Dot and Tot of Merryland Page 8

  CHAPTER 8 THE SECOND VALLEY

  Gliding out of the archway into the Second Valley of Merryland, ourlittle voyagers saw before them a big enclosure shaped like adiamond. Along two sides of this diamond the river ran very slowly,and upon the bank at their left rose a huge, straight wall of solidrock, that seemed, as they looked up, to reach to the clouds.

  Upon the bank at their right hand, however, was a broad, flatcountry, which seemed at first sight to resemble any other beautifulvalley, having trees and meadow, roads and fences, and a few prettyhouses clustered near the river bank.

  But on looking closer, Dot and Tot saw that all the trees had smoothtrunks, with bright colors twisted around them like sticks of candy.The branches, though smaller than the trunks, had the samestick-candy appearance; while the leaves, which were of various colors,looked soft and thick, as if they were made of candy, too.

  The houses were many-colored, being pink and brown and white andlavender, and the walls of all of them were as smooth as taffy. Onebig house, that was built exactly at the bend in the river, seemed toDot to be made entirely of molasses candy, for it had the same colorand appearance.

  The trees and houses and fences were all smaller than one usuallysees, but the brilliant colors made them look very pretty indeed.

  The boat floated slowly toward the bend in the stream, and finallycame close to the bank in front of the big molasses-candy house,where it stopped. Dot stepped out upon the bank and fastened theboat, and then Tot jumped out beside her. There was a little path,brown in color and rather rough, that led past the house and down tothe river where they stood, and as Tot jumped upon this path hestubbed his toe and fell down. Then Dot saw him pick up a piece ofthe brown path that had become loosened, and after looking at it amoment put it into his mouth.

  "Don't do that, Tot!" called the girl, in horror. "You mustn't eatmud."

  "T'ain't mud," said Tot, with his mouth full. "It's fudge."

  "Fudge!" echoed Dot. "You must be crazy, Tot." But she tasted a smallpiece herself and found that Tot was right. It was very nice fudge,too.

  Just then as Dot was looking curiously toward the house, she saw thedoor open and a little man come out, followed the next moment by alittle woman. They were not only very little, but short and very fat.The man wore a tall hat, a swallow-tail coat and tight breeches; butall his garments seemed fastened to him in some way, as if they werenot made to come off, and their bright colors looked to have beenpainted on. The woman's dress had the same appearance, and the bigShaker bonnet she wore seemed really a part of her head.

  When these people saw Dot and Tot, they stopped short and looked ateach other in surprise; but the man seemed soon to recover himselfand walked quickly toward the children, swinging a candy cane in hishand as he came.

  "Good morning, my dears," he said, pleasantly.

  "Good morning," answered Dot.

  "Mornin'," said Tot.

  "Will you kindly tell us how you came here?" continued the fat littleman. "You must excuse my curiosity, but I cannot remember ever havingseen any real children before."

  "Our boat brought us," said Dot. "We're drifting down the river andhave to go wherever it takes us."

  "Oh, I see," said the man. "Well, since you are here, permit me towelcome you to the Valley of Bonbons," and he reached out his hand,with a graceful bow, to the little girl.

  Dot shook hands with him, of course; but it made her shiver a little,the hand felt so soft and flabby; and when she withdrew her own handshe noticed upon it a fine white powder like flour. This she brushedoff, but the little man laughed and said. "It's only powdered sugar,my dear. I'm obliged to keep myself covered with it, you know, so Iwon't stick to things."

  "But--but I don't understand," stammered the girl. "Aren't you madelike other people?"

  "Certainly; I am made like everyone I have ever seen until I met youand this little boy. It strikes me you are the ones who are queerlymade. You don't seem to be candy at all."

  "Oh no!" said Dot, in a matter-of-fact way. "We're just flesh andblood and bones."

  "And clothes," added Tot, who was looking with greedy eyes at thestrange little man.

  "Well, well!" said the man, thoughtfully tapping the ground with hiscane; "what strange creatures you must be. In this Valley everyone ismade of candy."

  "And everything else is candy," exclaimed the little woman, who waspeering over the man's shoulder and had not spoken before.

  "Oh yes; everything we know of is candy except the river," continuedthe man.

  "Are you candy?" asked Tot, with wide open eyes.

  "To be sure. My bones are all made of stick candy and my flesh ismarshmallow. That is why I must keep myself covered with powderedsugar; otherwise I would melt or stick to everything I touched. Mywife is made in the same way, and we are very proud to know we arevery pure and wholesome."

  "What do you eat?" asked Tot, curiously.

  "We eat candy, of course; that is what makes us so fat. Candy is veryfattening, you know," said the little man cheerfully.

  "But you haven't any teeth," remarked Dot, who had noticed this fact.

  "Teeth! Certainly not. No one can eat much candy and still haveteeth. Haven't you heard that candy always destroys a person'steeth?"

  "I've been told so," replied Dot.

  "But we get along very nicely without them. Indeed, our lives aredecidedly sweet and peaceful."

  Just then they heard a shrill scream, and at once the woman rushedtoward the house, running in a very comical manner because she was soshort and fat.

  "That's the voice of our youngest child, the baby," explained theman. "I fear some accident has happened to it. One of our greatesttroubles is that we cannot depend upon our colored servants, who arechocolate. Chocolates can seldom be depended on, you know."

  "I hope nothing serious has happened to your baby," said Dot, withready sympathy.

  "Probably not," answered the candy man. "But I hope you will nowpermit me to escort you to my house. You must be hungry; and I willhave luncheon served at once."

  "Thank you," said Dot.

  So, led by their fat little host, who waddled as he walked in a waythat made Tot laugh, they went to the house and were ushered into thefront parlor.

  The room was beautifully furnished; but the chairs, tables, picturesand ornaments were all composed of candy of some sort, and there wasa fragrant odor of wintergreen, peppermint and rose about the roomthat made Tot's mouth water in delightful anticipation. The boyseated himself in a pretty pink and white chair, and Dot sat downupon a small sofa; but happening to remember the sofa was candy, shequickly arose and remained standing, although she was also a littleafraid of the sticky floor, which seemed to be well powdered.

  Soon the woman entered the room and, having welcomed them, she said,"Our colored nurse, Aunt Lowney, had left the baby, little Huyler,out in the sun, and before she noticed he was getting warm, his lefthand had all melted away. That was what made him cry."

  "Oh, that is terrible!" cried Dot, clasping her hands in horror atthe sad accident. "What can you do for the poor child?"

  "I have sent Aunt Lowney into the marshmallow field to get him somemore fingers. We shall be able to patch him up all right, I think, sodo not let it distress you. Accidents are always happening in ourValley. But I will order luncheon served at once, for you must behungry after your journey."

  She then left the room, but soon returned, followed by two servingmaids, with complexions so dark brown in color that Dot was almostafraid of them.

  "They are only chocolate, you know," whispered the man, "and quiteharmless when taken in moderation."

  Dot hardly understood what he meant, but felt more at ease after theexplanation.

  The maids brought many candy dishes to the table all filled withdelicious bonbons and sugar-plums of every description. There wereapples, pears, oranges and grapes, berries and peaches, rose-leavesand violets; but all were composed of candy and proved delightfuleating. For drink they had pink lemonade
, served in dainty candycups.

  "This pink lemonade," said the woman, "is one of the features of ourValley, through which it flows in a pretty stream. Sometimes we alsodrink the river water, but not often, for it is hardly sticky enoughfor our taste. Our luncheon is now ready, so please draw your chairsto the table."

  Tot tried to rise then, but found he was stuck fast to his chair,owing to the heat of his body having warmed the candy. Finding hecould not get up he began to cry, but Dot helped him, and bycarefully pulling his clothes away, an inch at a time, she managed toget him loose. His clothes left a soft fuzz upon the seat and back ofthe chair, and to avoid further trouble, the candy man scatteredpowdered sugar over the chairs in which Dot and Tot sat at the table.

  "I suppose it will powder your clothes somewhat," said he, "but theycan be brushed clean before you leave the Valley."

  The children enjoyed their novel luncheon. "It's the first time,"whispered Dot to Tot, "I ever had all the candy I wanted to eat."

  "Won't we get sick?" asked the boy, who was busily eating a deliciouspeach--rose candy outside and a soft, delicate cream within.

  "I suppose so," answered Dot, truthfully, "but there's nothing elseto eat, you see."

  "Don't want nuthin' else," said Tot.

  "Allegretti," called the woman to one of the brown maids, "bring adish of those new cocoanut-kisses for our guests. Won't you have afew more maple caramels?" she asked, politely, turning to Dot.

  "No, thank you," replied the child; "I've eaten so much already thatI fear I shall be ill."

  "Oh, nonsense!" returned the little man; "you cannot become illeating this sort of candy, for it's the purest in all the world. Butif you lived here always you would doubtless become as fat as we are,and probably you would lose all your teeth."

  "We're not going to stay," answered Dot, in alarm. "We shall have tostart in just a few minutes."

  "But not until you have taken a short walk around our Valley,"remonstrated the little man. "You may never come here again, youknow, and it is a very sweet sight."

  They agreed to join their kind host in a walk, and after the candyman had carefully dusted himself afresh with powdered sugar, theystarted out.

  As they walked up the street, they noticed that many people came tothe doors of the candy houses and looked at the strangers with greatcuriosity. These people seemed made of many different kinds of candy,but all were quite fat, and had their clothes painted upon them inbright colors, like the candy images that are sold in shops atChristmas time.

  "Aren't the people here very brittle?" asked Dot, as they walkedalong.

  "Yes, I may admit they are somewhat brittle," answered the man. "Thatis one of the drawbacks we suffer from being made of candy. Only twodays ago, Mr. Gunther, a particular friend of mine, fell down a hilland was broken into seventeen different pieces."

  "Dear me!" exclaimed Dot. "What did you do with him?"

  "Oh, as he was ruined beyond repair, we divided him up among theneighbors who loved him best, and ate him the next morning forbreakfast."

  "Ate him!" cried the girl, who was greatly shocked.

  "Certainly; Mr. Gunther was a very sweet man."

  "But this is horrible," said Dot, with a shudder. "You are allcannibals!"

  "Cannibals! What are those?" inquired the candy man.

  "Why, people who eat each other," said Dot.

  "Oh, then we are cannibals, sure enough," declared the little man,calmly.

  "But cannibals are wicked creatures," said the child, aghast at suchsavagery.

  "Is it wicked to eat candy in the country where you live?" demandedthe man.

  "No; but then people are not made of candy there."

  "Well, here there is nothing else than candy; so if we eat at all wemust eat candy. Is it wicked to eat in the country you came from?"

  "No," replied Dot, who was beginning to be puzzled at all this.

  "Then," said the little man, "you cannot consider us wicked foreating each other. Of course, we never eat anyone who is not broken;but when a man breaks himself into seventeen parts, it is consideredquite a compliment to him for the neighbors who feast upon hispieces."

  This did not seem quite right to Dot, but she did not know how toreply; and to add to her confusion, the candy man suddenly held uphis left hand, which he had placed behind him as he talked, andshowed her that his thumb and two of the fingers were missing.

  "Why, what can have happened to them?" she asked, in real distress.

  The candy man looked at his hand carefully, and then quickly turnedand looked at Tot.

  "There are marks of teeth on my hand," said he, "and no one in thisValley has teeth except you two children."

  "Tot!" cried Dot; "did you bite off this gentleman's fingers?"

  Tot hung his head.

  "Answer me!" said the girl. "Have you been eating our friend?"

  "Well," said Tot, slowly, "he said the folks here were good to eat;an'--an'--he held his hand behind his back--right in front of mymouth; an'--so I took one of little bite off his fingers, an'--"

  "Tot," said Dot, "I'm ashamed of you! The idea of eating one who hasbeen so kind to us, and so soon after luncheon, too!"

  "Pray, do not scold him," said the candy man. "He says I am good toeat, and that makes me so proud that I shall not mind the loss of myfingers. When I have time I can get some new ones patched on; so itdoes not matter much in the least."

  Still, Dot was hurt and angry at the occurrence, and Tot walkedbehind them with hanging head.

  Very soon they saw, sitting by the roadside, a child who was soexceedingly black in color that Dot exclaimed:

  "Surely, that baby isn't made of chocolate!"

  "No," said her friend, "that's a licorice child. We have a few ofthem in the Valley and they are much admired. But here is our streamof pink lemonade, and we will cross it by this little bridge."

  The bridge was remarkably pretty, being made of pea-green andorange-colored candy, twisted together and ornamented with dainty frostedwork such as bakers put upon wedding cakes.

  Upon reaching the other side of the stream they found themselves nearthe mountains, which shut in the far side of the Valley. Dot lookedup at these mountains and asked, curiously, "Who are all those peoplesitting on the rocks?"

  At the question, Tot looked up also and saw long rows of candy menand women sitting close together at the foot of the mountains.

  "Those people are the gum chewers," replied their guide.

  "What are they doing there?" inquired the girl.

  "They are being punished," returned the candy man, gravely. "If youlook over yonder, to the left, you will see a number of low bushes.On these grow all kinds of chewing gums, and sometimes those who arenaughty go out there and pick the sticks of gum."

  "But I thought they had no teeth," said Dot.

  "Nor have they; but their gums are hardened by long use, so they areable to chew as well as you do. This gum-chewing is a verydisagreeable habit, as doubtless you know; so when anyone isdiscovered indulging in this habit, we make them come out here to themountains and sit on the rocks for seven days and seven nights. It isa terrible disgrace, of course; but all naughtiness must be punishedin some way."

  Dot watched the gum-chewers thoughtfully for a time, being ashamed toremember that she herself had often been guilty of indulging in thiscondemned habit; but she said nothing about it, and soon they turnedand retraced their steps past the bridge and the village and the homeof their kind host, coming at last to the river's edge where they hadlanded.

  Here Dot and Tot were surprised to find one end of their boat filledwith delicious looking candies, which the colored maids had placedthere during their walk, being directed in the work by the littlecandy woman with the Shaker bonnet.

  Dot thanked the kind lady earnestly, for the food she had brought inthe basket was nearly gone. Then the candy lady gave each of thechildren a sweet kiss, and the candy man shook hands with them, beingcareful not to let Tot bite off any more of his fingers.<
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  Our little adventurers now seated themselves in the boat, and thechocolate maids pushed it off the bank for them. Soon they weredrifting down the river again, and before long reached the archwaythat led to the Third Valley of Merryland.