The Missing Prince

“Does it hurt much to be made invisible?” asked the Lord High Adjudicator thoughtfully.

“Not a bit,” exclaimed Ohah; “it’s rather a pleasant sensation than otherwise.”

“And how long would he have to remain in that state?” inquired the Lord High Adjudicator.

“Oh! till the Portmanteau is found,” was the reply.

“The Portmanteau!” exclaimed the Lord High Adjudicator; “why, that will never be found, you know; we had every house in Zum searched for it years ago.”

“It must be here somewhere, and when it is found I am instructed by the King of Limesia to make your Crown Prince and his bride visible again; but in the meantime you had better let me make the little King invisible too, for you can’t possibly go on as you are.”

“What do you think about it?” asked the Lord High Adjudicator of the others.

“Well, I don’t think it’s at all a bad plan, do you know,” replied the Advertiser General. “I can see that we shall have rather a hard time of it if His present Majesty continues to reign; and if it wouldn’t hurt him at all – ”

“Not in the least,” interrupted Ohah.

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t agree to it.”

“That’s right! and now, when shall I perform the operation?” said Ohah in a business-like way.

“Oh, the sooner the quicker,” replied the Advertiser General. “What do you say to to-morrow morning?”

“Yes, that will suit me nicely,” was the answer; and so it was arranged that the poor little King should be rendered invisible the next day; but Boy, who had been listening eagerly to all that had been going on, made up his mind that he would do what he could to prevent it, so calling One-and-Nine, he hurried to the Palace, and sent a message to the Royal Nurse to say that he must have an interview with her immediately.

Mrs. Martha Matilda Nimpky received him in her own apartments, and listened intently to all that he had to say.

“The wretches!” she exclaimed. “And that old villain Ohah! Of course he has been sent by that horrible King of Limesia; who directly he has got rid of this poor little fellow will come here and seize the throne for himself: I can see through his little tricks and manners.”

“But what’s to be done?” cried Boy excitedly. “We must do something to prevent it. I know,” he exclaimed after thinking for a moment, “Professor Crab, of course. You could go and stay at his house with His Majesty till we could find another place for him. Ohah wouldn’t think of looking there, I am sure.”

“Where is Professor Crab’s?” inquired the Royal Nurse. “Drinkon College,” replied Boy. “You go by the Submarine Navigation Company’s Steamers, you know, and I will get One-and-Nine to escort you to the College, while I stop here and see what goes on in your absence.”

“Do you mean that Soldier friend of yours?” inquired Mrs. Martha Matilda Nimpky, blushing bashfully. “He seems to be a very nice gentleman.”

“Yes, he is,” replied Boy, “and he will be delighted, I am sure, to act as your escort, for he admires you very much indeed.”

“Does he really?” said Mrs. Martha Matilda Nimpky, giggling and shaking her curls coquettishly. “How nice!”

“I don’t think there’s any time to lose,” said Boy; “you go and prepare His Majesty, and I will go with you to the Station.”

A very few moments later they all met in the garden, and after Boy had formally introduced One-and-Nine to Mrs. Martha Matilda Nimpky, they left the Palace grounds by a small private gate, and after one or two inquiries found themselves at the Quay. Fortunately there was a boat starting soon, and so they were off, and Boy was back again to the Palace before any one had missed them. He had barely, however, reached his apartments in the Palace when Caesar Maximilian Augustus Claudius Smith (called Thomas for short) brought him a card on which Boy read:

“Dear me, I wonder what he wants to see me for?” he thought as he waited for the Magician to enter.

“I thought you’d like to see some tricks,” said this gentleman as he came in, “and it will be good practice for me for my important work to-morrow. Now is there anything that you’d like to be turned into?”

“Oh no, thank you,” cried Boy, greatly alarmed, “I’m quite content to be myself.”

“H’m! you are an exception to the general rule then. However, you must be changed to something or other, for I want to have some practice. What do you say to being a hen?” and the Magician stretched out his hands and made a few mysterious passes, muttering some strange words the while.

Boy was just going to cry, “Oh! please no,” when he found to his great dismay that he could not speak, and the only noise which he could make sounded like “tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk ka-r-a-a-ka, tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk ka-ra-a-ka,” and when he looked down at his feet he found claws there instead, and feathers on his body; in fact, he was completely transformed. He tried to scream, but “tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-ka-r-a-a-ka” was the result and Ohah was holding his sides with laughter while Boy ran and flew frantically about the room, making this strange noise and clumsily knocking his beak against the furniture on all sides, till presently he managed to get under a chair at the further end of the room and miserably wondered what would happen next.

Caesar Maximilian Augustus Claudius Smith (called Thomas for short) hearing the noise rushed into the room, and made matters worse by trying to drive the poor bewildered hen out.

“Shoo-shoo,” he cried, kicking under the chair, and Boy flew out again and ran round and round the room calling out “tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk-ka-ra-a-ka,” “tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk ka-ra-a-a-ka” as loudly as he could till presently Ohah (who had been laughing the whole time) made some further passes with his hand and muttered some more words, and Caesar Maximilian Augustus Claudius Smith (called Thomas for short) changed at once into a little dog.

“Bow-wow-wow, yap-yap,” he barked, rushing at Boy; and then the old chase began all over again, till at last by a great effort Boy flew up on to the bookcase out of his reach. He felt very hot and tired, and forgetting that he was a hen, began fumbling about for his handkerchief, and in doing so nearly lost his balance and fell off his uncomfortable perch. He felt greatly relieved when Ohah transformed Cæsar Maximilian Augustus Claudius Smith (called Thomas for short) back to himself again, and as soon as he had done so Boy flew down on to the floor; and it was as well that he did, for with a wave of his wand (which he carried up his sleeve) the Magician just then turned the bookcase into a big humming-top and afterwards into a pair of steps, and then, apparently satisfied that his powers as a Magician were in good working order, he suddenly restored Boy and the bookcase to their original forms again.

“Oh,” cried Boy with a sigh of relief when he found that he was himself once more, “that’s very interesting, sir, but please don’t do it again.”

“Why not?” laughed Ohah. “It’s as simple as A.B.C.; there is no danger.”

“Can you change yourself into things too?” inquired Boy.

“Yes!” said Ohah. “Would you like to see me? What shall I be?”

“Oh, something small, please. I should be terribly frightened if you were to turn into a lion or bear, you see.”

“All right,” said Ohah, “I’ll be a Kottle.”

“What’s that?” cried Boy.

“Oh, a thing all gribbins and bones,” explained Ohah. “Now watch,” and he waved his wand about his head two or three times, and then disappeared.

Boy watched intently, for he wanted very much to find out what a Kottle was; nothing appeared, though, except one or two oddly-shaped scraps of paper, which Boy picked up and tried to fit together, for there was something written on the back of them; at last he was able to make out the following words: – “I have forgotten how to change myself back from a Kottle again. Goodbye for ever, Ohah.”

“There!” exclaimed Boy. “Well, I must say I’m not very sorry, for he must have been a most dangerous person to have about. I should have liked to have found out what a Kottle was, though.”

But he never did, and I may mention here that at Zum to this day they have a habit of saying about anything that they don’t understand, “Oh, it must be a Kottle.”

When Boy found that there was no chance of Ohah reappearing, he wondered if he ought to send for the young King and the Royal Nurse to come back again, but finally decided that in the present unsettled state of public opinion it would be safer to wait a little while and see what happened; because if the Lord High Adjudicator and the other Statesmen were treacherous enough to hand the little King over to the tender mercies of Ohah, Boy felt that he was not at all safe in their hands.

Shortly after this it was discovered that the King and the Royal Nurse were missing, and the Lord High Adjudicator and the others flocked to the Palace to find out if it were true.

Caesar Maximilian Augustus Claudius Smith (called Thomas for short) explained what had happened to himself; and it was at once decided that Ohah must have made the little King invisible rather sooner than he had intended, and they all went back to the House of Words to talk over the situation.

“Of course we must have a general election at once,” said the Lord High Adjudicator when they had all settled down into their places, “to decide who is to be made King.”

“I am still willing to accept the post, if you like,” suggested the Kitchen Poker in Waiting disinterestedly.

“It will save the trouble of an election, you know; and I don’t wish to boast, but I am quite sure that you could not possibly select anybody nearly so suitable for the position as myself. Handsome, accomplished and modest to a degree, I – ”

“Here, here, that’s quite enough of that,” interrupted the Advertiser General. “We have decided to elect a King by vote, and there’s an end of the matter. I will go and have some posters printed and stuck about all over the town, and we’ll soon have this matter put right. I shouldn’t be at all surprised if I were elected myself. I’m a very popular man, you know.”

“H’m!” sneered the Lord High Adjudicator, “I don’t think you will stand much chance if I put up for the post, as I certainly intend to do.”

“Well, don’t let’s waste time wrangling,” suggested the Busybody Extraordinary; “let’s decide when the election is to take place.”