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diff --git a/39385-8.txt b/39385-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b6dad41 --- /dev/null +++ b/39385-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1043 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Jester's Sword, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Jester's Sword + How Aldebaran, the King's Son Wore the Sheathed Sword of Conquest + +Author: Annie Fellows Johnston + +Release Date: April 6, 2012 [EBook #39385] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JESTER'S SWORD *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + +THE JESTER'S SWORD + +[Illustration] + +BY ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + + + +_The JESTER'S SWORD_ + + + + +The Johnston Jewel Series + +BY ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + + +Each, small 16mo, cloth, decorated cover and frontispiece, with +decorative text borders _75c._ + + * * * * * + +LIST OF TITLES + + THE RESCUE OF THE PRINCESS WINSOME: A Fairy Play for + Old and Young. + + KEEPING TRYST: A Tale of King Arthur's Time. + + *IN THE DESERT OF WAITING: The Legend of Camelback + Mountain. + + *THE THREE WEAVERS: A Fairy Tale for Fathers and + Mothers as Well as for Their Daughters. + + THE LEGEND OF THE BLEEDING HEART. + + *THE JESTER'S SWORD. + +*Also bound in full flexible leather, with special tooling in gold, +boxed + +_$2.00_ + + * * * * * + + THE PAGE COMPANY + 53 BEACON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. + +[Illustration] + + + + +_THE JESTER'S SWORD_ + + * * * * * + +How Aldebaran, the King's Son, Wore the Sheathed Sword of Conquest + + * * * * * + +BY ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON + +_Author of "The Little Colonel Series," "Big Brother," "Joel: A Boy of +Galilee," "In the Desert of Waiting," etc._ + +[Illustration] + + BOSTON + _THE PAGE COMPANY_ + Publishers + + + + + _Copyright, 1908_ + BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + (INCORPORATED) + + _Copyright, 1909_ + BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY + (INCORPORATED) + + _All rights reserved_ + + First Impression, June, 1909 + Second Impression, August, 1909 + Third Impression, October, 1910 + Fourth Impression, November, 1911 + Fifth Impression, November, 1912 + Sixth Impression, January, 1916 + Seventh Impression, August, 1917 + Eighth Impression, April, 1920 + + + + + TO + John + + + + + "_To renounce when that shall be necessary and not be + embittered._" R. L. STEVENSON. + + + + +_The Jester's Sword_ + + +BECAUSE he was born in Mars' month, which is ruled by that red war-god, +they gave him the name of a red star--Aldebaran; the red star that is +the eye of Taurus. And because he was born in Mars' month, the +bloodstone became his signet, sure token that undaunted courage would +be the jewel of his soul. + +Now all his brothers were as stalwart and as straight of limb as he, and +each one's horoscope held signs foretelling valorous deeds. But +Aldebaran's so far out-blazed them all, with comet's trail and planets +in most favourable conjunction, that from his first year it was known +the Sword of Conquest should be his. This sword had passed from sire to +son all down a line of kings. Not to the oldest one always, as did the +throne, though now and then the lot fell so, but to the one to whom the +signs all pointed as being worthiest to wield it. + +So from the cradle it was destined for Aldebaran, and from the cradle it +was his greatest teacher. His old nurse fed him with such tales of it, +that even in his play the thought of such an heritage urged him to +greater ventures than his mates dared take. Many a night he knelt beside +his casement, gazing through the darkness at the red eye of Taurus, +whispering to himself the words the old astrologers had written, "_As +Aldebaran the star shines in the heavens, Aldebaran the man shall shine +among his fellows._" + +Day after day the great ambition grew within him, bone of his bone and +strength of his sinew, until it was as much a part of him as the strong +heart beating in his breast. But only to one did he give voice to it, to +the maiden Vesta, who had always shared his play. Now it chanced that +she, too, bore the name of a star, and when he told her what the +astrologers had written, she repeated the words of her own destiny: + +"_As Vesta the star keeps watch in the heavens above the hearths of +mortals, so Vesta the maiden shall keep eternal vigil beside the heart +of him who of all men is the bravest._" + +When Aldebaran heard that he swore by the bloodstone on his finger that +when the time was ripe for him to wield the sword he would show the +world a far greater courage than it had ever known before. And Vesta +smiling, promised by that same token to keep vigil by one fire only, the +fire that she had kindled in his heart. + +One by one his elder brothers grew up and went out into the world to +win their fortunes, and like a restless steed that frets against the +rein, impatient to be off, he chafed against delay and longed to follow. +For now the ambition that had grown with his growth had come to be more +than bone of his bone and strength of his sinew. It was an all-consuming +desire which coursed through him even as his heart's blood; for with +the years had come an added reason for the keeping of his youthful vow. +Only in that way could Vesta's destiny be linked with his. + +When the great day came at last for the Sword to be put into his hands, +with a blare of trumpets the castle gates flew open, and a long +procession of nobles filed through. To the sound of cheers and ringing +of bells, Aldebaran fared forth on his quest. The old king, his father, +stepped down in the morning sun, and with bared head Aldebaran knelt to +receive his blessing. With his hand on the Sword he swore that he would +not come home again, until he had made a braver conquest than had ever +been made with it before, and by the bloodstone on his finger the old +king knew that Aldebaran would fail not in the keeping of that oath. + +With the godspeed of the villagers ringing in his ears, he rode away. +Only once he paused to look back, when a white hand fluttered at a +casement, and Vesta's sorrowful face shone down on him like a star. +Then she, too, saw the bloodstone on his finger as he waved her a +farewell, and she, too, knew by that token he would fail not in the +keeping of his oath. + +'Twas passing wonderful how soon Aldebaran began to taste the sweets of +great achievement. His name was on the tongue of every troubadour, his +deeds in every minstrel's song. And though he travelled far to alien +lands, scarce known by hearsay even to the folk at home, his fame was +carried back, far over seas again, and in his father's court his name +was spoken daily in proud tones, as they recounted all his honours. + +Young, strong, with the impetuous blood begotten of success tingling +through all his veins, he had no thought that dire mishap could seize +on _him_; that pain or malady or mortal weakness could pierce _his_ +armour, which youth and health had girt about him. From place to place +he went, wherever there was need of some brave champion to espouse a +weak ones cause. It mattered not who was arrayed against him, whether a +tyrant king, a dragon breathing fire, or some hideous scaly monster +that preyed upon the villages. His Sword of Conquest was unsheathed for +each; and as his courage grew with every added victory, he thirsted for +some greater foe to vanquish, remembering his youthful vow. + +And as he journeyed on he pictured often to himself the day of his +returning, the day on which his vow should find fulfilment. How wide +the gates would be thrown open for his welcome! How loud would swell the +cheers of those who thronged to do him honour! His dreams were always of +that triumphal entrance, and of Vesta's approving smile. Never once the +shadow of a thought stole through his mind that it might be far +otherwise. Was not he born for conquest? Did not the very stars +foretell success? + +One night, belated in a mountain pass, he sought the shelter of a +shelving rock, and with his mantle wrapped about him lay down to sleep. +Upon the morrow he would sally forth and beard the Province Terror in +his stronghold; would challenge him to combat, and after long and +glorious battle would rid the country of its dreaded foe. Already +tasting victory, he fell asleep, a smile upon his lips. + +But in the night a storm swept down the mountain pass with sudden fury, +uprooting trees a century old, and rending mighty rocks with sword +thrusts of its lightning. And when it passed Aldebaran lay prone upon +the earth borne down by rocks and fallen trees. Lay as if dead until two +passing goat-herds found him and bore him down in pity to their hut. + +Long weeks went by before the fever craze and pains began to leave him, +and when at last he crawled out in the sun, he found himself a poor +misshapen thing, all maimed and marred, with twisted back and face all +drawn awry and foot that dragged. One hand hung nerveless by his side. +Never more would it be strong enough to use the Sword. He could not even +draw it from its scabbard. + +As in a daze he looked upon himself, thinking some hideous nightmare had +him in its hold. "That is not _I_!" he cried, in horror at the thought. +Then as the truth began to pierce his soul, he sat with starting eyes +and lips that gibbered in cold fear, the while they still persisted in +their fierce denial. "This is not _I_!" + +Again he said it and again as if his frenzied words could work a miracle +and make him as he was before. Then when the sickening sense of his +calamity swept over him like a flood in all its fulness, he cast +himself upon the earth and prayed to die. Despair had seized him. But +Death comes not at such a call; kind Death, who waits that one may have +a chance to rise again and grapple with the foe that downed him, and +conquering, wipe the stigma coward from his soul. + +So with Aldebaran. At first it seemed that he could not endure to face +the round of useless days now stretching out before him. An eagle, +broken winged and drooping in a cage, he sat within the goat-herd's hut +and gloomed upon his lot, and cursed the vital force within that would +not let him die. + +To fall asleep with all the world within one's grasp and waken +empty-handed--that is small bane to one who may spring up again, and by +sheer might wrest all his treasures back from Fortune. But to wake +helpless as well as empty-handed, the strength for ever gone from arms +that were invincible; to crawl, a poor crushed worm, the mark for all +men's pity, where one had thought to win the meed of all men's praise, +ah, then to live is agony! Each breath becomes a venomed adder's sting. + +Most of all Aldebaran thought of Vesta. The stroke that marred his +comeliness and took his strength had robbed him of all power to win his +happiness. It was written "by the hearth of him who is the bravest she +shall keep eternal vigil." As yet he had not risen above the level of +his forbears' bravery, only up to it. Now 'twas impossible to show the +world a greater courage, shorn as he was of strength. And even had her +horoscope willed otherwise, and she should come to him all filled with +maiden pity to share his ruined hearth, he could not say her yea. His +man's pride rose up in him, rebellious at the thought of pity from one +in whose sight he fain would be all that is strong and comely. Looking +down upon his twisted limbs, the pain that racked him was greater +torture than mere flesh can feel. Although 'twas casting heaven from +him, he drew his mantle closer, hiding his disfigured form, and prayed +with groans and writhings that she might never look on him again. So +days went by. + +There came a time when, even through his all-absorbing thought of self, +there pierced the consciousness that he no longer could impose upon the +goat-herds' bounty. Food was scarce within the hut, and even though he +groaned to die, the dawns brought hunger. So at the close of day he +dragged him down the mountainside, thinking that under cover of the dusk +he would steal into the village and seek a chance to earn his bread. + +But as he neared the little town and the sound of evening bells broke on +his ear, and lighted windows marked the homes where welcome waited other +men, he winced as from a blow. This was the village he had thought to +enter in the midst of loud acclaims, its brave deliverer from the +Province Terror. Then every window in the hamlet would have blazed for +him. Then every door would have been set wide to welcome Aldebaran, the +royal son of kings, fittest to bear the Sword of Conquest. And now +Aldebaran was but the crippled makeshift of a man, who could not even +draw that Sword from out its scabbard; at whose wry features all must +turn away in loathing, and some perchance might even set the dogs to +snarling at his heels, in haste to have him gone. + +"In all the world," he cried in bitterness, "there breathes no other man +whom Faith hath used so cruelly! Emptied of hope, robbed of my all, life +doth become a prison-house that dooms me to its lowest dungeon! Why +struggle any longer 'gainst my lot? Why not lie here and starve, and +thus force Death to turn the key, and break the manacles which bind me +to my misery?" + +While he thus mused, footsteps came up the mountainside, a lusty voice +was raised in song, and before he could draw back into cover, a head in +a fantastic cap appeared above the bushes. It was the village Jester +capering along the path as if the world were thistledown and every day a +holiday. But when he saw Aldebaran he stopped agape and crossed +himself. Then he pushed nearer. + +Now those who saw the Jester only on a market day or at the country fair +plying his trade of merriment for all 'twas worth knew not a sage was +hid behind that motley or that his sympathies were tender as a saint's. +Yet so it was. The motto written deep across his heart was this: "_To +ease the burden of the world!_" It was beyond belief how wise he'd grown +in wheedling men to think no load lay on their shoulders. Now he stood +and gazed upon the prostrate man who turned away his face and would not +answer his low-spoken words: "What ails thee, brother?" + +It boots not in this tale what wiles he used to gain Aldebaran's ear +and tongue. Another man most surely must have failed, because he shrank +from pity as from salt rubbed in a wound, and felt that none could hear +his woeful history and not bestow that pity. But if the Jester felt its +throbs he gave no sign. Seated beside him on the grass he talked in the +light tone that served his trade, as if Aldebaran's woes were but a +flight of swallows 'cross a summer sky, and would as soon be gone. And +when between his quirks he'd drawn the piteous tale entirely from him, +he doubled up with laughter and smote his sides. + +"And I'm the fool and thou'rt the sage!" he gasped between his peals of +mirth. "Gadzooks! Methinks it is the other way around. Why, look ye, +man! Here thou dost go a-junketing through all the earth to find a +chance to show unequalled courage, and when kind Fate doth shove it +underneath thy very nose, thou turn'st away, lamenting. I've heard of +those who know not beans although the bag be opened, and now I laugh to +see one of that very kind before me." + +Then dropping his unseemly mirth and all his wanton raillery, he stood +up with his face a-shine, and spake as if he were the heaven-sent +messenger of hope. + +"Rise up!" he cried. "_Knowest thou not it takes a thousandfold more +courage to sheathe the sword when one is all on fire for action than to +go forth against the greatest foe?_ Here is thy chance to show the +world the kingliest spirit it has ever known! Here is a phalanx thou +mayst meet all single-handed--a daily struggle with a host of hurts that +cut thee to the quick. This sheathèd sword upon thy side will stab thee +hourly with deeper thrusts than any adversary can give. 'Twill be a +daily 'minder of thy thwarted hopes. For foiled ambition is the +hydra-headed monster of the Lerna marsh. Two heads will rise for every +one thou severest. 'Twill be a fight till death. Art brave enough to +lift the gauntlet that Despair flings down and wage this warfare to thy +very grave?'" + +Such call to arms seemed mockery as Aldebaran looked down upon his +twisted limbs, but as the bloodstone on his finger met his sight his +kingly soul leapt up. "I'll keep the oath!" he cried, and struggling to +his feet laid hand upon the jewelled hilt that decked his side. + +"By sheathèd sword, since blade is now denied me," he swore. "I'll win +the future that my stars foretold!" + +In that exalted moment all things seemed possible, and though his body +limped as haltingly he followed on behind his new-found friend, his +spirit walked erect, and faced his future for the time, undaunted. + +His merry-Andrew of a host made festival when they at last came to his +dwelling; lit a great fire upon the hearth, brewed him a drink that +warmed him to the core, brought wheaten loaves and set a bit of savoury +meat to turning on the spit. + +"Ho, ho!" he laughed. "They say it is an ill wind that blows good to +none. Now thou dost prove the proverb. The tempest that didst blow thee +from thy course mayhap may send me on my way rejoicing. I long have +wished to leave this land and seek the distant province where my +kindred dwell, but there was never one to take my place. And when I +spake of going, my townsmen said me nay. 'Twas quite as bad, they vowed, +as if the priest should suddenly desert his parish, with none to +shepherd his abandoned flock. 'Who'll cheer us in our doldrums?' they +demanded. 'Who'll help us bear our troubles by making us forget them? +Thou canst not leave us, Piper, until some other merry soul comes by to +set our feet a-dancing.' Now thou art come." + +"Yes, _I_! A merry soul indeed!" Aldebaran cried in bitterness. + +"Well, maybe not quite that," his host admitted. "But thou couldst pass +as one. Thou couldst at least put on my grotesque garb, couldst learn +the quips and quirks by which I make men laugh. Thou wouldst not be the +first man who has hid an aching heart behind a smile. The tune thou +pipest may not bring _thee_ pleasure, but if it sets the world to +dancing it is enough. And, too, it is an honest way to earn thy bread. +Canst think of any other?" + +Aldebaran hid his face within his hands. "No, no!" he groaned. "There +is no other way, and yet my soul abhors the thought, that I, a king's +son, should descend to this! The jester's motley and the cap and bells. +How can _I_ play such a part?" + +"Because thou _art_ a king's son," said the Jester. "That in itself is +ample reason that thou shouldst play more royally than other men +whatever part Fate may assign thee." + +Aldebaran sat wrapped in thought. "Well," was the slow reply after long +pause, "an hundred years from now, I suppose, 'twill make no difference +how circumstances chafe me now. A poor philosophy, but still there is a +grain of comfort in it. I'll take thy offer, friend, and give thee +gratitude." + +And so next day the two went forth together. Aldebaran showed a brave +front to the crowd, glad of the painted mask that hid his features, and +no one guessed the misery that lurked beneath his laugh, and no one knew +what mighty tax it was upon his courage to follow in the Jester's lead +and play buffoon upon the open street. It was a thing he loathed, and +yet, 'twas as the Jester said, his training in the royal court had made +him sharp of wit and quick to read men's minds; and to the countrymen +who gathered there agape, around him in the square, his keen replies +were wonderful as wizard's magic. + +And when he piped--it was no shallow fluting that merely set the rustic +feet a-jig, it was a strange and stirring strain that made the simplest +one among them stand with his soul a-tiptoe, as he listened, as if a +kingly train with banners went a-marching by. So royally he played his +part, that even on that first day he surpassed his teacher. The Jester, +jubilant that this was so, thought that his time to leave was near at +hand, but when that night they reached his dwelling Aldebaran tore off +the painted mask and threw himself upon the hearth. + +"'Tis more than flesh can well endure!" he cried. "All day the thought +of what I've lost was like a constant sword-thrust in my heart. Instead +of deference and respect that once was mine from high and low, 'twas +laugh and jibe and pointing finger. And, too" (his voice grew shrill +and querulous), "I saw young lovers straying in the lanes together. How +can I endure that sight day after day when my arms must remain for ever +empty? And little children prattled by their father's side no matter +where I turned. I, who shall never know a little son's caress, felt like +a starving man who looks on bread and may not eat. Far better that I +crawl away from haunts of men where I need never be tormented by such +contrasts." + +The Jester looked down on Aldebaran's wan face. It was as white and +drawn as if he had been tortured by the rack and thumbscrew, so he made +no answer for the moment. But when the fire was kindled, and they had +supped the broth set out in steaming bowls upon the table, he ventured +on a word of cheer. + +"At any rate," he said, "for one whole day thou hast kept thy oath. No +matter what the anguish that it cost thee, from sunrise to sunsetting +thou hast held Despair at bay. It was the bravest stand that thou hast +ever made. And now, if thou hast lived through this one day, why not +another? 'Tis only one hour at a time that thou art called on to endure. +Come! By the bloodstone that is thy birthright, pledge me anew thou'lt +keep thy oath until the going down of one more sun." + +So Aldebaran pledged him one more day, and after that another and +another, until a fortnight slowly dragged itself away. And then because +he met his hurt so bravely and made no sign, the Jester thought the +struggle had grown easier with time, and spoke again of going to his +kindred. + +"Nay, do not leave me yet," Aldebaran plead. "Wouldst take my only +crutch? It is thy cheerful presence that alone upholds me." + +"Yet it would show still greater courage if thou couldst face thy fate +alone," the Jester answered. "Despair cannot be vanquished till thou +hast taught thyself to really feel the gladness thou dost feign. I've +heard that if one will count his blessings as the faithful tell their +rosary beads he will forget his losses in pondering on his many +benefits. Perchance if thou wouldst try that plan it might avail." + +So Aldebaran went out determined to be glad in heart as well as speech, +if so be it he could find enough of cheer. "I will be glad," he said, +"because the morning sun shines warm across my face." He slipped a +golden beam upon his memory string. + +"I will be glad because that there are diamond sparkles on the grass and +larks are singing in the sky." A dew-drop and a bird's trill for his +rosary. + +"I will be glad for bread, for water from the spring, for eyesight and +the power to smell the budding lilacs by the door; for friendly +greetings from the villages." + +A goodly rosary, symbol of all the things for which he should be glad, +was in his hand at close of day. He swung it gaily by the hearth that +night, recounting all his blessings till the Jester thought, "At last +he's found the cure." + +But suddenly Aldebaran flung the rosary from him and hid his face within +his hands. "'Twill drive me mad!" he cried. "To go on stringing baubles +that do but set my mind the firmer on the priceless jewel I have lost. +May heaven forgive me! I am not really glad. 'Tis all a hollow mockery +and pretence!" + +Then was the Jester at his wit's end for a reply. It was a welcome sound +when presently a knocking at the door broke on the painful silence. The +visitor who entered was an aged friar beseeching alms at every door, as +was the custom of his brotherhood, with which to help the sick and +poor. And while the Jester searched within a chest for some old garments +he was pleased to give, he bade the friar draw up to the hearth and +tarry for their evening meal, which then was well-nigh ready. The friar, +glad to accept the hospitality, spread out his lean hands to the blaze, +and later, when the three sat down together, warmed into such a +cheerfulness of speech that Aldebaran was amazed. + +"Surely thy lot is hard, good brother," he said, looking curiously into +the wrinkled face. "Humbling thy pride to beg at every door, forswearing +thine own good in every way that others may be fed, and yet thy face +speaks an inward joy. I pray thee tell me how thou hast found +happiness." + +"_By never going in its quest_," the friar answered. "Long years ago I +learned a lesson from the stars. Our holy Abbot took me out one night +into the quiet cloister, and pointing to the glittering heavens showed +me my duty in a way I never have forgot. I had grown restive in my lot +and chafed against its narrow round of cell and cloister. But in a word +he made me see that if I stepped aside from that appointed path, merely +for mine own pleasure, 'twould mar the order of God's universe as surely +as if a planet swerved from its eternal course. + +"'No shining lot is thine,' he said. 'Yet neither have the stars +themselves a light. They but reflect the Central Sun. And so mayst thou, +while swinging onward, faithful to thy orbit, reflect the light of +heaven upon thy fellow men.' + +"Since then I've had no need to go a-seeking happiness, for bearing +cheer to others keeps my own heart a-shine. + +"I pass the lesson on to thee, good friend. Remember, men need laughter +sometimes more than food, and if thou hast no cheer thyself to spare, +why, thou mayst go a-gathering it from door to door as I do crusts, and +carry it to those who need." + +Long after the good friar had supped and gone, Aldebaran sat in silence. +Then crossing to the tiny casement that gave upon the street, he stood +and gazed up at the stars. Long, long he mused, fitting the friar's +lesson to his own soul's need, and when he turned away, the old +astrologer's prophecy had taken on new meaning. + +"As Aldebaran the star shines in the heavens" (_no light within itself, +but borrowing from the Central Sun_), "so Aldebaran the man might shine +among his fellows." (_Beggared of joy himself, yet flashing its +reflection athwart the lives of others._) + +When next he went into the town he no longer shunned the sights that +formerly he'd passed with face averted, for well he knew that if he +would shed joy and hope on others he must go to places where they most +abound. What matter that the thought of Vesta stabbed him nigh to +madness when he looked on hearth-fires that could never blaze for him? +With courage almost more than human he put that fond ambition out of +mind as if it were another sword he'd learned to sheathe. At first it +would not stay in hiding, but flew the scabbard of his will to thrust +him sore as often as he put it from him. But after awhile he found a +way to bind it fast, and when he'd found that way it gave him victory +over all. + +A little child came crying towards him in the marketplace, its world a +waste of woe because the toy it cherished had been broken in its play. +Aldebaran would have turned aside on yesterday to press the barbed +thought still deeper in his heart that he had been denied the joy of +fatherhood. But now he stooped as gently as if he were the child's own +sire to wipe its tears and soothe its sobs. And when with skilful +fingers he restored the toy, the child bestowed on him a warm caress out +of its boundless store. + +He passed on with his pulses strangely stirred. 'Twas but a crumb of +love the child had given, yet, as Aldebaran held it in his heart, +behold a miracle! It grew full-loaf, and he would fain divide it with +all hungering souls! So when a stone's throw farther on he met a man +well-nigh distraught from many losses, he did not say in bitterness as +once he would have done, that 'twas the common lot of mortals; to look +on him if one would know the worst that Fate can do. Nay, rather did he +speak so bravely of what might still be wrung from life though one were +maimed like he, that hope sprang up within his hearer and sent him on +his way with face a-shine. + +That grateful smile was like a revelation to Aldebaran, showing him he +had indeed the power belonging to the stars. Beggared of joy, no light +within himself, yet from the Central Sun could he reflect the hope and +cheer that made him as the eye of Taurus 'mong his fellows. + +The weeks slipped into months, months into years. The Jester went his +way unto his kindred and never once was missed, because Aldebaran more +than filled his place. In time the town forgot it ever had another +Jester, and in time Aldebaran began to feel the gladness that he only +feigned before. + +_And then it came to pass, whenever he went by, men felt a strange, +strength-giving influence radiating from his presence,--a sense of hope. +One could not say exactly what it was, it was so fleeting, so +intangible, like warmth that circles from a brazier, or perfume that is +wafted from an unseen rose._ + +Thus he came down to death at last, and there was dole in all the +Province, so that pilgrims, journeying through that way, asked when they +heard his passing-bell, "What king is dead, that all thus do him +reverence?" + +"'Tis but our Jester," one replied. "A poor maimed creature in his +outward seeming, and yet so blithely did he bear his lot, it seemed a +kingly spirit dwelt among us, and earth is poorer for his going." + +All in his motley, since he'd willed it so, they laid him on his bier to +bear him back again unto his father's house. And when they found the +Sword of Conquest hidden underneath his mantle, they marvelled he had +carried such a treasure with him through the years, all unbeknown even +to those who walked the closest at his side. + +When, after many days, the funeral train drew through the castle gate, +the king came down to meet it. There was no need of blazoned scroll to +tell Aldebaran's story. All written in his face it was, and on his +scarred and twisted frame; and by the bloodstone on his finger the old +king knew his son had failed not in the keeping of his oath. More regal +than the royal ermine seemed his motley now. More eloquent the sheathed +sword that told of years of inward struggle than if it bore the blood +of dragons, for on his face there shone the peace that comes alone of +mighty triumph. + +The king looked round upon his nobles and his stalwart sons, then back +again upon Aldebaran, lying in silent majesty. + +"Bring royal purple for the pall," he faltered, "and leave the Sword of +Conquest with him! No other hands will ever be found worthier to claim +it!" + +That night when tall white candles burned about him there stole a +white-robed figure to the flower-strewn bier. 'Twas Vesta, decked as for +a bridal, her golden tresses falling round her like a veil. They found +her kneeling there beside him, her face like his all filled with starry +light, and round them both was such a wondrous shining, the watchers +drew aside in awe. + +"'Tis as the old astrologers foretold," they whispered. "Her soul hath +entered on its deathless vigil. In truth he was the bravest that this +earth has ever known." + + +THE END. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Note: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Jester's Sword, by Annie Fellows Johnston + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JESTER'S SWORD *** + +***** This file should be named 39385-8.txt or 39385-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/8/39385/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Emmy and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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