THE MASTER CRAFTSMEN
491
craIt to the blue mountains where the Commandos were in
hiding.
It was a rainy day and the showers kept falling and falling.
The Winds blew heavy thunderclouds towards the mountains
with windcraft hidden inside them. But John Greenfingers
dropped a handful of seeds at the foot of the mountain and the
bindweed instantly climbed up the streams of rain to the clouds,
some of the shoots even managing to encircle the lightning which
streaked from the clouds. A thick wall of greenery stretched to
the very sky all round the Commandos' quarters, entangling
Vainglorious's windcraIt like flies in a spider's web and making
them crash to the ground.
Then the Commandos made preparations to storm the
palace. On the eve of their attack they replaced all the weather–
vanes in the country with new ones. The hard-working Isobar
had made thousands of vanes imbued with a magic power. Be–
fore setting out to do battle, Master Craftsman Amalgam made
each Commando look in his new mirror and as soon as he saw
himself, each one became braver, abler and more loyal to the
cause.
At last the day of reckoning arrived. The arrows on all the
weathervanes turned their tips in the direction of the palace. The
Commandos sallied forth. Isobar armed them with newly-made
magic arrows. The Commando warriors carried spears with
crystal points, and behind each spear there arched a tiny rain–
bow. In addition to this, every Commando was armed with a
small mirror attached to a bracelet and a basket with bindweed
seeds. At dawn the Commando ships stealthily approached the
shores of the island.
With their rainbow-colored flag flying, the Commandos
launched their attack. Storm-guns rattled from the walls of the
castle. The Winds were just about to throw themselves upon the
Commandos when they saw that not a single weathervane had
moved. Then a miracle occurred. The splendid Isobar had put
so much fury into his work that the Winds were unable to do a
