The Joyous Story of Toto Part 13

They have none to speak of; which makes it all the more remarkable for them to be able to tie three knots in them. As soon as this was accomplished, the Prince declared that he was ready to start.

"So am I," said the Princ.i.p.al Whale. And taking the Prince of the Poles on his back, he sailed away for the Southern seas.

They went on and on for several days without any adventures; till one day the young bear saw a huge jelly-fish floating towards them. "See!"

he cried, "there is a lovely creature, as bright and beautiful as the Rory-Bories. Surely this is the creature for me to marry!"

"I don't think you would like to marry that," said the whale. "That is a jelly-fish. But we will go and speak to it, and you can judge for yourself." So the whale swam up to the jelly-fish, who looked at them, but said nothing.

"My dear," said the Prince, "you are very beautiful."

"Yah!" said the jelly-fish (who was in reality extremely ignorant, and had never gone to dancing-school), "that's more than I can say for you!"

"I am sorry to hear you say that," said the Prince, mildly.

"Will you marry me, and be Princess of the Poles?"

"Marry your grandmother!" replied the jelly-fish in a very rude manner; and off it flounced under the water.

The young bear looked sadly after it. "It was very pretty," he said; "why did it want me to marry my grandmother?"

"It didn't," replied the whale. "That was only its way of speaking. An unmannerly minx! Don't think any more about it," and they continued their voyage.

A couple of days after this they met the swordfish and his daughter.

"These are some friends of mine," said the Princ.i.p.al Whale. "We will see if they can aid us in our search."

The swordfish greeted them kindly, and invited them to come down and make him a visit.

"Thank you," said the whale. "We have not time to stop now. We are in search of a creature as bright in color as the Rory-Bories. My young friend here, the Prince of the Poles, is anxious to marry such a creature, if he can only find her."

But the swordfish shook his head, and said he could not think of any one who would answer the description.

"_I_ will marry you if you wish," said the swordfish's daughter, who was much struck by the appearance of the young bear. "I am considered very agreeable, and I think I could make you happy."

"But you are not bright," cried the poor Prince in distress. "You are even black, saving your presence. I don't wish to hurt your feelings, but really you are not at all the sort of creature I was looking for; though I have no doubt," he added, "that you are extremely agreeable."

"You might play I was a Rory-Bory behind a cloud on a dark night,"

suggested the swordfish's daughter.

But the Prince did not think that would do, and the whale agreed with him. "One cannot play," he said, "when one is married." Accordingly they bade a friendly farewell to the swordfish and his daughter, and continued their voyage.

After several days they saw in the distance the coast of Africa. As they approached it, the Prince saw something bright on the land, near the edge of the water. "See!" he cried, "there is something very bright and beautiful. Let us go nearer, and see what it is." So they went nearer, and saw a long line of scarlet flamingoes, drawn up on the beach like a company of soldiers.

"Prince," said the Princ.i.p.al Whale, "your journey has not been in vain. I really think these are the creatures you have been looking for."

As he spoke, the flamingoes, who had caught sight of the strange creatures approaching the sh.o.r.e, rose into the air, with a great flapping of wings, and flew slowly away.

The Prince was in ecstasies. "Oh, Whale!" he cried, "these _are_ Rory-Bories, real live Rory-Bories! See how they shoot up, like long streamers! See how they glow and shine! One still remains on the sh.o.r.e, the loveliest of all. She is my bride! She is the Princess of the Poles! Swim close to the sh.o.r.e, good Whale!"

The whale swam up to the sh.o.r.e, the water being fortunately deep enough to allow him to do so, and the bear addressed the solitary flamingo, which still stood upon the beach, watching them with great curiosity. This was, in fact, the Princess of the Flamingoes; and besides being rather curious by nature, she thought it would be beneath her dignity to fly away just because some strange creatures were approaching. So she stood still, in an att.i.tude of royal ease.

"Lovely creature!" said the Prince, "tell me, oh, tell me, are you really and truly a Rory-Bory? I am sure you must be, from your brilliant and exquisite beauty."

"Not quite," answered the flamingo. "Not _quite_ the same thing, though very nearly. I am a flamingo, and the Rory-Bory is a flaming go; p.r.o.nounced differently, you perceive. That is the princ.i.p.al difference between the two families, though there are some other minor variations, which may be caused by the climate. What is your pleasure with me, and what might you happen to be?"

"My pleasure is to marry you!" exclaimed the young bear rapturously.

"I am a white bear, and am called the Prince of the Poles. After my father's death I shall become Solar-Polarity of the Hypopeppercorns.

Will you be my bride, and reign with me as queen? You shall sit upon the North Pole, and direct the movements of the icebergs."

The flamingo closed one eye, and drew up one leg in an att.i.tude of graceful and maidenly coyness. "Your manners and bearing interest me much," she said after a pause; "and I should be glad to do as you suggest, but I fear it is impossible. We are not allowed to marry any one with more than two legs; and you, I perceive, have four."

The poor Prince was quite staggered by this remark, for he was proud of his legs, which, though short, were finely formed. He was silent in dismay. But now the Princ.i.p.al Whale interposed. "Would it not be possible to make an exception in this case?" he asked. "My young friend has come a very long way in search of you, and has quite set his heart on this marriage."

"Alas!" said the flamingo, "I fear not. It is the first law in the kingdom, and I dare not break it."

"What shall I do, then?" cried the Prince in despair. "If I cannot have you, I will go back and marry the swordfish's daughter, and you would be sorry to have me do that if you knew how ugly she was."

"In difficult cases," said the flamingo, "we always consult the hippopotamouse. I should advise you to do the same."

"The hippopotamouse?" exclaimed the Prince. "Where is he to be found?

Tell me, that I may fly to him at once."

"He lives in the middle of the central plain of Pongolia," replied the flamingo.

"In that case," said the Princ.i.p.al Whale, "I must leave you, my Prince, as travelling on land is one of the pleasures I must deny myself, being const.i.tutionally unfitted for it."

The Prince thanked the whale warmly for his kindness, and after taking a most affecting leave of the Flamingo Princess, he set off for the central plain of Pongolia.

He travelled night and day, and after many days he arrived at the very middle of the plain. There he found the hippopotamouse, sitting in the middle of a river, nibbling a huge cheese.

This singular animal combined all the chief qualities of a hippopotamus and a mouse. His appearance was truly astonishing, and filled the mind of the Prince with mingled feelings. He stood for some time gazing at him in silent amazement.

Presently the hippopotamouse looked up sharply. "Well," he said, "what do you want? Do you think I am pretty?"

"N-no!" replied the young bear. "You may be good; but I don't think you are pretty. I want," he continued, "to marry the Flamingo Princess. I am the Prince of the Poles, son of the Solar-Polarity of the Hypopeppercorns. You may have heard of my father."

"Oh! ah! yes!" said the hippopotamouse. "I've heard of _him_. Well, why _don't_ you marry her?"

"Because I have four legs," answered the Prince sadly; "and it is against the law for a flamingo to marry any one with more than two."

"True. I had forgotten that," said the hippopotamouse.

"Can you suggest any way out of the difficulty?" inquired the Prince.

Without making any reply, the hippopotamouse plunged into meditation and the cheese at the same moment, and nibbled and meditated in silence for several hours; while the unhappy Prince stood first on one leg, and then on the other, endeavoring in vain to conceal his impatience. Finally, when he was quite exhausted with waiting, the hippopotamouse took his head out of the cheese.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "My young friend," he said, "I see but one way."]