SPEEDY IN SAMANDRA

And so it happened that the Sultan of Samandra, crouched sullenly on his cushioned throne, did not have long to wait for the approach of Knight. Knight was approaching by leaps and bounds. Indeed, so swiftly did the chestnut charger bear Sir Hokus and his three comrades that they came to the Sultan's city before the last of the sun's rays had faded from the sky. Catching a glimpse of the yellow boat tied up at the dock, the Knight gave a husky cheer.

"On!" cried Sir Hokus, rising in the stirrups. "On to the palace! The King of this country is the rascal we are seeking." Sparks flew from the stones as Stampedro galloped up the steep streets, and the Samandrans, noting the fierce aspect of Sir Hokus, who was swinging his battle-axe wildly round his head, fled in every direction. Speedy and Marygolden, though shaken and breathless, could not help exclaiming at the splendor of the gold-domed buildings, and tall, spired castle; but Stampedro, without a pause, clattered up the fifty golden steps, pushed through the swinging doors, and burst like a bomb-shell into the magnificent throne room itself. The Sultan, hearing the great clamor without, had already risen, and when the panting steed and his four riders suddenly catapulted into his presence, he clutched Confido to his breast and with bulging eyes confronted his unexpected visitors. His first feeling was fright. Then, as he recognized the jester and war horse of a King he thought transformed and silenced forever, he gave a loud scream of anguish.

"Robbers!" shrieked the Sultan, throwing caution to the winds. "How dare you steal my magic dates and ruin my strongest enchantment?"

"Thief!" roared Sir Hokus, alighting with one bound. "How dare you steal our Comfortable Camel?" In his excitement he did not notice the difference between Tuzzle, whom he had seen on the yellow boat, and the fat ruler of the Samandrans. "R-r-restore the Comfortable Camel at once, and tell us what you have done with the King of the Golden City and all his subjects!"

"N-n-never!" shrilled the Sultan, holding Confido tight up under his chin. And pointing to first one and then another of the intruders, he began to talk in a fierce undertone to the little dog.

"Why do you talk to a dog when guests are present?" drawled Peter Pun, sliding down from Stampedro's back and snapping his fingers under the Sultan's nose. "Is that the pleasant custom in this country?"

"You are a fool!" hissed the Sultan, "both by profession and nature. This is no common dog. This is Confido, the Imperial Peke of the realm. I speak to Confido because he knows all and tells nothing. Nothing, do you hear? But you, wretched plunderers, you shall tell what you have done with the magic dates, or be pounded to a powder and pulverized. Pulverized, do you understand? Tuzzle! Chinda! Blufferroo! Where is everybody?" Dropping Confido, the Sultan thumped on the golden gong beside the throne and began yelling at the top of his lungs. At this, Speedy, who had been all ears, jumped off Stampedro, and in the excitement and confusion following the arrival of the very Grand Vizier, the Grand Bozzywoz, the Grand Counter of the Imperial Spoons, and seventy Samandran spearmen, picked up Confido and tucked him quickly inside his leather jacket. Then, taking his place sturdily beside Sir Hokus, he prepared to defend himself and Marygolden.

"Seize this Knight," commanded the Sultan. "Knight--Knight?" All at once he remembered the prophecy of Chinda: _You will find part of what you seek in the middle of the night._ "This Knight has eaten the magic dates," choked the Sultan, clutching his turban desperately. "Woe is me, us, you, her, it, him, and them! Slice him in two! Slice them all in two! Seize these villains, do you hear?" The spearmen evidently heard, and they moved forward, their spears pointed menacingly. Peter Pun, in one jump, regained the back of the Yellow Knight's horse. Marygolden, sliding forward, clasped both arms around his neck, and Stampedro, breathing fire and smoke, leapt clear over the heads of the advancing spearmen, through a side window, and away. With a gasp of relief, Speedy realized that Marygolden, at least, was safe. Sir Hokus, swinging his battle-axe, knocked down two of the spearmen in the center, and dashed through the opening before they could turn about. Speedy, seeing it was too late to follow, sprang for a spiral stair back of the throne, and tore upward three steps at a time, followed by all the spearmen except the two Sir Hokus had felled. Confido, inside his leather coat, barked and scratched, but paying no heed, the boy sped upward, up, up, up, till he grew faint and dizzy and his heart beat with loud, suffocating thumps. Reaching the top, ten steps ahead of the spearmen, Speedy rushed into a great glass-enclosed room and slammed the door. Pulling off his leather helmet he flung it on the sill, opened the window, and after a quick look round jumped into a big oak chest and closed the lid. The spearmen, panting and furious, burst into the room just as the lid settled into place. They stamped angrily about and then, catching sight of Speedy's helmet on the ledge, began sticking their heads out of the window and chattering away in the utmost excitement.

"The young monkey's jumped to the ground," puffed the leader, "and that's the end of his impudence, but we'd better go down and pick up the pieces to satisfy the Sultan. Come on!" If they had not made so much noise themselves, they might have heard Confido barking inside the oak chest, but quite satisfied that their prisoner was lying at the bottom of the tower, they clattered noisily down the spiral stair. Speedy waited until their footsteps and voices died away, then crept cautiously out of the chest. He had run, as luck would have it, to the tower room of Chinda, the Seer, and gazed in surprise and bewilderment at the magical appliances of the prophet. The Grand Bozzywoz, fortunately, was below, and tiptoeing nervously about, Speedy tried to think of some way to escape. The tall telescope that pointed skyward interested him especially, and even in the midst of his worry and anxiety he could not resist one peek.

"If we could just find that date seed and the rest of the package, everything would be easy," sighed the boy, peering absently through the long tube. "Where could it have fallen?" he worried, screwing up his eye and scarcely noticing what he was looking at. Then he gave a great start, for clear and distinct in the lens of the telescope he saw a bit of the enchanted forest. As he stared in fascination, it narrowed down till there was only one tree, a hollow tree he remembered seeing next to the horse chestnut. Now the lens showed the inside of the tree, and there, among a little hoard of nuts hidden away by some thrifty squirrel, Speedy saw a bright and gleaming stone.

"The date seed!" gasped Speedy, pressing his eye closer and closer as the picture faded away. "Gosh! If I can just get out of this palace and find my way back to the forest. Be quiet!" he directed, fiercely tapping the lump under his coat that was Confido. Then, relenting a little, he unbuttoned his coat and allowed the dog to stick out its head. "Can't you be still?" he pleaded earnestly. "Nothing's going to happen to you." With a little whimper, the Peke stopped barking and fixed its bulging, near-sighted eyes anxiously on the boy. "There, that's the fellow." Giving him a hasty pat, Speedy looked out the window to see how far it was to the ground, for it would never do to risk the spiral stair. With a shiver he drew in his head, and as he did, the heavy boots and rough voices of the spearmen came echoing upward. Not finding him senseless in the garden, they were coming back to search the tower. Trembling between the chest and the window, Speedy's glance flew round the prophet's workshop and came frantically to rest on a coil of rope hanging on a hook near the door. Snatching the rope he regained the window and tied the rope to a hook on the sill.

"Curses!" puffed Speedy, tossing the rope over the edge. "Curses, Mickonionjuice! Here they are!" Dropping over the ledge, Speedy began his perilous downward descent hand over hand. He dared not look up nor down, and as he was wondering whether the rope would be long enough to reach to the bottom of the tower, it fell in a dozen stinging coils upon his head. A spearman, looking out of the window, had cut it with his scimiter, and like a log Speedy fell into the garden. Luckily he was only a few feet from the ground and though somewhat jarred and shocked, he jumped immediately to his feet and started to run. In the right direction, too, fortunately, and before the spearmen in the tower could give the alarm he had reached the dock and was scampering along the bank of the yellow river. "If I follow the river," he panted, "I'll get back to the forest. Then I'll find that date seed and try to find the others. Whew!" Steadying Confido with one hand, he flew along faster than he had ever run in the track events at home and soon had the satisfaction of hearing the voices of his pursuers grow fainter and fainter. As he paused at length to catch his breath, a great shadow moved silently out from the trees, a soft nose was thrust suddenly into his hand and two glad cries rang through the dusk. It was the horse of the Yellow Knight, and leaning down with eager hands to help him up, Marygolden and Peter Pun.

"I knew you'd get away from that old scalawag," chuckled the jester. "We've been watching for you. Seen Hokus since he pokused the spearmen?"

"No," admitted Speedy, settling with a tired groan into the saddle between his two friends. "But I know where the magic date seed is hidden!"

"You do!" cried Peter, and Marygolden looked at him in round-eyed admiration, while Stampedro pricked up both ears and began to prance sideways.

"Uh-huh!" wheezed Speedy, still out of breath from his long run. "Do you think you could carry us back to your horse chestnut tree, Stampedro?" The horse hastily shook his head for "yes," and as Speedy, between jounces and bounces, told all that had happened, he galloped headlong through the Sultan's orange groves away toward the enchanted forest of Oz.

"Wasn't it lucky I happened to mention the date seed while I was looking through that magic telescope? Won't Sir Hokus be surprised? Curses! I hope the Sultan hasn't caught him, though."

"Yon Knight knows his Sultans, never fear. But why have you brought the Sultan's dog?" inquired Peter, looking inquisitively at Confido, whom he now spied for the first time.

"That," smiled Speedy mysteriously, "is my secret."

"But isn't he perfectly precious? Can I hold him?" begged Marygolden, turning round to have a better view.

"Yes, but hold him tight," cautioned Speedy, and bade Stampedro stop while he transferred the little dog to Marygolden's arms. "He's a girl's dog anyway," he announced condescendingly, "and you can have him if you wish."

"Oh, Speedy!" Hugging Confido with one arm and putting the other around Speedy to keep from falling off, Marygolden fairly squealed with delight, and Stampedro, with an impatient snort, bounded forward. Dusk had deepened into night, and long afterward Speedy remembered that thrilling gallop through the shadowy forest with only the faint moonlight and an occasional star to show them a path between the trees. But Stampedro, without one false turn or unnecessary step, brought them at last to the great horse chestnut tree.

"Here we are! And better still, I can talk again," he cried, shaking his head until all the gold tassels on his armor danced in the wind.

"Hurray!" shouted Speedy. "That's more like!" And patting Stampedro's curving neck, he slid to the ground and hurried over to the hollow tree.

"Will'st alight, maiden?" said Peter Pun, tumbling after Speedy, and reaching up to help Marygolden. "Will'st alight in the dark, and shed the radiance of your beauty upon the gloomy scene?" Marygolden laughingly gave Peter her hand, and soon all three were peering into the hollow tree. Speedy, on his hands and knees, was feeling around with his flashlight for the magic stone.

"It's here!" he cried, springing up so suddenly that he bumped his head. "It's here, and here it is!" Stepping out of the hollow tree, he placed the shining yellow stone in the palm of his hand and held it out to the others. Stampedro, who had dropped to his knees so that he could see into the tree better, bounded up with an excited little whinny.

"Well, now that we have it, what shall we do with it, Smallfellow?"

"Why, all we have to do is touch all the people who are enchanted," explained Peter Pun, hopping round and round on one foot. "Touch that oak behind you, Speedy. I swear it winked at me just now."

"But we can't go through the whole forest touching trees," objected Speedy. "Besides, we might miss some."

"Well, what are we going to do?" asked the jester impatiently.

"That's up to Confido," announced Speedy calmly. "Didn't you hear the Sultan say to-day that Confido knew everything? Like as not he knows the secret of all these transformations. That's why I brought him along, for now he can talk as well as listen, and tell us all he knows."

"By the ears of my mother's cow!" sputtered Peter Pun, staring admiringly at Speedy. "You're a quick one!" Shrugging his shoulders carelessly but secretly thinking Peter was right, Speedy now turned to Confido.

"Will you tell us how we can release the King of the Golden City and his subjects?" he asked coaxingly. "Surely you do not want them to be imprisoned in this forest forever. Will you tell us how the Sultan's evil spell may be broken?"

"Woof!" barked the little dog sulkily. "Woof! Woof!"

"Why, he cannot talk at all!" wailed Peter Pun, in bitter disappointment.

"Oh, yes he can," insisted Speedy. "He just won't."

"Speak, dog, or I'll flatten you under my foot!" trumpeted Stampedro, flashing his great eyes at the proud little Peke.

"Let me ask him?" begged Marygolden, as Peter and Speedy reached angrily for the Imperial Puppy.

"Darling," crooned the Princess, "you're going to be mine forever, and never have to listen to that savage old Sultan again. You shall have as many saucers of cream and chicken hearts as you wish and do just as you want, always. Couldn't you tell _me_ the little secret of the magic dates?" Cuddling the little dog under her chin, Marygolden looked pleadingly into his eyes. Now if there was one dish Confido relished above all others it was chicken hearts. Then, too, he had grown terribly tired of the whispering old Sultan and his eternal secrets, and now that he was to belong to this pretty girl, he decided there would be no harm in telling all he knew.

"Yes, I could tell you," drawled the little dog in his condescending voice, "for I perceive that you are of royal blood. But these others----!" Sneezing violently to show his contempt for Peter and Speedy, Confido climbed on Marygolden's shoulder and whispered five words in her left ear.