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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty four. Some few things concerning the dear little
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  Speaker 1: Princess Schneebulet, how she and I became fast friends, and
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  Speaker 1: how one day she conducted Bulgar and me into her
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  Speaker 1: favorite grotto to see the little man with the frozen
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  Speaker 1: smile something about him. What came of my having looked
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  Speaker 1: upon him quite fully described. At the time of Bulger's
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  Speaker 1: and my arrival in the land of the Culti Corps,
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  Speaker 1: the Princess Schnebulet was about fifteen years of age, and
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  Speaker 1: I must say that rarely had it been my good
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  Speaker 1: fortune to make the acquaintance of such a sweet, tempered,
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  Speaker 1: lovable little creature. She flitted about the ice palace like
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  Speaker 1: a beam of sunlight, and there was nothing of the
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  Speaker 1: spoiled child about her. Although a bit mischievous at times,
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  Speaker 1: her voice was as full of music as a skylark's.
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  Speaker 1: And it was not many days before she and I
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  Speaker 1: had become the best of friends in the world. Now
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  Speaker 1: you must know, dear friends, that according to the law
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  Speaker 1: of the Coulti Corps, a princess is left absolutely free
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  Speaker 1: to choose her own husband. And his frigid Majesty was
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  Speaker 1: very anxious that Schneebule should pick hers out as soon
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  Speaker 1: as possible. Moreover, the law of the land gave her
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  Speaker 1: perfect freedom to choose a husband of high or low degree,
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  Speaker 1: provided he was young enough. The way in which a
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  Speaker 1: Culti court princess was required to make known her preference
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  Speaker 1: was to press a kiss upon the cheek of the
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  Speaker 1: young man whom she might settle. Upon This ennobled him
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  Speaker 1: at once, and he became the heir apparent to the
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  Speaker 1: throne of Ice, and entitled to sit on its steps
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  Speaker 1: until he should be crowned king. Now his frigid majesty
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  Speaker 1: was delighted to see this friendship spring up between Schneebulay
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  Speaker 1: and me, for he had hoped to make use of
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  Speaker 1: my influence to bring her to set the necessary kiss
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  Speaker 1: on some youth's cheek. Before I took my departure from
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  Speaker 1: the cold kingdom of the Cultiqourts, I gave him the
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  Speaker 1: word of a nobleman that I would do my best
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  Speaker 1: to carry out his wishes. With Schnebuley for a guide,
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar and I often went for walks through the splendid
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  Speaker 1: ice grottos of her father's kingdom, selecting days when the
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  Speaker 1: sunlight of the outer world poured strongest through the mighty
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  Speaker 1: lens set in the side of the mountain. Then these
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  Speaker 1: grottos took on a splendor that my poor tongue is
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  Speaker 1: powerless to describe. Their crystal mazes glittered as if their
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  Speaker 1: walls were set with massive jewels, most wonderfully cut and polished,
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  Speaker 1: and as if their ceilings were fretted with gems so
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  Speaker 1: peerless that all the gold of the upper world would
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  Speaker 1: fall far short of pain for them. Here there and everywhere,
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  Speaker 1: the skill of the Colti corpse had carved and chiseled
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  Speaker 1: graceful flights of steps, broad landings with majestic columns, and
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  Speaker 1: winding corridors, lined with long rows of statues, single and
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  Speaker 1: group wise, and ever and anon, the visitor came upon
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  Speaker 1: a terrace, where, seated upon a fur covered divan, he
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  Speaker 1: might look out upon the bewildering beauty of King Giladus's
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  Speaker 1: icy domains, arch touching arch, and domes springing from dome.
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  Speaker 1: While over and above all, through the gigantic lens in
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  Speaker 1: its granite a mile above our heads, streamed a flood
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  Speaker 1: of glorious sunlight, lighting up this world within a world
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  Speaker 1: with a radiance so grand and so complete as to
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  Speaker 1: seem to be a sun of a far greater splendor
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  Speaker 1: than the one that warmed the upper world and bathed
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  Speaker 1: it in so many gorgeous hues at morn and eve.
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  Speaker 1: Hardly a day went by now that the Princess of
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  Speaker 1: the Colti Corpse did not surprise either Bulgar or me
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  Speaker 1: with some gift or other. To tell the truth, dear friends,
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  Speaker 1: although my Russian coat was fur trimmed, yet I began
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  Speaker 1: to feel the need of warmer garments after a weak
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  Speaker 1: sojourn in the icy domain of King Gelidas, and I
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  Speaker 1: think Schneebuie must have hurt my teeth chattering. For one morning,
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  Speaker 1: upon entering the Palace of Ice, I was delighted to
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  Speaker 1: be presented with a full suit of fur, precisely similar
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  Speaker 1: to the one worn by King Gelidas himself. Nor was
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  Speaker 1: Bulgar forgotten by the loving little Princess, for with her
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  Speaker 1: own hands she had knitted him a blanket of the
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  Speaker 1: softest wool, which she belted so snugly around his body
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  Speaker 1: and tied so tightly round his neck, And henceforth he
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  Speaker 1: felt perfectly comfortable in the chill air of the home
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  Speaker 1: of the Colt Corpse. One day, the Princess Snebule said
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  Speaker 1: to me, Oh, come, little Baron, cut to my favorite grotto.
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  Speaker 1: Now that the sun's rays are bright within it, there
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  Speaker 1: shalt thou see a wonder, a wonder, Princess Schnebuley, it's
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  Speaker 1: little Baron in wonder, She repeated, the little man with
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  Speaker 1: a frozen smile, Little man with the frozen smile, I echoed,
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  Speaker 1: Come and see, Come and see, little Baron, cried sneebu Ley,
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  Speaker 1: hurrying on ahead. In a few moments we had reached
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  Speaker 1: the grotto and bounded into it, with the princess leading
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  Speaker 1: the way. Suddenly she halted in front of a magnificent
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  Speaker 1: block of crystal ice, clear as polished glass, and cried out, there, look,
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  Speaker 1: there is the little man with a frozen smile. Even now,
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  Speaker 1: as the thought of that moment comes over me, I
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  Speaker 1: feel something of the thrill of half fear, half joy,
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  Speaker 1: as my eyes fell upon the little creature shut in
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  Speaker 1: that superb block of ice himself, a part of it himself,
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  Speaker 1: its heart, its contents, its mystery, there in its center,
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  Speaker 1: in easy posture, with wide open eyes, and with what
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  Speaker 1: might be called a smile upon his face, that is
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  Speaker 1: a glint of kindliness and affection. In its strange eyes,
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  Speaker 1: with their overhanging brows, sat a small animal of the
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  Speaker 1: chimpanzee race. He had possibly been asleep when the icy
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  Speaker 1: flood struck him, dreaming of beautiful trees bending beneath purple fruit,
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  Speaker 1: of cloudless skies above, and a coral beach below. And
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  Speaker 1: death had come to him so quickly that he had
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  Speaker 1: become a brother to this block of ice while the
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  Speaker 1: happy dream was still in his thoughts. It was wonderful,
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  Speaker 1: it was more than wonderful. Spell Bound by the strange spectacle,
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  Speaker 1: I stood there, I know not how long, with my
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  Speaker 1: eyes looking into his. At last, Schneeblet's voice aroused me.
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  Speaker 1: Ha ha, she laughed, Look, little Baron Bulgars, trying to
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  Speaker 1: his poor dead brother. In truth, Vulgar did have his
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  Speaker 1: nose pressed firmly against the block of ice in his
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  Speaker 1: effort to scent the strange animal imprisoned in that crystal cell,
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  Speaker 1: so near and yet so far beyond the reach of
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  Speaker 1: his kenscent well, little Baron cried, Schneebu leay, did I
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  Speaker 1: not speak truly? Have I not shown thee the little
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  Speaker 1: man with the frozen smile? Indeed, thou hast fair princess,
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  Speaker 1: was my reply, And I cannot tell THEE how grateful
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  Speaker 1: I am to THEE for having done so. Then, as
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  Speaker 1: she plucked me by the sleeve, I pleaded, nay, gentle Schneebuley,
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  Speaker 1: not yet, not yet, let me bide a little longer.
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  Speaker 1: The little man, with a frozen smile, seems to beg
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  Speaker 1: me not to go. I can almost imagine that I
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  Speaker 1: hear him whisper, Oh, little baron, break open the crystal
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  Speaker 1: cell of my prison, and take me with THEE back
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  Speaker 1: to the world of sunshine, back to the land of
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  Speaker 1: the orange tree, where the soft, warm winds used to
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  Speaker 1: rock me to sleep in the cradle of the swaying boughs,
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  Speaker 1: while the wise and watchful patriarch of our flock stood
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  Speaker 1: guard over us all. Schnebuley's big, round gray eyes filled
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  Speaker 1: with DearS at these words, would that he were alive,
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  Speaker 1: little baron, she murmured, and that I could give him
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  Speaker 1: some of my happiness to pay him back for all
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  Speaker 1: the long years he has been spending in his icy prison.
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  Speaker 1: In a few moments, Schneberley took me by the hand
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  Speaker 1: and led me away from the great block of ice
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  Speaker 1: with its silent prisoner. My heart was very heavy, and
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  Speaker 1: both Schneberley and Bulgar did their utmost to divert me,
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  Speaker 1: but al to no purpose. Leaving the princess at the
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  Speaker 1: portal of the palace, I went to my dwelling, which
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  Speaker 1: was ablaze with the soft glow of its alabaster lamps,
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  Speaker 1: and there I found a beautiful new pelt spread over
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  Speaker 1: my divan, a new gift from King Gelidus. But I
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  Speaker 1: could take no pleasure in it. My thoughts were all
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  Speaker 1: with a little man with a frozen smile, locked in
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  Speaker 1: the icy embrace of that crystal mold, which, in its
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  Speaker 1: cold irony, let him seem to be so free and unfettered,
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  Speaker 1: and yet held him in such vice like grip. After
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  Speaker 1: a while I dismissed my serving people and laid me
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  Speaker 1: down for the night with my dear Bulgar nestled against
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  Speaker 1: my breast. But I could not sleep. All night long,
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  Speaker 1: those strange eyes, with their uncanny glint followed me about,
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  Speaker 1: pleading strong but silent, for me to come again, for
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  Speaker 1: me to soften my heart like a child of the sunshine,
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  Speaker 1: that I was to shatter his crystal dungeon and set
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  Speaker 1: him loose, to bear him away from the icy domain
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  Speaker 1: of the colti corpse, out into the warm air of
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  Speaker 1: the upper world. What was I dreaming about? Was he
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  Speaker 1: not dead? Had not his spirit left his body thousands
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  Speaker 1: and thousands of years ago? Why should I let such
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  Speaker 1: wild thoughts vex my mind? What good would come of it? None? None, whatsoever?
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  Speaker 1: I was a reasonable creature. I must not give lodgment
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  Speaker 1: within my brain to such silly ideas. The little man
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  Speaker 1: with a frozen smile had been through all most playful fate,
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  Speaker 1: laid away in a beautiful tomb. I must not disturb it.
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  Speaker 1: No doubt in his lifetime he had been the pet
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  Speaker 1: of a noble manner. But to the Northland from some
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  Speaker 1: sunny clime by master of powerful argacy. Let him rest
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  Speaker 1: in peace. I must not dare to mar the beauty
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  Speaker 1: of his crystal tomb, so gloriously transparent. I was even
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  Speaker 1: sorry that Schneeberly had led me into her beautiful grotto,
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  Speaker 1: and resolved to go thither no more. What poor, weak
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  Speaker 1: creatures we are, so fertile in good resolutions, and yet
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  Speaker 1: so unfruitful of results, planting whole acres with fair promises.
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  Speaker 1: But when the tender shoots pierced the ground, turning our
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  Speaker 1: back upon the crop as if it didn't belong to us.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty four