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they carry the sounds but short distances, for there are many of them; but
sometimes they speed with the sounds to places miles and miles away from
where they are made. The King of the Sound Imps had an anxious and
careworn face, for most people have no consideration for his Imps and,
especially the boys and girls, make a great many unnecessary sounds which
the Imps are obliged to carry when they might be better employed.
The next in the circle of immortals was the King of the Wind Demons, slender
of frame, restless and uneasy at being confined to one place for even an hour.
Once in a while he would leave his place and circle around the glade, and
each time he did this the Fairy Queen was obliged to untangle the flowing
locks of her golden hair and tuck them back of her pink ears. But she did not
complain, for it was not often that the King of the Wind Demons came into the
heart of the Forest. After the Fairy Queen, whose home you know was in old
Burzee, came the King of the Light Elves, with his two Princes, Flash and
Twilight, at his back. He never went anywhere without his Princes, for they
were so mischievous that he dared not let them wander alone.
Prince Flash bore a lightning-bolt in his right hand and a horn of gunpowder
in his left, and his bright eyes roved constantly around, as if he longed to use
his blinding flashes. Prince Twilight held a great snuffer in one hand and a
big black cloak in the other, and it is well known that unless Twilight is
carefully watched the snuffers or the cloak will throw everything into
darkness, and Darkness is the greatest enemy the King of the Light Elves has.
In addition to the immortals I have named were the King of the Knooks, who
had come from his home in the jungles of India; and the King of the Ryls, who
lived among the gay flowers and luscious fruits of Valencia. Sweet Queen
Zurline of the Wood-Nymphs completed the circle of immortals.
But in the center of the circle sat three others who possessed powers so great
that all the Kings and Queens showed them reverence.
These were Ak, the Master Woodsman of the World, who rules the forests and
the orchards and the groves; and Kern, the Master Husbandman of the World,
who rules the grain fields and the meadows and the gardens; and Bo, the
Master Mariner of the World, who rules the seas and all the craft that float
thereon. And all other immortals are more or less subject to these three.
When all had assembled the Master Woodsman of the World stood up to
address them, since he himself had summoned them to the council.
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