CHAPTER XXIX

SOMETHING CONCERNING THE MANY PORTALS TO THE ICY DOMAIN OF

KING GELIDUS AND THE DIFFICULT TASK OF CHOOSING THE RIGHT

ONE.—HOW BULGER SOLVED IT.—OUR FAREWELL TO THE COLD-BLOODED

KOLTYKWERPS.—SCHNEEBOULE’S SORROW AT LOSING US.

As Bullibrain had once remarked, when there are many doors it’s a wise

man who knows which is the right one to open; and this I found to be the

case when I attempted to take my departure from the icy domain of his

frigid Majesty, Gelidus, King of the Koltykwerps, for there was a

baker’s dozen of galleries, in each of which, upon exploring it, I came,

after a tramp of half a mile or so, up against a lofty gate of solid

ice, curiously carved and fitting the end of the gallery as a cork does

a bottle.

No doubt you are wondering why I didn’t make my way out of the

Koltykwerpian kingdom by following the river: for the very good reason

that it went no farther than King Gelidus’s domain, emptying into a vast

reservoir which apparently had a subterranean outlet, for its thick

covering of ice always remained at the same height.

The king’s quarrymen were ordered to hew an opening through whichever

door I should point out as the one that I wished to pass through, but I

was informed by Phrostyphiz that according to the law of the land but

one door could be opened during any one year, so that if I found my way

blocked and turned back again it would mean a delay of twelve months.

Bullibrain, with all his wisdom, was powerless to assist me, although I

was half inclined to think that he might have done so had he been

permitted to investigate the secret records of the kingdom, carved upon

huge tablets of ice, and stored away in the vaults of the palace.

The fact of the matter is King Gelidus was so desirous of having me

assist at the marriage feast of Princess Schneeboule, that he threw

every obstacle in my way that he could, without openly showing his hand.

And Schneeboule herself by the dancing of her clear gray eyes gave me to

understand that she, too, was hoping that I would make a mistake when I

came to point out the door which I wanted opened.

Bulger saw that I was in trouble, but couldn’t comprehend clearly what

that trouble was. He kept his eyes fastened upon me, however, watching

my every movement, hoping, no doubt, to solve the mystery.

While sitting one day lost in thought over the very serious problem

which I found myself called upon to solve, an idea struck me: I had

noticed that in the meat-quarries, the workmen often made use of

sounding-rods, which were long pieces of polished bone, ending in flint

tips. A Koltykwerpian quarryman by dexterously twisting this rod, was

able to bore a hole six feet deep or more into the solid bed of ice when

desirous of ascertaining the position of a carcass in the meat quarry,

and it occurred to me that by piercing the portals of ice which closed

their various corridors I have spoken of, possibly Bulger’s keen scent

might recognize that current of air which would have in it the odor of

earth and rock; in other words, make choice for me of the portal which

opened on that corridor leading away from the icy domain of King Gelidus

and not merely into some outlying chamber of his kingdom.

His frigid Majesty could not object to such experiments, for the law

only forbade the hewing of openings large enough for the hewer to pass

through.

King Gelidus and half a dozen of his courtiers, looking stern and frigid

and conversing in freezing tones, were present to see the experiment

tried. Methought their icy lips clacked together with satisfaction when,

at my request, one portal after another was pierced, but Bulger, after

sniffing at the hole, turned away with a bewildered look in his eyes as

if he didn’t half understand why I was ordering him to thrust his warm

nose into such cold places.

And so we tramped from corridor to corridor, until the quarrymen began

to show signs of fatigue, and the sounding-rod turned slower and slower

in their hands.

Phrostyphiz blinked his cold gray eyes as much as to say, “Little baron,

thou must bide with us for another year!” But I merely turned to the

quarrymen, and ordered them to pierce one more portal of ice ere we

abandoned the task for the day. They went at the work of piercing the

eleventh door with the pace of pack-mules up a mountain-side. But at

last the sounding-rod bored a way through, and at a wave of my hand the

quarrymen fell back. In an instant Bulger had his nose at the hole, and

took three or four quick, nervous sniffs, ending with a long, deep-drawn

one, and then breaking out into a string of sharp, jerky, joyful barks,

he began scratching furiously at the bottom of the portal.

“Your frigid Majesty,” said I, with a low and stately bend of my body

such as only those born to the manner can make, “by this portal, at the

coming of to-morrow’s sun, I shall pass from your Majesty’s icy

dominion!” And when Phrostyphiz and Glacierbhoy heard these words of

mine uttered so loftily, their eyes gleamed cold as steel, and they

followed the King in silence back to the palace of ice. Schneeboule met

them in the grand hallway; and when she had looked upon their faces she

began to weep, for she loved me and she loved Bulger too, and her cold

little heart could not bear the thought of our going.

[Illustration: KOLTYKWERPIAN QUARRYMEN HEWING A PASSAGE THROUGH THE WALL

OF ICE.]

King Gelidus, however, soon recovered his spirits, and ordered a feast

with song and dance in honor of Bulger, who during the festivities sat

on the highest divan with the softest pelt beneath him; and so many were

the frozen tidbits which the Koltykwerps presented to him during the

progress of the feast, that I grew alarmed lest he might overload his

stomach and not be in a fit condition to make the early start on our

journey, of which I had given notice to the Koltykwerpian monarch. But

his good sense saved him from doing so foolish a thing; in fact, I was

greatly amused to see that, while he accepted every tidbit handed to

him, and solemnly went through the motions of chewing it, yet watching

his chance, he slyly dropped it out of his mouth and flirted it aside

with his paw. Thus was spent our last night at the icy court of his

frigid Majesty, and on the morrow the Koltykwerps collected in great

crowds on the different terraces to say good-by. I pressed a kiss on the

cheek of Princess Schneeboule, and when it had turned to ice crystals,

one of her men brushed it into an alabaster box.

Prince Chillychops, the former lamp-trimmer, was on hand with the rest

of the Koltykwerpian nobles, but I flattered myself that Schneeboule

loved me better than she did him. However, I wished him joy, and gripped

his cold palm with such warmth that he stood blowing it for a whole

minute. When we reached the lofty portal we found that the quarrymen had

already hewn a passage through it, and near by I observed a pile of

massive blocks of ice, crystal clear.

These, when Bulger and I should pass through the opening, were to be

used in walling it up again; and when I saw this pile of blocks, and

remembered the solid workmanship of the Koltykwerpian quarrymen, the

thought flitted through my mind: Suppose Bulger hath not chosen wisely,

what use would there be in turning back, for my own weak hands would be

powerless against a wall built of such blocks, and knock I ever so loud,

how could the sound ever traverse this long and winding corridor and

reach the ear of a Koltykwerp? “No,” said I to myself, “if Bulger hath

not chosen wisely, it will be good-by to both upper and under worlds.”

And then, bearing an alabaster lamp in one hand and in the other holding

the cord which I had tied to Bulger’s collar, I stepped through the

narrow passage hewn by the quarrymen, and turned my back forever on the

cold dominion of Gelidus, King of the Koltykwerps. Once I halted and

looked back. I could see nothing, but I could hear the sharp click of

the flint axes as the quarrymen closed up the door that shut me out from

so many cold but loving hearts. And then I drew a long breath and went

on my way again.

And that was the last I ever saw of the Koltykwerps save in day dream or

night vision.

[Illustration: THE WONDERFUL RIDE ON THE BLOCK OF ICE.]