Elmer and the Dragon (5 page)

"It's a rhyme," said the King. "It goes like this:
Four shovel lengths from the trunk of the pine, Making the rock the guide for the line."

Elmer carefully measured the distance and began to dig. The dragon did his best to help while Flute and the King and Queen sat watching the hole growing deeper. By now it was dark in the pine forest, but enough moonlight filtered through the branches of the tall trees so that they could just see what they were doing. They dug for six hours without ever hitting a root or a rock or anything like an iron chest.

"Are you certain this is the right place?" asked Elmer, tired and discouraged.

"I'm positive!" said the King. Just then the moon went under the clouds and Elmer's shovel hit something with a loud clang.

"The chest!" they all shouted, but it was too dark to see. And they waited so long for the moon to come out that they all went to sleep still waiting.

Chapter Eight

TREASURE

Flute woke up and trilled so loudly that he startled the King and the Queen and Elmer and the dragon wide awake. The other canaries had been up for an hour and were crowding around to see what was happening under the tree. Everybody peered into the big hole and gasped, "A real treasure chest, with a ring in the top! But how will we ever get it out?"

The King looked at Elmer, and Elmer looked at the dragon. "Dragon, do you think you could put your tail through the ring and pull up the chest?"

"I'll try," said the dragon, puffing up with importance as the swarms of canaries moved aside for him. He backed up to the hole, stuck his tail down and through the ring, and pulled.

Nothing happened.

"Couldn't you pull harder?" suggested the King.

"That's exactly what I was going to try. Just let me catch my breath," said the dragon somewhat crossly. "After all, I'm not used to lifting heavy chests with my tail." He took a deep, deep breath and pulled very, very hard, and suddenly the chest moved. He grunted and strained and struggled and panted and slowly, slowly hoisted the chest up out of the hole.

"Far enough!" yelled Elmer. "Now walk forward and set it down."

Crash! The chest fell down on the pine needles and the dragon staggered off to sit down while the canaries shouted "Bravo!"

"Quiet! Quiet!" yelled King Can XI. "I am now about to tell you the last part of the secret. The key to this chest—the key to this chest—well, anyway, this is the last part of the secret. My illustrious ancestor, King Can I, stole the key from the settlers, and the key to this chest is in my nest. Go get it, Flute. No, never mind. I'll go get it myself."

The King flew up to his nest and down again with a big brass key in his beak. Elmer pried out the dirt in the keyhole with his jackknife and put in the key.

Click! The lock turned. Elmer threw back the lid, and picked up a note lying on top of a piece of heavy canvas. "Can you read what it says?" asked the King.

"Yes," said Elmer, feeling sick with excitement as he read the note aloud:

"Rubbish!" interrupted the King. "Isn't there anything but cooking utensils?"

"Let me finish the list," said Elmer. He continued reading:

"Gold! I knew it! Just think of it, Queen. Six bags of gold!" trilled the King.

"What will you do with them, King dear?" asked the Queen.

"I won't do anything with them. I'll just have them and be rich."

"Shall I unpack now?" asked Elmer, who was anxious to see the sterling silver harmonica.

"By all means," ordered King Can XI, strutting back and forth in front of the twittering canaries.

Elmer unpacked everything, and at last came to the sterling silver harmonica. He blew on it gently, and the sound was so sweet that all the canaries stopped chattering and listened. The King listened, too, with tears in his eyes. When Elmer had finished playing "The Bear Went Over the Mountain," the King flew up to a branch of the pine and said solemnly, "Elmer, on behalf of the Queen and myself, and all the other Feather Islanders, I want to thank you and your dragon friend for digging up this treasure and thereby ridding us of the plague of curiosity.

I now present you with that silver harmonica, which you play so beautifully, and three of the six bags of gold. And to this brave dragon I present the gold watch and chain. Elmer, fasten it around his neck."

Elmer hooked the chain around the dragons neck, arranging the watch at his throat. "How's that?" asked Elmer.

"I can't see it, but it feels just fine," said the proud baby dragon.

The birds all clapped their wings and then the dragon, who really didn't care for speeches, remarked, "Looking at those pots and plates makes me hungry. Let's celebrate and eat something!"

"Goodness!" said the Queen. "I don't believe we've ever had a celebration before. What shall we eat?"

"Tangerines!" said Elmer. "I bet you've never tasted one."

Elmer peeled twelve of the thirty-one tangerines he had left in his knapsack, and put one on each of the twelve pewter plates. Then he hurried off to pick a good mess of skunk cabbages and ostrich ferns for the dragon. When he came back everyone crowded around to feast. Elmer sat beside the dragon and ate nine tangerines all by himself. Then he played "Turkey in the Straw" on the sterling silver harmonica while the King did a jig on a pewter plate. Soon everybody joined in the dancing, and they danced themselves to sleep, all over the pine needles under the great tall tree.