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26 - Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey - Ingersoll Lockwood · Daily Classic Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six, how the quarrymen of King Gelidus cleft
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  Speaker 1: asunder the crystal prison of the little man with a
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  Speaker 1: frozen smile my bitter disappointment, and how I bore it
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  Speaker 1: wonderful happenings of the night that followed. Bulgar again proves
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  Speaker 1: himself to be an animal of extraordinary sagacity. Bulgar and
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  Speaker 1: I had little appetite for the dainty breakfast of stewed
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  Speaker 1: sweetbreads which the Colti corpse set before us next morning,
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  Speaker 1: for I knew and he half suspected, that something important
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  Speaker 1: was going to happen, being nothing less than the cleavness
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  Speaker 1: under of the crystal cell which had held the little
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  Speaker 1: Chimpanzee a prisoner for so many centuries. Walking beside the
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  Speaker 1: merry Princess Schnibulet, who was delighted to know that his
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  Speaker 1: frigid majesty her father had at last yielded to my wishes,
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar and I set out for the beautiful ice grotto.
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  Speaker 1: Behind us walked Frosty Fizz and Glacier Boy, with instructions
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  Speaker 1: from the King to supervise the cleavingess under of the
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  Speaker 1: block of ice. And after them came four of King
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  Speaker 1: Yeladas's quarrymen, two bearing flint axes with helves of polished bone,
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  Speaker 1: and two carrying the flint wedges to be used in
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  Speaker 1: the work. We soon entered Schneebula's grotto, and the task
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  Speaker 1: was at once entered upon. It seemed to me I
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  Speaker 1: could almost see the little man with the frozen smile
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  Speaker 1: wink as eyelids as the quarrymen set their wedges in
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  Speaker 1: place and began to mark the line of fracture. But
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  Speaker 1: of course, dear friends, you know what imagination I have,
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  Speaker 1: especially when I get worked up over anything. So you
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  Speaker 1: must take what I say sometimes with a grain of salt,
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  Speaker 1: although as a rule you may accept my statements with
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  Speaker 1: childlike confidence. With such wonderful skill did the Cultiquorpian quarrymen
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  Speaker 1: use their axes and wedges that in a few moments,
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  Speaker 1: to my great delight, the huge block of ice fell
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  Speaker 1: asunder in perfect halves, in one of which the little
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  Speaker 1: manlike creature lay on his side, like a casting in
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  Speaker 1: a mold. I made haste to lift him out and
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  Speaker 1: wrap him in a soft pelt, which I had brought
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  Speaker 1: along for that purpose, And then I turned to retrace
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  Speaker 1: my steps to my chamber, where I intended to begin
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  Speaker 1: at once my study of whatever inscription should be found
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  Speaker 1: upon his curious caller. Remember, little Baron, said glacier boy,
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  Speaker 1: by express command of his frigid majesty, the little man
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  Speaker 1: with a frozen smile, must be returned to his crystal
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  Speaker 1: cell to morrow morning. At this very hour I bowed assent,
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  Speaker 1: and then, having accompanied Princess Schnebulet as far as the
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  Speaker 1: bottom of the grand staircase leading to the Ice Palace,
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  Speaker 1: I turned away, and was soon in the privacy of
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  Speaker 1: my own apartment. Now came for me one of the
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  Speaker 1: bitterest disappointments of my life. But I submitted with a
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  Speaker 1: good grace, for it was fit punishment visit upon me
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  Speaker 1: for my foolish vanity in striving to unearth some older
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  Speaker 1: record of the human race than had yet been done
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  Speaker 1: by any of the great searchers and philosophers, not even
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  Speaker 1: excepting that master of masters don Strefalo fijiquinarius foon. No, then,
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  Speaker 1: dear friends, that the quaint collar, made up of gold
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  Speaker 1: and silver, or disks cunningly linked together, which encircled the
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  Speaker 1: animal's neck, contained not a single word or letter of
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  Speaker 1: any language. The undersides being quite blank, and the upper
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  Speaker 1: merely having rough carved outlines of an object which might
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  Speaker 1: possibly have been intended for the sun. Wrapping the animal
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  Speaker 1: up in the soft pelt, I laid him away in
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  Speaker 1: the corner of my divan and betook myself to the
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  Speaker 1: palace of his frigid Majesty, where I frankly informed King
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  Speaker 1: Gelidus of my great disappointment in not finding some few words,
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  Speaker 1: or even a single word of a language unknown to
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  Speaker 1: the wisest heads of the upper world. Schnebole was so
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  Speaker 1: touched by my sadness that had I not skillfully kept
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  Speaker 1: out of her way, I verily believed she would have
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  Speaker 1: thrown her arms around my neck and imprinted upon my
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  Speaker 1: cheek the kiss which would have made me the king
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  Speaker 1: of the Colti Corpse. But I had no longing to
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  Speaker 1: spend the rest of my life in the icy domains
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  Speaker 1: of his frigid Majesty, even though my brow would be
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  Speaker 1: crowned with the cold crown of the Colti corpse. If
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  Speaker 1: I had been an old man with slow and feeble pulse,
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  Speaker 1: it would have been very different. But my heart was
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  Speaker 1: too warm and my blood too hot to fill such
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  Speaker 1: a position with agreeableness to myself or satisfaction to the
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  Speaker 1: people of this icy underworld. So I kept the little
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  Speaker 1: princess busy enough I can assure you, first with songs,
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  Speaker 1: then with dance, and then with story telling. That night,
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  Speaker 1: King Gilidus ordered a magnificent fete to be held in
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  Speaker 1: my honor. Five hundred more alabaster lamps were lighted, and
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  Speaker 1: the royal divans were laid with the richest pelts in
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  Speaker 1: the palace. And after the dancing and singing had ended,
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  Speaker 1: frozen tidbits from the royal kitchen were passed around on
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  Speaker 1: alabaster salvers, and Bulgar and I ate until our teeth ached.
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  Speaker 1: It was late when we reached our own apartment, and
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  Speaker 1: so full were my thoughts of the beautiful sights which
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  Speaker 1: we had gazed upon in the throne room that I
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  Speaker 1: had quite forgotten about the poor little man with a
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  Speaker 1: frozen smile, whom I had covered up and tucked away
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  Speaker 1: on my divan. But Bulgar had not been so hard hearted.
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  Speaker 1: Twenty times during the evening he had given me a
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  Speaker 1: sly tug at my sleeve, as much as to say, well,
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  Speaker 1: little master, let's hurry back. Does not remember that we
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  Speaker 1: left my poor little frozen brother, tucked away in that
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  Speaker 1: icy chamber, all alone by himself. I was very weary,
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  Speaker 1: and I fell off to sleep almost immediately. And yet
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  Speaker 1: I had an indistinct recollection that Bulgar was not in
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  Speaker 1: his place against my breast. I remembered feeling for him,
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  Speaker 1: but that's all never flashed upon me that he had
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  Speaker 1: gone and laying down beside the poor little stranger whom
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  Speaker 1: I had so unfeelingly lifted from his last resting place.
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  Speaker 1: And yet such must have been the case. For about midnight,
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  Speaker 1: it seemed to me I was awakened by a gentle
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  Speaker 1: tugging at my sleeve. It was my faithful Bulgar, but
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  Speaker 1: half awake and half asleep as I was, I merely
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  Speaker 1: thought that he was only asking for a caress, as
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  Speaker 1: was often his wont when he fell a thinking about home.
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  Speaker 1: So I reached out and stroked his head several times,
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  Speaker 1: and dropped off again. But the tugging began anew, and
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  Speaker 1: this time twas more vigorous, and with it came an
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  Speaker 1: impatient whine, which meant, come cut my little master us.
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  Speaker 1: Thee dost suppose I would break they rest unless I
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  Speaker 1: was good reason for it. I didn't need a third reminder,
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  Speaker 1: But with a single bound landed on my feet, and
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  Speaker 1: reaching out for one of the tiny tapers which the
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  Speaker 1: Coltiquips make use of as lighters, I carried the flames
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  Speaker 1: from the single lamp burning on the wall to the
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  Speaker 1: three others hanging here and there. The icy walls of
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  Speaker 1: my chamber were now ablaze with light. There sat Bulgar
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  Speaker 1: on the fur covered divan, beside the place where the
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  Speaker 1: little man with a frozen smile lay hidden under the pelt.
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  Speaker 1: His tail was wagging nervously, and his large, lustrous eyes
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  Speaker 1: were fixed first upon me and then upon the covering
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  Speaker 1: of his dead brother, with an expression I never remembered
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  Speaker 1: having seen in them before. And then, with a sudden movement,
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  Speaker 1: he laid hold of the pelt, and, drawing it aside,
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  Speaker 1: showed me what think you, dear friends? What I ask,
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  Speaker 1: in a tone of half whisper, half gasp. For now,
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  Speaker 1: years after, I still can feel that one thrill which
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  Speaker 1: I felt then. Why it was alive, that ape like
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  Speaker 1: creature had come to life after his sleep of thousands
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  Speaker 1: of years. In that narrow crystal cell. Bulgar had lain
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  Speaker 1: down beside his frozen brother and warmed him back to
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  Speaker 1: life again. Oh, it was wondrously wonderful to see that
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  Speaker 1: pair of little eyes, bead like in brightness, look up
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  Speaker 1: and blink at me. And then to hear that low
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  Speaker 1: moaning voice, so human like as if it whimpered with
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  Speaker 1: a shake and a shiver. Oh, how cold it is,
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  Speaker 1: How very cold it is. Where's the sun? Where's a
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  Speaker 1: soft warm wind? And where are the cloudless skies? So blue, oh,
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  Speaker 1: so beautifully blue that used to hang over my head.
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  Speaker 1: Bidding Bulgar to lie down again beside him and snuggle
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  Speaker 1: up as close as possible, I made haste to cover
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  Speaker 1: them both with the softest skins I could find. In
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  Speaker 1: a few moments, there came from underneath the pile a
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  Speaker 1: low contented cry of hoosia, hoozia, hoosia, followed by a cureus.
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  Speaker 1: Additions sounded like fuff fuf fuff. So I put them
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  Speaker 1: all together and name the strange newcomer to the icy
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  Speaker 1: domain of King Galadas fuff cuja sleep any more? That night,
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  Speaker 1: not a wink. The same joy came over me that
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  Speaker 1: I used to feel on Christmas morning long ago, when
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  Speaker 1: Chris Kringle brought me some wonderful bit of mechanism, moved
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  Speaker 1: by a secret spring. For I always scorned to accept
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  Speaker 1: ordinary toys like ordinary children. And oh how I longed
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  Speaker 1: for the morning when it would be time for me
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  Speaker 1: to bundle up the little man no longer him with
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  Speaker 1: a frozen smile, but fuff Guja, the live boy from
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  Speaker 1: far away, with his curious little face screwed up into
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  Speaker 1: such a funny look, and carry him to the palace.
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  Speaker 1: How delighted Schneeboo I will be, thought I, and King
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  Speaker 1: Galadhus too, How he will unbend from his frigid majesty
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  Speaker 1: as he watches the antics of fuff Guja. And how
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  Speaker 1: pleased all the dignified cold ecorpions, including Frosty Fizz and
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  Speaker 1: Glacier Boy, will be when I tell them that the
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  Speaker 1: little man with a frozen smile has come to life again.
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  Speaker 1: What crowds of coldi corps men, women and children will
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  Speaker 1: rush up the long flights of steps leading to the
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  Speaker 1: Ice Palace, begging, entreating King Gelidas to let them have
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  Speaker 1: just a little look at Fuffcuja, the little man set
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  Speaker 1: free from his icy cell by the famous traveler Baron
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  Speaker 1: Sebastian von Trump. End of chapter twenty six