Dick, Marjorie and Fidge Part 28

"Dumflopety--golopegee--gal--popo--sum--delopotomex," remarked the Little Panjandrum, as he walked away, escorted by his retinue.

"He says that your 'hard labor' sentence is, to carry the State Umbrella in future, and that you are to commence your duties in one hour from now; in the meantime you may consider yourself at liberty till then."

The Amba.s.sador followed after the Little Panjandrum, and the children gathered around the poor Dodo, full of sympathy for his misfortunes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "'Go it, Dodo!' cried the Palaeotherium."]

"Have they gone?" whispered the Prehistoric Doctor, coming forward from behind a bush, behind which he had been hiding.

"Yes," said Marjorie. "Isn't it a shame the poor Dodo should always be getting into hot water?"

"Never mind," said the Doctor; "I've found something that will make him happy. Look here!"

The Dodo raised himself up from the ground, and gave an inquiring glance at the Doctor who held out a pair of boxing-gloves.

"Oh! what beauties!" said the Dodo. "How fat they are! Are they for me?"

"Yes, if you would like them," said the Doctor. "I have a pair, too.

Let's try a round together--shall we?"

"All right!" shouted the Dodo, getting up excitedly, and hastily fastening on the gloves. "Now then--guard!" And he went for the Doctor furiously. The Doctor squared up, and was soon boxing as skilfully as the Dodo.

The Palaeotherium and the Eteraedarium, hearing the noise, came forward and joined the crowd of creatures, which by this time had collected in a ring. And amid shouts of "Go it, Dodo!" "Three cheers for the Dodo!"

the first round concluded, the ungainly bird winning a decided victory.

They were just about to begin again, when they heard a succession of piercing screams from the direction in which the lake was situated.

CHAPTER XXII.

TURNED TO STONE.

"Good gracious! what's that?" inquired the Dodo, as the screams continued.

"We'd better go and see," said d.i.c.k, practically running off in the direction of the lake, followed by the others.

On pa.s.sing the clump of trees and evergreens, which obstructed their view, they discovered the Little Panjandrum, in a great state of agitation, hiding behind the official Umbrella, his body-attendant lying p.r.o.ne on the ground in a state of abject fear; while the rest of the suite, having cast aside their musical instruments, were rus.h.i.+ng away, shouting l.u.s.tily.

On the opposite side of the path stood a few of the prehistoric creatures which accompanied the children on their excursion to the Crystal Palace.

They were looking at the Little Panjandrum with a mild surprise, and seemed quite at a loss to know what all the hullabaloo was about.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Little Panjandrum and suite are alarmed.]

"Gulla--hubly--olla--bolee!" shouted the Little Panjandrum, pointing to the animals with his umbrella.

"Oh, they're all right, your Importance," said the Dodo; "they are friends of mine."

"Friends, indeed!" exclaimed the Amba.s.sador, coming from where he had been hiding behind a tree. "Pretty friends! What do you call the creatures?"

"Oh, there's the Archaeopteryx, you know, and the Eteraedarium, and the Palaeo----"

"Stop! stop!" interrupted the Amba.s.sador, as each of the animals mentioned bowed gravely. "I absolutely decline to know creatures with names like _those_. I'm sure they are not respectable, and I'm not at all sure, even now, that they are not dangerous; however, I shall know how to deal with _them_ presently. The penalty for alarming the Little Panjandrum is a very severe one." And he frowned very sternly at the creatures, who looked rather uncomfortable, and waddled off in the direction of the lake, whispering together in a decidedly scared way.

"You didn't tell me you had all these hideous objects with you,"

continued the Amba.s.sador, addressing the Dodo.

"I thought you knew," stammered the unlucky bird; "they are prehistoric, you know," he added, apologetically.

[Ill.u.s.trastion: There was some consolation, he was allowed to wear his gloves.]

"That only makes it worse," declared the Amba.s.sador. "In that case they ought to be dead, every one of them, ever so long ago. They have no right to be prowling about at a highly-respectable place like the Crystal Palace. No wonder there's n.o.body about; they've frightened them away, that's what it is. And you're to blame as much as anybody for bringing them here."

"I didn't!" gasped the Dodo.

"You did," said the Amba.s.sador, emphatically. "You said they were your friends; so they _must_ have come with you. And I'll tell you what, in order to prevent you from picking up any more undesirable acquaintances, you shall just commence your duties as Umbrella Bearer at once," and, untying the ribbons by which the Little Panjandrum's attendant was attached to His Importance, the Amba.s.sador, bringing forth a heavy pair of chains from his capacious pockets, proceeded to chain the Dodo up to the Little Panjandrum's waistband.

The poor Dodo looked the picture of misery as the Umbrella was put into his hand.

"M--may I have m--my gloves?" he whimpered.

The Amba.s.sador, after considering a minute, gave his consent, on the score that it _might_ improve his appearance, and caused the black attendant to hunt for the missing one, which had been thrown down on the ground near to the roundabout.

He soon returned with it, and the Dodo, with a delighted chuckle, put the pair on, and, after smoothing them carefully, regarded his hands very complacently, and seemed to consider having them some compensation for the degraded occupation to which he had been put.

"I'll go now and settle the others," declared the Amba.s.sador. "What did you say their names were?" he inquired, sternly, of the Dodo.

The poor bird called out the names one by one, and the Amba.s.sador carefully entered them in his pocket-book, and then stalked majestically away in the direction of the lake, while the Little Panjandrum settled himself on a gaudily-colored rug, which the black attendant carefully spread on the ground at his feet, and with a self-satisfied smile on his little round face gravely twiddled his thumbs and took no notice of anybody.

"Go and see what he does to them," whispered the Dodo, referring to the Amba.s.sador and the creatures.

Nothing loth, the children ran off to the lake to see what was happening. Pus.h.i.+ng aside the bushes, they could see the Amba.s.sador standing on the edge of the path, waving a wand in one hand, while in the other he flourished a legal-looking doc.u.ment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "In the name of the Panjandrum, I command you."]

The prehistoric creatures were scrambling through the water, and getting as far away as possible on to the islands in the middle of the lake.

"All you Palaeotheriums, Eteraedariums, Archaeopteryx, Megatheriums, Pleisiosauruses, Ichthyosauruses, and other prehistoric wretches, in the name of the Panjandrum, I command you--_be turned into stone_."

When the Amba.s.sador uttered these terrible words a most singular thing happened. In whatever att.i.tude the creatures were they remained so; and gradually each a.s.sumed a stony and lifeless expression, and the spell or incantation which the Amba.s.sador had p.r.o.nounced had evidently taken effect.

The children were very much alarmed, and ran back to the Dodo, and in a hurried whisper informed him of what had occurred.

"Turned all the prehistoric animals into stone, has he?" said the bird, gleefully; "then I can see a splendid way out of my troubles. Wait till the Amba.s.sador returns, and you will see some capital fun." And the Dodo struck a rigid att.i.tude, and remained in that position, totally disregarding the questions with which the children plied him.