for anyone who dwells outside the bound-
ary of our hills. Tut, tut!" And he sighed.
"And yet, for all your happy valley," declared Peterkin,
"you seem to be sighing unhappily for something. Tell me,
what is it?"
"A new set of teeth," wept the old fellow. "That's what
I need. I lost my old set—oh, so many years ago. And
there's no place to find a new one in all the valley."



"So they sat themselves on the flying sea-shell"


IX
PETERKIN TAKES A FALL
NO sooner had
Peterkin sat-
isfied his hunger and
wiped his mouth than
the old farmer fussed
and fidgeted to start
on their journey. Pe-
terkin couldn't under-
stand why he was in
such a hurry — but
then Peterkin had a full set of teeth, while the farmer had
none. And it was in search of a new set that they were
going.
So they sat themselves on the flying sea-shell and were off
and away.
But it was strange what a creaking and groaning came
from the faithful shell. True, it went up, up, as high as
ever before; but it went so slowly and by such rickety

43


44 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
jumps and bounds, as if its wings were lamed. The old
farmer was almost jounced completely off his seat ten times.
His long gray beard was tousling over his eyes in the helter-
skelter rush of the wind. He well-nigh died of fright.
Peterkin, too, was afraid. Not that he wasn't accus-
tomed, by now, to this skimming through the clouds. But
something was wrong . . . yes, something was certainly
wrong. His sea-shell had never acted this way before. Oh,
listen! It was groaning and grunting now, louder than
ever. Peterkin thought he could even hear a sharp crack-
ing of its pearly cup. Suppose that it should break!
He looked down, sick at heart! Through the cloud rifts
he could see that they were passing over a great, white line
of mountain tops. Like glistening needles they seemed, as
he gazed down upon them. The sunlight glanced daz-
zlingly along their snowy sides. Peterkin shuddered and
turned his eyes away.
"Oh, oh, look again!" chattered the toothless old farmer.
"We are past the mountains now. We are well above a
brand-new valley, where a rushing river tumbles and froths,
and oh, look . . . over there are the spires and roofs of a
city. Gray and silver they are, all gleaming and tall. And
we are flying straight toward them. Hurrah, now I shall
get me a new set of teeth!"


PETERKIN TAKES A FALL 45
But long ere they reached the city, the sea-shell began
to crack and split, and to wabble from side to side. Once
it dipped so far that both of its passengers were almost
tossed off into the air. The farmer clung fast to Peterkin
and Peterkin to the shell—and both of them gasped in
horror.

"Oh, we are too heavy a load," sobbed Peterkin. "I
should never have taken you along with me."
"It's not my fault!" stormed the old fellow. "It's you
who are so heavy. You ate and ate until you weigh more
than four fat men should weigh. 'Twas your appetite that


46 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
will kill us both"—and he sucked his toothless gums in
rage.
"Ungrateful man!" cried Peterkin. "I am risking my
life to make you happy."
"Yes," retorted the other, "and I am losing mine because
you were so greedy!"
Therewith they fell to in wrath and cuffed each other and
tore and tussled, swaying to this side and that and jouncing
up and down in mighty thwacks.
"Out with you—out of the shell!" screamed the old
farmer. And with that he seized poor Peterkin under the
arms, and—for all he was so heavy—hurled him out into
the air and down, down, down . . .
The sea-shell, lightened of the heavier part of its load,
shot up higher into the air. Then suddenly, with a noise
like the crack o' doom, it burst into many pearly pieces.
The farmer shot down, too, as if from a gun. And down he
came close behind Peterkin . . . and landed, with a fearful
splash, into a fountain in the center of the market place.
As for Peterkin himself, you never could guess where
he landed.


PETERKIN IN THE PALACE
X
THROUGH an open sky-
light of the gilded dome of
palace. That's where Peterkin
landed. Through the open
skylight, upon a springy,
cushiony sofa. Up he
bounced again, almost to
the ceiling—then down to
the marble floor in a huddle. He lay there stunned and silent
for a little while, aching in every limb.
A little lady stood over him when he opened his eyes.
She was peering down at him with a white and frightened
face—and Peterkin, for all his dizziness, thought he had
never seen so beautiful a maiden in the world. For her
startled eyes were blue—as blue as the sky had been, above

47


48 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
the clouds—and her curls were a golden shawl upon her
shoulders. Under the white of her lace and cambric gown,
her little bare feet came peeping.
Peterkin leaped to his feet, as best he could—for he was
sore and stiff. He made a handsome bow and smiled his
prettiest smile, with his hand over his heart, as if he were
the gallant master of a dancing school. But this only made
the little lady's eyes open the wider with surprise.
"And who are you? And where do you come from?
And what do you want in the bed-chamber of her Royal
Highness, the Princess Clematis of the Four Kingdoms?"
Peterkin was horrified. "Gracious me!" he stammered.
"Where is her Royal Highness Whatever-you-called-her? I
must apologize to her for bursting into her father's palace
so suddenly. Indeed, had I been able to, I should have


PETERKIN IN THE PALACE 49
walked in very humbly by way of the kitchen door or
through the garden gate. But, don't you see, I came so fast
that I didn't have time to choose. So lead me to the princess
and let me beg her pardon."
The little lady rubbed one set of pink toes over the other
in a bashful fashion. Her laugh was as light as the rustle of
green vines in the spring.
"You are pardoned, merry stranger," she said. "It is I, the
Princess Clematis, who bid you welcome to the palace of
the Four Kingdoms." Then she held out her hand.
Poor Peterkin! His face grew red with flushes. He"
sank to his knee—in spite of the big bruise on it—and
planted a most courteous kiss upon her rosy finger tips.
And, if the truth be told, the princess smiled a charming
"how-do-you-do," and found it very easy to forgive him.
But just at that moment, there came a loud rapping at the
door and a hubbub of angry voices and a clanking of swords
and spears against the walls.
"Ho, hola!" thundered someone without. "Open the
door and let me in! I shall find whoever dares to pop into
my royal daughter's chamber, by way of the gilded dome.
Ho, hola!"
At this, the little princess ran to fling open the door.
And there, with a torch in his hand and a host of armed


50 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
sentries behind him, stood His Majesty the King. Aye, no
less a person than the monarch of the Four Kingdoms him-
self. Peterkin knew him at once by the jeweled crown
which he wore atop his night-cap.
But before he could say a word, the little princess tripped
to her father's side and commenced a sly tickling at his
nightie, just where his royal ribs ought to be. And under
his crown, the King was just a jolly old man after all. He
tried very hard to purse his lips and frown—but under such
gentle tickling, there was nothing for it but to burst into a
great roaring of laughter. He laughed, laughed—until his
eyes were wet and his sides were aching. All of which put
him in a better mood and made him look more kindly upon
his strange visitor. He clapped the frightened Peterkin
upon the back and called him a merry dog, and ended by
marching off with him, arm in arm, to the palace's spare
bed-room to give him royal shelter for the night.
Thus it was that the princess, with a little wise tickling,
saved a stranger's life and brought much joy to the Four
Kingdoms. But you shall have all that explained another
time.


XI
PETERKIN TELLS HIS TALE
SO Peterkin went to bed
in fine fashion. His
couch was of cushioned vel-
vet and his pillows of down
and silk. Over his head
were hangings of lustrous
satin, with ostrich plumes
and gilded crowns by way
of ornament. And when he
woke in the morning, several slaves were kneeling at the
bedside, ready to bathe him and dress him and to do his
slightest bidding.
"Ahem!" thought Peterkin. "I must admit that, after
all, this is a better sort of thing than living in a pumpkin."
Just as soon as he was dressed in a princely robe of pur-
ple linen with gold clasps and jeweled collar, his slaves led


52 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
Peterkin along a silvered hallway, where marble pillars
gleamed with wreaths of precious stones, to a hall of gold.
Here were a golden table and a host of golden chairs—

and behind each chair stood, waiting in respect, some mem-
ber of the royal court in brilliant costume. No sooner had
Peterkin stepped over the marble threshold than they set
up a loud, wild cheering and waved their silken napkins to
bid him welcome.


54 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
eagerly at the rose of her cheeks and the bow of her little red
lips. Oh, no! the princess saw nothing—but she was blush-
ing, just the same.
"Hold!" said the King at length as he juggled a biscuit
thoughtfully upon the end of his diamond-studded scepter.
"We shall eat no morsel or a mouthful until we have heard
your story, good stranger. So tell us it now. If it pleases
us, you shall dwell in our midst, in all the pomp and com-
fort you have had this morning—and whatever you ask, for
your happiness shall be ours." His Majesty shot a know-
ing smile at his lovely daughter. "But if your tale fails to
please us, if it tells of cowardice instead of bravery, of
weakness instead of strength—why, then, good stranger,
you shall be driven out of our palace, out of the Four King-
doms, with a tattered coat and an empty stomach—an exile
in disgrace. So, hem your throat and purse yeur lips and
make a good beginning of your tale."


XII
PETERKIN'S FATE
I
T was an hour—a full and
hungry hour—before Pe-
terkin had told his tale. For
he told to the King and his
courtiers all of the
strange happenings
which had brought
him floating from the
pumpkin patch and
flying in through the
bed-room window.
And, all the while he
spoke, he could see
the shadows of wrath
grow darker on the
brow of His Majesty
and that the little princess's red mouth drooped sorrowfully.
Peterkin faltered. He wondered what was wrong with his
ss


56 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
tale. How could it offend His Majesty? He went on slowly,
until he came to the fearful experience he had had, in his
flying shell, with the toothless old farmer.
The King could stand it no longer. He banged his
scepter down so hard as to crack every butter-plate on the
table. Up to his feet he sprang, his eyes flashing lightning.
"Yes," he rumbled, "yes, yes, yes! I might have guessed
it! It was the arch enemy of our Four Kingdoms that you
brought into our midst. Yes, yes, the Farmer Without
Teeth I It is told in all our histories that he will work us
harm. Every witch in the land has warned me to beware
of him! And of you, too, you bothersome wayfarer! All
the ancient history books have prophesied your coming.
All of them described exactly how you would fly into my
palace by way of the roof. This is just what they say:
"'Beware the daring little fellow
Who lives within a house of yellow;
He sails the sky in a skiff of pearl—
Through your window he will whirl.
He will bring what harm can do:
He will make you endless rue.'"
JVhen they heard this fateful rhyme, all of the courtiers
shuddered with terror. A little moan escaped from the lips
of the princess. As for Peterkin, his tongue clung to the
roof of his mouth.


PETERKIN'S FATE 57
"Take him away!" ordered the King. "Away to the
dungeon with him! And send out my royal army in search
of the toothless farmer, that arch enemy of the Four King-
doms. Away, to the deep, black dungeon!"
At once Peterkin was smothered in a great crowd of stal-
wart guards who bound him in heavy chains, who lifted him
away and out of the banquet hall. The last thing he heard
was the scream of the little princess.
Down, down, into the darkness of narrow cellars; down
steep stairs of crumbling stone, where the air was damp and
smelling of old mosses; down, still further down, they car-
ried him. At last they came to a little iron door in a wall
of black rock. There was a creaking of a rusty iron key
in its lock, and a swinging of the little door on its stiff
hinges.
"In with him!" cried the guards—and they tossed poor
Peterkin, chains and all, into the furthermost corner of the
cell. Then back went the door on its hinges, and creak,
went the key in its lock. There was a faint sound of voices
and footsteps dying in the distance . . . and Peterkin was
alone!
A prisoner! Deep in the dark of the dungeon, he lay
with his head in his hands and sobbed to think of what a
fate had come to him. What a fine ending for his story!


58 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
But then he remembered how the Princess Clem had
screamed when he was snatched away—and he looked up
and smiled. There was a tiny, barred window to his cell;
and the sunlight came slanting through it in a narrow shaft,
to make a little pool of brightness on the floor.
For the longest while did Peterkin lie looking at it; and
dreamed, as all true lovers do, of what a pretty sight the
princess was in her blue, lilied gown, and ribbons in her
braid!

r


60 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
way and stood there shivering and wringing his hands for
many minutes. Then he wiped the water from his eyes and
looked about him.
What had become of Peterkin he did not know—nor did
he care. For Peterkin would be of no more use to him,
now that he was in the King's city. He smiled a toothless
smile to think of how completely he had fooled that little
wayfarer. Never a hint had he given Peterkin of the
wicked harm he meant to do to the Four Kingdoms—and
of the sweet revenge that he would take! Hee, hee! and he
gnashed his gums in hate.
He glanced over at the gilded dome of the palace.
Strange lights were passing back and forth behind the dark-
ened windows. Something had happened . . . the palace
was astir! Ha, perhaps they had learned that he was come
into their city. Perhaps they were setting out at once to find
him and to pounce upon him. He had better flee some-
where and hide!
He started to step out into the street. Pit-a-pat, came
someone's footsteps. A tall soldier, hurrying home to bed,
clanked noisily 'round the corner. The old man fled back
into the hallway, until his back hit against a door. The
soldier went by, darting a suspicious glance into the shadow.
The farmer crouched back, back, until . . .


THE TOOTHLESS ENEMY 61
The door flew wide! He had broken it open!
The soldier, at the noise, stopped and looked about him
L

sharply, then retraced his steps. There was nothing for it!


THE TOOTHLESS ENEMY 63
soldiers marching back and forth there, so tiny in size, and
heard their faint shouts as they halted and searched each
passerby.
So they were hunting for him, eh? Well, let them hunt!
He would rest here against the chimney pots until the sun
had set and the wisp of a new moon had risen . . . and
then! Ah, then for mischief!


66 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
pushed against the bars. He was in the hall now—and free!
Neither he nor the little princess said a word for a long

moment. Then she took his hand and placed into it a little
vial of purple liquid.
"Guard this well," she warned him. "It is the Water of


PETERKIN'S RESCUE 67
Bounceability. Whenever you wish to leap over great
heights, you have only to sip a little of it and then to bounce
high up and away. And, alas, you have many heights to
leap ere you are back in my royal father's favor. He is so
angry at you for having brought his arch-enemy into the
city that he has ordered your death at midnight. The hang-
man is already plaiting his rope and the carpenters ham-
mering at a high scaffold. So follow me quickly to the
city's edge, where none will find you."
Peterkin was close at her heels, all the dark way.
Through pitchy tunnels she led him, far under the cellars
of the city; through narrow cave-like passages, heavy with
reeking gases, until at last they came up into an open space,
where the woods came down from the slopes of black hills
to meet the streets and houses. It was the furthermost edge
of the city.
"I must leave you here," sighed the princess. "I must
return and take the spanking which awaits me. But as for
you, brave Peterkin, you have your choice: either you may
escape safely into exile and never return to see me again—
or else you may perform four mighty deeds. Aye, deeds so
great that even the King, my father, cannot do them. But if
you succeed in them, you may return here, so high in the
King's favor that he will grant your dearest wish. Tell me,


68 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
stranger, which will you choose?" Ah, little princess—I
wonder if she blushed when she said it!
But Peterkin never wavered. "Need you ask, my Prin-
cess Clem?" he whispered.
"Then you must know," she continued, "that there is a mis-
ery in each of the Four Kingdoms o'er which my father
rules. Misery, sorrow and tears. Go, now, to each of these
Four Kingdoms and make its people happy. Give joy
instead of sorrow and smiles instead of tears. More than
this I cannot tell you, but go! You shall see strange things
and do brave deeds, and I shall be sitting at my palace
window, under the gilded dome, awaiting your return"
Then, all in a twinkling, the little princess had fled back
into the tunnel and was gone. Peterkin was alone.


,'•'(; WKKARY





XV
THE WATER OF BOUNCEABILITY

P1
ETERKIN turned |iis
face at once towards
the hazy line of hills which
loomed through the dark-
ness. He must escape over
their crests while night was
still here. He must take a sip—as
the Princess Clem had taught him
—of that purple liquid from the
little vial in his hand.
Carefully he uncorked the bottle
—and sniffed. What a
V""" sweet, fragrant odor! He
^ touched his tongue to the
rim. It was like melted candy—yet the taste of it stung
like fire. His limbs seemed to twitch and throb at the touch.
69


THE WATER OF BOUNCEABILITY 71
But early the next day, before the sun was up, Peterkin
had started on his way. A difficult journey it was, too,

along the deserted road. There were puddles to wade and
vines to skip and rocky barriers to climb. There were ruts


72 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
where the leaves of the past autumn had buried themselves
in a soggy mass or where the summer dust had sifted into
foolish heaps. There were trunks of fallen trees across the
road, and lizards, frogs and hedge-hogs crawled or hopped
or ran beside them. All was desolate and wild. It was a
valley of mysterious decay.
Then, at last, where the road slanted down to meet an-
other long stretch of brown heathered fields, Peterkin spied
a house. A huge, tall house, too, which must have been a
splendid mansion once upon a time. But now it was
shabby and needed paint. The bricks of its walls were los-
ing their mortar; the slates of the roof were falling to the
ground; none of the windows had curtains and few of them
glass. There was moss upon the steps and in the eaves.
The chimney pots were crumbled, and the lawn was high
with choking weeds.
Peterkin wondered, Could anyone live here?
As if in answer to his question, a little boy came around
the corner of the house. He came slowly, though he never
stopped or hesitated a moment when he was within sight of
Peterkin. He stumbled unsteadily through the weeds, with
his hands held out before him. His face was handsome,
truly—but his hair was in a fearful tousle over his eyes and
his clothes were all in rags.


XVI
THE VALE OF THE BLIND
THE little boy led Peter-
kin into the house to
meet his father and mother.
But they, like the boy, were in
rags and tatters—and blind!
"You can seef" asked the fa-
ther in wonder, when Peterkin
had explained whence
^ he came. "What does
it mean to seef Isn't
r~"~all the world a thing of
^Mf-s-^^^^^^JZ blackness? Is there
anything more to it than the dark nothing of the blind?"
"Oh, yes, indeed!" cried Peterkin, his own eyes filling

74


THE VALE OF THE BLIND 75
with tears of pity. "There's the sunshine and the trees, and
all the bright flowers of the garden. There are birds of
bright plumage, and moonbeams on the surface of the wa-
ter, and the smiles on people's faces. Oh, the world is so
full of things to see. ... I could not tell you all of them."
The mother nodded. "Yes, that is just the way my fa-
ther's father used to speak," she said slowly. "It was in his
youth that this became the Vale of the Blind. Before that,
it was known in all the Four Kingdoms as the Vale of
Bright Eyes. But now "Her voice sank away and
she sighed.
"Tell me the story," begged Peterkin. "Tell me how this
great misfortune came upon your grandfathers."
It was the father who answered him. "Our valley," he
began, "was the happiest-hearted of all hereabouts fifty
years ago. These things you speak of—these colors and sun-
shine which we do not know—were here in smiling plenty.
The fields were neat and trim with golden grain. The pas-
tures were like new-swept velvet, clean and green. The
roads were smooth and bright. The houses were all hand-
some, with pretty lawns and gardens. Men wore fine
clothes and took pride in themselves and in one another.
"But one day, there came into our Valley of Bright Eyes
a haggard stranger. He was the saddest being that e'er


76 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
trudged down over the boundary hills, my grandfather used
to tell me. He wept, the whole day long, because he had
no teeth. Think of it! he could not be happy for want of
a set of teeth!
"Now, all their happiness had made my grandparents
and their neighbors a kind, soft-hearted lot. No sooner did
they see this man—who said he was a farmer—than they
took pity on him. They fed him with porridge and honey
—for they knew he could not eat what must be chewed—
and they gave him a bed of fragrant blossoms to lie on when
the night came.
"But he would not sleep, at once. He got up every little
while to ask them: 'And are you sure this Valley of Bright
Eyes is one of the Four Kingdoms, hey? Are you sure
that the King of the Four Kingdoms is its ruler, hey?'
"Every time they told him 'Yes' he would chuckle and
mumble strange words through his toothless gums. In
the middle of the night, he arose and looked out across the
moonlit fields, where the grain was rich, and down the
gleaming road, where the handsome houses stood in sleep-
ing order. He laughed aloud, this time, the story goes.
Then he strode out into the road and ran and ran—faster
than ever a man had run before.
"T seek a set of teeth!' he screamed as he ran. Up flew
k


THE VALE OF THE BLIND 77
the windows, all the good folk roused from bed, rushing to
see who could possibly be making such a racket. All along
his way the people stared at him. They saw him take a

torch from out of his pocket. They watched him set it
aflame. They saw him touch it, hot and sputtering, to the
tops of the fields of grain, to the hedges and trees. . . . He


XVII
PETERKIN
PROMISES
"A ND so our valley has
gone to rack and
ruin," concluded the blind
man.
Peterkin was silent for
some minutes after he had finished. Then he shook his head
wisely, sadly.
"Can you wait four days until I rescue you?" he asked.
"Four days?" The man, his wife and little son all burst
into a bitter laughter. "We have waited for half a century
already. We can wait a century, if only in the end we gain
our eyes again, and win revenge upon our toothless enemy.
Four days, ho, ho!"
79 . .


80 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
"You shall have both your eyes and your revenge," prom-
ised the stranger. "It was only three days ago that I sped
through the air in the cup of a sea-shell, in company with
this toothless farmer. Oh, if I had only known, then!"
"What? In his company? Are you a friend of his?"
The blind family rushed in about him, as if to capture him
and flay him.
"No, no," smiled Peterkin. "Not a friend at all. He
tried to throw me hundreds of feet down to the ground.
But he disappeared—and I do not know where he is. But
I shall search the whole world over till I find him. And
then—woe to him!"
So saying, he put his hand on the blind man's shoulder
and bade them all good-by. They gave him a few wild
herbs to put into his blouse for luncheon—it was all they
had for food. And then he went on his way, singing all
sorts of promises to them as he went on down the hill.
As he walked along the shabby road, he came to other
houses, broken down and unpainted, all tangled in high
weeds and matted vines. Each house was poorer than the
last; each one more deserted than the other. And from each
of them trooped little groups of blind folk, groping in dark-
ness, to question him and to complain to him of their hard
fate. All along his way he met the sight of their tears and


PETERKIN PROMISES 81
heard the sound of their weeping. But wherever he went,
Peterkin gave the same promise of happiness within four
days and left a smile of hope behind him.

At length he came to the last house of the valley. It was
high on the slope of one of the boundary mountains, almost
at the edge of the gleaming white glacier of the summit. It
was fast in the shadow of a huge, bluish ice cave, and long
icicles dripped from its eaves and glittered like jewels in
the sunshine.


82 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
"And are you, too, blind?" he asked of the man who lived
in this high house.
"Yes," replied the old man, sorrowfully. "I am no better
than all the others in this valley, no matter how high I live
above them. I, like them, am awaiting the rescuer who shall
return my sight and bring revenge upon our toothless
enemy."
"That is just what you shall have," promised Peterkin, "if
only you tell me what is in the next valley, on the other side
of the white mountains; and how I may reach there the
best."
"Alas," sighed the old fellow, "those are two riddles
which I cannot answer. I only know that in that valley
beyond the ridge of the boundary, there is just as much sor-
row as there is here. There is something wrong there—
though I have never known what it is—and the great barrier
of glacier ice has hedged us from each other. So come and
rest here for to-day, and to-morrow, bright and early, you
may come upon some scheme to cross into that unknown
valley over the mountains."
So Peterkin took shelter there, in the green shadows of the
ice cave, and slept a troubled sleep until the morning.



"A young peasant girl came toward him'


XVIII
THE VALLEY OF SILENCE
AS soon as dawn was
over the glacier the
next day, Peterkin was on
his feet and sipping a good
gulp from his flask of the
Water of Bounceability.
You see, he dreamed about
this magic gift of the prin-
cess's as he lay a-sleeping...
and really, what an
easy thing it was to
cross the boundary
mountains, now!
Just one little swallow—and then a hop, skip and jump!
Up, up and over! Over the tree-tops, over the glacier

83


84 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
itself . . . then down into the valley on the other side.
As he floated to the earth there, a strange hush seemed
to fall on him. It was the quiet sense of absolute stillness.
He walked forward a little way, then stopped in bewilder-
ment. Not a sound—not a whisper of anything. He
could not hear even the crunch of his feet upon the green-
sward. He called out, but somehow his voice sank away
into nothing. The trees rustled silently; a great, frothing
brook went tumbling down through a bit of woods without
a murmur. All was quiet.
A young peasant girl came toward him, leading a horse
across the fields—but Peterkin could hear neither the patter
of her feet nor the hoof-beats of the horse.
"What ho!" cried he, "I must have gone suddenly deaf!
I can't even hear myself speaking. Here, girl, tell me
what's wrong with my ears?"
The peasant maid halted her horse; she looked at Peter-
kin with startled wonder. Her gaze settled on his moving
mouth—and her eyes grew larger and larger with surprise.
Suddenly she snatched a little twig from the branch of a
nearby tree, stripped it and commenced to trace queer letters
with it in the dust of the road.
"Phew!" thought Peterkin. "She must be deaf herself.
It's a good thing I went to school and learned to read and


XIX
EARS TOO SHARP
THERE, in the silent
village, they found
a group of old men nodding
on a bench in the warm sun-
light. Across the brook a big mill wheel was turning; but
it made no roar or clatter. A cart went by, but there was no
rumble to its wheels. Down the street a blacksmith was
hammering at his ruddy forge; but there was no clang or
clatter to keep noisy company to the flying sparks. All was
silence—dreary, unbroken silence.
The old men stirred when Peterkin approached. They
knew him for a stranger. They rose and made a place for
him beside them on the bench. Then one of them took a
piece of white chalk from his vest pocket, turned to the

87


EARS TOO SHARP
89
of the water. He knelt, bent his face close to the gurgling
eddies—and began to drink!
"We were all in bed by now and most of us asleep. It
1 I

was so easy to fall asleep in those good days, with the mur-
mur of the softly playing brooklets in our ears—not at all
like to-day, when night is a black stretch of silent terror.
"Suddenly, in every household, someone sat up straight


THE VALLEY OF DANCING LEGS 93
A group of fat and puffing people jigged into view.
Hop, hop—what could be the trouble with them? Why,
they were dancing! Hop, hop—skippetty hop, with never
a stop—puffing, panting, groaning with weariness, they
danced a crazy path toward Peterkin.
"Hey, hey, stop!" cried he.
"We can't stop," grunted the chief of them. "If you want
to talk to us, you'll have to dance along."
Then, before he could help himself, Peterkin had a
dancing man, locked arms, on either side of him—and
he was stamping, running, tripping, jigging along with
them.
"Oh, heigh, stop! Let go of me—stop, stop!" he com-
manded, out of breath and red in the face.
"No, that's just what we can't do!" sighed the fat old
chief. "We must dance on and on and on. Our legs are shot
with pain, our lungs are like hot blasts, our feet are blistered
and sore—but we cannot stop!"
Peterkin stumbled and fell flat. His two guides yanked
him to his feet—then on and on in a breathless dance.
"Once," went on the hoarse and puffing chief, "we were
the happiest of all the Four Kingdoms. We were just
plain, sensible, walk-along folk. We loved to rest and doze
in the heat of the noon. We loved to lie about and let our


THE VALLEY OF DANCING LEGS 95
the shade of the trees and looked out across our fields and
sucked his pipe through his toothless gums.
"'Ah, this is rare comfort!' he said in a cheery voice.
'You seem to be a happy valleyful here.'
"'Oh, aye,' I answered him, 'we love to take our ease.'
"'Do you love that better than all else?' he asked me
slowly.
"I stretched my arms in sleepy comfort and nodded back
with a smile. He looked at me slyly—ah, if I had only
known what villainy was behind that twinkle in his eye!
He rose slowly to his feet.
"'I shall show you all a pretty dance,' he said, baring his
gums. 'Just lie there in comfort—it will amuse you—yes,
and give me great pleasure, too!'
"Then slowly, gently, he began to shuffle his feet. You
would never have thought that he could be so nimble. In
and out and round-about he pranced with fancy steps. It
was so pleasant to be lying there in the cool shade and
watching. . . . Then it seemed as if he were inviting us to
join him. His brawny hands were beckoning; his smile
said plainly: 'Up, up—come along up and dance at my
side.'
"First one and then the other of us struggled to his feet,
and fell into a merry, jigging step. We laughed at the fun


96 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
of it—not a laggard in the valley but was dancing with him.
"We grew breathless and tired. We wanted to stop.
But we couldn't! When the toothless man saw this, he
burst into a cruel roar of laughter:
"'You would take your ease, eh?' he mocked. 'You
loved more than all else to loll in the shade, eh? Well,
henceforth you shall jig and dance from noon till night and
night till noon in a never-ending wandering. Your ease is
gone—and so's your happiness! From now on, until I
come again to free you, you shall be known as the Valley
of Dancing Legs. Hee heel' and he was gone."


XXI
THE VALLEY OF UP-IN-THE-AIR
THE chief of the danc-
ing crew had scarcely
finished his bitter story when
Peterkin swore to have re-
venge on the toothless enemy
—and to rescue these poor,
tired folk in the bargain.
Then he broke from their
midst, took a long draught
from his magic bottle, and
bounced clear over into the
next valley.
And the odd part of it was
that he never touched ground
there at all. Instead, he was
caught in a swirl of strong and steady breezes which kept
him aloft, floating, swimming through the air, high above
the ground.
"Well," thought Peterkin, amazed, "I wonder if this is
the fate of everyone in this valley?"

97


ioo THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
flying over our heads this wicked, toothless farmer—any-
how, he told us he was a farmer. He came down into our
midst upon a grassy hill.
"'Well, what do you love more than all else in this val-
ley?' he asked us.
"'Ho, that's an easy question!' we told him. 'We love to
keep our feet upon the ground, as all good, sensible people
should.'
"He thought for a sly moment. 'But wouldn't you love
to fly?' he asked us. 'Come, hop up into the air with me—
up, up, as lightly as the birds on wing. Come, just try it—
it's such a delightful sport, this flying!'
"Then, as if in obedience to his summons, a great breeze
sprang up from out of nowhere and swept us all off our feet
and up, up—up to where he was floating. And truly, for
a few moments, it was delightful sport. But when we
wanted to return to earth again—why, the farmer was gone
—and there was no returning! We had been tricked into
the air and there we must remain, floating, drifting, useless,
helpless—we and our families and all our neighbors, to-
gether with our household, tables, beds and rags and tags,
until this toothless fellow comes again to free us from his
cruel magic."


XXII
PETERKIN IN A MUDDLE

A
ND so it is the toothless farmer
who has caused all this misery in
each of the four valleys," mused Peter-
kin, as he floated along at the side of
Pater Familias. "Well,
here's my solemn oath on it:
I shall have revenge on him,
and force him to substitute
joy for sorrow in each of
these stricken kingdoms."
Then he bade farewell to
the People-Up-in-the-Air and floated away on the breath of
the air—away to the boundaries of their land.
But it was not high mountains and snowy cliffs which
hemmed this valley from its neighbors. Instead, the land
IOI


102 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
below grew flatter and more yellow. Peterkin passed over
wide, misty stretches of marsh and bogs; in the distance he
could hear the faint roar of waves. Yes, he was coming
to the sea. He was drifting fast toward that golden line of
sands where the ocean met the land in a jagged, wavering
line of frothy white.
He must swoop down to earth now—else he might be
carried out into midwater. He must set foot upon the
ground! But alas! try as he
would, he was still in the
Land of Up-in-the-Air —
and up in the air he must
stay!
Then he thought of his
precious bottle of the
Water of Bounceabil-
ity. Perhaps, if he
'^f^4i~r <"^f ~— took a sip, he might be
- ^. able to break the spell
and to leap to the marshes below. He would try it.
He took out the bottle and uncorked it. He lifted it to
his lips and let half of what remained in it gurgle down his
throat. Then down he dived, head first. Down, down—
yes, the spell was broken! Down to earth, just where the

Ifh


THE LOST PUMPERKIN 105
Peterkin ran to it. Yes, there could be no doubt—it was
his beloved Pumperkin, his old home—his boat-house of a
pumpkin which had been torn away from him by the tem-
pest wind. . . . He scaled up the side and peeked in
through the ceiling window. Yes, all was as he had left it.
There was his tumbled bed in the corner, there were the
chairs, legs up. And there, sure enough, was his ladder,
with its top peeping up above the edge of the roof. All that
was missing was the cook-stove.
Peterkin climbed over the edge and down the ladder.
He was safe now. He was hopeful and happy. He had
only to push and shove a little bit and—away, away he went,
bound for the home of his Princess Clem!
How good it seemed to be in his pumpkin house again!
He wondered how many seas it had passed over, whither
it had wandered, where it would lead him now. For, of
course, there was no such a thing as steering these roly-poly
pumpkins: wherever it floated, Peterkin must float along!
Away it sailed, over the waves, in the clutch of the lazy
tide. Away, until the marshes and the golden strand were
lost in a hazy mist. Up one wave and down the next, with
the spray dashing in through the ceiling window. How
like the first few days it all was—those first few days of the
marvellous adventures. Peterkin smiled to think of them,


THE LOST PUMPERKIN 107
Why, a city, of course! The very city for which our
Peterkin so dearly yearned. The city of the golden palace
—and of the Princess Clem!
And the city where he would find the toothless farmer!
Perhaps Peterkin guessed that much . . . for his cheeks
grew a little white as he watched the distant spires and
golden dome, all agleam in the sunset.


XXIV
OUT OF HIDING

NOW we must return
to the toothless old
villain. Do you remember,
we left him dozing snugly
in his hiding place atop the
roof of a deserted house?
He was waiting for the gray dusk, when he might steal out
upon his wicked business. Perhaps it was the King himself
he wished to harm, this visit—but I can't be positive of that.
Anyhow, when night had come and the streets were bare
again of people and little dim lanterns were swinging in the
shadows of the balconies, the old wizard crept down the
stairs again, into the black vestibule. Then out he darted
—out into the street.
The windows in the palace, across the narrow street, were
gleaming with bright cheer and threw big yellow squares

108





run vr.w tork
PTJB-LIC LIP.ltARY


THE LOST PUMPERKIN 109
of light across the cobbled gutters. The old villain, when
he stood a-tiptoe, could see the gilded walls and the jeweled
ceilings. He caught just a glimpse of a corner of the
throne itself, all in a glory of precious stones and carvings.
And once he thought he could make out the shadow of a
man all decked in royal robes—and a crown on his head.
The wizard trembled and growled at this sight of his an-
cient enemy. He raised his crooked finger threateningly
in the dark and snarled a terrible oath. Then he sped on,
up one gloomy, lonely alley and down the other, across wide
boulevards and empty squares, dodging into the shadows at
every sudden creak of a shutter or rustle of a tree. Once a
company of soldiers marched past him—left, right, left,
right, with weary, lagging steps. He had just time to slink
out of their way and flee into a little court-yard, darker than
the cloudy sky—blacker than black itself. He could see
nothing here. He groped, he stumbled, he felt his way
warily. Just ahead of him he heard a strange gurgling of
water, low and soft, as if from a distance. He stopped short,
bewildered.
Then it seemed as if the tramp of those soldiers from
whom he was fleeing was growing louder—that they were
coming nearer and nearer. Had they discovered his where-
abouts? Were they chasing him now?


no THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
He could not keep his toothless gums from chattering.
In fear he rushed forward in the darkness. A couple of

wild steps and—down he went! Down through a great


A PRECIOUS PRISONER 113
Over the roofs he could make out the form of the huge
dome of the palace—and he knew that there was the room
of his princess. Aye, there was Princess Clem!
Could she be asleep? The hour was so late . . . per-
haps her nurse had tucked her, long ago, into her warm and
comfy bed. But, no—oh, no! For, suddenly, he caught
the gleam of a little light from the window just below the
dome. Yes, he was sure it was from the princess's window.
She must be yet awake. She must still be watching—be
waiting—for his return, as she promised she would do, and
his heart gave a great throb for joy.
His Pumperkin drifted slowly in toward the shore. He
heard a strange roaring, angry and deep. It was the rush
of water he knew; perhaps some sewer, speeding its under-
ground course and emptying itself, at the last, into the
sea.
In the midst of the rumble of water, he thought he heard
a short splash; something dark went down in the white froth
of the water, then rose to the surface near his boat—then
sank and rose again not an arm's length away. Peterkin
peered over the edge to see what it was. He gasped and
almost shrieked; it was a man! He reached down, made
a wild grab at the floating jacket—pulled, tugged, hoisted—
ouf! and he had the drowning one inside his Pumperkin.


XXVI
THE VILLAIN'S STORY

ONCE," began the old
villain, "I was as
young and as happy-hearted
as you are, stranger. For
I was handsome, rich and
powerful. I was noble—
aye, more than noble—for
I was a prince of the
court of the Four
Kingdoms. I was the
son of the King's old-
er brother—and some
said that I, not he, should be the king upon the jeweled
throne.
"This thought was like a flame to me. It burned and flared
within my mind in jealous heat; I came to wish for my royal
116


THE VILLAIN'S STORY 117
cousin's death, so that I might succeed him to the honor of all
honors of the kingdoms. I took a secret oath that ere I grew
much older, I should murder him. Hee, hee, that's the ex-
traordinary sort of a villain I was!
"But I had one thing of which I was more proud than all
the world: my set of teeth! A set of white, sharp, glisten-
ing teeth! They were more splendid than the teeth of any
other nobleman at court. They were finer even than the
King's own teeth. They were my constant pride, my dear-
est joy! With them I could eat all the rarest things of the
kitchen. I could chew tin pans and pots; I could crumple
pewter kettles; I could crunch thick venison steaks and the
horns of a full grown cow. My teeth were my greatest
power—and my joy!
"But all the while my heart was black against my royal
cousin. I coveted his crown, I longed for his scepter. My
jealousy grew until I could hide it no longer. I made a
journey into a far distant forest, where a famous witch lived
in her cave. And there I dwelt for many months, learning
all her wicked magic. She taught me how to curse whole
valleys of people—how to bring sorrow to hundreds. But
alas! she could not teach me how to kill my royal cousin.
"'When shall I be King?' I asked her each morning.
"And every eve, after a day of pondering over her cal-


n8 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
dron, she would answer: 'When you have learned to kill
man with the joy of your life.'

"Then at last I understood. What could possibly be the
joy of my life excepting these, my beautiful teeth? I must
return and bite my royal cousin to death!





122 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
seemed as if she were standing behind them and peeking out
upon the city's roofs, as far as the harbor beyond.
Aye—and so she was! With her fair curls tumbling to
the clean, sweet morning breeze and her little white nightie
fluttering softly, she strained her eyes to watch the distant
harbor. Perhaps she saw something strange there—some-
thing she had never seen before in all the Four Kingdoms.
Perhaps she had guessed it was the Pumperkin—and that in
its big yellow cup her wandering lover had drifted home
again, in triumph and in glee.
Of course, her nurse was very shocked to find a royal
princess with her head far out of the window; but Princess
Clem never bothered to explain. She laughed and she
laughed all the while her many maids were dressing her—
and indeed they had not seen her in so happy a mood for
many a weary week.
"Put on my prettiest gown," she bade them. "Dress me
in my gown of pale blue silk—the one on which white lilies
are embroidered, tall and shimmering. And run blue rib-
bons through my golden braids—ribbons as blue as my eyes,
and deck them with pearls as white as my teeth."
At that the nurse looked shocked and horrified. "Oh,
hush, Royal Highness," whispered she. "Have you forgot-


IN THE CITY 123
ten no one must mention that last word in this domain?
Teeth are never spoken of here—teeth is a banished word!
And all because of that wicked villain"

"Ha, ha," broke in the princess gayly, "lots of good
things are banished from this land—and lots of good
heroes, too! But they always come sailing home again at


126 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
"What?" bellowed His Majesty, his face growing purple
with rage. "This bold adventurer, this scalawag Peterkin,
back in our midst? Come sailing back in that pumpkin
boat of his, eh? Well, he shall suffer for it, I promise you.
He shall be caught and clapped back into the dungeon cell
from which he so mysteriously escaped."
At that, the little princess, at his side, blushed a very rosy
blush and hung her head, so that they could not see her tears.
"I swore death to this fellow, if ever he came again into
my power," hissed the King. "And death it shall be! Ho,
my trusty guards! Arm yourselves with ropes and heavy
chains and run to the harbor, in search of the lost prisoner.
We shall have to give him a taste of death, death, death!"
Whereupon all the soldiers, all the courtiers, all the
nobles of the land, armed themselves, clattering, growling,
thundering. And down to the wharves of the harbor they
swept, leaving the gilded dining room deserted. Even the
King himself left his half eaten eggs, and forgot to clap the
cover on his dish of honey—and ran off, with his crown top-
pling over one ear and his royal robes dragging in the mud,
all the way from the palace door to the planks of the piers.
Only the little Princess Clem was left, in terror and in tears.
She wept, poor thing—and made a sorry mixture of her
tears in a pitcher of cream.


HOW PETERKIN TRICKED THEM ALL 127
Out from the shore, in a hundred boats, dashed the King
and his cohorts. Out and around they spun, circling the
peaceful pumpkin. Then closer and closer—and always
pushing closer.

"Heigh, wretch!" cried the King, who stood, straight and
tall, in the bow of the royal barge. "You are captured and
you cannot escape. You are surrounded by a thousand
warriors, all armed with ropes and heavy chains. You are


128 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
a prisoner again, and death shall be your punishment!
Rush in, brave boatmen, and seize this dog of a Peterkin!"
So in sped the boats, crashing against the sides of the poor
Pumperkin.' Then up with ladders—up with the men,
climbing the steep, bulging sides of Peterkin's house.
Then, one peek through the ceiling window and—what a
cry went up!
For Peterkin was gone!
Nothing could be found of him, no matter how hard they
searched—in every nook, behind the chairs, under the bed
and everywhere. He was gone!
• ••••••
And only you and I shall know the secret of where he
disappeared. For when the dawn was breaking, Peterkin
had seized his old companion by the shoulders and had
whispered into his hairy ear:
"Come, you shall have that set of teeth you crave. You
shall have the whitest teeth in all the world, if only you do
as I order. But if you do not, I shall have to punish you
as all wicked villains must be punished. So take your
choice, my toothless enemy. Will you do as I desire?"
To be sure, the ugly old man could only mumble a con-
sent through his red gums. Whereupon Peterkin leaped
upon his shoulders and cried:


HOW PETERKIN TRICKED THEM ALL 129
"Fly first with me to the Valley of the Blind!"
And away they flew, leaving the Pumperkin just as the
King and his cohorts found it: empty and alone.


XXIX
PETERKIN BRINGS JOY
I'M not sure what the old villain
thought of the scheme of flying
to the Valley of the Blind—but he
dared not disobey. For
Peterkin's grip was firm
upon his shoulders—and
Peterkin's breath was hot
against his cheek.
So over the mountains
they flew, into the tumble-
down, joyless valley of darkness—the valley where the
toothless villain had stricken each innocent one with blind-
ness.
There, across the neglected road, at the edge of the wild
grown heath, they found the sorrowful family of those who
first had told the tale of woe to Peterkin. Their clothes

130


PETERKIN BRINGS JOY 133
one could see! Yes, could see each other—could see the
rags in which they were dressed, the ruins of the houses,
the wild heaths, the broken, rutted roads—and planned at
once to build anew a happy valley. Their eyes were re-

turned—and so should their laughter. Henceforth, the
years of misery and darkness should be forgotten—and
theirs should be what, long years before, it had been: The
Valley of Bright Eyes!
Thus was the first errand done—and Peterkin smiled to


134 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
think of what an easy, happy one it had been. And now
they must go on, over the mountain boundaries, from one
valley to the other, bringing the same gift of happiness and
hope.
"Come," he whispered to the toothless villain, "you and
I are not through yet. Now, don't look cross and think of
rebelling—for you are in my power, and there is no escape
for you, unless you will obey my every order as nobly as
you have this first one. Besides, think of those brand-new
teeth which you shall have as a reward!"
Even this was not enough to persuade the old man to go
along peacefully; he sulked and gnashed his red gums and
tried all sorts of magic tricks, but all in vain. For Peter-
kin's life was a charmed one, now that he had the love of a
Princess Royal to guard him!
And, at last, when the old fellow saw that the people of
the Valley of Bright Eyes were glancing at him angrily, as
if they meant to lose their tempers after all, he took Peterkin
upon his shoulders and flew dutifully away with him, over
the boundary mountains.


I'HK NKW ^OHK
PI IH.IC LIBRARY
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XXX

r
VALLEY
TO VALLEY
T was the Valley of the Deaf they
came to next. And presto! by a twitch
of his lean fingers and a mumbling of strange words, the
old man had given back the hearing to each of its people.
What joy was theirs, now! For they could hear the song
of the birds and the chatter of their own glad voices and—
oh, yes! the laughter of the thousand brooks, which once
had played so great a part in their sad history. But all that
was over now, and they had only smiles and thanks for
Peterkin and forgiveness for the toothless villain who had
done them so much wrong.
They were all listening to the chirp of a little sparrow's
young, high in the nest, when Peterkin and his captive flew
135


136 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
away. Peterkin looked back a moment, to watch the joy-
ous smiles upon their faces—and he, too, was happy in their
new-found happiness.
And so he and his companion came to the Valley of
Dancing Legs, where all the folk were racing hither, thith-
er, everywhere, and all about, in weary, dreary, jigging,
jogging flocks. Uphill, downhill, over fields and woods
they went, never halting, never resting—on, on, lungs al-
most bursting and legs ready to drop off with weariness.
"Halt!" cried the toothless one. And then, with a mo-
ment or two of whispering and winking, he brought them
all to a happy halt. Poor folk! It was the first rest they
had had for so many years! They fell down, each of them,
panting, groaning, utterly motionless. Ah, they would be
happy now! Already, as their legs grew rested, they
seemed to be smiling more peacefully. . . . Peterkin and
his companion might go forward now into the next and last
valley. For all would be joy in this one from this time
forth.
So on they flew, these rescuing two, to the Valley of Up-
in-the-Air. And only a few mystic symbols and commands,
when down came all those floating, flying people, down to
the ground they loved! And down came their beds, their
chairs and tables after them—and all was set to rights!


VALLEY TO VALLEY 137
THus, in all the Four Kingdoms did happiness succeed
grim sorrow and smiles broke through the tears. Thus was

the whole domain made joyful through the brave work of
the little stranger, Peterkin!


XXXI
THE PATIENT PRINCESS
OH, little Princess Clem! Think
what a sad thing it was for her
to be left alone in the deserted dining
hall, while her royal father and all his
guards rushed out to kill her
brave returning hero!
She had tried so hard not to
cry—but the tears would
come. They flooded the table-cloth
and plates and set the omelets and
the jam pots floating. It was only
when her prying nurse came in
to fetch her that Her Little
- Royal Highness could dry
her eyes.
But, all day long, she walked up and down, up and down,

139


XXXII
THE VILLAIN SATISFIED
NO mistake, either!
For Peterkin it truly
was, coming toward the pal-
ace! Peterkin, astride the
shoulders of his old com-
panion, flying through the
clouds. At first they were
only two specks, dark and
tiny; then, coming nearer,
they grew larger and larger,
until the courtiers, crowding at the windows, could see the
eager look in Peterkin's bright eyes and could catch a
glimpse of the red gums of the old villain under him.
Nearer, nearer—then swooping down from the clouds
and in at the window came the two travelers, into the midst
of those who thronged the golden throne room.

143


144 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
The toothless villain ran and cowered in a corner, trem-
bling with fear. But Peterkin stood forth boldly, his head
thrown back with pride.
"Here am I, Your Majesty!" he cried. "Here am I,
returned whence I once fled. You may thrust me back into
that pitchy dungeon—you may kill me, but"
Great cheers drowned the rest of his words. One and all,
the courtiers, the nobles, the King himself, were waving
jeweled hands and making a joyous thunder of his name.
"Peterkin! Peterkin, our hero! Peterkin, our saviour!
Brave, mighty, magic Peterkin!"
He fell back and rubbed his eyes. What did it all mean?
Could he be dreaming?
No, for the King had risen from his throne now and was
coming down its golden steps straight toward him, with
arms outstretched.
"You have swept the shadows from my domain!" he
cried. "You have brought laughter into faces which once
were bathed in tears. You have given joy for sorrow—
and joy—aye, untold joy!—shall be your reward! Ask of
me now whatever you most wish, and I promise it shall be
yours! But first of all, we must take our proper revenge
upon the villain you have so neatly brought into our
power."


146 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
a new set of teeth, I'm sure he will make a very loyal and
faithful subject evermore."
The King grew red in the face, at this reminder. But
he had given his word—and not even a king can go back
on that!
"How now, my villainous cousin?" he roared, turning
to the old fellow. "Will you cease your wicked magic all
the days of your life, if I forgive you for the sake of gener-
ous Peterkin? And, if I do provide you a new set of teeth,
will you try very hard not to bite me?"
"Oh, yes—indeed, yes! I am so sick of soups and jellies:
I am longing for the crunch of a good beefsteak. And oh!
my royal cousin, what a feast I shall be able to eat if only
you give me a brand-new set of teeth! And I shall be so
proud of them I'll do nothing more than sit in a corner and
grin the whole day long!"
So, when the little princess had joined her prayer for for-
giveness to those of Peterkin and the rest of the courtiers,
the King could do naught but order his royal dentist to
appear upon the scene. And the dentist took very good
pains to make an exact measure of the mouth of the old
fellow, who went on mumbling in a most delighted way:
"Hee, hee! New teeth! A brand-new set of teeth! Well,
now I am satisfied! No more villainy for me! the crunch


XXXIII
THE GLORIOUS ENDING
, now," said the King, "you
shall have your true reward."
And to make it the more impressive, he
nudged our Peterkin in the ribs
with the end of his golden scepter
and winked his royal eye at the
Princess Clem, who stood
nearby in blushing joy.
Straightway the courtiers
gathered about their new
hero, lifted him high upon their shoulders and bore him
away, out of the throne room, out of the pillared halls, into
the center of that very same market square which flanked
the sunny palace. And there they cheered him, long and
loud:
"All hail to Peterkin, Prince of the Realm! All hail to

148


150 THE ADVENTURES OF PETERKIN
ding cake which towered so high that it touched the gilded
ceiling. Think what a time the princess must have had
cutting it to pieces—as all thoughtful brides do—with Peter-
kin's sharp sword!
Of course, you are curious to learn how beautiful the

bride appeared. But that's beyond my power to describe.
I can only tell you that she was more lovely than ever she
had been before; and that her golden hair was twined with
precious rubies, with a rivulet of diamonds on her forehead.
Her gown was of silver white brocade; but on it were em-