“But haven’t you heard?” cried the nurse. “They found his Pumperkin—but it was empty. The poor Peterkin must have been drowned!”
That only made the princess weep the harder. Yet she never lost hope—oh, no; she was not that sort of little lady to lose hope! And gradually she came to realize that Peterkin must have escaped, somehow, from his boat, and was safe upon some new adventure. But when would he return?
All day she paced the marble floors, her blue eyes lighted with a gleam of tears. Once she stopped to look out of the window, and she saw a great commotion at the outer gate of the court-yard. A messenger was there, seeking admission: a ragged, dusty man, who asked with eager face to see the King. The little princess recognized him at once: he was a subject of the Valley of the Blind.... Only, had he recovered the sight of his eyes? She wondered how.
And while he spoke, there came up behind him on the road another messenger—and this one was from the Valley of the Deaf. And then another from the Valley of the Dancing Legs. And, lastly, one from the Valley of Up-in-the-Air. Why, here were messengers from each of the stricken Four Kingdoms—and each of them was smiling happily!
Aye, true! For a little while later, the four of them had audience with His Majesty in this very same throne room, where the princess could hide behind a curtain of cloth of gold, and could hear each word they said.
“We are saved!” cried he of the Valley of the Blind.
“And so are we!” cried he of the Valley of the Deaf.
“And so are we!” cried each of the others.
“Our sorrow is gone. The curse of the toothless villain has been lifted away from our valley. We are the happiest folk in all the Four Kingdoms!” declared he of the Valley of the Blind.