QUEEN MARCIA OF MARSHLAND

With his sword, Sir Hokus scraped some of the mud from his armor; then, settling himself cross-legged on Ploppa's back, he looked about with deep distaste.

"Are you sure you would not like to squirm along behind me?" inquired the turtle, looking fondly over his shoulder. "The marsh is beautiful to-day. Ah, to feel the delicious squg and glug of it," he murmured, rolling his eyes rapturously.

"Nay, an' I care not for this glugging," shuddered the Knight, "so splash along by yourself, dear creature." Taking some chessmen from his boot, Sir Hokus set them out on the nicely marked squares of Ploppa's shell and in the problems of the game tried to forget his hunger and the strangeness of his situation. Several times Ploppa opened his mouth to speak, for he felt extremely curious about this superior being he was carrying, but the Knight seemed so engrossed moving the ivory figures from place to place that he did not like to interrupt and churned quietly along saying nothing. Now and then a frog goblin rose from the mud, or a flock of wild geese flew screaming overhead, but for nearly an hour they met no one. Then, glancing up suddenly, Sir Hokus saw two giants striding across the marsh.

"What ho, and who goes there?" cried the Knight, thumping Ploppa on the head with a red king.

"Oh, just a couple of Stick-in-the-Muds," answered the turtle indifferently. "The marsh is full of them." Sweeping the chessmen back into his boot, Sir Hokus sat up very straight to have a better look at Queen Marcia's odd subjects. Their bodies seemed no larger than his own, but their legs were long and stick-like and reached almost to the tops of the trees.

"Why, they _are_ sticks," decided Sir Hokus, after a long, intent look at the Marshlanders.

"Stilts," corrected the turtle composedly. "They use stilts to keep out of the mud, you know."

"So that's how one manages," said Sir Hokus, tapping his nose thoughtfully. He had once tried a smaller pair of stilts back in the Emerald City and had fallen hard upon his helmet, and he could not help but admire the clever way in which these fellows got about on the unwieldy poles. Their dwellings were surprising, too, for the Marshlanders lived in tiny mud-thatched houses built high up in the trees. As Sir Hokus continued to watch, the two travellers, reaching their own house, which was on an exact level with their feet, stepped off their stilts and leaving them standing against the tree went in and slammed the door. "Well done, by my head!" breathed Sir Hokus, settling back with a little chuckle. "I must tell Dorothy about this. Hast ever heard of Princess Dorothy, my good Ploppa?"

"Is she a turtle?" inquired the monster in a bored voice.

"Oh, no, no, no!" exclaimed Sir Hokus with a little gesture of distress, and immediately began telling the turtle all about the Emerald City; about Ozma, Dorothy, Bettsy, and Trot, and the other wonderful citizens of Oz.

The turtle listened attentively, and as Sir Hokus paused for breath, turned his head.

"If everything is so squg," (and "squg," I must tell you, is turtle-talk for cozy) "why did you ever come away from there?" he inquired, reasonably enough.

"Well," muttered Sir Hokus, beginning to wonder a little himself, "well!" Then recalling the high purpose of his journey, he braced up and spoke most earnestly. "A Knight," stated Sir Hokus, raising his sword solemnly, "must beware of squgness! A Knight must seek danger and go upon curious quests in search of adventure. In other words, he must fight!"

"I see," Ploppa shook his head knowingly. "By the way, have you met our Queen?"

"No, but I've heard of her," admitted Sir Hokus, recalling his strange encounter with Getsom and Gotsom. He had been so busy describing the Emerald City to Ploppa that he had not remarked the change in their surroundings. Ahead, like an oasis in a desert, lay a higher and dryer bit of ground. In the exact center of this clearing rose a mud house much larger and more pretentious than the tree dwellings of the other Stick-in-the-Muds. Before the door stood six Mud Guards, their stilts held stiffly before them. At sight of Sir Hokus, all six dropped their stilts and stared at him so fixedly that his grip upon his sword tightened and he quietly reached for his battle-axe.

"The Royal Hut of her Majesty, Queen Marcia," announced the turtle, seeming to take no notice of the Guards.

"Yes? Yes, but let us make haste!" puffed Sir Hokus, thumping Ploppa hard upon the shell. "I crave not to meet her muddy Majesty." But before Ploppa could obey his instructions, they had come opposite the hut; the six Guards darted forward, and jumping upon Ploppa's back, dragged Sir Hokus triumphantly in to the Queen.

"The King!" they shouted, all together. "Long live the King!" And hurling the Knight upon the floor of the hut, they stood proudly at attention. Queen Marcia sat cross-legged on the floor, eating marshmallows from a large box at her side. She looked, at first glance, like a South Sea Islander, with her dark skin and skirt of swamp grass. But when Sir Hokus, who had instantly sprung to his feet, gazed into the face of this royal lady, he was too stunned to speak or even stutter. Marcia had, indeed, one wonderful eye. It was large, brown, and lively, turning in toward the nose. The other, which was small and blue and turned impishly outward, did not count at all. The Queen's hair had evidently never been combed, and Sir Hokus in his whole seven centuries had not seen anyone so bewilderingly wild and ugly. As he stood uncomfortably shifting from one foot to the other, Marcia's dog, a dingy little swampoodle, rushed out and snapped viciously at his heels. But the Knight's armor served him well, and yelping with pain and bad temper the swampoodle ran back to its mistress. The Queen had been examining Sir Hokus quite as closely as he had been examining her, and now, popping another marshmallow into her mouth, she spoke.

"Well, I'll be splattered!" mumbled her Majesty. "I'll be splashed and splattered! What do _you_ think of him, Mira? My sister, the Marchioness of Muckengoo!" explained the Queen, with a wave at the dark-skinned lady at her side. Sir Hokus bowed in a dazed fashion and Mira, who was weaving baskets from dried reeds, squinted critically up at the Knight.

"Well," said Mira, after a long, earnest squint, "if you don't marry him, sister, I shall!"

"But ladies!" protested Sir Hokus, backing away in great distress, "this is impossible! I must go----"

"Silence!" roared Marcia, as well as she could with her mouth full of marshmallows. "I have sworn to marry the first stranger who enters my Kingdom, and marry you I will. Guards! Fetch the crown, bring on the food, and summon the guests!"

"You always have the best of everything," pouted Mira, throwing down her reeds. "You married the last stranger. This one is mine!" Swallowing with great difficulty, the Marchioness of Muckengoo buried her face in her handkerchief and sobbed as if her heart would break.

"But if your Majesty is already married," began Sir Hokus, stepping forward hopefully, "how can you marry me?"

"Silence!" cried the Queen furiously. "Speak when you're spoken to, and bow when you speak to me."

"The last King was a p--peer!" sobbed Marcia, coming out from behind her handkerchief.

"Well, what became of him?" demanded the Knight, paying no attention to Marcia's angry gestures.

"He--he disappeared!" confided the Marchioness, beginning to sob anew.

"Oh, I expect he fell off his stilts and was lost in the mud," sniffed the Queen unfeelingly. "You must be careful with your stilts, fellow. By the way, what is your name?"

"You see in me a Knight, bound upon a curious quest," announced Sir Hokus, resolved to speak his mind and end this ridiculous discussion. "You see----"

"That will do, Usee! Smirch! Conduct the King to his apartment and see that he is served a portion of the royal duck." At the Queen's last remark, Sir Hokus brightened visibly, for he had not eaten since the night before.

"Duck!" muttered Sir Hokus. "Well, beshrew me now, after a portion of the royal duck I'll be better able to duck this whole proceeding." A glance at the door had convinced him that escape, for the time being, was impossible. Ten Mud Guards had replaced the first six and at a slight move in their direction all ten had brandished their stilts threateningly. So, resolved to fall in with the plans of the Queen for the moment and make off at the first opportunity, Sir Hokus followed Smirch into a small, mean room at the back of the royal hut. There was a rough table and chair, and a pile of grass in the corner evidently served for a bed. While the Knight was reflecting upon the very doubtful pleasures of being King of the Marsh, Smirch brought in a heaping platter of duck and, retreating, locked the door securely behind him. Almost never had anything tasted so delicious and Sir Hokus, unmindful of his dreary surroundings and his approaching marriage, fell upon the platter and soon reduced the duck to skin and bones. Then, much refreshed, he rose up to see what was to be done. The room's one window was high and barred, but by placing a chair upon the table and standing on that, he could manage to see out. What he saw filled him with new hope and courage. Asleep in the tall grass beneath the window lay the giant mud turtle.

"Good, honest, faithful creature!" puffed the Knight, looking around for something to throw at Ploppa. There was nothing in the room but the knife, fork, and platter. The first two made no impression, but as the platter splintered to bits on his shell, Ploppa raised his head.

"What ho! What ho, below!" whispered the Knight, so as not to arouse the Guards.

"Oh, it's you, is it? Well, how are you enjoying the fighting? Is our Queen not a famous fighter?" wheezed Ploppa, blinking his eyes in an interested fashion.

"It is not seemly for a knight to fight with ladies," hissed Sir Hokus earnestly. "And lest I forget I am a Knight, I must get hence. Get me hence at once, my good Ploppa. Wouldst have me marry a wild-eyed witch and break my head learning to stilt?"

"But they will follow us," panted the turtle, pulling himself erect. So huge was the turtle that it towered above the house top and had to bend down to look in the window. "The Queen will not let you go."

"Break me these bars," breathed Sir Hokus impatiently. "Break me these bars and we'll go anyway. And if we are followed, I'll break a few heads. Odds dragons! A few heads, and shins, and what nots!" As easily as you or I would bend wax, Ploppa forced the window bars apart with his strong claws; then, peering round to be sure nobody was looking, he put his face close to the Knight's.

"I have just thought of something," confided the turtle hoarsely. "When I return and call three times, be ready to jump!" Before Sir Hokus could stop him or ask about his plan, the great mud turtle was flopping at a great pace across the marsh.