The Secret Series

#4

1943

A Fine Surprise

Three excited boys stood on a station platform, waiting for a train to come in.

“The train’s late,” said Mike, impatiently. “Five minutes late already.”

“I’m going to tell the girls the news,” said Jack.

“I’m going to tell them!” said Prince Paul, his big dark eyes glowing. “It’s my news, not yours.”

“All right, all right,” said Mike. “You tell Nora and Peggy then, but don’t be too long about it or I shall simply have to burst in!”

The three boys were waiting for Nora and Peggy to come back from their boarding-school for the summer holidays. Mike, Jack and Prince Paul all went to the same boys’ boarding-school, and they had broken up the day before. Mike was the twin brother of Nora, and Peggy was his other sister, a year older than Mike and Nora.

Jack was their adopted brother. He had no father or mother of his own, so Captain and Mrs. Arnold, the children’s father and mother, had taken him into their family, and treated him like another son. He went to boarding-school with Mike, and was very happy.

Prince Paul went to the same school too. He was a great friend of theirs, for a year or two back the children had rescued him when he was kidnapped. His father was the King of Baronia, and the little prince spent his term-time at an English boarding-school, and his holidays in his own distant land of Baronia. He was the youngest of the five.

“Here comes the train, hurrah!” yelled Mike, as he heard the sound of the train in the distance.

“The girls will be sure to be looking out of the window,” said Jack.

The train came nearer and nearer, and the engine chuffed more and more loudly. It ran alongside the platform, slowed down and stopped. Doors swung open.

Prince Paul gave a yell. “There they are! Look! In the middle of the train!”

Sure enough, there were the laughing faces of Peggy and Nora, leaning out of the window. Then their door swung open and out leapt the two girls. Nora was dark and curly-haired like Mike. Peggy’s golden hair shone in the sun. She had grown taller, but she was still the same old Peggy.

“Peggy! Nora! Welcome back!” yelled Mike. He hugged his twin-sister, and gave Peggy a squeeze too. All five children were delighted to be together again. They had had such adventures, they had shared so many difficulties, dangers and excitements. It was good to be together once more, and say, “Do you remember this, do you remember that?”

Prince Paul was always a little shy at first when he met the two girls. He held out his hand politely to shake hands, but Peggy gave a squeal and put her arms round him.

“Paul! Don’t be such an idiot! Give me a hug!”

“Paul’s got some news,” said Mike, suddenly remembering. “Buck up and tell it, Paul.”

“What is it?” asked Nora.

“I’ve got an invitation for you all,” said the little prince. “Will you come to my land of Baronia with me for the holidays?”

There was a shriek of delight from the two girls.

“PAUL! Go to Baronia with you! Oh, I say!”

“Oh! What a marvellous surprise!”

Paul beamed. “Yes, it is a fine surprise, isn’t it?” he said. “I thought you’d be pleased. Mike and Jack are thrilled too.”

“It will be a real adventure to go to Baronia,” said Mike. “A country hidden in the heart of mountains — with a few beautiful towns, hundreds of hidden villages, great forests — golly, it will be grand.”

“Oh, Paul, how decent of your father to ask us!” said Nora, putting her arm through the little prince’s. “How long will it take us to get there?”

“We shall fly in my aeroplane,” said Paul. “Ranni and Pilescu, my two men, will fetch us tomorrow.”

“This is just too good to be true!” said Nora, dancing round in joy. She bumped into a porter wheeling a barrow. “Oh — Sorry, I didn’t see you. I say, Mike, we’d better get our luggage. Can you see a porter with an empty barrow?”

All the porters had been engaged, so the five children had to wait. They didn’t mind. They didn’t mind anything! It was so marvellous to be going off to Paul’s country the next day.

“We thought we were going to the seaside with Daddy and Mummy,” said Nora.

“So we were,” said Jack. “But when Paul’s father cabled yesterday, saying he was sending the aeroplane to fetch Paul, he said we were all to come too, if we were allowed to.”

“And you know how Daddy and Mummy like us to travel and see all we can!” said Mike. “They were just as pleased about it as we were — though they were sorry not to have us for the holidays, of course.”

“We are not to take many clothes,” said Jack. “Paul says we can dress up in Baronian things — they are much more exciting than ours! I shall feel I’m wearing fancy dress all the time!”

The girls sighed with delight. They imagined themselves dressed in pretty, swinging skirts and bright bodices — lovely! They would be real Baronians.

“Look here, we really must get a porter and stop talking,” said Nora. “The platform is almost empty. Hi, porter!”

A porter came up, wheeling an empty barrow. He lifted the girls’ two trunks on to it and wheeled them down to the barrier. He got a taxi for the children and they all crowded into it. They were to go to their parents’ flat for the night.

It was a very happy family party that sat down to a big tea at the flat. Captain and Mrs. Arnold smiled round at the five excited faces. To come home for holidays was thrilling enough — but to come home and be told they were all off to Baronia the next day was almost too exciting for words!

Usually the children poured out all the doings of the term — how well they had played tennis, how exciting cricket had been, how fine the new swimming-pool was, and how awful the exams were. But today not a word was said about the term that had just passed. No — it was all Baronia, Baronia, Baronia! Paul was delighted to see their excitement, for he was very proud of his country.

“Of course, it is not a very big country,” he said, “but it is a beautiful one, and a very wild one. Ah, our grand mountains, our great forests, our beautiful villages! The stern rough men, the laughing women, the good food!”

“You sound like a poet, Paul,” said Peggy. “Go on!”

“No,” said the little prince, going red. “You will laugh at me. You English people are strange. You love your country but you hardly ever praise her. Now I could tell you of Baronia’s beauties for an hour. And not only beauties. I could tell you of wild robbers…”

“Oooh,” said Peggy, thrilled.

“And of fierce animals in the mountains,” said Paul.

“We’ll hunt them!” Mike chimed in.

“And of hidden ways in the hills, deep forests where no foot has ever trodden, and…”

“Oh, let’s go this very minute!” said Nora. “I can’t wait! We might have adventures there — thrilling ones, like those we’ve had before.”

The little prince shook his head. “No,” he said. “We shall have no exciting adventures in Baronia. We shall live in my father’s palace, and wherever we go there will be guards with us. You see, since that time I was kidnapped, I am never allowed to go about alone in Baronia.”

The other children looked disappointed. “Well, it sounds grand to have a bodyguard, I must say, but it does cramp our style a bit,” said Mike. “Are we allowed to climb trees and things like that?”

“Well, I have never been allowed to in my own country,” said Paul. “But, you see, I am a prince there, and I have to behave always with much dignity. I behave differently here.”

“I should just think you do!” said Mike, staring at him. “Who waded through the duck-pond to get his ball, and came out covered with mud?”

“And who tore his coat to rags squeezing through a hawthorn hedge, trying to get away from an angry cow?” asked Jack.

“I did,” said Paul. “But then, here, I am like you. I learn to behave differently. When you go to Baronia you, too, will have different manners. You must kiss my mother’s hand, for instance.”

Mike and Jack looked at him in alarm. “I say! I’m not much good at that sort of thing!” said Jack.

“And you must learn to bow — like this,” said the little prince, thoroughly enjoying himself. He bowed politely from his waist downwards, stood up and brought his heels together with a smart little click. The girls giggled.

“It will be fun to see Mike and Jack doing things like that,” said Nora. “You’d better start practising now, Mike. Come on — bow to me. And, Jack, you kiss my hand!”

The boys scowled. “Don’t be an idiot,” said Mike, gruffly. “If I’ve got to do it, I will do it — but not to you or Peggy.”

“I don’t expect it will be as bad as Paul makes out,” said his mother, smiling. “He is just pulling your leg. Look at him grinning!”

“You can behave how you like,” said Paul, with a chuckle. “But don’t be surprised at Baronian manners. They are much better than yours!”

“Have you all finished tea?” asked Captain Arnold. “I can’t imagine that any of you could possibly eat any more, but I may be wrong.”

“I’ll just have one more piece of cake,” said Mike. “We don’t get chocolate cake like this at school!”

“You’ve had four pieces already,” said his mother. “I am glad I don’t have to feed you all the year round! There you are — eat it up.”

There was very little packing to be done that evening — only night-clothes and tooth-brushes, flannels and things like that. All the children were looking forward to wearing the colourful Baronian clothes. They had seen photographs of the Baronian people, and had very much liked the children’s clothes. They were all so thrilled that it was very difficult to settle down and do anything. They talked to Captain and Mrs. Arnold, played a game or two and then went off to bed.

Not one of them could go to sleep. They lay in their different bedrooms, calling to one another until Mrs. Arnold came up and spoke sternly.

“One more shout — and you don’t go to Baronia!” After that there was silence, and the five children lay quietly in their beds, thinking of the exciting day tomorrow was going to be.

Off to Baronia

It was wonderful to wake up the next morning and remember everything. Jack sat up and gave a yell to wake the others. It was not long before everyone was dressed and down to breakfast. They were to go to the airport to meet Ranni and Pilescu, the big Baronians, at ten o’clock. All the things they were taking with them went into one small bag.

“Mummy, I’m sorry I won’t see much of you these hols.” said Peggy.

“Well, Daddy and I may fly over to Baronia to fetch you back,” said her mother. “We could come a week or two before it’s time for you to return to school, so we should see quite a bit of you!”

“Oh — that would be lovely!” said Nora and Peggy together, and the boys beamed in delight. “Will you come in the White Swallow?”

The White Swallow was the name given to Captain Arnold’s famous aeroplane. In it he and Mrs. Arnold had flown many thousands of miles, for they were both excellent pilots. They had had many adventures, and this was partly why they liked their children to go off on their own and have their own adventures too.

“It doesn’t do to coddle children too much and shelter them,” said Captain Arnold many a time to his wife. “We don’t want children like that — we want boys and girls of spirit and courage, who can stand on their feet and are not afraid of what may happen to them. We want them to grow up adventurous and strong, of some real use in the world! So we must not say no when a chance comes along to help them to be plucky and independent!”

“If we can grow up like you and Mummy, we shall be all right!” said Peggy. “You tried to fly all the way to Australia by yourselves in that tiny plane — and you’ve set up ever so many flying records. We ought to be adventurous children!”

“I think you are,” said her mother, with a laugh. “You’ve certainly had some marvellous adventures already — more than most children have all their lives long!”

When the car drew up at the door to take the children to the airport, they all clattered down the steps at once. “It’s a good thing it’s a big car!” said Mike. “Seven of us is quite a crowd!”

Everyone got in. The car set off at a good speed, and soon came to the big airport. It swept in through the gates. Mike, who was looking out of the window, gave a loud shout.

“There’s your aeroplane, Paul! I can see it. It’s the smartest one on the air-field.”

“And the loveliest,” said Nora, looking in delight at the beautiful plane towards which they were racing. It was bright blue with silver edges, and it shone brilliantly in the sun. The car stopped a little way from it. Everyone got out. Paul gave a yell.

“There’s Pilescu! And Ranni! Look, over there, behind the plane!”

The two big Baronians had heard the engine of the car and they had come to see if it was the children arriving. Pilescu gave a deep-throated shout.

“Paul! My little lord!”

Paul raced over the grass to Pilescu. The big red-bearded man bowed low and then lifted the boy up in his strong arms.

“Pilescu! How are you? It’s grand to see you again,” said Paul, in the Baronian language that always sounded so strange to the other children.

Pilescu was devoted to the little prince. He had held him in his arms when he was only a few minutes old, and had vowed to be his man as long as he lived. His arms pressed so tightly round the small boy that Paul gasped for breath.

“Pilescu! I can’t breathe! Let me down,” he squealed. Pilescue grinned and set him down. Paul turned to Ranni, who bowed low and then gave him a hug like a bear, almost as tight as Pilescu’s.

“Ranni! Have you got any of the chocolate I like so much?” asked Paul. Ranni put his hand into his pocket and brought out a big packet of thick chocolate, wrapped in colourful paper. It had a Baronian name on it. Paul liked it better than any other chocolate, and had often shared it with Mike and Jack, when a parcel had arrived for him from Baronia.

Ranni and Pilescu welcomed the other children, beaming in delight to see them all, and Captain and Mrs. Arnold too. They had all shared a strange adventure in Africa, hidden in a Secret Mountain, and it was pleasant to be together again.

“Look after all these rascals, Pilescu,” said Mrs. Arnold, as she said goodbye to the excited children. “You know what monkeys they can be!”

“Madam, they are safe with me and with Ranni,” said Pilescu, his red beard flaming in the sun. He bowed from his waist, and took Mrs. Arnold’s small hand into his big one. He kissed it with much dignity. Mike felt perfectly certain he would never be able to kiss anyone’s hand like that.

“Is the plane ready?” asked Captain Arnold, climbing into the cockpit to have a look round. “My word, she is a marvellous machine! I’ll say this for Baronia — you have some mighty fine designers of aircraft! You beat us hollow, and we are pretty good at it, too.”

All the children were now munching chocolate, talking to Ranni. The big bear-like man was happy to see them all again. Nora and Peggy hung on to him, remembering the thrilling, dangerous days when they had all been inside the Secret Mountain in Africa.

A mechanic came up and did a few last things to the engine of the great aeroplane. In a minute or two the engines started up and a loud throbbing filled the air.

“Doesn’t it sound lovely?” said Mike. “We’re really going!”

“Get in, children,” said Pilescu. “Say your goodbyes — then we must go.”

The children hugged their parents, and Paul bowed, and kissed Mrs. Arnold’s hand. She laughed and gave him a squeeze. “Goodbye, little Paul. Mind you don’t lead my four into trouble! Jack, look after everyone. Mike, take care of your sisters. Nora and Peggy, see that the boys don’t get up to mischief!”

“Goodbye, Mummy! Goodbye, Daddy! Write to us. Come and fetch us when the hols are nearly over!”

“Goodbye, Captain Arnold! Goodbye, Mrs. Arnold!”

The roar of the aeroplane drowned everything. Pilescu was at the controls. Ranni was beside him. The children were sitting behind in comfortable armchairs. The engine roared more loudly.

“R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r —!” The big machine taxied slowly over the runway — faster — faster — and then, light as a bird, it left the ground, skimmed over the hedges and the trees, and was up in the sky in two minutes.

“Off to Baronia!” said Mike, thrilled.

“Adventuring again,” said Jack. “Isn’t this fun?”

“The runway looks about one inch long!” said Nora, peering out of the window.

“In half an hour we shall be over the sea,” said Paul. “Let’s look out for it.”

It was grand to be in the big aeroplane once more. All the children were used to flying, and loved the feeling of being high up in the sky. Sometimes clouds rolled below them, looking like vast snow-fields. The sun shone down on the whiteness, and the clouds below the plane became almost too dazzling to look at.

Suddenly there was a break in the clouds, and Mike gave a yell.

“The sea! Look — through the clouds. Hi, Ranni, Ranni, isn’t that the sea already?”

Ranni turned and nodded. “We are going very fast,” he shouted. “We want to be in Baronia by lunch time.”

“I’m so happy,” said Nora, her eyes shining. “I’ve always wanted to go to Baronia, Paul. And now we’re really going.”

“I am happy too,” said Paul. “I like your country, and I like you, too. But I like Baronia better. Maybe you also will like Baronia better.”

“Rubbish!” said Mike. “As if any country could be nicer than our own!”

“You will see,” said the little prince. “Have some more chocolate?”

The children helped themselves from Paul’s packet. “Well, I certainly think your chocolate is better than ours,” said Mike, munching contentedly. “Look, there’s the sea again. Doesn’t it look smooth and flat?”

It was fun watching for the sea to appear and reappear between the gaps in the clouds.. Then the plane flew over land again. The clouds cleared away, and the children could see the country below, spread out like an enormous, coloured map.

They flew over great towns, wreathed in misty smoke. They flew over stretches of green countryside, where farms and houses looked like toys. They watched the rivers, curling along like blue and silver snakes. They flew over tall mountains, and on some of them was snow.

“Funny to see that in the middle of summer,” said Mike. “How’s the time getting on? I say — twelve o’clock already! We shall be there in another hour or so.”

The plane roared along steadily. Ranni took Pilescu’s place after two hours had gone by. He sat and talked to the children for a while, gazing devotedly at the little prince. Mike thought he was like a big dog, worshipping his master! He thought Paul was very lucky to have such friends as Ranni and Pilescu.

“Soon we shall see the palace,” he said, looking down. “Now we are over the borders of Baronia, Paul! Look, there is the river Jollu! And there is the town of Kikibora.”

Paul began to look excited. It was three months since he had been home, and he was longing to see his father and mother, and his little brothers and sisters.

Mike and Jack fell silent. They wondered if Paul’s mother would be at the airfield to greet them. Would they have to kiss her hand? “I shall really feel an awful idiot,” thought Mike, uncomfortably.

“There is the palace!” cried Paul, suddenly. The children saw a palace standing on a hillside — a palace that almost seemed to have come straight from a fairytale! It was a beautiful place, with shining towers and minarets, and below it was a blue lake in which the reflection of the palace shone.

“Oh! It’s beautiful!” said Nora. “Oh, Paul — I feel rather grand. Fancy living in a palace! It may seem ordinary to you — but it’s wonderful to me!”

The aeroplane circled round and flew lower. Beside the palace was a great runway, on which the royal planes landed. Ranni’s plane swooped low like a bird, its great wheels skimmed the ground, the plane slowed down and came to a halt not far from a little crowd of people.

“Welcome to Baronia!” said Paul, his eyes shining. “Welcome to Baronia!”

The Palace in Baronia

Ranni and Pilescu helped the five children down from the plane. Paul ran straight to a very lovely lady smiling nearby. He bowed low, kissed her hand, and then flung himself on her, chattering quickly in Baronian. It was his mother, the queen. She laughed and cried at the same time, fondling the little prince’s hair, and kissing his cheeks.

Paul’s father was there, too, a handsome man, straight and tall, dressed in uniform. Paul saluted him smartly and then leapt into his arms. Then he turned to four smaller children standing nearby, his brothers and sisters. Paul kissed the hands of his little sisters and saluted his brothers. Then they kissed, all talking at once.

Soon it was the other children’s turn to say how-do-you-do. They had already met Paul’s father and liked him, but they had never seen the little prince’s mother. Nora and Peggy thought she looked a real queen, lovely enough to be in a fairy tale. She wore the Baronian dress beautifully, and her full red and blue skirt swung gracefully as she walked.

She kissed Nora and Peggy and spoke to them in English. “Welcome, little girls!” she said. “I am so glad to see Paul’s friends. You have been so good to him in England. I hope you will be very happy here.”

Then it was the boys’ turn to be welcomed. Both of them felt hot and bothered about kissing the Queen’s hand, but after all, it was quite easy! Mike stepped forward first, and the Queen held out her hand to him. Mike found himself bending down and kissing it quite naturally! Jack followed, and then they saluted Paul’s father.

“Come along to the palace now,” said the Queen. “You must be very hungry after your long journey. We have all Paul’s favourite dishes — and I hope you will like them too.”

The children were glad that Paul’s mother could speak English. They had been trying to learn the Baronian language from Paul, but he was not a good teacher. He would go off into peals of laughter at the comical way they pronounced the difficult words of the Baronian language, and it was difficult to get any sense out of him when he was in one of his giggling fits.

The children stared in awe at the palace. They had never seen one like it before, outside of books. It was really magnificent, though not enormous. With the great mountain behind it, and the shining blue lake below, it looked like a dream palace. They walked through a garden full of strange and sweet-smelling flowers and came to a long flight of steps. They climbed these and entered the palace through a wide-open door at which stood six footmen in a line, dressed in the Baronian livery of blue and silver.

After them clattered the little brothers and sisters of Paul, with their nurses. Peggy and Nora thought the small children were sweet. They were all very like Paul, and had big dark eyes.

“We shan’t be bothered much with these babies,” said Paul, in rather a lordly voice. “Of course, they wanted to welcome me. But they live in the nurseries. We shall have our own rooms, and Pilescu will wait on us.”

This was rather a relief to hear. Although the children liked the look of Paul’s father and mother very much, they had felt it might be rather embarrassing to live with a king and queen and have meals with them. It was good to hear that they were to be on their own.

Paul took them to their rooms. The girls had a wonderful bedroom overlooking the lake. It was all blue and silver. The ceiling was painted blue with silver stars shining there. The girls thought it was wonderful. The bedspread was the same beautiful blue, embroidered with shining silver stars.

“I shall never dare to sleep in this bed,” said Peggy, in an awed voice. “It’s a four-poster bed — like you see in old pictures — and big enough to take six of us, not two! Oh, Nora — isn’t this marvellous fun?”

The boys had two bedrooms between them — one big one for Mike and Jack, with separate beds. “About half a mile apart!” said Jack, with a laugh, when he saw the enormous bedroom with its two beds, one each end. Paul had a bedroom to himself, leading out of the other one, even bigger!

“However do you manage to put up with living in a dormitory with twelve other boys, when you have a bedroom like this at home?” said Mike to the little prince. “I say — what a wonderful view!”

Mike’s room had two sets of windows. One set looked out over the blue lake and the other looked up the hillside on which the palace was built. It was a grand country.

“It’s wild and rugged and rough and beautiful,” said Paul. “Not like your country. Yours is quite tame. It is like a tame cat, sitting by the fire. Mine is like a wild tiger roaming the hills.”

“He’s gone all poetic again!” said Mike, with a laugh. But he knew what Paul meant, all the same. There was something very wild and exciting about Baronia. It looked so beautiful, smiling under the summer sun — but it might not be all it seemed to be on the surface. It was not “tamed” like their own country — it was still wild, and parts of it quite unknown.

The children washed in basins that seemed to be made of silver. They dried their hands on towels embroidered with the Baronian arms. Everything was perfect. It seemed almost a shame to dirty the towels or make the clear water in the basins dirty and soapy!

They went with Paul to have lunch. They were to have it with the King and Queen, although after that they would have meals in their own play-room, a big room near their bedrooms, which Paul had already shown them. The toys there had made them gasp. An electric railway ran down one side of the room, on which Paul’s trains could run. A Meccano set, bigger than any the children had ever-seen, was in another corner, with a beautiful bridge made from the pieces, left by Paul from the last holidays. Everything a boy could want was there! It would be great fun to explore that play-room!

The lunch was marvellous. The children did not know any of the dishes, but they all tasted equally delicious. If this was Baronian food they could eat plenty! Paul’s mother talked to them in English, and Paul’s father made one or two jokes. Paul chattered away to his parents, sometimes in Baronian and sometimes in English. He told them all about the things he did at school.

Jack nudged Mike. “You’d think Paul was head-boy to hear him talk!” he said, in a low tone. “We’ll tease him about this afterwards!”

It was a happy meal. The children were very hungry, but by the time lunch was nearing an end they could not eat another scrap. Jack looked longingly at a kind of pink ice-cream with what looked like purple cherries in it. But no — he could not even manage another ice.

Ranni and Pilescu did not eat with the others. They stood quietly, one behind the King’s chair and one behind Paul’s. A line of soldiers, in the blue and silver uniform, stood at the end of the room. The four English children couldn’t help feeling rather grand, eating their lunch with a king, a queen, and a prince, with soldiers on guard at the back. Baronia was going to be fun!

Paul took them all over the palace afterwards. It was a magnificent place, strongly built, with every room flooded with the summer sunshine. The nurseries were full of Paul’s younger brothers and sisters. There was a baby in a carved cradle too, covered by a blue and silver rug. It opened big dark eyes when the two girls bent over it.

The nurseries were as lovely as the big play-room that belonged to Paul. The children stared in wonder at the amount of toys.

“It’s like the biggest toy-shop I’ve ever seen!” said Jack. “And yet, when Paul’s at school, the thing he likes best of all is that little old ship I once carved out of a bit of wood!”

Paul was pleased that the others liked his home. He did not boast or show off. It was natural to him to live in a palace and have everything he wanted. He was a warmhearted, friendly little boy who loved to share everything with his friends. Before he had gone to England he had had no friends of his own — but now that he had Mike, Jack, Peggy and Nora, he was very happy. It was marvellous to him to have them with him in Baronia.

“We’ll bathe in the lake, and we’ll sail to the other side, and we’ll go driving in the mountains,” said Paul. “We’ll have a perfectly gorgeous time. I only hope it won’t get too hot. If it does, we’ll have to go to the mountains where it’s cooler.”

The children were very tired by the time that first day came to an end. They seemed to have walked miles in and around the palace, exploring countless rooms, and looking out of countless turrets. They had gone all round the glorious gardens, and had been saluted by numbers of gardeners. Everyone seemed very pleased to see them.

They had tea and supper on the terrace outside the play-room. Big, colourful umbrellas sheltered the table from the sun. The blue lake shimmered below.

“I wish I hadn’t eaten so much lunch,” groaned Mike, as he looked at the exciting array of cakes and biscuits and sandwiches before him. “I simply don’t know what to do. I know I shan’t want any supper if I eat this tea — and if supper is anything like lunch, I shall just break my heart if I’m not hungry for it.”

“Oh, you’ll be hungry all right,” said Paul. “Go on — have what you want.”

Before supper the children went for a sail on the lake in Prince Paul’s own sailing boat. Ranni went with them. It was lovely and cool on the water. Jack looked at lie girls’ burnt faces.

“We shall be brown as berries in a day or two,” he said. “We’re all brown now — but we shall get another layer very quickly. My arms are burning! I shan’t put them in water tonight! They will sting too much.”

“You’ll have to hold your arms above your head when you have your bath, then,” said Mike. “You will look funny!”

The children were almost too tired to undress and bath themselves that night. Yawning widely they took off their clothes, cleaned their teeth and washed. A bath was sunk into the floor of each bedroom. Steps led down to it. It seemed funny to the children to go down into a bath, instead of just hopping over the side of one. But it was all fun.

The girls got into their big four-poster, giggling. It seemed so big to them after the narrow beds they had at school.

“I shall lose you in the night!” said Nora to Peggy.

The boys jumped into their beds, too. Paul left the door open between his bedroom and that of Mike’s and Jack’s, so that he might shout to them. But there was very little shouting that night. The children’s eyes were heavy and they could not keep them open. The day had been almost too exciting.

“Now we’re living in Baronia,” whispered Peggy to herself. “We’re in Baronia, in…” And then she was fast asleep, whilst outside the little waves at the edge of the lake lapped quietly all night long.

An Exciting Trip

The first week glided by, golden with sunshine. The children enjoyed themselves thoroughly, though Nora often complained of the heat. All of them now wore the Baronian dress, and fancied themselves very much in it.

The girls wore tight bodices of white and blue, with big silver buttons, and full skirts of red and blue. They wore no stockings, but curious little half-boots, laced up with red. The boys wore embroidered trousers, with cool shirts open at the neck, and a broad belt. They, too, wore the half-boots, and found them very comfortable.

At first they all felt as if they were in fancy dress, but they soon got used to it. “I shan’t like going back to ordinary clothes,” said Nora, looking at herself in the long mirror. “I do so love the way this skirt swings out round me. Look, Mike — there are yards of material in it.”

Mike was fastening his belt round him. He stuck his scout knife into it. He looked at himself in the mirror, too. “I look a bit like a pirate or something,” he said. “Golly, I wish the boys at school could see me now! Wouldn’t they be green with envy!”

“They’d laugh at you,” said Nora. “You wouldn’t dare to wear those clothes in England. I hope the Queen will let me take mine back with me. I could wear them at a fancy-dress party. I bet I’d win the prize!”

That first week was glorious. The children were allowed to do anything they wanted to, providing that Ranni or Pilescu was with them. They rode little mountain ponies through the hills. They bathed at least five times a day in the warm waters of the lake. They sailed every evening. They went by car to the nearest big town, and rode in the buses there. They were quaint buses, fat and squat, painted blue and silver. Everything was different, every thing was strange.

“England must have seemed very queer to you at first, Paul,” said Mike to the little prince, realizing for the first time how difficult the boy must have found living in a strange country.

Paul nodded. He was very happy to show his friends everything. Now, when he was back at school again in England, and wanted to talk about his home and his country, Jack and Mike would understand all he said, and would listen gladly.

Towards the end of the first week Pilescu made a suggestion. “Why do you not take your friends in the aeroplane, and show them how big your country is?” he asked Paul. “I will take you all.”

“Oh yes, Pilescu — let’s do that!” cried Mike. “Let’s fly over the mountains and the forests, and see everything!”

“I will show you the Secret Forest,” said Prince Paul, unexpectedly.

The others stared at him. “What’s the Secret Forest?” asked Jack. “What’s secret about it?”

“It’s a queer place,” said Paul. “Nobody has ever been there!”

“Well, how do you know it’s there, then?” asked Mike.

“We’ve seen it from aeroplanes,” said Paul. “We’ve flown over it.”

“Why hasn’t anyone ever been into this forest?” asked Peggy. “Someone must have, Paul. I don’t believe there is anywhere in the whole world that people haven’t explored now.”

“I tell you no one has ever been in the Secret Forest,” said Paul, obstinately. “And I’ll tell you why. Look — get me that map over there, Mike.”

Mike threw him over a rolled-up map. Paul unrolled it and spread it flat on a table. He found the place he wanted and pointed to it.

“This is a map of Baronia,” he said. “You can see what a rugged, mountainous country it is. Now look — do you see these mountains here?”

The children bent over to look. The mountains were coloured brown and had a queer name — Killimooin. Paul’s brown finger pointed to them. “These mountains are a queer shape,” said the little prince. “Killimooin Mountains form an almost unbroken circle — and in the midst of them, in a big valley, is the Secret Forest.”

His finger pointed to a tiny speck of green shown in the middle of Killimooin Mountains. “There you are,” he said. “That dot of green is supposed to be the Secret Forest. It is an enormous forest, really, simply enormous, and goodness knows what wild animals there are there.”

“Yes, but Paul, why hasn’t anyone been to see?” asked Mike, impatiently. “Why can’t they just climb the mountains and go down the other side to explore the forest?”

“For a very good reason!” said Paul. “No one has ever found a way over Killimooin Mountains!”

“Why? Are they so steep?” asked Nora, astonished.

“Terribly steep, and terribly dangerous,” said Paul.

“Does anyone live on the mountain-sides?” asked Peggy.

“Only goatherds,” said Paul. “But they don’t climb very high because the mountains are so rocky and so steep. Maybe the goats get to the top — but the goatherds don’t!”

“Well!” said Mike, fascinated by the idea of a secret forest that no one had ever explored. “This really is exciting, I must say. Do, do let’s fly over it in your aeroplane, Paul. Wouldn’t I just love to see what that forest is like!”

“You can’t see much,” said Paul, rolling up the map. “It just looks a thick mass of green that’s all, from the plane. All right — we’ll go tomorrow!”

This was thrilling. It would be grand to go flying again, and really exciting to roar over the Killimooin mountains and peer down at the Secret Forest. What animals lived there? What would it be like there? Had anyone ever trodden its dim green paths? Mike and Jack wished a hundred times they could explore that great hidden forest!

The next day all five children went to the runway beside the hangar where Paul’s aeroplane was kept. They watched the mechanics run it out on to the grass. They greeted Ranni and Pilescu as the two men came along.

“Ranni! Do you know the way to fly to Killimooin Mountains? We want to go there!”

“And when we get there, fly as low down as you can, so that we can get as near to the Secret Forest as possible,” begged Nora.

Ranni and Pilescu smiled. They climbed up into the aeroplane. “We will go all round Baronia,” said Pilescu, “and you will see, we shall fly over Killimooin country. It is wild, very wild. Not far from it is the little palace the King built last year, on a mountain-side where the winds blow cool. The summers have been very hot of late years in Baronia, and it is not healthy for children. Maybe you will all go there if the sun becomes much hotter!”

“I hope we do!” said Paul, his eyes shining. “I’ve never been there, Pilescu. We should have fun there, shouldn’t we?”

“Not the same kind of fun as you have in the big palace,” said Pilescu. “It is wild and rough around the little palace. It is more like a small castle. There are no proper roads. You can have no car, no aeroplane. Mountain ponies are all you would have to get about on.”

“I’d like that,” said Jack. He took his seat in the big plane, and watched the mechanics finishing their final checks on the plane. They moved out of the way. The engine started up with a roar. Nobody could hear a word.

Then off went the big plane, as smoothly as a car, taxiing over the grass. The children hardly knew when it rose in the air. But when they looked from the windows, they saw the earth far below them. The palace seemed no bigger than a doll’s house.

“We’re off!” said Jack, with a sigh. “Where is the map? You said you’d bring one, Paul, so that we could see exactly where we are each minute.”

It really was interesting to spread out the map, and try to find exactly where they were. “Here we are!” said Jack, pointing to a blue lake on the map. “See? There’s the lake down below us now — we’re right over it — and look, there’s the river flowing into it, shown on the map. Golly, this is geography really come alive! I wish we could learn this sort of geography at school! I wouldn’t mind having geography every morning of the week, if we could fly over the places we’re learning about!”

The children read out the names of the towns they flew over. “Ortanu, Tarribon, Lookinon, Brutinlin — what funny names!”

“Look — there are mountains marked here. We ought to reach them soon.”

“The plane is going up. We must be going over them. Yes — we are. Look down and see. Golly, that’s a big one over there!”

“Aren’t the valleys green? And look at that river. It’s like a silvery snake.”

“Are we coming near the Secret Forest? Are we near Killimooin? Blow, I’ve lost it again on the map. I had it a minute ago.”

“Your hand’s over it, silly! Move it, Jack — yes, there, look! Killimooin. We’re coming to the mountains!”

Ranni yelled back to the children. “Look out for the Secret Forest! We are coming to the Killimooin range now. Paul, you know it. Look out now, and tell the others.”

In the greatest excitement the five children pressed their faces against the windows of the big plane. It was rising over steep mountains. The children could see how wild and rugged they were. They could not see anyone on them at all, nor could they even see a house.

“Now you can see how the Killimooin Mountains run all round in a circle!” cried Paul. “See — they make a rough ring, with their rugged heads jagged against the sky! There is no valley between, no pass! No one can get over them into the Secret Forest that lies in the middle of their mighty ring!”

The children could easily see how the range of mountains ran round in a very rough circle. Shoulder to shoulder stood the rearing mountains, tall, steep and wild.

The aeroplane roared over the edge of the circle, and the children gazed down into the valley below.

“That’s the Secret Forest!” shouted Paul. “See, there it is. Isn’t it thick and dark? It fills the valley almost from end to end.”

The Secret Forest lay below the roaring, throbbing plane. It was enormous. The tops of the great trees stood close together, and not a gap could be seen. The plane roared low down over the trees.

“It’s mysterious!” said Nora, and she shivered. “It’s really mysterious. It looks so quiet — and dark — and lonely. Just as if really and truly nobody ever has set foot there, and never will!”

Hot Weather!

The aeroplane rose high again to clear the other side of the mountain ring. The forest dwindled smaller and smaller. “Go back again over the forest, Ranni, please do!” begged Jack. “It’s weird. So thick and silent and gloomy. It gives me a funny feeling!”

Ranni obligingly swung the big plane round and swooped down over the forest again. The trees seemed to rise up, and it almost looked as if the aeroplane was going to dive down into the thick green!

“Wouldn’t it be awful if our plane came down in the forest, and we were lost there, and could never, never find our way out and over the Killimooin mountains?” said Nora.

“What a horrid thought!” said Peggy. “Don’t say things like that! Ranni, let’s get over the mountains quickly! I’m afraid we might get lost here!”

Ranni laughed. He swooped upwards again, just as Jack spotted something that made him flatten his nose against the window and stare hard.

“What is it?” asked Nora.

“I don’t quite know,” said Jack. “It couldn’t be what I thought it was, of course.”

“What did you think it was?” asked Paul, as they flew high over the other side of the mountain ring.

“I thought it was a spiral of smoke,” said Jack. “It couldn’t have been, of course — because where there is smoke, there is a fire, and where there is a fire, there are men! And there are no men down there in the Secret Forest!”

“I didn’t see any smoke,” said Mike.

“Nor did I,” said Paul. “It must have been a wisp of low-lying cloud, Jack.”

“Yes — it must have been,” said Jack. “But it did look like smoke. You know how sometimes on a still day the smoke from a camp fire rises almost straight into the air and stays there for ages. Well, it was like that.”

“I think the Secret Forest is very, very strange and mysterious,” said Peggy. “And I never want to go there!”

“I would, if I got the chance!” said Mike. “Think of walking where nobody else had ever put their foot! I would feel a real explorer.”

“This is Jonnalongay,” called Ranni from the front. “It is one of our biggest towns, set all round a beautiful lake.”

The children began to take an interest in the map again. It was such fun to see a place on the big map, and then to watch it coming into view below, as the aeroplane flew towards it. But soon after that they flew into thick cloud and could see nothing.

“Never mind,” said Ranni. “We have turned back now, and are flying along the other border of Baronia. It is not so interesting here. The clouds will probably clear just about Tirriwutu, and you will see the railway lines there. Watch out for them.”

Sure enough, the clouds cleared about Tirriwutu, and the children saw the gleaming silver lines, as Pilescu took the great plane down low over the flat countryside. It was fun to watch the lines spreading out here and there, going to different little villages, then joining all together again as they went towards the big towns.

“Oh — there’s the big palace by the lake!” said Nora, half-disappointed. “We’re home again. That was simply lovely, Paul.”

“But the nicest part was Killimooin and the Secret Forest,” said Jack. “I don’t know why, but I just can’t get that mysterious forest out of my head. Just suppose that was smoke I saw! It would mean that people live there — people no one knows about — people who can’t get out and never could! What are they like, I wonder?”

“Don’t be silly, Jack,” said Mike. “It wasn’t smoke, so there aren’t people. Anyway, if people are living there now, they must have got over the mountains at some time or other, mustn’t they? So they could get out again if they wanted to! Your smoke was just a bit of cloud. You know what funny bits of cloud we see when we’re flying.”

“Yes, I know,” said Jack. “You’re quite right, it couldn’t have been real smoke. But I rather like to think it was, just for fun. It makes it all the more mysterious!”

The aeroplane flew down to the runway, and came to a stop. The mechanics came running up.

“You have had the best of it today!” one called to Ranni, in the Baronian language, which the children were now beginning to understand. “We have almost melted in the heat! This sun — it is like a blazing furnace!”

The heat from the parched ground came to meet the children as they stepped out of the plane. Everything shimmered and shook in the hot sun.

“Gracious!” said Nora. “I shall melt! Oh for an ice-cream!”

They walked to the palace and lay down on sunbeds on the terrace, under the big colourful umbrellas. Usually there was a little wind from the lake on the terrace — but today there was not a breath of air.

“Shall we bathe?” said Jack.

“No good,” said Mike. “The water was too warm to be pleasant yesterday — and I bet it’s really hot today. It gets like a hot bath after a day like this.”

A big gong boomed through the palace. It was time for lunch — a late one for the children. Nora groaned.

“It’s too hot to eat! I can’t move. I don’t believe I could even swallow an ice-cream!”

“Lunch is indoors for you today,” announced Ranni, coming out on to the terrace. “It is cooler indoors. The electric fans are all going in the play-room. Come and eat.”

None of the children could eat very much, although the dishes were just as delicious as ever. Ranni and Pilescu, who always served the children at meal-times, looked quite worried.

“You must eat little Prince,” Ranni said to Paul.

“It’s too hot,” said Paul. “Where’s my mother? I’m going to ask her if I need wear any clothes except shorts. That’s all they wear in England in the summer, when it’s holiday-time and hot.”

“But you are a prince!” said Ranni. “You cannot run about with hardly anything on.”

Prince Paul went to find his mother. She was lying down in her beautiful bedroom, a scented handkerchief lying over her eyes.

“Mother! Are you ill?” asked Paul.

“No, little Paul — only tired with this heat,” said his mother. “But listen, we will go to the mountains to the little castle your father built there last year. I fear that this heat will kill us all! Your father says he will send us tomorrow. How we shall get there with all the children and the nurses I cannot imagine! But go we must! I don’t know what has happened this last few years in Baronia! The winters are so cold and the summers are so hot!”

Paul forgot that he had come to ask if he could take off his clothes. He stared at his mother, thrilled and excited. To go to the mountains to the new little castle! That would be fine. The children could explore the country on mountain ponies. They would have a great time. The winds blew cool on the mountain-side, and they would not feel as if they wanted to lie about and do nothing all day long. “Oh, mother! Shall we really go tomorrow?” said Paul. “I’ll go and tell the others.”

He sped off, forgetting how hot he was. He burst into the play-room, and the others looked at him in amazement.

“However can you possibly race about like that in this heat?” asked Jack. “You must be mad! I’m dripping wet just lying here and doing nothing. It’s hotter than it was in Africa — and it was hot enough there!”

“We’re going to the new little castle in the mountains tomorrow!” cried Paul. “There’s news for you! It will be cool there, and we can each have a pony and go riding up and down the mountains. We can talk to the goatherds, and have all kinds of fun!”

Jack sat up. “I say!” he said. “Did you hear Pilescu say that your new little palace was near Killimooin? Golly, what fun! We might be able to find out something about the Secret Forest!”

“We shan’t!” said Paul. “There’s nothing to find out. You can ask the goatherds there and see. Won’t it be fun to go and stay in the wild mountains? I am glad!”

All the children were pleased. It really was too hot to enjoy anything in the big palace now. The idea of scampering about the mountains on sturdy little ponies was very delightful. Jack lay back on the couch and wondered if it would be possible to find out anything about the Secret Forest. He would ask every goatherd he saw whether he could tell anything about that mysterious forest, hidden deep in the heart of Killimooin.

“If anyone knows anything, the goatherds should know,” thought the boy. Then he spoke aloud. “Paul, how do we go to the mountains where the little castle is? Do we ride on ponies?”

“No — we drive most of the way,” said Paul. “But as there is no proper road within twenty miles, we shall have to go on ponies for the rest of the way. I don’t know how the younger children will manage.”

“This is a lovely holiday!” said Nora, dreamily. “Living in a palace — flying about in aeroplanes — peering down at the Secret Forest — and now going to live in a castle built in the wild mountains, to which there is not even a proper road. We are lucky!”

“It’s getting hotter,” said Mike, with a groan. “Even the draught from the electric fan seems hot! I hope it will get a bit cooler by the time the evening comes.”

But it didn’t. It seemed to get hotter than ever. Not one of the five children could sleep, though the fans in their big bedrooms went all night long. They flung off the sheets. They turned their pillows to find a cool place. They got out of bed and stood by the open windows to find a breath of air.

By the time the morning came they were a heavy-eyed, cross batch of children, ready to quarrel and squabble over anything. Paul flew into a temper with Ranni, and the big man laughed.

“Ah, my little lord, this heat is bad for you all! Now do not lose your temper with me. That is foolish, for if you become hot-tempered, you will feel hotter than ever! Go and get ready. The cars will be here in half an hour.”

The boys went to have cool baths. It was too hot to swim in the lake, which was just like a warm bath now. They came out of the cold water feeling better. Mike heard the noise of car engines, and went to the window. A perfect fleet of cars was outside, ready to take the whole family, with the exception of Paul’s father. The five older children, the five younger ones, Paul’s mother, three nurses, and Ranni and Pilescu were all going.

“Come on!” yelled Paul. “We’re going. Nora, you’ll be left behind. Hurry up!”

And into the cars climbed all the royal household, delighted to be going into the cool mountains at last.

Killimooin Castle

It took quite a time to pack in all the five younger children. One of the nurses had the baby in a big basket beside her. The other nursery children chattered and laughed. They looked pale with the heat, but they were happy at the thought of going to a new place.

Ranni and Pilescu travelled with the four English children and Prince Paul. There was plenty of room in the enormous blue and silver car. Nora was glad when at last they all set off, and a cool draught came in at the open windows. The little girl felt ill with the blazing summer heat of Baronia.

“The new castle is called Killimooin Castle,” announced Paul. “I’ve never even seen it myself, because it was built when I was away. It’s actually on one of the slopes of Killimooin. We can do a bit of exploring.”

“You will not go by yourselves,” said Ranni. “There may be robbers and wild men there.”

“Oh, Ranni — we must go off by ourselves sometimes!” cried Jack. “We can’t have you always hanging round us like a nursemaid.”

“You will not go by yourselves,” repeated Ranni, a little sternly, and Pilescu nodded in agreement.

“Killimooin is about two hundred miles away,” said Paul. “We ought to get there in four or five hours — as near there as the roads go, anyway.”

The great cars purred steadily along at a good speed. There were five of them, for servants had been taken as well. Behind followed a small van with a powerful engine. In the van were all the things necessary for the family in the way of clothes, prams and so on.

The countryside flew by. The children leaned out of the windows to get the air. Ranni produced some of the famous Baronian chocolate, that tasted as much of honey and cream as of chocolate. The children munched it and watched the rivers, hills and valleys they passed. Sometimes the road wound around a mountain-side, and Nora turned her head away so that she would not see down into the valley, so many hundreds of feet below. She said it made her feel giddy.

“I don’t know what we would do if we met another car on these curving roads that wind up and up the mountain-side,” said Peggy.

“Oh, the roads have been cleared for us,” said Paul. “We shan’t meet any cars on the mountain roads, anyway, so you needn’t worry.”

They didn’t. The cars roared along, stopping for nothing — nothing except lunch! At half-past twelve, when everyone was feeling very hungry, the signal was given to stop. They all got out to stretch their legs and have a run round. They were on a hillside, and below them ran a shining river, curving down the valley. It was a lovely place for a picnic.

As usual the food was delicious. Ranni and Pilescu unpacked hampers and the children spread a snow-white cloth on the grass and set out plates and dishes.

“Chicken sandwiches! Good!” said Mike.

“Ice-cream pudding! My favourite!” said Nora.

“About thirty different kinds of sandwiches!” said Jack. “I am glad I feel so terribly hungry.”

It was a good meal, sitting out there on the hillside, where a little breeze blew.

“It’s cooler already,” said Nora, thankfully.

“It will be much cooler in Killimooin Castle,” said Ranni. “It is built in a cunning place, where two winds meet round a gully! It is always cool there on the hottest day. You will soon get back your rosy cheeks.”