Rinkitink In Oz | Page 4

it the
color of an emerald.
The grass came to the edge of the sloping shores; the beautiful trees
occupied all the central portion of Pingaree, forming a continuous
grove where the branches met high overhead and there was just space
beneath them for the cosy houses of the inhabitants. These houses were
scattered everywhere throughout the island, so that there was no town
or city, unless the whole island might be called a city. The canopy of
leaves, high overhead, formed a shelter from sun and rain, and the
dwellers in the grove could all look past the straight tree-trunks and
across the grassy slopes to the purple waters of the Nonestic Ocean.

At the big end of the island, at the north, stood the royal palace of King
Kitticut, the lord and ruler of Pingaree. It was a beautiful palace, built
entirely of snow-white marble and capped by domes of burnished gold,
for the King was exceedingly wealthy. All along the coast of Pingaree
were found the largest and finest pearls in the whole world.
These pearls grew within the shells of big oysters, and the people raked
the oysters from their watery beds, sought out the milky pearls and
carried them dutifully to their King. Therefore, once every year His
Majesty was able to send six of his boats, with sixty rowers and many
sacks of the valuable pearls, to the Kingdom of Rinkitink, where there
was a city called Gilgad, in which King Rinkitink's palace stood on a
rocky headland and served, with its high towers, as a lighthouse to
guide sailors to the harbor. In Gilgad the pearls from Pingaree were
purchased by the King's treasurer, and the boats went back to the island
laden with stores of rich merchandise and such supplies of food as the
people and the royal family of Pingaree needed.
The Pingaree people never visited any other land but that of Rinkitink,
and so there were few other lands that knew there was such an island.
To the southwest was an island called the Isle of Phreex, where the
inhabitants had no use for pearls. And far north of Pingaree -- six days'
journey by boat, it was said -- were twin islands named Regos and
Coregos, inhabited by a fierce and warlike people.
Many years before this story really begins, ten big boatloads of those
fierce warriors of Regos and Coregos visited Pingaree, landing
suddenly upon the north end of the island. There they began to plunder
and conquer, as was their custom, but the people of Pingaree, although
neither so big nor so strong as their foes, were able to defeat them and
drive them all back to the sea, where a great storm overtook the raiders
from Regos and Coregos and destroyed them and their boats, not a
single warrior returning to his own country.
This defeat of the enemy seemed the more wonderful because the
pearl-fishers of Pingaree were mild and peaceful in disposition and
seldom quarreled even among themselves. Their only weapons were
their oyster rakes; yet the fact remains that they drove their fierce

enemies from Regos and Coregos from their shores.
King Kitticut was only a boy when this remarkable battle was fought,
and now his hair was gray; but he remembered the day well and, during
the years that followed, his one constant fear was of another invasion of
his enemies. He feared they might send a more numerous army to his
island, both for conquest and revenge, in which case there could be
little hope of successfully opposing them.
This anxiety on the part of King Kitticut led him to keep a sharp
lookout for strange boats, one of his men patrolling the beach
constantly, but he was too wise to allow any fear to make him or his
subjects unhappy. He was a good King and lived very contentedly in
his fine palace, with his fair Queen Garee and their one child, Prince
Inga.
The wealth of Pingaree increased year by year; and the happiness of the
people increased, too. Perhaps there was no place, outside the Land of
Oz, where contentment and peace were more manifest than on this
pretty island, hidden in the besom of the Nonestic Ocean. Had these
conditions remained undisturbed, there would have been no need to
speak of Pingaree in this story.
Prince Inga, the heir to all the riches and the kingship of Pingaree, grew
up surrounded by every luxury; but he was a manly little fellow,
although somewhat too grave and thoughtful, and he could never bear
to be idle a single minute. He knew where the finest oysters lay hidden
along the coast and was as successful in finding pearls as any of the
men of the island, although he was so slight