V.
And the Wolf, who walked slowly along, drew nearer and nearer to Rollo. And Rollo, having taken off his feather crown, advanced to meet him.
"What tidings, friend Wolf?" said Rollo; "what have you come to tell us?"
"There are strangers in the land," answered the Wolf, "and I come to warn you."
The Multiphobus sprang up with a growl, and Lilla almost shrieked, while the box rattled and rattled till it nearly jumped out of her hand.
"It will go, it will go!" said she.
"Hold it fast!" whispered the Magpie; "hold it fast!
"'On it will depend
What may be the end.
Come with me to the tree,
And then we shall see.'"
"To the tree where Rollo and the Multiphobus are standing?" asked Lilla.
"Where else?" asked the Magpie.
Lilla became nervous, and spoke in disjointed sentences.
"Oh no, no, no! I cannot go. I quake, I shake; I will not take a single step. The box will break. Oh, how I quake!"
But the Magpie perched on her shoulder again, saying, "Do not be foolish. Rollo will not let them hurt us;" and he gave Lilla a gentle peck, which made her start forward, and when once she had made a move she found that she could not stop herself: her feet carried her along until she paused in front of Rollo.
And as she paused the lid of the box flew open, and the words jumped out, and arranged themselves on the ground in the following order.
"Earth, air, and sea
All know of me,
And so will you
If you go through."
"Why, it's quite easy to read!" exclaimed Lilla in surprise. "I wonder I never thought of it all this time."
"And it's just as I told you: four four's sixteen, four in each line and four lines. However you count it, you will find it all fours," said the Magpie.
"And it's about me," said Rollo, "for earth, air, and sea all know of me; and brought me here and gave me the Multiphobus. And it's about you also, for you have come through the board to come and see me. The Multiphobus was talking about it when we were flying through the air."
"Was he?" said Lilla; "and he wasn't angry?"
"Angry! No, he is very glad for me to have a playfellow, for I am rather lonely sometimes. And now we can play in the woods all day, and gather strawberries and cherries and plums; and there's a little stove in one of the caves, and I dare say you can make cakes?"
"Of course I can," answered Lilla, "and tea and coffee."
"Ah! that will be nice. And I will be king and you shall be queen, and we will have a merry time, and the Multiphobus will carry us wherever we want to go."
"I am afraid of him," returned Lilla.
"Oh, you need not be. I am quite sure you'll give a paw to Lilla; won't you, Multiphobus?"
"I will give two," said the Multiphobus, standing on his hind legs and stretching out his fore paws to Lilla.
She shook them, and felt at ease with him at once.
The Magpie fluttered about.
"I am not going home by myself," said he. "I shall stay here if Lilla does."
"That you shall," replied Rollo; "we will all live in this beautiful land together."
"the wind had lulled them to sleep."
Ah! what a beautiful land it was! The two children wandered through it hand in hand, and revelled in all its glories—now underneath the stately forest trees, or breaking through the tangled brushwood all radiant with green and gold, and crimson leaves and lovely flowers, or now sitting on the river-bank listening to the stories the river told them of the lands through which it had passed; whilst the Wind sang so many wonderful songs that Lilla begged to hear them over again.
And after the Wind had lulled them to sleep among the soft clover and wild thyme, the moon and stars peeped out and sent them beautiful dreams, whilst two nightingales sat among the roses and sang "Lullaby, lullaby" as sweetly as the southern wind.
So that whether waking or sleeping the children were happy.
Sometimes Lilla would say—
"Ah! if it had not been for the words on the board, I should still have been living with the cross old woman in the town with the long street and the cathedral. And she would have gone on scolding me for ever and ever; and whatever should I have done, I wonder."
"You may thank me," said the Magpie, "for having brought you away; that's very certain."
"You may thank me also," said the Multiphobus, "and I am sure you ought to do so, for it was I who nailed up the board with the magic words upon the garden wall."
And of course, as I need not tell you, Lilla did thank them.
Julia Goddard.