CHAPTER IX

JOHNNY AND JANEY GROW VERY TALL AND HAVE SOME STRANGE ADVENTURES

The path led up over a ledge in the mountain, revealing a pretty little valley between the high cliffs on either side. The grass under their feet was soft as velvet as they walked toward a tiny white bridge over a brook.

“This ought to be good ground for growing potatoes!” said Gran’pa, stopping to gaze about him at the charming valley.

Gran’ma was ahead and had started across the little bridge when the rest saw her trip and almost fall. She managed to save herself by catching the railing, and the others, as they ran toward her, heard a bell tinkling up one side of the cliff.

“Some mean person stretched a wire across the bridge and I tripped over it!” Gran’ma cried, as she showed the others the offending wire.

Johnny caught hold of it to pull it loose, but gave a whoop and started jumping up and down.

The bell up the cliff tinkled each time Johnny jumped.

Janey, wishing to help her brother, caught Johnny’s hands to pull them from the tiny wire, and with a cry she too began hopping up and down and shouting for help.

As Gran’ma reached for Janey, Gran’pa pushed her aside. “Don’t touch them!” he yelled. “It’s an electric wire! Stand back!” And with this Gran’pa took the crooked handle of his cane and jerked the wire from Johnny’s hands.

Johnny and Janey sat down with a bump upon the tiny bridge.

“O—oh Brud,” Janey laughed. “Wasn’t that funny!”

“It’s funny, now,” answered her brother, “but it wasn’t pleasant when I first touched the wire! It felt as if I was being stretched out about six feet tall!”

“You _are_ getting longer!” Gran’ma cried, as she helped Johnny to his feet.

“Look at Janey!” he laughed. “Her dress is getting too short for her! Ha! Ha!”

“I don’t see anything funny about it!” Gran’pa said reprovingly. “In fact, it may be very serious!”

Johnny sobered up and twisted about to see himself. Both Johnny and Janey had grown two feet taller and were still growing.

Their clothes were far too short to cover them and they looked ridiculous. Janey began crying as the Soft-Voiced Cow caught up with them.

“Whatever in the world has happened?” she asked as she sat down upon the wire.

Gran’pa cried “LOOK OUT!” but he was too late. The Soft-Voiced Cow jumped three feet in the air and started across the valley, kicking her heels and mooing, while the tiny wire wrapped itself about her tail.

With Gran’pa in the lead, waving his cane, they all ran after the Soft-Voiced Cow.

“Wait a minute!” Gran’pa shouted. “I’ll pull it off with my cane! WAIT A MINUTE!”

But the Soft-Voiced Cow continued running until the wire became tangled in a bush and was pulled from her tail.

When she was free the Soft-Voiced Cow rolled head over heels and turned a complete somersault before she sat up and looked around wonderingly.

“I do believe I lost my cud!” she exclaimed as Gran’pa and the children came up to her.

“Your cud!” Janey exclaimed in wonderment.

“Yes, my chewing gum!” replied the Soft-Voiced Cow. “All cows have cuds for chewing gum.”

“Perhaps you left it at the Little Man’s house!” Janey suggested.

“No! The Soft-Voiced Cow wasn’t in the house!” Gran’ma said, as she joined the group.

“Look in all your pockets!” Johnny suggested.

“Maybe you swallowed it,” Gran’pa remarked.

“Oh, maybe I did!” the Soft-Voiced Cow replied. “Sometimes I do when I’m excited! Yes, here it is!” and with a contented sigh the Soft-Voiced Cow began chewing.

Johnny and Janey had stopped growing by this time and it was well they had, for their clothes were now so tight they were very uncomfortable.

“Now, everyone keep away from the wire!” Gran’pa advised, pointing to it with his stick. “Let us get away from here as fast as we can and watch our steps from now on!”

“It’s funny the Soft-Voiced Cow doesn’t grow taller!” Johnny said to Janey as they followed the others across the valley. “She hasn’t grown a bit!”

“I am glad she hasn’t,” Janey replied, “for it certainly is uncomfortable to be so tall!”

Janey was a head taller than Gran’ma, and Johnny was still taller than she was. Their stockings came nowhere near their knees.

“I thought I heard a bell tinkling when we touched the wire!” Gran’ma said as they walked along.

“So did I,” the Soft-Voiced Cow laughed. “When I did not have the wire fastened about my tail!”

As the travelers came around the bend of the mountain and left the little valley, they saw before them a little hut such as one sees at fair-grounds and pleasure resorts.

A queer little man wearing a stove pipe hat leaned over the counter at the front of the hut and smiled at them. “Was it you who rang the bell?” he inquired.

“I guess all of us rang it!” Gran’ma replied, for she saw the little man was going to be agreeable.

The little man turned and looked at the dial at the side of the hut; the indicator pointed to four.

“You rang the bell four times,” he said in a matter of fact voice, “so you get four cigars!” and he handed out four large black cigars.

“I don’t smoke!” said the Soft-Voiced Cow, with a laugh.

“Nor I either!” Gran’ma. Janey and Johnny chimed in together.

“Then this gentleman may have them!” said the man as he handed the four fat cigars to Gran’pa. “Someone has to have them, you know,” he said, “for each time the bell rings I have to give someone a cigar!”

Gran’pa put the cigars in his pocket. “I’ll smoke them after a while!” he said.

“But they’ll melt!” cried the man. “You must eat them right away!”

Gran’pa pulled the cigars from his pocket, then with a smile he handed one to each of the children and to Gran’ma.

The cigars were made of chocolate candy. “Won’t you have one?” Gran’pa asked, offering the remaining cigar to the Soft-Voiced Cow.

“No, thanks,” the Soft-Voiced Cow replied, “I hardly ever eat candy!”

“I have some nice buttered popcorn!” the man suggested.

“I might have a basket of popcorn, if you have it to spare!” the Soft-Voiced Cow laughed.

“You shall have it!” the man replied, as he reached behind the counter and lifted a basket of popcorn to the Soft-Voiced Cow.

The Soft-Voiced Cow took one mouthful of the popcorn and then blew it out of her mouth.

Gran’ma looked at her in surprise.

“It has mustard on it!” the Soft-Voiced Cow said, as the tears streamed out of her eyes and she sneezed two or three times.

“Mustard!” the man at the counter exclaimed, looking at the cow with a queer expression. “Of course it has mustard on it! I put it on to keep the popcorn hot!”

Gran’pa winked at Johnny.

“Have you any ice cream cones?” Janey asked.

“Plenty!” the man replied. “What flavor?”

“Strawberry!” Janey said. “Chocolate!” cried Johnny. “Maple!” Gran’ma said. “Peach!” said Gran’pa.

“Dear me! I haven’t any of those flavors! I never heard of them!” And the man leaned upon the counter and scratched his head.

“Never heard of chocolate!” exclaimed Johnny.

“What flavors have you?” asked Janey.

“I have Plumpdoodle, Wiggledoos, Kneebud and Lopjiggle!”

“Let me try a Lopjiggle!” said Janey.

“Plumpdoodle!” Gran’ma decided.

“Wiggledoos!” cried Johnny. “They must be fine!”

“I believe I will have a Kneebud!” said Gran’pa.

The man handed out the different ice cream cones, and although the flavor of each was different from anything they had ever tasted the travelers thought them fine.

Just then the little bell up on the side of the cliff began tinkling.

“Hello!” said the man. “Someone else gets a cigar!”

They all ran to where they could look down into the little valley and there they saw old Jingles, the wicked Magician, holding on to the electric wire and turning flip-flops in his efforts to get free.

The Soft-Voiced Cow began switching her tail nervously.

“It’s Old Jingles, the Magician!” cried all in one voice.

“I have been in hopes I should land him on the wire!” said the man. “Do you know,” he explained in a confidential tone, “that is the reason I started this place in the mountains! Here, Gran’pa,” he continued, “you may have his cigar. All of you help yourselves to anything you wish. I am through with the business now that old Jingles is on the wire!”

“What do you intend doing?” asked Gran’pa.

“Nothing,” answered the man. “I’m through now, and I’m going back to the City of Nite!”

The bell kept on tinkling and the indicator on the dial kept whirling around in a circle.

“Take all the cigars you wish!” the man called to Johnny and Janey, who were behind the counter. “He’s ringing up quite a lot!”

“I am glad your wire stopped the wicked creature,” said Gran’ma, “for he was after us and would soon have overtaken us. He took the children’s Flying Machine and he took Gran’pa’s Flying Boat, and he is the one who put the Princess of Nite into the Green Jar!”

“Put the lovely Princess in the Green Jar!” the man exclaimed.

“Yes!” Gran’pa answered, as they stood and watched the antics of the Magician. “And Gran’ma rescued her! The Princess is on her way to the City of Nite now, in the Dancing Master’s Umbrella!”

“Not Tiptoe’s Magic Umbrella?” the man asked, in surprise.

“Yes,” answered Gran’pa. “His name is Tiptoe and he was the Princess’ Dancing Master.”

“And my brother!” said the Little Man.

“Sh!” he added in a whisper, as he glanced hastily about as if to see that no others were listening. “It’s a secret! I was the Chief of Detectives in the City of Nite when the Princess disappeared, and I had to leave when I found out that the wicked creature who claimed to be the Princess really was a Witch! She made it so unpleasant for me that I decided to go in search of Old Jingles the Magician, to see if he would help me find the real Princess. Excuse me a moment,” and he went back of the counter where the children were eating the strange ice creams with large spoons.

Opening a box with a key which he wore on his watch chain, he studied the figures on a number of dials; then when he had written the figures upon a piece of paper, he handed it to Johnny.

“Can you add?” he asked.

Johnny ran his eyes over the figures. “Nine hundred and fifty-eight!” he said, as he returned the paper to the Chief of Detectives.

“Not half enough!” said the Chief of Detectives, as he pulled six little levers. There was a steady buzz-buzz that grew louder and louder every minute.

Johnny watched the hands on the dials climb and climb.

“Fifteen hundred and ninety-eight!” he cried out, presently.

“That’s better!” said the Chief of Detectives. “Give the Soft-Voiced Cow some of that popcorn in the green box; it has no mustard on it!”

“He’s hopping to beat the band!” Gran’ma cried delightedly, as the Chief of Detectives came up to where they were watching the Magician.

“I should think he would!” said the man. “I turned on the current twice as hard!”

Just then they saw the Dancing Master coming over the hill into the valley.

“Here he comes now!” cried Gran’pa. “It’s your brother, Tiptoe!”

“All stay here!” cried the Chief of Detectives. “Don’t move from this spot!” And with this he set off at a good speed across the valley to meet his brother.