Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/27

 Perhaps the jolliwog heard the sound of the wings, perhaps the uncorking of the bottle of greased lightning aroused him; at any rate he woke up in a fright, and jumped down the crevice.

But quick as were his movements, the greased lightning was quicker, and caught him on the wing.

The maker of shadows then deftly extracted his eye-tooth, and wrapping it carefully in tissue paper put the parcel in his breast pocket. Then the two returned in great glee to the land of Common-Sense.

It may be imagined what mutual congratulations passed between the two friends when the maker of shadows reached the capital. The bottles were produced, and, a neat hole being made in the jolliwog′s tooth, it was threaded with the hog's bristle. Then they fell to pounding and mixing all the ingredients in a mortar as they quickly counted ninety-nine.

This done, they awaited a change of weather, as the spell could only be broken during a thunderstorm.

One day it was close and threatening; the longed-for storm was evidently not far off. On the morrow the atmosphere was stiflingly oppressive, but though there was no air stirring, all along the eastward horizon a frowning black rampart of clouds reared itself, slowly mounting higher and higher until it blotted out the sun. Birds with startled cries flew hither and thither, and folk out of doors, after a glance at the angry sky, hurried to get under cover. Then it was completely dark, and Nature seemed to hold her breath in awful expectation.

Suddenly from out of the gloom there came a vivid flash of lightning, almost blinding in its intensity, and then the thunder pealed in a succession of crashes which made the houses shake. Great drops of rain as big as pennies splashed on the ground.

Faster and faster came the rain, and the thunder roared till it was deafening, and the gutters of the town were like mountain torrents.

At midnight the two adventurers prepared to sally forth, each taking a part of the mixture, for they divided the charm between them. There was a sulphurous smell in the air, and the dazzling flashes of lightning rather confused the sight than helped to show the way.

Now when they reached the narrow causeway it wanted but five minutes to one o'clock, so binding their upper lips to prevent a sneeze, they began their perilous passage. The wind roared and they could hardly stand against it, so they crouched on all fours, and held on like