As he spoke the beaver King ascended the steps to the wicker door and swung it open. The Shaggy Man had to stoop to enter, but once inside he found he could stand with ease.
It took a few minutes for Shaggy and his friends to adjust their eyes from the glare of the sun on the water to the lighting of the cave in which they stood. For that was what it was, a vast cave in the cliff. A fairy light of a silver white issued from the rock walls and dome of the cave.
The cavern proved to be merely the ante-room of the beaver kingdom, which consisted of a labyrinth of large and small tunnels burrowed into the earth at the rear of the cave. Sleek, well-fed beavers hurried in and out of the burrows, bent upon the tasks that made up their daily work. Indeed everyone in this underground kingdom seemed to be hard at work and intently busy on one task or another. New tunnels were being constructed and reinforced with carefully hewn beams of wood, new rooms and homes were under construction, and there didn't seem to be an idle moment with all the work that was going on. The beaver King was perhaps even busier than his subjects, and while he was gracious and did everything in his power to make his guests comfortable, they got the impression that even while he was chatting with them his mind was busy with new plans and ideas for the improvement of his kingdom.
The King of the Fairy Beavers hesitated only long enough for Shaggy and his friends to glance about them, and then led his guests down one of the burrows, which was really a good-sized tunnel. A short distance down this passage the beaver King paused before a large, granite door set in the tunnel's side. Just above the door was mounted a golden crown.
"It is my pleasure," said the beaver King, as the heavy door swung open, "to welcome you to my royal suite where I hope you will accept my humble hospitality."
There was a large reception hall, then a huge throne room that could easily accommodate an assemblage of several thousand beavers, and finally a dining room with mirrored walls and ceiling and a sumptuously laid table.
Shaggy and his friends were amazed at the elegance and beauty of their surroundings. The dining room table was set with the finest of china and the linens were snowy white and hand woven.
The King of the Fairy Beavers still carried the slender beech rod, which Twink had noticed in his right paw when he had first appeared among them that afternoon. After inviting his guests to be seated at the table, the beaver King waved the beech rod—which Twink and Tom had already guessed to be his magic wand—and at once the table was loaded with the most savory dishes imaginable.