Hiland and Loland
After a long and steady flight the birds reached another island, largerthan the first, and much more beautiful. The adventurers looked downupon green valleys and vine-covered hills, patches of stately forestand fields of waving grain. But aside from the scattered farm-houses,they saw no cities or villages until they were over the exact center ofthe island, where a most curious sight met their view.
The island was divided into two halves by a high and strong wall ofstone, that ran from ocean to ocean, passing exactly through the centerof the land. In the middle of the island the dividing wall was brokenby a great castle, which looked upon both sides of the wall, and hadmany imposing towers and turrets and spires stretching high into theair. Clustered near to the castle and upon the east side of the wallwere many tall and narrow buildings, some of them rising to a heightof three or four stories. The windows in these buildings were talland narrow, and the doors were tall and narrow, and the chimneys weretall and narrow. It was quite a city in size, but the houses alllooked as if they were set upon stilts, while the streets were alsonarrow.
THE CASTLE OF HILAND AND LOLAND]
On the west side of the wall, adjoining the castle, was also a city,but of a quite different sort. For the houses were low, none being ofmore than one story, and the windows and doors in them were so broadand low that they were wider than they were high. As for the streets,they were remarkably broad. The cities upon both sides of the wall werepretty and well built, and there were many beautiful parks and pleasuregrounds scattered about.
Our friends had not much time to observe these things closely, for atJohn's request the flamingoes alighted upon the top of the great wall,near to an entrance of the castle.
"We must leave you now," said one of the birds, "for we are obligedto hurry home again. But I am sure you will be quite safe in thisbeautiful country."
"Good-by," said John, "and thank you very much for bringing us here."
Chick and the bear also thanked the kind flamingoes, and then the birdsflew into the air and soon disappeared.
"What a lovely place to bounce!" said Para Bruin, leaning over the edgeof the wall nearest to the tall houses and gazing downward into thestreet.
"It's a good way down," said Chick. "You'd better be careful."
"Nonsense!" replied the bear, scornfully. "The higher the wall thefiner the bounce."
With that he made a ball of himself and rolled off the wall. John andChick leaned over and saw the rubber bear strike the pavement far belowand then bound upward again. When he was on a level with the top of thewalls he reached out his paws, caught the edge of the stones, and drewhimself up beside them.
"Great,--wasn't it?" he asked, proudly.
"Yes; but I advise you to be careful," said the gingerbread man. "Weknow nothing of the people who inhabit this country, and if you shouldchance to miss the wall when you bound upwards you would become aprisoner and be at the mercy of those who captured you."
"That's true," agreed the bear. "I'll be more careful until we getbetter acquainted. What shall we do now?"
"Let's try to find a way into the castle," suggested Chick. "It's theonly way to get off this wall, for I can't bounce as you do, ParaBruin."
"Nor can I," added John. "How strange it is that the island should bedivided by this great wall! And how queer to have everything short onone side and tall on the other! But perhaps the people in the castlecan explain it all."
They walked along the broad wall toward the castle, and presently cameto the large entrance gate, one of the wickets of which stood ajar, asif inviting them to enter.
"Shall we go in?" asked John, hesitating.
"Of course," decided Chick, promptly. "What's the use of stayingoutside, when the door's open?"
So they passed through the wicket and entered a lofty arched hall,built of blocks of exquisite marble, that gave it a grand and majesticappearance. There was a small stairway leading upward and a largestairway descending to the lower floors of the castle; but no one wasin sight to greet them, so they decided to go down the stairs.
"Evidently they did not expect us," remarked Para Bruin.
"This must be the castle of the ruler, or king," replied John, "andperhaps the royal family is at dinner, or the king is holding court."
But at the foot of the stairs they found the hallways and rooms asdeserted and empty as could be, and their footsteps echoed with ahollow sound upon the tiled floors.
The furniture of the castle was magnificent beyond description, andthe draperies and pictures upon the walls were of exceptional beauty.Everything was in perfect order, yet the place seemed wholly deserted.
After inspecting the rooms on this floor of the castle they foundanother stairway, built of polished white marble, with elaboratelycarved marble balustrades. This they also descended, and discoveredthat the rooms on the lower floor were even more splendid than thosethey had already seen.
Occupying the entire central portion of the castle was a great marblehall, having a domed ceiling, and windows which looked upon the tallcity to the east of the wall, as well as upon the low city to the west.There were also great entrance doors, admitting people from both sidesof the wall; but these doors were closed.
They were not locked, however, and John said to his companions: "Weknow nothing of the owner of this castle, nor of the people inhabitingthe opposite sides of the great wall. They may prove to be either ourenemies or our friends, so I advise that we be cautious until we knowwhat treatment we may expect from them. Two of us should remain herewhile the third boldly enters into the cities to make inquiries."
"I'll go," said Chick.
"No, indeed; you're too young and too small," objected Para Bruin.
"But I'm just a regular child, while you're a rubber bear and JohnDough's a gingerbread man," said the Cherub. "They wouldn't thinkanything of my being here; but if either of you two go there's liableto be trouble."
"The Cherub is wise for one so young," observed John. "Therefore wewill let the child visit the cities and report to us. Having found thecastle deserted, we will take the liberty of occupying it until ourlittle friend returns."
"THE CHERUB IS WISE FOR ONE SO YOUNG"]
So they opened one of the great doors, and Chick walked boldly out intothe main street of the high and narrow city to the eastward.
Pacing before the entrance, as if guarding the doorway from without,was a soldier who stood more than seven feet in height, but who was soexceedingly thin and slender that it really seemed as if some strangepower had stretched him out lengthwise. But Chick noticed that all thepeople walking along the streets of this city were just as tall andslight as the soldier, and quickly understood why the doors and windowsof their houses had been built so singularly tall and narrow.
The soldier seemed surprised when the Cherub emerged from the desertedcastle, but he took off his tall hat and bowed politely. His uniformwas of blue cloth, with brass buttons.
"What place is this?" asked Chick.
"This, beauteous stranger, is the great country of Hiland," answeredthe soldier, respectfully. "And this is the great city of Hie which yousee before you; and the great people you observe are called Hilanders;and I do not suppose there is so great and wonderful a country, orcity, or people anywhere else in all the world."
"What is the castle called?" asked the child.
"We call it the castle of Hilo," said the man. "It was the dwelling ofthe former King of Hilo, who ruled over our great nation as well asover the miserable creatures residing on the other side of the wall."
"But where is your King now?" inquired Chick. "The castle is empty."
"To be sure the castle is vacant at present, for our King is longsince dead," the soldier replied. "But we are patiently awaiting thearrival of his successor. There is a prophecy that our next ruler willbe a King who is wise and just, but not made of flesh and blood, andalthough this seems an impossible thing, our people hope that theprophecy will some day
be fulfilled."
"But why don't you make one of your own people king?" asked Chick.
"Because the island is divided into two sections, and one king mustrule both sides of the wall," replied the man. "Of course we would notallow one of the insignificant Loes to rule us, nor will they consentto allow one of our noble Hies to rule them. Therefore we must getalong without a king until the arrival of the wise and just ruler whois neither flesh nor blood."
"Who are the Loes?" the child asked.
"I have never seen them, my dear, for the great wall divides them fromour superior nation," said the soldier; "but they are said to be shortand squat, and very disagreeable. They live on the other side of theisland."
"Thank you for the information," said Chick, and then turned andre-entered the castle.
"What did you find out?" inquired John and Para Bruin, in the samebreath.
The child carefully related the conversation with the Hie soldier, andthen said:
"Now, I'll go into the other city, and find out what the people on thatside of the wall have to say."
So John and Para opened the door at the opposite side of the archedhall, and the Cherub passed out and came upon another soldier, whoseemed to be standing guard at the castle entrance. This one wasdressed in a red uniform, with silver buttons, and was the shortestand fattest person Chick had ever beheld. But his broad face wassmiling and good-natured in expression, and he tipped his low, flat hatgracefully to the pretty Incubator Baby.
"What country is this?" asked the child.
"This, most lovely one, is the superb and grand country of Loland,"replied the man; "and this splendid city you behold is the city of Lo;and our magnificent people are called Lolanders."
"What is the castle called?" Chick inquired, curiously.
"It is the Castle of Lohi, inhabited by our King--when we have one--whoalso rules the poor barbarians who dwell outside of our paradise, onthe other side of the wall."
"When do you expect to have another king?" asked the Cherub.
"Whenever one comes who is wise and just, and is not made of fleshand blood," replied the man. "We have a legend that such a king shallrule us, but for my part I do not believe there is a person of thatdescription in all the world."
"Yet there may be," suggested Chick, who had been thinking that thedescription just fitted John Dough.
"Oh, of course there may be," agreed the man, cordially; "and if thereis, and he comes to our island, every one on both sides the wall willhail him as king."
Looking along the streets of the city of Lo, Chick saw that all thepeople were as short and fat as this soldier, and that they waddledlike ducks when they walked. But they seemed as busy as bees in a hive,and appeared to be happy and contented; so the child could not decidewhich was the finest country--that of the short people or that of thetall ones. Both cities seemed prosperous, and on both sides of the wallthe island was charmingly beautiful.
It may appear strange to the reader that neither of the soldiers Chickhad spoken with made any attempt to question the child. But afterwardour friends found that one of the established laws of the islandforbade any of the people to ask questions either of strangers or ofthose inhabiting the country on the opposite side of the wall. However,they were not forbidden to answer any questions properly addressed tothem, and by nature both the tall people and the short people wereextremely courteous and polite.
Chick decided this queer law was to blame for the misunderstandingbetween the two nations, for, as neither country knew anything at allabout the other one, a feeling of mutual contempt and indifference hadarisen between them.
John Dough and the Cherub Page 18