the road to dollfort turned to the right at the top of the hill, and ran for some way through the wood. when it got to the bottom of the hill there was a stretch of open country for about a mile; then there was another thick wood on another hill.
there was no sign of the carriages on the straight bit of road, but the pursuers had been some time freeing wooden’s aunt and listening to her story, and could hardly have expected to catch them up yet. wooden’s aunt was riding between peggy and wooden. she had nearly recovered from her disagreeable experience, and was inclined to like being on horseback. she said the motion reminded her of being in a small boat on a choppy sea.
when they had got about halfway between the two woods, colonel jim halted them with a sharp word of command. “women and children behind!!” he said, and then ordered his men in front.
it was a good thing that this was done, for as they approached the second wood two armed wooden soldiers[pg 217] sprang out of it and levelled their rifles at them. they did not fire them, but it would have given peggy and the dolls a nasty fright if they had been riding in front.
the wooden sentries challenged colonel jim, riding at the head of his little troop, with a “halt!” and a “who goes there?” he said “friend!” but they did not say “pass friend!” as is the usual custom. they told him that the king had recently gone through to dollfort, and had told them that they were to let nobody pass until they received further orders from the fort.
now colonel jim engaged in the duties of his profession was quite a different person from the amiable but rather slow-witted person we have hitherto seen. he didn’t tell the sentries that selim wasn’t the king at all, or engage in any argument with them. he said, “i’m an officer of the royal body guard, so your orders can’t apply to me.” then he gave them the password for the day, which, as you remember, was the word “pot-plants.”
now, you must also remember that, although selim had thought he might be followed in his flight, which was the reason why he had given orders to the sentries to let no one pass the wood, he could not have[pg 218] known that he would be immediately followed by a troop of household cavalry, which is, of course, the special protection of a king or queen. so he had naturally not warned the sentries of this, and as colonel jim spoke with authority, they were inclined to obey him.
“well, i suppose it’s all right for you and your men,” said one of the sentries, “but what about these here civs?” he meant civilians.
the lord chancellor now showed considerable resource. the sentries had lowered their rifles, which, strictly speaking, they ought not yet to have done, so he pushed his way to the front, and said in an important voice, “i am the highest official of this country; this gentleman here is the royal head bargeman; this lady is the one the king has asked to marry him, and this is her aunt; and this little girl is a human being, and therefore doesn’t come under your orders at all.”
“oh, well, i suppose it’s all right,” said the sentry in a grumbling voice. “you can pass through, all of you, and if me and my mate thinks it isn’t all right afterwards, why we can shoot after you.”
“have you got your rifles in order?” asked colonel jim in a sharp voice. “let’s have a look at them.”
because he was an officer, and had spoken in a voice[pg 219] of command, they obediently handed him their rifles to look at.
“thank you,” said colonel jim, and handed the rifles to one of his men. “now, you take these two and bring them along with us,” he said to another one. the surprised sentries found themselves prisoners, and made to walk by the side of the horses, which now proceeded at a foot’s pace up through the wood.
so far, all had gone well.
they kept a sharp look-out going through the wood, but saw no more soldiers. when they came to the edge of the wood they could see dollfort across the open downs about a mile away.
dollfort was a very fine toy fort, something like the one peggy had seen driving into dolltown, but much bigger. there were battlements all round it, with gates in them, and on the top of the fort was a large citadel. outside the walls was a little town of dolls’ houses, where the families of the wooden soldiers lived. none but wooden soldiers occupied this fort, and of course that was why selim had taken refuge there. he would tell them a great many lies and get them on his side.
the pursuing party remained in the shelter of the wood, where they could not be seen from the fort, even[pg 221] with a telescope, but they could see the fort themselves quite plainly, and the country that lay between. this was all open grass-land, and woolly sheep were feeding on it. there were no houses between the wood and the fort.
colonel jim at once announced that he was going to take his soldiers to the fort and summon selim to surrender. the lord chancellor thought this was a dangerous proceeding, but colonel jim refused to listen to him. “i’m in military command here,” he said, “and that is what i am going to do.” no doubt he was in a hurry, not only because of the queen being shut up there, in the power of selim, but because his dear lady grace was also shut up there. but he did not say this. he left mr. noah in charge, and set off with his gallant little band. they watched them ride down the hill, and trot across the open road over the downs, and very fine they looked on their splendid black chargers, with the sun glittering on their helmets and cuirasses, and their white plumes waving in the breeze.
the two captured wooden soldiers had had their hands tied, but when mr. noah told them all about selim’s wickedness, and about the queen being still alive, they expressed such horror that he allowed them to be untied. they said that if the soldiers in the fort[pg 222] knew what had happened none of them would be on selim’s side. they had only been prepared to obey him as king because he was of wood, but they were loyal to queen rosebud, and would be glad to have her reigning over them again. they were none of them pleased at the shutting up of all the waxes, who had done them no harm, and rumours had come through to dollfort that not only waxes but some woods also had been sent to prison, and this had pleased them still less. when the sentries were told that wooden and her aunt had been two of the dolls in question, they were very interested, and said that their comrades would never fight for selim, if it came to fighting. whether this was true or not, you will soon see.
they watched the little troop of soldiers get smaller and smaller, and at last disappear among the houses outside the fort. then they waited for a long time, while the sheep fed peacefully on the downs in the evening sunlight, and no other signs of life could be seen at all except the smoke rising from the houses round the fort.
they had finished talking, and had been sitting silent for about five minutes, when wooden’s aunt, whose ears were very sharp, said suddenly, “hark! what’s that?”
[pg 223]
nobody else had heard anything, but almost immediately mr. noah said, “there are guns firing.” and then peggy distinctly heard some faint pops coming from the direction of the fort.
this was serious, because the life guardsmen had no rifles, but only their swords, and if they were being fired upon by the wooden soldiers it would be difficult for them to defend themselves.
“look!” cried peggy in great excitement.
just where the houses began, a mile away, there was[pg 224] a flash of sun on bright metal, and no sooner had she spoken than they could all see that it was on the helmets and breastplates of the soldiers. then they saw the life guardsmen galloping towards them, and directly they had got clear of the houses, they saw the scarlet and white of the wooden soldiers following them, and heard their guns shooting. but none of the horse-soldiers seemed to be hit, and on they came, galloping along the road, and on the grass on either side of it. the foot-soldiers came running after them, but of course they could not go nearly so fast, and presently colonel jim and his men galloped up the road into the wood.
by this time the wooden soldiers were about a quarter of the way between the fort and the wood. there seemed to be an enormous number of them. they had left off firing their rifles, but were coming on at a good pace. in not so very long they would reach the wood, and it really seemed as if they must capture not only colonel jim and his troop, but peggy and the woodens and all the rest of them. peggy was a little frightened then, for the red and white was coming towards them like a great wave, and all the soldiers had rifles, which they would certainly use if any resistance were offered to them.
[pg 225]
colonel jim cast one hurried glance round him. “if we had axes,” he said, “we could make a barricade, and keep them at bay until we could send for reinforcements. as it is, i’m afraid we must clear out.”
“what, and leave my sister-in-law shut up there!” exclaimed wooden’s aunt. “never! if nobody else stays, i shall. i’ve got a sharp pair of nails, and i can give them a few scratches.”
now, this was plucky of wooden’s aunt, and loyal too. she had only mentioned wooden’s mother, but no doubt she had had the queen in her mind as well. but she had left out of account the military situation, not knowing much about that sort of thing, and her opinion could not be allowed to stand against that of colonel jim, who was quite as brave as she was, but knew when there was a chance of fighting successfully and when it was better to retreat.
“we shall have to go,” he said decidedly. “if they take us prisoners we can’t do any more good, but if we get back to dolltown we can bring out reinforcements and take the fort. to horse, all of you!”
the wooden soldiers were now about halfway across the stretch of open country. they were not running so fast now, as they must have got rather winded with their first effort, but more and more of them were coming[pg 226] out of the fort, and it was quite plain that the little band in the wood would have no possible chance against them.
they untied the horses and ponies, and were just preparing to mount, when wooden’s aunt said, “hark! i heard a shout.”
she turned towards the interior of the wood, and they all listened. yes, there was somebody shouting, and they heard the noise of a horse galloping furiously, besides. in a moment there came into sight, among the trees—who do you think? none other than peggy’s faithful old teddy.
