CHAPTER VIII.
FUN WITH THE WITCHING WAVE.
Just after the Princess had ceased speaking, the air suddenly became very still and the fairy's wand-star began to get dim. Dimmer and dimmer it became, until the stars overhead became so much brighter than it that they furnished the only light to be had. The Prince and Princess, the Flower Folks, and even Matthew Mole who was so accustomed to darkness, turned toward Moon Queen with inquiring looks on their faces, but Fanny Phlox was the first to speak.
"What on earth is the matter?" she asked in a halfwhisper, as the distant hoot of an owl added a weird touch to the stillness. "I'm not afraid of the dark, but this is getting rather spooky to me and I don't see any fun in being scared!"
"What on earth is the matter?" asked Fanny Phlox
"And neither do I," said Penelope Pansy.
"Nor I," added Dora Daisy.
"Please let me have just a word," interposed Moon Queen. "There isn't any reason to be frightened while I am with you and very soon you will see the reason for this darkness. So just be patient and remember the fun that I have promised you."
"Sure, we will be patient," said Caleb Cactus. "Why, there wasn't anything to be afraid of, anyway."
"Huh! you are talking very brave since the fairy has told us there was no danger, but I didn't hear a single chirp from you before she had spoken," chuckled Rufus Rose.
"Yes, he was scared speechless!" laughed Danny Dandelion. "But don't anybody think that I was afraid at all for I am used to this kind of grass and wild scenery."
"Ha! ha! I notice that neither you nor Rufus said a single word before the fairy spoke," returned Caleb. "How about that -- were you scared speechless, too?"
"Not in a thousand years!" said Rufus. "Don't forget that all of my people were once wild roses and lived out in the woods all the time. Why, I still have cousins who are just as wild as Danny Dandelion. You see, I have many more petals than these cousins have, but the extra petals were grown from the large number of stamens which I once had. You'll notice that I now have very few stamens, which, as everybody knows, are the little stems that stick up from the center of a blossom."
"You have told some interesting things about yourself, but to hear you boys talk to each other almost anybody would think that you were enemies instead of friends," laughed Moon Queen. "However, I might add that all of the Flower Folks here were once wild -- not WILD in the way that we speak of dangerous animals, but because they grew in the woods without any care or attention from people."
"Oh, look! It's beginning to get lighter!" exclaimed Dora Daisy, just at this juncture.
"And the grass is all gone!" added Danny Dandelion, who knew more about grass than any of the Flower Folks.
"Why, it has turned into a RUG!" joined in Minnie Morning Glory, as the light suddenly became so dazzling that the entire crowd of folks and Matthew Mole blinked their eyes and looked about in a puzzled sort of manner.
"You are right, Minnie, it is a Rug," explained Moon Queen. "In fact, it's really the Rajah's Rug, a most wonderful covering that will furnish us with lots of fun before the night is over. It was necessary for my wandstar to become very dim so that the Rajah's Rug could make its appearance without being seen until the fun is ready to begin. Remember that this marvelous Rug was sent to us by a Rajah in far-away India, a country in which you know many clever magicians live. We shall now walk upon it and see what happens."
The fairy then waved her wand and said:
- "Rajah's Rug, the genie's slave,
- Zipp! become a Witching Wave
- To the Land of Fun and Song!"
And something did happen -- something that almost tumbled the entire party of young folks into a heap. The Rajah's Rug suddenly rose up behind them, just as a big wave at the seashore would do, and to keep from falling everybody began running forward as fast as they could. The huge "Witching Wave" then continued to follow them so closely that nobody could stop, although the fairy had risen into the air high enough above the big rolling "wrinkle" to avoid being pushed by it. She was laughing at the efforts of the boys and girls, as they scrambled along in a good natured sort of way and endeavored to keep upon their feet.
The "Witching Wave" followed so closely that nobody could stop.
On and on they ran until Matthew Mole's fur coat made the little fellow so hot that great drops of perspiration began dripping from his nose, but he couldn't stop to complain. It was all that he could do to keep ahead of the big wave that kept pushing at his heels all the time. Once he did slip and fall flat upon his back, but quickly regained his feet when the wave rose still higher and caused him to turn a flip-flop that landed the perspiring little fellow squarely upon his hind legs yet, he only laughed and kept on running.
But the queer race didn't last very much longer, for Moon Queen saw that even the young folks were beginning to get a little tired, so she touched the top of the "Witching Wave" with her wand-star and began to chant:
- "Zippy, zippy, zappy, zoo,
- Witching Wave, go back into
- We must play another game!"
Quicker than anybody could tell it, the huge wave in the Rajah's Rug dropped lower and lower until it finally became just as flat as any other part of the beautiful silk covering upon which the Prince and Princess and the Flower Folks were then standing. And, of course, little Matthew Mole was there, too, as fairy Moon Queen gracefully alighted before them.