Part 9

When they arrived at the market-place, there was a square of lead life guardsmen all round the door of the House of Cards, to keep the crowd off. The market-place was packed full of dolls, shouting and singing, and looking up to the top story, where they had heard that the Queen was imprisoned. Peggy could see the open window at which she had sat; but she did not appear at it.

What seemed more remarkable still was that there was nobody on the balcony of the first floor, either. It might have been thought that Wooden’s aunt, at least, would have been there, watching what was going on. But there was nobody to be seen.

They rode into the empty space kept by the soldiers. Teddy whispered something to Colonel Jim, who got off his charger and went up the steps and knocked at the door. As he waited for a minute before it was opened, all the dolls on that side of the market-place were quite silent.

The door was opened by Mr. Emma. Peggy could not hear what passed between him and Colonel Jim, but presently Colonel Jim turned sharp round and came down the steps again. “The Queen’s gone,” he said. “So are the other prisoners. Selim and Rose came and fetched them half an hour ago.”

Here was a piece of news! Mr. Emma was summoned, and made to tell exactly what had happened. The Lord Chancellor asked most of the questions, for he was out of reach of the crowd and had somewhat recovered from his fright. Besides, he was used to asking questions, and liked doing it.

It seemed that Selim had come to the prison in a closed carriage, accompanied by Rose; and another empty carriage had come with them. He had seemed to Mr. Emma to be in a very nervous state, but he had not seen much of him, because he had sat in the carriage all the time, while Rose had gone in to the House of Cards, and fetched the Queen down. Mr. Emma had not known it was the Queen until this moment, for he had kept himself shut up in the House of Cards, with Mrs. Emma and the baby, and had not tried to find out what the crowd outside was so excited about.

The Lord Chancellor asked him what the Queen had said when she had come downstairs.

“She didn’t say nothing, your Honour,” said Mr. Emma. “She looked kind of proud-like, and held her head high. If she’d had her crown on I should have knowed it was the Queen by the way she behaved.”

Well, the Queen had got into the carriage where Selim was, and then Rose had gone upstairs and fetched down Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt. Wooden’s aunt had seemed very pleased with herself, according to Mr. Emma. She had imitated a grand lady mincing down the steps, and said to him, “Out of the way, Bobby, we’re going to the palace. Haw! Haw!” This had offended Mr. Emma, for he had left the police force some time before.

Rose had got into the first carriage, with the Queen and Selim, and the other three had got into the second carriage. Then they had all driven away.

That was Mr. Emma’s story, and about all that could be got out of him. The two carriages had driven off in the direction of the palace, and Rose must have told Wooden’s aunt that that was where they were going to. The carriages were not the gilt and glass coaches that were generally used from the palace, but ordinary landaus. They had not stood before the House of Cards very long, and nobody had taken much notice of them. A few dolls had seen the Queen come out and get into the carriage, but they had not known who she was.

Well, what was to be done now? It seemed plain that Selim had found out somehow that the people were beginning to find out all about his wickedness, and had kidnapped the Queen. Why he had also taken off Lady Grace, and Wooden’s mother and aunt, was not quite so plain, but perhaps it was because he thought they knew too much, and he wanted to get them out of the way.

“What we had better do,” said the Lord Chancellor, “is to go back to the palace and interview King Selim. I’m all for prompt action in these matters, and I propose we start at once.”

“Oh, you silly old thing!” said Teddy. “As if he had gone to the palace! You ought to know better than that, at your age.”

“But Wooden’s aunt said they were going to the palace,” said the Lord Chancellor. “You wouldn’t accuse her of telling a lie, I suppose!”

“Rose told her so,” said Wooden. “You can’t believe _anything_ that _she_ says. Aunt would like to think she was going to the palace, and Rose must have told her that to quiet her.”

It was rather clever of Wooden to think of this, for dolls are apt to believe everything they are told. But when a doll has once made herself disbelieved, as Rose had done, there is an end of their trusting her.

“There is a good deal in what you say,” said the Lord Chancellor. “But if they have not gone to the palace, where _have_ they gone? It might be as well to go there and see if anybody knows.”

They might perhaps have done this, for, although Selim would not have been likely to tell anybody where he meant to go, still, they might have picked up some sort of a clue. But just as they were discussing it, our old friend Mr. Noah pushed his way through the soldiers who were guarding the square. He was, of course, a royal servant, and wore a medal to show it, so they let him through. He brought the important information that the two carriages had been seen driving fast through the town on the road to the sea.

Directly Teddy heard this, he gave a whoop, and said, “Let’s after them, then, as fast as we can go. Come on, all!” He dug his heels into his horse’s sides, and galloped off. The soldiers parted to let him through, and the crowd scattered away from him on all sides, as he galloped through the streets and was lost to sight.

Now this was all very well. Teddy was anxious to catch up the fugitives, but if he did catch them up he couldn’t very well do anything all by himself. Besides, he seemed to be about the only one who had any ideas in his head--or, at least, ideas that were worth anything--and if he went off all by himself, the others were likely to make a muddle of things. It was his “flightiness” coming out, but he had done so well already that he might be forgiven for it.

However, his going off like that was not so bad as it might have been. If it had been left to the Lord Chancellor to say what was to be done next, it would have taken a long time to do anything, and then very likely what would have been done would have been wrong. And Colonel Jim, though brave as a lion, and handsome, too, was not intellectual. But Mr. Noah seemed to have a few ideas in his head, and some spirit to carry them out. Of course he was not exactly a doll, though he lived in Dolltown, and he had Oriental blood in his veins, or whatever fluid dolls do have, and this made him rather more clever than might have been expected from his wooden expression. He was angry, too, at having had orders given him about his Ark by Selim, and wanted to get at him and tell him what he thought of him.

Anyhow, as the Lord Chancellor was talking and talking, Mr. Noah cut him short. “What are you wasting all this time for?” he asked. “What we’ve got to do is to go after them as quick as we can, and take the soldiers with us. Give me a horse, and let’s be off.”

There was a horse to spare, and Mr. Noah got on to it. He looked rather funny in his long yellow robe, and being a sort of sailor he was not used to horses. But he managed to stick on all right, and as the horse was fortunately a quiet one, he soon got used to the unusual motion. He said to the others, “Now, you come after me!” and without waiting any longer he trotted off.

The others all followed him. Colonel Jim gave some orders to his men, and they formed themselves into fours and fell behind. It was quite a gay cavalcade that went trotting through the streets of Dolltown, and this time the crowd cheered them to the echo, and forgot to hiss and boo at the Lord Chancellor.

XV

THE PURSUIT

They trotted along through the streets of the town, and soon got clear of the crowd. But the news of what had happened had spread all over Dolltown by this time, and there were many dolls at the windows and on the pavements to see them pass. They did not know yet that Selim had kidnapped Queen Rosebud, but they knew that she was alive, and that he was a usurper. When they saw all the soldiers they knew that something stirring was going to happen, and by the way they shouted and waved their hands it seemed that Selim had very few friends in Dolltown, and had better look out for himself if he ever came back there.

At the end of the town, where the country began, there was a gate, and a sentry box beside it, where a wooden sentry was keeping guard. They stopped to question him. He remembered the two carriages driving through the gate, and had wondered who they belonged to. It was not his duty to challenge them, as he was there chiefly for ornament; but when Teddy had galloped up, he had asked him, more out of curiosity than anything else, why he was going so fast. Teddy had said, “Open the gate and I’ll tell you.” So he had opened the gate, and the moment Teddy had got through it he had galloped off again, shouting out to the sentry, “I’m going fast because my horse is.” Of course this was true, but it had made the sentry angry; and he had been still more annoyed when Teddy had jumped himself round on his horse, just as if he had been a rider in a circus, and ridden away backwards, making long noses at him. The sentry said that this was disrespectful to a servant of the Crown, and asked the Lord Chancellor to send Teddy to prison for it. But they had no time to waste over his grievances, and set off again.

They trotted through the country roads, and Peggy enjoyed the ride very much. She felt quite safe, with all the soldiers riding behind them, but thought it was hardly necessary to have brought so many of them, as Mr. Noah and Teddy, to say nothing of Colonel Jim and his two special troopers, would have been enough to take Selim prisoner when they caught up with him. But it was a good thing that they had brought the soldiers, as will presently appear.

By-and-by they came to an inn, which was a farm as well, and looked very peaceful and comfortable, with its neat toy barns and outhouses among the trees and fields, and the toy animals feeding all about them. They stopped for a minute or two to ask questions of the innkeeper, who was a wooden doll of a rather stolid appearance. When the Lord Chancellor began to ask him questions he went and fetched his wife, and she was more intelligent, and gave her answers well.

She said that the two carriages had stopped at the inn, and a lady in the first one had put her head out and asked for a glass of water. The blinds of the carriage were drawn down, but when the innkeeper’s wife had brought the glass of water she had seen the lady who asked for it give it to another lady inside the carriage. She thought that this second lady had tried to say something to her, but the first lady had put her hand over her mouth and stopped her, and then somebody else in a corner of the carriage--she thought it was a man by the size of his hand--had passed the glass out to her, with a piece of money, and the window had been pushed up at once and the carriages had driven off.

She was rather confused about it all, as it had passed so quickly; but it seemed plain that Queen Rosebud had thought of this way of making it known that she was being carried off. She must have said that she didn’t feel very well, and would like a glass of water at the next house they stopped at, meaning to tell whoever brought it who she was. But Rose had prevented her. This was one more thing against Rose.

That was not all the innkeeper’s wife told them. As the carriage drove off, a wooden lady had put her head out of the second one and called out, “Here we go round the mulberry bush!” The innkeeper’s wife had thought afterwards that perhaps these were some lunatics--for there are a few lunatics amongst dolls--being taken out for an airing. But, of course, it had only been Wooden’s aunt acting in her usual silly fashion.

But the odd thing was that the innkeeper’s wife had seen nothing of Teddy. She said she must have seen him if he had passed along the road, as she had been in her kitchen, which was in front of the house, all the time. So as they went on they had something to wonder about, as to what had become of Teddy. Wooden thought he had missed the way, but this seemed impossible, as the road ran straight towards the sea. The Lord Chancellor thought that he might have tumbled off his horse, but this seemed more unlikely still, as he was clever enough to jump about on it and ride backwards. What Peggy thought she kept to herself. It was that Teddy had some clever plan in his head, which they would hear about all in good time, and had never meant to catch up the carriages all by himself. For of course he could easily have done so if he had liked, as he could go much faster than they could.

They went up the road over the hills, which you remember that the river had come through in a gorge, and when they came to the top of it they could see the sea a few miles away. The road ran straight down to it. They could see several specks on the road at a good distance off, but there was nothing that looked like the two carriages.

This was a disappointment, as they had quite expected to catch sight of the fugitives from the top of the hill, and to come up with them before they could reach the sea. If they had already got there, it seemed as if they must have escaped them after all.

But it seemed impossible that the carriages should have got so far ahead. They had not been more than half an hour behind them at the inn, and even if they had not gained on them since, they must have seen them on the road in front, if they had been there. So they must have left the straight road, and the question was what to do next.

As they were talking it over, Peggy thought she heard a cry in the wood on their right. She listened with all her ears, and then thought she heard another. She told Wooden, and all of them listened.

Yes, there was no doubt about it. The noise was some distance off, and could not be heard very plainly; but it kept on, and seemed to be somebody calling for help. They got off their horse and went into the wood, in the direction from which the call seemed to be coming. As they got farther in among the trees it became louder. It was like a woman calling “Help! Help!” every second or two, but in a strangled voice, as if there were something in the way.

Wooden called out “Coming! Coming!” and they ran on as fast they could.

They came to a little clearing in the wood, and there, sitting on the ground with her back against a great fir-tree, was Wooden’s unfortunate aunt. She had a handkerchief tied over her mouth, and a rope went round her body and tied her tight to the tree. Her hands were behind her, and seemed to be tied too, so that she could not free herself. Altogether, she was in a very sorry plight.

But she did not seem to have altogether lost her spirits, for when she saw them coming towards her she kicked her legs up and gave a little sort of crow, which sounded rather pathetic, coming through her handkerchief.

Wooden untied the handkerchief, murmuring sounds of distress and sympathy all the time, while Colonel Jim busied himself with the rope, and when he found he couldn’t untie it cut it with his sword. In a very short time, Wooden’s aunt was standing up free, shaking the pine needles off her skirts.

“I thought somebody would come if I yelled long enough,” she said, in quite a cheerful voice, which did her credit, as it showed she had a great deal of pluck, in spite of the numerous faults of her nature.

“But how did you come to be here, dear?” asked Wooden. “And what has become of mother?”

“Oh, yer mother’s all right,” said Wooden’s aunt. “She’s with the quality. I don’t like their ways of going on, so I asked them to kindly drop me anywhere that was convenient.”

“But why did they tie you up like this, dear?” asked Wooden.

“Oh, they thought we was playing Blind Man’s Bluff,” said her aunt.

It was all very well for her to take it in this light-hearted spirit, and Peggy rather admired her for it. But she must have had a very rough time, for her dress was all torn, and her wrists were scarred where the rope had bound them. As she spoke she was rubbing them, to restore the circulation, and she looked white, and as if she might faint at any moment.

Fortunately, there was a little pool of water quite near, and Colonel Jim, who showed himself kind and useful in this emergency, filled his helmet with water and gave it to her to drink, as she sat on the ground again with Wooden kneeling by her side and holding her.

“Ah, that’s better,” she said, smacking her lips, when she had had a good drink. “I’ve been looking at that pond and wishing I could get at it. Drat that Selim! I wish I could get at _him_! _I_’d mark him.”

She said these last sentences in her usual vigorous way, which showed that she was recovering; and when she had rested a little longer, they got her story out of her.

“They’d said we was going to be took to the palace,” she said, “and at first I didn’t think nothing of going such a long way round. None of us didn’t. But by-and-by Lady Grace says, ‘I wonder who’s in the first carriage,’ she says. ‘Oh, I’ll soon find that out,’ I says, and I pokes my head out of window and hollers out to the driver, ‘Hi, Mister! Who have you got in front there?’”

“Was that before or after you had passed the inn where they got some water?” asked the Lord Chancellor.

“Never you mind whether it was before or after,” said Wooden’s aunt. “I’m telling this story, and I’m going to tell it in my own way.”

This was not very polite of her, but she had been through a great deal, and her nerves were in an irritable state. The Lord Chancellor asked no more questions, and she finished her story to the end.

She said the coachman told her that it was the King who was in the first carriage, and advised her not to put her head out of window again as he had orders to hit anybody who did so with his whip.

This seemed such an extraordinary order for him to have received that the three dolls in the carriage began to suspect that there was something wrong, especially as they had now been driving for a long time, and when Wooden’s aunt had put her head out of window she had seen that they were getting near the hills, which she recognized. It was not exactly observant of them not to have suspected something before, but, as you know by now, dolls are apt to take everything that happens as a matter of course.

Well, by the time the carriages had reached the top of the hill, the three dolls had come to the conclusion that they were being run away with. Wooden’s aunt said she wasn’t going to stand that, and was going to ask Selim what he meant by it. She said she would jump out of the carriage as it was going, and run forward to the first carriage. The others said that the coachman would hit her with his whip, but she said she would run the risk of his missing her.

Well, as the carriages came to the top of the hill, she opened the carriage door quickly and jumped out, and ran forward to the first carriage. The driver shouted at her, and gave her a great cut with his whip, which unfortunately did not miss her, but hit her in the face, where there was still an ugly-looking mark. But she hardly felt it at the time, and ran forward to the first carriage, shouting out, “Hi, you there, Selim! Come out and show your ugly face!”

Oh, there was no doubt about the pluck of Wooden’s aunt, in spite of the numerous faults of her character.

The rest was soon told. Selim had been furious with her, and he and Rose had dragged her into the wood and tied her to the tree, and then they had gone off. But before they had left her, Rose had stood in front of her and laughed her scornful laugh, and said, “That’s for calling me Sawdust. Perhaps you’ll be sorry now for crossing the path of Rose, who never forgets and never forgives.”

This was one more thing against Rose.

The Lord Chancellor asked Wooden’s aunt if she had any idea where the carriages were going, and told her they could not see them on the straight road to Dollport. This was the name of the little town by the sea, where the dolls landed from “over there.”

“Well, silly,” said Wooden’s aunt, “if they ain’t on that road, of course they’re on the other one. It don’t take a pair of specs to see that.”

The Lord Chancellor, slightly annoyed at being addressed in this fashion, said stiffly, “I should have thought of that if I had been given time. We have delayed long enough. Let us at once take the road to Dollfort.” Now, Dollfort was the place in which the wooden soldiers of Toyland were trained. If Selim had gone there, it looked as if he expected the wooden soldiers to be on his side.

XVI

COLONEL JIM ATTEMPTS A RESCUE

The road to Dollfort turned to the right at the top of the hill, and ran for some way through the wood. When it got to the bottom of the hill there was a stretch of open country for about a mile; then there was another thick wood on another hill.

There was no sign of the carriages on the straight bit of road, but the pursuers had been some time freeing Wooden’s aunt and listening to her story, and could hardly have expected to catch them up yet. Wooden’s aunt was riding between Peggy and Wooden. She had nearly recovered from her disagreeable experience, and was inclined to like being on horseback. She said the motion reminded her of being in a small boat on a choppy sea.

When they had got about halfway between the two woods, Colonel Jim halted them with a sharp word of command. “Women and children behind!!” he said, and then ordered his men in front.

It was a good thing that this was done, for as they approached the second wood two armed wooden soldiers sprang out of it and levelled their rifles at them. They did not fire them, but it would have given Peggy and the dolls a nasty fright if they had been riding in front.

The wooden sentries challenged Colonel Jim, riding at the head of his little troop, with a “Halt!” and a “Who goes there?” He said “Friend!” but they did not say “Pass Friend!” as is the usual custom. They told him that the King had recently gone through to Dollfort, and had told them that they were to let nobody pass until they received further orders from the fort.

Now Colonel Jim engaged in the duties of his profession was quite a different person from the amiable but rather slow-witted person we have hitherto seen. He didn’t tell the sentries that Selim wasn’t the King at all, or engage in any argument with them. He said, “I’m an officer of the Royal Body Guard, so your orders can’t apply to me.” Then he gave them the password for the day, which, as you remember, was the word “pot-plants.”

Now, you must also remember that, although Selim had thought he might be followed in his flight, which was the reason why he had given orders to the sentries to let no one pass the wood, he could not have known that he would be immediately followed by a troop of Household cavalry, which is, of course, the special protection of a King or Queen. So he had naturally not warned the sentries of this, and as Colonel Jim spoke with authority, they were inclined to obey him.

“Well, I suppose it’s all right for you and your men,” said one of the sentries, “but what about these here civs?” He meant civilians.