The Quaint and Curious Quest of Johnny Longfoot, The Shoe King's Son - Catherine Besterman (best summer reads of all time TXT) 📗

And the seagulls twittered excitedly: "He's coming! Prince Johnny is coming. The prince with his Sea Passport in the right pocket of his long coat!"

MEANWHILE, Uncle Lucas was having his troubles. From the very beginning of his trip he had bad luck. He lost his way several times. The deck became unbearably hot at noon and Uncle Lucas was forced to hop like a bear learning to dance. Because he was dancing he became thirsty. Then suddenly he realized that he had failed to bring a supply of fresh water.

I have to land somewhere as soon as possible, he said to himself. I don't have any food, either, and I'm getting thirstier every minute.

At that very minute a flock of sea gulls flew overhead and twittered gloomily, "Cursed treasures! The wicked miser is carrying them away!"

"Stupid birds!" exclaimed Uncle Lucas angrily, in a voice hoarse with thirst. "I'd like so much to be alone, far away from these birds and all living things. Everyone interferes with my business. And everybody talks about me without respect. That's the way it is nowadays."

But the birds came nearer and nearer, calling out: "These treasures should sink to the bottom of the sea, and the wicked miser with them. They should disappear from the earth, and even the memory of them should disappear. And the memory of the pirates, too, who killed innocent victims for this loot."

Suddenly the birds charged at the sails, and pecked them with their sharp beaks.

"Crazy birds!" shouted Uncle Lucas. "What are you doing? My linen, my dear linen! What will become of me without sails?"

But it was already too late. The sails were badly damaged. They looked like sieves. The barge, spinning around several times, drifted slowly with the waves. The sea gulls flew away, laughing at the plight of the traveler, but only to call the seafolk for more help. What they really wanted was to sink the barge.

Uncle Lucas fell down on the deck. "Everything is lost," he whispered with parched, swollen lips. "I am lost. Oh, how thirsty I am! I'd give all my treasures for just one drop of water! At last I realize that neither gold nor diamonds nor precious gems can save me from thirst, hunger and death. All my life I denied myself everything. I hoarded, hoarded, hoarded endlessly. And now I own treasures worth millions -- but I have to die on this gloomy sea."

Uncle Lucas closed his eyes, immensely tired. Tossing restlessly in his sleep, he dreamed of clear mountain streams. "Drink! Water! Water!" he whispered.

"The wicked miser is dying with his treasures! Dying! Dying!" twittered the sea gulls high above the barge.

For a while they kept silent, then called out again: "Johnny the prince! Johnny is coming! Johnny the honored guest of the seafolk! With his Sea Passport in the right pocket of his long coat!"

Uncle Lucas moved restlessly. "Johnny! Johnny's coming!" he repeated in his feverish dreams.

Suddenly he awakened. He rubbed his red-rimmed eyes and mumbled: "I thought somebody said Johnny was coming."

He struggled to his feet and looked around. Not far from the barge he saw the enormous tortoise shell, pulled by crabs, fishes and octopuses. Johnny was sitting comfortably inside. His hat was pulled low over his nose to protect him from the sun and one of the octopuses was fanning him with its longest tentacle.

"That's Johnny alive!" Uncle Lucas suddenly realized. "I am quite sure he won't help me now after all the harm I've done him. No, on the contrary. He'll let me die here. This will be the end of my journey. I got the treasures but I lost my life. I'm sure no one will weep for the death of old Mr. Longfoot. And they'll be right, because my life was worthless. And now it's too late to start over again."

Suddenly he heard Johnny's voice. "Uncle, dear Uncle! What are you doing here? Wait a minute' I'll be right with you."

Johnny stood up in the shell. "Speed up!" he shouted to his crabs, octopuses and fishes.

At last he was so near he could climb on the barge. He ran to his uncle and exclaimed in pity: "Poor Uncle! What happened to you? You look pitiful. Don't be afraid. Your nephew is with you. I will certainly help you and do everything I can for you."

Uncle Lucas said softly: "I did a terrible thing...."

Then he fainted. Only then did Johnny realize that his uncle was dying of thirst and hunger. Immediately he gave orders to some sea gulls to bring water in their beaks from a near-by island.

"We have to obey you," said one of the sea gulls, "because you are the owner of a Sea Passport. But, believe me, your Uncle Lucas doesn't deserve even one drop of water."

"That's neither here nor there!" answered Johnny. "He's dying, and it's my duty to save his life. We can decide later what to do with him."

Soon the sea gulls were quenching Uncle Lucas' thirst with drops of water from their beaks. After each drop he improved. He drank and drank and looked gratefully at his nephew.

"Thank you, Johnny," he whispered. "Could I have a talk with you?"

Johnny looked at the sea gulls and said, "You are dismissed now. Go and tell the crabs, octopuses and fishes to rest for a while. I'll call them after I talk with Uncle Lucas."

Then Uncle Lucas started his confession. He told Johnny everything: about his wicked act, how he stole the treasures and the boots, and how he left the animals to starve on the coral island, when he took the barge away. While telling the story, he cried the whole time. But he wasn't collecting tears any more. Quite the contrary. He said he didn't want even one more tear. He said he had decided not to hoard any more, because he knew now that treasures do not bring luck.

"I will try to become generous," said Uncle Lucas. To give proof of it he tore a piece off his sack suit and threw it into the sea.

Johnny smiled. "Dear Uncle," he said, "don't cry any more. And don't try to become generous overnight. You could get dizzy from the sudden change. Nothing has happened that can't be set right. The treasure will go back to the island. I will fix the boots for Barnac. We'll find the animals, and I'm sure they'll like you from now on. Only try to smile or laugh as much as possible, and everything will be all right."

Uncle Lucas, sweet now as a lamb, opened wide his mouth and laughed. "Ho! Ho! Ho!"

"That's not the right kind of laugh for you," said Johnny kindly. "You have to find your own laugh. Ho, ho, ho, is the laugh of very common people, who slap their legs while laughing. Try something else."

"Hi, hi, hi," squeaked Uncle Lucas.

"That's wrong again," said Johnny. "That's how little girls laugh. It's more like a giggle, not a real laugh."

Many kinds were tried. Finally Johnny approved a "Ha, Ha, Ha!"

"That's the right thing," he said. "For such a tall and thin man as you, the proper laugh is Ha, ha, ha."

Uncle Lucas tried it again. "Ha, ha, ha!"

"That's fine. Now learn it by heart. Meanwhile, I have to order some food." Johnny called the crab helmsman. "My uncle and I," he said, "want to have a good dinner. We would like to have a seaweed salad, fried fish, and cream made from sea cow's milk."

"That's easy," the sea crab helmsman said with a bow. Into the sea's depths he ordered: "Two salads, two fried fishes, two creams, quick! That's that," he said, turning to Johnny. "Can I do anything else for you?"

Johnny thought awhile. He recalled that his vacation was nearing its end. It was high time for him to settle everything and go back to his father, for whom he was beginning to long greatly. So he said, "The sea gulls destroyed our sails. I need new linen."

"That's easy, too," said the crab proudly. "We have very strong linen made of sea plants. It's as smooth and thin as silk, and it's practically indestructible."

"That will be the right thing for me," nodded Johnny.

Soon two big octopuses brought several pieces of linen. Others served dinner on beautiful shells. Uncle Lucas was so starved that he simply devoured this delightful meal.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" he laughed. "It tastes much better than bark. How stupid I've been all my life!"

"Food just didn't matter to you," said Johnny politely. "But because that's the way you felt, you wasted your best years in hunger and unhappiness. Now everything is changed. You'll see how happy life can be."

After dinner they cut and sewed the sails. When they were ready, Johnny said good-by to the crabs who were standing by for orders. Then he patted the octopuses and fishes on their heads and said, "Thanks a lot for everything. And I wish you all luck and good health."

The crabs, octopuses and fishes really wanted to shed some tears because of this sad separation. Since they didn't know how to cry, however, they only said: "Good-by, Johnny. And good luck to you too." Then they swam away.

And now Johnny, following his uncle's directions, was steering toward the coral island.

"Where are the seven-league boots, Uncle?" asked Johnny anxiously. "I have to get to work on them right away. They were the reason for this whole expedition. I have to alter them for Barnac, as you know."

"They are below the deck," said Uncle Lucas, ashamed. "I hid them there, because I intended to alter them for myself. But now I'm very, very sorry."

Without a severe word, Johnny went downstairs and returned with the seven-league boots. Because of the water that had dripped on them from leaks in the deck, they were in very bad condition. They were wet down to the last piece of leather.

"It's my fault the boots are ruined," said Uncle Lucas, deeply penitent.

"Not at all," smiled Johnny. "On the contrary, it's given me a good idea of how to fix them. I would have had to work for months on these boots to make them fit Barnac. Now I'll need only a few hours."

Then he took the boots and put them on the deck right in the sun. He himself sat down at the foot of the mast and kept constant watch on them.

This seemed amusing to Uncle Lucas.

That's odd, he thought. I certainly appreciate my nephew's ability, but I don't believe he can alter boots just by looking at them.

But that was what seemed to be happening. Uncle Lucas became frightened because the thought came to him that Johnny must be a great magician. Goodness! he thought. Johnny could easily have changed me into a rat, mouse or worm. He could have done anything he wanted to me. But he didn't. So I presume he's not only a great magician, but also a good one.

The shoes were getting smaller every minute. Finally Johnny got up and said: "They are ready now. I remember the size of Barnac's paw exactly."

"How did you do that?" asked Uncle Lucas in a trembling voice. "How can you make shoes smaller just by looking at