by E. Nesbit
CHAPTER IX
ON THE 'LIGHTNING LOOSE'
'But how did you get here?' said Philip in Helen's arms on the island.
'I just walked out at the other side of a dream,' she said; 'how could Inot come, when the door was open and you wanted me so?'
And Philip just said, 'Oh, Helen!' He could not find any other words,but Helen understood. She always did.
'Come,' she said, 'shall we go to your Palace or mine? I want my supper,and we'll have our own little blue-and-white tea-set. Yes, I know you'vehad your supper, but it'll be fun getting mine, and perhaps you'll behungry again before we've got it.'
They went to the thatched cottage that was Helen's palace, becausePhilip had had almost as much of large buildings as he wanted for alittle while. The cottage had a wide chimney and an open hearth; andthey sat on the hearth and made toast, and Philip almost forgot that hehad ever had any adventures and that the toast was being made on ahearth whose blue wood-smoke curled up among the enchanting tree-tops ofa magic island.
And before they went to bed he had told her all about everything.
'Oh, I am so glad you came!' he said over and over again; 'it is so easyto tell you _here_, with all the magic going on. I don't think I ever_could_ have told you at the Grange with the servants all about, andthe--I mean Mr. Graham, and all the things as not magic as they couldpossibly be. Oh, Helen! where _is_ Mr. Graham; won't he hate your comingaway from him?'
'He's gone through a dream door too,' she said, 'to see Lucy. Only hedoesn't know he's really gone. He'll think it's a dream, and he'll tellme about it when we both wake up.'
'When did you go to sleep?' said Philip.
'At Brussels. That telegram hasn't come yet.'
'I don't understand about time,' said Philip firmly, 'and I never shall.I say, Helen, I was just looking for the _Lightning Loose_, to go off inher on a voyage of discovery and find Lucy.'
'I don't think you need,' she said; 'I met a parrot on the island justbefore I met you and it was saying poetry to itself.'
'It would be,' said Philip, 'if it was alive. I'm glad it _is_ alive,though. What was it saying?'
'It was something like this,' she said, putting a log of wood on thefire:
'Philip and Helen Have the island to dwell in, Hooray. They said of the island, "It's your land and my land!" Hooray. Hooray. Hooray.
'And till the ark Comes out of the dark There those two may stay For a happy while, and Enjoy their island Until the Giving Day. Hooray.
'And then they will hear the giving voice, They will hear and obey, And when people come Who need a home, They'll give the island away. Hooray.
'The island with flower And fruit and bower, Forest and river and bay, Their very own island They'll sigh and smile and They'll give their island away.'
'What nonsense!' said Philip, 'I never will.'
'All right, my Pipkin,' said Helen cheerfully; 'I only told you just toshow that you're expected to stay here. "Philip and Helen have theisland to dwell in." And now, what about bed?'
They spent a whole week on the island. It was exactly all that theycould wish an island to be; because, of course, they had made itthemselves, and of course they knew exactly what they wanted. I can'tdescribe that week. I only know that Philip will never forget it. Justthink of all the things you could do on a magic island if you were therewith your dearest dear, and you'll know how Philip spent his time.
He enjoyed every minute of every hour of every day, and, best thing ofall, that week made him understand, as nothing else could have done,that Helen still belonged to him, and that her marriage to Mr. Grahamhad not made her any the less Philip's very own Helen.
And then came a day when Philip, swinging in a magnolia tree, looked outto sea and cried out, 'A sail! a sail! Oh, Helen, here's the ark! Nowit's all over. Let's have Lucy to stay with us, and send the otherpeople away,' he added, sliding down the tree-trunk with his face veryserious.
'But we can't, dear,' Helen reminded him. 'The island's ours, you know;and as long as it's ours no one else can land on it. We made it likethat, you know.'
'Then they can't land?'
'No,' said Helen.
'Can't we change the rule and let them land?'
'No,' said Helen.
'Oh, it _is_ a pity,' Philip said; 'because the island is the place forislanders, isn't it?'
'Yes,' said Helen, 'and there's no fear of the sea here; you remember wemade it like that when we made the island?'
'Yes,' said Philip. 'Oh, Helen, I _don't_ want to.'
'Then don't,' said Helen.
'Ah, but I _do_ want to, too.'
'Then do,' said she.
'But don't you see, when you want to and don't want to at the same time,what _are_ you to do? There are so many things to think of.'
'When it's like that, there's one thing you mustn't think of,' she said.
'What?' Philip asked.
'Yourself,' she said softly.
There was a silence, and then Philip suddenly hugged his sister and shehugged him.
'I'll give it to them,' he said; 'it's no use. I know I ought to. Ishall only be uncomfortable if I don't.'
Helen laughed. 'My boy of boys!' she said. And then she looked sad. 'Boyof my heart,' she said, 'you know it's not only giving up our island. Ifwe give it away I must go. It's the only place that there's a door intoout of my dreams.'
'I can't let you go,' he said.
'But you've got your deeds to do,' she said, 'and I can't help you inthose. Lucy can help you, but I can't. You like Lucy now, don't you?'
'Oh, I don't mind her,' said Philip; 'but it's _you_ I want, Helen.'
'Don't think about that,' she urged. 'Think what the islanders want.Think what it'll be to them to have the island, to live here always,safe from the fear!'
'There are three more deeds,' said Philip dismally; 'I don't think Ishall ever want any more adventures as long as I live.'
'You'll always want them,' she said, laughing at him gently, 'always.And now let's do the thing handsomely and give them a splendid welcome.Give me a kiss and then we'll gather heaps of roses.'
So they kissed each other. But Philip was very unhappy indeed, thoughhe felt that he was being rather noble and that Helen thought so too,which was naturally a great comfort.
There had been a good deal more of this talk than I have set down.Philip and Helen had hardly had time to hang garlands of pink rosesalong the quayside where the _Lightning Loose_, that perfect yacht, layat anchor, before the blunt prow of the ark bumped heavily against thequayside--and the two, dropping the rest of the roses, waved and smiledto the group on the ark's terrace.
The first person to speak was Mr. Perrin, who shouted, 'Here we areagain!' like a clown.
Then Lucy said, 'We know we can't land, but the oracle said come and wecame.' She leaned over the bulwark to whisper, 'Who's that perfect duckyou've got with you?'
Philip answered aloud:
'This is my sister Helen--Helen this is Lucy.'
The two looked at each other, and then Helen held out her hands and sheand Lucy kissed each other.
'I knew I should like you,' Lucy whispered, 'but I didn't know I shouldlike you quite so much.'
Mr. Noah and Mr. Perrin were both bowing to Helen, a little stiffly butvery cordially all the same, and quite surprisingly without surprise.And the Lord High Islander was looking at her with his own friendlyjolly schoolboy grin.
'If you will embark,' said Mr. Noah politely, 'we can return to themainland, and I will explain to you your remaining deeds.'
'Tell them, Pip,' said Helen.
'We don't want to embark--at present,' said Philip shyly. 'We want youto land.'
'No one may land on
the island save two,' said Mr. Noah. 'I am glad youare the two. I feared one of the two might be the Pretenderette.'
'Not much,' said Philip. 'It's Helen's and mine. We made it. And we wantto give it to the islanders to keep. For their very own,' he added,feeling that it would be difficult for any one to believe that such aglorious present was really being made just like that, without speeches,as if it had been a little present of a pencil sharpener or a peg-top.
He was right.
'To keep?' said the Lord High Islander; 'for our very own? Always?'
'Yes,' said Philip. 'And there's no fear here. You'll _really_ be "happytroops" now.'
For a moment nobody said anything, though all the faces wereexpressive. Then the Lord High Islander spoke.
'Well,' he said, 'of all the brickish bricks----' and could say no more.
'There are lots of houses,' said Philip, 'and room for all the animals,and the island is thirty miles round, so there's lots of room for theanimals and everything.' He felt happier than he had ever done in hislife. Giving presents is always enjoyable, and this was such a big andbeautiful present, and he loved it so.
'I always did say Master Pip was a gentleman, and I always shall,' Mr.Perrin remarked.
'I congratulate you,' said Mr. Noah, 'and I am happy to announce thatyour fifth deed is now accomplished. You remember our empty silverfruit-dishes? Your fifth deed was to be the supplying of Polistarchiawith fruit. This island is the only place in the kingdom where fruitgrows. The ark will serve to convey the fruit to the mainland, and theperformance of this deed raises you to the rank of Duke.'
'Philip, you're a dear,' said Lucy in a whisper.
'Shut up,' said Philip fiercely.
'Three cheers,' said a familiar voice, 'for the Duke of Donors.'
'Three cheers,' repeated the Lord High Islander, 'for the Duke ofDonors.'
What a cheer! All the islanders cheered and the M.A.'s and Lucy and Mr.Perrin and Mr. Noah, and from the inside of the ark came enthusiasticbarkings and gruntings and roarings and squeakings--as the animals ofcourse joined in as well as they could. Thousands of gulls, circling onwhite wings in the sun above, added their screams to the general chorus.And when the sound of the last cheer died away, a little near familiarvoice said:
'Well done, Philip! I'm proud of you.'
It was the parrot who, perched on the rigging of the _Lightning Loose_,had started the cheering.
'So that's all right,' it said, fluttered on to Philip's shoulder andadded, 'I've heard you calling for me on the island all the week. But Ifelt I needed a rest. I've been talking too much. And thatPretenderette. And that cage. I assure you I needed a little time to getover my adventures.'
'We have all had our adventures,' said Mr. Noah gently. And Helen said:
'Won't you land and take possession of the island? I'm sure we arelonging to hear each other's adventures.'
'You first,' said Mr. Noah to the Lord High Islander, who stepped ashorevery gravely.
When Helen saw him come forward, she suddenly kissed Philip, and as theLord High Islander's foot touched the shore of that enchanted island,she simply and suddenly vanished.
'Oh!' cried Philip, 'I wish I hadn't.' And his mouth trembled as girls'mouths do if they are going to cry.
'The more a present costs you, the more it's worth,' said Mr. Noah.'This has cost you so much, it's the most splendid present in theworld.'
'I know,' said Philip; 'make yourselves at home, won't you?' he justmanaged to say. And then he found he could not say any more. He justturned and went into the forest. And when he was alone in a green glade,he flung himself down on his face and lay a long time without moving. Ithad been such a happy week. And he was so tired of adventures.
When at last he sniffed with an air of finality and raised his head, thefirst thing he saw was Lucy, sitting quite still with her back to him.
'Hullo!' he said rather crossly, 'what are you doing here?'
'Saying the multiplication table,' said Lucy promptly and turned herhead, 'so as not even to think about you. And I haven't even onceturned round. I knew you wanted to be alone. But I wanted to be herewhen you'd done being alone. See? I've got something to say to you.'
'Fire ahead,' said Philip, still grumpy.
'I think you're perfectly splendid,' said Lucy very seriously, 'and Iwant it to be real pax for ever. And I'll help you in the rest of theadventures. And if you're cross, I'll try not to mind. Napoleon wascross sometimes, I believe,' she added pensively, 'and Julius Caesar.'
'Oh, that's all right,' said Philip very awkwardly.
'Then we're going to be real chums?'
'Oh yes, if you like. Only--I don't mind just this once; and it wasdecent of you to come and sit there with your back to me--only I hategas.'
'Yes,' said Lucy obediently, 'I know. Only sometimes you feel you mustgas a little or burst of admiration. And I've got your proper clothes ina bundle. I've been carrying them about ever since the islanders' castlewas washed away. Here they are.'
She produced the bundle. And this time Philip was really touched.
'Now I _do_ call that something like,' he said. 'The seaweed dress isall right here, but you never know what you may have to go through whenyou're doing adventures. There might be thorns or snakes or anything.I'm jolly glad to get my boots back too. I say, come on. Let's go toHelen's palace and get a banquet ready. I know there'll have to be abanquet. There always is, here. I know a first-rate bun-tree quite nearhere.'
'The cocoa-nut-ice plants looked beautiful as I came along,' said Lucy.'What a lovely island it is. And you made it!'
'No gas,' said Philip warningly. 'Helen and I made it.'
'She's the dearest darling,' said Lucy.
'Oh, well,' said Philip with resignation, 'if you must gas, gas abouther.'
The banquet was all that you can imagine of interesting and magnificent.And Philip was, of course, the hero of the hour. And when the banquetwas finished and the last guest had departed to its own house--for thehouses on the island were of course all ready to be occupied, furnishedto the last point of comfort, with pin-cushions full of pins in everyroom, Mr. Noah and Lucy and Philip sat down on the terrace steps amongthe pink roses for a last little talk.
'Because,' said Philip, 'we shall start the first thing in the morning.So please will you tell me now what the next deed is that I have todo?'
'Will you go by ark?' Mr. Noah asked, rolling up his yellow mat to makean elbow rest and leaning on it; 'I shall be delighted.'
'I thought,' said Philip, 'we might go in the _Lightning Loose_. I'venever sailed her yet, you know. Do you think I _could_?'
'Of course you can,' said Mr. Noah; 'and if not, Lucy can show you. Yourcharming yacht is steered on precisely the same principle as the ark.And in this land all the winds are favourable. You will find the yachtsuitably provisioned. And I may add that you can go most of the way toyour next deed by water--first the sea and then the river.'
'And what,' asked Philip, 'is the next deed?'
'In the extreme north of Polistarchia,' said Mr. Noah instructively,'lies a town called Somnolentia. It used to be called Briskford inhappier days. A river then ran through the town, a rapid river thatbrought much gold from the mountains. The people used to work very hardto keep the channel clear of the lumps of gold which continuallythreatened to choke it. Their fields were then well-watered andfruitful, and the inhabitants were cheerful and happy. But when theHippogriff was let out of the book, a Great Sloth got out too. Evadingall efforts to secure him, the Great Sloth journeyed northward. He is avery large and striking animal, and by some means, either fear oradmiration, he obtained a complete ascendancy over the inhabitants ofBriskford. He induced them to build him a temple of solid gold, andwhile they were doing this the river bed became choked up and the streamwas diverted into another channel far from the town. Since then theplace is fallen into decay. The fields are parched and untilled. Suchwater as the people need for drinking is drawn by great labour from awell. Washing has
become shockingly infrequent.'
'Are we to teach the dirty chaps to wash?' asked Philip in disgust.
'Do not interrupt,' said Mr. Noah. 'You destroy the thread of mynarrative. Where was I?'
'Washing infrequent,' said Lucy; 'but if the fields are dried up, whatdo they live on?'
'Pine-apples,' replied Mr. Noah, 'which grow freely and do not need muchwater. Gathering these is the sole industry of this degraded people.Pine-apples are not considered a fruit but a vegetable,' he addedhastily, seeing another question trembling on Philip's lips. 'Whateverof their waking time can be spared from the gathering and eating of thepine-apples is spent in singing choric songs in honour of the GreatSloth. And even this time is short, for such is his influence on theSomnolentians that when he sleeps they sleep too, and,' added Mr. Noahimpressively, 'he sleeps almost all the time. Your deed is to devisesome means of keeping the Great Sloth awake and busy. And I think you'vegot your work cut out. When you've disposed of the Great Sloth you canreport yourself to me here. I shall remain here for some little time. Ineed a holiday. The parrot will accompany you. It knows its way about aswell as any bird in the land. Good-night. And good luck! You will excusemy not being down to breakfast.'
And the next morning, dewy-early, Philip and Lucy and the parrot wentaboard the yacht and loosed her from her moorings, and Lucy showedPhilip how to steer, and the parrot sat on the mast and called outinstructions.
They made for the mouth of a river. ('I never built a river,' saidPhilip. 'No,' said the parrot, 'it came out of the poetry book.') Andwhen they were hungry they let down the anchor and went into the cabinfor breakfast. And two people sprang to meet them, almost knockingLucy down with the violence of their welcome. The two people were Maxand Brenda.
He induced them to build him a temple of solid gold.]
'Oh, you dear dogs,' Lucy cried, and Philip patted them, one with eachhand, 'how did you get here?'
'It was a little surprise of Mr. Noah's,' said the parrot.
Max and Brenda whined and barked and gushed.
'I wish we could understand what they're saying,' said Lucy.
'If you only knew the magic word that the Hippogriff obeys,' said theparrot, 'you could say it, and then you'd understand all animal talk.Only, of course, I mustn't tell it you. It's one of the elevenmysteries.'
'But I know it,' said Philip, and at once breathed the word in the tinysilky ear of Brenda and then in the longer silkier ear of Max, andinstantly--
'Oh, my dears!' they heard Brenda say in a softly shrill excited voice;'oh, my dearie dears! We _are_ so pleased to see you. I'm only a poorlittle faithful doggy; I'm not clever, you know, but my affectionatenature makes me almost mad with joy to see my dear master and mistressagain.'
'Very glad to see you, sir,' said Max with heavy politeness. 'I hopeyou'll be comfortable here. There's no comfort for a dog like being withhis master.'
And with that he sat down and went to sleep, and the others hadbreakfast. It is rather fun cooking in yachts. And there was somethingnew and charming in Brenda's delicate way of sitting up and begging andsaying at the same time, 'I do _hate_ to bother my darling master andmistress, but if you _could_ spare another _tiny_ bit of bacon--Oh,_thank you_, how good and generous you are!'
They sailed the yacht successfully into the river which presently raninto the shadow of a tropical forest. Also out of a book.
'You might go on during the night,' said the parrot, 'if the dogs wouldsteer under my directions. You could tie one end of a rope to theircollars and another to the helm. It's easier than turning spits.'
'Delighted!' said Max; 'only, of course, it's understood that we sleepthrough the day?'
'Of course,' said everybody. So that was settled. And the children wentto bed.
It was in the middle of the night that the parrot roused Philip with hisusual gentle beak-touch. Then--
'Wake up,' it said; 'this is not the right river. It's not the rightdirection. Nothing's right. The ship's all wrong. I'm very much afraidsome one has been opening a book and this river has got out.'
Philip hurried out on deck, and by the light of the lamps from thecabin, gazed out at the banks of the river. At least he looked for them.But there weren't any banks. Instead, steep and rugged cliffs rose oneach side, and overhead, instead of a starry sky, was a great archedroof of a cavern glistening with moisture and dark as a raven'sfeathers.
'We must turn back,' said Philip. 'I don't like this at all.'
'Unfortunately,' said the parrot, 'there is no room to turn back, andthe _Lightning Loose_ is not constructed for going backwards.'
'Oh, dear,' whispered Brenda, 'I wish we hadn't come. Dear little dogsought to be taken comfortable care of and not be sent out on nasty shipsthat can't turn back when it's dangerous.'
'My dear,' said Max with slow firmness, 'dear little dogs can't helpthemselves now. So they had better look out for chances of helping theirmasters.'
'But what can we _do_, then?' said Philip impatiently.
'I fear,' said the parrot, 'that we can do nothing but go straight on.If this river is in a book it will come out somewhere. No river in abook ever runs underground and stays there.'
'I shan't wake Lucy,' said Philip; 'she might be frightened.'
'You needn't,' said Lucy, 'she's awake, and she's no more frightenedthan you are.'
('You hear that,' said Max to Brenda; 'you take example by her, mydear!')
'But if we are going the wrong way, we shan't reach the Great Sloth,'Lucy went on.
'Sooner or later, one way or another, we shall come to him,' said theparrot; 'and time is of no importance to a Great Sloth.'
It was now very cold, and our travellers were glad to wrap themselves inthe flags of all nations with which the yacht was handsomely provided.Philip made a sort of tabard of the Union Jack and the old Royal Arms ofEngland, with the lilies and leopards; and Lucy wore the Japanese flagas a shawl. She said the picture of the sun on it made her feel warm.But Philip shivered under his complicated crosses and lions, as the_Lightning Loose_ swept on over the dark tide between the dark walls andunder the dark roof of the cavern.
'Cheer up,' said the parrot. 'Think what a lot of adventures you'rehaving that no one else has ever had: think what a lot of things you'llhave to tell the other boys when you go to school.'
'The other boys wouldn't believe a word of it,' said Philip in gloom. 'Iwouldn't unless I knew it was true.'
'What I think is,' said Lucy, watching the yellow light from the lampsrushing ahead along the roof, 'that we shan't want to tell people. It'llbe just enough to know it ourselves and talk about it, just Philip andme together.'
'Well, as to that----' the parrot was beginning doubtfully, when hebroke off to exclaim:
'Do my claws deceive me or is there a curious vibration, and noticeableacceleration of velocity?'
'Eh?' said Philip, which is not manners, and he knew it.
'He means,' said Max stolidly, 'aren't we going rather fast and ratherwobbly?'
We certainly were. The _Lightning Loose_ was going faster and fasteralong that subterranean channel, and every now and then gave a lurch anda shiver.
'Oh!' whined Brenda; 'this is a dreadful place for dear little dogs!'
'Philip!' said Lucy in a low voice, 'I know something is going tohappen. Something dreadful. We _are_ friends, aren't we?'
'Yes,' said Philip firmly.
'Then I wish you'd kiss me.'
'I can like you just as much without that,' said Philip uneasily.'Kissing people--it's silly, don't you think?'
'Nobody's kissed me since daddy went away,' she said, 'except Helen. Andyou don't mind kissing Helen. She _said_ you were going to adopt me foryour sister.'
'Oh! all right,' said Philip, and put his arm round her and kissed her.She felt so little and helpless and bony in his arm that he suddenlyfelt sorry for her, kissed her again more kindly and then, withdrawinghis arm, thumped her hearteningly on the back.
'Be a man,' he said in tones o
f comradeship and encouragement. 'I'mperfectly certain nothing's going to happen. We're just going through atunnel, and presently we shall just come out into the open air again,with the sky and the stars going on as usual.'
He spoke this standing on the prow beside Lucy, and as he spoke sheclutched his arm.
'Oh, look,' she breathed, 'oh, listen!'
He listened. And he heard a dull echoing roar that got louder andlouder. And he looked. The light of the lamps shone ahead on the darkgleaming water, and then quite suddenly it did not shine on the waterbecause there was no longer any water for it to shine on. Only greatempty black darkness. A great hole, ahead, into which the stream poureditself. And now they were at the edge of the gulf. The _Lightning Loose_gave a shudder and a bound and hung for what seemed a long moment on theedge of the precipice down which the underground river was pouringitself in a smooth sleek stream, rather like poured treacle, over whatfelt like the edge of everything solid.
Plunged headlong over the edge.]
The moment ended, and the little yacht, with Philip and Lucy and theparrot and the two dogs, plunged headlong over the edge into the darkunknown abyss below.
'It's all right, Lu,' said Philip in that moment. 'I'll take care ofyou.'
And then there was silence in the cavern--only the rushing sound of thegreat waterfall echoed in the rocky arch.